CN118235058A

CN118235058A - Positioning enhancement for near-far field scenes

Info

Publication number: CN118235058A
Application number: CN202180103880.3A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 陶涛; 车泫受; R·基廷; 徐朝军
Original assignee: Nokia Shanghai Bell Co Ltd; Nokia Solutions and Networks Oy
Current assignee: Nokia Shanghai Bell Co Ltd; Nokia Solutions and Networks Oy
Priority date: 2021-11-05
Filing date: 2021-11-05
Publication date: 2024-06-21
Also published as: WO2023077390A1

Abstract

Methods (500), devices (110, 120, 130-1, 130-2, 700), apparatuses, and computer-readable media (800) for enhancing positioning. The method (500) comprises: at the first device, performing positioning measurements on signals from the third device based on a first antenna grouping scheme of a plurality of antenna grouping schemes, each antenna grouping scheme of the plurality of antenna grouping schemes being associated with a respective number of antenna groups corresponding to a respective AEG level; determining whether reporting conditions for positioning measurements are met based on a set of measurements, the set of measurements being measured based on a first risk grouping scheme associated with a first number of antenna groups; and in accordance with a determination that the reporting condition is satisfied, transmitting a measurement report to the second device (530) based on at least a portion of the set of measurement results. The positioning solution is applicable to both far field and near field and can provide high positioning accuracy with low complexity.

Description

Positioning enhancement for near-far field scenes

Technical Field

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to the field of telecommunications and, more particularly, relate to an apparatus, method, device, and computer-readable storage medium for location enhancement for near-far field scenes.

Background

Positioning and/or ranging techniques, such as positioning solutions based on angle of arrival (AoA), UL-TDOA, etc., are widely used in conventional network systems. The basic principle of the AoA positioning model or algorithm is that each gNB or transmission/reception point (TRP) estimates the angle of positioning of SRS resource(s) received from the UE and then reports the AoA measurements to the location server. The AoA is associated with the direction of the propagating radio frequency wave that is incident on the antenna elements in the antenna array of the gNB/TRP.

In general, the AoA may be measured based on path length differences at individual antenna elements of an antenna array and the path length differences between the antenna elements are denoted as phase differences. Such a solution is only valid for far field scenes. In case the UE is close to the gNB/TRP, which can be seen as a near field scenario, the AoA for each antenna element will be quite different from the AoA estimation based on the corresponding far field model. For example, in a factory environment, the distance of the UE to the gNB may be a few meters or even shorter. Additionally, especially in FR2, the gNB/TRP may have an antenna array of large size. Conventional far field solutions will result in low positioning accuracy and performance in near field scenarios. Thus, a uniform positioning solution is needed for both near field and far field scenarios.

Disclosure of Invention

In general, example embodiments of the present disclosure provide a unified positioning solution for both far field and near field scenarios.

In a first aspect, a first device is provided. The first device includes: at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program code. The at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the first device to: performing positioning measurements on signals from the third device based on a first one of a plurality of antenna grouping schemes, each of the plurality of antenna grouping schemes being associated with a respective number of antenna groups corresponding to a respective antenna element group, AEG, level; determining whether reporting conditions for positioning measurements are met based on a set of measurements, the set of measurements being measured based on a first antenna grouping scheme associated with a first number of antenna groups; and in accordance with a determination that the reporting condition is satisfied, transmitting a measurement report to the second device based on at least a portion of the set of measurement results.

In a second aspect, a second device is provided. The second device includes: at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program code. The at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the second device to: transmitting, to the first device, a second message indicating reporting conditions for positioning measurements with respect to the third device, the positioning measurements being performed based on at least one of a plurality of antenna grouping schemes, each of the plurality of antenna grouping schemes being associated with a respective number of antenna groups corresponding to a respective antenna element group, AEG, level; receiving a measurement report from a first device, the measurement report comprising a plurality of measurement results measured based on at least one antenna grouping scheme; and estimating a location of the third device based on the plurality of measurements.

In a third aspect, a method is provided. The method comprises the following steps: at the first device, performing, based on a first antenna grouping scheme of a plurality of antenna grouping schemes, positioning measurements on signals from the third device, each antenna grouping scheme of the plurality of antenna grouping schemes being associated with a respective number of antenna groups corresponding to a respective antenna element group, AEG, level; determining whether reporting conditions for positioning measurements are met based on a set of measurements based on a first antenna grouping scheme associated with a first number of antenna groups; and in accordance with a determination that the reporting condition is satisfied, transmitting a measurement report to the second device based on at least a portion of the set of measurement results.

In a fourth aspect, a method is provided. The method comprises the following steps: at the second device, sending a second message to the first device, the second message indicating reporting conditions for positioning measurements relative to the third device, the positioning measurements being performed based on at least one antenna grouping scheme of a plurality of antenna grouping schemes, each antenna grouping scheme of the plurality of antenna grouping schemes being associated with a respective number of antenna groups corresponding to a respective antenna element group, AEG, level; receiving a measurement report from a first device, the measurement report comprising a plurality of measurement results measured based on at least one antenna grouping scheme; and estimating a location of the third device based on the plurality of measurements.

In a fifth aspect, a first apparatus is provided. The first device comprises: means for performing positioning measurements on signals from the third device based on a first one of a plurality of antenna grouping schemes, each of the plurality of antenna grouping schemes being associated with a respective number of antenna groups corresponding to a respective antenna element group, AEG, level; means for determining whether reporting conditions for positioning measurements are met based on a set of measurements, the set of measurements being measured based on a first antenna grouping scheme associated with a first number of antenna groups; and means for transmitting a measurement report to the second device based on at least a portion of the set of measurement results in accordance with determining that the reporting condition is satisfied.

In a sixth aspect, a second apparatus is provided. The second device includes: means for transmitting a second message to the first apparatus, the second message indicating reporting conditions for positioning measurements with respect to the third device, the positioning measurements being performed based on at least one antenna grouping scheme of a plurality of antenna grouping schemes, each antenna grouping scheme of the plurality of antenna grouping schemes being associated with a respective number of antenna groups corresponding to a respective antenna element group, AEG, level; means for receiving a measurement report from a first apparatus, the measurement report comprising a plurality of measurement results measured based on at least one antenna grouping scheme; and means for estimating a location of the third device based on the plurality of measurements.

In a seventh aspect, a non-transitory computer readable medium is provided. The non-transitory computer readable medium comprises program instructions for causing an apparatus to perform the method according to the third aspect.

In an eighth aspect, a non-transitory computer readable medium is provided. The non-transitory computer readable medium includes program instructions for causing an apparatus to perform the method according to the fourth aspect.

