CN114615738A

CN114615738A - User positioning method, network element, system and storage medium

Info

Publication number: CN114615738A
Application number: CN202210032975.7A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 郝金平; 杨水根; 谭巍
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2019-02-03
Filing date: 2019-02-03
Publication date: 2022-06-10
Also published as: WO2020155949A1; CN111526581B; WO2020155949A9; CN111526581A

Abstract

The embodiment of the application discloses a method for positioning a user, which comprises the following steps: and the centralized unit CU network element sends configuration information to the distributed unit DU network element, wherein the configuration information is used for configuring the positioning reference signals sent by the DU network element. And the CU network element sends a first message to the target user equipment UE, wherein the first message comprises the type of the information to be measured or the configuration information of the positioning reference signal, and the first message is used for positioning measurement of the target UE. The embodiment of the application also provides a corresponding network element, a system and a storage medium. The technical scheme of the application provides a user positioning method under a CU/DU separated network architecture.

Description

User positioning method, network element, system and storage medium

The application is a division of Chinese patent applications with the patent office of China, the application number of CN201910108825.8 and the name of 'a user positioning method, a network element, a system and a storage medium' filed on 03.02/03.2019.

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a user positioning method.

Background

Positioning technology is a technology adopted for determining a geographical location of a User Equipment (UE), and may directly or indirectly obtain location information of the UE using resources of a wireless communication network. The positioning technology is widely applied to various fields such as emergency assistance positioning, navigation, traffic control and the like. How to design a positioning method with low time delay and high precision is always the focus of the research of the positioning technology.

The fifth generation communication (5G) introduces the concept of separating a Centralized Unit (CU) from a Distributed Unit (DU), that is, dividing a base station into two parts, namely, a CU and a DU. One CU may be connected to one or more DUs at the same time. At present, no detailed positioning design method exists in a network architecture with separated CUs and DUs, so how to design a low-delay high-precision positioning method in a network architecture with separated CUs and DUs is urgent to solve.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the application provides a user positioning method, a network element, a system and a storage medium. Specifically, a user positioning method under a CU/DU separated network architecture is provided.

In order to solve the above technical problem, an embodiment of the present application provides the following technical solutions:

a first aspect of the present application provides a user positioning method, which may be applied to a communication network architecture in which a centralized unit CU network element and a distributed unit DU network element are separated, where the user positioning method involves the centralized unit CU network element and the distributed unit DU network element in an application process, and may include: the positioning reference signal in the present application includes not only a Positioning Reference Signal (PRS), but also a demodulation reference signal (DMRS), a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), a Tracking Reference Signal (TRS), and the like. The CU network element sends a first message to the target user equipment UE, the first message may include the kind of information to be measured or configuration information of a positioning reference signal, the first message includes the kind of information to be measured or configuration information of the positioning reference signal, but may also include other information than the kind of information to be measured or configuration information of the positioning reference signal. The first message is used for the target UE to perform positioning measurement, that is, the UE performs positioning measurement according to the received first message.

Optionally, with reference to the first aspect, in a first possible implementation manner, the configuration information may include sequence configuration of the positioning reference signal, or time configuration of the positioning reference signal, or periodic configuration of the positioning reference signal, or frequency configuration sent by the positioning reference signal, or bandwidth configuration of the positioning reference signal, or downlink beam configuration of the positioning reference signal, and the configuration information may further include an indication of a resource set, where the resource set includes preset information, and the preset information may be identified by the CU and the DU.

Optionally, with reference to the first aspect or the first possible implementation manner of the first aspect, in a second possible implementation manner, the method may further include: the CU network element receives a second message sent by the DU network element, where the second message may include information configured by the DU network element itself or positioning assistance information of the DU network element.

Optionally, with reference to the first aspect or the first possible implementation manner of the first aspect, in a third possible implementation manner, before the sending, by the centralized unit CU network element, the configuration information to the distributed unit DU network element, the method may further include: the CU network element receives a third message sent by the LMF network element, where the third message is used to trigger the CU network element to send configuration information to the DU network element, and the third message may include an indication of a positioning method, a type of information to be measured, or an identifier of the DU network element.

Optionally, with reference to the third possible implementation manner of the first aspect, in a fourth possible implementation manner, the method may further include: and the CU network element receives the measurement result sent by the target UE. The CU network element sends the measurement result to the LMF network element, or the CU network element calculates the position of the target UE according to the measurement result and sends the position of the target UE to the LMF network element or an access and mobility management function (AMF) network element.

Optionally, with reference to the first aspect or the first possible implementation manner of the first aspect, in a fifth possible implementation manner, the method may further include: and the CU network element initiates a positioning measurement request, wherein the positioning measurement request is used for triggering the CU network element to send configuration information to the DU network element.

Optionally, with reference to the fifth possible implementation manner of the first aspect, in a sixth possible implementation manner, the method may include: and the CU network element receives the measurement result sent by the target UE and determines the position of the target UE according to the measurement result.

A second aspect of the present application provides a method for positioning a user, which may include: the distributed unit DU network element receives configuration information sent by the centralized unit CU network element, where the configuration information is used to configure a positioning reference signal of the DU network element, and the configuration information may include sequence configuration of the positioning reference signal, or time configuration of the positioning reference signal, or periodic configuration of the positioning reference signal, or frequency configuration sent by the positioning reference signal, or bandwidth configuration of the positioning reference signal, or downlink beam configuration of the positioning reference signal. The DU network element sends a positioning reference signal to the target UE, where the positioning reference signal is used for positioning measurement of the target UE, and the configuration information may further include an indication of a resource set, where the resource set includes preset information, and the preset information may be identified by the CU and the DU.

Optionally, with reference to the second aspect, in a first possible implementation manner, the method may further include: the DU network element sends a first message to the CU network element according to the received request message, where the first message may include information configured by the DU network element itself or positioning assistance information of the DU network element.

A third aspect of the present application provides a method for positioning a user, which may include: the user equipment UE receives a first message sent by the centralized unit CU network element, which may include the kind of information to be measured or the configuration information of the positioning reference signal, but may also include other information than the kind of information to be measured or the configuration information of the positioning reference signal. The first message is used for positioning measurement of the target UE, the UE measures the information to be measured according to the first message and sends the measurement result to the first network element, and the second network element calculates the position of the target UE according to the measurement result.

Optionally, with reference to the third aspect, in a first possible implementation manner, the first network element is the same as the second network element, and both the first network element and the second network element are CU network elements, that is, the UE sends the measurement result to the first network element, so that the second network element calculates the position of the target UE according to the measurement result, which may include: and the UE sends the measurement result to the CU network element, so that the CU network element calculates the position of the target UE according to the measurement result.

Optionally, with reference to the third aspect, in a second possible implementation manner, the first network element is the same as the second network element, and both the first network element and the second network element are LMF network elements, that is, the UE sends the measurement result to the first network element, so that the second network element calculates the position of the target UE according to the measurement result, which may include: and the UE sends the measurement result to the LMF network element with the positioning management function, so that the LMF network element calculates the position of the target UE according to the measurement result.

Optionally, with reference to the third aspect, in a third possible implementation manner, the first network element is different from the second network element, the first network element is a CU network element, and the second network element is an LMF network element, that is, the UE sends the measurement result to the first network element, so that the second network element calculates the position of the target UE according to the measurement result, which may include: and the UE sends the measurement result to the CU network element so that the CU network element sends the measurement result to the LMF network element with the positioning management function, and the LMF network element calculates the position of the target UE according to the measurement result.

