CN117242739A

CN117242739A - Positioning reference signal configuration on demand

Info

Publication number: CN117242739A
Application number: CN202280032981.0A
Authority: CN
Inventors: S·费舍尔; S·W·艾吉; A·马诺拉克斯; S·阿卡拉卡兰
Original assignee: Qualcomm Inc
Current assignee: Qualcomm Inc
Priority date: 2021-05-10
Filing date: 2022-04-06
Publication date: 2023-12-15

Abstract

Techniques for providing on-demand Positioning Reference Signals (PRSs) to User Equipment (UEs) are discussed herein. An example method for determining a location of a user equipment according to this disclosure includes: receiving first assistance data associated with a first positioning reference signal configuration; transmitting a request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration; receiving second assistance data associated with a second positioning reference signal configuration, wherein the second positioning reference signal configuration is based at least in part on a request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration; obtaining measurements from one or more positioning reference signals based at least in part on the second assistance data; and determining the location based at least in part on measurements obtained from the one or more positioning reference signals.

Description

Positioning reference signal configuration on demand

Cross Reference to Related Applications

The present application claims the benefit of U.S. application Ser. No.17/684,158 entitled "ON-DEMAND POSITIONING REFERENCE SIGNAL CONFIGURATION" filed ON 1 at 2022, month 3, which claims the benefit of U.S. provisional application Ser. No.63/186,226 entitled "ON-DEMAND POSITIONING REFERENCE SIGNAL CONFIGURATION" filed ON 10 at 2021, both of which are assigned to the assignee of the present application and are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety for all purposes.

Background

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

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

Obtaining the location of a mobile device that is accessing a wireless network may be useful for many applications including, for example, emergency calls, personal navigation, asset tracking, locating friends or family members, etc. Existing positioning methods include methods based on measuring radio signals transmitted from various devices, including satellite vehicles and terrestrial radio sources in wireless networks, such as base stations and access points. A station in a wireless network may be configured to transmit reference signals to enable a mobile device to perform positioning measurements. Improvements in location related signaling may improve the efficiency of the mobile device.

SUMMARY

An example method for determining a location of a user equipment according to this disclosure includes: receiving first assistance data associated with a first positioning reference signal configuration; transmitting a request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration; receiving second assistance data associated with a second positioning reference signal configuration, wherein the second positioning reference signal configuration is based at least in part on a request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration; obtaining measurements from one or more positioning reference signals based at least in part on the second assistance data; and determining the location based at least in part on measurements obtained from the one or more positioning reference signals.

Implementations of such methods may include one or more of the following features. The first assistance data may comprise an indication of one or more positioning reference signal configuration parameters that may be modified as desired. The first assistance data may be received via one or more positioning system information blocks transmitted by the base station. The request to modify the one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration may include a request to modify at least one of a positioning reference signal bandwidth, a duration of a positioning occasion, and a frequency of the positioning occasion. The request to modify the one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration may include a positioning reference configuration identifier associated with the one or more positioning reference signal parameters. A request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration may be included in a mobile originated location request message. The second assistance data may be received from the location management function via a long term evolution positioning protocol message. The first assistance data may be associated with a plurality of positioning reference signal configurations, and transmitting a request to modify the one or more parameters may include providing an identifier associated with one of the plurality of positioning reference signal configurations. Receiving the second assistance data may include receiving an identifier associated with the one of the plurality of positioning reference signal configurations.

An example method for providing assistance data associated with on-demand positioning reference signals according to the present disclosure includes: transmitting first assistance data associated with a first positioning reference signal configuration to a user equipment; receiving a request from the user equipment to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration; generating second assistance data associated with a second positioning reference signal configuration, wherein the second positioning reference signal configuration is based at least in part on a request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration; and transmitting the second assistance data to the user equipment.

Implementations of such methods may include one or more of the following features. The first assistance data may comprise an indication of one or more positioning reference signal configuration parameters that may be modified as desired. Transmitting the first assistance data may include providing one or more positioning system information blocks to the base station. The request to modify the one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration may include a request to modify at least one of a positioning reference signal bandwidth, a duration of a positioning occasion, and a frequency of the positioning occasion. The request to modify the one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration may include a positioning reference configuration identifier associated with the one or more positioning reference signal parameters. A request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration may be included in a mobile originated location request message. The second assistance data may be included in a long term evolution positioning protocol message. The first assistance data may be associated with a plurality of positioning reference signal configurations, and the request to modify the one or more parameters may include an identifier associated with one of the plurality of positioning reference signal configurations. The second assistance data may include an identifier associated with the one of the plurality of positioning reference signal configurations.

An example method for transmitting on-demand positioning reference signals according to this disclosure includes: transmitting one or more positioning reference signals based on the first positioning reference signal configuration; receiving a request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration; and transmitting one or more positioning reference signals based on a second positioning reference signal configuration, wherein the second positioning reference signal configuration is based at least in part on a request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration.

Implementations of such methods may include one or more of the following features. The request to modify the one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration may include a request to modify at least one of a positioning reference signal bandwidth, a duration of a positioning occasion, and a frequency of the positioning occasion. The request to modify the one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration may include a start time and a duration for transmitting the one or more positioning reference signals based on the second positioning reference signal configuration. The request to modify the one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration may include a positioning reference configuration identifier associated with the one or more positioning reference signal parameters. The second positioning reference signal configuration may include a desired beam direction.

An example apparatus according to the present disclosure includes: a memory, at least one transceiver, at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver and configured to: receiving first assistance data associated with a first positioning reference signal configuration; transmitting a request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration; receiving second assistance data associated with a second positioning reference signal configuration, wherein the second positioning reference signal configuration is based at least in part on a request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration; obtaining measurements from one or more positioning reference signals based at least in part on the second assistance data; and determining a position based at least in part on measurements obtained from the one or more positioning reference signals.

An example apparatus according to the present disclosure includes: a memory, at least one transceiver, at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver and configured to: transmitting first assistance data associated with a first positioning reference signal configuration to a user equipment; receiving a request from the user equipment to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration; generating second assistance data associated with a second positioning reference signal configuration, wherein the second positioning reference signal configuration is based at least in part on a request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration; and transmitting the second assistance data to the user equipment.

An example apparatus according to the present disclosure includes: a memory, at least one transceiver, at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver and configured to: transmitting one or more positioning reference signals based on the first positioning reference signal configuration; receiving a request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration; and transmitting one or more positioning reference signals based on a second positioning reference signal configuration, wherein the second positioning reference signal configuration is based at least in part on a request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration.

Brief Description of Drawings

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

Fig. 2 is a block diagram of components of the example user equipment shown in fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a block diagram of components of the example transmission/reception point shown in fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a block diagram of components of the example server shown in fig. 1.

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

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

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

Fig. 8 is an example message flow diagram for an on-demand DL-PRS procedure.

Fig. 9 is an example data structure of the requested DL-PRS configuration information.

FIG. 10 is an example data structure of DL-PRS configuration information associated with a DL-PRS configuration identifier.

Fig. 11 is an example message flow diagram for a DL-PRS reconfiguration procedure.

Fig. 12 is an example message flow diagram for a user equipment initiated on-demand DL-PRS request procedure.

Fig. 13 is an example message flow diagram for an assistance data modification procedure.

Fig. 14 is an example message flow diagram for an assistance data pre-configuration procedure.

Fig. 15 is a process flow of an example method performed at a user equipment for determining position using on-demand positioning reference signals.

Fig. 16 is a process flow of an example method for providing assistance data associated with on-demand positioning reference signals.

Fig. 17 is a process flow of an example method for transmitting on-demand positioning reference signals.

Detailed Description

Techniques for providing on-demand Positioning Reference Signals (PRSs) to User Equipment (UEs) are discussed herein. Previous implementations of Downlink (DL) PRS transmissions are typically in a "always on" configuration such that the base station will transmit PRSs regardless of the requirements of UEs in the network. Such "always on" configurations may utilize scarce resources (such as bandwidth, energy) and also require unnecessary overhead when UE positioning is not required during a particular time or in a particular region of the network. In networks that utilize beamformed DL-PRS transmissions (e.g., 5G NR), DL-PRS transmissions in all beam sweep directions may result in unnecessary transmissions of DL-PRS. The "always on" configuration may also utilize static allocation of DL-PRS resources. In general, static DL-PRS resource allocation does not allow for temporarily increasing DL-PRS resources to achieve higher positioning accuracy and/or lower latency positioning requirements in certain areas or at certain times. Similarly, in situations where the positioning requirements can be met with fewer DL-PRS resources, the static allocation of DL-PRS resources does not allow for a reduction in DL-PRS resources.

The on-demand DL-PRS techniques described herein enable a network to dynamically change DL-PRS resource allocations as needed (e.g., based on the needs of a particular use case or application). In an example, an on-demand DL-PRS technique may enable a network to dynamically alter configuration parameters such as DL-PRS occasion periodicity, duration of DL-PRS occasions, DL-PRS bandwidth, and DL-PRS spatial direction.

In operation, the network may not allow the UE to request specific DL-PRS parameters (e.g., bandwidth, periodicity, etc.), and may limit the possible DL-PRS configurations that the UE can request. For example, the network may define a DL-PRS configuration suitable for high accuracy positioning, another DL-PRS configuration for medium accuracy positioning, and another DL-PRS configuration for low accuracy positioning, and so on. The UE may then request a specific DL-PRS configuration appropriate for the current situation. In an example, rather than defining individual parameters of a DL-PRS configuration, a UE may be configured to include an identifier field or other information associated with a predefined or preconfigured DL-PRS configuration. However, such an identifier field may require a priori knowledge at the UE as to which particular DL-PRS configurations are available in the network and whether the UE is allowed to request such DL-PRS configurations from the network.

In an embodiment, the on-demand DL-PRS procedure provided herein may utilize a new assistance data Information Element (IE) comprising a set of possible DL-PRS configurations (e.g., an IE on-demand DL-PRS configuration). Each DL-PRS configuration in the set may include a number of associated DL-PRS parameters defining, for example, bandwidth, duration, power, periodicity, muting, and the like. In an example, each DL-PRS configuration in the set can be identified by a DL-PRS configuration identifier or similar field. The on-demand DL-PRS configuration IE may be included in a positioning system information block (posSIB) that may be included in a positioning system information (posSI) broadcast. The UE may be configured to receive the new posSIB and may store the IE on-demand DL-PRS configuration information. The UE may be configured to obtain possibs in different Radio Resource Control (RRC) states (i.e. rrc_idle, rrc_inactive, rrc_connected) and thus will know which specific DL-PRS configurations may be requested on demand.

In an example, when a UE needs a DL-PRS configuration for performing positioning measurements (e.g., upon a location request from a UE internal client (e.g., app) the UE may initiate a mobile originated location request (MO-LR) procedure and send a request assistance data message to a network entity such as a Location Management Function (LMF). The request assistance data message may include a DL-PRS configuration identifier associated with a desired DL-PRS configuration. The network entity may then configure one or more base stations (e.g., gNB) with the requested DL-PRS configuration, and may provide associated DL-PRS assistance data of the new DL-PRS configuration to the UE as part of the MO-LR procedure. The UE may then be configured to perform DL-PRS measurements, calculate a location, and provide the location to an internal client. The same procedure may be used for location requests from external clients and for UE-assisted modes (e.g., when the UE is required to obtain DL-PRS measurements but currently there are not enough DL-PRSs available and the UE requests a specific DL-PRS from an allowed and (via broadcast) preconfigured set of on-demand DL-PRS configurations). These techniques and configurations are examples, and other techniques and configurations may be used.

Obtaining the location of a mobile device that is accessing a wireless network may be useful for many applications including, for example, emergency calls, personal navigation, consumer asset tracking, locating friends or family, etc. Existing positioning methods include methods based on measuring radio signals transmitted from various devices or entities, including Satellite Vehicles (SVs) and terrestrial radio sources in wireless networks, such as base stations and access points. It is expected that standardization for 5G wireless networks will include support for various positioning methods that may utilize reference signals transmitted by base stations for positioning determination in a similar manner as LTE wireless networks currently utilize Positioning Reference Signals (PRS) and/or cell-specific reference signals (CRS).

The specification may refer to a sequence of actions to be performed by, for example, elements of a computing device. Various actions described herein can be performed by specialized circuits (e.g., application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs)), by program instructions being executed by one or more processors, or by a combination of both. The sequence of actions described herein can be embodied in a non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon a corresponding set of computer instructions that upon execution will cause an associated processor to perform the functionality described herein. Thus, the various aspects described herein may be embodied in a number of different forms, all of which are within the scope of the present disclosure, including the claimed subject matter.

