CN116803153A

CN116803153A - Reference selection for dual differential positioning

Info

Publication number: CN116803153A
Application number: CN202180089924.1A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 包敬超; S·阿卡拉卡兰; 骆涛
Original assignee: Qualcomm Inc
Current assignee: Qualcomm Inc
Priority date: 2021-01-15
Filing date: 2021-11-23
Publication date: 2023-09-22

Abstract

Techniques are provided for selecting a reference node for use in a dual differential positioning method. An example method of determining compensation values for positioning reference signals includes receiving positioning reference signal measurements from one or more reference nodes and determining one or more compensation values based at least in part on the positioning reference signal measurements.

Description

Reference selection for dual differential positioning

Background

Wireless communication systems have evolved from generation to generation, including first generation analog radiotelephone services (1G), second generation (2G) digital radiotelephone services (including transitional 2.5G and 2.75G networks), third generation (3G) high speed data, internet enabled wireless services, fourth generation (4G) services (e.g., long Term Evolution (LTE) or WiMax), and fifth generation (5G) services (e.g., 5G New Radio (NR)). Many different types of wireless communication systems are currently in use, including cellular and Personal Communication Services (PCS) systems. Examples of known cellular systems include the cellular analog Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS) and digital cellular systems based on Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), global system for mobile access (GSM) variants of TDMA, and the like.

It is generally desirable to know the location of a User Equipment (UE), such as a cellular telephone, and the terms "location" and "positioning" are synonymous and are used interchangeably herein. A location services (LCS) client may wish to know the location of a UE and may communicate with a location center in order to request the location of the UE. The location center and the UE may exchange messages as appropriate to obtain a location estimate for the UE. The location center may return the location estimate to the LCS client, e.g. for use in one or more applications.

Obtaining the location of a mobile device that is accessing a wireless network may be useful for many applications including, for example, emergency calls, personal navigation, asset tracking, locating friends or family members, etc. In industrial applications, the location of a mobile device may be necessary for asset tracking, robotic control, and other kinematic operations that may require the precise location of an end effector. Existing positioning methods include methods based on measuring radio signals transmitted from various devices, including satellite vehicles and terrestrial wireless power sources (e.g., base stations and access points) in a wireless network. A station in a wireless network may be configured to transmit reference signals to enable a mobile device to perform positioning measurements.

Disclosure of Invention

An example method of determining a compensation value for a positioning reference signal in accordance with the present disclosure includes determining one or more reference nodes based on a coarse location of a target user equipment, receiving positioning reference signal measurements from the one or more reference nodes, and determining one or more compensation values based at least in part on the positioning reference signal measurements.

Implementations of such a method may include one or more of the following features. One or more compensation values may be provided to the target user device. Determining the one or more reference nodes may include determining one or more positioning reference signal resources based on the coarse location of the target user equipment. Determining the one or more reference nodes may include determining one or more positioning reference signal resources using a detectable line-of-sight path to the one or more reference nodes. Determining one or more reference nodes may include determining a reference node having a maximum number of the one or more positioning reference signal resources having a detectable line-of-sight path to the reference node. Determining one or more reference nodes may include determining a reference node having a maximum number of one or more positioning reference signal resources detectable by the reference node. Determining one or more reference nodes may include determining a reference node having the largest number of overlapping positioning reference signal measurements with the target user equipment. The one or more compensation values may include a time compensation value associated with an arrival time of the positioning reference signal resource. The one or more compensation values may include a time compensation value based on a reference signal time difference associated with two positioning reference signal resources. The location management function, the transmission/reception point and/or the user equipment may be configured for receiving positioning reference signal measurements from one or more reference nodes and for determining one or more compensation values. The coarse location information associated with the target user equipment may be an identification value associated with the current serving cell. A coarse location of the target user device may be received from the network station. The positioning reference signal resource configuration information may be provided to the target user equipment based at least in part on the one or more reference nodes.

An example method of determining a location with a user device according to this disclosure includes: measuring one or more positioning reference signals; receiving from a network entity a compensation value associated with one or more positioning reference signals; determining one or more compensated positioning reference signal measurements based at least in part on the measurement value and the associated compensation value for each of the one or more positioning reference signals; and determining a position based at least in part on the one or more compensated positioning reference signal measurements.

Implementations of such a method may include one or more of the following features. Coarse location information may be provided to the network entity. Measuring one or more positioning reference signals may include determining a time of arrival of the positioning reference signals. Measuring one or more positioning reference signals may include determining a reference signal time difference of at least two positioning reference signals. Receiving the compensation value may include receiving the compensation value from a location server. Receiving the compensation value may include receiving the compensation value from a transmission/reception point. Receiving the compensation value may include receiving the compensation value from a reference node. Receiving the compensation value may include receiving the compensation value via a side link protocol. Receiving the compensation value may include receiving the compensation value from the user equipment via a side link protocol. Receiving the backoff value may include receiving the backoff value via one or more radio resource control messages. The compensation value may be based on positioning reference signal measurements obtained from a plurality of reference nodes. Determining the location may include providing one or more compensated positioning reference signal measurements to a location server and receiving the location from the location server.

An example apparatus according to the present disclosure includes a memory, at least one transceiver, at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, and the processor is configured to determine one or more reference nodes based on a coarse location of a target user device, receive positioning reference signal measurements from the one or more reference nodes, and determine one or more compensation values based at least in part on the positioning reference signal measurements.

Implementations of such an apparatus may include one or more of the following features. The at least one processor may be further configured to provide one or more compensation values to the target user device. The at least one processor may be further configured to determine one or more positioning reference signal resources based on the coarse location of the target user equipment. The at least one processor may be further configured to determine one or more positioning reference signal resources using the detectable line-of-sight path to the one or more reference nodes. The at least one processor may be further configured to determine a reference node having a maximum number of the one or more positioning reference signal resources having a detectable line-of-sight path to the reference node. The at least one processor may be further configured to determine a reference node having a maximum number of one or more positioning reference signal resources detectable by the reference node. The at least one processor may be further configured to determine one or more reference nodes configured to receive at least one of the one or more positioning reference signal resources. The one or more compensation values may include a time compensation value associated with an arrival time of the positioning reference signal resource. The one or more compensation values may include a time compensation value based on a reference signal time difference associated with two positioning reference signal resources. The coarse location information associated with the target user equipment may be an identification value associated with the current serving cell. The at least one processor may be further configured to receive a coarse location of the target user equipment from the network station. The at least one processor may be further configured to provide positioning reference signal resource configuration information to the target user equipment based at least in part on the one or more reference nodes.

An example apparatus according to the present disclosure includes a memory, at least one transceiver, at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, and the processor is configured to measure one or more positioning reference signals, receive compensation values associated with the one or more positioning reference signals from a network entity, determine one or more compensated positioning reference signal measurements based at least in part on the measurement value of each of the one or more positioning reference signals and the associated compensation values, and determine a position based at least in part on the one or more compensated positioning reference signal measurements.

Implementations of such an apparatus may include one or more of the following features. The at least one processor may be further configured to provide coarse location information to the network entity. The at least one processor may be further configured to determine a time of arrival of the positioning reference signal. The at least one processor may be further configured to determine a reference signal time difference of at least two positioning reference signals. The at least one processor may be further configured to receive the compensation value from the location server. The at least one processor may be further configured to receive a compensation value from the reference node. The at least one processor may be further configured to receive the compensation value via a side-chain protocol. The at least one processor may be further configured to receive the backoff value via one or more radio resource control messages. The compensation value may be based on positioning reference signal measurements obtained from a plurality of reference nodes. The at least one processor may be further configured to provide one or more compensated positioning reference signal measurements to the location server and to receive the location from the location server.

An example apparatus for determining a compensation value for a positioning reference signal according to the present disclosure includes means for determining one or more reference nodes based on a coarse position of a target user equipment, means for receiving positioning reference signal measurements from the one or more reference nodes, and means for determining one or more compensation values based at least in part on the positioning reference signal measurements.

An example apparatus for determining a location with a user device according to the present disclosure includes: means for measuring one or more positioning reference signals; means for receiving, from a network entity, a compensation value associated with one or more positioning reference signals; means for determining one or more compensated positioning reference signal measurements based at least in part on the measurement value and the associated compensation value for each of the one or more positioning reference signals; and means for determining a position based at least in part on the one or more compensated positioning reference signal measurements.

An example non-transitory processor-readable storage medium according to the present disclosure that includes processor-readable instructions that cause one or more processors to determine a compensation value for a positioning reference signal includes code for determining one or more reference nodes based on a coarse location of a target user device, code for receiving positioning reference signal measurements from the one or more reference nodes, and code for determining the one or more compensation values based at least in part on the positioning reference signal measurements.

An example non-transitory processor-readable storage medium according to the present disclosure that includes processor-readable instructions that cause one or more processors to determine a location of a user equipment includes code to measure one or more positioning reference signals, code to receive compensation values associated with the one or more positioning reference signals from a network entity, code to determine one or more compensated positioning reference signal measurements based at least in part on measured values of each of the one or more positioning reference signals and the associated compensation values, and code to determine the location based at least in part on the one or more compensated positioning reference signal measurements.

Items and/or techniques described herein may provide one or more of the following capabilities, as well as other capabilities not mentioned. A base station in a communication network may be configured to transmit positioning reference signals. The one or more reference nodes may be configured to receive the positioning reference signal and determine a compensation value for the positioning reference signal. The compensation value may be provided to the user equipment to improve the accuracy of the position based on the reference signal. The location server may be configured to select one or more reference nodes to obtain the compensation value for the user equipment. The selection of the reference node may be based on positioning resource signals that the reference node is able to receive. The compensation value may be provided to the user equipment via the communication network. The reference node may be configured to provide the compensation value via a side link protocol. The accuracy of the position estimation of the user equipment can be improved. Other capabilities may be provided, and not every implementation according to the present disclosure must provide any of the capabilities discussed, let alone all of the capabilities.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a diagram of an example wireless communication system.

Fig. 2 is a block diagram illustrating components of a user device.

Fig. 3 is a block diagram illustrating components of a transmission/reception point.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of components of an example server.

Fig. 5A and 5B illustrate an example set of downlink positioning reference signal resources.

Fig. 6 is an illustration of an example subframe format for positioning reference signal transmission.

Fig. 7 is a diagram of an example frequency layer.

Fig. 8 is an example message flow for time-of-arrival based positioning estimation.

Fig. 9 is an example round trip time message flow between a user equipment and a base station.

Fig. 10 is an example message flow for passive positioning of a user device.

Fig. 11 is a diagram of an example impact of group delay errors in a wireless transceiver.

Fig. 12 is a diagram illustrating a double difference positioning method.

Fig. 13 is a diagram illustrating reference node selection in a wireless network.

Fig. 14 is a Venn (Venn) diagram of positioning reference signal resources for reference node selection.

Fig. 15 is a process flow of an example method for providing a positioning reference signal compensation value to a target user equipment.

Fig. 16 is a process flow of an example method for determining a location of a user device.

Fig. 17 is a process flow of an example method of reference node selection in a dual differential positioning method.

Detailed Description

Techniques for selecting a reference node for use in a dual differential positioning method are discussed herein. The reference node may be a User Equipment (UE) or another station, such as a Base Station (BS), configured to receive Positioning Reference Signals (PRS) and communicate with a wireless network. The reference node is in a known position relative to the other stations and is configured to measure Positioning Reference Signals (PRSs) transmitted by the other stations. Since the distance between the reference node and the other stations is known, the theoretical propagation time of the positioning reference signal is known. The deviation between the theoretical propagation time and the time of flight measured by the reference node may be used to compensate for the time of flight measurements obtained by neighboring UEs with unknown locations. The compensation information may be based on a time of arrival (ToA) measurement of the PRS or on a Reference Signal Time Difference (RSTD) of two or more PRSs received by the reference node. The reference node may be selected based on association with a base station and/or detection of one or more positioning reference signals transmitted by one or more base stations. The reference node may be configured to provide PRS information and backoff information to the target UE. The reference node may utilize a location server to communicate with the target UE directly or indirectly via a network communication protocol and/or one or more side link technologies. The reference node may be configured to provide compensation information to the location server. These techniques and configurations are examples, and other techniques and configurations may also be used.

Referring to fig. 1, examples of a communication system 100 include a UE 105, a Radio Access Network (RAN) 135, here a fifth generation (5G) Next Generation (NG) RAN (NG-RAN), and a 5G core network (5 GC) 140. The UE 105 may be, for example, an IoT device, a location tracker device, a cellular phone, or other device. The 5G network may also be referred to as a New Radio (NR) network; NG-RAN 135 may be referred to as a 5G RAN or an NR RAN; and 5gc 140 may be referred to as an NG core Network (NGC). In the third generation partnership project (3 GPP), standardization of NG-RAN and 5GC is underway. Thus, NG-RAN 135 and 5gc 140 may conform to current or future standards from 5G support of 3 GPP. The NG-RAN 135 may be another type of RAN, such as a 3G RAN, a 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) RAN, or the like. The communication system 100 may utilize information from a constellation 185 of Satellite Vehicles (SVs) 190, 191, 192, 193 of a Satellite Positioning System (SPS), such as the Global Positioning System (GPS), the global navigation satellite system (GLONASS), galileo or beidou, or some other local or regional SPS, such as the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS), the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS) or the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS). Additional components of the communication system 100 are described below. Communication system 100 may include additional or alternative components.