A fourth aspect of the present application provides a centralized unit CU network element having the functionality of implementing the method of the first aspect or any one of the possible implementations of the first aspect. The function can be realized by hardware, and can also be realized by executing corresponding software by hardware. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the functions described above.

A fifth aspect of the present application provides a distributed unit DU network element, where the DU network element has a function of a method for implementing any one of the second aspect or the second aspect. The function can be realized by hardware, and can also be realized by executing corresponding software by hardware. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the functions described above.

A sixth aspect of the present application provides a user equipment UE having functionality to implement the method of any one of the possible implementations of the third aspect or the third aspect. The function can be realized by hardware, and can also be realized by executing corresponding software by hardware. The hardware or software includes one or more modules corresponding to the functions described above.

A seventh aspect of the present application provides a centralized unit CU network element, which may include: a processor and a memory; the memory is configured to store computer executable instructions that, when executed by the CU network element, cause the CU network element to perform a user positioning method as described in the first aspect or any one of the possible implementations of the first aspect.

An eighth aspect of the present application provides a distributed unit DU network element, which may include: a processor and a memory; the memory is configured to store computer executable instructions, and when the DU network element is running, the processor executes the computer executable instructions stored in the memory, so as to cause the DU network element to perform the user positioning method according to any one of the possible implementations of the second aspect or the second aspect.

A ninth aspect of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium, having stored therein instructions, which, when run on a computer, enable the computer to perform the user positioning method of the first aspect or any one of the possible implementations of the first aspect.

A tenth aspect of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium, having stored therein instructions, which, when run on a computer, enable the computer to perform the user positioning method of the second aspect or any one of the possible implementations of the second aspect.

An eleventh aspect of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium, having stored therein instructions, which, when run on a computer, cause the computer to perform the user positioning method of the third aspect or any one of the possible implementations of the third aspect.

A twelfth aspect of the present application provides a computer program product comprising instructions that, when run on a computer, enable the computer to perform the user positioning method of the first aspect or any one of the possible implementations of the first aspect.

A thirteenth aspect of the present application provides a computer program product containing instructions that, when run on a computer, enable the computer to perform the user positioning method of the second aspect or any one of the possible implementations of the second aspect.

A fourteenth aspect of the present application provides a computer program product comprising instructions that, when run on a computer, enable the computer to perform the user positioning method of the third aspect or any one of the possible implementations of the third aspect.

A fifteenth aspect of the present application provides a chip system, which includes a processor configured to support a CU network element to implement the functions recited in the first aspect or any one of the possible implementations of the first aspect. In one possible design, the system-on-chip further includes a memory for storing program instructions and data necessary for the CU network elements. The chip system may be constituted by a chip, or may include a chip and other discrete devices.

A sixteenth aspect of the present application provides a chip system, where the chip system includes a processor, configured to support a DU network element to implement the functions in the second aspect or any one of the possible implementations of the second aspect. In one possible design, the chip system further includes a memory for storing program instructions and data necessary for the DU network elements. The chip system may be constituted by a chip, or may include a chip and other discrete devices.

A seventeenth aspect of the present application provides a communication system, which may include a CU network element and a DU network element, where the CU network element is the CU network element described in the foregoing first aspect or any one of the possible implementations of the first aspect. The DU network element is the DU network element described in the second aspect or any one of the possible implementations of the second aspect.

The embodiment of the application provides a user positioning method under a CU/DU separated network architecture.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a positioning architecture according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 2 illustrates a prior art method for locating a user;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a CU separation in a 5G communication system;

fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a user positioning method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of a user positioning method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of a user positioning method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 7 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of a user positioning method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 8 is a schematic hardware structure diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of a CU network element according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of a DU network element provided in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 11 is a schematic structural diagram of a UE-related handset according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

Embodiments of the present application will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, and it is to be understood that the described embodiments are merely illustrative of some, but not all, embodiments of the present application. As can be known to those skilled in the art, with the development of technology and the emergence of new scenarios, the technical solution provided in the embodiments of the present application is also applicable to similar technical problems.

The embodiment of the application provides a method, a network element, user equipment and a system for positioning user equipment, and particularly provides a detailed positioning design method under a network architecture with separated CUs and DUs. The following are detailed descriptions.

The terms "first," "second," and the like in the description and in the claims of the present application and in the above-described drawings are used for distinguishing between similar elements and not necessarily for describing a particular sequential or chronological order. It will be appreciated that the data so used may be interchanged under appropriate circumstances such that the embodiments described herein may be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated or described herein. Moreover, the terms "comprises," "comprising," and any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, system, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of steps or modules is not necessarily limited to those steps or modules explicitly listed, but may include other steps or modules not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. The naming or numbering of the steps appearing in the present application does not mean that the steps in the method flow have to be executed in the chronological/logical order indicated by the naming or numbering, and the named or numbered process steps may be executed in a modified order depending on the technical purpose to be achieved, as long as the same or similar technical effects are achieved. The division of the modules presented in this application is a logical division, and in practical applications, there may be another division, for example, multiple modules may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be omitted, or not executed, and in addition, the shown or discussed coupling or direct coupling or communication connection between each other may be through some interfaces, and the indirect coupling or communication connection between the modules may be in an electrical or other similar form, which is not limited in this application. The modules or sub-modules described as separate components may or may not be physically separated, may or may not be physical modules, or may be distributed in a plurality of circuit modules, and some or all of the modules may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the present disclosure.

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a positioning architecture according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

The architecture diagram shown in fig. 1 is an architecture diagram applied to positioning a UE in a 5G system, and may include: user Equipment (UE), AN Access Network (AN), AN AMF (access network function) network element, and a Location Management Function (LMF) network element.

Specifically, the AN may also be called a Radio Access Network (RAN) in a specific application, and the RAN is composed of access network devices and is responsible for access of user equipment. The RAN device of the 5G network may be a Next Generation (NG) RAN device, or an evolved universal terrestrial radio access network (E-UTRAN) device, and the 5G network may be connected to the two access network devices at the same time. The RAN device may be a next generation base station (next generation NodeB, gNB) or a next generation evolved NodeB (ng-eNB) in this embodiment of the present application. The gNB provides a user plane function and a control plane function of a new radio interface (NR) for the UE, and the ng-eNB provides a user plane function and a control plane function of an evolved universal terrestrial radio access (E-UTRA) for the UE, where it should be noted that the gNB and the ng-eNB are only names used for representing a base station supporting a 5G network system and do not have a limiting meaning.

The AMF network element is responsible for the access management of the user and manages and controls the service access of the user. Specifically, in the positioning architecture, the AMF network element may be configured to initiate a positioning request, or control a base station to perform positioning, and the like.

The LMF network element is responsible for location management. For example, receiving a positioning request of another network element (e.g., an AMF network element), collecting positioning data of the user, and obtaining the user position after positioning calculation. The LMF network element may also manage and configure the base station or the positioning management unit, implement configuration of the positioning reference signal, and the like.

The user equipment UE referred to in this application may represent any suitable terminal equipment, and may include (or may represent) devices such as a wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU), a mobile station, a mobile node, a mobile device, a fixed or mobile subscription unit, a pager, a mobile phone, a handheld device, a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a smart phone, a notebook computer, a touch screen device, a wireless sensor, or a consumer electronics device. A "mobile" station/node/device herein refers to a station/node/device that is connected to a wireless (or mobile) network and is not necessarily related to the actual mobility of that station/node/device.

As shown in fig. 1, the user equipment UE may be connected to the AMF network element through the RAN, and the AMF network element is connected to the LMF network element. The interfaces and connections in the architecture may include: LTE-Uu, NR-Uu, NG-C, and NLs. The NG-C is control plane connection between the RAN and the AMF network element, the LTE-Uu is a protocol interface between the NG-eNB and the UE, the NR-Uu is a protocol interface between the UE and the gNB, and the NLs is a protocol interface between the LMF network element and the AMF network element.

