CN117135561A

CN117135561A - Positioning method and communication device

Info

Publication number: CN117135561A
Application number: CN202210728631.XA
Authority: CN
Inventors: 张梦晨; 姚楚婷; 徐海博
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2022-05-20
Filing date: 2022-06-25
Publication date: 2023-11-28

Abstract

A positioning method and communication device, comprising: the method comprises the steps that a first terminal device obtains first information, the first information comprises synchronous information of a second terminal device, the synchronous information of the second terminal device comprises synchronous information of synchronous sources of the second terminal device and the second terminal device, the second terminal device is used for assisting in positioning the position of the first terminal device, and the second terminal device and the first terminal device are communicated through a side uplink; the first terminal device determines the position information of the first terminal device according to the first information. The method can enable the first terminal equipment to accurately calculate the position information of the first terminal equipment in a positioning scene containing sidestream communication.

Description

Positioning method and communication device

The present application claims priority from the 20 th day of 2022, filed with the chinese patent application of the national intellectual property agency, application number 202210555591.3, application name "a communication method", the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of wireless communications, and more particularly, to a positioning method and a communication apparatus.

Background

The current positioning method mainly includes positioning a target terminal device based on a Uu interface reference signal in a positioning scene, when a side uplink is introduced in the positioning scene, that is, at least one network element or terminal or entity (for example, a Road Side Unit (RSU)) capable of transmitting a PC5 interface reference signal is introduced in the positioning scene, where the positioning scene needs to position the target terminal device based on the Uu interface reference signal and the PC5 interface reference signal, or the positioning scene only needs to position the target terminal device based on the PC5 interface reference signal. However, since there is a difference between the transmission and reception of the side reference signal of the PC5 interface and the transmission and reception of the reference signal of the Uu interface, the position information of the target terminal equipment cannot be accurately calculated.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the application provides a positioning method and a communication device, wherein the method can accurately calculate the position of target terminal equipment in a positioning scene containing sidestream communication.

In a first aspect, a positioning method is provided, which may be performed by the first terminal device, or may also be performed by a component (e.g. a chip or a circuit) of the first terminal device, which is not limited, and for convenience of description, the following description will be given by taking the first terminal device as an example.

The method may include: the method comprises the steps that a first terminal device obtains first information, the first information comprises synchronous information of a second terminal device, the synchronous information of the second terminal device comprises synchronous information of synchronous sources of the second terminal device and the second terminal device, the second terminal device is used for assisting in positioning the position of the first terminal device, and the second terminal device and the first terminal device are communicated through a side uplink; the first terminal device determines the position information of the first terminal device according to the first information.

Based on the technical scheme, when the second terminal equipment for assisting in positioning the position of the first terminal equipment in the positioning scene communicates with the first terminal equipment through the side uplink, namely, the first terminal equipment needs to be positioned based on the side reference signal of the PC5 interface in the positioning scene, the first terminal equipment can accurately calculate the position information of the first terminal equipment through the acquired synchronous information of the second terminal equipment.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementation manners of the first aspect, the first terminal device acquires first information, including: the first terminal device receives first information from the second network device.

It should be understood that the second network device in the present application is a device having a location management function, and the second network device may be part of the core network or may be integrated into the network device, for example. For example, the second network device may be a location management function, LMF, or a location management component, LMC, in a serving network device where the terminal device is to be located. The second network device may also be referred to as a location management device or a location center, and the present application is not limited to the name of the location management device, and the location management device may be given other names in future evolution technologies. With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementation manners of the first aspect, the first terminal device acquires first information, including: the first terminal equipment receives a first configuration message from the second network equipment, wherein the first configuration message comprises configuration information of a sidestream reference signal of the second terminal equipment, and the configuration information of the sidestream reference signal of the second terminal equipment is used for the first terminal equipment to receive the sidestream reference signal of the second terminal equipment; the first configuration message also includes first information.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementation manners of the first aspect, the first terminal device acquires first information, including: the first terminal device receives first information from the second terminal device.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the method further includes: the first terminal equipment receives a second configuration message from the second terminal equipment, wherein the second configuration message comprises configuration information of a sidestream reference signal of the second terminal equipment, and the configuration information of the sidestream reference signal of the second terminal equipment is used for the first terminal equipment to receive the sidestream reference signal of the second terminal equipment; the second configuration message also includes the first information.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the method further includes: the first terminal device sends a first message to the second network device, the first message comprising an identification of the second terminal device.

Based on the technical scheme, the first terminal equipment can report the identification of the second terminal equipment which can be used for positioning the self position to the second network equipment, so that resource waste caused by that the second terminal equipment which does not need to send the sidestream reference signal also sends the sidestream reference signal to the first terminal equipment is avoided.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the second terminal device is one or more terminal devices.

In a second aspect, a positioning method is provided, which may be performed by the second network device, or may also be performed by a component (such as a chip or a circuit) of the second network device, which is not limited, and is described below as being performed by the second network device for convenience of description.

The method may include: the second network equipment acquires first information, wherein the first information comprises synchronous information of second terminal equipment, the synchronous information of the second terminal equipment comprises synchronous information of synchronous sources of the second terminal equipment and the second terminal equipment, the second terminal equipment is used for assisting in positioning the position of the first terminal equipment, and the second terminal equipment and the first terminal equipment are communicated through a side uplink; the second network device determines the position information of the first terminal device according to the first information.

Based on the above technical solution, when the second terminal device that assists in positioning the position of the first terminal device in the positioning scene communicates with the first terminal device through the side uplink, that is, when the positioning scene needs to position the first terminal device based on the reference signal of the PC5 interface, the second network device can accurately calculate the position information of the first terminal device through the acquired synchronization information of the second terminal device.

With reference to the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, the second network device obtains the first information, including: the second network device receives the first information from the second terminal device.

With reference to the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, the second network device obtains the first information, including: the second network device receives first information from a serving base station network device of the second terminal device.

With reference to the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, the second network device obtains the first information, including: the second network device receives first information from the first terminal device.

With reference to the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, the method further includes: the second network device sends a first request message to the second terminal device, the first request message is used for requesting synchronous information of the second terminal device, the second network device receives a first request response message from the second terminal device, and the first request response message comprises the first information.

With reference to the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, the method further includes: the second network device sends a second request message to the serving base station network device of the second terminal device, where the second request message is used to request synchronization information of the second terminal device, and the second network device receives a second request response message from the serving base station network device of the second terminal device, where the second request response message includes the first information.

With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the second network device sends a third request message to the first terminal device, where the third request message is used to request synchronization information of the second terminal device, and the second network device receives a third request response message from the first terminal device, where the third request response message includes the first information.

With reference to the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, the method further includes: the second network device sends a fourth request message to the serving base station network device of the second terminal device, wherein the fourth request message is used for requesting configuration information of a sidestream reference signal of the second terminal device, and the configuration information of the sidestream reference signal of the second terminal device is used for receiving the sidestream reference signal of the second terminal device by the first terminal device; the second network equipment receives a fourth request response message from the service base station network equipment of the second terminal equipment, wherein the fourth request response message comprises configuration information of a sidestream reference signal of the second terminal equipment; the fourth request response message includes the first information.

With reference to the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, the method further includes: the second network equipment sends a first configuration message to the first terminal equipment, wherein the first configuration message comprises configuration information of a sidestream reference signal of the second terminal equipment, and the configuration information of the sidestream reference signal of the second terminal equipment is used for the first terminal equipment to receive the sidestream reference signal of the second terminal equipment; the first configuration message also includes first information.

With reference to the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, the method further includes: the second network equipment receives a first message from the first terminal equipment, wherein the first message comprises the identification of the second terminal equipment; the second network device sends first indication information to the third terminal device, the first indication information indicates that the third terminal device does not need to send a reference signal to the first terminal device, and the third terminal device requests the second network device to assist in positioning terminal devices except the second terminal device in all terminal devices covered by all network devices of the first terminal device.

Based on the technical scheme, the second network equipment receives the identification of the second terminal equipment which is reported by the first terminal equipment and can be used for positioning the second terminal equipment, and sends the first indication information to the third terminal equipment, so that resource waste caused by that the terminal equipment which does not need to send the sidestream reference signal also sends the sidestream reference signal to the first terminal equipment is avoided.

With reference to the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, the method further includes: the second terminal device is one or more terminal devices.

In a third aspect, a positioning method is provided, which may be performed by the first terminal device, or may also be performed by a component (e.g. a chip or a circuit) of the first terminal device, which is not limited, and for convenience of description, will be described below with reference to the embodiment performed by the first terminal device.

The method may include: the method comprises the steps that a first terminal device obtains first information, the first information comprises synchronous information of a second terminal device, the synchronous information of the second terminal device comprises synchronous information of synchronous sources of the second terminal device and the second terminal device, the second terminal device is used for assisting in positioning the position of the first terminal device, and the second terminal device and the first terminal device are communicated through a side uplink; the first terminal device sends first information to the second network device.

Based on the above technical solution, when the second terminal device that assists in positioning the position of the first terminal device in the positioning scene communicates with the first terminal device through the side uplink, that is, when the first terminal device needs to be positioned based on the reference signal of the PC5 interface in the positioning scene, the first terminal device may send synchronization information of the second terminal device to the second network device, so that the second network device can accurately calculate the position information of the first terminal device.

With reference to the third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, the first terminal device obtains first information, including: the first terminal device receives first information from the second terminal device.

With reference to the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the method further includes: the first terminal equipment receives a second configuration message from the second terminal equipment, wherein the second configuration message comprises configuration information of a sidestream reference signal of the second terminal equipment, and the configuration information of the sidestream reference signal of the second terminal equipment is used for the first terminal equipment to receive the sidestream reference signal of the second terminal equipment; the second configuration message also includes the first information.

With reference to the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the method further includes: the first terminal device sends a first message to the second network device, the first message comprising an identification of the second terminal device.

With reference to the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the second terminal device is one or more terminal devices.

In a fourth aspect, a positioning method is provided, which may be performed by the second network device, or may also be performed by a component (such as a chip or a circuit) of the second network device, which is not limited, and is described below as being performed by the second network device for convenience of description.

The method may include: the second network equipment acquires first information, wherein the first information comprises synchronous information of second terminal equipment, the synchronous information of the second terminal equipment comprises synchronous information of synchronous sources of the second terminal equipment and the second terminal equipment, the second terminal equipment is used for assisting in positioning the position of the first terminal equipment, and the second terminal equipment and the first terminal equipment are communicated through a side uplink; the second network device sends the first information to the first terminal device.

Based on the technical scheme, when the second terminal equipment for assisting in positioning the position of the first terminal equipment in the positioning scene and the first terminal equipment communicate through the side uplink, namely, the first terminal equipment needs to be positioned based on the reference signal of the PC5 interface in the positioning scene, the second network equipment sends the synchronous information of the second terminal equipment to the first terminal equipment, so that the first terminal equipment can accurately calculate the position information of the first terminal equipment.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in some implementations of the fourth aspect, the second network device obtains the first information, including: the second network device receives the first information from the second terminal device.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in some implementations of the fourth aspect, the second network device obtains the first information, including: the second network device receives first information from a serving base station network device of the second terminal device.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in certain implementations of the fourth aspect, the method further includes: the second network device sends a first request message to the second terminal device, the first request message is used for requesting synchronous information of the second terminal device, the second network device receives a first request response message from the second terminal device, and the first request response message comprises the first information.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in certain implementations of the fourth aspect, the method further includes: the second network device sends a second request message to the serving base station network device of the second terminal device, where the second request message is used to request synchronization information of the second terminal device, and the second network device receives a second request response message from the serving base station network device of the second terminal device, where the second request response message includes the first information.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in certain implementations of the fourth aspect, the method further includes: the second network device sends a fourth request message to the serving base station network device of the second terminal device, wherein the fourth request message is used for requesting configuration information of a sidestream reference signal of the second terminal device, and the configuration information of the sidestream reference signal of the second terminal device is used for receiving the sidestream reference signal of the second terminal device by the first terminal device; the second network equipment receives a fourth request response message from the service base station network equipment of the second terminal equipment, wherein the fourth request response message comprises configuration information of a sidestream reference signal of the second terminal equipment; the fourth request response message includes the first information.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in certain implementations of the fourth aspect, the method further includes: the second network equipment sends a first configuration message to the first terminal equipment, wherein the first configuration message comprises configuration information of a sidestream reference signal of the second terminal equipment, and the configuration information of the sidestream reference signal of the second terminal equipment is used for the first terminal equipment to receive the sidestream reference signal of the second terminal equipment; the first configuration message also includes first information.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in certain implementations of the fourth aspect, the method further includes: the second network equipment receives a first message from the first terminal equipment, wherein the first message comprises the identification of the second terminal equipment; the second network device sends first indication information to the third terminal device, the first indication information indicates that the third terminal device does not need to send a reference signal to the first terminal device, and the third terminal device requests the second network device to assist in locating terminal devices except the second terminal device in all terminal devices covered by all base station network devices of the target terminal.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in certain implementations of the fourth aspect, the second terminal device is one or more terminal devices.

In a fifth aspect, a positioning method is provided, which may be performed by the first network device, or may also be performed by a component (such as a chip or a circuit) of the first network device, which is not limited, and is described below as being performed by the first network device for convenience of description.

The method may include: the method comprises the steps that first network equipment acquires first information, wherein the first information comprises synchronization information of second terminal equipment, the first network equipment is service network equipment of the second terminal equipment, the synchronization information of the second terminal equipment comprises synchronization information of synchronization sources of the second terminal equipment and the second terminal equipment, the second terminal equipment is used for assisting in positioning the position of the first terminal equipment, and the second terminal equipment and the first terminal equipment are communicated through a side uplink; the first network device sends first information to the second network device.

With reference to the fifth aspect, in certain implementations of the fifth aspect, the method further includes: the first network equipment receives a second request message from the second network equipment, wherein the second request message is used for requesting the synchronous information of the second terminal equipment; the first network device sends a second request response message to the second network device, the second request response message including the first information.

With reference to the fifth aspect, in certain implementations of the fifth aspect, the method further includes: the first network equipment receives a fourth request message from the second network equipment, wherein the fourth request message is used for requesting configuration information of a sidestream reference signal of the second terminal equipment, and the configuration information of the sidestream reference signal of the second terminal equipment is used for the first terminal equipment to receive the sidestream reference signal of the second terminal equipment; the first network equipment sends a fourth request response message to the second network equipment, wherein the fourth request response message comprises configuration information of a sidestream reference signal of the second terminal equipment; the fourth request response message also includes the first information.

With reference to the fifth aspect, in certain implementations of the fifth aspect, the method further includes: the first network device sends a second message to the second terminal device, the second message including configuration information of a sidestream reference signal of the second terminal device.

With reference to the fifth aspect, in certain implementations of the fifth aspect, the method further includes: the first network equipment sends a fifth request message to the second terminal equipment, wherein the fifth request message is used for requesting configuration information of a sidestream reference signal of the second terminal equipment; the first network device receives a fifth request response message from the second terminal device, the fifth response request message including configuration information of the sidestream reference signal of the second terminal device.

With reference to the fifth aspect, in certain implementations of the fifth aspect, the second terminal device is one or more terminal devices.

In a sixth aspect, a positioning method is provided, which may be performed by the second terminal device, or may also be performed by a component (e.g., a chip or a circuit) of the second terminal device, which is not limited, and is described below as being performed by the second terminal device for convenience of description.

The method may include: the second terminal equipment determines the synchronization information of the second terminal equipment, wherein the synchronization information of the second terminal equipment comprises the synchronization information of the synchronization sources of the second terminal equipment and the second terminal equipment; the second terminal equipment sends first information to the first equipment, wherein the first information comprises synchronous information of the second terminal equipment, the second terminal equipment is used for assisting in positioning the position of the first terminal equipment, the second terminal equipment and the first terminal equipment communicate through a side uplink, and the first equipment is the first terminal equipment or the second network equipment.

With reference to the sixth aspect, in certain implementations of the sixth aspect, when the first device is a second network device, the method further includes: the second terminal equipment receives a first request message from the first equipment, wherein the first request message is used for requesting synchronous information of the second terminal equipment; the second terminal device sends a first response request message to the first device, the first request response message including the first information.

With reference to the sixth aspect, in some implementations of the sixth aspect, when the first device is a first terminal device, the method further includes: the second terminal equipment sends a second configuration message to the first equipment, wherein the second configuration message comprises configuration information of a sidestream reference signal of the second terminal equipment, and the configuration information of the sidestream reference signal of the second terminal equipment is used for the first terminal equipment to receive the sidestream reference signal of the second terminal equipment; the second configuration message also includes the first information.