It should be understood that the summary is not intended to identify key or essential features of the embodiments of the disclosure, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the disclosure. Other features of the present disclosure will become apparent from the following description.

Drawings

Some example embodiments will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

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

Fig. 2A illustrates a schematic diagram illustrating an example of radio waves incident on a linear antenna array based on a far field model according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 2B illustrates a schematic diagram illustrating another example of radio waves incident on an antenna element based on a near field model according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 3 illustrates a schematic diagram illustrating an example of an antenna grouping scheme, according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 4 shows a signaling diagram illustrating an example positioning procedure, according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 illustrates a flowchart of an example positioning method implemented at a first device, according to an example embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 6 illustrates a flowchart of an example positioning method implemented at a second device, according to an example embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 7 illustrates a simplified block diagram of an apparatus suitable for use in practicing the example embodiments of the present disclosure; and

Fig. 8 illustrates a block diagram of an example computer-readable medium, according to an example embodiment of the present disclosure.

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

Detailed Description

The principles of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to some example embodiments. It should be understood that these embodiments are described for illustrative purposes only and to assist those skilled in the art in understanding and practicing the present disclosure, and that no limitation is implied from the scope of the disclosure. The disclosure described herein may be implemented in various ways other than as follows.

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

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

It will be understood that, although the terms "first" and "second," etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another element. For example, a first element could be termed a second element, and, similarly, a second element could be termed a first element, without departing from the scope of example embodiments. As used herein, the term "and/or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the listed terms.

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

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

(a) Hardware-only circuit implementations (such as analog-only and/or digital circuitry-only implementations), and

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

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

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

(C) Software (e.g., firmware) is required for operation, but software hardware circuit(s) and/or processor(s), such as microprocessor(s) or a portion of microprocessor(s), may not be present when not required for operation.

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

As used herein, the term "communication network" refers to a network that conforms to any suitable communication standard, such as Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-advanced (LTE-a), wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), high Speed Packet Access (HSPA), narrowband internet of things (NB-IoT), and the like. Furthermore, the communication between the terminal device and the network device in the communication network may be performed according to any suitable generation communication protocol, including, but not limited to, first generation (1G), second generation (2G), 2.5G, 2.75G, third generation (3G), fourth generation (4G), 4.5G, fifth generation (5G), further sixth generation (6G) communication protocols, and/or any other protocols now known or later developed. Embodiments of the present disclosure may be used in a variety of communication systems. In view of the rapid development of communications, there will of course be future types of communication technologies and systems that may embody the present disclosure. And should not be taken as limiting the scope of the present disclosure to the above-described systems.

As used herein, the term "network device" refers to a node in a communication network via which a terminal device accesses the network and receives services from the node. Depending on the terminology and technology applied, a network device may refer to a Base Station (BS) or an Access Point (AP), such as a node B (NodeB or NB), an evolved node B (eNodeB or eNB), an NR next generation node B (gNB), a Remote Radio Unit (RRU), a Radio Header (RH), a Remote Radio Header (RRH), an Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB) node, a relay, a low power node (such as femto, pico), etc. The network device is allowed to be defined as part of the gNB, such as for example in a CU/DU split, in which case the network device is defined as a gNB-CU or gNB-DU.

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

The AoA estimation may be based on different models in near field and far field scenes. Theoretically, near field and far field scenes can be distinguished by predefined thresholds, which can depend on many aspects, such as antenna aperture, operating frequency, electromagnetic environment, etc. Although fraunhofer distances may provide guidance for operation of the device in far field conditions, some field tests have proven that the threshold is difficult to identify in a practical scenario. Additionally, whether a near field algorithm or a far field algorithm is used for the AoA estimation may also depend on the required positioning accuracy.

This is not a critical issue to deal with before Rel-17, as the positioning accuracy requirements are not strict, such as on the sub-meter scale. Thus, in Rel-16 and earlier, any error introduced by far field assumptions is negligible compared to target accuracy.

As communication technology advances toward Rel-17, the demand for positioning accuracy increases. On the other hand, in some application scenarios, e.g. in a factory environment, the distance between the UE and the gNB may be a few meters or even less. Additionally, especially in FR2, the gNB/TRP may have a large size antenna array. All this will lead to the requirement to consider the AoA estimation in the near field scenario. AoA estimation in the near field is not a special case in practice. For example, fraunhofer distance is used to distinguish whether the distance between two devices is in the far field or the near field, the distance being represented by 2D ²/λ, where λ is the wavelength of the radio wave and D is the dimension of the radiator. Let D be the diameter of a sphere surrounding the radiating portion of the device. If the carrier frequency is 28GHz and D is 30cm, then the threshold distance for near-field and far-field discrimination is 16.8 meters. The threshold distance is more desirable to consider when considering TRP size in practice.

Conventional AoA algorithms for near field scenes are algorithms or implementations on how to effectively estimate angles with near field assumptions. For high positioning accuracy a priori knowledge about whether the object to be positioned is in the near field or the far field is needed to apply the appropriate algorithm for positioning. It is difficult to specify a threshold value for distinguishing near field from far field.

In industrial IoT, in order to pursue high positioning accuracy and low cost, it is worth considering a unified solution applicable to near-field and far-field scenarios. According to embodiments of the present disclosure, a unified positioning solution is provided. The proposed solution is capable of self-adapting according to different environments, thereby obtaining a more accurate estimation result. In the following description, the principle of the unified solution will be explained taking UL-AoA as an example, however, the present disclosure is not limited in this respect, but the concept may also be applied to positioning methods other than UL-AoA.

Fig. 1 illustrates an example of a network environment 100 in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. The network environment 100 includes a first device 110, a second device 120, and third devices 130-1 and 130-2. The first device 110 may be implemented as a Base Station (BS)/TRP, which may also be referred to as BS/TRP 110 hereinafter. The second device 120 may implement a Location Management Function (LMF), which may also be referred to as LMF 120 hereinafter. The third devices 130-1 and 130-2 may implement terminal devices, such as UEs, which may be collectively referred to as the third device 130.

The first device 110 provides radio coverage for the third devices 130-1 and 130-2. The third devices 130-1 and 130-2 may communicate with the first device 110 on the Uplink (UL) or the Downlink (DL). In particular, the direction from the third device 130 to the first device 110 may refer to UL, and the direction from the first device 110 to the third device 130 may refer to DL.

As shown in fig. 1, the third device 130-1 is positioned away from the first device 110, and the third device 130-2 is positioned close to the first device 110. Each of the third devices 130-1 and 130-2 may transmit a wireless signal, such as a Positioning Reference Signal (PRS), in an Uplink (UL) channel.