Among all methods of positioning a user equipment UE, an observed time difference of arrival (OTDOA) method is widely used. The principle of the method is that when three or more than three base stations exist in the system, the distance difference between a positioned UE and any two base stations in at least three base stations is calculated by measuring the propagation time difference of wireless signals of the any two base stations to the positioned UE.

From a mathematical point of view, the motion trajectory of the UE to be located is a curve with the arbitrary two base stations as the focal points and the distance difference as the fixed difference. The located UE can obtain at least two curves through the measurement and calculation of at least three base stations, and the position of the located UE is the intersection point of the at least two curves.

As shown in fig. 2, a method for positioning a user under a conventional communication system architecture may include the following steps:

201. a Location Management Function (LMF) requests a plurality of base stations near a located UE to send assistance information for OTDOA positioning.

202. After receiving the request, the base stations send respective positioning assistance information, for example, send respective Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) configurations, to the LMF network element.

203. And the LMF network element sends the received positioning auxiliary information to the positioned UE.

204. And the LMF network element initiates a positioning information measurement request to the positioned UE.

205. And the positioned UE measures the arrival time differences of a plurality of base station signals to complete measurement and sends the measurement information to the LMF network element.

206. And the LMF network element calculates the position of the positioned UE based on the measurement information reported by the positioned UE.

As described above, in the conventional communication system architecture, the application process of the OTDOA positioning method requires multiple interactions between the LMF network element and multiple base stations and between the LMF network element and the UE to be positioned. Therefore, it is difficult to reduce the time delay of the positioning technology under the conventional communication system architecture.

In addition, the next generation radio base station (gNB) or the next generation evolved node b (ng-eNB) adopts a network architecture in which a central unit or a Control Unit (CU) and a Distributed Unit (DU) are separated, that is, the gNB or the ng-eNB may be composed of one CU and one or more DUs, and one CU may be connected to one or more DUs at the same time.

As shown in fig. 3, fig. 3 shows an architecture diagram of CU/DU separation in a 5G communication system. The 5G communication system includes a Next Generation Core (NGC) and a Radio Access Network (RAN) connected to the NGC, and the RAN connected to the NGC includes a gNB and a ng-eNB, and only one gNB and one ng-eNB are shown in fig. 3 for convenience of illustration.

A gNB or ng-eNB may be composed of a Central Unit (CU) and one or more Distributed Units (DU). For example, one gNB or ng-eNB as shown in fig. 3 is composed of one CU and two DUs. The CU and the DU are connected to each other via an F1 interface.

The functional partitioning of CUs and DUs may be performed according to a protocol stack. One possible way is to deploy Radio Resource Control (RRC), Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer and Service Data Adaptation (SDAP) layer in the CU. Radio Link Control (RLC), Medium Access Control (MAC), and physical layer (PHY) are deployed in the DU.

Accordingly, the CU has the processing capabilities of RRC, PDCP and SDAP. The DU has the processing capabilities of RLC, MAC, and PHY. It is noted that the above functional partitioning is only an example, and that other ways of partitioning are possible. For example, a CU includes the processing capabilities of RRC, PDCP, RLC, and SDAP, and a DU has the processing capabilities of MAC, and PHY. Also for example, a CU may include processing capabilities for RRC, PDCP, RLC, SDAP, and partial MAC (e.g., MAC header), and a DU may have processing capabilities for PHY and partial MAC (e.g., scheduling). Names of the CUs and DUs may be changed, and as long as the access network node can implement the above functions, the access network node can be regarded as the CU and DU in the present application.

At present, no research is carried out on how to support the positioning function under the network architecture with separated CUs and DUs, so that a corresponding scheme is needed to support how to meet the problems of low delay and high precision of 5G positioning under the network architecture with separated CUs-DUs. Based on the network architectures shown in fig. 1 and fig. 3, a method for positioning a UE according to an embodiment of the present application will be specifically described below.

Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of user location provided in the embodiment of the present application. The method comprises the following steps:

401. the CU network element sends configuration information to the DU network element.

The CU is triggered to send configuration information to the DU, where the configuration information is used to configure the positioning reference signal sent by the DU network element. The reference signal is a signal predicted by both the transmitter and the receiver. In the embodiment of the present application, the reference signal is a positioning reference signal and is sent to the UE by the DU network element.

It should be understood that the positioning reference signal in the present application includes not only a Positioning Reference Signal (PRS), but also a demodulation reference signal (DMRS), a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), a Tracking Reference Signal (TRS), and the like. The present application uses positioning reference signals only to refer to reference signals that may be used for positioning. And will not be described in detail below.

Specifically, the receiving-end UE may perform channel estimation by using the positioning reference signal sent by the transmitting-end DU network element, and estimate the data signal sent by the DU according to the channel estimation result. Further, the configuration information may include at least one of the following information: the configuration information of the positioning reference signal sequence, or the configuration information of the time of sending the positioning reference signal, the sending period of the positioning reference signal, the configuration information of the frequency and bandwidth of sending the positioning reference signal, the configuration information of the frequency hopping configuration, or the configuration information of other reference signals of the positioning reference signal, such as the configuration information of the downlink beam of the positioning reference signal, and so on.

The configuration information may further include an indication of a resource set, the indication of the resource set indicating predetermined information, and the predetermined information may be identified by the CU network element and the DU network element.

For example, a first resource set and a second resource set are preset, where the first resource set includes first configuration information of a positioning reference signal sequence, or first configuration information of a time for sending a positioning reference signal, a sending period of the positioning reference signal, and first configuration information of a frequency and a bandwidth for sending the positioning reference signal. The second resource set includes second configuration information of the positioning reference signal sequence, or second configuration information of time of sending the positioning reference signal, a sending period of the positioning reference signal, and second configuration information of frequency and bandwidth of sending the positioning reference signal.

And if the CU network element sends configuration information to the DU network element, and the indication of the resource set in the configuration information is the first resource set, configuring the positioning reference signal sent by the DU network element according to the configuration information of the first resource set, and if the CU network element sends the configuration information to the DU network element, and the indication of the resource set in the configuration information is the second resource set, configuring the positioning reference signal sent by the DU network element according to the configuration information of the second resource set.

It should be noted that, the first resource set and the second resource set recited in this embodiment are only for illustration, and in an actual application process, the number of resource sets and specific configuration information included in the resource sets may be set according to actual needs, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

The indication of the resource sets may be an index, each index corresponding to a resource set. Hereinafter, the same will be described.

402. And the CU network element sends a first message to the target user equipment UE.

The first message includes the type of information to be measured or configuration information of a positioning reference signal, and is used for triggering the target UE to perform positioning measurement.

For example, the first message may include the kind of information to be measured, or the first message may include the kind of information to be measured and a QoS requirement corresponding to the information to be measured, or the first message may include the kind of information to be measured and an identification ID of a DU network element, or the first message may include the kind of information to be measured and configuration information of a positioning reference signal, or the first message may include the kind of information to be measured, a QoS requirement corresponding to the information to be measured, and configuration information of a positioning reference signal.

That is, the first message in the embodiment of the present application includes the kind of information to be measured or the configuration information of the positioning reference signal, but may include other information than the kind of information to be measured or the configuration information of the positioning reference signal.

It is to be understood that the first message may be sent to the target user equipment UE via one or more messages. The present application is not limited to a particular implementation.

