CN115604820B

CN115604820B - Method and device for positioning

Info

Publication number: CN115604820B
Application number: CN202211518576.8A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 吕玲; 赵铮; 杨中志; 刁志峰
Original assignee: Quectel Wireless Solutions Co Ltd; Hefei Yirui Communication Technology Co Ltd
Current assignee: Quectel Wireless Solutions Co Ltd; Hefei Yirui Communication Technology Co Ltd
Priority date: 2022-11-30
Filing date: 2022-11-30
Publication date: 2023-03-21
Anticipated expiration: 2042-11-30
Also published as: CN115604820A; WO2024113539A1

Abstract

The application provides a method and a device for positioning, and relates to the technical field of communication. The method comprises the following steps: the positioning server sends first information, wherein the first information is related to positioning services based on the unlicensed spectrum. In the embodiment of the application, the positioning server can coordinate the resource supporting positioning service of the unlicensed spectrum through the first information, and realize that the unlicensed spectrum is used for positioning as required.

Description

Method and device for positioning

Technical Field

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

Background

Since the resources of licensed spectrum are very limited, offloading the positioning function to unlicensed spectrum is a development direction. For example, in the licensed-assisted mode, transmission overhead of positioning reference signals and/or positioning measurement reports is offloaded from the licensed spectrum to the unlicensed spectrum. However, the related art does not specify how to support location services in unlicensed spectrum.

Disclosure of Invention

The application provides a method and a device for positioning, which can solve the problem of how to support positioning service in an unlicensed spectrum.

In a first aspect, a method for positioning is provided, including: the positioning server sends first information, wherein the first information is related to positioning services based on the unlicensed spectrum.

In a second aspect, a method for positioning is provided, comprising: a first device receives first information related to an unlicensed spectrum based location service.

In a third aspect, an apparatus for positioning is provided, where the apparatus is a positioning server, and the positioning server includes: a sending unit, configured to send first information, where the first information relates to a location service based on an unlicensed spectrum.

In a fourth aspect, an apparatus for positioning is provided, the apparatus being a first device, the first device comprising: a receiving unit, configured to receive first information, where the first information is related to a location service based on an unlicensed spectrum.

In a fifth aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising a memory for storing a program and a processor for calling the program in the memory to execute the method of the first or second aspect.

In a sixth aspect, there is provided an apparatus comprising a processor configured to invoke a program from a memory to perform the method of the first or second aspect.

In a seventh aspect, a chip is provided, which includes a processor, and is configured to call a program from a memory, so that a device on which the chip is installed executes the method of the first aspect or the second aspect.

In an eighth aspect, there is provided a computer-readable storage medium having a program stored thereon, the program causing a computer to execute the method of the first or second aspect.

In a ninth aspect, there is provided a computer program product comprising a program for causing a computer to perform the method of the first or second aspect.

In a tenth aspect, there is provided a computer program for causing a computer to perform the method of the first or second aspect.

In the embodiment of the application, the positioning server determines and sends the first information, wherein the first information is related to positioning services based on an unlicensed spectrum. By sending the first information, the location server can effectively coordinate resources of the unlicensed spectrum to support location services. The positioning server uses the unlicensed spectrum for positioning as required, which is beneficial to reducing the overhead of the licensed spectrum under the condition of meeting the positioning requirement.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a wireless communication system to which an embodiment of the present application is applied.

Fig. 2 is a schematic flowchart of a method for positioning according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 3 is a flowchart illustrating another method for positioning according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a possible implementation manner provided by an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 5 is a flowchart illustrating another possible implementation manner provided by an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of an apparatus for positioning according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of another device for positioning according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present application, and it is obvious that the described embodiments are some embodiments of the present application, but not all embodiments. All other embodiments obtained by a person of ordinary skill in the art without making any creative effort with respect to the embodiments in the present application belong to the protection scope of the present application.

The technical scheme of the embodiment of the application can be applied to various communication systems. For example: a global system for mobile communications (GSM) system, a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) system, a Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) system, a General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), a long term evolution (long term evolution, LTE) system, an advanced long term evolution (advanced long term evolution, LTE-a) system, a New Radio (NR) system, an evolution system of an NR system, an LTE (LTE-based access to unlicensed spectrum, LTE-U) system on an unlicensed spectrum, an NR (NR-based access to unlicensed spectrum, NR-U) system, a non-terrestrial communication network (non-terrestrial) system, a wireless local area network (UMTS) system, a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) system, a wireless local area network (WiFi) 5 (wireless local area network, UMTS) system, a wireless local area network (wireless local area network, wiFi) system, and a wireless local area network (wireless local area network). The technical solution of the embodiments of the present application may also be applied to other communication systems, for example, future communication systems. The future communication system may be, for example, a 6th-generation (6G) mobile communication system, a satellite communication system, or the like.

Generally, conventional communication systems support a limited number of connections and are easy to implement. However, as communication technologies evolve, the communication system may support not only conventional cellular communications, but one or more other types of communications. For example, the communication system may support one or more of the following communications: device to device (D2D) communication, machine to machine (M2M) communication, machine Type Communication (MTC), vehicle to vehicle (V2V) communication, and vehicle to internet (V2X) communication, and the embodiments of the present application may also be applied to a communication system supporting the above communication method.

The communication system in the embodiment of the present application may be applied to a Carrier Aggregation (CA) scenario, may also be applied to a Dual Connectivity (DC) scenario, and may also be applied to a stand-alone (SA) networking scenario.

The communication system in the embodiment of the present application can be applied to unlicensed spectrum. The unlicensed spectrum may also be considered a shared spectrum. Alternatively, the communication system in the embodiment of the present application may also be applied to licensed spectrum. The licensed spectrum may also be considered a dedicated spectrum.

The embodiment of the application can be applied to an NTN system and a terrestrial communication network (TN) system. By way of example and not limitation, NTN systems may include NR-based NTN systems and internet of things (IoT) based NTN systems.