The first device 110 may measure PRS via antenna elements in an antenna array (not shown) and determine a set of measurement results, e.g., aoA measurements. The AoA measurement may determine the direction of incidence of the propagated radio frequency wave on the antenna elements in the antenna array of the first device 110. The AoA may be measured by a path length difference at individual antenna elements of the antenna array. The path length difference between the antenna elements is denoted as phase difference.

Fig. 2A illustrates a schematic diagram illustrating an example of radio waves incident on a linear antenna array based on a far field model 201, according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. Specifically, a portion of the antenna elements of the first device 110 are shown in fig. 2A, where the incident angle of the wireless signal is θ, and thus the path length differences of the second and third antenna elements are d×sin θ and 2d×sin θ, respectively. The received signal model may be based on the steering vector a (θ) determined as follows, taking into account the M antenna elements in the antenna array.

The AoA, denoted by θ, can then be estimated by estimating the phase difference or time delay between the antenna elements. Furthermore, aoA can also be estimated with higher accuracy by using a high resolution algorithm such as a MUSIC (multiple signal classification) algorithm or the like.

As previously mentioned, the above-described method for determining AoA measurements is only valid for far field scenarios, where the distance between the UE and the TRP is far enough and thus the front of the radio wave can be considered as a plane.

In case the UE is very close to TRP, the AoA for each antenna element will be completely different based on the near field assumption. Fig. 2B illustrates a schematic diagram illustrating another example of radio waves incident on an antenna element based on a near field model 202 according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in fig. 2B, the near field model 202 is a spherical model with relatively high accuracy, while the far field model 201 is a planar model, which can be considered as a relaxed model with relatively low accuracy.

For example, different fields, and thus different positioning models, are involved for the remote third device 130-1 and the close range third device 130-2. To perform AoA estimation with various accuracy requirements and adapt to different environments, the first device 110 may partition the antenna elements in its antenna array based on various antenna grouping schemes such that the antenna elements are grouped into groups of Antenna Elements (AEGs) corresponding to different levels. Therefore, this may also be referred to as heterogeneous antenna element group (H-AEG).

In some example embodiments, a higher level of H-AEG may contain more antenna elements, while a lower level of H-AEG may contain fewer antenna elements. Additionally, the H-AEG containing all antenna elements in the antenna array may correspond to the highest H-AEG level.

Fig. 3 illustrates a schematic diagram illustrating an example of antenna grouping schemes 310-330, according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. As an example, the antenna array of the first device 110 is shown as comprising 8 antenna elements 301 to 308,8 antenna elements 301 to 308 grouped into three different sizes of AEGs corresponding to the respective three AEG levels.

According to the antenna grouping scheme 310, the antenna elements 301 to 308 are grouped into four H-AEGs 1_1 to 1_4 corresponding to the lowest H-AEG level, and each of the H-AEGs 1_1 to 1_4 includes two antenna elements.

According to the antenna grouping scheme 320, the antenna elements 301 to 308 are grouped into three H-AEGs 2_1 to 2_3 corresponding to the medium H-AEG level, and each of the H-AEGs 2_1 to 2_3 includes four antenna elements. As shown, antenna elements in different AEGs may overlap each other.

According to antenna grouping scheme 330, antenna elements 301 through 308 are grouped into a single H-AEG 3 corresponding to the top H-AEG level, and in this case, H-AEG 3 includes all eight antenna elements of first device 110.

Note that the unified positioning solution is not limited to implementing only 8 antenna elements corresponding to three AEG levels. Depending on accuracy requirements, size of the antenna array, performance of the TRP, etc., the antenna elements may be partitioned into more or less H-AEGs corresponding to the respective H-AEG levels.

The first device 110 may begin performing AoA estimation for each AEG group and obtain a plurality of AoA values based on a certain AEG level. Depending on the estimated AoA value, the first device 110 may further determine whether to perform the AoA estimation again using other H-AEG levels or, alternatively, report at least a portion of the estimated AoA value to the LMF 120 based on existing results. The first device may also report at least one of an AEG identification and an antenna group identification, and location information of a respective antenna group associated with the reported AoA value. The location information may be Antenna Reference Point (ARP) information defined in TS 38.455, and the AEG identification and antenna group identification may be ARP identifications. The LMF 120 may then estimate the location of the third device 130 based on the measurements reported by the first device 110.

In some example embodiments, the LMF 120 may provide assistance information to the first device 110 for the AoA estimate, including, but not limited to, an initial H-AEG level for start, an approximate distance between the first device 110 and the third device 130, a threshold for near-field and far-field discrimination, a desired positioning accuracy, information or rules for determining near-field/far-field, an indication of whether the first device 110 is near-field or far-field relative to the third device 130, and the like.

However, such auxiliary information is not necessary for implementation of a unified solution. In some other example embodiments, the first device 110 may perform the AoA estimation without assistance information from the LMF 120.

It should be appreciated that the proposed positioning solution is also applicable in case the UE performs AoA measurements, e.g. in side link positioning for V2X. In the case of V2X, the third devices 130-1 and 130-2 may transmit side link reference signals, which may be conventional side link reference signals, or may be side link signals designed for positioning purposes.

It should also be understood that the number of devices shown in fig. 1 is for illustration purposes only and does not imply any limitation. For example, network environment 100 may include any suitable number of terminal devices and network devices adapted to implement embodiments of the present disclosure.

For discussion purposes only, the first device 110 is illustrated as a TRP and the third device 130 is illustrated as a UE. However, no limitation is implied to the scope of the present application, TRP and UE are only given as example implementations of the first device 110 and the third device 130, respectively. Any other suitable implementation is also possible.

Communications in network environment 100 may conform to any suitable standard including, but not limited to, LTE-evolution, LTE-advanced (LTE-a), wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), global system for mobile communications (GSM), and the like. Furthermore, the communication may be performed according to any generation communication protocol currently known or developed in the future. Examples of communication protocols include, but are not limited to, first generation (1G), second generation (2G), 2.5G, 2.75G, third generation (3G), fourth generation (4G), 4.5G, fifth generation (5G), and/or any other communication protocol.

The principles and implementations of the present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to fig. 4. Fig. 4 shows a signaling diagram illustrating an example positioning procedure 400 according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For discussion purposes, the process 400 will be described with reference to fig. 1-3. The process 400 may involve the first device 110, the second device 120, and the third device 130.

In process 400, positioning measurements should be performed based on at least one of the plurality of antenna grouping schemes 310-330 and each of the plurality of antenna grouping schemes 310-330 is associated with a respective number of antenna groups corresponding to a respective AEG level.