403. And the UE carries out positioning measurement according to the received first message.

As can be seen from the embodiment corresponding to fig. 4, the CU network element is triggered to send the configuration information to the DU network element, and the triggered manner includes:

the CU network element receives a positioning message, such as a positioning request, sent by the LMF network element.

But also a positioning request initiated by the CU network element itself.

In the following, the LMF-initiated positioning request and the CU network element-initiated positioning request will be described separately.

Fig. 5 is another schematic diagram of user location provided in the embodiment of the present application. The method comprises the following steps:

501. and the LMF network element sends the first message to the CU network element.

CU network elements may also be referred to as CUs or CU network devices. The first message is used to inform the CU to make location measurements, e.g., location requests, for the first UE.

Specifically, the first message includes an indication of a positioning method, such as an OTDOA positioning method or a downlink angle of departure (DL-AoD) positioning method, and the embodiment of the present application does not limit the positioning method used for positioning the ue.

Optionally, in some specific application scenarios, a CU cannot identify a specific positioning method, and in these scenarios, the first message may include specific measurement information, such as specific positioning measurement information required by measurement based on time difference or measurement based on angle or other positioning methods, and embodiments of the present application do not limit specific content included in the measurement information, such as quality of service (QoS) requirements, ID information of UEs participating in positioning, and a list of DUs participating in positioning measurement, where the list of DUs may be identified by an ID of a DU network element, which is not described below. The first message may include one or more of the above-described measurement information.

502. And the CU sends configuration information to the DU according to the first message sent by the LMF.

In a first possible approach, if the first message received by the CU includes a list of DUs participating in positioning measurement, the CU sends configuration information to all DUs in the list. In a second possible manner, if there is no list of DUs participating in positioning measurement in the first message received by the CU, the CU may select N DUs for positioning measurement and send configuration information to the N DUs, where N is a positive integer.

For example, if a CU may identify a specific positioning method, the CU receives an indication that a positioning method is included in a first message sent by an LMF network element, for example, the indication indicates that the positioning method is an OTDOA positioning method, if the first message includes a list of DUs participating in positioning measurement, for example, the list includes a first DU, a second DU, and a third DU, the CU sends configuration information to the first DU, the second DU, and the third DU, respectively, according to the list, and if the first message only includes the indication of the positioning method and does not include the list of DUs participating in positioning measurement, the CU may select one or more DUs in the DUs connected to the CU and send the configuration information to the selected DU.

The configuration information is used to configure a reference signal transmitted by the DU, and the reference signal is a signal predicted by both the transmitting and receiving sides. In the embodiment of the present application, the reference signal is transmitted by the DU. Specifically, the receiving end UE may perform channel estimation using the reference signal sent by the transmitting end DU, and estimate the data signal sent by the DU according to the channel estimation result.

Further, the configuration information may include at least one of the following information: the configuration information of the positioning reference signal sequence, or the configuration information of the time of sending the reference signal, the sending period of the reference signal, the configuration information of the frequency and the bandwidth of sending the reference signal, including the frequency hopping configuration, optionally, the configuration information of other reference signals may also be included, such as the downlink beam configuration information of the positioning reference signal, the downlink frame number of the bandwidth, and so on.

The configuration information may further include an indication of a resource set indicating predetermined information that may be identified by the CU and the DU.

For example, a first resource set and a second resource set are preset, where the first resource set includes first configuration information of a positioning reference signal sequence, or first configuration information of time for sending a positioning reference signal, a positioning reference signal sending period, and first configuration information of frequency and bandwidth for sending a positioning reference signal. The second resource set includes second configuration information of the positioning reference signal sequence, or second configuration information of time of sending the positioning reference signal, a sending period of the positioning reference signal, and second configuration information of frequency and bandwidth of sending the positioning reference signal.

And if the CU network element sends configuration information to the DU network element, and the indication of the first resource set in the configuration information is the first resource set, configuring the positioning reference signal sent by the DU network element according to the configuration information of the first resource set. And if the CU network element sends configuration information to the DU network element, and the indication of the second resource set in the configuration information is the second resource set, configuring the positioning reference signal sent by the DU network element according to the configuration information of the second resource set.

It should be noted that, the first resource set and the second resource set recited in the embodiment of the present application are only for illustration, and in an actual application process, the number of resource sets and specific configuration information included in the resource sets may be set according to actual needs, which is not specifically limited in the embodiment of the present application.

503. The CU sends a second message to the UE.

Positioning methods generally have two positioning modes, one is UE-based mode and one is UE-assisted mode. The two positioning modes differ in that: on which network element the position calculation is performed.

If the UE performs the related measurement and then calculates the position, the network element for which the position calculation is performed is the UE, which is called UE-based mode. If the UE performs the relevant measurement and then sends the measurement result to the LMF network element, the network element of the positioning calculation is the LMF network element, which is called the UE-assisted mode.

In this embodiment, taking the UE-assisted mode as an example for explanation, the second message may include configuration information of the positioning reference signal. The configuration information may be sent to the UE by the CU at one time, or may be sent to the UE by the CU in multiple times.

504. The CU sends a request location measurement information to the UE.

The request position information may include the kind of information to be measured, and may also include QoS requirements corresponding to the information to be measured, and the like.

It should be noted that, in some embodiments, step 503 and step 504 may be combined into one step, that is, the CU simultaneously includes the requested location measurement information in the second message sent to the UE. In some embodiments, if the configuration information of the positioning reference signal is sent to the UE by the CU multiple times in step 504, the location measurement request information may be carried in a message that the CU sends the configuration information of the last positioning reference signal to the UE.

505. The UE is triggered to make positioning measurements.

The specific UE measurement information is determined according to the positioning method received by the CU or the specific measurement information adopted in step 501. For example, if in some practical applications, the UE may measure the time difference of arrival of the reference signal if the OTDOA positioning method is adopted. In some embodiments, the measurement result may also be angle-based measurement information, and in some embodiments, the measurement result may also be Reference Signal Receiving Power (RSRP), Reference Signal Receiving Quality (RSRQ), or the like.

506. The UE sends the measurement results to the CU.

And the UE measures the information to be measured to obtain a measurement result, and the UE sends the measurement result to the CU.

507. The CU sends the measurement result to the LMF network element.

And after receiving the measurement result sent by the UE, the CU sends the measurement result to the LMF network element.

508. And the LMF network element calculates the position of the UE according to the measurement result.

And after receiving the measurement result sent by the CU, the LMF network element calculates the position of the UE according to the measurement result.

Optionally, in some embodiments, after step 506, that is, after the UE sends the measurement result to the CU, the CU may directly calculate the location of the UE according to the measurement result, and send the location of the UE to the LMF network element or send the location of the UE to the AMF network element.

Optionally, in some embodiments, after step 505, that is, after the UE performs measurement based on the received assistance information, the UE may send the measurement result to the LMF network element, and the LMF network element calculates the location of the UE according to the measurement result.

As can be seen from the embodiment corresponding to fig. 5, in the embodiment corresponding to fig. 5, the LMF network element or CU calculates the location of the UE according to the measurement result measured by the UE, it should be noted that, in some embodiments, the LMF network element or CU also needs to combine with other measurement information to calculate the location of the UE, for example, in a downlink method based on an angle of departure (AoD), the location of the UE needs to be calculated by combining with the measurement information of the DU, in a specific application process, different algorithms may need to combine with the measurement information of other network elements to calculate the location of the UE, and a specific implementation scheme can be obtained by those skilled in the art according to the disclosure of the present invention. The following description will specifically describe the AOD positioning method as an example.

Fig. 6 is another schematic diagram of user positioning provided in the embodiment of the present application. The method comprises the following steps:

601. the LMF network element sends a first message to the CU.