As used herein, the terms "user equipment" (UE) and "base station" are not dedicated or otherwise limited to any particular Radio Access Technology (RAT), unless otherwise specified. In general, such UEs may be any wireless communication device used by a user to communicate over a wireless communication network (e.g., mobile phones, routers, tablet computers, laptop computers, consumer asset tracking devices, internet of things (IoT) devices, etc.). The UE may be mobile or may be stationary (e.g., at some time) and may communicate with a Radio Access Network (RAN). As used herein, the term "UE" may be interchangeably referred to as "access terminal" or "AT," "client device," "wireless device," "subscriber terminal," "subscriber station," "user terminal" or UT, "mobile terminal," "mobile station," "mobile device," or variations thereof. In general, a UE may communicate with a core network via a RAN, and through the core network, the UE may connect with external networks (such as the internet) as well as with other UEs. Of course, other mechanisms of connecting to the core network and/or the internet are possible for the UE, such as through a wired access network, a WiFi network (e.g., based on IEEE (institute of electrical and electronics engineers) 802.11, etc.), etc.

Depending on the network in which the base station is deployed, the base station may operate according to one of several RATs when communicating with the UE. Examples of base stations include Access Points (APs), network nodes, node bs, evolved node bs (enbs), or general purpose node bs (gndebs, gnbs). In addition, in some systems, the base station may provide pure edge node signaling functionality, while in other systems, the base station may provide additional control and/or network management functionality.

The UE may be implemented by any of several types of devices including, but not limited to, printed Circuit (PC) cards, compact flash devices, external or internal modems, wireless or wireline phones, smart phones, tablet devices, consumer asset tracking devices, asset tags, and the like. The communication link through which a UE can send signals to the RAN is called an uplink channel (e.g., reverse traffic channel, reverse control channel, access channel, etc.). The communication link through which the RAN can send signals to the UE is called a downlink or forward link channel (e.g., paging channel, control channel, broadcast channel, forward traffic channel, etc.). As used herein, the term Traffic Channel (TCH) may refer to either an uplink/reverse traffic channel or a downlink/forward traffic channel.

As used herein, the term "cell" or "sector" may correspond to one of a plurality of cells of a base station or to the base station itself, depending on the context. The term "cell" may refer to a logical communication entity for communicating with a base station (e.g., on a carrier) and may be associated with an identifier to distinguish between neighboring cells operating via the same or different carrier (e.g., physical Cell Identifier (PCID), virtual Cell Identifier (VCID)). In some examples, a carrier may support multiple cells and different cells may be configured according to different protocol types (e.g., machine Type Communication (MTC), narrowband internet of things (NB-IoT), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), or other protocol types) that may provide access for different types of devices. In some examples, the term "cell" may refer to a portion (e.g., a sector) of a geographic coverage area over which a logical entity operates.

Referring to fig. 1, examples of a communication system 100 include a UE 105, a UE 106, a Radio Access Network (RAN), here a fifth generation (5G) Next Generation (NG) RAN (NG-RAN) 135, a 5G core network (5 GC) 140, and a server 150. The UE 105 and/or UE 106 may be, for example, an IoT device, a location tracker device, a cellular phone, a vehicle (e.g., an automobile, truck, bus, boat, etc.), or other device. The 5G network may also be referred to as a New Radio (NR) network; NG-RAN 135 may be referred to as a 5G RAN or an NR RAN; and 5gc 140 may be referred to as an NG core Network (NGC). Standardization of NG-RAN and 5GC is being performed in the third generation partnership project (3 GPP). Accordingly, NG-RAN 135 and 5gc 140 may follow current or future standards from 3GPP for 5G support. The NG-RAN 135 may be another type of RAN, such as a 3G RAN, a 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) RAN, or the like. The UE 106 may be similarly configured and coupled to the UE 105 to send and/or receive signals to and/or from similar other entities in the system 100, but such signaling is not indicated in fig. 1 for simplicity of the drawing. Similarly, for simplicity, the discussion focuses on UE 105. The communication system 100 may utilize information from a constellation 185 of Satellite Vehicles (SVs) 190, 191, 192, 193 of a Satellite Positioning System (SPS) (e.g., global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)), such as the Global Positioning System (GPS), the global navigation satellite system (GLONASS), galileo, or beidou or some other local or regional SPS such as the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS), the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS), or the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS). Additional components of the communication system 100 are described below. Communication system 100 may include additional or alternative components.

As shown in fig. 1, NThe G-RAN 135 includes NR node bs (gnbs) 110a, 110B and next generation evolved node bs (ng-enbs) 114, and the 5gc 140 includes an access and mobility management function (AMF) 115, a Session Management Function (SMF) 117, a Location Management Function (LMF) 120, and a Gateway Mobile Location Center (GMLC) 125. The gNB 110a, 110b and the ng-eNB 114 are communicatively coupled to each other, each configured for bi-directional wireless communication with the UE 105, and each communicatively coupled to the AMF 115 and configured for bi-directional communication with the AMF 115. The gNB 110a, 110b and the ng-eNB 114 may be referred to as Base Stations (BSs). AMF 115, SMF 117, LMF 120, and GMLC 125 are communicatively coupled to each other, and the GMLC is communicatively coupled to external client 130. The SMF 117 may serve as an initial contact point for a Service Control Function (SCF) (not shown) to create, control, and delete media sessions. A base station, such as the gNB 110a, 110b, and/or the ng-eNB 114, may be a macro cell (e.g., a high power cellular base station), or a small cell (e.g., a low power cellular base station), or an access point (e.g., a short range base station configured to communicate with a base station using short range technology (such as WiFi, wiFi direct (WiFi-D), a wireless communication system (wlan-D), Low Energy (BLE), zigbee, etc.). One or more BSs (e.g., one or more of the gnbs 110a, 110b, and/or the ng-eNB 114) may be configured to communicate with the UE 105 via multiple carriers. Each of the gnbs 110a, 110b and the ng-eNB 114 may provide communication coverage for a respective geographic area (e.g., cell). Each cell may be divided into a plurality of sectors according to a base station antenna.

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

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

The system 100 is capable of wireless communication in that the components of the system 100 may communicate with each other (at least sometimes using a wireless connection) directly or indirectly, e.g., via the gNB 110a, 110b, the ng-eNB 114, and/or the 5GC 140 (and/or one or more other devices not shown, such as one or more other base transceiver stations). For indirect communication, the communication may be altered, e.g., alter header information of the data packet, change formats, etc., during transmission from one entity to another. The UE 105 may comprise a plurality of UEs and may be a mobile wireless communication device, but may communicate wirelessly and via a wired connection. The UE 105 may be any of a variety of devices, such as a smart phone, tablet computer, vehicle-based device, etc., but these are merely examples, as the UE 105 need not be any of these configurations and other configurations of the UE may be used. Other UEs may include wearable devices (e.g., smart watches, smart jewelry, smart glasses or headsets, etc.). Other UEs, whether currently existing or developed in the future, may also be used. Further, other wireless devices (whether mobile or not) may be implemented within the system 100 and may communicate with each other and/or with the UE 105, the gnbs 110a, 110b, the ng-enbs 114, the 5gc 140, and/or the external clients 130. For example, such other devices may include internet of things (IoT) devices, medical devices, home entertainment and/or automation devices, and the like. The 5gc 140 may communicate with an external client 130 (e.g., a computer system), for example, to allow the external client 130 to request and/or receive location information about the UE 105 (e.g., via the GMLC 125).

The UE 105 or other device may be configured to communicate in various networks and/or for various purposes and/or using various technologies (e.g., 5G, wi-Fi communication, multi-frequency Wi-Fi communication, satellite positioning, one or more types of communication (e.g., GSM (global system for mobile), CDMA (code division multiple access), LTE (long term evolution), V2X (car networking), e.g., V2P (vehicle-to-pedestrian), V2I (vehicle-to-infrastructure), V2V (vehicle-to-vehicle), etc.), IEEE 802.11P, etc.), V2X communication may be cellular (cellular-V2X (C-V2X)), and/or WiFi (e.g., DSRC (dedicated short range connection)). The system 100 may support operation on multiple carriers (waveform signals of different frequencies). The multi-carrier transmitter may simultaneously transmit modulated signals on multiple carriers, each modulated signal may be a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) signal, a Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) signal, an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (TDMA) signal, a single frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) signal, a single side-division multiple access (FDMA) signal, a side channel may be transmitted on the same carrier(s), a data channel (e.g., a carrier channel) may be carried on the same side as the UE), or may be carried by a plurality of channels (e.g., a plurality of channels) such as the UE(s) (106) A physical side link broadcast channel (PSBCH) or a physical side link control channel (PSCCH)) to communicate with each other.

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

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

The UE 105 may be configured to communicate with other entities using one or more of a variety of techniques. The UE 105 may be configured to indirectly connect to one or more communication networks via one or more device-to-device (D2D) peer-to-peer (P2P) links. The D2D P P link may use any suitable D2D Radio Access Technology (RAT) (such as LTE direct (LTE-D), a WiFi direct connection (WiFi-D),Etc.) to support. One or more UEs in a group of UEs utilizing D2D communication may be within a geographic coverage area of a transmission/reception point (TRP), such as one or more of the gnbs 110a, 110b and/or the ng-eNB 114. Other UEs in the group may be outside of such geographic coverage areas or may be unable to receive transmissions from the base station for other reasons. A group of UEs communicating via D2D communication may utilize a one-to-many (1:M) system, where each UE may transmit to other UEs in the group. TRP may facilitate scheduling of resources for D2D communications. In other cases, D2D communicationMay be performed between UEs without involving TRP. One or more UEs in a group of UEs utilizing D2D communication may be within a geographic coverage area of a TRP. Other UEs in the group may be outside of such geographic coverage areas or otherwise unavailable to receive transmissions from the base station. A group of UEs communicating via D2D communication may utilize a one-to-many (1:M) system, where each UE may transmit to other UEs in the group. TRP may facilitate scheduling of resources for D2D communications. In other cases, D2D communication may be performed between UEs without involving TRPs.

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

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

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

Each of the gnbs 110a, 110b and/or the ng-eNB 114 may include a Radio Unit (RU), a Distributed Unit (DU), and a Central Unit (CU). For example, gNB 110a includes RU 111, DU 112, and CU 113.RU 111, DU 112, and CU 113 divide the functionality of gNB 110 a. Although the gNB 110a is shown with a single RU, a single DU, and a single CU, the gNB may include one or more RUs, one or more DUs, and/or one or more CUs. The interface between CU 113 and DU 112 is referred to as the F1 interface. RU 111 is configured to perform Digital Front End (DFE) functions (e.g., analog-to-digital conversion, filtering, power amplification, transmit/receive) and digital beamforming, and includes a portion of a Physical (PHY) layer. RU 111 may perform DFE using massive multiple input/multiple output (MIMO) and may be integrated with one or more antennas of gNB 110 a. DU 112 hosts the Radio Link Control (RLC), medium Access Control (MAC), and physical layers of gNB 110 a. One DU may support one or more cells, and each cell is supported by one DU. The operation of DU 112 is controlled by CU 113. CU 113 is configured to perform functions for delivering user data, mobility control, radio access network sharing, positioning, session management, etc., although some functions are exclusively allocated to DU 112.CU 113 hosts the Radio Resource Control (RRC), service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP), and Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) protocols of the gNB 110 a. UE 105 may communicate with CU 113 via RRC, SDAP, and PDCP layers, with DU 112 via RLC, MAC, and PHY layers, and with RU 111 via the PHY layer.

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

The gNB 110a, 110b and the ng-eNB 114 may communicate with the AMF 115; for positioning functionality, AMF 115 communicates with LMF 120. AMF 115 may support mobility of UE 105 (including cell change and handover) and may participate in supporting signaling connections to UE 105 and possibly data and voice bearers for UE 105. The LMF 120 may communicate directly with the UE 105, for example, through wireless communication, or directly with the gnbs 110a, 110b and/or the ng-eNB 114. The LMF 120 may support positioning of the UE 105 when the UE 105 accesses the NG-RAN 135 and may support positioning procedures/methods such as assisted GNSS (a-GNSS), observed time difference of arrival (OTDOA) (e.g., downlink (DL) OTDOA or Uplink (UL) OTDOA), round Trip Time (RTT), multi-cell RTT, real-time kinematic (RTK), precision Point Positioning (PPP), differential GNSS (DGNSS), enhanced cell ID (E-CID), angle of arrival (AoA), angle of departure (AoD), and/or other positioning methods. The LMF 120 may process location service requests for the UE 105 received, for example, from the AMF 115 or the GMLC 125. The LMF 120 may be connected to the AMF 115 and/or the GMLC 125.LMF 120 may be referred to by other names such as Location Manager (LM), location Function (LF), commercial LMF (CLMF), or value added LMF (VLMF). The node/system implementing the LMF 120 may additionally or alternatively implement other types of location support modules, such as an enhanced serving mobile location center (E-SMLC) or a Secure User Plane Location (SUPL) location platform (SLP). At least a portion of the positioning functionality (including the derivation of the location of the UE 105) may be performed at the UE 105 (e.g., using signal measurements obtained by the UE 105 for signals transmitted by wireless nodes such as the gnbs 110a, 110b and/or the ng-eNB 114, and/or assistance data provided to the UE 105 by the LMF 120, for example). The AMF 115 may serve as a control node that handles signaling between the UE 105 and the 5gc 140, and may provide QoS (quality of service) flows and session management. AMF 115 may support mobility of UE 105 (including cell change and handover) and may participate in supporting signaling connections to UE 105.