As shown in fig. 1, NG-RAN 135 includes NRnodeB (GNB) 110a, 110b and next generation eNodeB (NG-eNB) 114, and 5gc 140 includes access and mobility management function (AMF) 115, session Management Function (SMF) 117, location Management Function (LMF) 120, and Gateway Mobile Location Center (GMLC) 125. The gNB 110a, 110b and the ng-eNB 114 are communicatively coupled to each other, each configured for two-way wireless communication with the UE 105, and each communicatively coupled to the AMF 115, and configured for two-way communication with the AMF 115. AMF 115, SMF 117, LMF 120, and GMLC 125 are communicatively coupled to each other, and the GMLC is communicatively coupled to external client 130.SMF 117 may act as an initial point of contact for a Service Control Function (SCF) (not shown) to create, control, and delete media sessions.

Fig. 1 provides a generalized illustration of various components, any or all of which may be suitably utilized, and each of which may be duplicated or omitted as desired. In particular, although only one UE 105 is shown, many UEs (e.g., hundreds, thousands, millions, etc.) may be used in the communication system 100. Similarly, communication system 100 may include a greater (or lesser) number of SVs (i.e., more or less than the four SVs 190-193 shown), gNBs 110a, 110b, ng-eNB 114, AMF 115, external clients 130, and/or other components. The illustrated connections connecting the various components in communication system 100 include data and signaling connections, which may include additional (intermediate) components, direct or indirect physical and/or wireless connections, and/or additional networks. Furthermore, components may be rearranged, combined, separated, replaced, and/or omitted depending on the desired functionality.

Although fig. 1 shows a 5G-based network, similar network implementations and configurations may be used for other communication technologies, such as 3G, long Term Evolution (LTE), and the like. Implementations described herein, whether for 5G technology and/or for one or more other communication technologies and/or protocols, may be used to transmit (or broadcast) directional synchronization signals, receive and measure directional signals at a UE (e.g., UE 105), and/or provide location assistance to the UE 105 (via GMLC 125 or other location server), and/or calculate a location for the UE 105 at a location-capable device (e.g., UE 105, gNB 110a, 110b, or LMF 120) based on measured amounts of signals received at the UE 105 for such directional transmissions. Gateway Mobile Location Center (GMLC) 125, location Management Function (LMF) 120, access and mobility management function (AMF) 115, SMF 117, ng-eNB (eNodeB) 114, and gNB (gndeb) 110a, 110b are examples and, in various embodiments, may be replaced by or include various other location server functions and/or base station functions, respectively.

The UE 105 may include and/or may be referred to as a device, mobile device, wireless device, mobile terminal, mobile Station (MS), secure User Plane Location (SUPL) enabled terminal (SET), or other name. Further, the UE 105 may correspond to a cell phone, a smart phone, a laptop, a tablet, a PDA, a tracking device, a navigation device, an internet of things (IoT) device, an asset tracker, a health monitor, a security system, a smart city sensor, a smart meter, a wearable tracker, or some other portable or mobile device. Typically, although not necessarily, the UE 105 may support wireless communications using one or more Radio Access Technologies (RATs), such as Global System for Mobile communications (GSM), code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), wideband CDMA (WCDMA), LTE, high Rate Packet Data (HRPD), IEEE 802.11WiFi (also known as Wi-Fi), and, (BT), worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), new 5G radio (NR) (e.g., using NG-RAN 135 and 5gc 140), etc. The UE 105 may support wireless communications using a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) that may be connected to other networks (e.g., the internet) using, for example, digital Subscriber Lines (DSLs) or packet cables. The use of one or more of these RATs may allow the UE 105 to communicate with external clients 130 (e.g., via elements of the 5gc 140 not shown in fig. 1, or possibly via the GMLC 125) and/or allow the external clients 130 to receive location information about the UE 105 (e.g., via the GMLC 125).

The UE 105 may comprise a single entity or may comprise multiple entities, such as in a personal area network where users may use audio, video, and/or data I/O (input/output) devices and/or body sensors and separate wired or wireless modems. The location estimate of the UE 105 may be referred to as a location, a location estimate, a position fix, a position estimate, or a position fix, and may be geographic, providing the UE 105 with location coordinates (e.g., latitude and longitude) that may or may not include an elevation component (e.g., an elevation above sea level, a ground level, a floor level, or a height or depth above or below a basement level). Alternatively, the location of the UE 105 may be represented as a civic location (e.g., postal address or designation of a point or small area in a building, such as a particular room or floor). The location of the UE 105 may be represented as a region or volume (defined geographically or in urban form) within which the UE 105 is expected to be located with some probability or confidence level (e.g., 67%, 95%, etc.). The location of the UE 105 may be represented as a relative location, including, for example, distance and direction from a known location. The relative position may be represented as relative coordinates (e.g., X, Y (and Z) coordinates) defined relative to some origin at a known position, which may be defined, for example, geographically, in urban terminology, or by reference to a point, region, or volume indicated, for example, on a map, plan, or building plan. In the description contained herein, use of the term "location" may include any of these variations, unless otherwise indicated. When calculating the location of the UE, the local x, y and possibly z coordinates are typically solved, and then, if necessary, converted into absolute coordinates (e.g., latitude, longitude and altitude above or below the mean sea level).

The UE 105 may be configured to communicate with other entities using one or more of a variety of techniques. The UE 105 may be configured to indirectly connect to one or more communication networks via one or more device-to-device (D2D) peer-to-peer (P2P) links. The D2D P2P link may be supported by any suitable D2D Radio Access Technology (RAT), such as LTE direct connection (LTE-D), wiFi direct connection (WiFi-D),Etc. One or more UEs of a group of UEs utilizing D2D communication may be within a geographic coverage area of a transmission/reception point (TRP) such as one or more gnbs 110a, 110b and/or ng-enbs 114. Other UEs in such a group may be outside such geographic coverage area or may not be able to receiveTransmissions from the base station. A group of UEs communicating via D2D communication may utilize a one-to-many (1:M) system in which each UE may transmit to other UEs in the group. TRP may facilitate resource scheduling for D2D communications. In other cases, D2D communication may be conducted between UEs without involving TRPs.

The Base Stations (BSs) in NG-RAN 135 shown in fig. 1 include NR node BS, referred to as gnbs 110a and 110B. The pair of gnbs 110a, 110b in NG-RAN 135 may be connected to each other via one or more other gnbs. Access to the 5G network is provided to the UE 105 via wireless communication between the UE 105 and one or more gnbs 110a, 110b, which may provide wireless communication access to the 5gc 140 on behalf of the UE 105 using 5G. In fig. 1, it is assumed that the serving gNB of the UE 105 is the gNB 110a, but if the UE 105 moves to another location, another gNB (e.g., the gNB 110 b) may act as the serving gNB, or may act as a secondary gNB to provide additional throughput and bandwidth to the UE 105.

The Base Stations (BSs) in NG-RAN 135 shown in fig. 1 may include NG-enbs 114, also referred to as next-generation enode BS. The NG-eNB 114 may be connected to one or more GNBs 110a, 110b in the NG-RAN 135, possibly via one or more other GNBs and/or one or more other NG-enbs. The ng-eNB 114 may provide LTE radio access and/or evolved LTE (eLTE) radio access to the UE 105. One or more of the gnbs 110a, 110b and/or the ng-eNB 114 may be configured to act as location-only beacons, which may transmit signals to help determine the location of the UE 105, but may not receive signals from the UE 105 or other UEs.

BSs such as the gNB 110a, the gNB 110b, and the ng-eNB 114 may each include one or more TRPs. For example, each sector within a cell of a BS may include one TRP, although multiple TRPs may share one or more components (e.g., share a processor but have separate antennas). The communication system 100 may include only macro TRPs, or the communication system 100 may have different types of TRPs, such as macro, pico, and/or femto TRPs, etc. Macro TRP may cover a relatively large geographical area (e.g., a few kilometers in radius) and may allow unrestricted access by terminals with service subscription. The pico TRP may cover a relatively small geographic area (e.g., a pico cell) and may allow unrestricted access by terminals with service subscription. Femto or home TRP may cover a relatively small geographic area (e.g., a femto cell) and may allow limited access by terminals associated with the femto cell (e.g., terminals of users in the home).

As described above, although fig. 1 depicts nodes configured to communicate according to a 5G communication protocol, nodes configured to communicate according to other communication protocols (e.g., LTE protocol or IEEE 802.11x protocol) may be used. For example, in an Evolved Packet System (EPS) providing LTE radio access to the UE 105, the RAN may comprise an evolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) terrestrial radio access network (E-UTRAN), which may include base stations including evolved node bs (enbs). The core network for EPS may include an Evolved Packet Core (EPC). The EPS may include E-UTRAN plus EPC, where E-UTRAN corresponds to NG-RAN 135 in FIG. 1 and EPC corresponds to 5GC 140.

The gNB 110a, 110b and the ng-eNB 114 may communicate with the AMF 115, which 115 communicates with the LMF 120 for positioning functions. AMF 115 may support mobility of UE 105, including cell change and handover, and may participate in supporting signaling connections to UE 105 and possible data and voice bearers of UE 105. The LMF 120 may communicate directly with the UE 105, for example, through wireless communication. When the UE 105 accesses the NG-RAN 135, the LMF 120 may support positioning of the UE 105 and may support positioning procedures/methods such as assisted GNSS (a-GNSS), observed time difference of arrival (OTDOA), real-time kinematic (RTK), precision Point Positioning (PPP), differential GNSS (DGNSS), enhanced cell ID (E-CID), angle of arrival (AOA), angle of departure (AOD), and/or other positioning methods. The LMF 120 may process location service requests for the UE 105 received, for example, from the AMF 115 or from the GMLC 125.LMF 120 may be connected to AMF 115 and/or GMLC 125.LMF 120 may be referred to by other names such as Location Manager (LM), location Function (LF), commercial LMF (CLMF), or value added LMF (VLMF). The node/system implementing the LMF 120 may additionally or alternatively implement other types of location support modules, such as an enhanced serving mobile location center (E-SMLC) or a Secure User Plane Location (SUPL) location platform (SLP). At least part of the positioning function (including deriving the location of the UE 105) may be performed at the UE 105 (e.g., using signal measurements obtained by the UE 105 for signals transmitted by wireless nodes such as the gnbs 110a, 110b and/or the ng-eNB 114, and/or assistance data provided to the UE 105 by the LMF 120, for example).

GMLC 125 may support location requests for UE 105 received from external clients 130 and may forward such location requests to AMF 115 for forwarding by AMF 115 to LMF 120 or may forward location requests directly to LMF 120. The location response (e.g., including the location estimate of the UE 105) from the LMF 120 may be returned to the GMLC 125 directly or via the AMF 115, and the GMLC 125 may then return the location response (e.g., including the location estimate) to the external client 130.GMLC 125 is shown connected to AMF 115 and LMF 120, although in some implementations, 5gc 140 may support only one of these connections.

As further shown in fig. 1, LMF 120 may communicate with gnbs 110a, 110b and/or ng-enbs 114 using a new radio potential protocol a (which may be referred to as NPPa or NRPPa), which may be defined in 3GPP Technical Specification (TS) 38.455. NRPPa may be the same as, similar to, or an extension of LTE positioning protocol a (LPPa) defined in 3gpp TS 36.455, NRPPa messages are communicated between gNB 110a (or gNB 110 b) and LMF 120 and/or ng-eNB 114 and LMF 120 via AMF 115. As further shown in fig. 1, LMF 120 and UE 105 may communicate using an LTE Positioning Protocol (LPP) that may be defined in 3gpp TS 36.355. The LMF 120 and the UE 105 may also or alternatively communicate using a new radio positioning protocol (which may be referred to as NPP or NRPP), which may be the same, similar or extended as LPP. Here, LPP and/or NPP messages may be communicated between the UE 105 and the LMF 120 via the AMF 115 and the serving gnbs 110a, 110b or serving ng-enbs 114 for the UE 105. For example, LPP and/or NPP messages may be communicated between LMF 120 and AMF 115 using a 5G location services application protocol (LCS AP), and may be communicated between AMF 115 and UE 105 using a 5G non-access stratum (NAS) protocol. The LPP and/or NPP protocols may be used to support positioning of the UE 105 using UE-assisted and/or UE-based positioning methods (e.g., a-GNSS, RTK, OTDOA and/or E-CID). The NRPPa protocol may be used to support positioning of UE 105 using network-based positioning methods (e.g., E-CIDs) (e.g., when used with measurements obtained by the gnbs 110a, 110b, or ng-enbs 114) and/or may be used by LMF 120 to obtain location-related information from the gnbs 110a, 110b, and/or ng-enbs 114, such as parameters defining directional SS transmissions from the gnbs 110a, 110b, and/or ng-enbs 114.