A CU may also be referred to as a CU network element or a CU network device. The first message is used to inform the CU to perform positioning measurements on the first UE. Specifically, the first message includes an indication of a positioning method, for example, an AOD positioning method is used, and the embodiment of the present application does not limit the positioning method used for positioning the user equipment.

Optionally, in some specific application scenarios, a CU cannot identify a specific positioning method, and in these scenarios, the first message may include specific measurement information, such as specific positioning measurement information required by time difference-based measurement or angle-based measurement or other positioning methods, and embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific content included in the measurement information, such as quality of service (QoS) requirements, ID information of UEs participating in positioning, and a list of DUs participating in positioning measurement.

602. The CU sends a request message to the DU.

The request message may be used to request the DU to send configuration information that cannot be configured by the CU but is configured by the DU itself, and may further include auxiliary information required in some positioning methods for calculating the distance or direction from the DU to the UE, for example, in this embodiment, the auxiliary information may be included for calculating AoD, such as fingerprint information base or history information of AoD.

603. The DU sends to the CUs information or side information configured by the DU itself.

604. The CU sends configuration information to the DU.

The CU configures the DUs according to the first message received in step 601, and in a first possible manner, if the first message received by the CU includes a list of DUs participating in positioning measurement, the CU sends configuration information to all DUs in the list.

In a second possible manner, if there is no list of DUs participating in positioning measurement in the first message received by the CU, the CU may select N DUs for positioning measurement and send configuration information to the N DUs, where N is a positive integer.

For example, if a CU may identify a specific positioning method, the CU receives an indication that a first message sent by an LMF network element includes the positioning method, for example, the positioning method is indicated as an AOD positioning method, and if the first message includes a list of DUs participating in positioning measurement, for example, the list includes a first DU, a second DU, and a third DU, the CU sends configuration information to the first DU, the second DU, and the third DU, respectively, according to the list. It should be understood that the number of DUs is not a limitation in this application.

If the first message only includes an indication of a positioning method and does not include a list of DUs that participate in positioning measurements, the CU may select one or more DUs from the DUs connected to the CU and send configuration information to the selected DU.

The configuration information is used to configure a reference signal transmitted by the DU, and the reference signal is a signal predicted by both the transmitting and receiving sides. In the embodiment of the present application, the reference signal is sent to the UE by the DU.

Specifically, the receiving end UE may perform channel estimation using the reference signal sent by the transmitting end DU, and estimate the data signal sent by the DU according to the channel estimation result.

Further, the configuration information may include at least one of the following information: the configuration information of the positioning reference signal sequence, or the configuration information of the time of sending the reference signal, the sending period of the reference signal, the configuration information of the frequency and bandwidth of sending the reference signal, the frequency hopping configuration, the configuration information of other reference signals, such as the downlink beam configuration information of the positioning reference signal, etc.

The configuration information may also include an indication of a resource set, which is used to indicate predetermined information that may be identified by the CUs and DUs.

For example, a first resource set and a second resource set are preset, where the first resource set includes first configuration information of a positioning reference signal sequence, or first configuration information of a time for sending a positioning reference signal, a sending period of the positioning reference signal, and first configuration information of a frequency and a bandwidth for sending the positioning reference signal. The second resource set includes second configuration information of a positioning reference signal sequence, or second configuration information of a time of sending the positioning reference signal, a sending period of the positioning reference signal, and second configuration information of a frequency and a bandwidth of sending the positioning reference signal.

And if the CU network element sends configuration information to the DU network element, and the indication of the first resource set in the configuration information is the first resource set, configuring the positioning reference signal sent by the DU network element according to the configuration information in the first resource set. And if the CU network element sends configuration information to the DU network element, and the indication of the second resource set in the configuration information is the second resource set, configuring the positioning reference signal sent by the DU network element according to the configuration information in the second resource set.

605. The CU sends a second message to the UE.

Positioning methods generally have two positioning modes, one is UE-based mode and one is UE-assisted mode. These two positioning modes differ in that: on which network element the position calculation is performed.

If the UE performs the related measurement and then calculates the position, the network element of which the positioning calculation is based on the UE is called UE-based mode. If the UE performs the relevant measurement and then sends the measurement result to the LMF network element, the network element of the positioning calculation is the LMF network element, which is called the UE-assisted mode.

In this embodiment, taking the UE-assisted mode as an example for explanation, the second message may include configuration information of the DU. The configuration information may be sent to the UE by the CU at one time, or may be sent to the UE by the CU in multiple times.

606. The CU sends a request location measurement information to the UE.

It should be noted that, in some embodiments, step 605 and step 606 may be combined into one step, that is, the CU sends the second message to the UE while including the requested location measurement information. In some embodiments, if the assistance information is sent by the CU to the UE multiple times in step 605, the position measurement information may be carried in a message that the CU sent the last assistance information to the UE.

607. The UE performs positioning measurements.

The specific UE measurement information is determined according to the positioning method received by the CU or the specific measurement information adopted in step 601.

In some embodiments, the measurement result may also be time-based measurement information, and in some embodiments, the measurement result may also be RSRP, RSRQ, or the like.

608. The UE sends the measurement results to the CU.

609. The CU sends the measurement result to the LMF network element.

610. And the LMF network element calculates the position of the UE according to the measurement result.

Optionally, in some embodiments, after step 608, that is, after the UE sends the measurement result to the CU, the CU may directly calculate the location of the UE according to the measurement result, and send the location of the UE to the LMF network element or send the location of the UE to the AMF network element.

Optionally, in some embodiments, after step 607, that is, after the UE performs measurement based on the received assistance information, the UE may send the measurement result to the LMF network element, and the LMF network element calculates the location of the UE according to the measurement result.

As can be seen from the embodiments corresponding to fig. 5 and 6, the location measurement request is initiated by the LMF network element, and in some embodiments, the location measurement request may be initiated by the CU, which will be described in detail below.

Fig. 7 is another schematic diagram of user positioning provided in the embodiment of the present application. The method comprises the following steps:

701. the CU initiates a location measurement request.

In the embodiment of the application, the CU has a positioning center function, and the CU can initiate a positioning measurement request.

702. The CUs send configuration information to the DUs.

A CU transmits configuration information for configuring a reference signal transmitted by a DU to the DU connected to the CU, the reference signal being a signal predicted by both the transmitter and the receiver.

In the embodiment of the present application, the reference signal is sent to the UE by the DU. Specifically, the receiving-end UE may perform channel estimation using the reference signal sent by the transmitting-end DU, and estimate the data signal sent by the DU according to the channel estimation result.

Further, the configuration information may include at least one of the following information: the configuration information of the positioning reference signal sequence, the configuration information of the time of sending the reference signal, the sending period of the reference signal, the configuration information of the frequency and the bandwidth of sending the reference signal, the frequency hopping configuration, the configuration information of other reference signals, such as the downlink beam configuration information of the positioning reference signal, and the like.

703. The CU sends a second message to the UE.

Positioning methods generally have two positioning modes, one is UE-based mode and one is UE-assisted mode. These two positioning modes differ in that: on which network element the position calculation is performed. If the UE performs the related measurement and then calculates the position, the network element of which the positioning calculation is based on the UE is called UE-based mode. If the UE performs the relevant measurement and then sends the measurement result to the LMF network element, the network element of the positioning calculation is the LMF network element, which is called the UE-assisted mode.

In this embodiment, taking the UE-assisted mode as an example for description, the second message may include configuration information of the DU. The configuration information may be sent to the UE by the CU at one time, or may be sent to the UE by the CU in multiple times.

