CN117015983A

CN117015983A - Positioning assistance data transfer for UE positioning in radio resource control inactive state

Info

Publication number: CN117015983A
Application number: CN202180094718.XA
Authority: CN
Inventors: 刘建国; 陶涛; 孟艳
Original assignee: Nokia Shanghai Bell Co Ltd; Nokia Solutions and Networks Oy
Current assignee: Nokia Shanghai Bell Co Ltd; Nokia Solutions and Networks Oy
Priority date: 2021-02-26
Filing date: 2021-02-26
Publication date: 2023-11-07
Also published as: WO2022178837A1

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to devices, methods, apparatuses, and computer-readable storage media for positioning assistance data transfer for positioning in an RRC inactive state. The method includes receiving, at a first device and from a second device, a paging message including at least one of: a paging purpose to initiate a positioning assistance data transmission for the first device; or an indication of resources for the first device to send a Radio Resource Control (RRC) resume request in an RRC inactive state; transmitting an RRC resume request to the second device in an RRC inactive state for initiating positioning assistance data transmission; and receiving positioning assistance data from the second device. In this way, positioning assistance data transfer may be performed in an RRC inactive state, and thus UE power saving, signaling overhead reduction, and positioning delay reduction may be achieved.

Description

Positioning assistance data transfer for UE positioning in radio resource control inactive state

Technical Field

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to the field of telecommunications and, more particularly, relate to an apparatus, method, device, and computer-readable storage medium for positioning assistance data transfer for UE positioning in Radio Resource Control (RRC) inactive state.

Background

Local positioning has been supported in the new air interface (NR). Some solutions are specified for NR localization in Release 16. For example, these solutions may include downlink time difference of arrival (DL-TDOA), uplink time difference of arrival (UL-TDOA), downlink departure angle (DL-AoD), uplink angle of arrival (UL-AoA), enhanced cell ID (E-CID), and Multi-cell round trip time (Multi-RTT). All these positioning mechanisms are limited to User Equipments (UEs) in RRC connected mode.

The NR will support the transmission of Uplink (UL)/Downlink (DL) packets during the SDT procedure and at the same time will not transition the User Equipment (UE) to the rrc_connected state. The SDT procedure in the RRC inactive state may be implemented based on a Random Access (RA) procedure or a Configured Grant (CG) configuration.

Disclosure of Invention

In general, example embodiments of the present disclosure provide a solution for positioning assistance data transfer for UE positioning in RRC inactive state.

In a first aspect, a first device is provided. The first device includes: at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program code; the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the first device to at least: receiving a paging message from a second device, the paging message comprising at least one of: a paging purpose to initiate a positioning assistance data transmission for the first device; or an indication of resources for the first device to send an RRC resume request in an RRC inactive state; transmitting an RRC resume request to the second device in an RRC inactive state for initiating positioning assistance data transmission; and receiving positioning assistance data from the second device.

In a second aspect, a second device is provided. The second device includes: at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program code; the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the second device to at least: in accordance with a determination to initiate a positioning assistance data transmission for a first device, sending a paging message to the first device, the paging message including at least one of: a paging purpose to initiate a positioning assistance data transmission for the first device; or an indication of resources for the first device to send an RRC resume request in an RRC inactive state; receiving an RRC resume request in an RRC inactive state from the first device for initiating positioning assistance data transmission; and transmitting positioning assistance data to the first device.

In a third aspect, a method is provided. The method comprises the following steps: at a first device, receiving a paging message from a second device, the paging message including at least one of: a paging purpose to initiate a positioning assistance data transmission for the first device; or an indication of resources for the first device to send an RRC resume request in an RRC inactive state; transmitting an RRC resume request to the second device in an RRC inactive state for initiating positioning assistance data transmission; and receiving positioning assistance data from the second device.

In a fourth aspect, a method is provided. The method comprises the following steps: in accordance with a determination to initiate a positioning assistance data transmission for a first device, sending a paging message to the first device, the paging message including at least one of: a paging purpose to initiate a positioning assistance data transmission for the first device; or an indication of resources for the first device to send an RRC resume request in an RRC inactive state; receiving an RRC resume request in an RRC inactive state from the first device for initiating positioning assistance data transmission; and transmitting positioning assistance data to the first device.