With reference to the sixth aspect, in certain implementations of the sixth aspect, the method further includes: the second terminal device receives a second message from the serving network device of the second terminal device, the second message including configuration information of a sidestream reference signal of the second terminal device.

With reference to the sixth aspect, in certain implementations of the sixth aspect, the method further includes: the second terminal equipment receives a fifth request message from the service network equipment of the second terminal equipment, wherein the fifth request message is used for requesting configuration information of a sidestream reference signal of the second terminal equipment; the second terminal device sends a fifth request response message to the service network device of the second terminal device, wherein the fifth request response message comprises configuration information of the sidestream reference signal of the second terminal device.

With reference to the first aspect to the sixth aspect, in some implementations, the synchronization source of the second terminal device is a serving base station network device of the second terminal device, and the synchronization information is a time difference between subframe boundaries of the second terminal device and the serving base station network device of the second terminal device.

With reference to the first aspect to the sixth aspect, in some implementations, the synchronization source of the second terminal device is a global navigation satellite system GNSS, and the synchronization information is a direct frame number time offset offsetDFN of the second terminal device.

A seventh aspect provides a communications apparatus for performing the method provided in the first or third aspect above. In particular, the apparatus may comprise means and/or modules, such as a processing unit and/or a communication unit, for performing the method of the first aspect or the third aspect and any possible implementation of the first aspect or the third aspect.

In one implementation, the apparatus is a first terminal device. When the apparatus is a first terminal device, the communication unit may be a transceiver, or an input/output interface; the processing unit may be at least one processor. Alternatively, the transceiver may be a transceiver circuit. Alternatively, the input/output interface may be an input/output circuit.

In another implementation, the apparatus is a chip, a system-on-chip, or a circuit for use in a first terminal device. When the apparatus is a chip, a system-on-chip or a circuit for use in a first terminal device, the communication unit may be an input/output interface, an interface circuit, an output circuit, an input circuit, a pin or a related circuit or the like on the chip, the system-on-chip or the circuit; the processing unit may be at least one processor, processing circuit or logic circuit, etc. It is to be understood that when the apparatus is a chip, a system-on-chip or a circuit for use in a first terminal device, the first terminal device involved in the first aspect or the third aspect and in any one of the possible implementations of the first aspect or the third aspect is the apparatus.

In an eighth aspect, there is provided a communication device for performing the method provided in the second or fourth aspect above. In particular, the apparatus may comprise means and/or modules, such as a processing unit and/or a communication unit, for performing the method of the second or fourth aspect and any one of the possible implementations of the second or fourth aspect.

In one implementation, the apparatus is a second network device. When the apparatus is a second network device, the communication unit may be a transceiver, or an input/output interface; the processing unit may be at least one processor. Alternatively, the transceiver may be a transceiver circuit. Alternatively, the input/output interface may be an input/output circuit.

In another implementation, the apparatus is a chip, a system-on-chip, or a circuit for use in a second network device. When the apparatus is a chip, a system-on-chip or a circuit for use in a second network device, the communication unit may be an input/output interface, an interface circuit, an output circuit, an input circuit, a pin or related circuit, etc. on the chip, the system-on-chip or the circuit; the processing unit may be at least one processor, processing circuit or logic circuit, etc. It will be appreciated that when the apparatus is a chip, a system-on-chip or a circuit for use in a second network device, the second network device involved in the method of the second or fourth aspect and any one of the possible implementations of the second or fourth aspect is the apparatus.

A ninth aspect provides a communication device for performing the method provided in the fifth aspect. In particular, the apparatus may comprise means and/or modules, such as a processing unit and/or a communication unit, for performing the method of the fifth aspect and any of the possible implementations of the fifth aspect.

In one implementation, the apparatus is a first network device. When the apparatus is a first network device, the communication unit may be a transceiver, or an input/output interface; the processing unit may be at least one processor. Alternatively, the transceiver may be a transceiver circuit. Alternatively, the input/output interface may be an input/output circuit.

In another implementation, the apparatus is a chip, a system-on-chip, or a circuit for use in a first network device. When the apparatus is a chip, a system-on-chip or a circuit for use in a first network device, the communication unit may be an input/output interface, an interface circuit, an output circuit, an input circuit, a pin or related circuit, etc. on the chip, the system-on-chip or the circuit; the processing unit may be at least one processor, processing circuit or logic circuit, etc. It will be appreciated that when the apparatus is a chip, a system-on-chip or a circuit for use in a first network device, the first network device involved in the method of the fifth aspect and any possible implementation manner of the fifth aspect is the apparatus.

In a tenth aspect, a communication device is provided for performing the method provided in the sixth aspect. In particular, the apparatus may comprise means and/or modules, such as a processing unit and/or a communication unit, for performing the method of the sixth aspect and any of the possible implementations of the sixth aspect.

In one implementation, the apparatus is a second terminal device. When the apparatus is a second terminal device, the communication unit may be a transceiver, or an input/output interface; the processing unit may be at least one processor. Alternatively, the transceiver may be a transceiver circuit. Alternatively, the input/output interface may be an input/output circuit.

In another implementation, the apparatus is a chip, a system-on-chip, or a circuit for use in the second terminal device. When the apparatus is a chip, a system-on-chip or a circuit for use in a second terminal device, the communication unit may be an input/output interface, an interface circuit, an output circuit, an input circuit, a pin or a related circuit or the like on the chip, the system-on-chip or the circuit; the processing unit may be at least one processor, processing circuit or logic circuit, etc. It will be appreciated that when the apparatus is a chip, a system-on-chip or a circuit for use in a second terminal device, the second terminal device involved in the method of the sixth aspect and any one of the possible implementations of the sixth aspect is the apparatus.

In an eleventh aspect, the present application provides a communication device comprising at least one processor coupled to at least one memory, the at least one memory being adapted to store a computer program or instructions, the at least one processor being adapted to invoke and run the computer program or instructions from the at least one memory, such that the communication device performs the method of the first aspect or the third aspect and any possible implementation of the first aspect or the third aspect.

In a twelfth aspect, the present application provides a communications device comprising at least one processor coupled to at least one memory, the at least one memory being for storing a computer program or instructions, the at least one processor being for invoking and running the computer program or instructions from the at least one memory to cause the communications device to perform the second or fourth aspect and the method of any possible implementation of the second or fourth aspect.

In a thirteenth aspect, the present application provides a communication device comprising at least one processor coupled to at least one memory, the at least one memory being configured to store a computer program or instructions, the at least one processor being configured to invoke and run the computer program or instructions from the at least one memory, such that the communication device performs the method of the fifth aspect and any possible implementation of the fifth aspect.

In a fourteenth aspect, the present application provides a communications device comprising at least one processor coupled to at least one memory, the at least one memory being for storing a computer program or instructions, the at least one processor being for invoking and running the computer program or instructions from the at least one memory to cause the communications device to perform the method of the sixth aspect and any possible implementation of the sixth aspect.

A fifteenth aspect provides a computer readable storage medium storing program code for execution by a device, the program code comprising instructions for performing the method of the first or second or third or fourth or fifth or sixth aspect and any one of the possible implementations of the first or second or third or fourth or fifth or sixth aspect.

A sixteenth aspect provides a computer program product comprising instructions which, when run on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of the first or second or third or fourth or fifth or sixth aspect and any one of the possible implementations of the first or second or third or fourth or fifth or sixth aspect.

A seventeenth aspect provides a chip comprising a processor and a communication interface, the processor reading instructions stored on a memory via the communication interface, performing the method of the first or second or third or fourth or fifth or sixth aspect and any one of the possible implementations of the first or second or third or fourth or fifth or sixth aspect.

Optionally, as an implementation manner, the chip further includes a memory, where the memory stores a computer program or an instruction, and the processor is configured to execute the computer program or the instruction stored on the memory, and when the computer program or the instruction is executed, the processor is configured to execute the method in the first aspect or the second aspect or the third aspect or the fourth aspect or the fifth aspect or the sixth aspect and any one of possible implementation manners of the first aspect or the second aspect or the third aspect or the fourth aspect or the fifth aspect or the sixth aspect.

An eighteenth aspect provides a communication system comprising one or more of the communication devices shown in the eleventh to fourteenth aspects.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a wireless communication system 100 suitable for use in embodiments of the present application.

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a wireless communication system 200 suitable for use in embodiments of the present application

Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a DL-TDOA location method.

Fig. 4 is a schematic flow chart of a positioning method according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 5 is a schematic flow chart of a positioning management device and a first terminal device acquiring configuration information of a sidestream reference signal of a second terminal device.

Fig. 6 is a schematic flow chart of calculating the position information of the first terminal device by the positioning management device.

Fig. 7 is a schematic flow chart of calculating the position information of the first terminal device by another positioning management device provided by the present application.

Fig. 8 is a schematic flow chart of a positioning method according to an embodiment of the present application.

Fig. 9 is a schematic flow chart of calculating position information of a first terminal device by the first terminal device.

Fig. 10 is a schematic flow chart of calculating position information of a first terminal device by another first terminal device provided by the present application.

Fig. 11 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device 1000 provided by the present application.

Fig. 12 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication device 10 provided by the present application.

Detailed Description

In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the embodiments of the present application more apparent, the embodiments of the present application will be described in further detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The technical scheme of the application can be applied to the scene requiring the positioning of the terminal equipment. For example, it can be applied in positioning scenarios employing time difference of arrival (time difference of arrival, TDOA), time difference of downlink arrival (downlink time difference of arrival, DL-TDOA), time difference of uplink arrival (uplink time difference of arrival, UL-TDOA), enhanced cell identification (enhanced cell identifier, E-CID) or multiple round trip time (multi-RTT) techniques.

The technical scheme of the embodiment of the application can be applied to various communication systems, such as: long term evolution (long term evolution, LTE) systems, LTE frequency division duplex (frequency division duplex, FDD) systems, LTE time division duplex (time division duplex, TDD), universal mobile telecommunications systems (universal mobile telecommunication system, UMTS), worldwide interoperability for microwave access (worldwide interoperability for microwave access, wiMAX) telecommunications systems, fifth generation (5th generation,5G) systems or New Radio (NR) and future telecommunications systems, vehicle-to-other devices (V2X), where V2X may include vehicle-to-internet (vehicle to network, V2N), vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (vehicle to infrastructure, V2I), vehicle-to-pedestrian (vehicle to pedestrian, V2P) and the like, workshop communication long term evolution technology (long term evolution-vehicle, LTE-V), vehicle networking, machine-like communications (machine type communication, MTC), internet of things (internet of things, ioT), inter-machine communication long term evolution technology (long term evolution-machine, LTE-M), machine-to-machine (machine to machine, M2M) and the like.

The terminal device in the embodiments of the present application may refer to a User Equipment (UE), an access terminal, a subscriber unit, a subscriber station, a mobile station, a remote terminal, a mobile device, a user terminal, a wireless communication device, a user agent, or a user equipment. The terminal device may also be a cellular telephone, a cordless telephone, a session initiation protocol (Session Initiation Protocol, SIP) phone, a wireless local loop (Wireless Local Loop, WLL) station, a personal digital assistant (Personal Digital Assistant, PDA), a handheld device with wireless communication capabilities, a computing device or other processing device connected to a wireless modem, an in-vehicle device, a wearable device, an audio device, a terminal device in a future 5G network or a terminal device in a future evolved public land mobile network (Public Land Mobile Network, PLMN), etc., as embodiments of the present application are not limited in this respect.

The terminal device in the present application may also be a Road Side Units (RSU). An RSU is a facility deployed on the roadside in a vehicle-mounted delay tolerant network, which is directly connected to the backbone network and can communicate wirelessly with the vehicle. Compared with vehicles in a vehicle-mounted delay tolerant network, the RSU has better communication capability, coverage area and transmission speed, and can communicate with a plurality of vehicles at the same time. In addition, the RSU has a larger storage space, can store information and improves communication probability. Therefore, by deploying the related RSU in the road traffic system, on one hand, the problem of the existing vehicle-mounted Internet access can be effectively solved, on the other hand, the communication opportunity between vehicles can be greatly increased, and the information is cached by the RSU, so that the efficient transfer of the information between vehicles is realized.

Illustratively, the terminal device may include: a radio resource control (radio resource control, RRC) signaling interworking module, a medium access control (media access control, MAC) signaling interworking module, and a Physical (PHY) signaling interworking module. The RRC signaling interaction module may be: and the network equipment and the terminal equipment are used for sending and receiving the RRC signaling. The MAC signaling interaction module may be: the network device and the terminal device are used for sending and receiving media access control element (media access control control element, MAC-CE) signaling. The PHY signaling and data may be: and the network equipment and the terminal equipment are used for sending and receiving uplink control signaling or downlink control signaling, uplink and downlink data or downlink data.

The network device in the embodiment of the present application may be a device for communicating with a terminal device, where the network device includes, but is not limited to: the base station (base transceiver station, BTS) in the global system for mobile communications (global system for mobile communications, GSM) or code division multiple access (code division multiple access, CDMA), the base station B (nodeB, NB) in the wideband code division multiple access (wideband code division multiple access, WCDMA) system, the evolved nodeB (eNB or eNodeB) in the LTE system, the radio controller in the cloud radio access network (cloud radio access network, CRAN) scenario, the radio network controller (radio network controller, RNC), the base station controller (base station controller, BSC), the home base station (home evolved nodeB, or home nodeB, HNB), the baseband unit (BBU), or the network device in the 5G network, the access point, the vehicle-mounted device, the wearable device, the network device in the future evolved PLMN network, the access point (access point, AP) in the WLAN, the radio relay node, the radio node, the transmission point (transmission point, TP) or the transmission point (transmission and reception point), the TRP) or the transmission point (NB) may be a new type of antenna system or a set of antenna system (TRP) or a set of antenna system, or a set of antenna system (TRP) may be implemented, and the system may be a new type of the system or a set of the system or a plurality of the antenna (TRP) or the system may be implemented.

In some deployments, the gNB may include a Centralized Unit (CU) and DUs. The gNB may also include an active antenna unit (active antenna unit, abbreviated as AAU). The CU implements part of the functionality of the gNB and the DU implements part of the functionality of the gNB, e.g. the CU is responsible for handling non-real time protocols and services, implementing radio resource control (radio resource control, RRC), packet data convergence layer protocol (packet data convergence protocol, PDCP) layer functions. The DUs are responsible for handling physical layer protocols and real-time services, implementing the functions of the radio link control (radio link control, RLC), medium access control (media access control, MAC) and Physical (PHY) layers. The AAU realizes part of physical layer processing function, radio frequency processing and related functions of the active antenna. Since the information of the RRC layer may eventually become information of the PHY layer or be converted from the information of the PHY layer, under this architecture, higher layer signaling, such as RRC layer signaling, may also be considered to be transmitted by the DU or by the du+aau. It is understood that the network device may be a device comprising one or more of a CU node, a DU node, an AAU node. In addition, the CU may be divided into network devices in an access network (radio access network, RAN), or may be divided into network devices in a Core Network (CN), which the present application is not limited to.

In order to facilitate understanding of the embodiments of the present application, a description will first be given of a communication system to which the embodiments of the present application may be applied.

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a wireless communication system 100 suitable for use in embodiments of the present application. The communication system 100 includes a terminal device (denoted UE in fig. 1), a radio access network (denoted next generation radio access network (next generation radio access network, NG-RAN) in fig. 1), and a core network.

The radio access network includes one or more next generation evolved node bs (next generation evolved node B, ng-enbs) and a gNB. Ng-eNB represents an LTE base station accessing a 5G core network, and gNB represents a 5G base station accessing the 5G core network. Communication is performed between Ng-eNB and gNB, or between two Ng-eNBs, or between two gNBs through Xn interface. The Xn interface may also be referred to as an XnAP interface. The radio access network is connected to the core network through an NG-C interface.

The core network includes other functions such as access and mobility management functions (access and mobility management function, AMF) and location management functions (location management function, LMF).

The LMF is responsible for supporting different types of location services for the UE, including positioning of the UE and transmitting assistance data to the UE. The LMF may signal with the RAN, e.g., ng-eNB or gNB, and the UE. For example, information interaction is performed between the LMF and the ng-eNB or the gNB through a new air interface positioning protocol copy (new radio positioning protocol annex, NRPPa) message, for example, configuration information of a acquired reference signal (position reference signal, PRS), a sounding reference signal (sounding reference signal, SRS), cell timing, cell location information, and the like. For another example, UE capability information transfer, assistance information transfer, measurement information transfer, and the like are performed between the LMF and the UE through LTE positioning protocol (LTE positioning protocol, LPP) messages.