The communication system in the embodiments of the present application may include one or more terminal devices. A Terminal device may also be referred to as a User Equipment (UE), an access Terminal, a subscriber unit, a subscriber station, a Mobile Station (MS), a Mobile Terminal (MT), a remote station, a remote Terminal, a mobile device, a user Terminal, a wireless communication device, a user agent, or a user equipment.

In the embodiment of the present application, the terminal device may be a STATION (ST) in a WLAN, and may be a cellular phone, a cordless phone, a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phone, a Wireless Local Loop (WLL) STATION, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) device, a handheld device with a wireless communication function, a computing device or other processing device connected to a wireless modem, a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, a terminal device in a next generation communication system (e.g., NR system), or a terminal device in a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) network evolved in the future, or the like.

In the embodiment of the present application, the terminal device may be a device providing voice and/or data connectivity to a user, and may be used to connect people, things, and machines, such as a handheld device with a wireless connection function, a vehicle-mounted device, and the like. The terminal device in the embodiment of the present application may be a mobile phone (mobile phone), a tablet computer (Pad), a notebook computer, a palmtop computer, a Mobile Internet Device (MID), a wearable device, a Virtual Reality (VR) device, an Augmented Reality (AR) device, a wireless terminal in industrial control (industrial control), a wireless terminal in self driving (self driving), a wireless terminal in remote surgery (remote medical supply), a wireless terminal in smart grid (smart grid), a wireless terminal in transportation safety (transportation safety), a wireless terminal in smart city (smart city), a wireless terminal in smart home (smart home), and the like. Alternatively, the terminal device may be configured to act as a base station. For example, the terminal devices may act as scheduling entities that provide sidelink signals between terminal devices in V2X or D2D, etc. For example, cellular telephones and automobiles communicate with each other using sidelink signals. The communication between the cellular phone and the smart home device is performed without relaying communication signals through a base station.

In the embodiment of the application, the terminal equipment can be deployed on land, including indoor or outdoor, wearable or vehicle-mounted; it can also be deployed on the surface of the water, such as on a ship; and may also be deployed in the air, such as airplanes, balloons, and satellites.

In addition to the terminal device, the communication system may also include one or more network devices. The network device in the embodiment of the present application may be a device for communicating with the terminal device, and the network device may also be referred to as an access network device or a radio access network device. The network device may be, for example, a base station. The network device in this embodiment may refer to a Radio Access Network (RAN) node (or device) that accesses a terminal device to a wireless network. The base station may broadly cover or replace various names such as: node B (NodeB), evolved node B (eNB), next generation base station (next generation NodeB, gNB), relay station, access point, transmission point (TRP), transmission Point (TP), master station MeNB, secondary station SeNB, multi-system wireless (MSR) node, home base station, network controller, access node, wireless node, access Point (AP), transmission node, transceiving node, base Band Unit (BBU), radio Remote Unit (RRU), active Antenna Unit (AAU), radio head (RRH), central unit (central unit, CU), distributed unit (distributed unit, positioning node, and the like. The base station may be a macro base station, a micro base station, a relay node, a donor node, or the like, or a combination thereof. A base station may also refer to a communication module, modem, or chip for locating within the aforementioned apparatus or devices. The base station may also be a mobile switching center, a device that performs a function of a base station in D2D, V2X, M2M communication, a network side device in a 6G network, a device that performs a function of a base station in a future communication system, and the like. The base stations may support networks of the same or different access technologies. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the specific technologies and the specific device forms used by the network devices.

The base stations may be fixed or mobile. For example, a helicopter or drone may be configured to act as a mobile base station, and one or more cells may move according to the location of the mobile base station. In other examples, a helicopter or drone may be configured to function as a device to communicate with another base station.

In some deployments, the network device in the embodiments of the present application may refer to a CU or a DU, or the network device includes a CU and a DU. The gNB may also include AAU.

By way of example and not limitation, in embodiments of the present application, a network device may have a mobile nature, e.g., the network device may be a mobile device. In some embodiments of the present application, the network device may be a satellite, balloon station. In some embodiments of the present application, the network device may also be a base station disposed at a location such as land, water, etc.

In this embodiment of the present application, a network device may provide a service for a cell, and a terminal device communicates with the network device through a transmission resource (for example, a frequency domain resource or a spectrum resource) used by the cell, where the cell may be a cell corresponding to the network device (for example, a base station), the cell may belong to a macro base station, and may also belong to a base station corresponding to a small cell (small cell), where the small cell may include: urban cell (metro cell), micro cell (microcell), pico cell (pico cell), femto cell (femto cell), etc., and these small cells have the characteristics of small coverage and low transmission power, and are suitable for providing high-rate data transmission service.

Fig. 1 is a schematic architecture diagram of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 1, the communication system 100 may include a network device 110, and the network device 110 may be a device communicating with a terminal device 120 (or referred to as a communication terminal, a terminal). Network device 110 may provide communication coverage for a particular geographic area and may communicate with terminal devices located within that coverage area.

Fig. 1 exemplarily shows one network device and two terminal devices, in some embodiments of the present application, the communication system 100 may include a plurality of network devices and each network device may include other numbers of terminal devices within a coverage area thereof, which is not limited by the embodiment of the present application.

It should be understood that a device having a communication function in a network/system in the embodiments of the present application may be referred to as a communication device. Taking the communication system 100 shown in fig. 1 as an example, the communication device may include a network device 110 and a terminal device 120 having a communication function, and the network device 110 and the terminal device 120 may be the specific devices described above and are not described herein again; the communication device may also include other devices in the communication system 100, such as a network controller, a Mobility Management Entity (MME), an access and mobility management function (AMF), and other network entities, which are not limited in this embodiment.