In a fifth aspect, there is provided an apparatus comprising: means for receiving a paging message from a second device, the paging message comprising at least one of: a paging purpose to initiate a positioning assistance data transmission for the first device; or an indication of resources for the first device to send an RRC resume request in an RRC inactive state; means for sending an RRC resume request to the second device in an RRC inactive state for initiating positioning assistance data transmission; and means for receiving positioning assistance data from the second device.

In a sixth aspect, there is provided an apparatus comprising: means for sending a paging message from the second device to the first device in accordance with a determination to initiate a positioning assistance data transmission for the first device, the paging message comprising at least one of: a paging purpose to initiate a positioning assistance data transmission for the first device; or an indication of resources for the first device to send an RRC resume request in an RRC inactive state; means for receiving an RRC resume request in an RRC inactive state from the first device for initiating a positioning assistance data transmission; and means for transmitting positioning assistance data to the first device.

In a seventh aspect, there is provided a computer readable medium having stored thereon a computer program which, when executed by at least one processor of a device, causes the device to perform the method according to the third aspect.

In an eighth aspect, there is provided a computer readable medium having stored thereon a computer program which, when executed by at least one processor of a device, causes the device to perform the method according to the fourth aspect.

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

Drawings

The embodiments of the present disclosure are presented in an exemplary sense, and advantages thereof will be explained in more detail below with reference to the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an example environment in which example embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented;

fig. 2 illustrates a signaling diagram of a procedure for positioning assistance data transfer for UE positioning in an RRC inactive state, according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 3 illustrates a flowchart of an example method for positioning assistance data transfer for UE positioning in an RRC inactive state, according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

Fig. 4 illustrates a flowchart of an example method for positioning assistance data transmission for UE positioning in an RRC inactive state, according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 illustrates a simplified block diagram of a device suitable for implementing exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure; and

fig. 6 illustrates a block diagram of an example computer-readable medium, according to some embodiments of the disclosure.

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

Detailed Description

Principles of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to some example embodiments. It should be understood that these embodiments are described merely for the purpose of illustrating and helping those skilled in the art understand and accomplish the objects of the present disclosure and do not set any limit to the scope of the present disclosure. The disclosure described herein may be implemented in various ways other than those described below.

In the following description and claims, unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs.

In this disclosure, references to "one embodiment," "an example embodiment," etc., indicate that the embodiment described may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but every embodiment may not necessarily include the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with an example embodiment, it is submitted that it is within the knowledge of one skilled in the art to effect such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodiments whether or not explicitly described.

It will be understood that, although the terms "first" and "second," etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish between functions of the various elements. As used herein, the term "and/or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the listed terms.

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

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

(a) Implementation of hardware-only circuitry (such as implementation using only analog and/or digital circuitry), and

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

(i) Combination of analog and/or digital hardware circuit(s) and software/firmware, and

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

(c) Hardware circuit(s) and/or processor(s), such as microprocessor(s) or a portion of microprocessor(s), that require software (e.g., firmware)

The operation is performed, but software may not exist when the operation is not required.

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

As used herein, the term "communication network" refers to a network that conforms to any suitable communication standard, such as a 5 th generation (5G) system, long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-advanced (LTE-a), wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), high Speed Packet Access (HSPA), narrowband internet of things (NB-IoT), and so forth. Furthermore, communication between a terminal device and a network device in a communication network may be performed according to any suitable generation communication protocol, including, but not limited to, first generation (1G), second generation (2G), 2.5G, 2.75G, third generation (3G), fourth generation (4G), 4.5G, fifth generation (5G) new air interface (NR) communication protocols, and/or any other protocol currently known or to be developed in the future. Embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied to various communication systems. In view of the rapid development of communications, there are of course future types of communication technologies and systems in which the present disclosure may be implemented. The scope of the present disclosure should not be considered limited to the systems described above.

As used herein, the term "network device" refers to a node in a communication network through which a terminal device accesses the network and receives services from the network. A network device may refer to a Base Station (BS) or an Access Point (AP), e.g., a node B (NodeB or NB), an evolved NodeB (eNodeB or eNB), a NR next generation NodeB (gNB), a Remote Radio Unit (RRU), a Radio Header (RH), a Remote Radio Head (RRH), a repeater, a low power node (such as a femto base station, pico base station), etc., depending on the terminology and technology applied. The RAN split architecture includes a gNB CU (centralized unit, hosting RRC, SDAP, and PDCP) that controls multiple gNB DUs (distributed units, hosting RLC, MAC, and PHY). The relay node may correspond to the DU portion of the IAB node.