The AMF entity may receive a location service request related to the UE from a location service (location services, LCS) entity of a 5G core network (5G core,5 gc), or the AMF itself may initiate some location services on behalf of a specific UE and forward the location service request to the LMF.

The terminal device is connected to the radio access network via the ng-eNB over the LTE-Uu interface. The terminal device may also be connected to the radio access network via the gNB over an NR-Uu interface.

It should be appreciated that one or more base stations (including a ng-eNB or a gNB) may be included in the communication system 100. It should also be appreciated that one or more terminal devices may be included in the communication system 100, such as including one or more groups of terminal devices (e.g., UE sets as shown in fig. 1). One gNB may send data or control signaling to one or more terminal devices. Multiple gnbs may also send data or control signaling to one terminal device at the same time.

Alternatively, the ng-eNB and the gNB in fig. 1 may be replaced with TRP, TP, reception Point (RP), cell, and the like.

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a wireless communication system 200 suitable for use in embodiments of the present application. As shown in fig. 2, the wireless communication system 200 may include at least one terminal device, such as the UE101 shown in fig. 2. The wireless communication system 200 may further include a plurality of network devices (e.g., the network devices may be Base Stations (BS) or TRP, for example, base stations), where the plurality of base stations include a base station of a serving cell of the terminal device 101 and base stations of one or more neighbor cells of the serving cell. The base station of the serving cell (may also be referred to as serving base station) is shown as 102 in fig. 2, and the base stations of the neighbor cells (may also be referred to as neighbor base stations) are shown as 103 and 104 in fig. 2. The network device and the terminal device may each be configured with multiple antennas, and the network device and the terminal device may communicate using multiple antenna technology.

Alternatively, the base station in fig. 2 may be replaced with TRP, TP, RP, a cell, etc.

In addition to network devices and terminal devices, LMF network element 105 may also be included in the wireless communication system 200. The LMF network element 105 may be used to implement a location estimate for the terminal device. The LMF network element 105 may be deployed inside the core network, i.e. the LMF network element 105 also belongs to a kind of core network element. The LMF network element 105 may communicate with network devices through an AMF network element (not shown). For convenience of description, in the embodiment of the present application, sending information from an LMF network element to a network device through an AMF network element is simply referred to as sending information from the LMF network element to the network device. In other words, the LMF network element sending a message to the network device in the embodiment of the present application may be understood that the LMF network element sends information to an AMF network element, and the AMF network element forwards the information to the network device. Alternatively, if an interface exists between the LMF network element and the network device, the LMF network element may send the information directly to the network device.

In some embodiments, some of the functionality of the LMF network element 105, such as the location management component (location management component, LMC), may be integrated in the network device. For example, the serving cell base station 102 and the two neighbor cell base stations 103 and 104 are integrated with the LMC. The LMC of the LMF network element integrated within the network device sending information to the network device may also be considered as the LMF network element sending information to the network device.

The architecture of the communication system shown in fig. 2 is merely an example, and is not limited to other architectures. For example, a base station 102 of a serving cell and base stations 103 and 104 of two neighboring cells are shown in fig. 2. Obviously, more base stations of neighboring cells may also be included in the communication system 200.

In the communication system 100 and the communication system 200, communication is performed between the LMF network element and the base station through the NRPPa protocol. The LMF network element and the UE communicate through an LPP protocol. The LMF interacts cell information with the base station through NRPPa protocol, for example, configuration information of reference signals of the cell, cell timing information, geographical location information of the cell, and the like. The LMF performs UE capability information transfer, auxiliary information transfer, measurement information transfer, and the like between the LPP protocol and the UE.

In the following, some terms or concepts in the embodiments of the present application are explained for easy understanding by those skilled in the art.

1. Uu interface (cellular communication interface)

The Uu communication must be performed with the base station, the cellular network coverage, at the communication interface between the terminal and the base station. The method is characterized in that: long distance and wider range reliable communication is achieved. The PC5 interface and Uu interface may coexist.

2. PC5 interface (direct communication interface)

The communication interface between terminals, i.e. the short-distance direct communication interface between vehicles, people and road infrastructures, the PC5 communication does not need cellular network coverage, and peer-to-peer communication can be realized. The method is characterized in that: the low-delay, high-capacity and high-reliability communication is realized in the forms of direct connection, broadcasting and network scheduling.

It should be appreciated that the direct communication link used by the PC5 interface is referred to as a Sidelink (SL), as opposed to a Downlink (DL) and an Uplink (UL) in a normal Uu interface.

3. RRC state

The RRC states in NR include three: an RRC IDLE state (rrc_idle), an RRC deactivated state (rrc_inactive), and an RRC CONNECTED state (rrc_connected). The following is a brief description of three RRC states.

(1) Rrc_connected (RRC CONNECTED state): the RAN has a UE context and the UE and the RAN have a signaling connection. The UE may receive a message and a system message issued by the RAN for controlling the UE to perform data transmission, handover, and notify the UE of related scheduling information, and the RAN may receive channel quality information fed back by the UE.

(2) Rrc_inactive (RRC deactivated state): the RAN and the core network are connected, resources are not allocated to an air interface, so that services can be quickly recovered, delay sensitive application experience is improved, in addition, the power saving effect of a user in a deactivated state can approach to an idle state, and the duration of a mobile phone is prolonged.

(3) Rrc_idle (RRC IDLE state): the RAN has no context for the UE and the RAN has no signaling connection, in which state the UE may receive system messages and paging messages for cell selection and reselection. When the UE needs to establish a connection with the network for a certain purpose (service request, location update, paging, etc.), RRC connection establishment is triggered, and after RRC connection establishment, the UE enters an RRC connection state.

It should be appreciated that the RRC non-connected state in the present application may be an RRC idle state and/or an RRC deactivated state. The RRC non-connected state in the present application may be replaced with an RRC idle state and/or an RRC deactivated state.

4. TP: a set of geographically co-located transmit antennas (e.g., an antenna array with one or more antenna elements) for one cell, a portion of one cell, or one TP supporting only DL positioning reference signals (positioning reference signal, PRS). The transmission points may include base station (ng-eNB or gNB) antennas, remote radio heads, remote antennas of the base station, antennas supporting only DL-prstp, and so on. A cell may include one or more transmission points. For homogeneous deployments, each transmission point may correspond to a cell.

5. TRP: a set of geographically co-located antennas (e.g., an antenna array having one or more antenna elements) support TP and/or RP functions.

6. RP: a set of geographically co-located receive antennas (e.g., an antenna array with one or more antenna elements) for one cell, a portion of one cell, or an RP of only UL channel sounding reference signals (sounding reference signal, SRS). The reception point may include a base station (ng-eNB or gNB) antenna, a remote radio head, a remote antenna of a base station, an antenna supporting only UL-SRS RP, and so on. A cell may include one or more reception points. For homogeneous deployments, each receiving point may correspond to one cell.

Positioning is an important function in mobile communication systems, requiring the system to be able to provide the user's location information in real time. Currently, a target UE (target UE) may be located by a location technology, so that a location initiator initiating a location service obtains location information of the target UE. The location initiator may be LCS, UE, AMF network element, or the like. For example: the LCS requests the service AMF of the target UE to locate the target UE; or, the service AMF of the target UE decides to locate the target UE; alternatively, the target UE requests a positioning service from its serving AMF, e.g. due to positioning or transmission assistance information etc. When the location services are triggered, location related operations will be further performed by the LMF. The LMF needs to interact with the base station, for example, to obtain auxiliary information related to air interface positioning; the LMF also needs to interact with the target UE, such as capability transfer procedures, including acquiring the UE's location capability, providing location-related assistance information to the UE, and so on.

In the existing Uu port positioning, positioning can be performed by sending and/or receiving a reference signal related to the positioning based on the Uu port by the target UE, and positioning of the target UE can be realized by using positioning methods supported in NR and LTE. For example, the Uu port-based positioning-related reference signals include PRS and/or SRS, where PRS is a downlink signal and SRS is an uplink signal.

For example, one common cellular network positioning method is TDOA, which includes a downlink time difference of arrival (downlink time difference of arrival, DL-TDOA) positioning method and an uplink time difference of arrival (uplink time difference of arrival, UL-TDOA) positioning method. The DL-TDOA and UL-TDOA may enable locating the target UE through the communication system shown in fig. 1 or fig. 2. Note that TDOA requires high time synchronization between base stations that assist in locating a target UE.

The DL-TDOA location method is described in detail below in conjunction with fig. 3. Alternatively, the base station in fig. 3 may be replaced with TRP, TP, RP, a cell, etc. The principle of DL-TDOA is that a target UE receives downlink signals (e.g., PRS) from a plurality of TPs, the target UE measures DL RSTD (reference signal time difference ) of PRS transmitted from the plurality of TPs using assistance data (assistance data) received from an LMF, and calculates location information of the target UE from the DL RSTD. Wherein the plurality of TPs includes a reference TP, e.g., the reference TP corresponds to a serving base station of the target UE. In addition to the reference TP, the plurality of TPs also includes at least two neighbor TPs, and it is understood that DL RSTD is a downlink relative time difference (DL relative timing difference) between a neighbor TP and the reference TP, which may be defined as time a minus time B, where time a is a time at which the target UE receives a start of a subframe from the neighbor TP and time B is a time at which the target UE receives a corresponding start of a subframe from the reference TP, the subframe being closest in time to the subframe received from the neighbor TP.

Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a DL-TDOA location method. As an example, as shown in fig. 3, during positioning of a target UE (i.e., UE 101) using DL-TDOA, the serving base station 102 transmits PRS1 to the UE101 at time t1', the UE101 receives PRS1 at time t1, the neighbor base station 103 transmits PRS2 to the UE101 at time t2', the UE101 receives PRS2 at time t2, the neighbor base station 104 transmits PRS3 to the UE101 at time t3', and the UE101 receives PRS3 at time t 3. The distance difference between any point on the curve 1 and the serving base station 102 and the neighboring base station 103 in fig. 3 is a fixed value Δs2, the distance difference between any point on the curve 2 and the serving base station 102 and the neighboring base station 104 is a fixed value Δs3, and the intersection point of the curve 1 and the curve 2 is the position of the UE 101.

From fig. 3, the following formulas (1) and (2) can be obtained:

ΔS2＝(t2-t2’)*c-(t1-t1’)*c＝{(t2-t1)-(t2’-t1’)}*c＝{RSTD _1,2 –(t2’-t1’)}*c (1)

ΔS3＝(t3-t3’)*c-(t1-t1’)*c＝{(t3-t1)-(t3’-t1’)}*c＝{RSTD _1,3 –(t3’-t1’)}*c (2)

so long as Δs2 and Δs3 can be obtained by the above formula, the location information of the UE101 can be calculated.

It can be appreciated that in the scenario shown in fig. 3, the neighboring base station 103 and the neighboring base station 104 are both neighboring TPs, and the serving base station 102 is a reference TP. Wherein RSTD _1,2 DL RSTD, RSTD representing PRS transmitted by serving base station 102 and neighbor base station 103 _1,3 DL RSTD representing PRS transmitted by serving base station 102 and neighbor base station 104.

Alternatively, the location information of the target UE may be calculated by the LMF in the current positioning technology, which may be referred to as LMF-based or UE-assisted. As shown in fig. 3, if the position information is LMF-based, at this time, the target UE and/or the base station needs to report DL RSTDs of PRSs received by the target UE from multiple base stations to the LMF, and the LMF calculates the position information of the target UE based on the DL RSTDs reported by the UE and/or the base station.

Alternatively, the target UE may also calculate its own location information, which may be referred to as UE-based. As shown in fig. 3, if UE-based, the target UE may calculate its own location information based on DL RSTDs of PRSs received from a plurality of base stations at this time.

In some embodiments, when the LMF or the target UE calculates the target UE location information, the RSTD in the above formula (1) and formula (2) may also be determined by a received subframe boundary difference between each neighboring TP and the reference TP, for example, the received subframe boundary difference may be referred to as RSTD, and the received subframe boundary difference may be referred to as a subframe boundary difference of multiple TPs on the target UE side or may be referred to as a subframe boundary difference of multiple TPs. For example, the calculation manner of the received subframe boundary difference may refer to the calculation manner of the downlink relative time difference of DL RSTD, for example, the time when the target UE receives a subframe from the neighboring TP, minus the time when the target UE receives the corresponding start of a subframe from the reference TP, which is closest in time to the subframe received from the neighboring TP.

In some embodiments, when the LMF or the UE calculates the target UE location information, the PRS transmission time difference in the above formula (1) and the formula (2) may be represented by a transmission subframe boundary difference between each neighboring TP and a reference TP, for example, the transmission subframe boundary difference is a PRS transmission time difference, and the transmission subframe boundary difference may be understood as a subframe boundary difference of multiple TPs. For example, the calculation manner of the transmission subframe boundary difference may refer to the calculation manner of the downlink relative time difference of DL RSTD, for example, the time when the neighboring TP transmits the start of one subframe to the target UE, minus the time when the reference TP transmits the corresponding start of one subframe to the target UE, where the subframe is temporally closest to the subframe transmitted by the neighboring TP.

In some embodiments, the above-described subframe boundary differences may be replaced with frame boundary differences. It will be appreciated that the boundary differences may be replaced with time differences of the boundary.

Illustratively, when LMF-based, RSTD in equation (1) _1,2 The information may be reported to the LMF by the UE101, t1 'may be determined by the LMF according to PRS1 configuration information of the serving base station 102, t2' may be determined by the LMF according to PRS2 configuration information of the neighbor base station 103, or t1 'is a subframe boundary of the serving base station 102, and t2' is a subframe boundary of the neighbor base station 103, that is, t2'-t1' may be obtained by a subframe boundary difference between the neighbor base station 103 and the serving base station 102. Similarly, when LMF-based, RSTD in equation (2) _1,3 The information may be reported to the LMF by the UE101, t1 'may be obtained by the LMF from PRS1 configuration information of the serving base station 102, t3' may be obtained by the LMF from PRS3 configuration information of the neighboring base station 104, or t1 'is a subframe boundary of the serving base station 102, t3' is a subframe boundary of the neighboring base station 104, and t3'-t1' may be obtained by a subframe boundary difference between the neighboring base station 104 and the serving base station 102.

Illustratively, when UE-based, RSTD in equation (1) _1,2 The t1 'can be determined by the UE101 according to PRS1 configuration information sent by the LMF, the t2' can be determined by the UE101 according to PRS2 configuration information sent by the LMF, or t1 'is a subframe boundary of the serving base station 102, t2' is a subframe boundary of the neighboring base station 103, and t2'-t1' can be obtained by a subframe boundary difference between the serving base station 102 and the neighboring base station 103. Similarly, when UE-based, RSTD in equation (2) _1,3 Can be obtained by measurement of the UE101 itself, and t1' can be obtained byThe UE determines according to PRS1 configuration information sent by the LMF, t3' may be determined by the UE101 according to PRS3 configuration information sent by the LMF, or t1' is a subframe boundary of the serving base station 102, t3' is a subframe boundary of the neighboring base station 104, and t3' -t1' may be obtained by a subframe boundary difference between the serving base station 102 and the neighboring base station 104.

In addition, the principle of the UL-TDOA location method is to calculate the location information of the target UE by using UL relative arrival times (relative time of arrival, RTOA) of uplink signals (for example, SRS) transmitted by the target UE to a plurality of RPs, and UL-RTOA is a start time of subframes including uplink signals received by the RPs, relative to the RTOA reference time. The RP uses assistance data obtained from the positioning server to measure UL-RTOA of the received signal (e.g., SRS). That is, the LMF calculates the location information of the UE based on the time difference in which the plurality of RPs receive the SRS transmitted by the UE. The specific description of the UL-TDOA location method is not repeated here.

Since the positioning method at present is mainly based on the Uu interface reference signal for positioning, when the sidelink is introduced into the Uu interface-based positioning scene, that is, at least one network element or terminal or entity (for example, a Road Side Unit (RSU)) capable of transmitting the PC5 interface reference signal is introduced into the positioning scene, in this case, the positioning scene needs to position the target UE based on the Uu interface reference signal and the PC5 interface-based sidelink reference signal, or the positioning scene only needs to position the target UE based on the PC5 interface sidelink reference signal. However, since there is a difference between the transmission and reception of the sideline reference signal of the PC5 interface and the transmission and reception of the reference signal of the Uu interface, the LMF or the target UE cannot accurately calculate the location information of the target UE. For ease of understanding, in the DL-TDOA location scenario shown in fig. 3, the neighboring base station 104 is replaced with an RSU, which may send a side reference signal of the PC5 interface (hereinafter, the side reference signal of the PC5 interface is referred to as SL-PRS for example), where in the DL-TDOA location scenario shown in fig. 3, UE101 needs to be located based on the Uu interface reference signal and the side reference signal of the PC5 interface, because the determination manner of the time (i.e. t 3') of sending PRS3 to the neighboring base station 104 by LMF or UE101 is different from the determination manner of the sending time of SL-PRS to the RSU, which may result in that the LMF or UE101 cannot accurately calculate to obtain the location information of UE 101.