For the sake of understanding, some relevant technical knowledge related to the embodiments of the present application will be described. The following related arts as alternatives can be arbitrarily combined with the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, and all of them belong to the scope of the embodiments of the present application. The embodiment of the present application includes at least part of the following contents.

Positioning mode and interface protocol

Currently, there are many common positioning methods, such as a time of arrival (TOA) positioning method and a time difference of arrival (TDOA) positioning method. No matter what positioning method is used for positioning, positioning measurement is needed. According to different positioning measurement reference signals, different communication devices are required to perform positioning measurement.

In a downlink signal based positioning method, a terminal device measures downlink reference signals from a plurality of network devices (e.g., a gNB). The downlink reference signal is generally a dedicated pilot signal for positioning, i.e., a Positioning Reference Signal (PRS).

In the uplink signal based positioning method, a plurality of network devices measure uplink reference signals from a terminal device. The uplink reference signal is generally a Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) sent by the terminal device at a specific time.

In a round-trip time (RTT) based positioning method, an uplink reference signal and a downlink reference signal need to be measured respectively. The plurality of network devices send downlink reference signals first, and the terminal device returns a plurality of corresponding uplink reference signals after receiving the downlink reference signals, so that a round trip is formed. That is, the terminal device and the plurality of network devices perform transmission to and from each other.

From the positioning measurements described above, the position of the terminal device can be estimated. Generally, the position estimation method requires at least 3 network devices to participate, and the more the network devices participating in positioning measurement have data, the higher the measurement accuracy is, and the more obvious the improvement of the positioning performance is.

A location service (LCS), also known as a "location service", is provided by a communication system for a terminal device. The communication system may perform relevant location services via a location server. The location server may be understood as an entity handling the location of the LCS target device and responsible for providing assistance information and performing location calculations.

Currently, the positioning protocols supported in the communication protocol include LTE Positioning Protocol (LPP) and NR positioning protocol a (NRPPa). The LPP may be used as a general positioning communication protocol, and is mainly used for exchanging positioning capability information, auxiliary data, measurement information related to positioning, location information, and the like between a positioning server and a terminal device. In general, LPP supports point-to-point communication between a terminal device and a location server. In addition, LPP may be used for user plane and control plane positioning and allow multiple LPP procedures to be performed simultaneously to reduce positioning delay. Currently, NRPPa is commonly used for control plane positioning, supporting communication between network devices and positioning servers. NRPPa may assist user plane location by querying network devices for data and measurements.

Licensed spectrum assisted based access

Licensed Assisted Access (LAA) is a function that is studied and supported from the LTE protocols (e.g., rel-13). LAA can use the combination of the unlicensed 5GHz band and the licensed spectrum (also called licensed band), increasing the available spectrum resources of the system and providing performance improvement for the mobile broadband service. In an LAA scenario, a serving base station (e.g., a gNB) may decide whether to offload from a licensed spectrum to an unlicensed spectrum according to its actual load conditions.

Taking LTE-LAA as an example, the LTE-LAA is based on a carrier aggregation framework, where an authorized spectrum is used as a primary cell (PCell) to provide main access and control, and an unlicensed spectrum (also referred to as an unlicensed band or an unlicensed band) may be used as a secondary cell (SCell) to support only data service transmission. When the load of the serving base station is large, the traffic of the data traffic can be offloaded to the secondary cell. When the load of the serving base station is small, all traffic can be performed through the primary cell.

With the development of communication technology, the types of services that can be transmitted by unlicensed spectrum are expanding. For example, in Rel-13, the unlicensed spectrum supports Downlink (DL) transmission only. In subsequent releases (Rel-14 and Rel-15), uplink (UL) operation has been introduced into unlicensed spectrum.

For the licensed spectrum and the unlicensed spectrum in the LAA, different communication systems may set corresponding deployment scenario. For example, in 5G NR-U, there are five deployment scenarios:

scene A: carrier aggregation between NR (PCell) of licensed spectrum and NR-U (SCell) of unlicensed spectrum. The NR-U may have both downlink and uplink, or only downlink, as the SCell.

Scene B: dual connectivity between LTE of licensed spectrum (PCell) and NR-U of unlicensed spectrum. Wherein, NR-U is primary secondary cell (PSCell).

Scene C: independently operating NR-U.

Scene D: in an NR cell, downlink transmission is in an unlicensed spectrum, and uplink transmission is in a licensed spectrum.

Scene E: dual connectivity between NR (PCell) of licensed spectrum and NR-U (PSCell) of unlicensed spectrum.

Location support for unlicensed spectrum

Since the resources of the licensed spectrum are quite limited, in the licensed-assisted mode, offloading of other communications into the unlicensed spectrum is also contemplated. For example, the third generation partnership project (3 rd generation partnership project,3 gpp) proposes a project to support location services in unlicensed spectrum in RP-192527. RP-192527 proposes offloading the positioning function into the unlicensed spectrum in the licensed-assisted mode, with specific possible operations including: transmitting a positioning reference signal over an unlicensed spectrum; and transmitting a positioning measurement report in the unlicensed spectrum.

By offloading the transmission overhead of the positioning reference signaling from the licensed spectrum to the unlicensed spectrum, the impact of the positioning service on the quality of service (QoS) of the application scenarios in the licensed spectrum may be reduced. Application scenarios are, for example, enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), low latency and high reliability communication (urrllc).

However, how to support location services in the unlicensed spectrum is a consideration. For example, when to activate an unlicensed spectrum based location service, how to activate and how to transmit.

It was mentioned above that in a traditional LAA scenario, a network device (e.g., serving gNB) may decide when to offload traffic to unlicensed spectrum based on its load conditions. There are several problems if this mechanism is applied to location services based on unlicensed spectrum. For the sake of understanding, taking the positioning measurement based on the downlink reference signal as an example, the base station autonomously deciding when to offload the positioning reference signal to the unlicensed spectrum may have the following problems for no other devices to participate.