The term "terminal device" refers to any terminal device capable of wireless communication. By way of example, and not limitation, a terminal device may also be referred to as a communication device, user Equipment (UE), subscriber Station (SS), portable subscriber station, mobile Station (MS), or Access Terminal (AT). The terminal devices may include, but are not limited to, mobile phones, cellular phones, smart phones, voice over IP (VoIP) phones, wireless local loop phones, tablets, wearable terminal devices, personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), portable computers, desktop computers, image capture terminal devices (such as digital cameras), gaming terminal devices, music storage and playback devices, in-vehicle wireless terminal devices, wireless endpoints, mobile stations, notebook computer embedded devices (LEEs), notebook computer-mounted devices (LMEs), USB dongles, smart devices, wireless Customer Premise Equipment (CPE), internet of things (IoT) devices, watches or other wearable devices, head Mounted Displays (HMDs), vehicles, drones, medical devices and applications (e.g., tele-surgery), industrial devices and applications (e.g., robots and/or other wireless devices operating in an industrial and/or automated processing chain context), consumer electronic devices, devices operating on commercial and/or industrial wireless networks, and the like. The terminal device may also correspond to a Mobile Terminal (MT) part of an Integrated Access Backhaul (IAB) node (also known as a relay node). In the following description, the terms "terminal device", "communication device", "terminal", "user equipment" and "UE" may be used interchangeably.

Although in various example embodiments, the functions described herein may be performed in fixed and/or wireless network nodes, in other example embodiments, the functions may be implemented in a user equipment device (such as a cell phone or tablet or laptop or desktop or mobile IoT device or fixed IoT device). For example, the user equipment device may be suitably equipped with corresponding capabilities as described in connection with the fixed and/or wireless network node(s). The user equipment device may be a user equipment and/or a control device, such as a chipset or a processor, configured to control the user equipment when installed in the user equipment. Examples of such functions include a bootstrapping server function and/or a home subscriber server, which may be implemented in a user equipment device by providing the user equipment device with software configured to cause the user equipment device to perform from the perspective of these functions/nodes.

Fig. 1 illustrates an example communication network 100 in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. As shown in fig. 1, the communication network 100 includes a terminal device 110 (hereinafter may also be referred to as a first device 110 or UE 110). The communication network 100 may also include a network device 120-1 (hereinafter may also be referred to as a gNB 120-1 or a second device 120-1). Network device 120-1 may manage cell 102-1 (which may also be referred to as anchor cell 102-1 hereinafter).

In addition, the communication network 100 may also include a network device 120-2 (which may also be referred to as an additional gNB 120-2 or a third device 120-2 hereinafter). The network device 120-2 may manage the cell 102-2 (hereinafter may also be referred to as the last serving cell 102-2). UE 110 may be served by the last serving cell 102-2 before transitioning to the RRC inactive mode. As UE 110 moves, UE 110 may leave the coverage of the last serving cell 102-2 and enter the coverage of other cells, such as the coverage of anchor cell 102-1.

The last serving cell and anchor cell of the UE may also be managed by the same gNB. In this case, network device 120-1 and network device 120-2 may be considered the same network device.

It should be understood that the number of network devices and terminal devices shown in fig. 1 is given for illustrative purposes only and is not meant to be limiting. Communication network 100 may include any suitable number of network devices and terminal devices.

Solutions for NR positioning, such as downlink time difference of arrival (DL-TDOA), uplink time difference of arrival (UL-TDOA), downlink departure angle (DL-AoD), uplink angle of arrival (UL-AoA), enhanced cell ID (E-CID), and Multi-cell round trip time (Multi-RTT), have been specified in release 16. All such positioning solutions are limited to User Equipments (UEs) in RRC connected mode.

This limitation has some drawbacks. For example, the number of UEs that can be located simultaneously is limited. In industrial internet of things (IIoT) scenarios and other use cases, a large number of UEs may need location services at the same time. If all UEs are required to change to connected state, a large signaling overhead may result. When a positioning procedure is requested, if the UE is not in a connected state, an additional delay (latency) may be generated before positioning of the UE. Furthermore, the UE may need to switch to the RRC connected state before the positioning procedure, which may result in an increase in power consumption.