The server 150 (e.g., a cloud server) is configured to obtain a location estimate of the UE 105 and provide to the external client 130. The server 150 may, for example, be configured to run a micro-service/service that obtains a location estimate of the UE 105. The server 150 may, for example, obtain location estimates from (e.g., by sending a location request) one or more of the UE 105, the gnbs 110a, 110b (e.g., via RU 111, DU 112, CU 113), and/or the ng-eNB 114, and/or the LMF 120. As another example, one or more of the UE 105, the gnbs 110a, 110b (e.g., via RU 111, DU 112, and CU 113), and/or the LMF120 may push the location estimate of the UE 105 to the server 150.

GMLC 125 may support a location request for UE 105 received from external client 130 via server 150 and may forward the location request to AMF 115 for forwarding by AMF 115 to LMF120 or may forward the location request directly to LMF 120. The location response (e.g., containing the location estimate of the UE 105) from the LMF120 may be returned to the GMLC 125 directly or via the AMF 115, and the GMLC 125 may then return the location response (e.g., containing the location estimate) to the external client 130 via the server 150. GMLC 125 is shown connected to both AMF 115 and LMF120, but may not be connected to either AMF 115 or LMF120 in some implementations.

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

With the UE-assisted positioning method, the UE 105 may obtain location measurements and send these measurements to a location server (e.g., LMF 120) for use in calculating a location estimate for the UE 105. For example, the location measurements may include one or more of the following: the gNB 110a, 110b, the ng-eNB 114 and/or the WLAN AP's Received Signal Strength Indication (RSSI), round trip signal propagation time (RTT), reference Signal Time Difference (RSTD), UE reception minus transmission time difference (Rx-Tx time difference), reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) and/or Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ). The position measurements may additionally or alternatively include measurements of GNSS pseudoranges, code phases, and/or carrier phases of SVs 190-193.

With the UE-based positioning method, the UE 105 may obtain location measurements (e.g., which may be the same or similar to location measurements for the UE-assisted positioning method) and may calculate the location of the UE 105 (e.g., by assistance data received from a location server (such as LMF 120) or broadcast by the gnbs 110a, 110b, ng-eNB 114 or other base stations or APs).

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

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

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

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

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

Referring also to fig. 2, UE 200 is an example of one of UEs 105, 106 and includes a computing platform including a processor 210, a memory 211 including Software (SW) 212, one or more sensors 213, a transceiver interface 214 for a transceiver 215 (which includes a wireless transceiver 240 and a wired transceiver 250), a user interface 216, a Satellite Positioning System (SPS) receiver 217, a camera 218, and a Positioning Device (PD) 219. Processor 210, memory 211, sensor(s) 213, transceiver interface 214, user interface 216, SPS receiver 217, camera 218, and positioning device 219 may be communicatively coupled to each other by bus 220 (which may be configured, for example, for optical and/or electrical communication). One or more of the illustrated devices (e.g., camera 218, positioning apparatus 219, and/or one or more of sensor(s) 213, etc.) may be omitted from UE 200. Processor 210 may include one or more intelligent hardware devices (e.g., a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a microcontroller, an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), etc.). Processor 210 may include a plurality of processors including a general purpose/application processor 230, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP) 231, a modem processor 232, a video processor 233, and/or a sensor processor 234. One or more of processors 230-234 may include multiple devices (e.g., multiple processors). For example, the sensor processor 234 may include a processor for RF (radio frequency) sensing (where transmitted one or more (cellular) wireless signals and reflections are used to identify, map and/or track objects), and/or ultrasound, for example. The modem processor 232 may support dual SIM/dual connectivity (or even more SIMs). For example, one SIM (subscriber identity module or subscriber identity module) may be used by an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) and another SIM may be used by an end user of UE 200 to obtain connectivity. Memory 211 is a non-transitory storage medium that may include Random Access Memory (RAM), flash memory, disk memory, and/or Read Only Memory (ROM), among others. Memory 211 stores software 212, which may be processor-readable, processor-executable software code containing instructions configured to, when executed, cause processor 210 to perform the various functions described herein. Alternatively, the software 212 may not be directly executable by the processor 210, but may be configured (e.g., when compiled and executed) to cause the processor 210 to perform functions. The present description may refer to processor 210 performing functions, but this includes other implementations, such as implementations in which processor 210 executes software and/or firmware. The present description may refer to processor 210 performing a function as an abbreviation for one or more of processors 230-234 performing that function. The present description may refer to a UE 200 performing a function as an abbreviation for one or more appropriate components of the UE 200 to perform the function. Processor 210 may include memory with stored instructions in addition to and/or in lieu of memory 211. The functionality of the processor 210 is discussed more fully below.

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

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

The UE 200 may include sensor(s) 213, which may include, for example, one or more of various types of sensors, such as one or more inertial sensors, one or more magnetometers, one or more environmental sensors, one or more optical sensors, one or more weight sensors, and/or one or more Radio Frequency (RF) sensors, and the like. The Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) may include, for example, one or more accelerometers (e.g., collectively responsive to acceleration of the UE 200 in three dimensions) and/or one or more gyroscopes (e.g., three-dimensional gyroscope (s)). Sensor(s) 213 may include one or more magnetometers (e.g., three-dimensional magnetometer (s)) to determine an orientation (e.g., relative to magnetic north and/or true north), which may be used for any of a variety of purposes (e.g., to support one or more compass applications). The environmental sensor(s) may include, for example, one or more temperature sensors, one or more barometric pressure sensors, one or more ambient light sensors, one or more camera imagers, and/or one or more microphones, etc. Sensor(s) 213 may generate analog and/or digital signals, indications of which may be stored in memory 211 and processed by DSP 231 and/or general purpose/application processor 230 to support one or more applications (such as, for example, applications involving positioning and/or navigation operations).

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A Positioning Device (PD) 219 may be configured to determine a location of the UE 200, a motion of the UE 200, and/or a relative location of the UE 200, and/or a time. For example, PD 219 may be in communication with SPS receiver 217 and/or include some or all of SPS receiver 217. The PD 219 may suitably cooperate with the processor 210 and memory 211 to perform at least a portion of one or more positioning methods, although the description herein may refer only to the PD 219 being configured to perform according to a positioning method or performed according to a positioning method. The PD 219 may additionally or alternatively be configured to: trilateration using ground-based signals (e.g., at least some wireless signals 248), assistance in acquiring and using SPS signals 260, or both, to determine a location of UE 200. The PD 219 may be configured to determine the location of the UE 200 based on the serving base station's cell (e.g., cell center) and/or another technology (such as E-CID). The PD 219 may be configured to determine the location of the UE 200 using one or more images from the camera 218 and image recognition in combination with known locations of landmarks (e.g., natural landmarks such as mountains and/or artificial landmarks such as buildings, bridges, streets, etc.). The PD 219 may be configured to: the location of the UE 200 is determined using one or more other techniques (e.g., depending on the self-reported location of the UE (e.g., a portion of the UE's positioning beacons)), and the location of the UE 200 may be determined using a combination of techniques (e.g., SPS and terrestrial positioning signals). The PD 219 may include one or more sensors 213 (e.g., gyroscopes, accelerometers, magnetometer(s), etc.) that may sense the orientation and/or motion of the UE 200 and provide an indication of the orientation and/or motion that the processor 210 (e.g., the general/application processor 230 and/or DSP 231) may be configured to use to determine the motion (e.g., velocity vector and/or acceleration vector) of the UE 200. The PD 219 may be configured to provide an indication of uncertainty and/or error in the determined positioning and/or motion. The functionality of the PD 219 may be provided in a variety of ways and/or configurations, such as by the general/application processor 230, the transceiver 215, the SPS receiver 217, and/or another component of the UE 200, and may be provided by hardware, software, firmware, or various combinations thereof.

Referring also to fig. 3, examples of TRP 300 of the gnbs 110a, 110b and/or ng-eNB 114 include a computing platform including a processor 310, a memory 311 including Software (SW) 312, a transceiver 315, and (optionally) an SPS receiver 317. The processor 310, the memory 311, the transceiver 315, and the SPS receiver 317 may be communicatively coupled to each other by a bus 320 (which may be configured, for example, for optical and/or electrical communication). One or more of the illustrated devices (e.g., wireless transceiver and/or SPS receiver 317) may be omitted from TRP 300. SPS receiver 317 may be configured, similar to SPS receiver 217, to be able to receive and acquire SPS signals 360 via SPS antenna 362. The processor 310 may include one or more intelligent hardware devices (e.g., a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a microcontroller, an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), etc.). The processor 310 may include a plurality of processors (e.g., including a general purpose/application processor, DSP, modem processor, video processor, and/or sensor processor as shown in fig. 2). Memory 311 is a non-transitory storage medium that may include Random Access Memory (RAM), flash memory, disk memory, and/or Read Only Memory (ROM), among others. Memory 311 stores software 312, which may be processor-readable, processor-executable software code containing instructions configured to, when executed, cause processor 310 to perform the various functions described herein. Alternatively, the software 312 may not be directly executable by the processor 310, but may be configured (e.g., when compiled and executed) to cause the processor 310 to perform functions.

The present description may refer to processor 310 performing functions, but this includes other implementations, such as implementations in which processor 310 executes software and/or firmware. The description may refer to a processor 310 performing a function as an abbreviation for one or more processors included in the processor 310 performing the function. The present description may refer to TRP 300 performing a function as an acronym for TRP 300 (and thus one of the gnbs 110a, 110b and/or ng-enbs 114) for one or more appropriate components (e.g., processor 310 and memory 311) performing the function. Processor 310 may include memory with stored instructions in addition to and/or in lieu of memory 311. The functionality of the processor 310 is discussed more fully below.

Transceiver 315 may include a quiltA wireless transceiver 340 and/or a wired transceiver 350 configured to communicate with other devices via wireless and wired connections, respectively. For example, the wireless transceiver 340 may include a wireless transmitter 342 and a wireless receiver 344 coupled to one or more antennas 346 for transmitting (e.g., on one or more uplink channels and/or one or more downlink channels) and/or receiving (e.g., on one or more downlink channels and/or one or more uplink channels) a wireless signal 348 and converting the signal from the wireless signal 348 to a wired (e.g., electrical and/or optical) signal and from the wired (e.g., electrical and/or optical) signal to the wireless signal 348. Thus, wireless transmitter 342 may comprise multiple transmitters that may be discrete components or combined/integrated components, and/or wireless receiver 344 may comprise multiple receivers that may be discrete components or combined/integrated components. The wireless transceiver 340 may be configured to operate according to various Radio Access Technologies (RATs), such as 5G New Radio (NR), GSM (global system for mobile), UMTS (universal mobile telecommunications system), AMPS (advanced mobile phone system) CDMA (code division multiple Access), WCDMA (wideband) LTE (Long term evolution), LTE direct (LTE-D), 3GPP LTE-V2X (PC 5), IEEE 802.11 (including IEEE 802.11 p), wiFi direct (WiFi-D), and the like, Zigbee, etc.) to communicate signals (e.g., with UE 200, one or more other UEs, and/or one or more other devices). The wired transceiver 350 may include a wired transmitter 352 and a wired receiver 354 configured for wired communications, e.g., a network interface that may be used to communicate with the NG-RAN 135 to send communications to the LMF 120 (e.g., and/or one or more other network entities) and to receive communications from the LMF 120 (e.g., and/or one or more other network entities). The wired transmitter 352 may include multiple transmitters that may be discrete components or combined/integrated components and/or the wired receiver 354 may include multiple receivers that may be discrete components or combined/integrated components. The wired transceiver 350 may be configured for optical and/or electrical communication, for example.

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

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

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

The description herein may refer to processor 410 performing functions, but this includes other implementations, such as implementations in which processor 410 executes software and/or firmware (stored in memory 411). The description herein may refer to a server 400 performing a function as an abbreviation for one or more appropriate components of the server 400 (e.g., the processor 410 and the memory 411) performing the function.

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

For terrestrial positioning of UEs in cellular networks, techniques such as Advanced Forward Link Trilateration (AFLT) and observed time difference of arrival (OTDOA) typically operate in a "UE-assisted" mode, in which measurements of reference signals (e.g., PRS, CRS, etc.) transmitted by base stations are acquired by the UEs and then provided to a location server. The location server then calculates the location of the UE based on these measurements and the known locations of the base stations. Since these techniques use a location server (rather than the UE itself) to calculate the location of the UE, these location techniques are not frequently used in applications such as car or cellular telephone navigation, which instead typically rely on satellite-based positioning.