As described above, the terminal device needs to measure the positioning reference signals of multiple network devices. The plurality of network devices include a serving base station and a neighboring base station corresponding to the terminal device. Wherein the terminal device and the neighboring base station have no capability to communicate directly. Therefore, when the neighboring base station decides to transmit the positioning reference signal in the unlicensed spectrum according to its own situation, the terminal device may not know when the positioning reference signal is transmitted in the unlicensed spectrum.

Further, since it is uncertain whether or not a positioning reference signal is transmitted in the unlicensed spectrum, the terminal may need to constantly try between the licensed spectrum and the unlicensed spectrum. That is, uncertain unlicensed spectrum usage may introduce additional blind decoding complexity at the receiving end (terminal device).

Meanwhile, without any coordination, some base stations may transmit positioning reference signals in the licensed spectrum, and some base stations may transmit positioning reference signals in the unlicensed spectrum. For the terminal device, positioning reference signals of different frequency points need to be received, which may also increase the operational complexity of the receiver.

In order to avoid the above problem, the embodiments of the present application propose a method for positioning. The method utilizes the positioning server to coordinate the use of the unlicensed spectrum to support the positioning service, and can realize an effective mode of positioning by using the unlicensed spectrum as required. The method for positioning according to the embodiment of the present application is described below with reference to fig. 2.

The method shown in fig. 2 is presented from the point of view of the interaction of the positioning server and the first device.

In step S210, the location server sends first information to the first device, where the first information relates to a location service based on an unlicensed spectrum.

The location server may be a core network device for LCS in the communication system. The positioning server may include a positioning network element in a core network, such as a Location Management Function (LMF) device.

The first device may be one or more communication devices participating in the positioning. The communication device may be any of the terminal devices described above, or may be any of the network devices. The terminal device may be a target device for performing positioning, and the network device may serve as a reference device to assist in completing positioning of the target device. That is, the method for positioning may be to position the terminal device.

In some embodiments, the first device may be a device with the capability to support positioning using unlicensed spectrum. For example, the first device is a network device that may transmit PRSs in the unlicensed spectrum, or may receive positioning reference signals in the unlicensed spectrum. As another example, the first device is a terminal device that may transmit a positioning reference signal (SRS-pos) in an unlicensed spectrum, or may receive the positioning reference signal in the unlicensed spectrum. As another example, the first device is a terminal device that may report positioning measurement results over unlicensed spectrum.

As introduced above, in the positioning scenario, the interaction between the positioning server and the terminal device may be performed by the LPP protocol, and thus, if the first device includes the terminal device, the first information may be LPP information. Accordingly, the interaction between the location server and the network device may be performed by NRPPa protocol, and thus, if the first device includes the network device, the first information is NRPPa information.

The first information may be used to implement one or more functions. The content and the implemented function that the first information may include are described below, it should be noted that the first information may also include other information than those described below, and this is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

In some embodiments, the first information may include activation information for an unlicensed spectrum based location service. Accordingly, the first information may be used to implement a function of activating an unlicensed spectrum based location service so that a location server may control when the unlicensed spectrum is activated. For example, the first information may include indication information that the unlicensed spectrum location service is activated.

In some embodiments, the first information may include configuration information of a positioning reference signal in the unlicensed spectrum, so that a function of indicating the configuration information of the positioning reference signal in the unlicensed spectrum may be implemented. As a possible implementation manner, the first information may include downlink positioning reference signal configuration information provided by the positioning server to the first device. For example, the positioning server may provide configuration information for PRS to the network device and may provide configuration information for PRS to the terminal device. As another possible implementation manner, the first information may include uplink positioning reference signal configuration information provided by the positioning server to the first device. For example, the positioning server may suggest the configuration information of the SRS to the terminal device, and may also provide the configuration information of the SRS to the network device.

In some embodiments, the first information may include transmission information of positioning reference signals in the unlicensed spectrum to enable a function of the positioning server to indicate or trigger transmission of positioning reference signals in the unlicensed spectrum. That is, the positioning server may control which devices should send the downlink or uplink positioning reference signals through the first information, and synchronize the transmission information at the two ends of the transceiver. Therefore, the positioning server can centrally control the resources of the different devices participating in positioning to transmit the positioning related information, thereby reducing the receiving complexity of the receiving end. For example, for a downlink positioning reference signal, the positioning server may indicate, through the first information, that the related network device transmits a PRS on a time-frequency resource of an unlicensed spectrum, and may also indicate the terminal device to receive the PRS on a corresponding resource. For another example, for the uplink positioning reference signal, the positioning server may instruct the terminal device to transmit the SRS on the time-frequency resource of the unlicensed spectrum through the first information, and may also instruct the network device to receive the SRS on the corresponding resource.

In some embodiments, the positioning server may further trigger measurement of the positioning reference signal by the first device through the first information. As a possible implementation, the positioning server may indicate transmission information of the positioning reference signal in the unlicensed spectrum to the first device and trigger the first device to measure the positioning reference signal. For example, when the first device is a terminal device, the positioning server may trigger the relevant terminal device to measure the downlink positioning reference signal in the unlicensed spectrum. For another example, when the first device is a network device, the positioning server may trigger the relevant network device to measure the uplink positioning reference signal in the unlicensed spectrum through the first information.

In some embodiments, the first information may include a transmission manner of a measurement report of a positioning reference signal in an unlicensed spectrum to determine whether to perform positioning measurement and reporting in the unlicensed spectrum. As a possible implementation, the location server may instruct the terminal device to report its location measurement result in the unlicensed spectrum through the first information. That is, the terminal device may transmit the positioning measurement report over the unlicensed spectrum.

In some embodiments, the first information may further include positioning related measurement and assistance information to facilitate the terminal device or the network device to calculate the location of the target device.