The UE may be considered to be in different RRC modes or states with respect to the network, namely RRC connected state, RRC inactive state and RRC idle state. When the UE is in RRC connected state, it may communicate with the gNB using typical NR physical channels and procedures. When the UE is in an RRC idle state or an RRC inactive state, the UE may save power compared to being in an RRC connected state.

Conventionally, data transmission cannot be performed in an RRC inactive state. That is, the UE must restore the connection (i.e., change to the RRC connected state) for any Downlink (DL) and Uplink (UL) data. For each data transmission, no matter how small and infrequent the data packets are, connection establishment must be performed and subsequently released to the RRC inactive state, which may result in unnecessary power consumption and signaling overhead.

In order to improve network performance and efficiency as well as UE battery performance, it has been proposed that SDT in RRC inactive state can be supported in NR. The 2-step RACH, the 4-step RACH, and the configuration grant type 1 have been designated to enable data transmission in the RRC inactive state.

In NR Release 17, further work will be done on NR localization with most focused on IIoT. One key goal is to study the necessary enhancements and solutions to support the high accuracy (horizontal and vertical), low latency, network efficiency (scalability, RS overhead, etc.), and device efficiency (power consumption, complexity, etc.) requirements of commercial use cases. One of the use cases of the industrial internet of things is UE positioning. Asset tracking is a solution to track the location of assets, which is becoming increasingly important in improving processes and increasing flexibility in industrial environments. For example, the UE positioning device will be some smart tag with low power. Thus, this use case requires that the object combine positioning and wireless communication technologies in a cost and power efficient manner.

For positioning operations in NR, the network needs to transmit positioning assistance data to a positioning UE (e.g., UE positioning device). The positioning assistance data involved in DL and UL positioning includes the following aspects: (1) Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) configuration, measurement and reporting configuration, etc. of the DL positioning procedure; (2) PRS configuration and update for UL positioning initiated by a gNB; (3) Capability and location information requests initiated from a Location Management Function (LMF), and (4) positioning Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) activation signaling or deactivation signaling.

As described above, in a conventional manner, the positioning UE must be changed to the RRC connected state to receive positioning assistance data, which results in UE power consumption, additional signaling overhead, and positioning delay. It is therefore important to keep the positioning device (e.g., UE positioning device) in RRC inactive state to receive positioning assistance data from the network including PRS configuration, measurement and reporting configuration, other control signaling (e.g., capability/location request). In this case, it is desirable that positioning for the UE can be supported in RRC idle and RRC inactive states.

The present disclosure provides a solution for positioning assistance data transfer for UE positioning in RRC inactive state. In this solution, the UE may receive a paging message from the gNB, which may include at least one of: paging purposes for positioning assistance data transmission for the first device or an indication of resources for the UE to send an RRC resume request in an RRC inactive state are to be initiated. After receiving the paging message, the UE may send an RRC resume request to the gNB in an RRC inactive state for initiating positioning assistance data transmission and receiving positioning assistance data from the gNB. In this way, positioning assistance data transfer may be performed in RRC inactive state, and thus UE power saving, signaling overhead reduction, and positioning delay reduction may be achieved.

The principles and implementations of the present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to fig. 2, which shows an exemplary procedure for positioning assistance data transmission for UE positioning in RRC inactive state. For discussion purposes, the process 200 will be described with reference to fig. 1. Process 200 may include UE 110, anchor cell 102-1, and final serving cell 102-2, as shown in fig. 1. The anchor cell 102-1 may be managed by the gNB120-1 as shown in FIG. 1, and the final serving cell may be managed by the gNB120-1 or the gNB120-2 as shown in FIG. 1.

The last serving cell 120-2 may be triggered to initiate a paging procedure to transmit positioning assistance data for the positioning procedure of UE 110.

In some example embodiments, the last serving cell may be triggered to initiate the paging procedure after receiving the positioning assistance data from the LMF. The positioning assistance data may include, for example, PRS measurement and reporting configuration, location information, or/and capability request for DL positioning. The positioning assistance data may also include uplink measurements for synchronization error cancellation for combined use of DL-TDOA and UL-TDOA. Furthermore, any other possible parameters used for the positioning procedure of UE 110 may also be included in the positioning assistance data.