With the UE assisted positioning method, the UE 105 may obtain location measurements and send the measurements to a location server (e.g., LMF 120) for computing a location estimate for the UE 105. For example, the location measurements may include one or more of a Received Signal Strength Indication (RSSI), round trip signal propagation time (RTT), reference Signal Time Difference (RSTD), reference Signal Received Power (RSRP), and/or Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ) of the gNB 110a, 110b, the ng-eNB114, and/or the WLAN AP. The position measurements may also or alternatively include measurements of GNSS pseudoranges, code phases, and/or carrier phases of SVs 190-193.

With the UE-based positioning method, the UE 105 may obtain location measurements (e.g., which may be the same or similar to the location measurements of the UE-assisted positioning method) and may calculate the location of the UE 105 (e.g., with assistance data received from a location server such as the LMF 120 or broadcast by the gnbs 110a, 110b, the ng-eNB114 or other base stations or APs).

With network-based positioning methods, one or more base stations (e.g., the gnbs 110a, 110b and/or the ng-enbs 114) or APs may obtain location measurements (e.g., RSSI, RTT, RSRP, RSRQ or time of arrival (TOA) measurements of signals transmitted by the UE 105) and/or may receive measurements obtained by the UE 105. One or more base stations or APs may send measurements to a location server (e.g., LMF 120) for calculating a location estimate for UE 105.

The information provided to LMF 120 by the gnbs 110a, 110b and/or the ng-eNB 114 using NRPPa may include timing and configuration information for directional SS transmissions and location coordinates. The LMF 120 may provide some or all of this information as assistance data to the UE 105 in LPP and/or NPP messages via the NG-RAN 135 and 5gc 140.

The LPP or NPP message sent from the LMF 120 to the UE 105 may instruct the UE 105 to do any of a variety of things depending on the desired functionality. For example, the LPP or NPP message may contain instructions for the UE 105 to obtain measurements of GNSS (or A-GNSS), WLAN, E-CID, and/or OTDOA (or some other positioning method). In the case of an E-CID, the LPP or NPP message may instruct the UE 105 to obtain one or more measurement quantities (e.g., beam ID, beam width, average angle, RSRP, RSRQ measurements) of directional signals transmitted within a particular cell supported by one or more of the gnbs 110a, 110b and/or the ng-eNB 114 (or supported by some other type of base station such as an eNB or WiFi AP). The UE 105 may send the measurement quantities back to the LMF 120 in an LPP or NPP message (e.g., within a 5G NAS message) via the serving gNB 110a (or serving ng-eNB 114) and AMF 115.

As described above, although the communication system 100 is described with respect to 5G technology, the communication system 100 may be implemented to support other communication technologies, such as GSM, WCDMA, LTE, etc., for supporting and interacting with mobile devices such as the UE 105 (e.g., to implement voice, data, positioning, and other functions). In some such embodiments, the 5gc 140 may be configured to control different air interfaces. For example, the 5gc 140 may connect to the WLAN using a non-3 GPP interworking function (N3 IWF, not shown in fig. 1) in the 5gc 150. For example, the WLAN may support IEEE 802.11WiFi access for UE 105 and may include one or more WiFi APs. Here, the N3IWF may be connected to other elements in the WLAN and 5gc 140, such as the AMF 115. In some embodiments, both NG-RAN 135 and 5gc 140 may be replaced by one or more other RANs and one or more other core networks. For example, in EPS, NG-RAN 135 may be replaced by E-UTRAN including eNB, and 5gc 140 may be replaced by EPC including Mobility Management Entity (MME) instead of AMF 115, E-SMLC instead of LMF 120, and GMLC may be similar to GMLC 125. In such EPS, the E-SMLC may use LPPa instead of NRPPa to transmit and receive location information to and from enbs in the E-UTRAN, and may use LPP to support positioning of UE 105. In these other embodiments, positioning of the UE 105 using directed PRSs may be supported in a similar manner as described herein for the 5G network, except that the functions and procedures described herein for the gnbs 110a, 110b, ng-enbs 114, AMFs 115, and LMFs 120 may be applied instead to other network elements such as enbs, wiFi APs, MMEs, and E-SMLCs in some cases.

As mentioned, in some embodiments, the positioning function may be implemented, at least in part, using directional SS beams transmitted by base stations (e.g., gnbs 110a, 110b, and/or ng-enbs 114) that are within range of a UE (e.g., UE 105 of fig. 1) whose location is to be determined. In some cases, the UE may use directional SS beams from multiple base stations (e.g., gnbs 110a, 110b, ng-enbs 114, etc.) to calculate the location of the UE.

Still referring to fig. 2, UE 200 is an example of UE 105 and includes a computing platform including a processor 210, a memory 211 including Software (SW) 212, one or more sensors 213, a transceiver interface 214 for a transceiver 215 (including a wireless transceiver 240 and/or a wired transceiver 250), a user interface 216, a Satellite Positioning System (SPS) receiver 217, a camera 218, and a position (motion) device 219. Processor 210, memory 211, sensor(s) 213, transceiver interface 214, user interface 216, SPS receiver 217, camera 218, and location (motion) device 219 may be communicatively coupled to each other by bus 220 (which may be configured, for example, for optical and/or electrical communication). One or more of the illustrated apparatus (e.g., camera 218, position (motion) device 219, and/or one or more sensors 213, etc.) may be omitted from UE 200. Processor 210 may include one or more intelligent hardware devices, such as a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a microcontroller, an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), or the like. Processor 210 may include a plurality of processors including a general purpose/application processor 230, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP) 231, a modem processor 232, a video processor 233, and/or a sensor processor 234. One or more of processors 230-234 may include multiple devices (e.g., multiple processors). For example, the sensor processor 234 may include a processor for Radio Frequency (RF) sensing (using transmitted wireless signal(s) and reflection(s) to identify, map and/or track objects) and/or ultrasound, for example. The modem processor 232 may support dual SIM/dual connectivity (or even more SIMs). For example, a SIM (subscriber identity module or subscriber identity module) may be used by an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) while another SIM may be used by an end user of UE 200 for connection. The memory 211 is a non-transitory storage medium that may include Random Access Memory (RAM), flash memory, disk memory, and/or Read Only Memory (ROM), among others. The memory 211 stores software 212, which software 212 may be processor-readable, processor-executable software code containing instructions configured to, when executed, cause the processor 210 to perform the various functions described herein. Alternatively, the software 212 may not be directly executed by the processor 210, but may be configured to cause the processor 210 (e.g., when compiled and executed) to perform these functions. The description may refer only to processor 210 executing functions, but this includes other implementations, such as processor 210 executing software and/or firmware. The description may refer to processor 210 performing a function as shorthand for one or more processors 230-234 performing the function. The description may refer to a UE 200 performing a function as shorthand for one or more appropriate components of the UE 200 performing the function. Processor 210 may include memory with stored instructions in addition to and/or in lieu of memory 211. The functionality of the processor 210 will be discussed more fully below.

The configuration of the UE 200 shown in fig. 2 is an example and not a limitation of the present disclosure including the claims, and other configurations may be used. For example, an example configuration of the UE includes one or more processors 230-234 of the processor 210, a memory 211, and a wireless transceiver 240. Other example configurations include one or more of processors 230-234 of processor 210, memory 211, wireless transceiver 240, and one or more of sensor 213, user interface 216, SPS receiver 217, camera 218, position (motion) device PMD 219, and/or wired transceiver 250.

The UE 200 may include a modem processor 232, which modem processor 232 may be capable of performing baseband processing on signals received and down-converted by the transceiver 215 and/or SPS receiver 217. Modem processor 232 may perform baseband processing on signals to be upconverted for transmission by transceiver 215. Additionally or alternatively, baseband processing may be performed by processor 230 and/or DSP 231. However, other configurations may be used to perform baseband processing.

The UE 200 may include sensor(s) 213, and the sensor(s) 213 may include, for example, an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) 270, one or more magnetometers 271, and/or one or more environmental sensors 272. The IMU 270 may include one or more inertial sensors, such as one or more accelerometers 273 (e.g., collectively responsive to acceleration of the UE 200 in three dimensions) and/or one or more gyroscopes 274. Magnetometer(s) can provide measurements to determine position (e.g., relative to magnetic north and/or true north), which can be used for any of a variety of purposes, such as supporting one or more compass applications. The environmental sensor(s) 272 may include, for example, one or more temperature sensors, one or more atmospheric pressure sensors, one or more ambient light sensors, one or more camera imagers, and/or one or more microphones, etc. The sensor(s) 213 may generate analog and/or digital signals indicative of which may be stored in the memory 211 and processed by the DSP 231 and/or the processor 230 to support one or more applications, such as, for example, applications directed to positioning and/or navigation operations.

Sensor(s) 213 may be used for relative position measurement, relative position determination, motion determination, etc. The information detected by the sensor(s) 213 may be used for motion detection, relative displacement, dead reckoning, sensor-based position determination, and/or sensor-assisted position determination. The sensor(s) 213 may be used to determine whether the UE 200 is stationary (stationary) or mobile and/or whether to report some useful information about the mobility of the UE 200 to the LMF 120. For example, based on information obtained/measured by the sensor(s) 213, the UE 200 may inform/report to the LMF 120 that the UE 200 has detected movement or that the UE 200 has moved, and report relative displacement/distance (e.g., via dead reckoning, or sensor-based location determination, or sensor-assisted location determination implemented by the sensor(s) 213). In another example, for relative positioning information, the sensor/IMU may be used to determine an angle and/or direction, etc., of other devices relative to the UE 200.

The IMU 270 may be configured to provide measurements regarding the direction of motion and/or the speed of motion of the UE 200, which may be used in the relative position determination. For example, one or more accelerometers 273 and/or one or more gyroscopes 274 of the IMU 270 may detect linear acceleration and rotational speed, respectively, of the UE 200. The linear acceleration and rotational speed measurements of the UE 200 may be integrated over time to determine the instantaneous direction of motion and displacement of the UE 200. The instantaneous direction and displacement of motion may be integrated to track the location of the UE 200. For example, the reference location of the UE 200 may be determined for a period of time, e.g., using the SPS receiver 217 (and/or by some other means), and measurements from the accelerometer 273 and gyroscope 274 obtained after that time may be used in dead reckoning to determine the current location of the UE 200 based on the movement (direction and distance) of the UE 200 relative to the reference location.

Magnetometer(s) 271 can determine magnetic field strengths in different directions, which can be used to determine the position of UE 200. For example, the bearing may be used to provide a digital compass for the UE 200. Magnetometer(s) 271 can comprise a two-dimensional magnetometer configured to detect and provide an indication of magnetic field strength in two orthogonal dimensions. Additionally or alternatively, magnetometer(s) 271 can comprise a three-dimensional magnetometer configured to detect and provide an indication of magnetic field strength in three orthogonal dimensions. Magnetometer(s) 271 can provide a module for sensing magnetic fields and providing an indication of the magnetic fields to, for example, processor 210.

Transceiver(s) 215 may include a wireless transceiver 240 and a wired transceiver 250 configured to communicate with other devices over wireless and wired connections, respectively. For example, wireless transceiver 240 may include a transmitter 242 and a receiver 244 coupled to one or more antennas 246 for transmitting (e.g., on one or more uplink channels and/or one or more side link channels) and/or receiving (e.g., on one or more downlink channels and/or one or more side link channels) wireless signals 248 and converting signals from wireless signals 248 to wired (e.g., electrical and/or optical) signals, and from The wired (e.g., electrical and/or optical) signal is converted to a wireless signal and thus, the transmitter 242 may comprise a plurality of transmitters, which may be discrete components or combined/integrated components, and/or the receiver 244 may comprise a plurality of receivers, which may be discrete components or combined/integrated components. The wireless transceiver 240 may be configured to communicate signals (e.g., with TRP and/or one or more other devices) in accordance with various Radio Access Technologies (RATs) such as 5G New Radio (NR), GSM (global system for mobile), UMTS (universal mobile telecommunications system), AMPS (advanced mobile telephone system), CDMA (code division multiple access), WCDMA (wideband CDMA), LTE (long term evolution), LTE direct (LTE-D), 3GPP LTE-vehicle-to-everything (V2X) (PC 5), V2C (Uu), IEEE 802.11 (including IEEE 802.11 p), wiFi direct (WiFi-D),Zigbee, and the like. NR systems may be configured to operate on different frequency layers, such as FR1 (e.g., 410-7125 MHz) and FR2 (e.g., 24.25-52.6 GHz), and may be extended to new frequency bands, such as frequency bands below 6GHz and/or 100GHz and higher (e.g., FR2x, FR3, FR 4). The wired transceiver 250 may include a transmitter 252 and a receiver 254 configured for wired communication with, for example, the NG-RAN 135, for example, to transmit communications to and receive communications from the gNB 110 a. Transmitter 252 may comprise a plurality of transmitters, which may be discrete components or combined/integrated components, and/or receiver 254 may comprise a plurality of receivers, which may be discrete components or combined/integrated components. The wired transceiver 250 may be configured for optical and/or electrical communication, for example. The transceiver 215 may be communicatively coupled to the transceiver interface 214, for example, by an optical and/or electrical connection. The transceiver interface 214 may be at least partially integrated with the transceiver 215.