By offloading the transmission overhead of the positioning reference signals and the positioning measurement reports from the licensed spectrum to the unlicensed spectrum, the quality of service of more critical services and data on the licensed spectrum can be guaranteed.

As can be seen from fig. 2, the method for positioning according to the embodiment of the present application may determine when to activate the unlicensed spectrum for positioning by the positioning server, so as to provide effective licensed and unlicensed spectrum for the positioning service. Further, in order to uniformly schedule the licensed spectrum and the unlicensed spectrum, in which case the location server activates the unlicensed spectrum for location determination needs to be considered and determined.

Based on this, this application embodiment also proposes a method for positioning. The method includes that a positioning server can determine whether to activate the unlicensed spectrum for positioning or not based on an activation request of the unlicensed spectrum. For ease of understanding, the method for activating the unlicensed spectrum by the location server is described in detail below with reference to fig. 3. The method shown in fig. 3 is related to fig. 2, and therefore, for the sake of brevity, fig. 3 will not explain in detail the terms already present in fig. 2.

Referring to fig. 3, in step S310, a location server initiates and/or receives a first request, where the first request is for requesting activation of an unlicensed spectrum based location service.

The positioning server initiates and/or receives the first request, which means that the first request can be from the first device participating in positioning or from the corresponding function of the positioning server. As a possible implementation manner, when the first request is from a network device or a terminal device, the positioning server needs to receive the first request. As a possible implementation manner, when the initiator of the first request is the positioning server, the positioning server directly executes the subsequent process based on the first request.

In some embodiments, the first device or the location server may request activation of unlicensed spectrum for location based on location services QoS, traffic load conditions, link quality, and other information.

As a possible implementation, the originator of the first request may be a location server. This situation may occur in a user-assisted positioning scheme (UE-assisted positioning). In a user-assisted positioning mode, the positioning server may evaluate whether the current positioning capability meets the first requested positioning service requirement. That is, the location server may request use of the unlicensed spectrum based on the QoS of the licensed spectrum location service.

For example, when the location server finds that only the licensed spectrum is used, the requirement of location accuracy cannot be met due to the limited bandwidth. The positioning server may initiate the first request to activate more wideband in the unlicensed spectrum to enable transmission of the positioning reference signal. By utilizing the high available bandwidth of the unlicensed spectrum, positioning accuracy may be improved.

As another example, the location server finds that there are insufficient location measurement reports transmitted in the licensed spectrum, resulting in excessive delay for location services. The location server may initiate the first request to activate more location measurement reports in the unlicensed spectrum, thereby reducing latency of the location service.

For another example, the positioning server recognizes that there is a synchronization problem between network devices in some way, and the time synchronization difference is large, which is not favorable for positioning measurement. The positioning server may initiate a first request to implement an additional UL/DL positioning method by activating the unlicensed spectrum to implement multi-cell RTT positioning.

As a possible implementation, the initiator of the first request may be a terminal device. That is, the first request may come from the terminal device. This situation may arise in a user-based positioning scheme (UE-based positioning). In a user-based positioning approach, the terminal device may evaluate whether the current positioning capability meets the first requested positioning service requirement. That is, the terminal device may initiate the first request based on different positioning KPI conditions. The positioning KPI is, for example, related conditions such as the positioning accuracy, the positioning service delay, and the synchronization problem described above.

For example, when the terminal device finds that only the licensed spectrum is used, the requirement of positioning accuracy cannot be met due to the limited bandwidth. The terminal device can initiate a first request to the positioning server, so that more broadband is activated in the unlicensed spectrum to realize transmission of the positioning reference signal, and the positioning accuracy is improved.

As a possible implementation, the initiator of the first request may be a network device. That is, the first request may come from a network device. Unlike terminal devices and location servers, network devices may also request the use of unlicensed spectrum based on their load requests. The network device may decide on a positioning method based configuration. If there is a large traffic load in the licensed spectrum, the network device may wish to offload certain services into the unlicensed spectrum. Taking NR positioning in some protocols (Rel-16/17) as an example, the configuration and scheduling of DL PRS (for downlink positioning methods) and UL SRS (for uplink positioning methods) is completely dependent on the decision of the serving base station. Thus, depending on the actual load situation, the serving base station may request transmission of positioning reference signals in the unlicensed spectrum and/or send positioning measurement reports in the unlicensed spectrum.

For example, when the data transmission traffic load is high, the network device finds that only the licensed spectrum is used, and cannot provide enough resources for transmitting the positioning reference signal. In this case, the network device may initiate a first request to the location server to activate resources of the unlicensed spectrum to transmit the location reference signal.

As a possible implementation, the initiator of the first request may be one or more of the three above. For example, the network device and the terminal device may initiate a first request for the same location service. The location server may collect requests from different location participants or stakeholders and then make a final decision.

The first request may be for requesting activation of an unlicensed spectrum based location service, meaning that the first request may correspond to a location service for a certain target device, and the location service requests transmission of relevant information in the unlicensed spectrum. As a possible implementation manner, the first request may be related information including the above-mentioned location service, and may also include related information of an unlicensed spectrum requested to be activated.

The final decision of the location server after receiving the first request may be to activate unlicensed spectrum for location services. However, the use of unlicensed spectrum is required to meet certain requirements. For example, channel listening is required for the unlicensed spectrum, and the unlicensed spectrum can be used only if the listening result is idle. However, the location server may not be able to perform channel sensing or determine whether the unlicensed spectrum is available. Therefore, the embodiment of the present application proposes that the location server may determine whether to activate/use the unlicensed spectrum by collecting channel usage information of the unlicensed spectrum, which may specifically refer to step S320 and step S330 shown in fig. 3.

In step S320, the positioning server requests the second information from the first device. The location server may collect channel usage information for the unlicensed spectrum from the first device participating in the location.

The second information may include channel usage information indicating whether the unlicensed spectrum may be used. In some embodiments, the first information described above may also be determined based on the second information.