In view of the above, the present application provides a positioning method that can effectively solve the above-mentioned technical problems. From the foregoing, it can be appreciated that the location information of the target UE may be calculated by the target UE itself or by the LMF, and the process of locating the target UE by the target UE and the LMF will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 4 is a schematic flow chart of a positioning method according to an embodiment of the present application. In the method, location information of the target UE is calculated by the LMF, and the method may include the following steps.

S401, the second network equipment acquires first information, wherein the first information comprises synchronization information of the second terminal equipment, the synchronization information of the second terminal equipment comprises synchronization information of synchronization sources of the second terminal equipment and the second terminal equipment, the second terminal equipment is used for assisting in positioning the position of the first terminal equipment, and the second terminal equipment and the first terminal equipment are communicated through a side uplink.

The second network device in the embodiment of the present application is a device having a location management function, and may be part of a core network or may be integrated into a network device, for example. For example, the second network device may be the LMF shown in fig. 1 and 2, or a location management component (location management component, LMC) in a serving network device where the terminal device is to be located. The second network device may also be referred to as a location management device or a location center, and the present application is not limited to the name of the location management device, and the location management device may be given other names in future evolution technologies. In all embodiments of the present application, the second network device is taken as an example for positioning management device.

It is understood that the first terminal device is a target UE. By way of example, in the positioning scenario shown in fig. 2 or fig. 3, the first terminal device may be regarded as UE101, the second terminal device may be regarded as RSU, and the positioning management device may be regarded as LMF105.

It should be appreciated that in one scenario, one or more second terminal devices may be included that assist in locating the position of the first terminal device, as the application is not limited in this regard. The second terminal device is used for assisting in positioning the position of the first terminal device, which can be understood as that the first terminal device assists in positioning the position of the first terminal device by receiving the sidestream reference signal from the second terminal device, and/or the first terminal device assists in positioning the position of the first terminal device by sending the sidestream reference signal to the second terminal device.

Optionally, when the synchronization source of the second terminal device is a service network device of the second terminal device, the synchronization information of the second terminal device includes a time difference between the second terminal device and a subframe boundary of the service network device of the second terminal device.

For example, the time difference between the subframe boundaries of the second terminal device and the service network device of the second terminal device may be the time difference between the downlink subframe boundaries of the service network device of the second terminal device and the second terminal device, and may also be the time difference between the uplink subframe boundaries of the service network device of the second terminal device and the second terminal device.

For example, regarding the calculation method of the time difference of the subframe boundary, reference may also be made to the calculation method of the downlink relative time difference of DL RSTD. For example, the time difference between the subframe boundary of the second terminal device and the serving network device of the second terminal device includes Timing Advance (TA) information of the second terminal device, for example, the synchronization information of the second terminal device is TA/2.

For example, the synchronization information of the second terminal device may be determined by a distance between the second terminal device and a service network device of the second terminal device, for example, the distance information between the second terminal device and the service network device of the second terminal device is determined by a positioning method between the second terminal device and the service network device of the second terminal device, or the location information of the second terminal device, where the positioning method may be any positioning method such as Multi-cell round trip time (Multi-RTT), UL-TDOA, and the like. The synchronization information of the second terminal device may be obtained through distance information between the second terminal device and a service network device of the second terminal device, or location information of the second terminal device, etc.

Optionally, when the synchronization source of the second terminal device is a global navigation satellite system (global navigation satellite system, GNSS), the synchronization information of the second terminal device includes a direct frame number (direct frame number, DFN) time offset (offsetDFN) of the second terminal device.

Alternatively, the positioning management apparatus may acquire the first information by any one of the following.

The method comprises the following steps: the positioning management device receives the first information from the second terminal device.

Based on the first method, in a possible specific implementation manner, the acquiring, by the positioning management device, the first information mainly includes the following steps:

1) The positioning management device sends a first request message to the second terminal device, wherein the first request message is used for requesting the synchronization information of the second terminal device. Correspondingly, the second terminal device receives the first request message from the positioning management device.

Alternatively, in all embodiments of the present application, the first request message is used to request the synchronization information of the second terminal device, which is also understood that the first request message includes the first request information, where the first request information is used to request the synchronization information of the second terminal device.

2) In response to the received first request message, the second terminal device sends a first request response message to the positioning management device, the first request response message including the first information. Correspondingly, the positioning management device receives a first request response message from the second terminal device.

The second method is as follows: the positioning management device receives first information from a serving network device of the second terminal device. It may be appreciated that, when the second terminal device is in the RRC connected state, the serving network device of the second terminal device knows the synchronization information of the second terminal device, and the positioning management device may obtain the first information from the serving network device of the second terminal device.

It should be understood that when a plurality of second terminal devices are included in the positioning scenario, if the service network devices of the plurality of second terminal devices are not the same network device, the positioning management device receives first information corresponding to the service network device from each second terminal device, that is, the positioning management device receives synchronization information of the plurality of second terminal devices from the plurality of network devices, respectively.

Based on the second method, in a possible specific implementation manner, the service network device of the second terminal device may report the first information based on a request of the positioning management device. For example, the positioning management device acquiring the first information mainly includes the following steps:

1) The positioning management device sends a second request message to the service network device of the second terminal device, where the second request message is used to request synchronization information of the second terminal device. Correspondingly, the service network device of the second terminal device receives the second request message from the positioning management device.

Alternatively, in all embodiments of the present application, the second request message is used to request the synchronization information of the second terminal device, which may be understood that the second request message includes the second request information, where the second request information is used to request the synchronization information of the second terminal device.

2) The second terminal device responds to the received second request message and sends a second request response message to the positioning management device, wherein the second request response message comprises the first information. Correspondingly, the positioning management device receives a second request response message from the serving network device of the second terminal device.

Based on the second method, in another possible implementation manner, the service network device of the second terminal device actively reports the first information to the positioning management device. For example, the positioning management device acquiring the first information mainly includes the following steps:

1) The positioning management device sends a fourth request message to the service network device of the second terminal device, wherein the fourth request message is used for requesting configuration information of the sidestream reference signal of the second terminal device, and the configuration information of the sidestream reference signal of the second terminal device is used for the first terminal device to receive the sidestream reference signal of the second terminal device. Correspondingly, the service network device of the second terminal device receives a fourth request message from the positioning management device.

Optionally, in all embodiments of the present application, the fourth request message is used to request configuration information of the side reference signal of the second terminal device to configure the side reference signal, which may be understood that the fourth request message includes fourth request information, where the fourth request information is used to request configuration information of the side reference signal of the second terminal device to configure the side reference signal.

By way of example, the configuration information of the side row reference signal may include at least one of: the resource allocation of the sidelink reference signal, such as time domain resource and frequency domain resource, and such as the first symbol in the time slot, the number of symbols, the sparse offset of the first symbol, and the time slot offset of the first time slot of the resource set; information such as the period of the sidestream reference signal; a staggered arrangement (Staggering pattern); the number of repetitions of the sidelink reference signal; mute (muting) configuration of side-row reference signals. 2) The service network device of the second terminal device responds to the received fourth request message and sends a fourth request response message to the positioning management device, wherein the fourth request response message comprises configuration information and first information of the sidestream reference signal of the second terminal device. Correspondingly, the positioning management device receives a fourth request response message from the serving network device of the second terminal device.

That is, in this implementation manner, after receiving the fourth request message, the service network device of the second terminal device may directly send the configuration information of the side reference signal of the second terminal device and the synchronization information of the second terminal device to the positioning management device at the same time based on the subsequent positioning requirement, even if the positioning management device does not request the synchronization information of the second terminal device.

Alternatively, the serving network device of the second terminal device may send the first information and the fourth request response message separately to the positioning management device, that is, the fourth request response message includes configuration information of the side reference signal of the second terminal device, where the first information is carried in other messages.

Optionally, the positioning management device may also acquire the first information through a method or other implementation manner given below, that is, after the service network device of the second terminal device receives the fourth request message, the positioning management device reports configuration information of the sidestream reference signal of the second terminal device through the fourth request response message, but does not report synchronization information of the second terminal device, which is not limited in this application specifically.

Optionally, in this implementation manner, the configuration information of the sidestream reference signal of the second terminal device included in the fourth request response message may be directly determined by the service network device of the second terminal device, or may be determined by the second terminal device. Described below in connection with fig. 5.

Fig. 5 is a schematic flow chart of the positioning management device acquiring configuration information of a sidestream reference signal of a second terminal device. Fig. 5 includes a flow corresponding to the determination mode (1) and the determination mode (2).

It should be understood that the method shown in fig. 5 may be implemented alone or in combination with other aspects of the present application to form new embodiments, and the present application is not limited in this regard.

(1) And directly determining the configuration information of the sidestream reference signal of the second terminal device by the service network device of the second terminal device. As illustrated in fig. 5, for example, the determination mode (1) mainly includes the steps of:

s501, the positioning management device sends a fourth request message to the first network device. The first network device is a service network device of the second terminal device. Correspondingly, the positioning management device receives a fourth request message from the first network device.

S502, in response to the received fourth request message, the first network device determines configuration information of side reference signals of one or more second terminal devices in the coverage area of the first network device.

In some embodiments, if the positioning management device includes the identification of the one or more second terminal devices in the fourth request message, the first network device may determine only configuration information of the sidelink reference signals of the one or more second terminal devices requested by the positioning management device.

In some embodiments, if the positioning management device does not indicate the identity of the second terminal device in the fourth request message, the first network device determines configuration information of the sidelink reference signal of each second terminal device within its coverage area.

S503, the first network device sends a fourth request response message to the positioning management device, wherein the fourth request response message comprises configuration information of side reference signals corresponding to one or more second terminal devices in the coverage area of the first network device.

In some embodiments, if the positioning management device includes the identification of the one or more second terminal devices in the fourth request message, the fourth request response message includes configuration information of the side reference signals of the one or more second terminal devices requested by the positioning management device.

In some embodiments, if the positioning management device does not indicate the identifier of any one of the second terminal devices in the fourth request message, the fourth request response message includes configuration information of side reference signals of all the second terminal devices within the coverage area of the first network device.

S504, the first network device sends configuration information of corresponding sidestream reference signals to one or more second terminal devices in the coverage range of the first network device.

In some embodiments, if the configuration information of the sideline reference signal of the second terminal device is determined in S503, the first network device sends a second message to the second terminal device, where the second message includes the configuration information of the sideline reference signal of the second terminal device.

In some embodiments, if the configuration information of the side reference signals of the plurality of second terminal devices is determined in S503, the first network device sends a second message to one of the plurality of second terminal devices, where the second message includes the configuration information of the side reference signal of the one second terminal device.

In some embodiments, if the configuration information of the side reference signals of the plurality of second terminal devices is determined in S503, the first network device may further send the configuration information of the side reference signals of the plurality of second terminal devices to only one second terminal device of the plurality of second terminal devices. For example, the first network device sends a second message to the one second terminal device, where the second message includes configuration information of the sidelink reference signals of the plurality of second terminal devices. For example, the plurality of second terminal devices may be the second terminal devices requested by the positioning management device in the fourth request message.

It should be understood that the present application is not limited to the order of S503 and S504.

(2) And determining configuration information of the sidestream reference signals of the second terminal equipment by the second terminal equipment. As illustrated in fig. 5, for example, the determination mode (2) mainly includes the steps of:

s501, the positioning management device sends a fourth request message to the first network device. The first network device is a service network device of the second terminal device. Correspondingly, the positioning management device receives a fourth request response message from the first network device.

S502', the first network device sends a fifth request message to the second terminal device in response to the received fourth request message, wherein the fifth request message is used for requesting configuration information of a sidestream reference signal of the second terminal device. Correspondingly, the second terminal device receives a fifth request message from the first network device.

Optionally, in all embodiments of the present application, the fifth request message is used to request the configuration information of the side line reference signal of the second terminal device, which may be understood that the fifth request message includes the fifth request information, where the fifth request information is used to request the configuration information of the side line reference signal configuring the second terminal device.

In some embodiments, if the positioning management device includes the identification of the one or more second terminal devices in the fourth request message, the first network device may send the fifth request message only to the one or more second terminal devices requested by the positioning management device in the fourth request message.

In some embodiments, if the positioning management device does not indicate the identity of the second terminal device in the fourth request message, the first network device may send a fifth request message to all second terminal devices within its coverage area.

S503', in response to the received fifth request message, the second terminal device determines configuration information of the sidelink reference signal of the second terminal device.

S504', the second terminal device sends a fifth request response message, where the fifth response request message includes configuration information of the sidestream reference signal of the second terminal device. Correspondingly, the first network device receives a fifth request response message from the second terminal device.

S505', the first network device sends a fourth request response message to the location management device.

In some embodiments, if the positioning management device includes the identification of the one or more second terminal devices in the fourth request message, the fourth request response message includes configuration information of the sidelink reference signal of the one or more second terminal devices requested by the positioning management device in the fourth request message.

It can be appreciated that for a positioning scheme calculated by a positioning management device or calculated by a UE, a first terminal device needs to receive or transmit a sidelink reference signal based on configuration information of a sidelink reference signal of a second terminal device. The above description is given of the configuration information of the positioning management device for acquiring the side reference signal of the second terminal device, and here, description is given with reference to fig. 5 on how the first terminal device acquires the configuration information of the side reference signal of the second terminal device.

Optionally, the first terminal device acquires configuration information of the sidestream reference signal of the second terminal device from the positioning management device. Specifically, as shown in fig. 5, in S510, the location management device sends a first configuration message to the first terminal device, where the first configuration message includes configuration information of a side reference signal of the second terminal device. Correspondingly, the first terminal device receives a first configuration message from the positioning management device.

In some embodiments, the positioning management device needs to send configuration information of the side line reference signals of the plurality of second terminal devices to the first terminal device, and then the positioning management device may send, to the first terminal device, an identifier of each second terminal device in the plurality of second terminal devices and the configuration information of the side line reference signal of each second terminal device, that is, the identifier of the second terminal device corresponds to the configuration information of the side line reference signal of the second terminal device one to one.

In some embodiments, the positioning management device needs to send configuration information of the side reference signals of the plurality of second terminal devices to the first terminal device, and then the positioning management device may send identifiers of the plurality of second terminal devices and configuration information of the side reference signals of the plurality of second terminal devices to the first terminal device, where the identifiers of the plurality of second terminal devices and the configuration information of the side reference signals of the plurality of second terminal devices are in one-to-one correspondence. The second terminal device is taken as an RSU to exemplify that the identifiers of the plurality of second terminal devices are in one-to-one correspondence with the configuration information of the sidestream reference signals of the plurality of second terminal devices. For example, configuration information of side row reference signals of RSUs is carried in order of rsu#1, rsu#2, and rsu#3 in one message, and identification of RSUs is also required to be carried in order of rsu#1, rsu#2, and rsu#3 in the message. If the configuration information of the side row reference signals of the RSUs are carried in the order of RSU #2, RSU #1 and RSU #3 in one message, the identities of the RSUs need to be carried in the order of RSU #2, RSU #1 and RSU #3 in the message as well. In short, the one-to-one correspondence means that the first terminal device needs to determine configuration information of side row reference signals of rsu#1, rsu#2, and rsu#3 according to a corresponding manner. For another example, the location management device configures a list that includes a plurality of configuration information, each configuration including an identification of the RSU and configuration information for a side row reference signal of the RSU. Alternatively, the one-to-one correspondence may be implemented by other corresponding manners, which are not described herein.

For example, the first configuration message may further include first information.

Optionally, the first terminal device acquires configuration information of a sidestream reference signal of the second terminal device from the second terminal device. Specifically, as shown in fig. 5, S520, the second terminal device sends a second configuration message to the first terminal device, where the second configuration message includes configuration information of a side reference signal of the second terminal device. Correspondingly, the first terminal device receives a second configuration message from the second terminal device. For example, the second configuration message may further include the first information.