The user interface 216 may include one or more of several devices, such as, for example, a speaker, a microphone, a display device, a vibration device, a keyboard, a touch screen, and the like. The user interface 216 may include more than one of any of these devices. The user interface 216 may be configured to enable a user to interact with one or more applications hosted by the UE 200. For example, the user interface 216 may store indications of analog and/or digital signals in the memory 211 for processing by the DSP 231 and/or the general purpose processor 230 in response to actions from a user. Similarly, an application hosted on UE 200 may store an indication of analog and/or digital signals in memory 211 to present output signals to a user. The user interface 216 may include audio input/output (I/O) devices including, for example, speakers, microphones, digital-to-analog circuitry, analog-to-digital circuitry, amplifiers and/or gain control circuitry (including any of more than one of these devices). Other configurations of audio I/O devices may be used. Additionally or alternatively, the user interface 216 may include one or more touch sensors that are responsive to, for example, touches and/or pressures on a keyboard and/or touch screen of the user interface 216.

SPS receiver 217 (e.g., a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver) is capable of receiving and acquiring SPS signals 260 via SPS antenna 262. Antenna 262 is configured to convert wireless SPS signals 260 into wired signals, such as electrical or optical signals, and may be integrated with antenna 246. SPS receiver 217 may be configured to process acquired SPS signals 260, in whole or in part, to estimate the position of UE 200. For example, SPS receiver 217 may be configured to determine the location of UE 200 through trilateration using SPS signals 260. In conjunction with SPS receiver 217, general processor 230, memory 211, DSP 231, and/or one or more special purpose processors (not shown) may be used to process acquired SPS signals, in whole or in part, and/or to calculate an estimated position of UE 200. Memory 211 may store indications (e.g., measurements) of SPS signals 260 and/or other signals (e.g., signals acquired from wireless transceiver 240) for performing positioning operations. The general purpose processor 230, DSP 231, and/or one or more special purpose processors and/or memory 211 may provide or support a location engine for processing measurements to estimate the location of the UE 200.

The UE 200 may include a camera 218 for capturing still or moving images. The camera 218 may include, for example, an imaging sensor (e.g., a charge coupled device or CMOS imager), a lens, analog-to-digital circuitry, a frame buffer, and the like. The general purpose processor 230 and/or DSP 231 may perform additional processing, conditioning, encoding, and/or compression of signals representing captured images. Additionally or alternatively, video processor 233 may perform conditioning, encoding, compression, and/or manipulation of signals representing captured images. Video processor 233 may decode/decompress stored image data for presentation on a display device (not shown), such as user interface 216.

A location (motion) device (PMD) 219 may be configured to determine the location and possibly motion of the UE 200. For example, PMD 219 may be in communication with SPS receiver 217 and/or include some or all of SPS receiver 217. PMD 219 may also or alternatively be configured to use terrestrial-based signals (e.g., at least some of signals 248) to determine the location of UE 200, for trilateration, to aid in obtaining and using SPS signals 260, or both. PMD 219 may be configured to determine the location of UE 200 using one or more other techniques (e.g., depending on the self-reported location of the UE (e.g., a portion of the location beacon of the UE)), and may determine the location of UE 200 using a combination of techniques (e.g., SPS and terrestrial positioning signals). PMD 219 may include one or more sensors 213 (e.g., gyroscope(s), accelerometer(s), magnetometer(s), etc.), may sense the direction and/or motion of UE 200 and provide an indication thereof, and processor 210 (e.g., processor 230 and/or DSP 231) may be configured to determine the motion (e.g., velocity vector and/or acceleration vector) of UE 200. PMD 219 may be configured to provide an indication of the uncertainty and/or error of the determined position and/or motion. In an example, PMD 219 may be referred to as a Positioning Engine (PE) and may be executed by general purpose processor 230. For example, PMD 219 may be a logical entity and may be integrated with general purpose processor 230 and memory 211.

Referring also to fig. 3, an example of TRP 300 of a bs (e.g., gNB110a, gNB110 b, ng-eNB 114) includes a computing platform including a processor 310, a memory 311 including Software (SW) 312, a transceiver 315, and (optionally) an SPS receiver 317. The processor 310, memory 311, transceiver 315, and SPS receiver 317 may be communicatively coupled to each other by a bus 320 (which may be configured, for example, for optical and/or electrical communication). One or more of the illustrated devices (e.g., wireless interface and/or SPS receiver 317) may be omitted from TRP 300. SPS receiver 317 may be configured similar to SPS receiver 217 to enable receipt and acquisition of SPS signals 360 via SPS antenna 362. Processor 310 may include one or more intelligent hardware devices, such as a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a microcontroller, an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), and the like. Processor 310 may include multiple processors (as shown in fig. 2, including, for example, a general purpose/application processor, DSP, modem processor, video processor, and/or sensor processor). The memory 311 is a non-transitory storage medium that may include Random Access Memory (RAM), flash memory, disk memory, and/or Read Only Memory (ROM), among others. The memory 311 stores software 312, which software 312 may be processor-readable, processor-executable software code containing instructions configured to, when executed, cause the processor 310 to perform the various functions described herein. Alternatively, the software 312 may not be directly executed by the processor 310, but may be configured to cause the processor 310 to perform these functions, for example, when compiled and executed. The description may refer only to processor 310 executing functions, but this includes other implementations, such as where processor 310 executes software and/or firmware. The description may refer to a processor 310 performing a function as an abbreviation for one or more processors contained in the processor 310 performing the function. The description may refer to a TRP 300 performing a function as an abbreviation for one or more appropriate components of TRP 300 performing the function (and thus one of the gnbs 110a, 110b, ng-enbs 114). Processor 310 may include a memory having stored instructions in addition to and/or in place of memory 311. The functionality of the processor 310 will be discussed more fully below.

Transceiver 315 may include a wireless transceiver 340 and a wired transceiver 350 configured to communicate with other devices over wireless and wired connections, respectively. For example, the wireless transceiver 340 may include a transmitter 342 and a receiver 344 coupled to one or more antennas 346 for transmitting (e.g., on one or more uplink channels) and/or receiving (e.g.,on one or more downlink channels) wireless signals 348 and converting signals from wireless signals 348 to wired (e.g., electrical and/or optical) signals, and from wired (e.g., electrical and/or optical) signals to wireless signals 348. Thus, the transmitter 342 may comprise multiple transmitters that may be discrete components or combined/integrated components, and/or the receiver 344 may comprise multiple receivers that may be discrete components or combined/integrated components. The wireless transceiver 340 may be configured to communicate signals (e.g., with the UE 200, one or more other UEs, and/or one or more other devices) in accordance with various Radio Access Technologies (RATs) such as 5G New Radio (NR), GSM (global system for mobile), UMTS (universal mobile telecommunications system), AMPS (advanced mobile telephone system), CDMA (code division multiple access), WCDMA (wideband CDMA), LTE (long term evolution), LTE-direct (LTE-D), 3GPP LTE-V2X (PC 5), IEEE 802.11 (including IEEE 802.11 p), wiFi-direct (WiFi-D), WCDMA (wideband CDMA), LTE (long term evolution), LTE-direct (LTE-D), 3GPP LTE-V2X (PC 5), IEEE 802.11 (including IEEE 802.11 p), Zigbee, and the like. The wired transceiver 350 may include a transmitter 352 and a receiver 354 configured for wired communication with, for example, the network 140, to transmit and receive communications to and from, for example, the LMF 120 or other network server. The transmitter 352 may comprise a plurality of transmitters, which may be discrete components or combined/integrated components, and/or the receiver 354 may comprise a plurality of receivers, which may be discrete components or combined/integrated components. The wired transceiver 350 may be configured for optical and/or electrical communication, for example.

The configuration of TRP 300 shown in fig. 3 is an example and not a limitation of the present disclosure including the claims, and other configurations may be used. For example, the description herein discusses TRP 300 being configured to perform or perform several functions, but one or more of these functions may be performed by LMF 120 and/or UE 200 (i.e., LMF 120 and/or UE 200 may be configured to perform one or more of these functions).

Referring also to fig. 4, an example server, such as LMF 120, includes a computing platform including a processor 410, a memory 411 including Software (SW) 412, and a transceiver 415. The processor 410, memory 411, and transceiver 415 may be communicatively coupled to each other via a bus 420 (which may be configured for optical and/or electrical communication, for example). One or more of the illustrated devices (e.g., wireless interfaces) may be omitted from server 400. Processor 410 may include one or more intelligent hardware devices, such as a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a microcontroller, an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), or the like. Processor 410 may include multiple processors (as shown in fig. 2, including, for example, a general purpose/application processor, DSP, modem processor, video processor, and/or sensor processor). The memory 411 is a non-transitory storage medium that may include Random Access Memory (RAM), flash memory, disk memory, and/or Read Only Memory (ROM), among others. The memory 411 stores software 412, and the software 412 may be processor-readable, processor-executable software code containing instructions configured to, when executed, cause the processor 410 to perform the various functions described herein. Alternatively, the software 412 may not be directly executed by the processor 410, but may be configured to cause the processor 410 to perform these functions, for example, when compiled and executed. The description may refer only to processor 410 executing functions, but this includes other implementations, such as where processor 410 executes software and/or firmware. The description may refer to a processor 410 performing a function as an abbreviation for one or more processors contained in the processor 410 performing the function. The description may refer to a server 400 (or LMF 120) performing a function as an abbreviation for one or more appropriate components of the server 400 performing the function. Processor 410 may include memory with stored instructions in addition to and/or in lieu of memory 411. The functionality of the processor 410 is discussed more fully below.

Transceiver 415 may include a wireless transceiver 440 and a wired transceiver 450 configured to communicate with other devices over wireless and wired connections, respectively. For example, wireless transceiver 440 may include a transmitter 442 and a receiver 444 coupled to one or more antennas 446 for transmitting (e.g., on one or more downlink channels) and/or receiving (e.g., on one or more uplink channels)Upper) wireless signal 448 and converts the signal from wireless signal 448 to a wired (e.g., electrical and/or optical) signal and from the wired (e.g., electrical and/or optical) signal to wireless signal 448. Thus, the transmitter 442 may include multiple transmitters that may be discrete components or combined/integrated components, and/or the receiver 444 may include multiple receivers that may be discrete components or combined/integrated components. The wireless transceiver 440 may be configured to communicate signals (e.g., with the UE 200, one or more other UEs, and/or one or more other devices) in accordance with various Radio Access Technologies (RATs) such as 5G New Radio (NR), GSM (global system for mobile), UMTS (universal mobile telecommunications system), AMPS (advanced mobile telephone system), CDMA (code division multiple access), WCDMA (wideband CDMA), LTE (long term evolution), LTE-direct (LTE-D), 3GPP LTE-V2X (PC 5), IEEE 802.11 (including IEEE 802.11 p), wiFi-direct (WiFi-D), WCDMA (wideband CDMA), LTE (long term evolution), LTE-direct (LTE-D), Zigbee, and the like. The wireline transceiver 450 may include a transmitter 452 and a receiver 454 configured for, for example, wireline communication with the NG-RAN 135, for example, to transmit communications to the TRP 300 and to receive communications from the TRP 300. The transmitter 452 may comprise a plurality of transmitters, which may be discrete components or combined/integrated components, and/or the receiver 454 may comprise a plurality of receivers, which may be discrete components or combined/integrated components. The wired transceiver 450 may be configured for optical and/or electrical communication, for example.

The configuration of the server 400 shown in fig. 4 is an example, and does not limit the present disclosure including the claims, and other configurations may be used. For example, the wireless transceiver 440 may be omitted. Additionally or alternatively, the description herein discusses that the server 400 is configured to perform a function or perform a number of functions, but one or more of these functions may be performed by the TRP 300 and/or the UE 200 (i.e., the TRP 300 and/or the UE 200 may be configured to perform one or more of these functions).

Referring to fig. 5A and 5B, an example set of downlink PRS resources is illustrated. In general, a set of PRS resources is a set of PRS resources across one base station (e.g., TRP 300) that have the same periodicity, common muting pattern configuration, and the same repetition factor across time slots. The first set of PRS resources 502 includes 4 resources and a repetition factor of 4 with a time gap equal to 1 slot. The second set of PRS resources 504 includes 4 resources and a repetition factor of 4 with a time gap equal to 4 slots. The repetition factor indicates the number of times (e.g., values 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 16, 32) that each PRS resource is repeated in each single instance of the PRS resource set. The time gap represents an offset (e.g., values 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32) in units of time slots between two repeated instances of PRS resources corresponding to the same PRS resource ID within a single instance of a PRS resource set. The duration spanned by one set of PRS resources containing duplicate PRS resources does not exceed PRS periodicity. Repetition of PRS resources enables a receiver beam to sweep through repetition and combine RF gains to increase coverage. Repetition may also enable intra-instance muting.