As a possible implementation, the second information may include a channel busy rate of the unlicensed spectrum, that is, a channel utilization rate. The channel busy rate may be determined by a correlation report of the first device. For example, an NR-U Received Signal Strength Indication (RSSI) report provided by the terminal device may indicate a channel busy rate of the unlicensed spectrum.

As a possible implementation, the second information may include link quality of the unlicensed spectrum. The link quality may be determined by measurements of the link by the first device. The link quality is, for example, reference Signal Receiving Power (RSRP), and is, for example, reference Signal Receiving Quality (RSRQ).

As a possible implementation, the second information may include a listening result of the unlicensed spectrum. The listening result is, for example, a result of Listen Before Talk (LBT) of the first device on the unlicensed spectrum. The first device participating in the positioning may send the LBT result to the positioning server.

As a possible implementation, the second information may include a capability of the first device to use the unlicensed spectrum for positioning. The ability of the first device to locate using unlicensed spectrum has been described above. The location server may perform the capability collection before the first request to the first device or after the first request as shown in fig. 3. The first device, after receiving the capability collection request from the location server, may provide its capability information accordingly.

As a possible implementation, the second information may include one or more of the above-mentioned information. For example, the first device may report channel utilization and link quality of the unlicensed spectrum to the location server, or may directly report the LBT result.

In some embodiments, the first device may send the second information according to the request of step S320, or may send the second information directly when sending the first request. That is, in the case where the first device directly transmits the second information, the positioning server does not need to perform the flow of step S320.

In step S330, the first device sends the second information to the positioning server. The location server may make an appropriate decision whether to activate the unlicensed spectrum for location by collecting channel usage information comprised by the second information.

In some embodiments, the second information may be a report from a different device participating in the positioning. For the positioning server, the second information may be a report from the terminal device or a report from the network device. Taking NR-U as an example, the NR-U may support measurement and reporting of average RSSI and statistical RSSI from the terminal devices. The network device of the NR can acquire information of a busy condition of an unlicensed spectrum channel and identify a potential hidden node problem by collecting a plurality of measurement values from different terminal devices and combining the measurement values with its own measurement value.

As a possible implementation, the second information may be a report from the terminal device. To learn channel usage information for unlicensed spectrum, the location server may request the terminal device to report similar measurements. For example, the location server may issue a request to the terminal device via the LPP protocol. The terminal device may provide its measured channel utilization accordingly. As a possible implementation, the terminal device may reuse existing measurement results, or may perform new measurements upon request.

As a possible implementation, the second information may be a report from the network device. To learn channel usage information for unlicensed spectrum, the location server may request a network device to report. For example, the location server may issue a request to the network device via the NRPPa protocol. As a possible implementation, the network device may generate such information from conventional RSSI reports and/or its own measurements and then report the combined measurements to the location server.

In step S340, the location server determines whether to use unlicensed spectrum. The location server may determine whether to use/activate the unlicensed spectrum for the first device participating in the location based on the channel usage information obtained in step S330 and certain criteria. The first device may be a network device and/or a terminal device of a location candidate based on the first request.

In some embodiments, step S340 may be coordinated and scheduled by an advanced scheduler within the positioning server. The advanced scheduler may be a logical function within the positioning server.

Step S350 is the same as step S210 in fig. 2, and is not described herein again.

As can be seen from fig. 3, the embodiment of the present application proposes a new framework for positioning to support the unlicensed spectrum positioning technology deployed on demand. The core part of the framework is to coordinate the use of unlicensed spectrum by a location server to support location services. The location server can comprehensively consider the conditions of the authorized spectrum, the unauthorized spectrum and the related equipment, and unload the location related information to the unauthorized spectrum as required, thereby better ensuring the effective use of the authorized spectrum and the unauthorized spectrum.

Both fig. 2 and fig. 3 are presented based on the point of view of the positioning server interacting with the first device. With reference to fig. 4, a flow of a possible implementation manner when the positioning server uses the methods shown in fig. 2 and fig. 3 will be described.

Referring to fig. 4, in step S410, capability is collected. The location server may request the network devices and/or the terminal devices to report whether they support location using unlicensed spectrum. The reports provided by the network device and the terminal device include capability information of whether the positioning reference signals and the positioning measurement reports can be transmitted and received in the unlicensed spectrum.

In step S420, an unlicensed spectrum activation request is initiated or received. As described above, the location server may initiate an unlicensed spectrum activation request based on the quality of service of the location service, and may also receive an activation request from another device.

In step S430, channel usage information is collected from the network device and/or the terminal device. The location server may collect the relevant information by initiating a channel usage information request to the network device or the terminal device.

In step S440, it is determined whether an unlicensed spectrum is used/activated for the communication device. The communication equipment is network equipment and terminal equipment which participate in positioning. If it is determined that the unlicensed spectrum is used/activated, step S450 is performed. If it is determined that the unlicensed spectrum is not used/activated, steps S420 through S440 are repeatedly performed.

In step S450, an unlicensed spectrum positioning reference signal configuration is provided, triggering a corresponding transmission. The positioning server may provide configuration information of the positioning reference signal in the unlicensed spectrum to a corresponding device according to the uplink positioning method or the downlink positioning method, and trigger transmission of the positioning reference signal.

Embodiments of the present application are described more fully below with reference to specific example fig. 5. It should be noted that the examples of fig. 2 to 4 are only for assisting the skilled person in understanding the embodiments of the present application, and are not intended to limit the embodiments of the present application to the specific values or specific scenarios illustrated. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various equivalent modifications or variations are possible in light of the examples given in figures 2 through 4, and such modifications or variations are intended to be included within the scope of the embodiments of the present application.

Fig. 5 is a schematic flowchart of a possible implementation manner provided by an embodiment of the present application. The dashed line in fig. 5 indicates that this flow is an optional flow. As can be seen from fig. 5, the location server mainly interacts with the network devices. The interaction between the positioning server and the terminal equipment can be known according to the interaction with the network equipment.