In some embodiments, a unicast connection is established between the first terminal device and the second terminal device, and the second terminal device sends configuration information of a sidelink reference signal of the second terminal device to the first terminal device based on the unicast connection. Or, no unicast connection is established between the first terminal device and the second terminal device, for example, the second terminal device sends configuration information of the sidestream reference signal of the second terminal device to the first terminal device by broadcasting or multicasting. The second terminal device may also send configuration information of the sidestream reference signals of other second terminal devices to the first terminal device. The application is not limited in this regard.

It will be appreciated that the method for acquiring configuration information of the side reference signal of the second terminal device shown in fig. 5 is merely an exemplary illustration, and embodiments of the present application are not limited thereto.

And a third method: the positioning management device receives first information from a first terminal device.

It will be appreciated that the first terminal device may obtain the synchronization information of the second terminal device from the second terminal device and send it to the positioning management device. For example, if the first terminal device and the second terminal device have established unicast connection, the second terminal device sends synchronization information of the second terminal device to the first terminal device in a unicast manner, where the synchronization information of the second terminal device may be carried in an RRC reconfiguration message or other RRC dedicated message on a side link of the first terminal device and the second terminal device; or, the unicast connection is not established between the first terminal device and the second terminal device, and the second terminal device sends the synchronization information of the second terminal device to the first terminal device in a broadcast or multicast mode.

Based on the third method, in a possible specific implementation manner, the first terminal device may report the first information based on a request of the positioning management device. For example, the positioning management device obtains the first information mainly including the following steps:

1) The positioning management device sends a third request message to the first terminal device, wherein the third request message is used for requesting the synchronization information of the second terminal device. Correspondingly, the first terminal device receives a third request message from the positioning management device.

Alternatively, in all embodiments of the present application, the third request message is used to request the synchronization information of the second terminal device, which may be understood that the third request message includes third request information, where the third request information is used to request the synchronization information of the second terminal device.

2) In response to the received third request message, the first terminal device sends a third request response message to the positioning management device, the third request response message including the first information. Correspondingly, the positioning management device receives a third request response message from the first terminal device.

Based on the third method, in another possible specific implementation manner, the first terminal device actively reports the first information to the positioning management device. For example, the positioning management device obtains the first information mainly including the following steps:

when the first terminal device reports the measurement result of the first reference signal to the positioning management device, the first terminal device also reports first information of one or more second terminal devices corresponding to the measurement result. That is, the first terminal device always reports the measurement result together with the first information to the positioning management device.

It should be appreciated that the first reference signal comprises a side reference signal transmitted by the second terminal device to the first terminal device (i.e. a reference signal of the PC5 interface) or the first terminal device transmits a side reference signal to the second terminal device, e.g. the first reference signal comprises SL-PRS. Optionally, the first reference signal further comprises a reference signal (i.e. a reference signal of the Uu interface) transmitted to the first terminal device by the network device assisting in locating the position of the first terminal device, e.g. the first reference signal comprises SL-PRS and DL-PRS. Optionally, if the reference signal (e.g. SRS) of the Uu interface transmitted by the first terminal equipment is also involved in the positioning scenario, the first reference signal further comprises the reference signal of the Uu interface transmitted by the first terminal equipment, e.g. the first reference signal comprises SL-PRS, DL-PRS and SRS.

S402, the second network device determines the position information of the first terminal device according to the synchronous information of the second terminal device.

The specific reason why the second network device (positioning management device) can accurately calculate the position information of the first terminal device after acquiring the first information is described below. Here, as illustrated in connection with fig. 2, when the neighboring base station 104 is replaced with an RSU in the DL-TDOA location scenario shown in fig. 2, for example, during the location procedure, the RSU sends the SL-PRS to the UE101 at time T3, equation (1) remains unchanged, T3' in equation (2) needs to be replaced with T3, and the following equation (3) is obtained:

ΔS3＝(t3-T3)*c-(t1-t1’)*c＝{(t3-t1)-(T3-t1’)}*c＝{RSTD _1,3 –(T3-t1’)}*c (3)

It will be appreciated that since the serving base station 102, the neighboring base station 103, and the neighboring base station 104 remain synchronized, or the transmission subframe boundary difference between the serving base station 102, the neighboring base station 103, and the neighboring base station 104 is known, when LMF-based, the LMF105 can determine T3' -T1', but after the RSU is introduced, the LMF105 does not know the synchronization information of the RSU, and thus cannot determine T3-T1', that is, cannot accurately calculate the location information of the UE 101. The application can enable the LMF105 to accurately calculate the position information of the UE101 by acquiring the synchronization information of the RSU.

It should be noted that, when at least one RSU is introduced into the positioning scenario, the RSTD is determined by the PC5 interface side reference signal and the Uu interface reference signal for the positioning scenario including the reference TP and the at least one RSU. Taking the substitution of the neighbor base station 104 with an RSU as an example, RSTD in the above formula (3) _1,3 Is derived by the UE based on the sidelink reference signal sent by the RSU and the positioning reference signal sent by the serving base station 102. Because the signal measured by the UE at the moment not only comprises the downlink reference signal but also comprises the side reference signalThe signal is examined, so RSTD in equation (3) at this time _1,3 Not exactly the same as DL RSTD, but reference may be made to the above-described calculation of DL RSTD. For example, RSTD in equation (3) _1,3 For the relative time difference, the relative time difference may be defined as time C minus time D, where time C is the time at which the target UE (i.e., UE 101) receives the start of a subframe from the RSU, and time D is the time at which the target UE receives the corresponding start of a subframe from the reference TP (i.e., serving base station 102), which subframe is closest in time to the subframe received from the RSU.

It should be noted that when at least one RSU is introduced in the positioning scenario, the RSTD is determined only by the PC5 interface side reference signal for the positioning scenario that only contains the RSU, i.e. the reference base station is also replaced by the RSU. Taking the serving base station 102, the neighbor base station 103, and the neighbor base station 104 as examples, the RSTD of the above formula (2) is replaced with an RSU _1,2 And RSTD of equation (3) _1,3 The UE obtains the side line reference signal based on the RSU. Since the signal measured by the UE at this time includes only the sidelink reference signal, RSTD of equation (2) at this time _1,2 And RSTD in equation (3) _1,3 Not exactly the same as DL RSTD, but reference may be made to the above-described calculation of DL RSTD. For example, RSTD in equation (2) _1,2 The relative time difference may be defined as time E minus time F, where time E is the target UE's slave RSU ₂ The time of receiving the start of one subframe, time F is the reference RSU of the target UE ₁ Receiving a corresponding start time of a subframe closest in time to the slave RSU ₂ A received subframe; RSTD in equation (3) _1,3 The relative time difference may be defined as time G minus time F, where time E is the target UE's slave RSU ₃ The time of receiving the start of one subframe, time F is the reference RSU of the target UE ₁ Receiving a corresponding start time of a subframe closest in time to the slave RSU ₃ And the received sub-frame.

In addition, as described in S401, the synchronization source of the RSU may be a serving network device of the RSU or a GNSS. In the application, when at least one RSU is introduced in the positioning scene, the synchronization sources of the RSUs are not limited to be the same. That is, when at least one RSU is introduced in the positioning scenario, the synchronization source of the RSU may be only the service network device of the RSU, or the synchronization source of the RSU is only the GNSS, and besides, some of the synchronization sources of the RSU are the service network devices of the RSU, and other of the synchronization sources of the RSU are the GNSS.

Similarly, if at least one RSU is introduced into the positioning scenario, when the UL-TDOA positioning method is adopted, the location information of the target UE may be obtained based on the reference signal of the Uu interface and the reference signal of the PC5 interface, or the location information of the target UE may be obtained based on only the sideline reference signal of the PC5 interface, which is not described herein again.

It can be understood that in all embodiments of the present application, the first terminal device may also report, to the positioning management device, the identifier of the second terminal device that may be used to position itself, so as to avoid resource waste caused by that the second terminal device that does not need to send the sidestream reference signal also sends the sidestream reference signal to the first terminal device. Optionally, then, the method may further comprise the steps of:

1) The first terminal device sends a first message to the location management device, the first message comprising an identification of the second terminal device. Correspondingly, the positioning management device receives a first message from a first terminal device,

2) The positioning management device sends first indication information to the third terminal device, the first indication information indicates that the third terminal device does not need to send a sideways reference signal to the first terminal device, and the third terminal device is other terminal devices except for the terminal device corresponding to the identifier of the second terminal device in all the terminal devices.

For example, all the terminal devices in 2) request, for the positioning management device, to assist in positioning all the terminal devices covered by all the network devices of the first terminal device, or all the terminal devices request, for the positioning management device, to assist in positioning all the terminal devices covered by all the network devices of the first terminal device, the terminal devices being closer to the first terminal device, or all the terminal devices being all the second terminal devices corresponding to the configuration information of the side reference signal of the second terminal device included in the first configuration message sent by the positioning management device to the first terminal device in S510, or all the terminal devices being all the second terminal devices in the second configuration message sent to the first terminal device in S520.

It can be appreciated that the embodiment of the present application may be applied to all positioning methods that need to acquire the first information to accurately position the target UE, which is not specifically limited in the present application.

The method of the location management device to obtain the first information is described in detail above in connection with fig. 4. A specific implementation procedure of calculating the position information of the first terminal device by the two possible positioning management devices of fig. 6 and fig. 7 is given below based on the method shown in fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a schematic flow chart of calculating the position information of the first terminal device by the positioning management device. The method may include the following steps.

S601, a positioning initiator initiates positioning of a first terminal device, and a positioning management device interacts with the first terminal device, for example, performs a capability transmission flow.

Optionally, the first terminal device sends to the positioning management device an identification of the second terminal device that it can receive the sidestream signal. For example, the second terminal device is an RSU, and the identity of the second terminal device is an identity of the RSU. The positioning management device may refer to the identity of the second terminal device sent by the first terminal device to determine which terminal devices are used to assist in positioning the position of the first terminal device. The identifier may be a layer two identifier, or the identifier may be an identifier negotiated between the first terminal device and the positioning management device, which is not limited in the present application.

S602, the positioning management device sends a fourth request message to the first network device, wherein the fourth request message is used for requesting configuration information for configuring the sidestream reference signal of the second terminal device. The first network device is a service network device of the second terminal device. Correspondingly, the first network device receives a fourth request message from the location management device.

S603, the first network device sends a fourth request response message to the positioning management device, wherein the fourth request response message comprises configuration information of the sidestream reference signal of the second terminal device. Correspondingly, the positioning management device receives a fourth request response message from the first network device.

In the method, if the second terminal device is in the RRC connected state before S602 or while S602, the first network device knows the synchronization information of the second terminal device, and the first network device may send the synchronization information of the second terminal device to the positioning management device in the fourth request response message, that is, the fourth request response message further includes the first information. If the second terminal device is in the non-RRC connected state before S602 or at S602, the first network device does not know the synchronization information of the second terminal device, and at this time, the first network device cannot send the synchronization information of the second terminal device to the positioning management device in the fourth request response message, that is, the fourth request response message does not include the first information.

S604, the first terminal equipment acquires configuration information of a sidestream reference signal of the second terminal equipment.

The configuration manner of the positioning management device and the first terminal device to acquire the configuration information of the sideline reference signal of the second terminal device in S602 to S604 may be referred to the description of fig. 5 above, and will not be repeated here.

Optionally, the first terminal device may report the identifier of the second terminal device that may be used to locate its own position to the location management device, so as to avoid resource waste caused by all terminal devices sending side reference signals to the first terminal device. In this way, the positioning management device can instruct all terminal devices except the second terminal device not to send the sidestream reference signal to the first terminal device. All terminal devices are all terminal devices covered by all network devices of the first terminal device, which are requested by the positioning management device to assist in positioning, or all terminal devices are all terminal devices covered by all network devices of the first terminal device, which are requested by the positioning management device to assist in positioning, and are closer to the first terminal device, or all terminal devices are all second terminal devices corresponding to the configuration information of the side reference signal of the second terminal device included in the first configuration message sent by the positioning management device to the first terminal device in S510, or all terminal devices are all second terminal devices in the second configuration message sent to the first terminal device in S520.

S605, the positioning management device sends a first positioning request message to the first terminal device, where the first positioning request message is used to request the first terminal device to measure the first reference signal, or is used to request the positioning measurement of the first terminal device. Correspondingly, the first terminal device receives a first positioning request message from the positioning management device. It should be appreciated that the first reference signal comprises a side reference signal transmitted by the second terminal device to the first terminal device (i.e. a reference signal of the PC5 interface) or the first terminal device transmits a side reference signal to the second terminal device, e.g. the first reference signal comprises SL-PRS. Optionally, the first reference signal further comprises a reference signal (i.e. a reference signal of the Uu interface) transmitted to the first terminal device by the network device assisting in locating the position of the first terminal device, e.g. the first reference signal comprises SL-PRS and DL-PRS. Optionally, if the reference signal (e.g. SRS) of the Uu interface transmitted by the first terminal equipment is also involved in the positioning scenario, the first reference signal further comprises the reference signal of the Uu interface transmitted by the first terminal equipment, e.g. the first reference signal comprises SL-PRS, DL-PRS and SRS.

In some embodiments, a unicast connection is established between the first terminal device and the second terminal device, based on which the second terminal device sends the first reference signal to the first terminal device. For example, the second terminal device sends the first reference signal to the first terminal device alone, and at this time, when the second terminal device needs to send the first reference signal to the plurality of first terminal devices, the second terminal device sends the first reference signal to each of the first terminal devices, respectively. For another example, the second terminal device simultaneously transmits the first reference signal to at least one first terminal device, and at this time, when the second terminal device needs to transmit the first reference signal to a plurality of first terminal devices, the second terminal device only needs to transmit the first reference signal once, similar to the broadcast transmission manner.

In some embodiments, a unicast connection is not established between the first terminal device and the second terminal device, and the second terminal device sends the first reference signal to the first terminal device by broadcasting or multicasting. The application is not limited in this regard.

It should be noted that, the above-described transmission manner of the first reference signal is applicable to not only the second terminal device transmitting the first reference signal to the first terminal device, but also the first terminal device transmitting the first reference signal to the second terminal device. The application is not limited in this regard.

The first positioning request message is LPP request location information, for example.

S606, the first terminal equipment measures the first reference signal to obtain a first measurement result.

The first measurement result obtained by the first terminal device may include RSTD, for example, RSTD obtained by the first terminal device based on the first terminal device and one or more second terminal device transmission side reference signals. The first measurement result further comprises information such as identification of the second terminal device.

S607, the first terminal device sends a first positioning request response message to the positioning management device, where the first positioning request message includes the first measurement result.

Optionally, the first terminal device may further report time information corresponding to the first reference signal to the positioning management device. For example, the first terminal device transmits (receives or transmits) the frame number and the subframe number of the SL-PRS.

Alternatively, if the first information is included in the fourth request response message in S603, S612 is performed. For example, if the second terminal device is in the RRC connected state before S602 or at the time of S602, the location management device acquires first information of the second terminal device from the first network device, the location management device may perform S612.

Alternatively, if the first information is not included in the fourth request response message in S603, the location management device may request the first information from the first network device, and then S608 and S609 are performed. Alternatively, the location management device may request the first information from the second terminal device, performing S610 and S611. For example, if the second terminal device is not in the RRC connected state before S602 or while S602, for example, the second terminal device is in the RRC idle state or the RRC deactivated state, the positioning management device does not acquire the first information of the second terminal device from the first network device, the positioning management device may request the first information of the second terminal device included in the first measurement result from the first network device or the second terminal device based on the first measurement result reported by the first terminal device.

S608, the positioning management device sends a second request message to the first network device, where the second request message is used to request synchronization information of the second terminal device. Correspondingly, the first network device receives a second request message from the location management device.

The second request message includes, for example, an identification of one or more second terminal devices.

Alternatively, the positioning management device may determine which second terminal devices it needs synchronization information based on the first measurement result, after which the synchronization information of these second terminal devices is requested from the serving network devices of these second terminal devices. It will be appreciated that the serving network devices of these second terminal devices may be the same network device or may be different network devices. Here, taking the second terminal device as an RSU for illustration, the positioning management device may determine that synchronization information of rsu#1, rsu#2 and rsu#3 needs to be acquired based on the first measurement result, where the serving network device of rsu#1, rsu#2 is base station#1 (i.e. one instance of the first network device), and the serving base station of rsu#3 is base station#2 (i.e. another instance of the first network device), where the positioning management device sends a request message #1 (i.e. one instance of the second request message) to the base station #1, where the request message #1 is used to request synchronization information of rsu#1 and rsu#2, where the request message #1 includes identifiers of rsu#1 and rsu#2; the location management device sends a request message #2 (i.e. another example of a second request message) to the base station #2, the request message #2 being for requesting synchronization information of the RSU #3, the request message #2 comprising an identification of the RSU 3.