Referring to fig. 6, an example subframe and slot format for positioning reference signal transmission is illustrated. An example frame and slot format is included in the PRS resource sets shown in fig. 5A and 5B. The subframe and slot formats in fig. 6 are examples and not limiting, and include a comb-2 format 602 with 2 symbols, a comb-4 format 604 with 4 symbols, a comb-2 format 606 with 12 symbols, a comb-4 format 608 with 12 symbols, a comb-6 format 610 with 6 symbols, a comb-12 format 612 with 12 symbols, a comb-2 format 614 with 6 symbols, and a comb-6 format 616 with 12 symbols. In general, a subframe may include 14 symbol periods with indexes 0 to 13. The subframe and slot formats may be used for a Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH). Typically, the base station may transmit PRSs from the antenna port 6 on one or more slots in each subframe configured for PRS transmission. The base station may avoid transmitting PRSs, primary Synchronization Signals (PSS), or Secondary Synchronization Signals (SSS) on the resource elements allocated to the PBCH regardless of their antenna ports. The cell may generate reference symbols for PRSs based on the cell ID, the symbol period index, and the slot index. In general, a UE is able to distinguish PRSs from different cells.

The base station may transmit PRSs on a particular PRS bandwidth, which may be configured by higher layers. The base station may transmit PRSs on subcarriers that are spaced apart across a PRS bandwidth. The base station may also transmit PRSs based on parameters such as PRS periodicity TPRS, subframe offset PRS, and PRS duration NPRS. PRS periodicity is the periodicity at which PRS occurs. The PRS period may be, for example, 160, 320, 640, or 1280 milliseconds. The subframe offset indicates the particular subframe in which PRS occurs. And the PRS duration indicates the number of consecutive subframes in which PRSs are transmitted in each period (PRS occasion) of PRS transmission. PRS duration may be, for example, 1, 2, 4, or 6 milliseconds.

PRS periodic TPRS and subframe offset PRS may be transmitted via a PRS configuration index IPRS. The PRS configuration index and PRS duration may be independently configured by higher layers. A set of NPRS consecutive subframes transmitting PRSs may be referred to as PRS occasions. Each PRS occasion may be enabled or muted, e.g., the UE may apply a muting bit to each cell. A PRS resource set is a set of PRS resources across base stations that have the same periodicity, common muting pattern configuration, and the same repetition factor across time slots (e.g., 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 16, 32 time slots).

In general, the PRS resources depicted in fig. 5A and 5B may be a set of resource elements for transmission of PRSs. The set of resource elements may span a plurality of Physical Resource Blocks (PRBs) in the frequency domain and N (e.g., 1 or more) consecutive symbols within one slot in the time domain. In a given OFDM symbol, PRS resources occupy consecutive PRBs. PRS resources are described by at least the following parameters: PRS resource Identifier (ID), sequence ID, comb size N, resource element offset in the frequency domain, start slot and start symbol, number of symbols per PRS resource (i.e., duration of PRS resource), and QCL information (e.g., QCL with other DL reference signal). Currently, one antenna port is supported. The comb size indicates the number of sub-carriers carrying PRSs in each symbol. For example, the comb size of comb-4 means that every fourth subcarrier of a given symbol carries PRSs.

A PRS resource set is a set of PRS resources for transmission of PRS signals, where each PRS resource has one PRS resource ID. Further, PRS resources in a PRS resource set are associated with the same transmit-receive point (e.g., TRP 300). Each PRS resource in the PRS resource set has the same periodicity, a common muting pattern, and the same repetition factor across time slots. The PRS resource set is identified by a PRS resource set ID and may be associated with a particular TRP (identified by a cell ID) transmitted by an antenna panel of a base station. The PRS resource IDs in the PRS resource set may be associated with an omni-directional signal and/or with a single beam (and/or beam ID) transmitted from a single base station (where the base station may transmit one or more beams). Each PRS resource in the PRS resource set may be transmitted on a different beam and, therefore, PRS resources or simply resources may also be referred to as beams. Note that this has no effect on whether the UE knows the base station and the beam that sent the PRS.

Referring to fig. 7, a diagram of an example frequency layer 700 is shown. In an example, the frequency layer 700, also referred to as a positioning frequency layer, may be a set of PRS resource sets across one or more TRPs. The positioning frequency layer may have the same subcarrier spacing (SCS) and Cyclic Prefix (CP) type, the same point a, the same DL PRS bandwidth value, the same starting PRB, and the same comb size value. The digital hierarchy supporting PDSCH may support PRS. Each PRS resource set in the frequency layer 700 is a set of PRS resources across one TRP that have the same periodicity, common muting pattern configuration, and the same repetition factor across time slots.

Note that the terms positioning reference signal and PRS are reference signals that may be used for positioning, such as, but not limited to, PRS signals, navigation reference signals in 5G (NRS), downlink location reference signals (DL-PRS), uplink location reference signals (UL-PRS), tracking Reference Signals (TRS), cell-specific reference signals (CRS), channel state information reference signals (CSI-RS), primary Synchronization Signals (PSS), secondary Synchronization Signals (SSS), sounding Reference Signals (SRS), and the like.

The capability of the UE to process PRS signals may vary based on the capability of the UE. However, in general, industry standards may be developed to establish common PRS capabilities for UEs in a network. For example, the industry standard may require a duration of DL PRS symbols in milliseconds (ms), and the UE may process each T ms assuming that the UE supports and reports a maximum DL PRS bandwidth in MHz. By way of example and not limitation, the maximum DL PRS bandwidth of the FR1 band may be 5, 10, 20, 40, 50, 80, 100MHz, while the maximum DL PRS bandwidth of the FR2 band may be 50, 100, 200, 400MHz. These criteria may also indicate DL PRS buffering capacity as either type 1 (i.e., sub-slot/symbol level buffering) or type 2 (i.e., slot level buffering). The common UE capability may indicate the duration N of the DL PRS symbol in units of milliseconds. Assuming that the UE supports and reports the maximum DL PRS bandwidth in MHz, the UE may process each T ms. Example T values may include 8, 16, 20, 30, 40, 80, 160, 320, 640, 1280 milliseconds, and example N values may include 0.125, 0.25, 0.5, 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 12, 16, 20, 25, 30, 32, 35, 40, 45, 50 milliseconds. The UE may be configured to report a combination of (N, T) values per band, where N is the duration of DL PRS symbols in ms (milliseconds) processed for each T milliseconds for a given maximum bandwidth (B) in MHz supported by the UE. In general, it is not desirable for the UE to support DL PRS bandwidths that exceed the reported DL PRS bandwidth values. UE DL PRS processing capability may be defined for a single positioning frequency layer 700. UE DL PRS processing capability may be agnostic to DL prsomb factor configuration as shown in fig. 6. The UE processing capability may indicate the maximum number of DL PRS resources that the UE may process in the slot below. For example, for each SCS: the maximum number of frequency bands for fr1 may be 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 12, 16, 24, 32, 48, 64 at 15kHz, 30kHz, 60kHz, while for each SCS: the maximum number of frequency bands for fr2 may be 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 12, 16, 24, 32, 48, 64 at 15kHz, 30kHz, 60kHz, 120 kHz.

Referring to fig. 8, an example message flow 800 of time of arrival (ToA) based location flows between a user equipment 805 and a plurality of base stations is illustrated. UE 805 is an example of UEs 105, 200, and first base station 810, second base station 812, and third base station 814 are examples of gnbs 110a-b or ng-enbs 114. The number of base stations and message formats in message flow 800 are merely examples and not limiting, as other numbers and formats may be used. ToA-based positioning methods utilize accurate measurements of the time of arrival of signals transmitted from one or more base stations to a user equipment and vice versa. For example, the first base station 810 can be configured to transmit the first DL PRS 802 at time T1, the second base station 812 can be configured to transmit the second DL PRS 804 at time T1, and the third base station 814 can be configured to transmit the third DL PRS 806 at time T1. The transmission time and signal format are just examples describing the concept of ToA positioning technology. The distance between the UE 805 and the respective base station 810, 812, 814 is based on the propagation time of the respective PRS signal 802, 804, 806. That is, the signal propagates at a known speed (e.g., about the speed of light (c) or about 300 meters per microsecond), and the distance may be determined from the elapsed propagation time. ToA-based positioning requires precise knowledge of the start time of the transmission and all stations are accurately synchronized with a precise time source. Using the propagation speed and the measured time, the distance (D) between the UE 805 and the corresponding base station can be expressed as:

D ＝c * (t) (1)

Wherein:

d = distance (meters);

c = propagation speed of about 300 meters/microsecond;

t=time in microseconds.

For example, the distance between the UE 805 and the first base station 810 is c (T2-T1), the distance between the UE 805 and the second base station 812 is c (T3-T1), and the distance between the UE 805 and the third base station 814 is c (T4-T1). Other transmission times may be used by the stations (i.e., not all stations have to transmit at time T1). Using the corresponding distances as radii, a circular representation of the area surrounding the base station may be used to determine a location estimate for the UE 805 (e.g., using trilateration). Additional stations may be used (e.g., using a multilateration technique). ToA positioning methods can be used for two-dimensional as well as three-dimensional position estimation. Three-dimensional interpretation can be performed by constructing a spherical rather than circular model.

The drawback of the ToA positioning method is that an accurate time synchronization of all stations is required. Even small problems with time synchronization can lead to very large errors in the resulting position estimate. For example, a time measurement error as small as 100 nanoseconds may result in a positioning error of 30 meters. ToA-based positioning solutions are particularly susceptible to station timing source interruption, which can cause the base station to lose time synchronization. Other positioning techniques, such as Round Trip Timing (RTT) and angle of arrival (AoA), are less dependent on station time synchronization.

Referring to fig. 9, an example round trip message flow 900 between a user device 905 and a base station 910 is illustrated. The UE 905 is an example of the UE 105, 200 and the base station 910 may be a gNB 110a-b or a ng-eNB114. In general, RTT positioning methods use the time that a signal travels from one entity to another and back to determine the distance between the two entities. This range plus the known location of the first entity and the angle (e.g., azimuth) between the two entities may be used to determine the location of the second entity. In multi-RTT (also known as multi-cell RTT), multiple ranges from one entity (e.g., UE) to other entities (e.g., TRP) and known locations of other entities may be used to determine the location of one entity. The example message flow 900 may be initiated by the base station 910 with an RTT session configuration message 902. The base station may configure the RTT session with LPP/NRPPa messages. At time T1, the base station 910 may transmit a DL PRS 904, which DL PRS 904 is received by the UE 905 at time T2. In response, the UE 905 may transmit a Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) for the positioning message 906 at time T3, which is received by the base station 910 at time T4. The distance between the UE 905 and the base station 910 may be calculated as:

Where c=speed of light.

Since the UE 905 and the base station 910 are exchanging messages, which may include timing information, the impact of timing offset between stations may be minimized. That is, RTT procedures may be used in asynchronous networks. However, the disadvantage of the RTT procedure is that in a dense operating environment, where many UEs exchange RTT messages with base stations, the bandwidth required for UL SRS to locate the message may increase messaging overhead and utilize additional network bandwidth. In such a use case, passive positioning techniques may reduce the bandwidth required for positioning by eliminating transmissions from the UE.

Referring to fig. 10, an example message flow 1000 for passive positioning of a user device 1005 is illustrated. The message flow includes a UE 1005, a first base station 1010, and a second base station 1012.UE 1005 is an example of UE 105, 200 and base stations 1010, 1012 are examples of gnbs 110a-b or ng-enbs 114. In general, TDOA location techniques utilize the time of flight (travel time) difference between one entity and other entities to determine relative ranges to the other entities, and these techniques, in combination with the known locations of the other entities, can be used to determine the location of one entity. The angle of arrival and/or departure may be used to help determine the location of the entity. For example, the angle of arrival or angle of departure of a signal in combination with the distance between devices (determined using the signal, e.g., time of propagation of the signal, received power of the signal, etc.) and the known location of one of the devices may be used to determine the location of the other device. The angle of arrival or departure may be an azimuth angle relative to a reference direction such as true north. The angle of arrival or departure may be with respect to a zenith angle that is directly upward from the entity (i.e., radially outward from the center of the earth). In operation, the first base station 1010 may provide a passive positioning start message 1002 to the UE 1005. The passive positioning start message 1002 may be a broadcast message or other signaling such as RRC to inform the UE of PRS transmission scheduling and may include transmission information (e.g., channel information, muting pattern, PRS bandwidth, PRS identification information, etc.). At time T1, the first station may transmit a first DL PRS1004, which first DL PRS1004 may be received by the second base station 1012 at time T2 (for example) and received by the UE 1005 at time T3. The second base station 1012 may be configured to transmit a second DL PRS1006 at time T4, the second DL PRS1006 received by the first base station 1010 at time T5 and received by the UE 1005 at time T6. The time between T2 and T4 may be a turn around time configured at the second base station 1012 and thus be a known time period. The time between T1 and T2 (i.e., time of flight) may also be known because the first and second base stations 1010, 1012 are in fixed locations. The steering time (i.e., T4-T2) and time of flight (i.e., T2-T1) may be broadcast or otherwise provided to the UE 1005 for location calculation. The UE 1005 may observe the difference between T6 and T3, and the distance may be calculated as:

In operation, in an example, base stations 1010, 1012 may utilize synchronized timing to calculate a time-of-flight value. In an example, the first DL PRS1004 and the second DL PRS1006 may include timing information (as in RTT message flow 900) such that the impact of timing offset between stations may be reduced.