Referring to fig. 5, at step S510, the network device provides a capability report to the location server.

In step S520, the location server receives an unlicensed spectrum activation request. In particular, the activation request may have a variety of options depending on the initiator. Option 1 is step S521, where the initiator is a location server. Option 2 is step S522, and the initiator is the terminal device. Option 3 is step S523, where the initiator is a network device.

The location server requests channel usage information from the network device at step S530.

In step S540, the network device feeds back the channel usage information to the positioning server.

In step S550, the location server determines whether to use unlicensed spectrum.

At step S560, the location server activates/configures the unlicensed spectrum for the location service for the network device.

In step S570, when the positioning mode is the downlink positioning mode, the positioning server provides the positioning reference signal configuration information in the unlicensed spectrum to the terminal device.

In step S580, when the positioning mode is the uplink positioning mode, the network device provides the positioning reference configuration information in the unlicensed spectrum to the terminal device.

Method embodiments of the present application are described in detail above in connection with fig. 2-5. The device embodiments of the present application are described in detail below with reference to fig. 6 to 8. It is to be understood that the description of the apparatus embodiments corresponds to the description of the method embodiments, and therefore reference may be made to the preceding method embodiments for parts not described in detail.

Fig. 6 is a schematic block diagram of an apparatus for positioning according to an embodiment of the present application. The apparatus 600 may be a location server as described above. The apparatus 600 shown in fig. 6 comprises a transmitting unit 610.

The sending unit 610 may be configured to send first information, where the first information is related to a location service based on an unlicensed spectrum.

Optionally, the first information is used to implement one or more of the following functions: activating an unlicensed spectrum based location service; configuration information indicating positioning reference signals in unlicensed spectrum; indicating or triggering transmission of a positioning reference signal in an unlicensed spectrum; and a transmission mode indicating a measurement report of a positioning reference signal in the unlicensed spectrum.

Optionally, the apparatus 600 is further configured to initiate and/or receive a first request for requesting activation of an unlicensed spectrum based location service.

Optionally, the first request is from a location server and/or a terminal device, and the first request performs a quality of service determination for the location service based on the licensed spectrum.

Optionally, the first request is from a network device, the first request being determined based on a load condition of the network device.

Optionally, the first information is determined from second information, the second information comprising one or more of: a channel busy rate of the unlicensed spectrum; link quality of unlicensed spectrum; monitoring results of the unlicensed spectrum; and the ability of the first device receiving the first information to use unlicensed spectrum for location determination.

Optionally, the location server is a location management function device.

Fig. 7 is a schematic block diagram of an apparatus for positioning according to another embodiment of the present application. The apparatus 700 may be any of the first devices described above. The apparatus 700 shown in fig. 7 comprises a receiving unit 710.

The receiving unit 710 may be configured to receive first information, where the first information relates to a location service based on an unlicensed spectrum.

Optionally, the apparatus 700 further includes a sending unit operable to send a first request for requesting activation of an unlicensed spectrum based location service.

Optionally, the first device is a terminal device, and the first request is to perform quality of service determination of the location service based on the licensed spectrum.

Optionally, the first device is a network device, and the first request is determined based on a load condition of the network device.

Optionally, the first information is determined from second information, the second information comprising one or more of: a channel busy rate of the unlicensed spectrum; link quality of unlicensed spectrum; monitoring results of the unlicensed spectrum; and the ability of the first device to locate using unlicensed spectrum.

Optionally, the location server is a location management function device.

Fig. 8 is a schematic configuration diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application. The dashed lines in fig. 8 indicate that the unit or module is optional. The apparatus 800 may be used to implement the methods described in the method embodiments above. The apparatus 800 may be a chip or a terminal device.

The apparatus 800 may include one or more processors 810. The processor 810 may enable the apparatus 800 to implement the methods described in the previous method embodiments. The processor 810 may be a general purpose processor or a special purpose processor. For example, the processor may be a Central Processing Unit (CPU). Alternatively, the processor may be other general purpose processor, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), an off the shelf programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, etc. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or the processor may be any conventional processor or the like.

The apparatus 800 may also include one or more memories 820. The memory 820 has stored thereon a program that can be executed by the processor 810, causing the processor 810 to perform the methods described in the previous method embodiments. The memory 820 may be separate from the processor 810 or may be integrated in the processor 810.

The apparatus 800 may also include a transceiver 830. Processor 810 may communicate with other devices or chips through transceiver 830. For example, the processor 810 may transceive data with other devices or chips through the transceiver 830.

An embodiment of the present application further provides a computer-readable storage medium for storing a program. The computer-readable storage medium can be applied to the terminal or the network device provided in the embodiments of the present application, and the program causes the computer to execute the method performed by the terminal or the network device in the embodiments of the present application.

It should be appreciated that the computer-readable storage media referred to in the embodiments of the present application can be any available media that can be read by a computer or a data storage device including one or more available media integrated servers, data centers, and the like. The usable medium may be a magnetic medium (e.g., a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape), an optical medium (e.g., a Digital Versatile Disk (DVD)), or a semiconductor medium (e.g., a Solid State Disk (SSD)), among others.

The embodiment of the application also provides a computer program product. The computer program product includes a program. The computer program product can be applied to the terminal or the network device provided by the embodiment of the application, and the program enables the computer to execute the method executed by the terminal or the network device in the various embodiments of the 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, 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 on a computer readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer readable storage medium to another, for example, from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via wire (e.g., coaxial cable, fiber optic, digital Subscriber Line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.).

The embodiment of the application also provides a computer program. The computer program can be applied to the terminal or the network device provided in the embodiments of the present application, and the computer program enables the computer to execute the method performed by the terminal or the network device in the embodiments of the present application.