The UE may use a Satellite Positioning System (SPS) (global navigation satellite system (GNSS)) for high accuracy positioning using Precision Point Positioning (PPP) or real-time kinematic (RTK) techniques. These techniques use assistance data, such as measurements from ground-based stations. LTE release 15 allows data to be encrypted so that only UEs subscribed to the service can read this information. Such assistance data varies with time. Thus, a UE subscribing to a service may not be able to easily hack the "cipher" for other UEs by communicating data to other UEs that have not paid for the subscription. This transfer needs to be repeated each time the assistance data changes.

In UE-assisted positioning, the UE sends measurements (e.g., TDOA, angle of arrival (AoA), etc.) to a positioning server (e.g., LMF/eSMLC). The location server has a Base Station Almanac (BSA) that contains a plurality of 'entries' or 'records', one record per cell, where each record contains the geographic cell location, but may also include other data. An identifier of record among the plurality of records in the BSA may be referenced. BSA and measurements from the UE may be used to calculate the location of the UE.

In conventional UE-based positioning, the UE calculates its own position fix, avoiding sending measurements to the network (e.g., a location server), which in turn improves latency and scalability. The UE records the location of the information (e.g., the gNB (base station, more broadly)) using the relevant BSA from the network. BSA information may be encrypted. However, since BSA information changes much less frequently than, for example, the PPP or RTK assistance data described previously, it may be easier to make BSA information available (as compared to PPP or RTK information) to UEs that are not subscribed to and pay for the decryption key. The transmission of the reference signal by the gNB makes the BSA information potentially accessible to crowdsourcing or driving attacks, thereby basically enabling the BSA information to be generated based on in-the-field and/or over-the-top (over-the-top) observations.

The positioning techniques may be characterized and/or evaluated based on one or more criteria, such as positioning determination accuracy and/or latency. Latency is the time elapsed between an event triggering a determination of location related data and the availability of that data at a location system interface (e.g., an interface of the LMF 120). At initialization of the positioning system, the latency for availability of positioning related data is referred to as Time To First Fix (TTFF) and is greater than the latency after TTFF. The inverse of the time elapsed between the availability of two consecutive positioning related data is referred to as the update rate, i.e. the rate at which positioning related data is generated after the first lock. The latency may depend on the processing power (e.g., of the UE). For example, assuming PRB (physical resource block) allocation, a UE may report the processing capability of the UE as the duration (in units of time (e.g., milliseconds)) of DL PRS symbols that the UE can process every T amounts of time (e.g., T ms). Other examples of capabilities that may affect latency are the number of TRPs from which the UE can process PRSs, the number of PRSs that the UE can process, and the bandwidth of the UE.

One or more of many different positioning techniques (also referred to as positioning methods) may be used to determine the location of an entity, such as one of the UEs 105, 106. For example, known positioning determination techniques include RTT, multi-RTT, OTDOA (also known as TDOA, and including UL-TDOA and DL-TDOA), rx-Tx time measurements, enhanced cell identification (E-CID), DL-AoD, UL-AoA, and the like. RTT uses the time that a signal travels from one entity to another and back to determine the range between the two entities. The range plus the known location of a first one of the entities and the angle (e.g., azimuth) between the two entities may be used to determine the location of a second one of the entities. In multi-RTT (also known as multi-cell RTT), multiple ranges from one entity (e.g., UE) to other entities (e.g., TRP) and known locations of the other entities may be used to determine the location of the one entity. In TDOA techniques, the travel time difference between one entity and other entities may be used to determine relative ranges with the other entities, and those relative ranges in combination with the known locations of the other entities may be used to determine the location of the one entity. The angle of arrival and/or angle of departure may be used to help determine the location of the entity. For example, the angle of arrival or departure of a signal in combination with the range between devices (range determined using the signal (e.g., travel time of the signal, received power of the signal, etc.) and the known location of one of the devices may be used to determine the location of the other device. The angle of arrival or departure may be an azimuth angle relative to a reference direction (such as true north). The angle of arrival or departure may be with respect to a zenith angle that is directly upward from the entity (i.e., radially outward from the centroid). The E-CID uses the identity of the serving cell, the timing advance (i.e., the difference between the time of reception and transmission at the UE), the estimated timing and power of the detected neighbor cell signals, and the possible angle of arrival (e.g., the angle of arrival of the signal from the base station at the UE, or vice versa) to determine the location of the UE. In TDOA, the time difference of arrival of signals from different sources at a receiver device is used to determine the location of the receiver device, along with the known locations of the sources and the known offsets of the transmission times from the sources.

In network-centric RTT estimation, the serving base station instructs the UE to scan/receive RTT measurement signals (e.g., PRSs) on the serving cell of two or more neighboring base stations (and typically the serving base station because at least three base stations are needed). The one or more base stations transmit RTT measurement signals on low reuse resources (e.g., resources used by the base stations to transmit system information) allocated by a network (e.g., a location server, such as LMF 120). The UE records the time of arrival (also known as the time of reception, or time of arrival (ToA)) of each RTT measurement signal relative to the current downlink timing of the UE (e.g., as derived by the UE from DL signals received from its serving base station), and transmits a common or individual RTT response message (e.g., SRS (sounding reference signal) for positioning, i.e., UL-PRS) to the one or more base stations (e.g., when instructed by its serving base station), and may transmit the time difference T between the ToA of RTT measurement signals and the time of transmission of RTT response message _Rx→Tx (i.e., UE Rx-Tx or UE Rx-Tx) is included in the payload of each RTT response message. The RTT response message will include a reference signal from which the base station can infer the ToA of the RTT response. By comparing the transmission time of RTT measurement signals from the base station with the difference T between the RTT response ToA at the base station _Tx→Rx Time difference T from UE report _Rx→Tx The base station may infer a propagation time between the base station and the UE from which the base station may determine the distance between the UE and the base station by assuming the propagation time period to be the speed of light.

UE-centric RTT estimation is similar to network-based methods, except that: the UE transmits uplink RTT measurement signals (e.g., when instructed by the serving base station) that are received by multiple base stations in the vicinity of the UE. Each involved base station responds with a downlink RTT response message, which may include in the RTT response message payload a time difference between the ToA of the RTT measurement signal at the base station and the transmission time of the RTT response message from the base station.

For both network-centric and UE-centric procedures, one side (network or UE) performing RTT calculations typically (but not always) transmits a first message or signal (e.g., RTT measurement signal), while the other side responds with one or more RTT response messages or signals, which may include the difference between the ToA of the first message or signal and the transmission time of the RTT response message or signal.

Multiple RTT techniques may be used to determine position location. For example, a first entity (e.g., UE) may send out one or more signals (e.g., unicast, multicast, or broadcast from a base station), and a plurality of second entities (e.g., other TSPs, such as base stations and/or UEs) may receive signals from the first entity and respond to the received signals. The first entity receives responses from the plurality of second entities. The first entity (or another entity, such as an LMF) may use the response from the second entity to determine a range to the second entity, and may use the plurality of ranges and the known location of the second entity to determine the location of the first entity through trilateration.

In some examples, additional information in the form of an angle of arrival (AoA) or an angle of departure (AoD) may be obtained, which defines a range of directions in a straight line direction (e.g., which may be in a horizontal plane, or in three dimensions), or possibly (e.g., of a UE as seen from the location of the base station). The intersection of the two directions may provide another estimate of the UE location.

For positioning techniques (e.g., TDOA and RTT) that use PRS (positioning reference signal) signals, PRS signals transmitted by multiple TRPs are measured and the arrival times, known transmission times, and known locations of the TRPs of these signals are used to determine the range from the UE to the TRPs. For example, RSTDs (reference signal time differences) may be determined for PRS signals received from multiple TRPs and used in TDOA techniques to determine the location (position) of the UE. The positioning reference signal may be referred to as a PRS or PRS signal. PRS signals are typically transmitted using the same power and PRS signals having the same signal characteristics (e.g., the same frequency shift) may interfere with each other such that PRS signals from more distant TRPs may be inundated with PRS signals from more recent TRPs, such that signals from more distant TRPs may not be detected. PRS muting may be used to help reduce interference by muting some PRS signals (reducing the power of PRS signals, e.g., to zero and thus not transmitting the PRS signals). In this way, the UE may more easily detect (at the UE) the weaker PRS signal without the stronger PRS signal interfering with the weaker PRS signal. The term RS and variants thereof (e.g., PRS, SRS, CSI-RS (channel state information-reference signal)) may refer to one reference signal or more than one reference signal.

The Positioning Reference Signals (PRS) include downlink PRS (DL PRS, commonly abbreviated PRS) and uplink PRS (UL PRS), which may be referred to as positioning SRS (sounding reference signal). PRSs may include or be generated using PN codes (e.g., by modulating a carrier signal with a PN code) such that a source of PRSs may be used as pseudolites (pseudolites). The PN code may be unique to the PRS source (at least unique within a specified region such that the same PRS from different PRS sources does not overlap). PRSs may include PRS resources and/or PRS resource sets of a frequency layer. The DL PRS positioning frequency layer (or simply frequency layer) is a set of DL PRS Resource sets from one or more TRPs, whose PRS resources have common parameters configured by the higher layer parameters DL-PRS-positioning frequency layer, DL-PRS-Resource set, and DL-PRS-Resource. Each frequency layer has a DL PRS subcarrier spacing (SCS) for a set of DL PRS resources and DL PRS resources in the frequency layer. Each frequency layer has a DL PRS Cyclic Prefix (CP) for a set of DL PRS resources and DL PRS resources in the frequency layer. In 5G, a resource block occupies 12 consecutive subcarriers and a specified number of symbols. A common resource block is a set of resource blocks that occupy the channel bandwidth. A bandwidth portion (BWP) is a set of contiguous common resource blocks and may include all or a subset of the common resource blocks within the channel bandwidth. Also, the DL PRS point a parameter defines a frequency of a reference resource block (and a lowest subcarrier of a resource block), wherein DL PRS resources belonging to a same DL PRS resource set have a same point a and all DL PRS resource sets belonging to a same frequency layer have a same point a. The frequency layer also has the same DL PRS bandwidth, the same starting PRB (and center frequency), and the same comb size value (i.e., frequency of PRS resource elements per symbol such that every nth resource element is a PRS resource element for comb N). The PRS resource set is identified by a PRS resource set ID and may be associated with a particular TRP (identified by a cell ID) transmitted by an antenna panel of a base station. The PRS resource IDs in the PRS resource set may be associated with an omni-directional signal and/or with a single beam (and/or beam ID) transmitted from a single base station (where a base station may transmit one or more beams). Each PRS resource in the PRS resource set may be transmitted on a different beam and, as such, PRS resources (or simply resources) may also be referred to as beams. This does not suggest at all whether the UE knows the base station and beam that transmitted the PRS.

The TRP may be configured, for example, by instructions received from a server and/or by software in the TRP, to send DL PRSs on schedule. According to the schedule, the TRP may intermittently (e.g., periodically at consistent intervals from the initial transmission) transmit DL PRSs. The TRP may be configured to transmit one or more PRS resource sets. The resource set is a set of PRS resources across one TRP, where the resources have the same periodicity, common muting pattern configuration (if any), and the same cross slot repetition factor. Each PRS resource set includes a plurality of PRS resources, where each PRS resource includes a plurality of OFDM (orthogonal frequency division multiplexing) Resource Elements (REs) that may be in a plurality of Resource Blocks (RBs) within N consecutive symbol(s) within a slot. PRS resources (or, in general, reference Signal (RS) resources) may be referred to as OFDM PRS resources (or OFDM RS resources). RBs are a set of REs spanning one or more consecutive symbol numbers in the time domain and spanning consecutive subcarrier numbers (12 for 5G RBs) in the frequency domain. Each PRS resource is configured with a RE offset, a slot offset, a symbol offset within a slot, and a number of consecutive symbols that the PRS resource may occupy within the slot. The RE offset defines a starting RE offset in frequency for a first symbol within the DL PRS resource. The relative RE offset of the remaining symbols within the DL PRS resources is defined based on the initial offset. The slot offset is the starting slot of the DL PRS resource relative to the corresponding resource set slot offset. The symbol offset determines a starting symbol of the DL PRS resource within the starting slot. The transmitted REs may be repeated across slots, with each transmission referred to as a repetition, such that there may be multiple repetitions in PRS resources. The DL PRS resources in the set of DL PRS resources are associated with a same TRP and each DL PRS resource has a DL PRS resource ID. The DL PRS resource IDs in the DL PRS resource set are associated with a single beam transmitted from a single TRP (although the TRP may transmit one or more beams).

PRS resources may also be defined by quasi-co-located and starting PRB parameters. The quasi co-location (QCL) parameter may define any quasi co-location information of DL PRS resources and other reference signals. The DL PRS may be configured in QCL type D with DL PRS or SS/PBCH (synchronization signal/physical broadcast channel) blocks from a serving cell or a non-serving cell. The DL PRS may be configured to be QCL type C with SS/PBCH blocks from serving cells or non-serving cells. The starting PRB parameter defines a starting PRB index of DL PRS resources with respect to reference point a. The granularity of the starting PRB index is one PRB, and the minimum value may be 0 and the maximum value 2176 PRBs.