Referring to fig. 11, a diagram 1100 of an example impact of group delay errors within a wireless transceiver is shown. Diagram 1100 depicts an example RTT exchange as described in fig. 9. UE 1105 (e.g., UE 200) and base station 1110 (e.g., gNB 110 a) are exchanging positioning reference signals, such as Downlink (DL) PRS1104 and Uplink (UL) PRS1106 (which may also be UL SRS). The UE 1105 may have one or more antennas 1105a and associated baseband processing components. Similarly, the base station 1110 may have one or more antennas 1110a and baseband processing components. The respective internal configurations of the UE 1105 and the base station 1110 may result in delay times associated with the transmission and reception of PRS signals. In general, group delay is the relationship of the time and frequency of transmission of a signal through a device. For example, BS _TX The group delay 1102a represents the difference between the time the base station 1110 records the transmission of the DL PRS1104 and the time the signal leaves the antenna 1110 a. BS (base station) _RX Group delay 1102b represents the difference between the time that UL PRS1106 arrives at antenna 1110a and the time that the processor in base station 1110 receives an indication of UL PRS 1106. UE 1105 has similar group delay, e.g., UE _RX Group delay 1104a and UE _TX Group delay 1104b. Group delays associated with network stations may cause bottlenecks to ground-based positioning because the resulting time differences may result in inaccurate position estimates. For example, a group delay error of 10 nanoseconds corresponds to an error of about 3 meters in the position estimate.In a transceiver, different frequencies may have different group delay values, and thus different PRS resources may have different group delays. The dual differential positioning method described herein may reduce the impact of group delay associated with a network station by using one or more reference nodes configured to determine errors associated with PRS resources transmitted by the network station.

Referring to fig. 12, a diagram 1200 of an example dual differential positioning method is shown. The diagram 1200 includes a first base station 1202, a second base station 1204, a target UE 1205, and a reference node 1210. The base stations 1202, 1204 may be considered as examples of TRP 300, such as gnbs 110a, 110b. The target UE 1205 may include at least some components of the UE 200 and may be considered an example of the UE 200. The reference node 1210 may include components of the UE 200 and/or TRP 300 and may be an example of the UE 200 or TRP 300 or another device configured to communicate in the communication system 100. For example, the target UE 1205 and the reference node 1210 may be configured to communicate with a network entity, such as the LMF 120, via one or more communication protocols. (e.g., by NRPPa, LPP, etc.). In an example, the target UE 1205 and the reference node 1210 may be configured to communicate via a device-to-device (D2D) link 1212. D2D link 1212 may be based on techniques such as NR sidelink (e.g., via a physical side link control channel (PSCCH), a physical side link shared channel (PSSCH)). In a vehicle-to-everything (V2X) network, the reference node 1210 may be a roadside unit (RSU), and the side links may be based on the PC5 protocol. Other D2D techniques may also be used.

In operation, the first base station 1202 is configured to transmit PRS resources such as a first PRS1206 received by a target UE 1205 and a reference node 1210. Preferably, the UE 1205 and the reference node 1210 receive the same instance of the first PRS1206, but the UE 1205 and the reference node 1210 may receive different instances of the first PRS1206. The second base station 1204 is configured to transmit PRS resources as one or more instances of a second PRS1208 received by the target UE 1205 and the reference node 1210. The first PRS1206 and the second PRS1208 may be in the same or different positioning frequency layers. Since the reference node 1210 is at a known location, the expected time of arrival (ToA), reference Signal Timing Difference (RSTD), and/or Round Trip Time (RTT) of the first PRS1206 and the second PRS1208 are known based on the propagation time of the RF signal. The delay in actual measurement may be used to determine the group delay associated with PRSs 1206, 1208 as compared to the expected ToA. The calculated delay value may be used to compensate for measurements of PRSs 1206, 1208 of neighboring mobile devices (e.g., target UE 1205). In an example, the reference node 1210 may provide the LMF 120 with compensation values associated with the first PRS1206 and the second PRS1208, and the target UE 1205 may obtain the compensation values from the LMF 120. In an example, reference node 1210 may provide a compensation value via D2D link 1212. In an example, the reference node 1210 may be a UE 200 located at a known location.

In an ideal installation, the reference node 1210 will have a fixed and accurate location and will be in a position to receive all PRSs transmitted by the network station and received by UEs in the network. However, in practice, these conditions may not be satisfied. The change may include, for example, the fact that a single reference node 1210 may not be able to measure all PRSs transmitted. For example, due to scheduling conflicts, power consumption limitations, signal obstructions, frequency and bandwidth capabilities, etc. In another example, the reference node 1210 and the target UE 1205 may not be able to measure the same instance of PRS transmitted by the base station. The location of the reference node 1210 may change without a corresponding change in the ToA model (e.g., the ToA information may become outdated as the reference node moves). These problems are merely examples and are not limiting as other operational variations may affect the accuracy of the compensation values provided by the reference nodes.

Referring to fig. 13, and with further reference to fig. 12, a diagram 1300 of reference node selection in an example wireless network is illustrated. The network includes a plurality of base stations gNBi-m, each of which may be an example of a TRP 300, a first reference node 1310a, a second reference node 1310b, and a target UE 1305. The first reference node 1310a is located at a position for receiving PRSs from a first set of the plurality of base stations, the first set including gNBi, gNBj, and gNBk, and the second reference node 1310b is located at a position for receiving PRSs from a second set of the plurality of base stations, the second set including gNBl and gNBm. The target UE 1305 is currently located in a position for receiving PRSs from a third group of base stations including gNBj, gNBk, and gNBj. The number of stations, the locations of the reference nodes, and the received PRS are only examples and not limiting as other network stations and PRSs may be used. The plurality of base stations gNBi-m, reference nodes 1310a-b, and target UE 1305 may be configured to communicate with one or more location servers (e.g., LMF 120). In an example, the LMF 120 or another network server may be configured to select one or more reference nodes to provide PRS compensation information to the target UE 1305. The reference nodes 1310a-b may be any combination of wireless nodes, such as base stations (e.g., gNB), UEs, IAB relay stations, etc., each configured to support the dual difference positioning method shown in FIG. 12. The LMF 120 may be configured to request capability reports from the potential reference nodes 1310a-b and the target UE 1305 to confirm that the reference nodes 1310a-b and the target UE 1305 are configured to generate and implement the backoff information.

In an embodiment, the LMF 120 may be configured to utilize different criteria to select the reference nodes 1310a-b within the area covered by the PRS resources. In an example, the reference nodes 1310a-b may be selected based on their ability to cover a maximum amount of PRS resources. The coverage may be interpreted as PRS resources that may be measured, reported, or identified based on measurements obtained by the reference nodes 1310a-b. Filtering (e.g., outlier removal) and other channel estimation/path LOSs techniques may be used to determine LOS measurements. The reference nodes 1310a-b may be selected based on the number of overlapping PRS measurements in an effort to increase the number of RSTD-based compensation values generated. PRS measurements obtained by target UE 1305 may partially overlap with two or more reference nodes. For example, target UE 1305 and first reference node 1310a are positioned to receive PRSs from gNBj and gNBk, and target UE 1305 and second reference node 1310b are configured to receive PRSs from gNBl. PRS resources/TRPs with overlapping PRS measurements may be used to select RSTD reference cells. In an example, the reference nodes 1310a-b may be selected based on the type of motion. In general, a static node may be preferred because it has a relatively static environment and a more accurate location. However, the reference node may also be mobile and may have a location based on other factors such as movement history. Satellite and terrestrial positioning techniques can also be used to determine the position of the reference node. For example, GNSS accurate point positioning (PPP), real-time kinematic (RTK), and/or Differential GNSS (DGNSS) techniques may be used to determine the locations of the reference nodes 1310a-b

In an embodiment, the reference node may be selected based on a side link communication channel between the reference node and the UE. For example, the first reference node 1310a and the target UE 1305 are proximate to each other and are configured to communicate using the D2D link 1312. The first reference node 1310a may be configured to provide to the target UE 1305 via the D2D link 1312 ToA and RSTD compensation information associated with PRS resources transmitted from gNBi, gNBj, and gNBk. The target UE 1305 may receive backoff information from other reference nodes via other side links and network channels. For example, the second reference node 1310b may provide the LMF 120 with compensation information associated with PRSs transmitted from gNBl and gNBm, and the target UE 1305 may receive the compensation information from the LMF 120.

In general, the compensation information provided by the reference nodes 1310a-b is configured to help the target UE 1305 reduce errors associated with synchronization errors and group delays of PRS resources transmitted by the base station. In an example, the compensation information may be RSTD measurements obtained by the reference node. The location of the reference node(s) may be included in the compensation information and the target UE 1305 or LMF 120 may be configured to calculate a time compensation value based on the RSTD measurements and the location information. In an example, the reference node may be configured to calculate time compensation values and provide them in the compensation information. Providing the time offset value improves security because no location information is sent. The compensation information may include a time compensation value based on each PRS resource. That is, time offset values for each PRS resource received by the reference nodes 1310a-b are calculated and provided to the LMF 120 and/or the target UE 1305. Additional information elements such as channel information, beam angle/elevation and other beam parameters may also be included in the compensation information.

Referring to fig. 14, a venn diagram 1400 of positioning reference signal resources for reference node selection is shown. The diagram 1400 represents PRS resources that a UE or reference node plans to receive and measure, including a first set of PRS resources 1402 received by a first reference node, a second set of PRS resources 1404 received by a second reference node, and a third set of PRS resources 1406 received by a third reference node. As shown in diagram 1400, in an example, LMF 120 may be configured to maintain a data structure indicating a relationship between PRS resources and reference nodes in a network. The LMF 120 may be configured to select one or more reference nodes based on one or more sets of PRS resources received by the reference nodes. In an example, the target UE 1405 can reside on the TRP 300 associated with PRS resources received by both the first reference node and the third reference node. In an example, the LMF 120 may select the first reference node to provide the compensation information to the target UE 1405 based on receiving a greater number of PRS resources by the first reference node than the third reference node. That is, the target UE 1405 may have overlapping PRS resources with increased probability with the first reference node because there are more PRS resources associated with the first reference node. In an example, the target UE 1405 may provide information (e.g., PRS ID) associated with the received PRS resources and the LMF 120 may be configured to select a reference node based on an intersection of PRS resources received by the target UE 1405 and PRS resources received by a corresponding reference node. That is, the LMF 120 may select a reference node having the largest number of PRS resources overlapping the target UE 1405. In an example, the LMF 120 may configure more than one reference node to provide the compensation information to the target UE 1405 (e.g., both the first and third reference nodes may be configured to provide the compensation information). In an example, the reference node may be configured to provide the compensation information on a per PRS resource and/or per RSTD pair basis. That is, the target UE 1405 may only receive the backoff information for the PRS resources received by the UE 1405. Other techniques may also be used to select one or more reference nodes to provide compensation information for the target UE.

Referring to fig. 15, and with further reference to fig. 1-14, a method 1500 for providing positioning reference signal compensation values to a target user device includes the stages shown. However, the method 1500 is by way of example only and not by way of limitation. The method 1500 may be altered, e.g., by adding, removing, rearranging, combining, concurrently executing phases, and/or dividing a single phase into a plurality of phases. For example, receiving coarse location information and determining one or more reference nodes based on the coarse location at stage 1502 is optional because the location server may be configured to determine the location of the target UE, and providing the offset value to the UE at stage 1510 is optional because the network entity may be configured to apply the offset value locally based on measurements received from the UE. The method 1500 may be performed by a server 400, such as the LMF 120, or other network entity, such as the TRP 300 or the UE 200.

At stage 1502, the method optionally includes receiving coarse location information associated with a target user device. Server 400 (e.g., LMF 120 including processor 410 and transceiver 415) is a module for receiving coarse location information. In an example, the target UE may be configured to provide the LMF 120 with identification information of the serving cell, and the coarse location of the UE may be based on the coverage area of the serving cell. The target UE may be configured to provide identification information of one or more base stations (e.g., BSIDs) and/or PRS resources (e.g., PRSIDs) received by the UE, and the LMF may determine a coarse location of the UE based on the station and the resource identification information. In an example, the UE may include the IMU 270 and the coarse location may be based on inertial navigation measurements (e.g., dead reckoning). The presence of one or more primary and/or secondary link signals (e.g., associated with other network stations of known location) may also be used to determine the coarse location of the UE. Other terrestrial and satellite navigation techniques may also be used to determine the coarse location of the UE.