Upon receiving a request from the LMF to send positioning assistance data to UE 110, the last serving cell may also be triggered to initiate the paging procedure. In this case, the positioning assistance data initiated from the last serving cell may be a UL PRS configuration or SRS configuration for UL positioning. The positioning assistance data may also include activation signaling or deactivation signaling for SRS transmission. It should be appreciated that any other possible parameters for the positioning procedure of UE 110 may also be included in the positioning assistance data.

As shown in fig. 2, if the last serving cell 120-2 has been triggered to initiate a paging procedure to transmit positioning assistance data, the last serving cell 120-2 may send a paging message to cells in a RAN-based notification area (RNA) for the purpose of positioning assistance data transmission. For example, the last serving cell 120-2 may send 202 a paging message to the anchor cell 120-1. The paging message may indicate a paging purpose for positioning assistance data transmission.

Upon receiving the paging message from the last serving cell 102-2, the anchor cell 102-1 may generate 204 a paging message for positioning assistance data transmission. In some example embodiments, the paging message may include a paging purpose for which positioning assistance data is to be sent to UE 110. Alternatively, the paging message may include an indication of resources for the UE to transmit the RRC resume request in the RRC inactive state. Anchor cell 102-1 may then send 206 a paging message to UE 110.

Upon receiving the paging message from anchor cell 102-1, UE 110 may send 208 an RRC resume request to anchor cell 102-1.

In some example embodiments, if the paging message indicates resources configured for RRC recovery request transmission, UE 110 may obtain the resources from the paging message and send an RRC recovery request on the resources.

In some example embodiments, if the paging message fails to indicate resources configured for RRC recovery request transmission, UE 110 may determine a set of candidate resources preconfigured for the RA procedure of UE 110, e.g., resources for transmitting message a in a 2-step RA procedure or message 3 in a 4-step RA procedure, and transmit an RRC recovery request on the set of candidate resources.

In some example embodiments, if the paging message fails to indicate resources configured for RRC recovery request transmission, UE 110 may also determine Configuration Grant (CG) UL data channel resources pre-configured for Small Data Transmission (SDT) of UE 110 and send an RRC recovery request based on the CG configuration.

When anchor cell 102-1 receives the RRC resume request from UE 110, anchor cell 102-2 may obtain positioning assistance data to be sent to the UE. In this case, the anchor cell 102-1 may send 210 a request for positioning assistance data to the last serving cell 102-2. The last serving cell 102-2 may then send 212positioning assistance data for ue 110 to anchor cell 102-1.

After receiving the positioning assistance data from the last serving cell 102-2, the anchor cell 102-1 may send 214 the positioning assistance data to the UE 110. For example, anchor cell 102-1 may send positioning assistance data to UE 110 along with an RRC release message.

In some example embodiments, the anchor cell 102-1 may send positioning assistance data to the UE 110 through message B in a 2-step RA procedure or message 4 in a 4-step RA procedure.

In some example embodiments, it is also possible that anchor cell 102-2 may send positioning assistance data to UE 110 via a DL data channel (e.g., a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) in the case where anchor cell 102-1 receives an RRC recovery request over CG resources configured for SDT or positioning assistance data transmission).

In this way, positioning assistance data transmission can be performed in an RRC inactive state, and thus UE power saving, signaling overhead, and positioning delay reduction can be achieved.

Fig. 3 illustrates a flowchart of an example method 300 for positioning assistance data transfer for UE positioning in an RRC inactive state, according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. The method 300 may be implemented at a first device 110 as shown in fig. 1. For discussion purposes, the method 500 will be described with reference to FIG. 1.

At 310, the first device receives a paging message from the second device, the paging message including at least one of: a paging purpose for positioning assistance data transmission for the first device or an indication of resources for the first device to send an RRC resume request in an RRC inactive state is to be initiated.

At 320, the first device sends an RRC resume request to the second device in an RRC inactive state for initiating positioning assistance data transmission.

In some example embodiments, the first device may obtain a resource from the paging message for the first device to send the RRC resume request in the RRC inactive state and send the RRC resume request on the resource.

In some example embodiments, the first device may determine a set of candidate resources that are preconfigured for at least one of the random access procedures or for small data transmissions based on configuration grants, and send an RRC recovery request on the set of candidate resources.