704. The CU sends a request location measurement information to the UE.

It should be noted that, in some embodiments, step 703 and step 704 may be combined into one step, that is, the CU simultaneously includes the requested location measurement information in the second message sent to the UE. In some embodiments, if the assistance information is sent to the UE by the CU multiple times in step 703, the position measurement information may be carried in a message that the CU sent the last assistance information to the UE.

705. The UE is triggered to make positioning measurements.

The specific UE measurement information is determined according to the positioning method received by the CU or the specific measurement information adopted in step 701.

For example, in some practical applications, if the OTDOA positioning method is adopted, the UE may perform measurement based on time, and the measurement result measured by the UE is the measurement information based on time. In some embodiments, the measurement result may also be angle-based measurement information, and in some embodiments, the measurement result may also be a signal RSRP or RSRQ, etc.

706. The UE sends the measurement results to the CU.

And the UE measures the information to be measured to obtain a measurement result, and the UE sends the measurement result to the CU. The specific method is as described above and will not be described in detail.

707. The CU calculates the position of the positioned UE according to the measurement result.

The specific method is as described above and will not be described in detail.

The above mainly introduces the solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application from the perspective of interaction between network elements. It is understood that, in order to implement the above functions, the CU network element and the DU network element contain hardware structures and/or software modules for performing the respective functions. Those of skill in the art will readily appreciate that the various illustrative modules and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as hardware or combinations of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is performed as hardware or computer software drives hardware depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the solution. 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 application.

Described in terms of hardware structures, the CU network element or the DU network element in fig. 4 to fig. 7 may be implemented by one entity device, may also be implemented by multiple entity devices together, and may also be different logic function modules in one entity device, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

For example, the CU network element or the DU network element may be implemented by the communication device in fig. 8. Fig. 8 is a schematic diagram illustrating a hardware structure of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application. The communication device comprises at least one processor 801. Optionally, the communication device may further include: a memory 803, a communication link 802, and at least one communication interface 804.

The processor 801 may be a general-purpose Central Processing Unit (CPU), a microprocessor, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or one or more ics for controlling the execution of programs in accordance with the present disclosure.

The communication link 802 may include a path for transmitting information between the aforementioned components.

The communication interface 804 may be any device, such as a transceiver, for communicating with other devices or communication networks, such as ethernet, Radio Access Network (RAN), Wireless Local Area Networks (WLAN), etc., or may be a communication interface between the communication module and other modules.

The memory 803 may be a read-only memory (ROM) or other type of static storage device that can store static information and instructions, a Random Access Memory (RAM) or other type of dynamic storage device that can store information and instructions, an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) or other optical disc storage, optical disc storage (including compact disc, laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc, blu-ray disc, etc.), magnetic disk storage media 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 computer, but is not limited to such. The memory may be separate and coupled to the processor via a communication line 802. The memory may also be integral to the processor.

The memory 803 is used for storing computer-executable instructions for implementing the present invention, and is controlled by the processor 801 to execute the instructions. The processor 801 is configured to execute computer-executable instructions stored in the memory 803, thereby implementing the methods of communication provided by the embodiments described below in the present application. The memory 803 may or may not be coupled to the processor 801.

Optionally, the computer-executable instructions in the embodiments of the present application may also be referred to as application program codes, which are not specifically limited in the embodiments of the present application.

In particular implementations, processor 801 may include one or more CPUs such as CPU0 and CPU1 in fig. 8, for example, as an example.

In particular implementations, the communication device may include multiple processors, such as processor 801 and processor 807 in fig. 8, for example, as an example. Each of these processors may be a single-core (single-CPU) processor or a multi-core (multi-CPU) processor. A processor herein may refer to one or more devices, circuits, and/or processing cores that process data (e.g., computer program instructions).

In particular implementations, the communication device may also include an output device 805 and an input device 806, as one embodiment. The output device 805 is in communication with the processor 801 and may display information in a variety of ways. For example, the output device 805 may be a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD), a Light Emitting Diode (LED) display device, a Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) display device, a projector (projector), or the like. The input device 806 is in communication with the processor 801 and may receive user input in a variety of ways. For example, the input device 806 may be a mouse, a keyboard, a touch screen device, or a sensing device, among others.

The communication device may be a general purpose device or a dedicated device. In a specific implementation, the communication device may be a desktop, a laptop, a web server, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a mobile phone, a tablet, a wireless terminal device, an embedded device, or a device with a similar structure as in fig. 8. The embodiment of the application does not limit the type of the communication equipment.

In the embodiment of the present application, functional modules may be divided for CU network elements or DU network elements according to the above method examples, for example, each functional module may be divided corresponding to each function, or two or more functions may be integrated into one processing module. The integrated module can be realized in a hardware mode, and can also be realized in a software functional module mode. It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present application, the division of the module is schematic, and is only one logic function division, and another division manner may be available in actual implementation.

For example, in a case that the functional modules are divided in an integrated manner, fig. 9 shows a schematic structural diagram of a CU network element.

As shown in fig. 9, the CU network element provided in the embodiment of the present application may include a sending unit 901,

a sending unit 901, configured to execute step 401 in the embodiment corresponding to the foregoing fig. 4, step 402 in the embodiment corresponding to the foregoing fig. 4, step 502 in the embodiment corresponding to the foregoing fig. 5, step 503 in the embodiment corresponding to the foregoing fig. 5, step 504 in the embodiment corresponding to the foregoing fig. 5, step 507 in the embodiment corresponding to the foregoing fig. 5, step 602 in the embodiment corresponding to the foregoing fig. 6, step 604 in the embodiment corresponding to the foregoing fig. 6, step 605 in the embodiment corresponding to the foregoing fig. 6, step 606 in the embodiment corresponding to the foregoing fig. 6, step 609 in the embodiment corresponding to the foregoing fig. 6, step 702 in the embodiment corresponding to the foregoing fig. 7, step 703 in the embodiment corresponding to the foregoing fig. 7, step 704 in the embodiment corresponding to the foregoing fig. 7, and the like.

Optionally, a receiving unit 902 may be further included, configured to execute step 501 in the embodiment corresponding to fig. 5, step 506 in the embodiment corresponding to fig. 5, step 601 in the embodiment corresponding to fig. 6, step 603 in the embodiment corresponding to fig. 6, step 608 in the embodiment corresponding to fig. 6, step 706 in the embodiment corresponding to fig. 7, and the like.

Optionally, an initiating unit 903 may be further included, configured to execute step 701 in the embodiment corresponding to fig. 7 described above.

Optionally, a computing unit 904 may be further included, configured to execute step 707 and the like in the foregoing embodiment corresponding to fig. 7.

As shown in fig. 10, the DU network element provided in this embodiment of the present application may include a receiving unit 1001,

receiving unit 1001 is configured to execute step 401 in the embodiment corresponding to fig. 4, step 502 in the embodiment corresponding to fig. 5, step 602 in the embodiment corresponding to fig. 6, step 604 in the embodiment corresponding to fig. 6, step 702 in the embodiment corresponding to fig. 7, and the like.

Optionally, a sending unit 1002 may be further included, configured to execute step 603 in the embodiment corresponding to fig. 6 described above.

In this embodiment, the CU network element or the DU network element is presented in a form of dividing each functional module in an integrated manner. A "module" as used herein may refer to an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), an ASIC, a processor and memory that execute one or more software or firmware programs, an integrated logic circuit, and/or other devices that provide the described functionality. In a simple embodiment, it is conceivable for those skilled in the art that the CU network element or the DU network element may take the form shown in fig. 8.