The second device 120 may send 402 a second message to the first device 110 indicating assistance information or rules for positioning measurements. As described above, this step is optional and the process 400 may be implemented without such ancillary information and rules.

The second message may be NRPPa (NR positioning protocol a) message sent by the LMF. The assistance information and/or rules may indicate reporting conditions for positioning measurements with respect to the third device 130.

In embodiments where no assistance information and/or rules are provided, the reporting conditions may be preconfigured by the first device 110 or determined by the first device 110 itself.

In some example embodiments, the assistance information for positioning measurements may include one of the following: 1) An indication of an initial AEG level to begin positioning measurements; and 2) assistance information for determining an initial AEG level to start positioning measurements.

In some example embodiments, the auxiliary information may include, but is not limited to:

information about Timing Advance (TA) associated with the third device 130; for example, for the case where TA is above a certain value, it may be assumed that the third device 130 is in the far field.

Time of arrival (ToA) information associated with the third device 130,

Information about a reference signal from the third device 130; for the case where the RSRP of the PRS from the third device 130 is below a certain value, for example, it may be assumed that the third device 130 is in the far field,

An indication of whether the first device 110 is in the near field or the far field relative to the third device 130, and

Rules for determining whether the first device 110 is in the near field or the far field relative to the third device 130.

In some example embodiments, the second message may include at least one threshold value indicative of a reporting condition, the at least one threshold value including, but not limited to:

A positioning accuracy threshold, such as positioning QoS; and

A measurement threshold determined based on past estimates reported from the first device 110; for example, LMF learning over time for a certain threshold, far field estimation is sufficient for positioning estimation.

The third device 130 transmits 404 a reference signal (e.g., PRS) on a channel between the first device 110 and the third device 130.

In some cases where the third device 130 knows its previous location based on a UE-based positioning (e.g., GNSS-based positioning), a measurement threshold may also be provided by the third device 130.

The first device 110 performs 406 positioning measurements on the received reference signals based on a first antenna grouping scheme associated with a respective number of AEGs corresponding to the initial AEG level.

As an example, because there is no a priori information about the location of the target UE, the LMF may instruct the TRP to begin making positioning measurements for the target UE with the lowest H-AEG level, which corresponds to the antenna grouping scheme 310. In this case, the first device 110 may perform the AoA measurements individually by using the four H-aeg1_1 to 1_4, and thus determine a set of measurements, in which case there will be four AoA estimates.

As another example, the second device 120 may determine that the initial H-AEG level is the highest H-AEG level, and in this case, the positioning measurement is based on the antenna grouping scheme 330, starting by using a single H-AEG that includes all of the antenna elements 301-308.

The first device 110 then determines 408 the next operation based on the set of measurements, which are measured based on the first antenna grouping scheme. For example, the measurement may include a deviation of the AoA value. Additionally or alternatively, to improve the AoA accuracy under the H-AEG framework, the measurement may be the maximum difference of AoA. Other criteria are applicable to the unified positioning solution and the disclosure is not limited in this respect.

For discussion purposes, in the following description, example embodiments are described based on the deviation of the AoA values, and the current H-AEG level corresponds to the antenna group scheme 320 described above, i.e., the first device 110 starts performing positioning measurements by using the H-AEGs 2_1 to 2_3. It should be understood that the operations of process 400 are applicable to other standards and configurations as well.

The first device 110 may determine whether the deviation of the AoA value is greater than or less than a threshold value. The threshold may be configured by the LMF, for example, via signaling in 40. Alternatively, the threshold may be determined by the first device 110 based on local information.

Depending on the determination, the first device 110 makes a decision on the next operation, which may involve two branches of the process 400, namely branches a and B. Specifically, if the deviation of the AoA value is less than the threshold, the next operation may follow branch a of process 400. In some embodiments of branch a, the first device 110 may again perform 410 the AoA estimation based on the highest H-AEG level, e.g., using the entire antenna array for the AoA estimation. A relatively smaller deviation in AoA values may indicate that far field conditions appear to be satisfied because the AoA values measured by different antenna elements or H-AEGs in the array are very similar. In this case, to improve positioning accuracy, the first device 110 may use more antenna elements, e.g., antenna group scheme 330 corresponding to the highest H-AEG level, because more antenna elements can identify more paths.

Alternatively, in some other embodiments of branch a, the first device 110 may report 412 the obtained one or more AoA values directly to the second device 120. In this case, higher positioning accuracy may not be required and an AoA estimation based on the current H-AEG level is sufficient.

In some example embodiments, the first device 110 may report a partial or complete set of measurements to the second device 120. Additionally or alternatively, the first device 110 may take an average or weighted average of AoA measurements obtained from a lower H-AEG level and report the combined values as the final measurement results for the AoA.

Otherwise, if the deviation of the AoA value is greater than the threshold, then the next operation may follow branch B of process 400.

In some embodiments of branch B, the first device 110 may report 414 a portion of the set of measurements for reporting to the second device 120. For example, for better positioning accuracy, the first device 110 may select an AoA value obtained by an H-AEG (e.g., H-aeg2_2) located in an intermediate position in the antenna array to report.

For another example, the first device 110 may report 416 all AoA values obtained from the current H-AEG level.

Alternatively, in some other embodiments of branch B, first device 110 may determine 418 that the positioning measurement needs to be performed again by using another antenna grouping scheme that corresponds to a different H-AEG level than the current H-AEG level.

As an example, the first device 110 may select a further antenna grouping scheme corresponding to a higher H-AEG level to perform the AoA estimation again. For example, where the angle measurements from H-aeg#2_1 and H-aeg#2_2 are similar and the angle measurements of H-aeg#2_2 and H-aeg#2_3 are also similar, e.g., within a predetermined similarity threshold, the first device 110 may determine that the AoA measurement may need to be performed again using an antenna grouping scheme corresponding to a higher H-AEG level, e.g., the antenna grouping scheme 330 corresponds to a highest H-AEG level.

As another example, the first device 110 may select a further antenna grouping scheme corresponding to a lower H-AEG level to perform the AoA estimation again. For example, the first device 110 may select the antenna grouping scheme 310 corresponding to a lower H-AEG level and perform the AoA estimation again according to H-AEG #1_1 to # 1_4.

In some example embodiments, the first device 110 may iteratively repeat the operations described in 410 and 418 until a desired positioning accuracy is reached or a reporting condition is met before reporting the measurement to the LMF. As described above, the positioning accuracy and/or reporting conditions may be configured by the second device 110 or autonomously determined by the first device 110.