The PRS resource set is a set of PRS resources with the same periodicity, the same muting pattern configuration (if any), and the same cross-slot repetition factor. Configuring all repetitions of all PRS resources in a PRS resource set to be transmitted each time is referred to as an "instance". Thus, an "instance" of a PRS resource set is a specified number of repetitions for each PRS resource and a specified number of PRS resources within the PRS resource set such that the instance completes once the specified number of repetitions is transmitted for each PRS resource of the specified number of PRS resources. An instance may also be referred to as a "occasion". A DL PRS configuration including DL PRS transmission scheduling may be provided to a UE to facilitate the UE to measure DL PRSs (or even to enable the UE to measure DL PRSs).

Multiple frequency layers of PRS may be aggregated to provide an effective bandwidth that is greater than any bandwidth of each layer alone. Multiple frequency layers belonging to component carriers (which may be coherent and/or separate) and meeting criteria such as quasi-co-location (QCL) and having the same antenna ports may be spliced to provide a larger effective PRS bandwidth (for DL PRS and UL PRS) such that time-of-arrival measurement accuracy is improved. Stitching includes combining PRS measurements on individual bandwidth segments into a unified segment such that the stitched PRS can be considered to be taken from a single measurement. In the QCL case, the different frequency layers behave similarly, resulting in a larger effective bandwidth for PRS concatenation. The larger effective bandwidth (which may be referred to as the bandwidth of the aggregated PRS or the frequency bandwidth of the aggregated PRS) provides better time domain resolution (e.g., resolution of TDOA). The aggregated PRS includes a set of PRS resources and each PRS resource in the aggregated PRS may be referred to as a PRS component and each PRS component may be transmitted on a different component carrier, frequency band, or frequency layer, or on a different portion of the same frequency band.

RTT positioning is an active positioning technique because RTT uses positioning signals sent by TRP to UE and sent by UE (participating in RTT positioning) to TRP. The TRP may transmit DL-PRS signals received by the UE, and the UE may transmit SRS (sounding reference signal) signals received by a plurality of TRPs. The sounding reference signal may be referred to as an SRS or SRS signal. In 5G multi-RTT, coordinated positioning may be used in which the UE transmits a single UL-SRS for positioning received by multiple TRPs, rather than transmitting a separate UL-SRS for positioning for each TRP. A TRP participating in a multi-RTT will typically search for UEs currently residing on that TRP (served UEs, where the TRP is the serving TRP) and also search for UEs residing on neighboring TRPs (neighbor UEs). The neighbor TRP may be the TRP of a single BTS (base transceiver station) (e.g., gNB), or may be the TRP of one BTS and the TRP of an individual BTS. For RTT positioning (including multi-RTT positioning), the DL-PRS signal and UL-SRS positioning signal in the PRS/SRS positioning signal pair used to determine the RTT (and thus the range between the UE and the TRP) may occur close in time to each other such that errors due to UE motion and/or UE clock drift and/or TRP clock drift are within acceptable limits. For example, signals in a PRS/SRS positioning signal pair may be transmitted from the TRP and the UE, respectively, within about 10ms of each other. In the case where SRS positioning signals are being transmitted by UEs and PRS and SRS positioning signals are communicated in close temporal proximity to each other, it has been found that Radio Frequency (RF) signal congestion may result (which may lead to excessive noise, etc.), especially if many UEs attempt positioning concurrently, and/or computational congestion may result where TRPs of many UEs are being attempted to be measured concurrently.

RTT positioning may be UE-based or UE-assisted. Among the RTT based UEs, the UE 200 determines RTT and corresponding range to each of the TRPs 300, and determines the location of the UE 200 based on the range to the TRP 300 and the known location of the TRP 300. In the UE-assisted RTT, the UE 200 measures a positioning signal and provides measurement information to the TRP 300, and the TRP 300 determines RTT and range. The TRP 300 provides ranges to a location server (e.g., server 400) and the server determines the location of the UE 200, e.g., based on ranges to different TRPs 300. RTT and/or range may be determined by TRP 300 receiving signal(s) from UE 200, by TRP 300 in combination with one or more other devices (e.g., one or more other TRPs 300 and/or server 400), or by one or more devices receiving signal(s) from UE 200 other than TRP 300.

Various positioning techniques are supported in 5G NR. NR primary positioning methods supported in 5G NR include a DL-only positioning method, a UL-only positioning method, and a dl+ul positioning method. Downlink-based positioning methods include DL-TDOA and DL-AoD. Uplink-based positioning methods include UL-TDOA and UL-AoA. The combined dl+ul based positioning method includes RTT with one base station and RTT (multiple RTTs) with multiple base stations.

The location estimate (e.g., for the UE) may be referred to by other names such as position estimate, location, position fix, etc. The location estimate may be geodetic and include coordinates (e.g., latitude, longitude, and possibly altitude), or may be municipal and include a location description of a street address, postal address, or some other wording. The location estimate may be further defined with respect to some other known location or in absolute terms (e.g., using latitude, longitude, and possibly altitude). The location estimate may include an expected error or uncertainty (e.g., by including a region or volume within which the expected location will be contained with some specified or default confidence).

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

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

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

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

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

The set of PRS resources is a set of PRS resources for PRS signal transmissions, where each PRS resource has a PRS resource ID. Further, PRS resources in a PRS resource set are associated with the same transmission reception point (e.g., TRP 300). Each PRS resource in the PRS resource set has the same periodicity, a common muting pattern, and the same cross-slot repetition factor. The PRS resource set is identified by a PRS resource set ID and may be associated with a particular TRP (identified by a cell ID) transmitted by an antenna panel of a base station. The PRS resource IDs in the PRS resource set may be associated with an omni-directional signal and/or with a single beam (and/or beam ID) transmitted from a single base station (where a base station may transmit one or more beams). Each PRS resource in the PRS resource set may be transmitted on a different beam and, as such, PRS resources (or simply resources) may also be referred to as beams. Note that this does not suggest at all whether the UE knows the base station and beam that transmitted the PRS.

Referring to fig. 7, a conceptual diagram of an example positioning frequency layer 700 is shown. In an example, the positioning frequency layer 700 can be a set of PRS resource sets across one or more TRPs. The positioning frequency layer may have the same subcarrier spacing (SCS) and Cyclic Prefix (CP) type, the same point a, the same DL PRS bandwidth value, the same starting PRB, and the same comb size value. The parameter set supported by PDSCH may be supported by PRS. Each PRS resource set in the positioning frequency layer 700 is a set of PRS resources spanning one TRP that have the same periodicity, common muting pattern configuration, and the same cross slot repetition factor.

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

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

Referring to fig. 8, an example message flow 800 for an on-demand DL-PRS procedure is illustrated. The example message flow 800 includes the UE 105 and the example TRP 300 (such as the gNB1 110 a) and elements of the core network 140 (such as the AMF 115, LMF 120, and external clients 130). The message flow 800 may be used to extend existing MO-LR procedures for requesting assistance data (e.g., with respect to DL-TDOA, DL-AoD, or multiple RTTs). For example, the UE 105 may be configured to request assistance data from the LMF 120 for UE-assisted or UE-based positioning using one or more positioning methods, and may include additional parameters for indicating preferences regarding DL-PRS. The additional parameters may describe, for example, a desired PRS configuration and may include one or more of the following: preferred time or time periods (e.g., current time, start time plus stop time) for the PRS configuration; preferred PRS resource bandwidth; preferred PRS resource bandwidth, preferred duration of PRS positioning occasion; preferred periodicity of PRS positioning occasions; preferred carrier frequencies or frequency layers of PRS resources; the preferred number and location of the gnbs/TRPs around the UE location for which PRS configuration is requested, where the location of the gnbs/TRPs may be specified using PCI or CGI, or as a specific location or geographic area that may be expressed in absolute global coordinates or using a region identifier (e.g., similar to the region ID used in NR release 16 side link), or using coordinates relative to a known reference location (such as the location of a specific cell (such as a serving cell) provided to the UE in assistance data); one or more preferred PRS beam directions for the individual gNB; RSRP or RSRQ measurements (e.g., measurements for Radio Resource Management (RRM)) performed by the UE on the available DL signals; quality of service (QoS) parameters describing target location accuracy and delay time (e.g., desired accuracy and response time for any location estimate based on PRS measurements (e.g., as requested by a UE internal client (e.g., app)); and PRS capabilities of the UE (e.g., as defined for LPP). Other parameters may also be used based on the configuration and capabilities of the respective gnbs and UEs.

In an embodiment, the UE 105 may not have information about available possible on-demand DL-PRS configurations. In this case, the UE 105 may send one or more messages, such as an LPP request assistance data message, including parameters for the desired DL-PRS configuration (e.g., one or more of the configuration parameters in fig. 9). In an example, DL-PRS parameters as defined in LPP IE NR-DL-PRS-Assistant data (NR-DL-PRS-assistance data) and NR-DL-PRS-Info (NR-DL-PRS-information) may be explicitly provided to LMF 120 in an LPP request assistance data message.

In an embodiment, the UE 105 may have one or more pre-configured or predefined DL-PRS configurations available that may be requested on demand. In an example, each pre-configured or predefined DL-PRS configuration may have an associated set of DL-PRS parameters (e.g., one or more of the configuration parameters in fig. 9) and may be identified by a DL-PRS configuration identifier/index value (e.g., as depicted in fig. 10). The LPP request assistance data message may include a DL-PRS configuration identifier/index (or a list of desired DL-PRS configuration identifiers/indices ordered according to a priority) of desired DL-PRS configurations. In another example, the LPP request assistance data message includes a list of those DL-PRS parameters (e.g., one or more of the configuration parameters in fig. 9) that are requested to be changed as compared to the pre-configured DL-PRS configuration. For example, the LPP request assistance data message may include a request to change DL-PRS bandwidth or DL-PRS beam direction, etc., in a previously provided DL-PRS assistance data message.

The set of possible on-demand DL-PRS configurations may be defined by a "primary DL-PRS configuration" (e.g., that defines a default DL-PRS) and one or more "secondary DL-PRS configurations," where the secondary DL-PRS configurations may include different those DL-PRS parameters (i.e., using delta coding/signaling to reduce overhead) as compared to the primary DL-PRS configuration. The set of possible on-demand DL-PRS configurations may be defined as a new LPP assistance data IE, which may also be mapped to a new posSIB for broadcasting the possible on-demand DL-PRS configurations. The new posSIB type may be configured to define a list of possible on-demand DL-PRS configurations (which may not be currently active) along with the identifier value.

In an example, the LPP request assistance data message may be configured to include an explicit list of parameters configured for a desired DL-PRS to support on-demand DL-PRS. The new LPP assistance data IE contains a set of possible DL-PRS Configurations that can be requested by the UE On Demand (e.g., IE On-Demand-DL-PRS-Configurations). Each DL-PRS configuration in the IE On-Demand-DL-PRS-Configurations may have an associated DL-PRS parameter set (e.g., one or more of the configuration parameters in fig. 9) and an identifier. In an example, the posSIB type may be configured to include LPP IE On-Demand-DL-PRS-Configurations. In an example, the LPP request assistance data message may include an index/pointer/identifier corresponding to an element in the LPP IE On-Demand-DL-PRS-Configurations that defines the requested On-Demand DL-PRS.

In operation, the enhanced LPP request assistance data message may be included in the MO-LR request message (e.g., in the case of an UE-internal LCS client) or may be part of an active/ongoing LPP session (e.g., to modify the provided DL-PRS configuration). The LMF 120 may be configured to request a change to DL-PRS transmissions from multiple gNB/TRPs.

Referring to message flow 800, in steps 1a and 1b, lmf 120 may provide one or more possibs containing a set of possible on-demand DL-PRS configurations to gNB 110a in an NRPPa assistance information control message for broadcasting in positioning system information. The set of possible on-demand DL-PRS configurations may include a primary DL-PRS configuration (e.g., a default DL-PRS configuration) and one or more secondary DL-PRS configurations, wherein a secondary DL-PRS configuration may define possible variations of DL-PRS relative to the primary DL-PRS configuration (e.g., different bandwidths, durations of positioning occasions, and/or frequencies of positioning occasions, etc.). Each possible on-demand DL-PRS configuration is associated with a unique identifier. Alternatively or additionally, the posSIB may also indicate which specific DL-PRS parameters may be requested to change as needed.

In step 2a, the ue 105 may be configured to send a MO-LR request message included in a UL NAS TRANSPORT (UL NAS TRANSPORT) message to the serving AMF 115, the MO-LR request message including a request for on-demand DL-PRS transmissions. The MO-LR request may include an LPP request assistance data message defining parameters for the preferred DL-PRS configuration, which may also include a start time and/or a time duration as to when and/or how long (e.g., seconds, minutes, or hours) the requested DL-PRS configuration is needed at the UE. The request may additionally include an LPP provisioning capability message (which includes DL-PRS capabilities of the UE 105) and an LPP provisioning location information message (e.g., which provides E-CID measurements). Alternatively, at step 2b, some entity (e.g., GMLC 125) in the external client 130 or 5GC requests some location service (e.g., location) for the UE 105 from the service AMF 115. Alternatively, in step 2c, the serving AMF 115 for the UE 105 may be configured to determine a need for a certain location service (e.g., to locate the UE 105 for an emergency call).