For example, the processor 801 in fig. 8 may execute the instructions by calling a computer stored in the memory 803, so that the CU network element performs the positioning method in the above-described method embodiment.

Specifically, the functions/implementation procedures of the sending unit 901, the receiving unit 902, the initiating unit 903, and the calculating unit 904 in fig. 9 can be implemented by the processor 801 in fig. 8 calling a computer execution instruction stored in the memory 803. Alternatively, the functions/implementation procedures of the initiating unit 903 and the calculating unit 904 in fig. 9 may be implemented by the processor 801 in fig. 8 calling a computer executing instruction stored in the memory 803, and the functions/implementation procedures of the transmitting unit 901 and the receiving unit 902 in fig. 9 may be implemented by the communication interface 804 in fig. 8.

In the above embodiment, the CU network element and the DU network element are presented in a form of dividing each functional module in an integrated manner. Of course, in the embodiment of the present application, each function module of the CU network element and the DU network element may also be divided corresponding to each function, which is not specifically limited in the embodiment of the present application.

The user equipment UE referred to in this application may represent any suitable terminal equipment, and may include (or may represent) devices such as a wireless transmit/receive unit (WTRU), a mobile station, a mobile node, a mobile device, a fixed or mobile subscription unit, a pager, a mobile phone, a handheld device, a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a smart phone, a notebook computer, a touch screen device, a wireless sensor, or a consumer electronics device. In the following, the user equipment UE is taken as a mobile phone for explanation:

fig. 11 is a block diagram illustrating a partial structure of a handset related to a user equipment UE provided in an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to fig. 11, the cellular phone includes: radio Frequency (RF) circuitry 1110, memory 1120, input unit 1130, display unit 1140, sensors 1150, audio circuitry 1160, wireless fidelity (WiFi) module 1170, processor 1180, and power supply 1190. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the handset configuration shown in fig. 11 is not intended to be limiting and may include more or fewer components than those shown, or some components may be combined, or a different arrangement of components.

The following describes each component of the mobile phone in detail with reference to fig. 11:

RF circuit 1110 may be used for receiving and transmitting signals during a message transmission or call, and in particular, for receiving downlink messages from a base station and then processing the received downlink messages to processor 1180; in addition, the data for designing uplink is transmitted to the base station. In general, RF circuit 1110 includes, but is not limited to, an antenna, at least one Amplifier, a transceiver, a coupler, a Low Noise Amplifier (LNA), a duplexer, and the like. In addition, the RF circuitry 1110 may also communicate with networks and other devices via wireless communications. The wireless communication may use any communication standard or protocol, including but not limited to Global System for Mobile communication (GSM), General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), Long Term Evolution (LTE), email, Short Messaging Service (SMS), and the like.

The memory 1120 may be used to store software programs and modules, and the processor 1180 may execute various functional applications and data processing of the mobile phone by operating the software programs and modules stored in the memory 1120. The memory 1120 may mainly include a storage program area and a storage data area, wherein the storage program area may store an operating system, an application program required by at least one function (such as a sound playing function, an image playing function, etc.), and the like; the storage data area may store data (such as audio data, a phonebook, etc.) created according to the use of the cellular phone, etc. Further, the memory 1120 may include high speed random access memory, and may also include non-volatile memory, such as at least one magnetic disk storage device, flash memory device, or other volatile solid state storage device. The memory 1120 may or may not be coupled to the processor 1180.

The input unit 1130 may be used to receive input numeric or character information and generate key signal inputs related to user settings and function control of the cellular phone. Specifically, the input unit 1130 may include a touch panel 1131 and other input devices 1132. Touch panel 1131, also referred to as a touch screen, can collect touch operations of a user on or near the touch panel 1131 (for example, operations of the user on or near touch panel 1131 by using any suitable object or accessory such as a finger or a stylus pen), and drive corresponding connection devices according to a preset program. Alternatively, the touch panel 1131 may include two parts, namely, a touch detection device and a touch controller. The touch detection device detects the touch direction of a user, detects a signal brought by touch operation and transmits the signal to the touch controller; the touch controller receives touch information from the touch sensing device, converts the touch information into touch point coordinates, sends the touch point coordinates to the processor 1180, and can receive and execute commands sent by the processor 1180. In addition, the touch panel 1131 can be implemented by using various types, such as resistive, capacitive, infrared, and surface acoustic wave. The input unit 1130 may include other input devices 1132 in addition to the touch panel 1131. In particular, other input devices 1132 may include, but are not limited to, one or more of a physical keyboard, function keys (e.g., volume control keys, switch keys, etc.), a trackball, a mouse, a joystick, and the like.

The display unit 1140 may be used to display information input by the user or information provided to the user and various menus of the cellular phone. The Display unit 1140 may include a Display panel 1141, and optionally, the Display panel 1141 may be configured in the form of a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD), an Organic Light-Emitting Diode (OLED), or the like. Further, the touch panel 1131 can cover the display panel 1141, and when the touch panel 1131 detects a touch operation on or near the touch panel, the touch panel is transmitted to the processor 1180 to determine the type of the touch event, and then the processor 1180 provides a corresponding visual output on the display panel 1141 according to the type of the touch event. Although in fig. 11, the touch panel 1131 and the display panel 1141 are two independent components to implement the input and output functions of the mobile phone, in some embodiments, the touch panel 1131 and the display panel 1141 may be integrated to implement the input and output functions of the mobile phone.

The handset may also include at least one sensor 1150, such as a light sensor, motion sensor, and other sensors. Specifically, the light sensor may include an ambient light sensor and a proximity sensor, wherein the ambient light sensor may adjust the brightness of the display panel 1141 according to the brightness of ambient light, and the proximity sensor may turn off the display panel 1141 and/or the backlight when the mobile phone moves to the ear. As one of the motion sensors, the accelerometer sensor can detect the magnitude of acceleration in each direction (generally, three axes), can detect the magnitude and direction of gravity when stationary, and can be used for applications of recognizing the posture of a mobile phone (such as horizontal and vertical screen switching, related games, magnetometer posture calibration), vibration recognition related functions (such as pedometer and tapping), and the like; as for other sensors such as a gyroscope, a barometer, a hygrometer, a thermometer, and an infrared sensor, which can be configured on the mobile phone, further description is omitted here.

Audio circuitry 1160, speakers 1161, and microphone 1162 may provide an audio interface between a user and a cell phone. The audio circuit 1160 may transmit the electrical signal converted from the received audio data to the speaker 1161, and convert the electrical signal into a sound signal for output by the speaker 1161; on the other hand, the microphone 1162 converts the collected sound signals into electrical signals, which are received by the audio circuit 1160 and converted into audio data, which are then processed by the audio data output processor 1180, and then transmitted to, for example, another cellular phone via the RF circuit 1110, or output to the memory 1120 for further processing.

WiFi belongs to short-distance wireless transmission technology, and the mobile phone can help a user to receive and send e-mails, browse webpages, access streaming media and the like through a WiFi module 1170, and provides wireless broadband internet access for the user. Although fig. 11 shows the WiFi module 1170, it is understood that it does not belong to the essential constitution of the handset, and can be omitted entirely as needed within the scope not changing the essence of the invention.

The processor 1180 is a control center of the mobile phone, and is connected to various parts of the whole mobile phone through various interfaces and lines, and executes various functions of the mobile phone and processes data by operating or executing software programs and/or modules stored in the memory 1120 and calling data stored in the memory 1120, thereby performing overall monitoring of the mobile phone. Optionally, processor 1180 may include one or more processing units; preferably, the processor 1180 may integrate an application processor, which mainly handles operating systems, user interfaces, application programs, etc., and a modem processor, which mainly handles wireless communications. It will be appreciated that the modem processor described above may not be integrated within processor 1180.