At stage 1504, the method optionally includes determining one or more reference nodes based on the coarse location of the target user device. LMF 120 is a module for determining one or more reference nodes. In an example, the LMF 120 may be configured with one or more data structures including coverage areas associated with PRS resources transmitted by network base stations. PRS resources may be associated with one or more reference nodes that are in place and configured to receive PRS resources. For example, referring to fig. 14, the coarse location of the UE may be used to determine a set of PRS resources that the UE may be expected to receive. The set of PRS resources may be compared to PRS resources received by a corresponding reference node. One or more reference nodes may be selected such that there may be overlap between the PRS resources expected to be received by the UE and the reference nodes. In an example, the LMF 120 may be configured to select reference nodes having detectable LOS paths to a base station from which the UE is expected to receive PRS resource transmissions. The LMF 120 may provide one or more messages to network stations (base stations, reference nodes, and UEs) to enable transmission and reception of PRS resources. For example, the LMF 120 may provide PRS resource information to the UE based on a selection of one or more reference nodes to ensure that the UE is configured to receive the same PRS as the reference node(s).

At stage 1506, the method includes receiving positioning reference signal measurements from one or more reference nodes. The LMF 120 is a means for receiving PRS measurements. In an example, one or more reference nodes may provide to the LMF 120 ToA, RSTD, and/or RTT measurements for particular PRS resources and resource pairs, as well as location information. PRS measurements may include PRS identification information elements to identify PRSs on which the measurements are based. In an example, the reference node may be configured to determine ToA, RSTD, and/or RTT time offset values for PRS resources and provide the time offset values as PRS signal measurements. PRS measurement information may be received via a message protocol such as NRPPa, LPP, radio Resource Control (RRC), or other wireless protocol used in a communication network.

At stage 1508, the method includes determining one or more compensation values based at least in part on the positioning reference signal measurements. The LMF 120 is a means for determining the compensation value. LMF 120 may receive ToA, RSTD, and/or RTT measurement information from the reference node and may be configured to determine a time offset value based on the measurement information and a location of the reference node. In an example, the reference node may be configured to provide location information (e.g., based on PPP, RTK, etc.) and PRS measurement information. The LMF 120 may determine the compensation value by receiving the compensation value from the reference node. That is, the reference node may be configured to determine one or more compensation values and provide them to the LMF 120. The LMF 120 may be configured to select one or more backoff values to provide to the UE using PRS information associated with the backoff values and PRS measurement information received from the target UE.

At stage 1510, the method optionally includes providing one or more compensation values to the target user device. LMF 120 is a module for providing one or more compensation values. In an example, the offset value is a time value associated with a PRS resource (e.g., for ToA measurements) or a pair of PRS resources (e.g., for RSTD measurements). The LMF 120 may be configured to provide the backoff value based on PRS resources received by the target UE. The LMF 120 may be configured to provide a backoff value based on PRS resources that the UE expects to receive, and the UE may be configured to utilize the backoff value based on PRS resources that are actually received. In an example, the LMF 120 may receive PRS measurements obtained by the UE and may apply compensation values to the measurements. The LMF 120 may be configured to determine a location of the UE based on PRS measurements provided by the UE and a backoff value associated with the reference node. In an embodiment, the UE may receive the compensation value from the LMF 120 and calculate the position based on PRS measurements and the compensation value. Other network entities may also be configured to assist the UE in determining a location based on PRS measurements obtained by the UE and a backoff value associated with the reference node.

The method 1500 may be performed on a network server, such as the LMF 120, or on other network entities, such as the TRP 300 and the UE 200. In an example, TRP 300 may be configured to receive PRS measurements at stage 1506, determine one or more compensation values at stage 1508, and provide the one or more compensation values to a target user device. In an example, the UE 200 may be located at a known location and may exchange side link positioning reference signals (SL-PRS) with one or more reference nodes, then receive SL-PRS measurements at stage 1506, and determine one or more compensation values based on the SL-PRS measurements at stage 1508. The UE 200 may also be configured to provide one or more backoff values to neighboring stations via side link signaling.

Referring to fig. 16, and with further reference to fig. 1-14, a method 1600 for determining a location of a user device includes the stages shown. However, the method 1600 is merely exemplary and not limiting. Method 1600 may be altered, e.g., by adding, removing, rearranging, combining, concurrently executing phases, and/or dividing a single phase into a plurality of phases.

At stage 1602, the method may optionally include providing coarse location information to a network entity. UE 200, such as target UE 1305, is a means for providing coarse location information. In an example, the target UE 1305 may be configured to provide the network entity, such as the LMF 120 or the reference node 1310a, with identification information of the serving cell, and the coarse location of the UE may be based on the coverage area of the serving cell. The target UE 1305 may be configured to provide identification information of one or more base stations (e.g., BS IDs) and/or PRS resources (e.g., PRS IDs) received by the UE, and the network entity may determine a coarse location of the target UE 1305 based on the station and the resource identification information. In an example, the target UE 1305 may include the IMU 270 and the coarse location may be based on inertial navigation measurements (e.g., dead reckoning). The presence of one or more primary and/or secondary link signals (e.g., associated with other network stations of known location) may also be used to determine the coarse location of target UE 1305. Other terrestrial and satellite navigation techniques may also be used to determine the coarse location of the target UE 1305. LMF 120 may be configured to determine a coarse location of target UE 1305.

At stage 1604, the method includes measuring one or more positioning reference signals. The target UE 1305 is a means for measuring one or more PRSs. The target UE 1305 is configured to obtain PRS measurements from PRS resources transmitted by base stations in the network. For example, the target UE 1305 may determine the ToA of the PRS resources, the RSTD and/or RTT values associated with the paired PRS resources, and other positioning information known in the art, such as RSSI and AoA.

At stage 1606, the method includes receiving from the network entity a compensation value associated with one or more positioning reference signals. The target UE 1305 is a module for receiving the offset value. In an example, one or more reference nodes may provide ToA, RSTD, and/or RTT measurements of particular PRS resources and resource pairs, as well as location information, to a network entity such as LMF 120, TRP 300, or UE 200. In an example, the reference node may provide the backoff value directly to the target UE 1305 (e.g., via the side link 1312 or other message protocol). In an embodiment, LMF 120 may receive ToA, RSTD, and/or RTT measurement information from a reference node, and may be configured to determine a time offset value based on the measurement information and a location of the reference node. In an example, the reference node may be configured to provide location information (e.g., based on PPP, RTK, etc.) and PRS measurement information. In an example, the UE 200 may be configured to determine one or more compensation values and provide them directly to the target UE 1305 via side link communication (e.g., D2D).

At stage 1608, the method includes determining one or more compensated positioning reference signal measurements based at least in part on the measurement value and an associated compensation value for each of the one or more positioning reference signals. The target UE 1305 is a module for determining one or more compensated PRS measurements. In an example, the offset value is a time value associated with a PRS resource (e.g., for ToA measurements) or a pair of PRS resources (e.g., for RSTD measurements). The target UE 1305 may be configured to apply the time value to the measured ToA and/or RSTD measurements obtained at stage 1604 to generate one or more compensated PRS measurements. Because the time value is associated with PRS resources, the compensated PRS measurements are corrected in the transmitting base station for at least a portion of the group delay.

At stage 1610, the method includes determining a position based at least in part on the one or more compensated positioning signal measurements. The target UE 1305 is a module for determining a location based on the compensated PRS measurements. The compensated PRS measurements may be used to determine ranges between one or more stations. Using the respective ranges to the stations as radii, a circular representation of the area around the base station may be used to determine a position estimate for the target UE 1305 (e.g., using trilateration). Additional corrected PRS measurements for other stations may be used (e.g., using a multilateration technique). In an example, the LMF 120 may receive the compensated PRS measurements calculated by the target UE 1305 and configured to determine a location of the target UE 1305 based on the compensated PRS measurements. Other network entities may also be configured to assist the UE in determining location based on the compensated PRS measurements calculated by the target UE 1305.

Referring to fig. 17, and with further reference to fig. 1-14, a method for reference node selection in a dual differential positioning method includes the stages shown. However, the method 1700 is merely exemplary and not limiting. Method 1700 may be altered, e.g., by adding, removing, rearranging, combining, concurrently executing phases, and/or dividing a single phase into a plurality of phases.

At stage 1702, the method includes receiving one or more positioning reference signals from a base station. The reference node 1310a (e.g., of the UE 200 or TRP 30) is a module for receiving one or more PRSs. The reference node 1310a may receive PRS resources from multiple base stations (e.g., gNBi, gNBj, and gNBk). In an example, the LMF 120 may be configured to provide assistance data to the reference node 1310a via a communication protocol such as NRPPa, LPP, RRC. And the reference node 1310a may receive PRS resources based at least in part on the assistance data. In an example, the assistance data may include location information of the base station.

At stage 1704, the method includes determining one or more compensation values based at least in part on the one or more positioning reference signals and a location of the base station. The reference node 1310a is a means for determining one or more compensation values. In an example, the location of the reference node 1310a is known to have a higher accuracy than the target UE. The reference node may be configured to determine expected ToA and RSTD values (e.g., equation 1) of the PRS signal received at stage 1702 based on a location of the base station and a location of the reference node 1310 a. The one or more compensation values are based at least in part on a difference between the desired value and the measured value. The compensation value may be associated with a PRS resource (e.g., toA correction) and a PRS resource pair (e.g., RSTD correction).

At stage 1706, the method includes detecting a target user device. The reference node 1310a is means for detecting a target UE. In an example, the reference node 1310a may detect the target UE 1305 based on the D2D link 1312. That is, the D2D link 1312 may be used to determine that the target UE 1305 is close to the reference node 1310a. In an example, the target UE 1305 may be configured to provide location information via the D2D link 1312. In an embodiment, the reference node 1310a may be configured to detect the target UE based on information provided by a network entity (e.g., LMF 120). The LMF 120 may be configured to provide assistance data indicating that the reference node 1310a is to provide a compensation value, and the LMF 120 may provide the compensation value to the target UE 1305.

At stage 1708, the method includes providing positioning reference signal information and one or more compensation values to the target user equipment. The reference node 1310a is means for providing PRS information and a backoff value to a target UE. In an example, the reference node 1310a may provide the compensation value determined at stage 1704 and corresponding PRS identification information to the target UE 1305. The reference node 1310a may utilize the D2D link 1312 and/or other network protocols to provide PRS information and associated backoff values. In an example, the LMF 120 may be used to provide PRS and backoff values to the target UE 1305.

Other examples and implementations are within the scope of the present disclosure and the appended claims. For example, due to the nature of software and computers, the functions described above may be implemented using software executed by a processor, hardware, firmware, hardwired or any combination thereof. Features that implement the functions may also be physically located in various positions including being distributed such that some of the functions are implemented in different physical positions. For example, one or more functions or portions thereof discussed above as occurring in the LMF 120 may be performed outside of the LMF 120, such as by the TRP 300 or the UE 200.

Unless otherwise indicated, the functional or other components shown in the figures and/or discussed herein that are connected or in communication with each other are communicatively coupled. I.e. they may be directly or indirectly connected to enable communication between them.

As used herein, unless otherwise indicated, a statement that a function or operation is "based on" an item or condition means that the function or operation is based on the item or condition, and may be based on one or more items and/or conditions other than the item or condition.

As used herein, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. For example, a "processor" may include a single processor or multiple processors. The terms "comprises," "comprising," "includes," and/or "including," when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.

Furthermore, as used herein, "or" (possibly beginning with "at least one" or beginning with "one or more") in the list of items represents a separate list, such that, for example, a list of "at least one of A, B or C" or a list of "one or more of A, B or C" or a list of "a or B or C" represents A, B, C or AB (a and B), or AC (a and C), or BC (B and C), or ABC (i.e., a and B and C), or a combination of more than one feature (e.g., AA, AAB, ABBC, etc.). Thus, a recitation of an item, e.g., a processor, being configured to perform a function with respect to at least one of a or B, or a recitation of an item being configured to perform a function a or a function B, means that the item may be configured to perform a function with respect to a, or may be configured to perform a function with respect to B, or may be configured to perform functions with respect to a and B. For example, the phrase "a processor configured to measure at least one of a or B" or "a processor configured to measure a or B" means that the processor may be configured to measure a (and may be configured to measure B or not measure B), or may be configured to measure B (and may be configured to measure a or not measure a), or may be configured to measure a and B (and may be configured to select which one or both of a and B). Similarly, recitation of modules for measuring at least one of a or B includes modules for measuring a (which may or may not measure B), or modules for measuring B (and which may or may not be configured to measure a), or modules for measuring a and B (which may select which one or both of a and B). As another example, recitation of an item, such as a processor, being configured to perform at least one of function X or function Y means that the item may be configured to perform function X, or may be configured to perform function Y, or may be configured to perform both function X and function Y. For example, the phrase "a processor configured to measure at least one of X or Y" means that the processor may be configured to measure X (and may be configured to measure Y or not measure Y), or may be configured to measure Y (and may be configured to measure X or not measure X), or may be configured to measure X and measure Y (and may be configured to select which one or both of X and Y to measure).