In step 3, AMF 115 may be configured to invoke an Nlmf_location_DetermineLocation (Nlmf_location_DetermineLocation) service operation to LMF 120. If step 2a is performed, the service operation may include an MO-LR request from step 2 a. If steps 2b or 2c are performed, the service operation comprises a request for the current location of the UE 105, LCS client type and may comprise the required QoS. In step 4, the lmf 120 may perform one or more LPP procedures (e.g., to obtain DL-PRS positioning capabilities of the UE 105). In step 5, the lmf 120 may be configured to determine a new DL-PRS configuration for one or more gnbs (e.g., gNB 110 a) based on the request received in step 3. The determination of step 5 may also be based on location requests received by LMF 120 from other UEs in proximity to UE 105 and/or location requests to other UEs in proximity to UE 105 at about the same time.

In step 6, the lmf 120 may be configured to initiate an NRPPa DL-PRS reconfiguration procedure with each of the gnbs determined in step 5. If some gNBs indicate that a new DL-PRS configuration cannot be supported, the LMF 120 may be configured to perform step 11 to recover old DL-PRS configurations in each of the gNBs that indicate that the new DL-PRS configuration can be supported to avoid interference between gNBs that support the new DL-PRS configuration and gNBs that do not support the new DL-PRS configuration. In this case, the LMF 120 may provide the old DL-PRS configuration to the UE in step 8 instead of the new DL-PRS configuration.

In step 7, each of these gnbs (e.g., gNB 110 a) that has acknowledged in step 6 to support the new DL-PRS configuration may be configured to change from the old DL-PRS configuration to the new DL-PRS configuration after (or just before) the acknowledgement is sent in step 6 without a start time being provided, or at a start time indicated in step 6. In some cases, the old DL-PRS configuration may correspond to not transmitting DL-PRS. In step 8, the lmf 120 may be configured to send an LPP provisioning assistance data message to the UE 105 to provide the new DL-PRS configuration determined in step 5 and acknowledged in step 6. The message may also include a start time and duration for each new DL-PRS configuration. If steps 2b or 2c are performed, the LMF 120 may initiate LPP and possibly NRPPa procedure to obtain the location of the UE 105.

In step 9, lmf 120 may return an nlmf_location_determinelocation response to AMF 115. If step 2a is performed, the message may indicate whether the DL-PRS assistance data was successfully delivered. If steps 2b or 2c are performed, the message may include the location of the UE 105. In step 10a, if step 2a is performed, AMF 115 may forward the response from step 9 to UE 105 via the MO-LR response. In step 10b, if step 2b is performed, the AMF 115 may forward the response to the external client 130/5GC LCS entity.

In step 11, if the duration of the new DL-PRS is not included in step 6, the LMF 120 may be configured to initiate an NRPPa DL-PRS reconfiguration procedure with each of the gnbs determined in step 5 to recover the old DL-PRS configuration for each gNB. At step 12, each of these gnbs may begin transmitting the old DL-PRS configuration upon expiration of the duration received in step 6 or after receiving and acknowledging the request to resume the old DL-PRS configuration at step 11. In some cases, the old DL-PRS configuration may correspond to not transmitting DL-PRS.

Referring to fig. 9, an example data structure 900 of requested DL-PRS configuration information is illustrated. The data structure 900 may be one or more tables and fields configured to be stored and communicated between network entities, such as the LMF 120, the gNB 110a, and the UE 105. In an example, the parameter 902 can correspond to a PRS resource depicted in fig. 7. In an embodiment, the on-demand DL-PRS procedure provided herein may utilize a new assistance data Information Element (IE) that includes parameters 902 as a set of possible DL-PRS configurations. Each DL-PRS configuration in the set may include a number of associated DL-PRS parameters 902. Parameter 902 may be based on a request from a UE or LMF. For example, the subset of UE-initiated parameters 904 may be based on parameters that may be known or may be controlled by the UE 105. Similarly, the LMF initiation parameter subset 906 may be based on parameters that the LMF 120 may desire to modify. The list of parameters in the parameter subsets 904, 906 is by way of example and not limitation, as other subsets may be used.

In an example, referring to fig. 10, each DL-PRS configuration in the set may be identified by a DL-PRS configuration identifier 1002 or similar field. For example, each of the DL-PRS configuration identifiers 1002 may be associated with a list of parameters and corresponding parameter values 1004 based on the parameters 902 in fig. 9. Thus, a first DL-PRS parameter set 1006a may be identified by a DL-PRS configuration identifier 1002, and a second DL-PRS parameter set 1006b, a third DL-PRS parameter set 1006c, and a fourth DL-PRS parameter set 1006d may be identified by respective DL-PRS configuration identifiers. Additional DL-PRS parameter sets may also be configured. In an example, an On-Demand-DL-PRS-Configuration IE may be included in one or more possibs, which may be included in a posSI broadcast. In operation, the UE may be configured to receive the new posSIB and will store IE On-Demand-DL-PRS-Configuration information. The UE may be configured to obtain possibs in different RRC states (i.e. rrc_idle, rrc_inactive, rrc_connected) and thus will know which specific DL-PRS configurations may be requested on demand.

Referring to fig. 11, with further reference to fig. 8 and 9, an example message flow 1100 for DL-PRS reconfiguration is illustrated. The message flow includes an LMF 120 and one or more TRPs 300, such as a gNB 110a. The purpose of the message flow 1100 is to enable the LMF 120 to request changes to DL-PRS transmissions. In step 1, the LMF 120 may be configured to send an NRPPa DL-PRS reconfiguration request message to the selected gNB (e.g., gNB 110 a) to request a change to the DL-PRS transmission. The message may include DL-PRS configuration information determined for the gNB and may also include a start time and duration of each new DL-PRS configuration. The DL-PRS configuration for each gNB may be based on one or more of the parameters 902 and used to change DL-PRS bandwidth, duration of DL-PRS positioning occasions, frequency of DL-PRS transmissions and/or DL-PRS positioning occasions on new frequencies, and so on. In an embodiment, the requested DL-PRS configuration may be selected from a set comprising one or more pre-configured DL-PRS configuration parameter sets 1006a-d to support on-demand DL-PRS transmissions. In the case of directional DL-PRS beams, the LMF 120 may determine the directional DL-PRS beams for each gNB that should be received by the target UE. The directional DL-PRS beam may be selected by the LMF 120 based on a known approximate location of the target UE. In step 2, if the gNB 110a is able to support the new DL-PRS configuration, the gNB 110a returns an acknowledgement in an NRPPa DL-PRS reconfiguration response message. If the gNB 110a cannot support the new DL-PRS configuration, the gNB 110a may be configured to return a failure message.

Referring to fig. 12, with further reference to fig. 8 and 9, a message flow 1200 for a UE-initiated on-demand DL-PRS request procedure is illustrated. Message flow 1200 includes LMF 120 and UE 105. The purpose of the message flow 1200 is to enable the UE 105 to request a change to DL-PRS transmissions. This procedure is applicable, for example, in case the UE 105 does not know the possible DL-PRS configuration, or in case the current DL-PRS configuration corresponds to not transmitting DL-PRS. In step 1, the ue 105 may be configured to send an LPP request assistance data message to the LMF 120 requesting a change to one or more DL-PRS transmissions. The message may include parameters 902 of a preferred DL-PRS configuration (which may include a preferred DL-PRS bandwidth, a preferred duration of DL-PRS positioning occasions, a preferred DL-PRS beam direction for a particular gNB (if known to the UE), etc.). The message may also include a start time and/or a time duration as to when and/or how long the requested DL-PRS configuration is needed at the UE 105 (e.g., number of seconds, minutes, or hours for which the DL-PRS configuration is needed). This message may be carried in an MO-LR request message as described in step 2a of message flow 800. In step 2, the lmf 120 may be configured to send an LPP provisioning assistance data message including the new DL-PRS configuration information (e.g., updated parameters 902) to the UE 105. The message may also include a start time and duration for each new DL-PRS configuration.

Referring to fig. 13, with further reference to fig. 8 and 9, a message flow 1300 for an assistance data modification procedure is illustrated. Message flow 1300 includes UE 105, gNB 110a, and LMF 120. The purpose of the message flow 1300 is to enable the UE 105 to request a change to DL-PRS transmission in the case where the UE 105 knows the possible DL-PRS configuration (e.g., via previously provided assistance data or via broadcast information). In step 1a, the gNB 110a may be configured to broadcast in the positioning system information message DL-PRS assistance data corresponding to the currently active DL-PRS transmissions, which may include an indication of which DL-PRS parameters may be modified as needed. In step 1b, the LMF 120 may be configured to provide the UE 105 with DL-PRS assistance data corresponding to the currently active DL-PRS transmissions, which may include an indication of which DL-PRS parameters may be modified as needed (e.g., during an active LPP session). In step 2, the ue 105 is configured to send an LPP request assistance data message to the LMF 120 requesting a change to the currently active DL-PRS transmission. The message may include an indication of which DL-PRS parameters 902 are requested to be changed (which may include a change to DL-PRS bandwidth, a change to DL-PRS positioning occasion, a change to DL-PRS resources (e.g., "beam on/off" via DL-PRS resource ID addition/release), etc.). The message may also include a start time and/or a time duration as to when and/or how long the modified DL-PRS configuration is needed at the target device (e.g., number of seconds, minutes, or hours the DL-PRS configuration is needed). In the case where step 1a is performed, the message may be carried in an MO-LR request message as described in step 2a of message flow 800. In step 3, the lmf 120 may be configured to provide the UE 105 with a modified LPP provided assistance data message indicating those DL-PRS parameters (e.g., one or more of the parameters 902) that have been modified compared to assistance data provided at step 1 and may include a start time and/or duration.

Referring to fig. 14, with further reference to fig. 8 and 9, a message flow 1400 for an assistance data pre-configuration procedure is shown. Message flow 1400 includes UE 105, gNB 110a, and LMF 120. The purpose of the message flow 1400 is to enable the UE 105 to request a change to DL-PRS transmissions according to a set of possible DL-PRS configurations previously provided to the UE 105. In step 1a, the gNB 110a may be configured to broadcast a plurality of DL-PRS assistance data configurations that may be requested on demand in positioning system information, as described in step 1b of the message flow 800. The broadcasted DL-PRS assistance data configuration may be locally applicable (e.g., applicable to the broadcaster gNB 110a and the neighbor gNB (not shown in fig. 14)) or may be valid throughout a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) and may be differentiated by a local/global indication.

In step 1b, the lmf 120 may be configured to provide a plurality of DL-PRS assistance data configurations to the UE 105 (e.g., as part of a location session). Each DL-PRS configuration in steps 1a and 1b may have a unique identifier and may be valid for a certain geographic area and duration; for example, as defined by the coverage area and validity time of the assistance data reference TRP. The plurality of DL-PRS assistance data sets may be provided as a primary configuration (i.e., a currently active or default DL-PRS configuration) along with a number of secondary configurations, where the secondary configurations may include only those DL-PRS configuration parameters (i.e., incremental signaling) that are different than the primary DL-PRS configuration. In step 2, the ue 105 may be configured to send an LPP request assistance data message to the LMF 120 to request a change to DL-PRS transmissions. The message may include a DL-PRS configuration identifier 1002 for the requested DL-PRS configuration from the set of possible DL-PRS configurations provided at steps 1a and 1 b. In the case when step 1a is performed, the message may be carried in an MO-LR request message, as described in step 2b of message flow 800. In step 3, the LMF 120 may provide the UE 105 with a DL-PRS configuration identifier 1002 of the new DL-PRS configuration.

Referring to fig. 15, with further reference to fig. 1-14, a method 1500 performed at a user equipment for determining position using on-demand positioning reference signals includes the stages shown. However, the method 1500 is by way of example and not limitation. The method 1500 may be altered, for example, by adding, removing, rearranging, combining, concurrently executing, and/or splitting a single phase into multiple phases.

At stage 1502, the method includes receiving first assistance data associated with a first positioning reference signal configuration. UE 200 (which includes transceiver 215 and processor 230) is a means for receiving first assistance data. In an embodiment, TRP 300 (such as gNB 110 a) may be configured to broadcast first assistance data in a positioning system information message as DL-PRS assistance data corresponding to a currently active DL-PRS transmission. In an example, the first assistance data may include a plurality of DL-PRS assistance data configurations that may be requested on demand in positioning system information. In an embodiment, the LMF 120 may be configured to provide DL-PRS assistance data corresponding to the currently active DL-PRS transmissions, and the DL-PRS assistance data may include an indication of which DL-PRS parameters may be modified as needed (e.g., during an active LPP session).