The phone also includes a power supply 1190 (e.g., a battery) for powering the various components, and preferably, the power supply may be logically connected to the processor 1180 via a power management system, so that the power management system may manage charging, discharging, and power consumption management functions.

Although not shown, the mobile phone may further include a camera, a bluetooth module, etc., which are not described herein.

In this embodiment of the present invention, the processor 1180 included in the UE may further perform the following functions: step 402 in the embodiment corresponding to fig. 4, step 403 in the embodiment corresponding to fig. 4, step 503 in the embodiment corresponding to fig. 5, step 504 in the embodiment corresponding to fig. 5, step 505 in the embodiment corresponding to fig. 5, step 506 in the embodiment corresponding to fig. 5, step 605 in the embodiment corresponding to fig. 6, step 606 in the embodiment corresponding to fig. 6, step 607 in the embodiment corresponding to fig. 6, step 608 in the embodiment corresponding to fig. 6, step 703 in the embodiment corresponding to fig. 7, step 704 in the embodiment corresponding to fig. 7, step 705 in the embodiment corresponding to fig. 7, step 706 in the embodiment corresponding to fig. 7, and the like.

Since the CU network element and the DU network element provided in the embodiment of the present application may be used to execute the above positioning method, the technical effect obtained by the CU network element and the DU network element may refer to the above method embodiment, and will not be described herein again.

Optionally, an embodiment of the present application provides a chip system, where the chip system includes a processor, and is configured to support a CU network element or a DU network element to implement the above positioning method. In one possible design, the system-on-chip further includes a memory. The memory is used for storing program instructions and data necessary for the CU network elements or DU network elements. The chip system may be formed by a chip, and may also include a chip and other discrete devices, which is not specifically limited in this embodiment of the present application.

In the above embodiments, the implementation may be wholly or partially realized by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, it may be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product.

The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When loaded and executed on a computer, cause the processes or functions described in accordance with the embodiments of the application to occur, in whole or in part. The computer may be a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a network of computers, or other programmable device. The computer instructions may be stored in a computer readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer readable storage medium to another, for example, from one website site, computer, server, or data center to another website site, computer, server, or data center via wired (e.g., coaxial cable, fiber optic, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.). The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that a computer can store or a data storage device, such as a server, a data center, etc., that includes one or more available media. The usable medium may be a magnetic medium (e.g., floppy Disk, hard Disk, magnetic tape), an optical medium (e.g., DVD), or a semiconductor medium (e.g., Solid State Disk (SSD)), among others.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that all or part of the steps in the methods of the above embodiments may be implemented by associated hardware instructed by a program, which may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, and the storage medium may include: ROM, RAM, magnetic or optical disks, and the like.

The user positioning method, the network element and the system provided by the embodiment of the present application are introduced in detail, a specific example is applied in the present application to explain the principle and the implementation of the present application, and the description of the above embodiment is only used to help understand the method and the core idea of the present application; meanwhile, for a person skilled in the art, according to the idea of the present application, there may be variations in the specific embodiments and the application scope, and in summary, the content of the present specification should not be construed as a limitation to the present application.

Claims

1. A method of user location, comprising:

a centralized unit CU network element sends configuration information to a distributed unit DU network element, wherein the configuration information is used for configuring a positioning reference signal sent by the DU network element;

the CU network element sends a first message to target User Equipment (UE), wherein the first message comprises the type of information to be measured, and the first message is used for positioning measurement of the target UE;

before the centralized unit CU network element sends configuration information to the distributed unit DU network element, the method further includes:

and the CU network element receives a third message sent by a positioning management function LMF network element, wherein the third message is used for triggering the CU network element to send the configuration information to the DU network element.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the third message comprises an indication of a positioning method or a kind of the information to be measured or an identity of the DU network element.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the positioning reference signals comprise reference signals, PRSs, for positioning.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising:

and the CU network element receives a second message sent by the DU network element, where the second message includes information configured by the DU network element itself or positioning assistance information of the DU network element.

5. The method of any of claims 1 to 3, further comprising:

the CU network element receives a measurement result sent by the target UE;

and the CU network element sends the measurement result to the LMF network element, or the CU network element calculates the position of the target UE according to the measurement result and sends the position of the target UE to the LMF network element or an access and mobility management function (AMF) network element.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

and the CU network element initiates a positioning measurement request, wherein the positioning measurement request is used for triggering the CU network element to send configuration information to the DU network element.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

and the CU network element receives the measurement result sent by the target UE and determines the position of the target UE according to the measurement result.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the configuration information comprises a sequence configuration of the positioning reference signal, or a time configuration of the positioning reference signal, or a period configuration of the positioning reference signal, or a frequency configuration of the positioning reference signal transmission, or a bandwidth configuration of the positioning reference signal, or a downlink beam configuration of the positioning reference signal.

9. A method of user location, comprising:

a Distributed Unit (DU) network element receives configuration information sent by a Centralized Unit (CU) network element, wherein the configuration information is used for configuring a positioning reference signal of the DU network element;

the DU network element sends the positioning reference signal to target User Equipment (UE), and the positioning reference signal is used for positioning measurement of the target UE;

and triggering the configuration information to be sent to the DU network element after the CU network element receives a third message sent by a positioning management function LMF network element.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein the configuration information includes a sequence configuration of the positioning reference signal, or a time configuration of the positioning reference signal, or a period configuration of the positioning reference signal, or a frequency configuration of the positioning reference signal transmission, or a bandwidth configuration of the positioning reference signal, or a downlink beam configuration of the positioning reference signal.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the configuration information further comprises an indication of a resource set, wherein the resource set comprises predetermined information, and wherein the predetermined information is used for being identified by the CU and the DU.

12. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

and the DU network element sends a first message to the CU network element according to the received request message, wherein the first message comprises the positioning auxiliary information of the DU network element.

13. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

and the DU network element sends a first message to the CU network element according to the received request message, wherein the first message comprises the information configured by the DU network element.

14. The method according to any of claims 9 to 13, wherein the positioning reference signals comprise reference signals, PRSs, for positioning.

15. A method of user location, comprising:

the method comprises the steps that User Equipment (UE) receives a first message sent by a centralized unit CU network element, wherein the first message can comprise the type of information to be measured;

the UE receives a positioning reference signal sent by a Distributed Unit (DU) network element, the positioning reference signal sent by the DU network element is configured by configuration information, and the configuration information is triggered to be sent to the DU network element after the CU network element receives a third message sent by a positioning management function (LMF) network element;

and the UE measures the information to be measured according to the first message and the positioning reference signal, and sends a measurement result to the first network element, so that the second network element calculates the position of the target UE according to the measurement result.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the first network element and the second network element are both the LMF network elements.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the first network element is the CU network element and the second network element is the LMF network element.

18. A computer readable storage medium, which when run on a computer apparatus causes the computer apparatus to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 8, or perform the method of any one of claims 9 to 14, or perform the method of any one of claims 15 to 17.

19. A communications device, comprising a memory having code and data stored therein, the memory coupled to the processor, the processor executing the code in the memory to cause the device to perform the method of any of claims 1 to 8, or to perform the method of any of claims 9 to 14, or to perform the method of any of claims 15 to 17.

20. A communication device comprising a processor configured to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 8, or to perform the method of any one of claims 9 to 14, or to perform the method of any one of claims 15 to 17.

21. A communications device comprising means for performing the method of any one of claims 1 to 8, or means for performing the method of any one of claims 9 to 14, or means for performing the method of any one of claims 15 to 17.