In some example embodiments, the first device may send a recovery reason for receiving the positioning assistance data along with the RRC recovery request.

At 330, the first device receives positioning assistance data from the second device.

In some example embodiments, the first device may receive the positioning assistance data along with the RRC release message.

In some example embodiments, the first device may receive the positioning assistance data via at least one of: message B in a two-step random access procedure, message 4 in a four-step random access procedure, or a data channel between the first device and the second device.

In some example embodiments, the first device comprises a terminal device and the second device comprises a network device.

Fig. 4 illustrates a flowchart of an example method 400 for positioning assistance data transfer for UE positioning in an RRC inactive state, according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. The method 400 may be implemented at the second device 120-1, as shown in fig. 1. For discussion purposes, the method 400 will be described with reference to FIG. 1.

At 410, if the second device determines to initiate a positioning assistance data transmission for the first device, the second device may send a paging message to the first device, the paging message including at least one of: indication of paging purposes to initiate positioning assistance data transmission for a first device or resources for the first device to send an RRC resume request in an RRC inactive state

In some example embodiments, if the second device receives a further paging message from the last serving cell of the first device and the further message indicates that a positioning assistance data transmission for the first device is to be initiated, the second device may generate the paging message based on the further paging message.

In some example embodiments, the positioning assistance data may be generated by a location management function. The positioning assistance data may also be generated by the last serving cell if the last serving cell receives a request from the location management function to send positioning assistance data.

At 420, the second device receives an RRC resume request from the first device in an RRC inactive state for initiating positioning assistance data transmission.

At 430, the second device transmits positioning assistance data to the first device.

In some example embodiments, the second device may send the positioning assistance data along with the RRC release message.

In some example embodiments, the first device may transmit the positioning assistance data via at least one of: message B in a two-step random access procedure, message 4 in a four-step random access procedure, or a data channel between the first device and the second device.

In some example embodiments, the first device may send a request for positioning assistance data to a last serving cell of the first device; and receiving positioning assistance data from the last serving cell.

In some example embodiments, an apparatus capable of performing the method 300 (e.g., implemented at the UE 110) may include means for performing the various steps of the method 300. The component may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the components may be implemented in circuitry or software modules.

In some example embodiments, the apparatus includes means for receiving a paging message from a second device, the paging message including at least one of: a paging purpose to initiate a positioning assistance data transmission for the first device; or an indication of resources for the first device to send an RRC resume request in an RRC inactive state; means for sending an RRC resume request to the second device in an RRC inactive state for initiating positioning assistance data transmission; and means for receiving positioning assistance data from the second device.

In some example embodiments, an apparatus capable of performing the method 400 (e.g., implemented at the gNB 120-1) may include means for performing the various steps of the method 400. The component may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the components may be implemented in circuitry or software modules.

In some example embodiments, the apparatus includes means for sending a paging message from the second device to the first device in accordance with a determination to initiate a positioning assistance data transmission for the first device, the paging message including at least one of: a paging purpose to initiate a positioning assistance data transmission for the first device; or an indication of resources for the first device to send an RRC resume request in an RRC inactive state; means for receiving an RRC resume request in an RRC inactive state from the first device for initiating a positioning assistance data transmission; and means for transmitting positioning assistance data to the first device.

Fig. 5 is a simplified block diagram of an apparatus 500 suitable for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure. The device 500 may be provided to implement a communication device, such as the UE 110 or the gNB 120 as shown in fig. 1. As shown, device 500 includes one or more processors 510, one or more memories 520 coupled to processor 510, and one or more transmitters and receivers (TX/RX) 540 coupled to processor 510.

TX/RX 540 is used for two-way communication. TX/RX 540 has at least one antenna to facilitate communication. The communication interface may represent any interface necessary to communicate with other network elements.

Processor 510 may be of any type suitable to the local technology network and may include one or more of the following: as non-limiting examples, general purpose computers, special purpose computers, microprocessors, digital signal processor(s) (DSPs), and processors based on a multi-core processor architecture. The device 500 may have multiple processors, such as an application specific integrated circuit chip that is slaved in time to a clock that is synchronized to the master processor.