Positioning management device S609, the first network device sends a second request response message to the positioning management device in response to the received second request message, where the second request response message includes the first information. Correspondingly, the positioning management device receives a second request response message from the first network device. After that, S612 is performed.

The second request response message includes, for example, first information of one or more second terminal devices requested by the location management device in the second request message.

For ease of understanding, the description will be continued taking the request message #1 and the request message #2 in S608 as examples. The base station #1 transmits a request response message #1 to the location management device in response to the received request message #1, the request response message #1 including synchronization information of the RSU #1 and the RSU # 2. The base station #2 transmits a request response message #2 to the location management device in response to the received request message #2, the request response message #2 including the synchronization information of the RSU # 3.

S610, the positioning management device sends a first request message to the second terminal device, where the first request message is used to request synchronization information of the second terminal device. Correspondingly, the second terminal device receives the first request message from the positioning management device.

S611, in response to the received first request message, the second terminal device sends a first request response message to the positioning management device, the first request response message including the first information. Correspondingly, the positioning management device receives a first request response message from the second terminal device. After that, S612 is performed.

S612, the positioning management device determines the position information of the first terminal device according to the first information.

Specifically, the positioning management device determines the position information of the first terminal device according to the first information and the first measurement result. For a specific procedure of determining the position of the first terminal device, refer to the above description, and will not be repeated here.

Fig. 7 is a schematic flow chart of calculating the position information of the first terminal device by another positioning management device provided by the present application. The method may include the following steps.

S701 and S702 may be specifically referred to the descriptions in S601 and S602, and are not described herein.

S703, the first network device sends a fourth request response message to the positioning management device, where the fourth request response message includes configuration information of the sidestream reference signal of the second terminal device. Correspondingly, the positioning management device receives a fourth request response message from the first network device.

Optionally, in this step, if the second terminal device is in the RRC connected state before S702 or at the time of S702, the first network device knows the synchronization information of the second terminal device, and the first network device may send the synchronization information of the second terminal device to the positioning management device in the fourth request response message, that is, the fourth request response message further includes the first information. If the second terminal device is in the non-RRC connected state before S702 or at the time of S702, the first network device does not know the synchronization information of the second terminal device, and at this time, the first network device cannot send the synchronization information of the second terminal device to the positioning management device in the fourth request response message, that is, the fourth request response message does not include the first information.

Optionally, in this step, the first network device does not send the synchronization information of the second terminal device to the positioning management device, no matter how the synchronization information of the second terminal device is known.

S704, the first terminal equipment acquires configuration information of a sidestream reference signal of the second terminal equipment.

The configuration manner of the positioning management device and the first terminal device to acquire the configuration information of the side line reference signal of the second terminal device in S702 to S704 may be referred to the description of fig. 5 above, and will not be repeated here. S705, the second terminal device sends the first information to the first terminal device. Correspondingly, the first terminal device receives the first information from the second terminal device.

The manner in which the second terminal device sends the first information to the first terminal device may be described in the third method in fig. 4.

S706, the positioning management device sends a first positioning request message to the first terminal device, where the first positioning request message is used to request the first terminal device to measure the first reference signal, or is used to request the positioning measurement of the first terminal device. Correspondingly, the first terminal device receives a first positioning request message from the positioning management device.

Optionally, if the fourth request response message in S703 does not include the first information, the first positioning request message further includes first positioning request information, for example, the first positioning request information includes an identifier of one or more second terminal devices, where the first positioning request message may be used to request synchronization information of the second terminal devices.

And S707, the first terminal equipment measures the first reference signal to obtain a first measurement result.

Description of the first reference signal is referred to in S605, description of the first measurement result is referred to in S606, and detailed description thereof is omitted.

S708, the first terminal device sends a first positioning request response message to the positioning management device, the first positioning request response message including the first measurement result. Correspondingly, the positioning management device receives a first positioning request response message from the first terminal device.

Optionally, if the fourth request response message in S703 does not include the first information, the first positioning request message further includes identifiers of one or more second terminal devices, where the first positioning request message may be used to request synchronization information of the second terminal devices corresponding to the identifiers of the one or more second terminal devices, and the first positioning request response message in this step further includes the first information of the one or more second terminal devices.

Optionally, in this step, the RRC state of the second terminal device is not distinguished, and the first terminal device may actively report first information of one or more second terminal devices corresponding to the first measurement result.

S709, the positioning management device determines the location information of the first terminal device according to the first information.

The process of calculating the position of the target UE by the positioning management apparatus is described in detail above, and the process of calculating the position of the target UE itself by the target UE is described below with reference to fig. 8.

Fig. 8 is a schematic flow chart of another positioning method provided by an embodiment of the present application. In the method, the location information of the target UE is calculated by the target UE, and the method may include the following steps.

S801, a first terminal device acquires first information, wherein the first information comprises synchronization information of a second terminal device, the synchronization information of the second terminal device comprises synchronization information of synchronization sources of the second terminal device and the second terminal device, the second terminal device is used for assisting in positioning the position of the first terminal device, and the second terminal device and the first terminal device are communicated through a side uplink.

By way of example, in the positioning scenario shown in fig. 2, the first terminal device may be regarded as UE101 and the second terminal device as RSU.

It should be appreciated that in one scenario, one or more second terminal devices may be included that assist in locating the position of the first terminal device, as the application is not limited in this regard. For the synchronization information of the second terminal device, see description in S401, and will not be repeated here.

Alternatively, the first terminal device may acquire the first information by any one of the following methods.

The method four: the first terminal device receives first information from the location management device.

Based on the fourth method, in a possible specific implementation manner, the first terminal device acquiring the first information mainly includes the following steps:

the positioning management device sends a first configuration message to the first terminal device, wherein the first configuration message comprises configuration information and first information of a sidestream reference signal of the second terminal device, and the configuration information of the sidestream reference signal of the second terminal device is used for the first terminal device to receive the sidestream reference signal of the second terminal device. Correspondingly, the first terminal device receives a first configuration message from the positioning management device.

Alternatively, the positioning management device may send the first information separately from the first configuration message, i.e. the first configuration message includes configuration information of the side reference signal of the second terminal device, the first information being carried in other messages.

Alternatively, the positioning management device may also send the first information separately from the configuration information of the side reference signal of the second terminal device, i.e. the positioning management device sends the first configuration message comprising the configuration information of the side reference signal of the second terminal device and the first configuration message comprising the first information, respectively.

For the configuration information of how the positioning management device obtains the first information and the sideline reference signal of the second terminal device in the method, reference may be made to description of the first method and the second method in S401, which are not repeated herein.

And a fifth method: the first terminal device receives first information from the second terminal device.

It will be appreciated that the first terminal device and the second terminal device communicate based on a side-link in the PC5 interface. The first terminal device may obtain the first information from the second terminal device through the PC5 interface.

Based on the fifth method, in a possible specific implementation manner, the first terminal device acquiring the first information mainly includes the following steps:

the second terminal equipment sends a second configuration message to the first terminal equipment, wherein the second configuration message comprises configuration information and first information of a lateral reference signal of the second terminal equipment, and the configuration information of the lateral reference signal of the second terminal equipment is used for the first terminal equipment to receive the lateral reference signal of the second terminal equipment. Correspondingly, the first terminal device receives a second configuration message from the second terminal device.

Alternatively, the second terminal device may send the first information separately from the second configuration message, i.e. the second configuration message includes configuration information of the side reference signal of the second terminal device, where the first information is carried in other messages.

Alternatively, the second terminal device may also send the first information separately from the configuration information of the side reference signal of the second terminal device, i.e. the second terminal device sends a second configuration message comprising the configuration information of the side reference signal of the second terminal device and a second configuration message comprising the first information, respectively.

S802, the first terminal equipment determines the position information of the first terminal equipment according to the first information.

The specific reason why the first terminal device can accurately calculate the position of the first terminal device after acquiring the first information is not described herein, and the description in S402 is omitted.

It can be understood that the first terminal device may also report the identifier of the second terminal device that may be used to locate its own position to the location management device, so as to avoid resource waste caused by that the second terminal device that does not need to send the sidestream reference signal also sends the sidestream reference signal to the first terminal device. Optionally, then, the method may further comprise the steps of:

2) The positioning management device sends first indication information to the third terminal device, the first indication information indicates that the third terminal device does not need to send a reference signal to the first terminal device, and the third terminal device is other terminal devices except for the terminal device corresponding to the identifier of the second terminal device in all the terminal devices.

The method for the first terminal device to acquire the first information is described in detail above in connection with fig. 8. A specific implementation procedure of calculating the first terminal device position by the two possible first terminal devices of fig. 9 and 10 is given below based on the method shown in fig. 8.

Fig. 9 is a schematic flow chart of calculating position information of a first terminal device by the first terminal device. The method may include the following steps.

S901, the positioning initiator initiates positioning to the first terminal device, and the positioning management device interacts with the first terminal device, for example, performs a capability transmission procedure.

S901 may be specifically described in S601, and will not be described herein.

S902, the positioning management device sends a fourth request message to the first network device, where the fourth request message is used to request configuration information for configuring the sidestream reference signal of the second terminal device. The first network device is a service network device of the second terminal device. Correspondingly, the first network device receives a fourth request message from the location management device.

S903, the first network device sends a fourth request response message to the positioning management device, where the fourth request response message includes configuration information of the sidelink reference signal of the second terminal device. Correspondingly, the positioning management device receives a fourth request response message from the first network device.

In the method, if the second terminal device is in the RRC connected state before S902 or while S902, the first network device knows the synchronization information of the second terminal device, and the first network device may send the synchronization information of the second terminal device to the positioning management device in the fourth request response message, that is, the fourth request response message further includes the first information. If the second terminal device is in the non-RRC connected state before S902 or at the time of S902, the first network device does not know the synchronization information of the second terminal device, and at this time, the first network device cannot send the synchronization information of the second terminal device to the positioning management device in the fourth request response message, that is, the fourth request response message does not include the first information.

S904, the first terminal equipment acquires configuration information of a sidestream reference signal of the second terminal equipment.

The configuration manner of the positioning management device and the first terminal device to acquire the configuration information of the sideline reference signal of the second terminal device in S902 to S904 may be referred to the description of fig. 5 above, and will not be repeated here.

For example, if the first information is included in the fourth request response message in S903, S909 is performed. For example, if the second terminal device is in the RRC connected state before S902 or at the time of S902, the location management device acquires the first information of the second terminal device from the first network device, the location management device may perform transmission of the first information to the first terminal device.

For example, if the first information is not included in the fourth request response message in S903, the location management device may request the first information from the first network device, and then S905 and S906 are performed. Alternatively, the location management device may request the first information from the second terminal device, performing S907 and S908. For example, if the second terminal device is not in the RRC connected state, e.g., the second terminal device is in the RRC idle state or the RRC deactivated state, before S902 or at the time of S902, the location management device does not acquire the first information of the second terminal device from the first network device, the location management device may request the first information of the second terminal device from the first network device or the second terminal device.

S905, the location management device sends a second request message to the first network device, where the second request message is used to request synchronization information of the second terminal device. Correspondingly, the first network device receives a second request message from the location management device.

For the description of the second request message, reference may be made to S608, and a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

S906, the first network device sends a second request response message to the positioning management device in response to the received second request message, where the second request response message includes the first information. Correspondingly, the positioning management device receives a second request response message from the first network device. After that, S909 is executed.

The description of the second request response message may refer to S609, and will not be repeated here.

S907, the positioning management device sends a first request message to the second terminal device, where the first request message is used to request synchronization information of the second terminal device. Correspondingly, the second terminal device receives the first request message from the positioning management device.

S908, in response to the received first request message, the second terminal device sends a first request response message to the positioning management device, where the first request response message includes the first information. Correspondingly, the positioning management device receives a first request response message from the second terminal device. After that, S909 is executed.

S909, the positioning management apparatus transmits the first information to the first terminal apparatus. Correspondingly, the first terminal device receives the first information from the positioning management device.

Alternatively, if the first terminal device needs to acquire the configuration information of the side line reference signal of the second terminal device from the positioning management device in S904, the positioning management device may send the configuration information and the first information of the side line reference signal of the second terminal device to the first terminal device at the same time in S909.

S910, the first terminal equipment measures the first reference signal to obtain a first measurement result.

S911, the first terminal equipment determines the position information of the first terminal equipment according to the first information.

Specifically, the first terminal device determines the position information of the first terminal device according to the first information and the first measurement result. For a specific procedure for determining the location of the first terminal device, reference is made to the above description, and will not be repeated here.

Fig. 10 is a schematic flow chart of calculating position information of a first terminal device by another first terminal device provided by the present application. The method may include the following steps.

S1001, the positioning initiator initiates positioning of the first terminal device, and the positioning management device interacts with the first terminal device, for example, performs a capability transmission procedure.

S1001 may be specifically described in S601, and will not be described herein.

S1002, the positioning management device sends a fourth request message to the first network device, where the fourth request message is used to request configuration information for configuring the sidestream reference signal of the second terminal device. The first network device is a service network device of the second terminal device. Correspondingly, the first network device receives a fourth request message from the location management device.

S1003, the first network device sends a fourth request response message to the positioning management device, wherein the fourth request response message comprises configuration information of a sidestream reference signal of the second terminal device. Correspondingly, the positioning management device receives a fourth request response message from the first network device.

Optionally, if the second terminal device is in the RRC connected state before S1002 or at S1002, the first network device knows the synchronization information of the second terminal device, and the first network device may send the synchronization information of the second terminal device to the positioning management device in the fourth request response message, that is, the fourth request response message further includes the first information. If the second terminal device is in the non-RRC connected state before S1002 or at S1002, the first network device does not know the synchronization information of the second terminal device, and at this time, the first network device cannot send the synchronization information of the second terminal device to the positioning management device in the fourth request response message, that is, the fourth request response message does not include the first information.

S1004, the first terminal equipment acquires configuration information of a sidestream reference signal of the second terminal equipment.

The configuration manner of the positioning management device and the first terminal device to acquire the configuration information of the side line reference signal of the second terminal device in S1002 to S1004 may be referred to the description of fig. 5 above, and will not be repeated here.

S1005, the second terminal device sends the first information to the first terminal device. Correspondingly, the first terminal device receives the first information from the second terminal device.

In some embodiments, S1004 and S1005 may occur simultaneously, i.e. the second terminal device simultaneously sends configuration information of the side reference signal of the second terminal device and the first information to the first terminal device.

In some embodiments, the first terminal device obtains configuration information of a sidestream reference signal of the second terminal device from the positioning management device, and the first terminal device obtains the first information from the second terminal device.

S1006, the first terminal device measures the first reference signal to obtain a first measurement result.

S1007, the first terminal device determines location information of the first terminal device according to the first information.

Specifically, the first terminal device determines the position information of the first terminal device according to the first information and the first measurement result. For the description of the first reference signal and the specific procedure for determining the position of the first terminal device, refer to the description above, and will not be repeated here.

It will be appreciated that the acquisition of the first information is a necessary step in the present application, and that other steps may be optional steps in all embodiments of the application. It will be appreciated that the various steps of fig. 4-10 described above are merely exemplary and are not strictly limited in this regard. In addition, the sequence number of each process does not mean the sequence of execution sequence, and the execution sequence of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiment of the present application.

It will be further appreciated that in the various embodiments of the present application, some message names are referred to, and their naming does not limit the scope of the embodiments of the present application.

It will also be appreciated that some optional features of the various embodiments of the application may, in some circumstances, be independent of other features or may, in some circumstances, be combined with other features, without limitation.

It is also to be understood that in the various embodiments of the application, where no special description or logic conflict exists, the terms and/or descriptions between the various embodiments are consistent and may reference each other, and features of the various embodiments may be combined to form new embodiments in accordance with their inherent logic relationships.

It will be further appreciated that in some of the above embodiments, the devices in the existing network architecture are mainly described as examples, and it should be understood that the embodiments of the present application are not limited to specific forms of the devices. For example, devices that can achieve the same functions in the future are applicable to the embodiments of the present application.

In the embodiments of the present application, the number of nouns, unless otherwise indicated, means "a singular noun or a plural noun", i.e. "one or more". "at least one" means one or more, and "a plurality" means two or more. "and/or", describes an association relationship of an association object, and indicates that there may be three relationships, for example, a and/or B, and may indicate: a alone, a and B together, and B alone, wherein a, B may be singular or plural. The character "/" generally indicates that the context-dependent object is an "or" relationship. For example, A/B, means: a or B. "at least one of" or the like means any combination of these items, including any combination of single item(s) or plural items(s). For example, at least one (one) of a, b, or c, represents: a, b, c, a and b, a and c, b and c, or a and b and c, wherein a, b, c may be single or plural.