According to an example embodiment, a unified positioning solution is provided that is applicable to both near field and far field scenarios. Based on the solution, the antenna elements for positioning measurements are divided into AEGs of various sizes corresponding to the respective AEG levels. The terminal device or TRP is able to identify the near field or far field and adapt the antenna grouping scheme suitable for location estimation accordingly depending on the required location accuracy, the performance and electromagnetic environment of the network system, the size of the antenna array, etc. Additionally, such a solution may be implemented with lower complexity, as no separate near field algorithm needs to be configured and/or run in the product.

Corresponding to the procedure 400 described in connection with fig. 4, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a positioning solution applicable to both near field and far field scenarios involving terminal devices, gNB/TRP and LMF. These methods will be described below with reference to fig. 5 and 6.

Fig. 5 illustrates a flowchart of an example positioning method 500 according to an example embodiment of the disclosure. The method 500 may be implemented by a terminal device for side chain positioning or by a network device such as a gNB or TRP. The method 500 may be implemented at the first device 110 shown in fig. 1. For discussion purposes, the method 500 will be described with reference to FIG. 1. It should be understood that method 500 may also include additional blocks not shown and/or omit some of the blocks shown, and that the scope of the present disclosure is not limited in this respect.

At 510, the first device 110 performs positioning measurements on signals from the third device 130 based on a first antenna grouping scheme of the plurality of antenna grouping schemes. Each antenna grouping scheme of the plurality of antenna grouping schemes may be associated with a respective number of antenna groups corresponding to a respective AEG level.

In some example embodiments, the first device 110 may send a first message to the second device 120 indicating a plurality of antenna grouping schemes and corresponding AEG levels. The second device 120 may be an LMF. The first message may assist the LMF in determining assistance information or rules for positioning measurements. Additionally or alternatively, it may also assist the LMF in processing measurements reported later by the first device 110. As an example, the measurement result may be an AoA estimated by the first device 110.

In some example embodiments, the first device 110 may receive a second message from the second device 120, the second message including one of:

an indication of an initial AEG level to begin positioning measurements, an

Assistance information for determining an initial AEG level to use to start positioning measurements.

In some example embodiments, the auxiliary information may include at least one of:

TA information associated with the third device 130,

ToA information associated with the third device 130,

Information about the positioning reference signals, such as PRSs,

In some example embodiments, the plurality of antenna elements of the first device 110 may be grouped based on a multiple antenna grouping scheme, wherein the higher the AEG level, the more antenna elements in the corresponding antenna group, and the antenna group including all antenna elements of the first device corresponds to the highest AEG level.

At 520, the first device 110 determines whether reporting conditions for positioning measurements are met based on the set of measurements. The set of measurement results is measured based on a first antenna grouping scheme associated with a first number of antenna groups.

In some example embodiments, the first device 110 may receive a second message from the second device 120, the second message indicating: reporting conditions for positioning measurements are performed with respect to the third device 130.

In some example embodiments, the reporting condition may be associated with at least one threshold indicated by the third device 130, and the at least one threshold may be based on a previous location of the third device 130.

If the reporting condition for positioning measurements is met, at 530, the first device 110 sends a measurement report to the second device 120 based on at least a portion of the set of measurements. The first device may also report at least one of the AEG identification and antenna group identification, and location information of the respective antenna group associated with the measurement result set. The location information may be Antenna Reference Point (ARP) information defined in TS 38.455, and the AEG identification and antenna group identification may be ARP identifications.

Otherwise, if the reporting condition for the positioning measurement is not met, the first device 110 performs further processing for obtaining positioning measurements on signals from the third device 130 based on a second antenna grouping scheme of the plurality of antenna grouping schemes, the second antenna grouping scheme corresponding to the second AEG level. The second AEG level may be greater than the first AEG level.

In some example embodiments, the first device 110 may determine the measurement parameters based on the set of measurements. The first device 110 may then determine whether the reporting condition is met based at least in part on the measurement parameters.

In some example embodiments, the measurement parameter includes one of a deviation of the set of measurements and a maximum difference of the set of measurements.

In the above example embodiment, if the measured parameter does not exceed the threshold for near field and far field discrimination and the positioning accuracy associated with the third device 130 does not exceed the threshold for positioning accuracy, the first device 110 may determine that the reporting condition is met.

Alternatively, the first device 110 may determine that the reporting condition is met if the measured parameter exceeds a threshold for near field and far field discrimination. Otherwise, if the measured parameter does not exceed the threshold for near field and far field discrimination, the first device 110 may determine that the reporting condition is not met. In this case, the second AEG level may be greater than the first AEG level.

In some example embodiments, the measurement report may include at least one of:

At least a portion of the set of measurements; as an example, the first device 110 may select a portion of the AoA values of H-AEGs (e.g., H-AEGs 1_2 and 1_3 as shown by the antenna grouping scheme 310 in fig. 3) obtained in intermediate locations in the antenna array; as another example, the first device 110 may select all AoA values obtained from a certain H-AEG level; and

An average or weighted average of the set of measurements; for example, the first device 110 may take an average or weighted average of the AoA values obtained from a certain H-AEG level and report the combined value as the final AoA.

Alternatively, in some example embodiments, the first device 110 may determine that the reporting condition is met if the measured parameter does not exceed a threshold for near field and far field discrimination. Otherwise, if the measured parameter exceeds a threshold for near field and far field discrimination, the first device 110 may determine that the reporting condition is not met. In this case, the second AEG level may be lower than the first AEG level.

In some example embodiments, the first device 110 may determine an initial AEG level to begin positioning measurements based on the local information. The local information may include at least one of TA information associated with the third device 130, an initial distance estimate from the first device 110 to the third device 130, and measurement information reported by the third device 130.

In some example embodiments in which an indication of the initial AEG level is not received from the second device 120, the first device 110 may begin making positioning measurements with the antenna group corresponding to the lowest AEG level.

In some example embodiments, the reporting condition may be associated with at least one threshold determined by the first device 110 or configured by the second device 120. The at least one threshold may include, but is not limited to, a positioning accuracy threshold and a measurement threshold determined based on measurement information previously measured by the first device 110.

Fig. 6 illustrates a flowchart of an example positioning method 600 according to an example embodiment of the disclosure. The method 600 may be implemented by an LMF in a core network. The method 600 may be implemented at the second device 120 shown in fig. 1. For discussion purposes, the method 600 will be described with reference to FIG. 1. It is to be appreciated that method 600 may also include additional blocks not shown and/or omit some of the blocks shown, and that the scope of the present disclosure is not limited in this respect.

At 610, the second device 120 sends a second message to the first device 110 indicating reporting conditions for positioning measurements relative to the third device 130. The positioning measurement should be performed based on at least one antenna grouping scheme of the plurality of antenna grouping schemes, and each antenna grouping scheme of the plurality of antenna grouping schemes may be associated with a respective number of antenna groups corresponding to a respective AEG level.