Substantial changes may be made in accordance with specific requirements. For example, custom hardware may be used, and/or certain elements may be implemented in hardware, software (including portable software, such as applets, etc.), or both. In addition, connections to other computing devices, such as network input/output devices, may be used.

The systems and devices discussed above are examples. Various configurations may omit, replace, or add various procedures or components as appropriate. For example, features described with respect to certain configurations may be combined in various other configurations. The different aspects and elements of the configuration may be combined in a similar manner. Furthermore, technology is evolving and, as such, many elements are examples and do not limit the scope of the disclosure or claims.

A wireless communication system is a system that wirelessly communicates, i.e., by electromagnetic and/or acoustic waves that propagate through the air space, rather than by a wired or other physical connection. The wireless communication network may not wirelessly transmit all communications, but is configured to wirelessly transmit at least some communications. Furthermore, the term "wireless communication device" or similar terms do not require that the functionality of the device be dedicated or even primarily for communication, or that the device be a mobile device, but indicate that the device comprises wireless communication capabilities (unidirectional or bidirectional), e.g. comprises at least one radio for wireless communication (each radio being part of a transmitter, receiver or transceiver).

Specific details are set forth in the description to provide a thorough understanding of example configurations (including implementations). However, the configuration may be practiced without these specific details. For example, well-known circuits, processes, algorithms, structures, and techniques have been shown without unnecessary detail in order to avoid obscuring the configurations. This description provides only an example configuration and does not limit the scope, applicability, or configuration of the claims. Rather, the foregoing description of the configuration provides a description of the implementation of the techniques. Various changes may be made in the function and arrangement of elements without departing from the scope of the disclosure.

The terms "processor-readable medium," "machine-readable medium," and "computer-readable medium" as used herein refer to any medium that participates in providing data that causes a machine to operation in a specific fashion. Using a computing platform, various processor-readable media may be involved in providing instructions/code to a processor(s) for execution and/or may be used to store and/or carry such instructions/code (e.g., as signals). In many implementations, the processor-readable medium is a physical and/or tangible storage medium. Such a medium may take many forms, including but not limited to, non-volatile media and volatile media. Non-volatile media includes, for example, optical and/or magnetic disks. Volatile media include, but are not limited to, dynamic memory.

A statement that a value exceeds (or is greater than) a first threshold is equivalent to a statement that the value meets or exceeds a second threshold that is slightly greater than the first threshold, e.g., the second threshold is one value higher than the first threshold in the resolution of the computing system. A statement that a value is less than (or within or below) a first threshold value is equivalent to a statement that a value is less than or equal to a second threshold value that is slightly below the first threshold value, e.g., the second threshold value is one value lower than the first threshold value in the resolution of the computing system.

Implementation examples are described in the following numerical clauses:

1. a method of determining a compensation value for a positioning reference signal, comprising:

determining one or more reference nodes based on the coarse location of the target user device;

receiving positioning reference signal measurements from the one or more reference nodes; and

the one or more compensation values are determined based at least in part on the positioning reference signal measurements.

2. The method of clause 1, further comprising providing the one or more compensation values to a target user device.

3. The method of clause 1, wherein determining the one or more reference nodes comprises determining one or more positioning reference signal resources based on the coarse location of the target user equipment.

4. The method of clause 3, wherein determining the one or more reference nodes comprises determining the one or more positioning reference signal resources using a detectable line-of-sight path to the one or more reference nodes.

5. The method of clause 4, wherein determining the one or more reference nodes comprises determining a reference node having the largest number of the one or more positioning reference signal resources, wherein the one or more positioning reference signal resources have a detectable line-of-sight path to the reference node.

6. The method of clause 3, wherein determining the one or more reference nodes comprises determining a reference node having the largest number of the one or more positioning reference signal resources detectable by the reference node.

7. The method of clause 3, wherein determining the one or more reference nodes comprises determining a reference node having the largest number of overlapping positioning reference signal measurements with the target user equipment.

8. The method of clause 1, wherein the one or more compensation values comprise a time compensation value associated with a time of arrival of a positioning reference signal resource.

9. The method of clause 1, wherein the one or more compensation values comprise a time compensation value based on a reference signal time difference associated with two positioning reference signal resources.

10. The method of clause 1, wherein the coarse location of the target user equipment is based on an identification value associated with the current serving cell.

11. The method of clause 1, further comprising receiving the coarse location of the target user device from the network station.

12. The method of clause 1, further comprising providing positioning reference signal resource configuration information to the target user equipment based at least in part on the one or more reference nodes.

13. A method of determining a location with a user device, comprising:

measuring one or more positioning reference signals;

receiving from a network entity a compensation value associated with the one or more positioning reference signals;

determining one or more compensated positioning reference signal measurements based at least in part on the measured value of each of the one or more positioning reference signals and the associated compensation value; and

the position is determined based at least in part on the one or more compensated positioning reference signal measurements.

14. The method of clause 13, further comprising providing the coarse location information to the network entity.

15. The method of clause 13, wherein measuring the one or more positioning reference signals comprises determining a time of arrival of a positioning reference signal.

16. The method of clause 13, wherein measuring the one or more positioning reference signals comprises determining a reference signal time difference of at least two positioning reference signals.

17. The method of clause 13, wherein receiving the compensation value comprises receiving the compensation value from a location server.

18. The method of clause 13, wherein receiving the compensation value comprises receiving the compensation value from a reference node.

19. The method of clause 13, wherein receiving the compensation value comprises receiving the compensation value via a side link protocol.

20. The method of clause 13, wherein receiving the backoff value comprises receiving the backoff value via one or more radio resource control messages.

21. The method of clause 13, wherein the compensation value is based on positioning reference signal measurements obtained from a plurality of reference nodes.

22. The method of clause 13, wherein determining the position comprises providing the one or more compensated positioning reference signal measurements to a position server, and receiving the position from the position server.

23. An apparatus, comprising:

a memory;

at least one transceiver;

at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver and configured to:

determining the one or more reference nodes based on the coarse location of the target user device;

one or more compensation values are determined based at least in part on the positioning reference signal measurements.

24. The apparatus of clause 23, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to provide the one or more compensation values to a target user device.

25. The apparatus of clause 23, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to determine one or more positioning reference signal resources based on the coarse location of the target user device.

26. The apparatus of clause 25, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to determine the one or more positioning reference signal resources using a detectable line-of-sight path to the one or more reference nodes.

27. The apparatus of clause 26, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to determine a reference node having a maximum number of the one or more positioning reference signal resources having a detectable line-of-sight path to the reference node.

28. The apparatus of clause 25, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to determine a reference node having a maximum number of one or more positioning reference signal resources detectable by the reference node.

29. The apparatus of clause 25, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to determine a reference node having a maximum number of overlapping positioning reference signal measurements with the target user equipment.

30. The apparatus of clause 23, wherein the one or more compensation values comprise a time compensation value associated with a time of arrival of a positioning reference signal resource.

31. The apparatus of clause 23, wherein the one or more compensation values comprise a time compensation value based on a reference signal time difference associated with two positioning reference signal resources.

32. The apparatus of clause 23, wherein the coarse location of the target user equipment is based on an identification value associated with the current serving cell.

33. The apparatus of clause 23, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to receive a coarse location of the target user device from the network station.

34. The apparatus of clause 23, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to provide positioning reference signal resource configuration information to the target user equipment based at least in part on the one or more reference nodes.

35. An apparatus, comprising:

a memory;

at least one transceiver;

measuring one or more positioning reference signals;

a position is determined based at least in part on the one or more compensated positioning reference signal measurements.

36. The apparatus of clause 35, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to provide coarse location information to the network entity.

37. The apparatus of clause 35, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to determine a time of arrival of the positioning reference signal.

38. The apparatus of clause 35, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to determine a reference signal time difference of at least two positioning reference signals.

39. The apparatus of clause 35, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to receive a compensation value from a location server.

40. The apparatus of clause 35, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to receive a compensation value from a reference node.

41. The apparatus of clause 35, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to receive the compensation value via a side link protocol.

42. The apparatus of clause 35, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to receive the backoff value via one or more radio resource control messages.

43. The apparatus of clause 35, wherein the compensation value is based on positioning reference signal measurements obtained from a plurality of reference nodes.

44. The apparatus of clause 35, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to provide the one or more compensated positioning reference signal measurements to a location server and to receive the location from the location server.

45. An apparatus for determining a compensation value for a positioning reference signal, comprising:

means for determining one or more reference nodes based on the coarse location of the target user device;

means for receiving positioning reference signal measurements from the one or more reference nodes; and

means for determining one or more compensation values based at least in part on the positioning reference signal measurements.

46. An apparatus for determining a position using a user device, comprising:

means for measuring one or more positioning reference signals;

means for receiving, from a network entity, a compensation value associated with the one or more positioning reference signals;

means for determining one or more compensated positioning reference signal measurements based at least in part on the measured value of each of the one or more positioning reference signals and the associated compensation value; and

the apparatus also includes means for determining the location based at least in part on the one or more compensated positioning reference signal measurements.

47. A non-transitory processor-readable storage medium comprising processor-readable instructions that cause one or more processors to determine a compensation value for a positioning reference signal, comprising:

code for determining one or more reference nodes based on the coarse location of the target user device;

code for receiving positioning reference signal measurements from the one or more reference nodes; and

code for determining one or more compensation values based at least in part on the positioning reference signal measurements.

48. A non-transitory processor-readable storage medium comprising processor-readable instructions that cause one or more processors to determine a location of a user device, the instructions comprising:

Code for measuring one or more positioning reference signals;

code for receiving, from a network entity, a compensation value associated with the one or more positioning reference signals;

the processor is configured to determine the location based at least in part on the one or more compensated positioning reference signal measurements.

Claims

receiving positioning reference signal measurements from one or more reference nodes; and

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing the one or more compensation values to a target user device.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the one or more reference nodes comprises determining one or more positioning reference signal resources based on a coarse location of a target user device.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein determining the one or more reference nodes comprises determining the one or more positioning reference signal resources using a detectable line-of-sight path to the one or more reference nodes.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein determining the one or more reference nodes comprises determining a reference node having a maximum number of the one or more positioning reference signal resources having a detectable line-of-sight path to the reference node.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein determining the one or more reference nodes comprises determining a reference node having a maximum number of the one or more positioning reference signal resources detectable by the reference node.

7. The method of claim 3, wherein determining the one or more reference nodes comprises determining a reference node having a largest number of overlapping positioning reference signal measurements with the target user equipment.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein a location management function or a transmission/reception point is configured to receive the positioning reference signal measurements from the one or more reference nodes and to determine the one or more compensation values.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein a user equipment is configured to receive positioning reference signal measurements from the one or more reference nodes and to determine the one or more compensation values.

10. A method of determining a location with a user device, comprising:

measuring one or more positioning reference signals;

11. The method of claim 10, wherein measuring the one or more positioning reference signals comprises determining a time of arrival of a positioning reference signal.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein measuring the one or more positioning reference signals comprises determining a reference signal time difference of at least two positioning reference signals.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein receiving the compensation value comprises receiving the compensation value from a location server.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein receiving a compensation value comprises receiving a compensation value from a reference node.

15. The method of claim 10, wherein receiving the backoff value comprises receiving the backoff value from the user device via a side link protocol.

16. The method of claim 10, wherein the compensation value is based on positioning reference signal measurements obtained from a plurality of reference nodes.

17. An apparatus, comprising:

a memory;

at least one transceiver;

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to provide the one or more compensation values to a target user device.

19. The apparatus of claim 17, in which the at least one processor is further configured to determine one or more positioning reference signal resources based on a coarse location of a target user device.

20. The apparatus of claim 17, in which the at least one processor is further configured to utilize a detectable line-of-sight path to a reference node to determine a reference node having a maximum number of positioning reference signal resources.

21. The apparatus of claim 17, in which the at least one processor is further configured to determine a reference node having a maximum number of one or more positioning reference signal resources detectable by a reference node.

22. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the one or more compensation values comprise a time compensation value associated with a time of arrival of a positioning reference signal resource.

23. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the one or more compensation values comprise a time compensation value based on a reference signal time difference associated with two positioning reference signal resources.

24. An apparatus, comprising:

a memory;

at least one transceiver;

measuring one or more positioning reference signals;

25. The apparatus of claim 24, in which the at least one processor is further configured to provide coarse location information to a network entity.

26. The apparatus of claim 24, in which the at least one processor is further configured to determine a time of arrival of a positioning reference signal.

27. The apparatus of claim 24, in which the at least one processor is further configured to determine a reference signal time difference of at least two positioning reference signals.

28. The apparatus of claim 24, in which the at least one processor is further configured to receive a compensation value from a location server.

29. The apparatus of claim 24, in which the at least one processor is further configured to receive a compensation value from a transmit/receive point.

30. The apparatus of claim 24, in which the at least one processor is further configured to receive the compensation value from a user equipment via a side link protocol.