At stage 1504, the method includes transmitting a request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration. UE 200 (including transceiver 215 and processor 230) is a means for transmitting a request to modify one or more parameters. In an example, the UE 200 may be configured to send an LPP request assistance data message to the LMF 120 requesting a change to a first positioning reference signal configuration (e.g., a currently active DL-PRS transmission). The message may include an indication of which DL-PRS parameters 902 are requested to be changed (which may include a change to DL-PRS bandwidth, a change to DL-PRS positioning occasion, a change to DL-PRS resources (e.g., "beam on/off" via DL-PRS resource ID addition/release), etc.). The message may also include a start time and/or a time duration as to when and/or how long the modified DL-PRS configuration is needed at the target device (e.g., number of seconds, minutes, or hours the DL-PRS configuration is needed). In an embodiment, the request to modify one or more parameters may be carried in an MO-LR request message, as described at step 2a of message flow 800.

At stage 1506, the method includes receiving second assistance data associated with a second positioning reference signal configuration, wherein the second positioning reference signal configuration is based at least in part on the request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration. UE 200 (including transceiver 215 and processor 230) is a means for receiving second assistance data. In an embodiment, the LMF 120 may be configured to provide the UE 200 with a modified LPP provisioning assistance data message indicating those DL-PRS parameters that have been modified compared to the first assistance data provided at stage 1502. In an example, the second assistance data can include a DL-PRS configuration identifier 1002 associated with a second positioning reference signal configuration (e.g., a new DL-PRS configuration).

At stage 1508, the method includes obtaining measurements from one or more positioning reference signals based at least in part on the second assistance data. UE 200 (including transceiver 215 and processor 230) is a means for obtaining measurements for the one or more reference signals. The UE 200 is configured to acquire and measure DL-PRSs transmitted by one or more gnbs (e.g., gNB 110 a) according to the DL-PRS configuration provided in the second assistance data received in stage 1506. By way of example and not limitation, the UE 200 may obtain UE Rx-Tx time difference measurements, toA, TDoA, RSTD, or other reference signal measurements based on DL-PRS transmissions.

At stage 1510, the method includes determining a location based at least in part on measurements obtained from one or more positioning reference signals. UE 200 (including processor 230) is an example apparatus for determining a location. The UE 200 is configured to determine a location based on the DL-PRS measurements obtained at stage 1508. For example, UE 200 may determine ranges to multiple gnbs using UE RxTx time difference measurements and gNB RxTx time difference measurements, and determine a current location using a multi-RTT positioning technique using the locations of the gnbs. Other known positioning techniques (such as OTDOA, aoD, and ECID) may also be used to determine the location of the UE 200.

Referring to fig. 16, with further reference to fig. 1-14, a method 1600 for providing assistance data associated with on-demand positioning reference signals includes the stages shown. However, the method 1600 is by way of example and not limitation. Method 1600 may be altered, for example, by adding, removing, rearranging, combining, concurrently executing, and/or splitting a single phase into multiple phases.

At stage 1602, the method includes transmitting first assistance data associated with a first positioning reference signal configuration to a user equipment. The server 400 (comprising a transceiver 415 and a processor 410) is a means for transmitting first assistance data. In an embodiment, the LMF 120 may be configured to provide DL-PRS assistance data corresponding to the currently active DL-PRS transmissions, and the DL-PRS assistance data may include an indication of which DL-PRS parameters may be modified as needed (e.g., during an active LPP session). In an example, the first assistance data may include a plurality of DL-PRS assistance data configurations that may be requested on demand in positioning system information.

At stage 1604, the method includes receiving a request from a user equipment to modify one or more parameters of a first positioning reference signal configuration. Server 400 (including transceiver 415 and processor 410) is a device for receiving a request to modify one or more parameters. In an example, the UE 200 may be configured to send an LPP request assistance data message to the LMF 120 requesting a change to a first positioning reference signal configuration (e.g., a currently active DL-PRS transmission). The message may include an indication of which DL-PRS parameters 902 are requested to be changed (which may include a change to DL-PRS bandwidth, a change to DL-PRS positioning occasion, a change to DL-PRS resources (e.g., "beam on/off" via DL-PRS resource ID addition/release), etc.). The message may also include a start time and/or a time duration as to when and/or how long the modified DL-PRS configuration is needed at the target device (e.g., number of seconds, minutes, or hours the DL-PRS configuration is needed). In an embodiment, the request to modify one or more parameters may be carried in an MO-LR request message, as described at step 2a of message flow 800.

At stage 1606, the method includes generating second assistance data associated with a second positioning reference signal configuration, wherein the second positioning reference signal configuration is based at least in part on the request to modify the one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration. Server 400 (comprising transceiver 415 and processor 410) is a means for generating second assistance data. In an embodiment, the LMF 120 may be configured to generate a modified LPP provisioning assistance data message to indicate those DL-PRS parameters that have been modified compared to the first assistance data provided at stage 1602. In an example, the second assistance data can include a DL-PRS configuration identifier 1002 associated with a second positioning reference signal configuration (e.g., a new DL-PRS configuration).

At stage 1608, the method includes transmitting second assistance data to the user equipment. Server 400 (comprising transceiver 415 and processor 410) is a means for transmitting second assistance data. In an embodiment, the LMF 120 may send the modified LPP provisioning assistance data message to the UE 200.

Referring to fig. 17, with further reference to fig. 1-14, a method 1700 for transmitting on-demand positioning reference signals includes the stages shown. However, the method 1700 is exemplary and not limiting. The method 1700 may be altered, for example, by adding, removing, rearranging, combining, concurrently executing, and/or splitting a single phase into a plurality of phases.

At stage 1702, the method includes transmitting one or more positioning reference signals based on a first positioning reference signal configuration. TRP 300 (comprising transceiver 315 and processor 310) is a means for transmitting one or more positioning reference signals. In an embodiment, the TRP 300 (such as the gNB 110 a) is configured to transmit DL-PRSs based on a first configuration. The first PRS configuration may be a PRS transmitted prior to receiving an on-demand request from a UE or LMF. In an example, the TRP 300 may be configured to broadcast in the positioning system information message DL-PRS assistance data corresponding to the currently active DL-PRS transmissions, which may include an indication of which DL-PRS parameters may be modified as needed.

At stage 1704, the method includes receiving a request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration. TRP 300 (comprising transceiver 315 and processor 310) is a means for receiving a request to modify one or more parameters. In an embodiment, the LMF 120 may be configured to send an NRPPa DL-PRS reconfiguration request message to the TRP 300 to request a change to the DL-PRS transmission. The message may include DL-PRS configuration information determined for the TRP and may also include a start time and duration for each new DL-PRS configuration. The DL-PRS configuration for each TRP may be based on one or more of the parameters 902 and used to change DL-PRS bandwidth, duration of DL-PRS positioning occasions, frequency of DL-PRS transmissions and/or DL-PRS positioning occasions on new frequencies, and so on. In an embodiment, the requested DL-PRS configuration may be selected from a set comprising one or more pre-configured DL-PRS configuration parameter sets 1006a-d to support on-demand DL-PRS transmissions. In the case of directional DL-PRS beams, the LMF 120 may determine the directional DL-PRS beams for each gNB that should be received by the target UE. The directional DL-PRS beam may be selected by the LMF 120 based on a known approximate location of the target UE.

At stage 1706, the method includes transmitting one or more positioning reference signals based on a second positioning reference signal configuration, wherein the second positioning reference signal configuration is based at least in part on a request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration. TRP 300 (comprising transceiver 315 and processor 310) is a means for transmitting one or more positioning reference signals. In an embodiment, the TRP 300 may be configured to change from an old DL-PRS configuration (e.g., a first reference signal configuration) to a new DL-PRS configuration (e.g., a second reference signal configuration).

Other examples and implementations are within the scope of the disclosure and the appended claims. For example, due to the nature of software and computers, the functions described above may be implemented using software executed by a processor, hardware, firmware, hardwired or any combination thereof. Features that implement the functions may also be physically located in various places including being distributed such that parts of the functions are implemented at different physical locations.

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

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

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

Also, as used herein, "or" (possibly with at least one of "or with one or more of" the same ") used in the list of items indicates a disjunctive list, such that, for example, the list of" at least one of A, B or C, "or the list of" one or more of A, B or C, "or the list of" a or B or C "means a or B or C or AB (a and B) or AC (a and C) or BC (B and C) or ABC (i.e., a and B and C), or a combination having more than one feature (e.g., AA, AAB, ABBC, etc.). Thus, an item (e.g., a processor) is configured to perform a statement regarding the function of at least one of a or B, or an item is configured to perform a statement regarding the function of a or B, meaning that the item may be configured to perform a function regarding a, or may be configured to perform a function regarding B, or may be configured to perform a function regarding a and B. For example, the phrase processor being configured to measure at least one of "a or B" or "the processor being configured to measure a or measure B" means that the processor may be configured to measure a (and may or may not be configured to measure B), or may be configured to measure B (and may or may not be configured to measure a), or may be configured to measure a and measure B (and may be configured to select which one or both of a and B to measure). Similarly, the recitation of a device for measuring at least one of a or B includes: the means for measuring a (which may or may not be able to measure B), or the means for measuring B (and may or may not be configured to measure a), or the means for measuring a and B (which may be able to select which one or both of a and B to measure). As another example, a recitation of an item (e.g., a processor) being configured to perform at least one of function X or function Y indicates that the item may be configured to perform function X, or may be configured to perform function Y, or may be configured to perform function X and perform function Y. For example, the phrase "the processor is configured to measure at least one of X or Y" means that the processor may be configured to measure X (and may or may not be configured to measure Y), or may be configured to measure Y (and may or may not be configured to measure X), or may be configured to measure X and measure Y (and may be configured to select which one or both of X and Y to measure). Substantial modifications may be made according to specific requirements. For example, customized hardware might also be used and/or particular elements might be implemented in hardware, software executed by a processor (including portable software, such as applets, etc.), or both. Further, connections to other computing devices, such as network input/output devices, may be employed.

The systems and devices discussed above are examples. Various configurations may omit, substitute, or add various procedures or components as appropriate. For example, features described with reference to certain configurations may be combined in various other configurations. The different disclosures and elements of each configuration may be combined in a similar manner. Furthermore, the technology will evolve and, thus, many of the elements are examples and do not limit the scope of the disclosure or the claims.

A wireless communication system is a system in which communication is transferred wirelessly, i.e., by electromagnetic and/or acoustic waves propagating through the air space rather than through wires or other physical connections. The wireless communication network may not have all of the communications transmitted wirelessly, but may be configured to have at least some of the communications transmitted wirelessly. Furthermore, the term "wireless communication device" or similar terms do not require that the functionality of the device be primarily used for communication, either exclusively or uniformly, or that the device be a mobile device, but rather that the device include wireless communication capabilities (unidirectional or bidirectional), e.g., include at least one radio (each radio being part of a transmitter, receiver, or transceiver) for wireless communication.

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

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

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

Examples of implementations are described in the following numbered clauses:

clause 1. A method for determining a location of a user equipment, comprising: receiving first assistance data associated with a first positioning reference signal configuration; transmitting a request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration; receiving second assistance data associated with a second positioning reference signal configuration, wherein the second positioning reference signal configuration is based at least in part on a request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration; obtaining measurements from one or more positioning reference signals based at least in part on the second assistance data; and determining the location based at least in part on measurements obtained from the one or more positioning reference signals.

Clause 2. The method of clause 1, wherein the first assistance data comprises an indication of one or more positioning reference signal configuration parameters that may be modified as needed.

Clause 3. The method of clause 1, wherein the first assistance data is received via one or more positioning system information blocks transmitted by a base station.

Clause 4. The method of clause 1, wherein the request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration comprises a request to modify at least one of a positioning reference signal bandwidth, a duration of a positioning occasion, and a frequency of the positioning occasion.

Clause 5. The method of clause 1, wherein the request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration comprises a positioning reference configuration identifier associated with the one or more positioning reference signal parameters.

Clause 6. The method of clause 1, wherein the request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration is included in a mobile originated location request message.

Clause 7. The method of clause 1, wherein the second assistance data is received from a location management function via a long term evolution positioning protocol message.

Clause 8. The method of clause 1, wherein the first assistance data is associated with a plurality of positioning reference signal configurations, and transmitting the request to modify the one or more parameters comprises providing an identifier associated with one of the plurality of positioning reference signal configurations.

Clause 9. The method of clause 8, wherein receiving the second assistance data comprises receiving an identifier associated with the one of the plurality of positioning reference signal configurations.

Clause 10. A method for providing assistance data associated with on-demand positioning reference signals, comprising: transmitting first assistance data associated with a first positioning reference signal configuration to a user equipment; receiving a request from the user equipment to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration; generating second assistance data associated with a second positioning reference signal configuration, wherein the second positioning reference signal configuration is based at least in part on a request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration; and transmitting the second assistance data to the user equipment.