In some example embodiments, the second message may be NRPPa messages sent by the LMF.

In some example embodiments, the second message may further include one of:

an indication of an initial AEG level to begin positioning measurements; and

In some example embodiments, the auxiliary information includes at least one of:

TA information associated with the third device 130; for the case where TA is above a certain value, for example, it may be assumed that the third device 130 is in the far field,

Time of arrival (ToA) information associated with the third device 130,

In some example embodiments, the second message may include at least one threshold value indicative of a reporting condition, and the at least one threshold value may include at least one of:

A positioning accuracy threshold, such as positioning QoS; and

A measurement threshold determined based on past estimates reported from the first device 110; for example, the LMF learns over time that far field estimates are sufficient for positioning estimation for a certain threshold.

In some example embodiments, the second device 120 may receive a first message from the first device 110, the first message indicating a plurality of antenna grouping schemes and corresponding AEG levels.

The plurality of antenna elements of the first device are grouped based on a plurality of antenna grouping schemes, the higher the AEG level, the more antenna elements in the corresponding antenna group, and the antenna group including all of the plurality of antenna elements corresponds to the highest AEG level.

At 620, the second device 120 receives a measurement report from the first device 110, the measurement report including a plurality of measurement results measured based on at least one antenna grouping scheme.

In some example embodiments, the measurement report may indicate at least one of an AEG identification, an antenna group identification, and location information of a respective antenna group associated with each of the plurality of measurements.

At 630, the second device 120 estimates a location of the third device 130 based on the plurality of measurements.

In an example embodiment, the first device 110 may be one of a network device or a first terminal device, the second device 120 may be an LMF, and the third device may be a second terminal device.

In some example embodiments, a first apparatus (e.g., first apparatus 110) capable of performing any of the methods 500 may include means for performing the respective steps of the methods 500. The components may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the components may be implemented in circuitry or software modules.

In some example embodiments, a first apparatus includes: means for performing positioning measurements on signals from the third device based on a first one of a plurality of antenna grouping schemes, each of the plurality of antenna grouping schemes being associated with a respective number of antenna groups corresponding to a respective antenna element group, AEG, level; means for determining whether reporting conditions for positioning measurements are met based on a set of measurements, the set of measurements being measured based on a first antenna grouping scheme associated with a first number of antenna groups; and means for transmitting a measurement report to the second device based on at least a portion of the set of measurement results in accordance with determining that the reporting condition is satisfied.

In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: in accordance with a determination that the reporting condition is not met, performing further processing to obtain a positioning measurement of the signal from the third apparatus based on a second antenna grouping scheme of the plurality of antenna grouping schemes, the second antenna grouping scheme corresponding to a second AEG level.

In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for transmitting a first message to a second apparatus indicating a plurality of antenna grouping schemes and corresponding AEG levels.

In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for receiving a second message from a second device, the second message comprising one of: an indication of an initial AEG level to begin positioning measurements; and assistance information for determining an initial AEG level to start positioning measurements.

information about timing advance associated with the third device,

Time of arrival information associated with the third device,

Information about the positioning reference signal(s),

An indication of whether the first device is in the near field or the far field relative to the third device, and

Rules for determining whether the first device is in the near field or the far field relative to the third device.

In some example embodiments, the plurality of antenna elements of the first apparatus are grouped based on a plurality of antenna grouping schemes, the higher the AEG level, the more antenna elements in the corresponding antenna group, and the antenna group including all antenna elements of the first apparatus corresponds to the highest AEG level.

In some example embodiments, the means for determining whether the reporting condition is met comprises: means for determining a measurement parameter based on the set of measurement results, the measurement parameter; and means for determining whether the reporting condition is satisfied based at least in part on the measurement parameter.

In some example embodiments, the measurement parameter includes one of: measuring the deviation of the result set; and the maximum difference of the set of measurements.

In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: in accordance with a determination that the measurement parameter does not exceed a threshold for near field and far field discrimination and that the positioning accuracy associated with the third apparatus does not exceed a positioning accuracy threshold, determining that the reporting condition is met.

In some example embodiments, the measurement report includes at least one of: at least a portion of the set of measurements, and an average or weighted average of the set of measurements.

In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: in accordance with a determination that the measurement parameter does not exceed a threshold for near field and far field discrimination, determining that the reporting condition is not satisfied.

In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for determining that the reporting condition is not met in accordance with a determination that the measurement parameter exceeds a threshold for near field and far field discrimination and that a difference between measurement results measured by two adjacent antenna groups does not exceed a threshold difference.

In some example embodiments, the second AEG level is greater than the first AEG level.

In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: and means for determining that the reporting condition is met based on determining that the measurement parameter exceeds a threshold for near field and far field discrimination.

In some example embodiments, the measurement report includes one of the following: a portion of measurements measured by at least one antenna group located at an intermediate position in the antenna array; a set of measurements.

In some example embodiments, the measurement report indicates at least one of an AEG identification, an antenna group identification, and location information of a respective antenna group associated with each of the reported measurements.

In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for determining that the reporting condition is not met based on determining that the measurement parameter exceeds a threshold for near field and far field discrimination.

In some example embodiments, the second AEG level is lower than the first AEG level.

In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for determining an initial AEG level to start a positioning measurement based on local information, the local information comprising at least one of: information about timing advance associated with the third device, an initial distance estimate from the first device to the third device, and measurement information reported by the third device.

In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: and means for starting positioning measurements with the antenna group corresponding to the lowest AEG level in accordance with an indication that it is determined that there is no initial AEG level received from the second apparatus.

In some example embodiments, the reporting condition is associated with at least one threshold determined by the first apparatus or configured by the second apparatus, and the at least one threshold comprises at least one of: a positioning accuracy threshold, and a measurement threshold determined based on measurement information previously measured by the first device.

In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for receiving a second message from a second device, the second message indicating: reporting conditions for positioning measurements are performed with respect to the third device.

In some example embodiments, the reporting condition is associated with at least one threshold indicated by the third apparatus, and the at least one threshold is based on a previous location of the third apparatus.

In some example embodiments, the first apparatus comprises one of a network device or a first terminal device, the second apparatus comprises a location management function, LMF, and the third apparatus comprises a second terminal device.

In some example embodiments, a second apparatus (e.g., second apparatus 120) capable of performing any of the methods 600 may include means for performing the respective steps of the methods 600. The components may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the components may be implemented in circuitry or software modules.