Memory 520 may include one or more non-volatile memories and one or more volatile memories. Examples of non-volatile memory include, but are not limited to, read-only memory (ROM) 524, electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), flash memory, a hard disk, a Compact Disc (CD), a Digital Video Disk (DVD), and other magnetic and/or optical storage devices. Examples of volatile memory include, but are not limited to, random Access Memory (RAM) 522, and other volatile memory that does not persist during power failure.

The computer program 530 includes computer-executable instructions that are executed by an associated processor 510. Program 530 may be stored in ROM 520. Processor 510 may perform any suitable actions and processes by loading program 530 into RAM 520.

Embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented by program 530 such that device 500 may perform any of the processes of the present disclosure discussed with reference to fig. 2-4. Embodiments of the present disclosure may also be implemented in hardware or by a combination of software and hardware.

In some embodiments, program 530 may be tangibly embodied in a computer-readable medium that may be included in device 500 (such as in memory 520) or other storage device accessible to device 500. Device 500 may load program 530 from a computer readable medium into RAM 522 for execution. The computer readable medium may include any type of tangible, non-volatile memory, such as ROM, EPROM, flash memory, hard disk, CD, DVD, etc. Fig. 6 shows an example of a computer readable medium 600 in the form of a CD or DVD. The computer readable medium has stored thereon a program 530.

In general, the various embodiments of the disclosure may be implemented using hardware or special purpose circuits, software, logic or any combination thereof. Some aspects may be implemented in hardware, while other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software which may be executed by a controller, microprocessor or other computing device. While various aspects of the embodiments of the disclosure are illustrated and described as block diagrams, flow charts, or using some other pictorial representation, it is well understood that these blocks, apparatus, systems, techniques or methods described herein may be implemented in, as non-limiting examples, hardware, software, firmware, special purpose circuits or logic, general purpose hardware or controller or other computing devices, or some combination thereof.

The present disclosure also provides at least one computer program product tangibly stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. The computer program product comprises computer executable instructions, such as instructions included in a program module, that are executed in a device on a target real or virtual processor to perform the method 300 and method 400 described above with reference to fig. 3-4. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. In various embodiments, the functionality of the program modules may be combined or split between program modules as desired. Machine-executable instructions of program modules may be executed within a local device or within a distributed device. In a distributed device, program modules may be located in both local and remote memory storage media.

Program code for carrying out the methods of the present disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. These program code may be provided to a processor or controller of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus such that the program code, when executed by the processor or controller, causes the functions/operations specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram to be implemented. The program code may execute entirely on the machine, partly on the machine, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the machine and partly on a remote machine or entirely on the remote machine or server.

In the context of this disclosure, computer program code or related data may be carried by any suitable carrier to enable an apparatus, device or processor to perform the various processes and operations described above. Examples of carriers include signals, computer readable media, and the like.

The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium. The computer readable medium may include, but is not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples of a computer-readable storage medium would include an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a Random Access Memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

Further, while operations are described in a particular order, this should not be construed as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirable results. In some cases, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Also, while several specific implementation details are included in the above discussion, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the disclosure, but rather as descriptions of features that may be specific to particular embodiments. Certain features that are described in the context of separate embodiments can also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment can also be implemented in multiple embodiments separately or in any suitable subcombination.

Although the disclosure has been described in language specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the disclosure defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.

Claims

1. A first device, comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory including computer program code;

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

receiving a paging message from a second device, the paging message comprising at least one of:

to initiate a paging purpose for positioning assistance data transmission for the first device; or alternatively

An indication of resources for the first device to send an RRC resume request in a radio resource control, RRC, inactive state;

transmitting the RRC resume request to the second device in the RRC inactive state for initiating the positioning assistance data transmission; and

the positioning assistance data is received from the second device.

2. The first device of claim 1, wherein the first device is caused to send the RRC restoration request by:

Obtaining the resources for the first device to send the RRC resume request in the RRC inactive state from the paging message; and

and sending the RRC recovery request on the resource.

3. The first device of claim 1, wherein the first device is caused to send the RRC restoration request by:

determining a set of candidate resources that are preconfigured for at least one of:

a random access process;

configuring authorization; and

and sending the RRC recovery request on the candidate resource set.

4. The first device of claim 1, wherein the first device is caused to send the RRC restoration request by:

and transmitting a recovery reason for receiving the positioning assistance data together with the RRC recovery request.