Clause 11. The method of clause 10, wherein the first assistance data comprises an indication of one or more positioning reference signal configuration parameters that may be modified as needed.

Clause 12. The method of clause 10, wherein transmitting the first assistance data comprises providing one or more positioning system information blocks to the base station.

Clause 13. The method of clause 10, wherein the request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration comprises a request to modify at least one of a positioning reference signal bandwidth, a duration of a positioning occasion, and a frequency of the positioning occasion.

Clause 14. The method of clause 10, wherein the request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration includes a positioning reference configuration identifier associated with the one or more positioning reference signal parameters.

Clause 15. The method of clause 10, wherein the request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration is included in a mobile originated location request message.

Clause 16. The method of clause 10, wherein the second assistance data is included in a long term evolution positioning protocol message.

Clause 17. The method of clause 10, wherein the first assistance data is associated with a plurality of positioning reference signal configurations, and the request to modify the one or more parameters includes an identifier associated with one of the plurality of positioning reference signal configurations.

Clause 18. The method of clause 17, wherein the second assistance data comprises an identifier associated with the one of the plurality of positioning reference signal configurations.

Clause 19. A method for transmitting on-demand positioning reference signals, comprising: transmitting one or more positioning reference signals based on the first positioning reference signal configuration; receiving a request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration; and transmitting one or more positioning reference signals based on a second positioning reference signal configuration, wherein the second positioning reference signal configuration is based at least in part on a request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration.

Clause 20. The method of clause 19, wherein the request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration comprises a request to modify at least one of a positioning reference signal bandwidth, a duration of a positioning occasion, and a frequency of the positioning occasion.

Clause 21. The method of clause 19, wherein the request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration comprises a start time and duration for transmitting the one or more positioning reference signals based on the second positioning reference signal configuration.

Clause 22. The method of clause 19, wherein the request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration includes a positioning reference configuration identifier associated with the one or more positioning reference signal parameters.

Clause 23. The method of clause 19, wherein the second positioning reference signal configuration comprises a desired beam direction.

Clause 24. An apparatus, comprising: a memory; at least one transceiver; at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver and configured to: receiving first assistance data associated with a first positioning reference signal configuration; transmitting a request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration; receiving second assistance data associated with a second positioning reference signal configuration, wherein the second positioning reference signal configuration is based at least in part on a request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration; obtaining measurements from one or more positioning reference signals based at least in part on the second assistance data; and determining a position based at least in part on measurements obtained from the one or more positioning reference signals.

Clause 25. The apparatus of clause 24, wherein the first assistance data comprises an indication of one or more positioning reference signal configuration parameters that may be modified as needed.

Clause 26. The apparatus of clause 24, wherein the first assistance data is received via one or more positioning system information blocks transmitted by a base station.

Clause 27. The apparatus of clause 24, wherein the request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration comprises a request to modify at least one of a positioning reference signal bandwidth, a duration of a positioning occasion, and a frequency of the positioning occasion.

Clause 28. The apparatus of clause 24, wherein the request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration comprises a positioning reference configuration identifier associated with the one or more positioning reference signal parameters.

Clause 29. The apparatus of clause 24, wherein the request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration is included in a mobile originated location request message.

Clause 30. The apparatus of clause 24, wherein the second assistance data is received from a location management function via a long term evolution positioning protocol message.

Clause 31. The apparatus of clause 24, wherein the first assistance data is associated with a plurality of positioning reference signal configurations, and the at least one processor is further configured to provide an identifier associated with one of the plurality of positioning reference signal configurations.

Clause 32. The apparatus of clause 31, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to receive an identifier associated with the one of the plurality of positioning reference signal configurations.

Clause 33. An apparatus, comprising: a memory; at least one transceiver; at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver and configured to: transmitting first assistance data associated with a first positioning reference signal configuration to a user equipment; receiving a request from the user equipment to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration; generating second assistance data associated with a second positioning reference signal configuration, wherein the second positioning reference signal configuration is based at least in part on a request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration; and transmitting the second assistance data to the user equipment.

Clause 34. The apparatus of clause 33, wherein the first assistance data comprises an indication of one or more positioning reference signal configuration parameters that may be modified as needed.

Clause 35. The apparatus of clause 33, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to provide one or more positioning system information blocks to the base station.

Clause 36. The apparatus of clause 33, wherein the request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration comprises a request to modify at least one of a positioning reference signal bandwidth, a duration of a positioning occasion, and a frequency of the positioning occasion.

Clause 37. The apparatus of clause 33, wherein the request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration comprises a positioning reference configuration identifier associated with the one or more positioning reference signal parameters.

Clause 38. The apparatus of clause 33, wherein the request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration is included in a mobile originated location request message.

Clause 39. The apparatus of clause 33, wherein the second assistance data is included in a long term evolution positioning protocol message.

Clause 40. The apparatus of clause 33, wherein the first assistance data is associated with a plurality of positioning reference signal configurations, and the request to modify the one or more parameters includes an identifier associated with one of the plurality of positioning reference signal configurations.

Clause 41. The apparatus of clause 40, wherein the second assistance data comprises an identifier associated with the one of the plurality of positioning reference signal configurations.

Clause 42. An apparatus, comprising: a memory; at least one transceiver; at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver and configured to: transmitting one or more positioning reference signals based on the first positioning reference signal configuration; receiving a request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration; and transmitting one or more positioning reference signals based on a second positioning reference signal configuration, wherein the second positioning reference signal configuration is based at least in part on a request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration.

Clause 43. The apparatus of clause 42, wherein the request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration comprises a request to modify at least one of a positioning reference signal bandwidth, a duration of a positioning occasion, and a frequency of the positioning occasion.

Clause 44. The apparatus of clause 42, wherein the request to modify the one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration comprises a start time and a duration for transmitting the one or more positioning reference signals based on the second positioning reference signal configuration.

Clause 45. The apparatus of clause 42, wherein the request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration includes a positioning reference configuration identifier associated with the one or more positioning reference signal parameters.

Clause 46. The apparatus of clause 42, wherein the second positioning reference signal configuration includes a desired beam direction.

Clause 47. An apparatus for determining a location of a user equipment, comprising: means for receiving first assistance data associated with a first positioning reference signal configuration; means for transmitting a request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration; means for receiving second assistance data associated with a second positioning reference signal configuration, wherein the second positioning reference signal configuration is based at least in part on a request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration; means for obtaining measurements from one or more positioning reference signals based at least in part on the second assistance data; and means for determining the location based at least in part on measurements obtained from the one or more positioning reference signals.

Clause 48. An apparatus for providing assistance data associated with on-demand positioning reference signals, comprising: means for transmitting first assistance data associated with a first positioning reference signal configuration to a user equipment; means for receiving a request from the user equipment to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration; means for generating second assistance data associated with a second positioning reference signal configuration, wherein the second positioning reference signal configuration is based at least in part on a request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration; and means for transmitting the second assistance data to the user equipment.

Clause 49. An apparatus for transmitting on-demand positioning reference signals, comprising: means for transmitting one or more positioning reference signals based on the first positioning reference signal configuration; means for receiving a request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration; and means for transmitting one or more positioning reference signals based on a second positioning reference signal configuration, wherein the second positioning reference signal configuration is based at least in part on a request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration.

Clause 50. A non-transitory processor-readable storage medium comprising processor-readable instructions configured to cause one or more processors to determine a location of a user equipment, comprising: code for receiving first assistance data associated with a first positioning reference signal configuration; code for transmitting a request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration; code for receiving second assistance data associated with a second positioning reference signal configuration, wherein the second positioning reference signal configuration is based at least in part on a request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration; means for obtaining measurements from one or more positioning reference signals based at least in part on the second assistance data; and code for determining the location based at least in part on measurements obtained from the one or more positioning reference signals.

Clause 51. A non-transitory processor-readable storage medium comprising processor-readable instructions configured to cause one or more processors to provide assistance data associated with a positioning-on-demand reference signal, comprising: code for transmitting first assistance data associated with a first positioning reference signal configuration to a user equipment; code for receiving a request from the user equipment to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration; generating second assistance data associated with a second positioning reference signal configuration, wherein the second positioning reference signal configuration is based at least in part on a request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration; and means for transmitting the second assistance data to the user equipment.

Clause 52. A non-transitory processor-readable storage medium comprising processor-readable instructions configured to cause one or more processors to transmit on-demand positioning reference signals, comprising: code for transmitting one or more positioning reference signals based on the first positioning reference signal configuration; code for receiving a request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration; and transmitting one or more positioning reference signals based on a second positioning reference signal configuration, wherein the second positioning reference signal configuration is based at least in part on a request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration.

Claims

1. A method for determining a location of a user equipment, comprising:

receiving first assistance data associated with a first positioning reference signal configuration;

transmitting a request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration;

receiving second assistance data associated with a second positioning reference signal configuration, wherein the second positioning reference signal configuration is based at least in part on the request to modify the one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration;

Obtaining measurements from one or more positioning reference signals based at least in part on the second assistance data; and

the position is determined based at least in part on measurements obtained from the one or more positioning reference signals.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first assistance data comprises an indication of one or more positioning reference signal configuration parameters that can be modified as needed.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the first assistance data is received via one or more positioning system information blocks transmitted by a base station.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the request to modify the one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration comprises a request to modify at least one of a positioning reference signal bandwidth, a duration of a positioning occasion, and a frequency of the positioning occasion.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the request to modify the one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration comprises a positioning reference configuration identifier associated with one or more positioning reference signal parameters.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the request to modify the one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration is included in a mobile originated location request message.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the second assistance data is received from a location management function via a long term evolution positioning protocol message.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the first assistance data is associated with a plurality of positioning reference signal configurations, and transmitting the request to modify the one or more parameters comprises providing an identifier associated with one of the plurality of positioning reference signal configurations.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein receiving the second assistance data comprises receiving the identifier associated with the one of the plurality of positioning reference signal configurations.

10. A method for providing assistance data associated with on-demand positioning reference signals, comprising:

transmitting first assistance data associated with a first positioning reference signal configuration to a user equipment;

receiving a request from the user equipment to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration;

generating second assistance data associated with a second positioning reference signal configuration, wherein the second positioning reference signal configuration is based at least in part on the request to modify the one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration; and

The second assistance data is sent to the user equipment.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the first assistance data comprises an indication of one or more positioning reference signal configuration parameters that can be modified as needed.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein transmitting the first assistance data comprises providing one or more positioning system information blocks to a base station.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the request to modify the one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration comprises a request to modify at least one of a positioning reference signal bandwidth, a duration of a positioning occasion, and a frequency of the positioning occasion.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein the request to modify the one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration comprises a positioning reference configuration identifier associated with one or more positioning reference signal parameters.

15. The method of claim 10, wherein the request to modify the one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration is included in a mobile originated location request message.

16. The method of claim 10, wherein the second assistance data is included in a long term evolution positioning protocol message.

17. The method of claim 10, wherein the first assistance data is associated with a plurality of positioning reference signal configurations, and the request to modify the one or more parameters comprises an identifier associated with one of the plurality of positioning reference signal configurations.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the second assistance data comprises the identifier associated with the one of the plurality of positioning reference signal configurations.

19. A method for transmitting on-demand positioning reference signals, comprising:

transmitting one or more positioning reference signals based on the first positioning reference signal configuration;

receiving a request to modify one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration; and

one or more positioning reference signals are transmitted based on a second positioning reference signal configuration, wherein the second positioning reference signal configuration is based at least in part on the request to modify the one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the request to modify the one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration comprises a request to modify at least one of a positioning reference signal bandwidth, a duration of a positioning occasion, and a frequency of the positioning occasion.

21. The method of claim 19, wherein the request to modify the one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration comprises a start time and a duration for transmitting the one or more positioning reference signals based on the second positioning reference signal configuration.

22. The method of claim 19, wherein the request to modify the one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration comprises a positioning reference configuration identifier associated with one or more positioning reference signal parameters.

23. The method of claim 19, wherein the second positioning reference signal configuration comprises a desired beam direction.

24. An apparatus, comprising:

a memory;

at least one transceiver;

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

25. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the first assistance data comprises an indication of one or more positioning reference signal configuration parameters that can be modified as needed.

26. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the request to modify the one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration comprises a request to modify at least one of a positioning reference signal bandwidth, a duration of a positioning occasion, and a frequency of the positioning occasion.

27. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the request to modify the one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration comprises a positioning reference configuration identifier associated with one or more positioning reference signal parameters.

28. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the request to modify the one or more parameters of the first positioning reference signal configuration is included in a mobile originated location request message.

29. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the second assistance data is received from a location management function via a long term evolution positioning protocol message.

30. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the first assistance data is associated with a plurality of positioning reference signal configurations, and the at least one processor is further configured to provide an identifier associated with one of the plurality of positioning reference signal configurations.