In some example embodiments, the second apparatus includes: means for transmitting a second message to the first apparatus, the second message indicating reporting conditions for positioning measurements relative to the third apparatus, the positioning measurements being performed based on at least one antenna grouping scheme of a plurality of antenna grouping schemes, each antenna grouping scheme of the plurality of antenna grouping schemes being associated with a respective number of antenna groups corresponding to a respective antenna element group, AEG, level; means for receiving a measurement report from a first apparatus, the measurement report comprising a plurality of measurement results measured based on at least one antenna grouping scheme; and means for estimating a position of the third device based on the plurality of measurements.

In some example embodiments, the measurement report indicates at least one of an AEG identification, an antenna group identification, and location information of a respective antenna group associated with each of the plurality of measurements.

In some example embodiments, the second apparatus further comprises: means for receiving a first message from a first apparatus, the first message indicating a plurality of antenna grouping schemes and corresponding AEG levels.

In some example embodiments, the plurality of antenna elements of the first apparatus are grouped based on a plurality of antenna grouping schemes, the higher the AEG level, the more antenna elements in the corresponding antenna group, and the antenna group including all of the plurality of antenna elements corresponds to the highest AEG level.

In some example embodiments, the second message further comprises one of: an indication of an initial AEG level to begin positioning measurements; and assistance information for determining an initial AEG level to start positioning measurements.

information about timing advance associated with the third device,

Time of arrival information associated with the third device,

Information about the positioning reference signal(s),

In some example embodiments, the second message includes at least one threshold value indicative of a reporting condition, and the at least one threshold value includes at least one of: a positioning accuracy threshold and a measurement threshold determined based on measurement information previously measured by the first device.

Fig. 7 is a simplified block diagram of an apparatus 700 suitable for use in implementing embodiments of the present disclosure. Device 700 may be provided to implement a communication device, such as first device 110 and second device 120 as shown in fig. 1. As shown, device 700 includes one or more processors 710, one or more memories 720 coupled to processors 710, and one or more transmitters and/or receivers (TX/RX) 740 coupled to processors 710.

TX/RX 740 may be configured for bi-directional communication. TX/RX 740 has at least one antenna to facilitate communication. The communication interface may represent any interface necessary to communicate with other network elements.

Processor 710 may be of any type suitable for use in a local technology network and may include, by way of non-limiting example, one or more of the following: general purpose computers, special purpose computers, microprocessors, digital Signal Processors (DSPs), and processors based on a multi-core processor architecture. The device 700 may have multiple processors, such as an application specific integrated circuit chip that is slaved in time to a clock that synchronizes the master processor.

Memory 720 may include one or more non-volatile memories and one or more volatile memories. Examples of non-volatile memory include, but are not limited to, read-only memory (ROM) 724, electrically programmable read-only memory (EPROM), flash memory, hard disks, compact Disks (CD), digital Video Disks (DVD), and other magnetic and/or optical storage media. Examples of volatile memory include, but are not limited to, random Access Memory (RAM) 722 and other volatile memory that does not last for the duration of the power outage.

The computer program 730 includes computer-executable instructions that can be executed by an associated processor 710. Program 730 may be stored in ROM 724. Processor 710 may perform any suitable actions and processes by loading program 730 into RAM 722.

Example embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented by the program 730 such that the device 700 may perform any of the processes of the present disclosure as discussed with reference to fig. 4. Embodiments of the present disclosure may also be implemented in hardware or a combination of software and hardware.

In some example embodiments, the program 730 may be tangibly embodied in a computer-readable medium, which may be included in the device 700 (such as in the memory 720) or other storage device accessible to the device 700. The device 700 may load the program 730 from a computer readable medium into the RAM 722 for execution. The computer readable medium may include any type of tangible, non-volatile storage, such as ROM, EPROM, flash memory, hard disk, CD, DVD, etc. Fig. 8 shows an example of a computer readable medium 800 in the form of a CD or DVD. The computer readable medium has a program 730 stored thereon.

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

The present disclosure also provides at least one computer program product tangibly stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. The computer program product comprises computer executable instructions, such as those included in program modules, that are executed in a device on a target real or virtual processor to perform the methods 500 or 600 described above with reference to fig. 5-6. Generally, program modules may include routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. The functionality of the program modules may be combined or split between program modules as desired in various embodiments. Machine-executable instructions for program modules may be executed in a local or distributed device. In a distributed device, program modules may be located in both local and remote memory storage media.

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

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

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

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

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

Claims

1. A first device, comprising:

At least one processor; and

At least one memory including computer program code;

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

Performing positioning measurements on signals from the third device based on a first antenna grouping scheme of a plurality of antenna grouping schemes, each antenna grouping scheme of the plurality of antenna grouping schemes being associated with a respective number of antenna groups corresponding to a respective antenna element group, AEG, level;

determining whether reporting conditions for the positioning measurements are met based on a set of measurements, the set of measurements being measured based on the first antenna grouping scheme associated with a first number of antenna groups; and

In accordance with a determination that the reporting condition is satisfied, a measurement report is sent to a second device based on at least a portion of the set of measurements.

2. The first device of claim 1, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, further cause the first device to:

In accordance with a determination that the reporting condition is not met, further processing is performed to obtain positioning measurements on signals from the third device based on a second antenna grouping scheme of the plurality of antenna grouping schemes, the second antenna grouping scheme corresponding to a second AEG level.

3. The first device of claim 1, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, further cause the first device to:

A first message is sent to the second device, the first message indicating the plurality of antenna grouping schemes and corresponding AEG levels.

4. The first device of claim 1, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, further cause the first device to:

Receiving a second message from the second device, the second message comprising one of:

An indication of an initial AEG level to begin the positioning measurement; and

Assistance information for determining the initial AEG level to use to start the positioning measurement.

5. The first device of claim 4, wherein the auxiliary information comprises at least one of:

Information about timing advance associated with the third device,

Time of arrival information associated with the third device,

Information about the positioning reference signal(s),

A rule for determining whether the first device is in the near field or the far field relative to the third device.

6. The first device of claim 1, wherein a plurality of antenna elements of the first device are grouped based on the plurality of antenna grouping schemes, the higher the AEG level, the more antenna elements in a corresponding antenna group, and an antenna group including all of the antenna elements of the first device corresponds to a highest AEG level.

7. The first device of claim 1, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the first device to determine whether the reporting condition is met by:

Determining a measurement parameter based on the set of measurement results; and

Based at least in part on the measurement parameters, a determination is made as to whether the reporting condition is satisfied.

8. The first device of claim 7, wherein the measurement parameter comprises one of:

deviation of the set of measurements; and

The maximum difference of the set of measurements.