The ordinal terms such as "first," "second," and the like in the embodiments of the present application are used for distinguishing a plurality of objects, and are not used for limiting the size, content, sequence, timing, priority, importance, and the like of the plurality of objects. For example, the first request message and the second request message may be the same message or different messages, and such names do not indicate the difference in content, size, application scenario, sender/receiver, priority, importance, or the like of the two messages. In addition, the numbers of the steps in the embodiments described in the present application are only for distinguishing different steps, and are not used for limiting the sequence of the steps. For example, S503 may occur before S504, or may occur after S504, or may also occur simultaneously with S504.

It should also be understood that, in the foregoing embodiments of the method and operations implemented by the apparatus, the method and operations may also be implemented by component parts (such as a chip or a circuit) of the apparatus, which are not limited thereto.

Corresponding to the methods given by the above method embodiments, the embodiments of the present application also provide corresponding apparatuses, where the apparatuses include corresponding modules for executing the above method embodiments. The module may be software, hardware, or a combination of software and hardware. It will be appreciated that the technical features described in the method embodiments described above are equally applicable to the device embodiments described below.

It will be appreciated that in the various method embodiments described above, the methods and operations implemented by a device (e.g., a first terminal device, a second terminal device, an LMF, a network device, etc., as described above) may also be implemented by a component (e.g., a chip or circuit) of the device.

The method provided by the embodiment of the application is described in detail above with reference to fig. 1 to 10. The above method is mainly described in terms of interactions between network elements. It will be appreciated that the terminal device and the network device, in order to implement the above-mentioned functions, comprise corresponding hardware structures and/or software modules for performing the respective functions.

Those of skill in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative elements and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as hardware or combinations of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is implemented as hardware or computer software driven hardware depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the solution. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present application.

The following describes in detail the communication device provided in the embodiment of the present application with reference to fig. 11 and 12. It should be understood that the descriptions of the apparatus embodiments and the descriptions of the method embodiments correspond to each other, and thus, descriptions of details not shown may be referred to the above method embodiments, and for the sake of brevity, some parts of the descriptions are omitted. The embodiment of the application can divide the functional modules of the terminal equipment or the network equipment according to the method example, for example, each functional module can be divided corresponding to each function, and two or more functions can be integrated in one processing module. The integrated modules may be implemented in hardware or in software functional modules. It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present application, the division of the modules is schematic, which is merely a logic function division, and other division manners may be implemented in actual implementation. The following description will take an example of dividing each functional module into corresponding functions.

Fig. 11 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device 1000 provided by the present application. As shown in fig. 11, the apparatus 100 includes a transceiving unit 1100 and a processing unit 1200. The transceiving unit 1100 may be used to implement a corresponding communication function. The transceiving unit 1100 may also be referred to as a communication interface or a communication unit. The processing unit 1200 may be used for processing data or information.

Optionally, the apparatus 1000 further includes a storage unit, where the storage unit may be configured to store instructions and/or data, and the processing unit 1200 may read the instructions and/or data in the storage unit, so that the apparatus implements the actions of the terminal device in the foregoing method embodiments.

A possible design of the apparatus 1000 may be used to perform the actions performed by the first terminal device in the above method embodiments, where the apparatus 1000 may be the first terminal device or a component of the first terminal device, the transceiver unit 1100 is configured to perform the operations related to the transceiver on the first terminal device side in the above method embodiments, and the processing unit 1200 is configured to perform the operations related to the processing on the first terminal device side in the above method embodiments.

In a possible implementation manner, the transceiver unit 1100 obtains first information, where the first information includes synchronization information of a second terminal device, and the synchronization information of the second terminal device includes synchronization information of synchronization sources of the second terminal device and the second terminal device, where the second terminal device is used to assist in positioning a position of the first terminal device, and communication is performed between the second terminal device and the first terminal device through a side uplink; the processing unit 1200 is configured to determine location information of the first terminal device according to the first information.

Optionally, the transceiver unit 1100 is specifically configured to receive the first information from the second network device of the location management function network element.

Optionally, the transceiver unit 1100 is specifically configured to receive the first information from the second terminal device.

Optionally, the transceiver unit 1100 is specifically configured to receive a first configuration message from the second network device of the positioning management function network element, where the first configuration message includes configuration information of a sidestream reference signal of the second terminal device, and the configuration information of the sidestream reference signal of the second terminal device is used by the first terminal device to receive the sidestream reference signal of the second terminal device; the first configuration message also includes first information.

Optionally, the transceiver 1100 is specifically configured to receive a second configuration message from a second terminal device, where the second configuration message includes configuration information of a sidestream reference signal of the second terminal device, and the configuration information of the sidestream reference signal of the second terminal device is used by the first terminal device to receive the sidestream reference signal of the second terminal device; the second configuration message also includes the first information.

Optionally, the transceiver unit 1100 is further configured to send a first message to the second network device of the location management function network element, where the first message includes an identifier of the second terminal device.

The second terminal device is, for example, a group of terminal devices comprising one or more terminal devices.

The apparatus 1000 may implement steps or processes corresponding to those performed by the first terminal device in the method embodiment according to the embodiment of the present application, and the apparatus 1000 may include units for performing the method performed by the first terminal device in the embodiment shown in fig. 4 to 10. The specific process of each unit executing the corresponding steps is described in detail in the above method embodiments, and for brevity, will not be described in detail herein.

In another possible implementation manner, the transceiver unit 1100 obtains first information, where the first information includes synchronization information of a second terminal device, and the synchronization information of the second terminal device includes synchronization information of synchronization sources of the second terminal device and the second terminal device, where the second terminal device is used to assist in positioning a position of the first terminal device, and communication is performed between the second terminal device and the first terminal device through a side uplink; the transceiver unit 1100 is further configured to send the first information to the second network device of the location management function network element.

In another possible design, the apparatus 1000 may be configured to perform the actions performed by the second network device in the above method embodiments, where the apparatus 1000 may be the second network device or a component of the second network device, the transceiver unit 1100 is configured to perform the operations related to the transceiver on the second network device side in the above method embodiments, and the processing unit 1200 is configured to perform the operations related to the processing on the second network device side in the above method embodiments.

A possible implementation manner, the transceiver unit 1100 is configured to obtain first information, where the first information includes synchronization information of a second terminal device, and the synchronization information of the second terminal device includes synchronization information of synchronization sources of the second terminal device and the second terminal device, where the second terminal device is used to assist in positioning a position of the first terminal device, and communication is performed between the second terminal device and the first terminal device through a side uplink; the processing unit 1200 is configured to determine location information of the first terminal device according to the synchronization information of the second terminal device.

Optionally, the transceiver unit 1100 is specifically configured to receive the first information from the serving network apparatus of the second terminal apparatus.

Optionally, the transceiver unit 1100 is specifically configured to receive the first information from the first terminal device.

Optionally, the transceiver unit 1100 is further configured to send a first request message to the second terminal device, where the first request message is used to request synchronization information of the second terminal device; the transceiver unit 1100 is further configured to receive a first request response message from the second terminal device, where the first request response message includes the first information.

Optionally, the transceiver unit 1100 is further configured to send a second request message to a serving network device of the second terminal device, where the second request message is used to request synchronization information of the second terminal device; the transceiver unit 1100 is further configured to receive a second request response message from the serving network apparatus of the second terminal apparatus, where the second request response message includes the first information.

Optionally, the transceiver unit 1100 is further configured to send a third request message to the first terminal device, where the third request message is used to request synchronization information of the second terminal device; the transceiver unit 1100 is further configured to receive a third request response message from the first terminal device, where the third request response message includes the first information.

Optionally, the transceiver unit 1100 is further configured to send a fourth request message to a serving network device of the second terminal device, where the fourth request message is used to request configuration information of a sidestream reference signal of the second terminal device, and the configuration information of the sidestream reference signal of the second terminal device is used for the first terminal device to receive the sidestream reference signal of the second terminal device; the transceiver unit 1100 is further configured to receive a fourth request response message from the serving network device of the second terminal device, where the fourth request response message includes configuration information of a sidestream reference signal of the second terminal device; the fourth request response message includes the first information.

Optionally, the transceiver 1100 is further configured to send a first configuration message to the first terminal device, where the first configuration message includes configuration information of a sidestream reference signal of the second terminal device, and the configuration information of the sidestream reference signal of the second terminal device is used by the first terminal device to receive the sidestream reference signal of the second terminal device; the first configuration message also includes first information.

Optionally, the transceiver unit 1100 is further configured to receive a first message from a first terminal device, where the first message includes an identifier of a second terminal device; the transceiver 1100 is further configured to send first indication information to a third terminal device, where the first indication information indicates that the third terminal device does not need to send a reference signal to the first terminal device, and the third terminal device requests, for the second network device, a terminal device other than the second terminal device from all terminal devices covered by all network devices of the auxiliary positioning target terminal.

The apparatus 1000 may implement steps or processes corresponding to those performed by the second network device in the method embodiment according to the embodiment of the present application, and the apparatus 1000 may include units for performing the method performed by the second network device in the embodiment shown in fig. 4 to 10. The specific process of each unit executing the corresponding steps is described in detail in the above method embodiments, and for brevity, will not be described in detail herein.

Another possible implementation manner, the transceiver unit 1100 is configured to obtain first information, where the first information includes synchronization information of a second terminal device, and the synchronization information of the second terminal device includes synchronization information of synchronization sources of the second terminal device and the second terminal device, where the second terminal device is used to assist in positioning a position of the first terminal device, and communication is performed between the second terminal device and the first terminal device through a side uplink; the transceiver unit 1100 is further configured to send the first information to the first terminal device.

In yet another possible design, the apparatus 1000 may be configured to perform the actions performed by the first network device in the above method embodiments, where the apparatus 1000 may be the first network device or a component of the first network device, the transceiver unit 1100 is configured to perform the operations related to the transceiver on the first network device side in the above method embodiments, and the processing unit 1200 is configured to perform the operations related to the processing on the first network device side in the above method embodiments.

A possible implementation manner, the transceiver unit 1100 is configured to obtain first information, where the first information includes synchronization information of a second terminal device, the first network device is a service network device of the second terminal device, the second terminal device is used to assist in positioning a location of the first terminal device, and communication is performed between the second terminal device and the first terminal device through a side uplink; the transceiver unit 1100 is further configured to send the first information to the second network device.

Optionally, the transceiver unit 1100 is further configured to receive a second request message from a second network device, where the second request message is used to request synchronization information of the second terminal device; the transceiver unit 1100 is further configured to send a second request response message to the second network device, where the second request response message includes the first information.

Optionally, the transceiver unit 1100 is further configured to receive a fourth request message from the second network device, where the fourth request message is used to request configuration information of a sidestream reference signal of the second terminal device, and the configuration information of the sidestream reference signal of the second terminal device is used for the first terminal device to receive the sidestream reference signal of the second terminal device; the transceiver unit 1100 is further configured to send a fourth request response message to the second network device, where the fourth request response message includes configuration information of the sidestream reference signal of the second terminal device; the fourth request response message also includes the first information.

Optionally, the transceiver unit 1100 is further configured to send a second message to the second terminal device, where the second message includes configuration information of the sidestream reference signal of the second terminal device.

Optionally, the transceiver unit 1100 is further configured to send a fifth request message to the second terminal device, where the fifth request message is used to request configuration information of the sidestream reference signal of the second terminal device; the transceiver unit 1100 is further configured to receive a fifth request response message from the second terminal device, where the fifth request response message includes configuration information of the sidestream reference signal of the second terminal device.

The apparatus 1000 may implement steps or processes corresponding to those performed by the first network device in the method embodiment according to the embodiment of the present application, and the apparatus 1000 may include units for performing the method performed by the first network device in the embodiment shown in fig. 4 to 10. The specific process of each unit executing the corresponding steps is described in detail in the above method embodiments, and for brevity, will not be described in detail herein.

In yet another possible design, the apparatus 1000 may be configured to perform the actions performed by the second terminal device in the above method embodiments, where the apparatus 1000 may be the second terminal device or a component of the second terminal device, the transceiver unit 1100 is configured to perform the operations related to the transceiver on the second terminal device side in the above method embodiments, and the processing unit 1200 is configured to perform the operations related to the processing on the second terminal device side in the above method embodiments.

A possible implementation manner, the processing unit 1200 is configured to determine synchronization information of the second terminal device, where the synchronization information of the second terminal device includes synchronization information of synchronization sources of the second terminal device and the second terminal device; the transceiver 1100 is configured to send first information to a first device, where the first information includes synchronization information of a second terminal device, where the second terminal device is configured to assist in positioning a location of the first terminal device, and the second terminal device communicates with the first terminal device through a side uplink, and the first device is the first terminal device or a location management function network element second network device.

Optionally, when the first device is a second network device, the transceiver unit 1100 is further configured to receive a first request message from the first device, where the first request message is used to request synchronization information of the second terminal device; the transceiver unit 1100 is configured to send a first response request message to the first device, where the first response request message includes first information.

Optionally, when the first device is a first terminal device, the transceiver unit 1100 is further configured to send a second configuration message to the first device, where the second configuration message includes configuration information of a sidestream reference signal of the second terminal device, and the configuration information of the sidestream reference signal of the second terminal device is used for the first terminal device to receive the sidestream reference signal of the second terminal device; the second configuration message also includes the first information.

Optionally, the transceiver unit 1100 is further configured to receive a second message from a serving network apparatus of the second terminal apparatus, where the second message includes configuration information of a side reference signal of the second terminal apparatus.

Optionally, the transceiver unit 1100 is further configured to receive a fifth request message from the serving network device of the second terminal device, where the fifth request message is used to request configuration information of the sidestream reference signal of the second terminal device; the transceiver unit 1100 is further configured to send a fifth request response message to the serving network apparatus of the second terminal apparatus, where the fifth response request message includes configuration information of the side reference signal of the second terminal apparatus.

The apparatus 1000 may implement steps or processes corresponding to those performed by the second terminal device in the method embodiment according to the embodiment of the present application, and the apparatus 1000 may include units for performing the method performed by the second terminal device in the embodiment shown in fig. 4 to 10. The specific process of each unit executing the corresponding steps is described in detail in the above method embodiments, and for brevity, will not be described in detail herein.

It should be understood that the apparatus 1000 herein is embodied in the form of functional units. The term "unit" herein may refer to an application specific integrated circuit (application specific integrated circuit, ASIC), an electronic circuit, a processor (e.g., a shared, dedicated, or group processor, etc.) and memory that execute at least one software or firmware program, a combinational logic circuit, and/or other suitable components that support the described functionality. In an alternative example, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the apparatus 1000 may be specifically configured as the first terminal device in the foregoing embodiment, and may be configured to perform each flow and/or step corresponding to the first terminal device in the foregoing method embodiments; alternatively, the apparatus 1000 may be specifically configured to be used to execute each flow and/or step corresponding to the second network device in the foregoing embodiment of the method, or the apparatus 1000 may be specifically configured to be used to execute each flow and/or step corresponding to the first network device in the foregoing embodiment of the method, or the apparatus 1000 may be specifically configured to be used to be executed by the second terminal device in the foregoing embodiment of the method, and therefore, repetition is avoided herein.

The apparatus 1000 of each of the above embodiments has a function of implementing the corresponding steps executed by each device in the above method. The functions may be implemented by hardware, or may be implemented by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software comprises at least one module corresponding to the functions; for example, the transceiver unit may be replaced by a transceiver (e.g., a transmitting unit in the transceiver unit may be replaced by a transmitter, a receiving unit in the transceiver unit may be replaced by a receiver), and other units, such as a processing unit, etc., may be replaced by a processor, to perform the transceiver operations and related processing operations in the various method embodiments, respectively.

The transceiver unit 1100 may be a transceiver circuit (e.g., may include a receiving circuit and a transmitting circuit), and the processing unit may be a processing circuit.

It should be noted that the apparatus in fig. 11 may be the device in the foregoing embodiment, or may be a chip or a chip system, for example: system on chip (SoC). The receiving and transmitting unit can be an input and output circuit and a communication interface; the processing unit is an integrated processor or microprocessor or integrated circuit on the chip. And are not limited herein.

Fig. 12 is a schematic structural diagram of the communication device 10 provided by the present application. The apparatus 10 comprises a processor 11, the processor 11 being coupled to a memory 12, the memory 12 being for storing computer programs or instructions and/or data, the processor 11 being for executing the computer programs or instructions stored by the memory 12 or for reading the data stored by the memory 12 for performing the methods in the method embodiments above.