The terms "system" and "network" may be used interchangeably in this application. In addition, the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the application. The terms "first," "second," "third," and "fourth," etc. in the description and claims of this application and in the accompanying drawings are used for distinguishing between different objects and not for describing a particular order. Furthermore, the terms "include" and "have," as well as any variations thereof, are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions.

In the embodiments of the present application, the reference to "indication" may be a direct indication, an indirect indication, or an indication of an association relationship. For example, a indicates B, which may mean that a directly indicates B, e.g., B may be obtained by a; it may also mean that a indicates B indirectly, for example, a indicates C, and B may be obtained by C; it can also mean that there is an association between a and B.

In the embodiments of the present application, the term "correspond" may indicate that there is a direct correspondence or an indirect correspondence between the two, may also indicate that there is an association between the two, and may also indicate and be indicated, configure and configured, and so on.

In the embodiment of the present application, the "pre-configuration" may be implemented by saving a corresponding code, table, or other means that can be used to indicate the relevant information in advance in the device (for example, including the terminal device and the network device), and the present application is not limited to a specific implementation manner thereof.

In the embodiment of the present application, the "protocol" may refer to a standard protocol in the field of communications, and may include, for example, an LTE protocol, an NR protocol, and a related protocol applied in a future communication system, which is not limited in the present application.

In embodiments of the present application, determining B from a does not mean determining B from a alone, but may also determine B from a and/or other information.

In the embodiment of the present application, the term "and/or" is only one kind of association relationship describing an associated object, and means that three relationships may exist, for example, a and/or B may mean: a exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone. In addition, the character "/" herein generally indicates that the former and latter related objects are in an "or" relationship.

In the embodiments of the present application, the sequence numbers of the above-mentioned processes do not mean the execution sequence, and the execution sequence of each process should be determined by its function and inherent logic, and should not constitute any limitation to the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

In the several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed system, apparatus and method may be implemented in other ways. For example, the above-described apparatus embodiments are merely illustrative, and for example, the division of the units is only one logical division, and other divisions may be realized in practice, for example, a plurality of units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be omitted, or not executed. In addition, the shown or discussed mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection may be an indirect coupling or communication connection through some interfaces, devices or units, and may be in an electrical, mechanical or other form.

The units described as separate parts may or may not be physically separate, and parts displayed as units may or may not be physical units, may be located in one position, or may be distributed on multiple network units. Some or all of the units can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of the embodiment.

In addition, functional units in the embodiments of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist alone physically, or two or more units are integrated into one unit.

The above description is only for the specific embodiments of the present application, but the scope of the present application is not limited thereto, and any person skilled in the art can easily conceive of the changes or substitutions within the technical scope of the present application, and shall be covered by the scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A method for positioning, comprising:

a positioning server initiates and/or receives a first request, wherein the first request is used for requesting to activate positioning service based on unlicensed spectrum;

the positioning server sends first information, wherein the first information is relevant to the positioning service based on the unauthorized frequency spectrum;

wherein the first request comes from the positioning server and/or the terminal equipment, and the first request is based on authorized spectrum to execute service quality determination of the positioning service;

and/or the presence of a gas in the gas,

the first request is from a network device, and the first request is determined based on a load condition of the network device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first information is used to implement one or more of the following functions:

activating the unlicensed spectrum based location service;

configuration information indicating positioning reference signals in unlicensed spectrum;

indicating or triggering transmission of a positioning reference signal in an unlicensed spectrum; and

a transmission manner of a measurement report indicating a positioning reference signal in an unlicensed spectrum.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the first information is determined from second information, the second information comprising one or more of:

a channel busy rate of the unlicensed spectrum;

a link quality of the unlicensed spectrum;

monitoring results of the unlicensed spectrum; and

a first device receiving the first information is capable of locating using unlicensed spectrum.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the location server is a location management function device.

5. A method for positioning, the method comprising:

the method comprises the steps that a first device sends a first request to a positioning server, wherein the first request is used for requesting to activate positioning service based on unlicensed spectrum;

the first device receives first information sent by the positioning server, wherein the first information is related to the positioning service based on the unlicensed spectrum;

the first device is a terminal device, and the first request is used for determining the service quality of the positioning service based on the authorized spectrum;

and/or the presence of a gas in the gas,

the first device is a network device, and the first request is determined based on a load condition of the network device.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the first information is used to implement one or more of the following functions:

activating the unlicensed spectrum based location service;

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the first information is determined from second information, the second information comprising one or more of:

a channel busy rate of the unlicensed spectrum;

a link quality of the unlicensed spectrum;

monitoring results of the unlicensed spectrum; and

the first device's ability to locate using unlicensed spectrum.

8. The method of claim 5, wherein the location server is a location management function device.

9. An apparatus for positioning, wherein the apparatus is a positioning server, the positioning server comprising:

a communication unit configured to initiate and/or receive a first request for requesting activation of an unlicensed spectrum based location service;

a sending unit, configured to send first information, where the first information is related to the unlicensed spectrum based location service;

wherein the first request is from the positioning server and/or terminal equipment, and the first request is based on authorized spectrum to execute service quality determination of the positioning service;

and/or the presence of a gas in the gas,

10. An apparatus for positioning, characterized in that the apparatus is a first device comprising:

a sending unit, configured to send a first request to a location server, where the first request is used to request to activate a location service based on an unlicensed spectrum;

a receiving unit, configured to receive first information sent by the location server, where the first information is related to the location service based on the unlicensed spectrum;

wherein the first device is a terminal device, and the first request is to perform quality of service determination of the location service based on an authorized spectrum;

and/or the presence of a gas in the gas,

11. A communication apparatus comprising a memory for storing a program and a processor for invoking the program in the memory to perform the method of any one of claims 1-8.

12. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that a program is stored thereon, which causes a computer to execute the method according to any one of claims 1-8.