9. The first device of claim 7, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, further cause the first device to:

In accordance with a determination that the measurement parameter does not exceed a threshold for near-field and far-field discrimination and that positioning accuracy associated with the third device does not exceed a positioning accuracy threshold, the reporting condition is determined to be satisfied.

10. The first device of claim 9, wherein the measurement report includes at least one of:

At least a portion of the set of measurements, and

An average or weighted average of the set of measurements.

11. The first device of claim 7, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, further cause the first device to:

in accordance with a determination that the measurement parameter does not exceed a threshold for near-field and far-field discrimination, it is determined that the reporting condition is not satisfied.

12. The first device of claim 5, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, further cause the first device to:

In accordance with a determination that the measurement parameter exceeds a threshold for near-field and far-field discrimination and that a difference between the measurement results measured by two adjacent antenna groups does not exceed a threshold difference, it is determined that the reporting condition is not satisfied.

13. The first device of claim 11 or 12, wherein the second AEG level is greater than the first AEG level.

14. The first device of claim 7, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, further cause the first device to:

In accordance with a determination that the measurement parameter exceeds a threshold for near field and far field discrimination, it is determined that the reporting condition is satisfied.

15. The first device of claim 14, wherein the measurement report comprises one of:

A portion of the measurements measured by at least one antenna group located at an intermediate position in the antenna array; and

The set of measurements.

16. The first device of claim 10 or 15, wherein the measurement report indicates at least one of: AEG identification, antenna group identification, and location information for a respective antenna group associated with each of the reported measurements.

17. The first device of claim 7, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, further cause the first device to:

in accordance with a determination that the measurement parameter exceeds a threshold for near-field and far-field discrimination, it is determined that the reporting condition is not satisfied.

18. The first device of claim 17, wherein the second AEG level is lower than the first AEG level.

19. The first device of claim 1, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, further cause the first device to:

Determining an initial AEG level to start the positioning measurement based on local information, the local information including at least one of:

Information about timing advance associated with the third device,

An initial distance estimate from the first device to the third device, and

Measurement information reported by the third device.

20. The first device of claim 1, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, further cause the first device to:

In accordance with an indication of a determination that there is no initial AEG level received from the second device, the positioning measurement is started with the antenna group corresponding to the lowest AEG level.

21. The first device of claim 1, wherein the reporting condition is associated with at least one threshold determined by the first device or configured by the second device, and the at least one threshold comprises at least one of:

A positioning accuracy threshold, and

A measurement threshold determined based on measurement information previously measured by the first device.

22. The first device of claim 21, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, further cause the first device to:

Receiving a second message from the second device, the second message indicating: the reporting condition for the positioning measurement is performed with respect to the third device.

23. The first device of claim 1, wherein the reporting condition is associated with at least one threshold indicated by the third device, and the at least one threshold is based on a previous location of the third device.

24. The first device of claim 1, wherein the first device comprises one of a network device or a first terminal device, the second device comprises a location management function, LMF, and the third device comprises a second terminal device.

25. A second device, comprising:

At least one processor; and

At least one memory including computer program code;

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

Transmitting, to the first device, a second message indicating reporting conditions for positioning measurements with respect to the third device, the positioning measurements being performed based on at least one of a plurality of antenna grouping schemes, each of the plurality of antenna grouping schemes being associated with a respective number of antenna groups corresponding to a respective antenna element group, AEG, level;

receiving a measurement report from the first device, the measurement report comprising a plurality of measurement results measured based on the at least one antenna grouping scheme; and

Based on the plurality of measurements, a location of the third device is estimated.

26. The second device of claim 25, wherein the measurement report indicates: at least one of an AEG identification, an antenna group identification, and location information for a respective antenna group associated with each of the plurality of measurements.

27. The second device of claim 25, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, further cause the second device to at least:

A first message is received from the first device, the first message indicating the plurality of antenna grouping schemes and corresponding AEG levels.

28. The second device of claim 25, wherein a plurality of antenna elements of the first device are grouped based on the plurality of antenna grouping schemes, the higher the AEG level, the more antenna elements in a corresponding antenna group, and an antenna group including all of the plurality of antenna elements corresponds to a highest AEG level.

29. The second device of claim 25, wherein the second message further comprises one of:

An indication of an initial AEG level to begin the positioning measurement; and

30. The second device of claim 25, wherein the auxiliary information comprises at least one of:

Information about timing advance associated with the third device,

Time of arrival information associated with the third device,

Information about the positioning reference signal(s),

31. The second device of claim 25, wherein the second message includes at least one threshold value indicative of the reporting condition, and the at least one threshold value includes at least one of:

A positioning accuracy threshold, and

32. A second device as claimed in claim 25, wherein the first device comprises one of a network device or a first terminal device, the second device comprises a location management function, LMF, and the third device comprises a second terminal device.

33. A method, comprising:

At the first device, performing positioning measurements on signals from the third device based on a first antenna grouping scheme of a plurality of antenna grouping schemes, each antenna grouping scheme of the plurality of antenna grouping schemes being associated with a respective number of antenna groups corresponding to a respective antenna element group, AEG, level;

34. A method, comprising:

At the second device, sending a second message to the first device, the second message indicating reporting conditions for positioning measurements with respect to the third device, the positioning measurements being performed based on at least one antenna grouping scheme of a plurality of antenna grouping schemes, each antenna grouping scheme of the plurality of antenna grouping schemes being associated with a respective number of antenna groups corresponding to a respective antenna element group, AEG, level;

35. A first apparatus, comprising:

Means for performing positioning measurements on signals from a third device based on a first antenna grouping scheme of a plurality of antenna grouping schemes, each antenna grouping scheme of the plurality of antenna grouping schemes being associated with a respective number of antenna groups corresponding to a respective antenna element group, AEG, level;

Means for determining whether reporting conditions for the positioning measurements are met based on a set of measurements, the set of measurements being measured based on the first antenna grouping scheme associated with a first number of antenna groups; and

Means for sending a measurement report to a second device based on at least a portion of the set of measurement results in accordance with a determination that the reporting condition is satisfied.

36. A second apparatus, comprising:

Means for sending a second message to the first apparatus, the second message indicating reporting conditions for positioning measurements with respect to a third device, the positioning measurements being performed based on at least one antenna grouping scheme of a plurality of antenna grouping schemes, each antenna grouping scheme of the plurality of antenna grouping schemes being associated with a respective number of antenna groups corresponding to a respective antenna element group, AEG, level;

means for receiving a measurement report from the first apparatus, the measurement report comprising a plurality of measurement results measured based on the at least one antenna grouping scheme; and

Means for estimating a location of the third device based on the plurality of measurements.

37. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising program instructions for causing an apparatus to perform at least the method of claim 33 or 34.