Optionally, the processor 11 is one or more.

Optionally, the memory 12 is one or more.

Alternatively, the memory 12 may be integrated with the processor 11 or provided separately.

Optionally, as shown in fig. 12, the apparatus 10 further comprises a transceiver 13, the transceiver 13 being used for receiving and/or transmitting signals. For example, the processor 11 is configured to control the transceiver 13 to receive and/or transmit signals.

As an alternative, the apparatus 10 is configured to implement the operations performed by the first terminal device in the above method embodiments.

For example, the processor 11 is configured to execute a computer program or instructions stored in the memory 12 to implement the relevant operations of the first terminal device in the above respective method embodiments. For example, the first terminal device in the embodiments shown in fig. 4 to 10 performs the method.

Alternatively, the apparatus 10 is configured to implement the operations performed by the second network device in the method embodiments above.

For example, the processor 11 is configured to execute a computer program or instructions stored in the memory 12 to implement the relevant operations of the second network device in the above respective method embodiments. For example, the second network device in the embodiments shown in fig. 4-10 performs the method.

As yet another alternative, the apparatus 10 is configured to implement the operations performed by the first network device in the method embodiments above.

For example, the processor 11 is configured to execute a computer program or instructions stored in the memory 12 to implement the relevant operations of the first network device in the above respective method embodiments. For example, the first network device in the embodiments shown in fig. 4 to 10 performs the method.

As a further alternative, the apparatus 10 is configured to implement the operations performed by the second terminal device in the above method embodiments.

For example, the processor 11 is configured to execute a computer program or instructions stored in the memory 12 to implement the relevant operations of the second terminal device in the above respective method embodiments. For example, the second terminal device in the embodiment shown in fig. 4 to 10 performs the method.

Furthermore, the present application provides a computer readable storage medium having stored therein computer instructions which, when run on a computer, cause the method of the method embodiments of the present application to be performed.

The application also provides a computer program product comprising computer program code or instructions which, when run on a computer, cause the method of the method embodiments of the application to be performed.

In addition, the application also provides a chip, which comprises a processor. The memory for storing the computer program is provided separately from the chip and the processor is adapted to execute the computer program stored in the memory such that the method of the method embodiments of the application is performed.

Further, the chip may also include a communication interface. The communication interface may be an input/output interface, an interface circuit, or the like. Further, the chip may further include a memory.

In addition, the application also provides a communication system, which comprises the first terminal device, the second network device, one or more devices of the first network device and the second terminal device in the embodiment of the application.

It should be appreciated that the processor in embodiments of the present application may be an integrated circuit chip with the capability to process signals. In implementation, the steps of the above method embodiments may be implemented by integrated logic circuits of hardware in a processor or instructions in software form. The processor may be a central processing unit (central processing unit, CPU), but may also be other general purpose processors, digital signal processors (digital signal processor, DSP), application specific integrated circuits (application specific integrated circuit, ASIC), field programmable gate arrays (field programmable gate array, FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or the processor may be any conventional processor or the like. The steps of the method disclosed in the embodiment of the application can be directly embodied in a hardware encoding processor for execution or in a combination of hardware and software modules in the encoding processor for execution. The software modules may be located in a random access memory, flash memory, read only memory, programmable read only memory, or electrically erasable programmable memory, registers, etc. as well known in the art. The storage medium is located in a memory, and the processor reads the information in the memory and, in combination with its hardware, performs the steps of the above method.

The memory in embodiments of the present application may be either volatile memory or nonvolatile memory, or may include both volatile and nonvolatile memory. The nonvolatile memory may be a read-only memory (ROM), a Programmable ROM (PROM), an Erasable PROM (EPROM), an electrically Erasable EPROM (EEPROM), or a flash memory. The volatile memory may be random access memory (random access memory, RAM) which acts as an external cache. By way of example, and not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as Static RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM), enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), synchronous DRAM (SLDRAM), and direct memory bus RAM (DRRAM).

It should be noted that when the processor is a general purpose processor, DSP, ASIC, FPGA or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic device, discrete hardware components, the memory (storage module) may be integrated into the processor.

It should also be noted that the memory described herein is intended to comprise, without being limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative elements and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, or combinations of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the solution. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present application.

It will be clear to those skilled in the art that, for convenience and brevity of description, specific working procedures of the above-described systems, apparatuses and units may refer to corresponding procedures in the foregoing method embodiments, and are not repeated herein.

In the several embodiments provided by the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, devices, and methods may be implemented in other manners. For example, the apparatus embodiments described above are merely illustrative, e.g., the division of the units is merely a logical function division, and there may be additional divisions when actually implemented, e.g., multiple units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be omitted or not performed. Alternatively, the coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed with each other may be an indirect coupling or communication connection via some interfaces, devices or units, which may be in electrical, mechanical or other form.

The units described as separate units may or may not be physically separate, and units shown as units may or may not be physical units, may be located in one place, or may be distributed on a plurality of network units. Some or all of the units may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of this embodiment.

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

The functions, if implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as a stand-alone product, may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present application may be embodied essentially or in a part contributing to the prior art or in a part of the technical solution, in the form of a software product stored in a storage medium, comprising several instructions for causing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, a network device, etc.) to perform all or part of the steps of the method according to the embodiments of the present application. And the aforementioned storage medium includes: a usb disk, a removable hard disk, a ROM, a RAM, a magnetic disk, or an optical disk, etc.

The foregoing is merely illustrative of the present application, and the present application is not limited thereto, and any person skilled in the art will readily recognize that variations or substitutions are within the scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A positioning method, comprising:

the method comprises the steps that a first terminal device obtains first information, the first information comprises synchronous information of a second terminal device, the synchronous information of the second terminal device comprises synchronous information of synchronous sources of the second terminal device and the second terminal device, the second terminal device is used for assisting in positioning of the position of the first terminal device, and communication is carried out between the second terminal device and the first terminal device through a side uplink;

and the first terminal equipment determines the position information of the first terminal equipment according to the first information.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first terminal device obtains first information, comprising:

the first terminal device receives the first information from the second network device;

or alternatively, the first and second heat exchangers may be,

the first terminal device receives the first information from the second terminal device.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of determining the position of the substrate comprises,

the first terminal device obtains first information, including:

the first terminal equipment receives a first configuration message from second network equipment, wherein the first configuration message comprises configuration information of a sidestream reference signal of the second terminal equipment, and the configuration information of the sidestream reference signal of the second terminal equipment is used for the first terminal equipment to receive the sidestream reference signal of the second terminal equipment; the first configuration message further includes the first information;

Or alternatively, the first and second heat exchangers may be,

the first terminal equipment receives a second configuration message from the second terminal equipment, wherein the second configuration message comprises configuration information of a sidestream reference signal of the second terminal equipment, and the configuration information of the sidestream reference signal of the second terminal equipment is used for the first terminal equipment to receive the sidestream reference signal of the second terminal equipment; the second configuration message also includes the first information.

4. A positioning method, comprising:

the first terminal device sends the first information to a second network device.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the first terminal device obtains first information, comprising:

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the step of determining the position of the first electrode is performed,

the first terminal device obtains first information, including:

the first terminal equipment receives a second configuration message from the second terminal equipment, wherein the second configuration message comprises configuration information of a sidestream reference signal of the second terminal equipment, and the configuration information of the sidestream reference signal of the second terminal equipment is used for the first terminal equipment to receive the sidestream reference signal of the second terminal equipment;

the second configuration message also includes the first information.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, further comprising:

the first terminal device sends a first message to a second network device, the first message including an identification of the second terminal device.

8. The method according to any of claims 1 to 7, wherein the second terminal device is one or more terminal devices.

9. A positioning method, comprising:

the method comprises the steps that a second network device obtains first information, wherein the first information comprises synchronization information of a second terminal device, the synchronization information of the second terminal device comprises synchronization information of synchronization sources of the second terminal device and the second terminal device, the second terminal device is used for assisting in positioning a position of a first terminal device, and communication is carried out between the second terminal device and the first terminal device through a side uplink;

And the second network equipment determines the position information of the first terminal equipment according to the first information.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the second network device obtaining the first information comprises:

the second network device receives the first information from the second terminal device;

or alternatively, the first and second heat exchangers may be,

the second network device receives the first information from the serving network device of the second terminal device;

or alternatively, the first and second heat exchangers may be,

the second network device receives the first information from the first terminal device.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the second network device obtaining the first information comprises:

the second network device sends a first request message to the second terminal device, wherein the first request message is used for requesting synchronous information of the second terminal device, the second network device receives a first request response message from the second terminal device, and the first request response message comprises the first information;

or alternatively, the first and second heat exchangers may be,

the second network device sends a second request message to the service network device of the second terminal device, where the second request message is used to request synchronization information of the second terminal device, and the second network device receives a second request response message from the service network device of the second terminal device, where the second request response message includes the first information;

Or alternatively, the first and second heat exchangers may be,

the second network device sends a third request message to the first terminal device, where the third request message is used to request synchronization information of the second terminal device, the second network device receives a third request response message from the first terminal device, and the third request response message includes the first information.

12. A positioning method, comprising:

the second network device sends the first information to the first terminal device.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the second network device obtaining the first information comprises:

Or alternatively, the first and second heat exchangers may be,

the second network device receives the first information from a serving network device of the second terminal device.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the second network device obtaining the first information comprises:

or alternatively, the first and second heat exchangers may be,

the second network device sends a second request message to the service network device of the second terminal device, where the second request message is used to request synchronization information of the second terminal device, and the second network device receives a second request response message from the service network device of the second terminal device, where the second request response message includes the first information.

15. The method according to claim 9 or 12, wherein,

the second network device obtaining first information includes:

the second network device sends a fourth request message to the service network device of the second terminal device, where the fourth request message is used to request configuration information of the sidestream reference signal of the second terminal device, and the configuration information of the sidestream reference signal of the second terminal device is used for the first terminal device to receive the sidestream reference signal of the second terminal device;

The second network device receives a fourth request response message from the service network device of the second terminal device, wherein the fourth request response message comprises configuration information of a sidestream reference signal of the second terminal device;

the fourth request response message includes the first information.

16. The method according to claim 9 or 12, wherein,

the second network device obtaining first information includes:

the second network device sends a first configuration message to the first terminal device, wherein the first configuration message comprises configuration information of a sidestream reference signal of the second terminal device, and the configuration information of the sidestream reference signal of the second terminal device is used for the first terminal device to receive the sidestream reference signal of the second terminal device;

the first configuration message also includes the first information.

17. The method according to any one of claims 9 to 16, further comprising:

the second network device receives a first message from the first terminal device, wherein the first message comprises an identifier of the second terminal device;

the second network device sends first indication information to third terminal device, the first indication information indicates that the third terminal device does not need to send reference signals to the first terminal device, and the third terminal device requests terminal devices except the second terminal device in all terminal devices covered by all network devices of the auxiliary positioning target terminal for the second network device.

18. The method according to any of claims 9 to 17, wherein the second terminal device is one or more terminal devices.

19. A positioning method, comprising:

the method comprises the steps that first network equipment obtains first information, the first information comprises synchronization information of second terminal equipment, the first network equipment is service network equipment of the second terminal equipment, the synchronization information of the second terminal equipment comprises synchronization information of synchronization sources of the second terminal equipment and the second terminal equipment, the second terminal equipment is used for assisting in positioning of the position of the first terminal equipment, and the second terminal equipment and the first terminal equipment are communicated through a side uplink;

the first network device sends the first information to a second network device.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the first network device transmitting the first information to a second network device comprises:

the first network device receives a second request message from the second network device, wherein the second request message is used for requesting synchronous information of a second terminal device;

The first network device sends a second request response message to the second network device, the second request response message including the first information.

21. The method of claim 19, wherein the step of determining the position of the probe comprises,

the first network device sending the first information to a second network device, including:

the first network device receives a fourth request message from the second network device, where the fourth request message is used to request configuration information of a sidestream reference signal of the second terminal device, and the configuration information of the sidestream reference signal of the second terminal device is used for the first terminal device to receive the sidestream reference signal of the second terminal device;

the first network device sends a fourth request response message to the second network device, wherein the fourth request response message comprises configuration information of a sidestream reference signal of the second terminal device;

the fourth request response message further includes the first information.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the method further comprises:

the first network device sends a second message to the second terminal device, wherein the second message comprises configuration information of a sidestream reference signal of the second terminal device.

23. The method of claim 21, wherein the method further comprises:

the first network device sends a fifth request message to the second terminal device, wherein the fifth request message is used for requesting configuration information of a sidestream reference signal of the second terminal device;

the first network device receives a fifth request response message from the second terminal device, where the fifth response request message includes configuration information of a side reference signal of the second terminal device.

24. A method according to any one of claims 19 to 23, wherein the second terminal device is one or more terminal devices.

25. A positioning method, comprising:

the second terminal equipment determines the synchronization information of the second terminal equipment, wherein the synchronization information of the second terminal equipment comprises the synchronization information of the synchronization sources of the second terminal equipment and the second terminal equipment;

the second terminal device sends first information to the first device, wherein the first information comprises synchronization information of the second terminal device, the second terminal device is used for assisting in positioning a position of the first terminal device, the second terminal device and the first terminal device communicate through a side uplink, and the first device is the first terminal device or the second network device.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein when the first device is the second network device, the second terminal device sends first information to the first device, comprising:

the second terminal equipment receives a first request message from the first equipment, wherein the first request message is used for requesting synchronous information of the second terminal equipment;

the second terminal device sends a first response request message to the first device, wherein the first response request message comprises the first information.

27. The method of claim 25, wherein, when the first device is the first terminal device,

the second terminal device sends first information to the first device, including:

the second terminal equipment sends a second configuration message to the first equipment, wherein the second configuration message comprises configuration information of a sidestream reference signal of the second terminal equipment, and the configuration information of the sidestream reference signal of the second terminal equipment is used for the first terminal equipment to receive the sidestream reference signal of the second terminal equipment;

the second configuration message also includes the first information.

28. The method according to any one of claims 25 to 27, further comprising:

The second terminal device receives a second message from a serving network device of the second terminal device, where the second message includes configuration information of a sidestream reference signal of the second terminal device.

29. The method according to any one of claims 25 to 27, further comprising:

the second terminal equipment receives a fifth request message from service network equipment of the second terminal equipment, wherein the fifth request message is used for requesting configuration information of a sidestream reference signal of the second terminal equipment;

the second terminal device sends a fifth request response message to the service network device of the second terminal device, wherein the fifth response request message comprises configuration information of the sidestream reference signal of the second terminal device.

30. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 29, wherein,

the synchronization source of the second terminal equipment is service network equipment of the second terminal equipment, and the synchronization information is time difference between the second terminal equipment and a subframe boundary of the service network equipment of the second terminal equipment;

or alternatively, the first and second heat exchangers may be,

the synchronization source of the second terminal equipment is a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), and the synchronization information is a direct frame number time offset of the second terminal equipment.

31. A communication device comprising means or modules for performing the method of any one of claims 1 to 30.

32. A communication device, characterized in that the communication device comprises at least one processor,

the at least one processor being configured to execute a computer program stored in a memory to cause the apparatus to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 8; or,

the at least one processor being configured to execute a computer program stored in a memory to cause the apparatus to perform the method of any one of claims 9 to 18; or,

the at least one processor being configured to execute a computer program stored in a memory to cause the apparatus to perform the method of any one of claims 19 to 24; or,

the at least one processor is configured to execute a computer program stored in a memory to cause the apparatus to perform the method of any one of claims 25 to 30.

33. The apparatus of claim 32, further comprising the memory and/or a communication interface coupled with the processor,

The communication interface is used for inputting and/or outputting information.

34. A computer-readable storage medium, comprising a computer program,

when the computer program is run on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 8; or,

when the computer program is run on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of any one of claims 9 to 18; or,

when the computer program is run on a computer, cause the computer to perform the method of any one of claims 19 to 24; or,

the computer program, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method of any one of claims 25 to 30.

35. A computer program product, comprising computer program code embodied therein, characterized in that:

when the computer program code is run on a computer, cause the computer to implement the method of any of the preceding claims 1 to 8; or,

the computer program code, when run on a computer, causes the computer to implement the method of any of the preceding claims 9 to 18; or,

The computer program code, when run on a computer, causes the computer to implement the method of any one of the preceding claims 19 to 24 or,

the computer program code, when run on a computer, causes the computer to implement the method of any of the preceding claims 25 to 30.