5. The first device of claim 1, wherein the first device is caused to receive the positioning assistance data by:

the positioning assistance data is received together with an RRC release message.

6. The first device of claim 1, wherein the first device is caused to receive the positioning assistance data by:

The positioning assistance data is received via at least one of:

message B in a two-step random access procedure,

message 4 in a four step random access procedure, or

A data channel between the first device and the second device.

7. The first device of claim 1, wherein the first device comprises a terminal device and the second device comprises a network device.

8. A second device, comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory including computer program code;

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

in accordance with a determination to initiate a positioning assistance data transmission for a first device, sending a paging message to the first device, the paging message including at least one of:

to initiate a paging purpose for the positioning assistance data transmission of the first device; or alternatively

receiving the RRC resume request in the RRC inactive state from the first device for initiating the positioning assistance data transmission; and

And sending the positioning assistance data to the first device.

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

in accordance with a determination that a further paging message is received from a last serving cell of the first device, the paging message is generated based on the further paging message, the further message indicating that the positioning assistance data transmission is to be initiated for the first device.

10. The second device of claim 8, wherein the positioning assistance data is generated by at least one of:

location management function, or

The last serving cell is responsive to receiving a request from the location management function to send the positioning assistance data.

11. A second device as claimed in claim 8, wherein the second device is caused to transmit the positioning assistance data by:

the positioning assistance data is sent together with an RRC release message.

12. A second device as claimed in claim 8, wherein the second device is caused to transmit the positioning assistance data by:

transmitting the positioning assistance data via at least one of:

Message B in a two-step random access procedure,

message 4 in a four step random access procedure, or

A data channel between the first device and the second device.

13. The second device of claim 8, wherein the second device is further caused to:

transmitting a request for the positioning assistance data to a last serving cell of the first device; and

the positioning assistance data is received from the last serving cell.

14. The second device of claim 8, wherein the first device comprises a terminal device and the second device comprises a network device.

15. A method, comprising:

at a first device, receiving a paging message from a second device, the paging message including at least one of:

the positioning assistance data is received from the second device.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein sending the RRC recovery request comprises:

and sending the RRC recovery request on the resource.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein sending the RRC recovery request comprises:

a random access process;

configuring authorization; and

and sending the RRC recovery request on the candidate resource set.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein sending the RRC recovery request comprises:

19. The method of claim 15, wherein receiving the positioning assistance data comprises:

20. The method of claim 15, wherein receiving the positioning assistance data comprises:

the positioning assistance data is received via at least one of:

message B in a two-step random access procedure,

Message 4 in a four step random access procedure, or

A data channel between the first device and the second device.

21. The method of claim 15, wherein the first device comprises a terminal device and the second device comprises a network device.

22. A method, comprising:

transmitting a paging message from a second device to a first device in accordance with a determination to initiate a positioning assistance data transmission for the first device, the paging message comprising at least one of:

and sending the positioning assistance data to the first device.

23. The method of claim 22, further comprising:

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the positioning assistance data is generated by at least one of:

location management function, or

25. The method of claim 22, wherein transmitting the positioning assistance data comprises:

the positioning assistance data is sent together with an RRC release message.

26. The method of claim 22, wherein transmitting the positioning assistance data comprises:

transmitting the positioning assistance data via at least one of:

message B in a two-step random access procedure,

message 4 in a four step random access procedure, or

A data channel between the first device and the second device.

27. The method of claim 22, further comprising:

the positioning assistance data is received from the last serving cell.

28. The method of claim 22, wherein the first device comprises a terminal device and the second device comprises a network device.

29. An apparatus, comprising:

means for receiving a paging message from a second device, the paging message comprising at least one of:

means for sending the RRC resume request to the second device for initiating the positioning assistance data transmission in the RRC inactive state; and

means for receiving the positioning assistance data from the second device.

30. An apparatus, comprising:

means for sending a paging message from a second device to a first device in accordance with a determination to initiate a positioning assistance data transmission for the first device, the paging message comprising at least one of:

means for receiving the RRC resume request in the RRC inactive state from the first device for initiating the positioning assistance data transmission; and

Means for transmitting the positioning assistance data to the first device.

31. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising program instructions for causing an apparatus to perform at least the method of any one of claims 14 to 21.

32. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising program instructions for causing an apparatus to perform at least the method of any one of claims 22 to 28.