TW202329728A - Method and apparatus for positioning of a user equipment in an inactive state - Google Patents

Abstract

Positioning of a UE is supported in a Radio Resource Control (RRC) Inactive state. The UE receives from a location server a request for periodic or triggered location and an indication of whether uplink, downlink, or uplink and downlink positioning will be used for subsequent location reporting events when the UE is in the RRC Inactive state. When an event is detected, the UE sends a first event report and a second event report to the location server to report the event and enable UE location while the UE is in the RRC Inactive state. The event reports are each sent with Small Data Transmission (SDT). The first event report may include a Request Assistance Data message indicating a request for an uplink (UL) Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) configuration and the second event report may include location measurement performed by the UE.

Description

Method and device for locating user equipment in an inactive state

This case relates generally to communications, and more specifically to technologies used to support location-based services for user equipment (UE).

The wireless communication system has gone through various generations of development, including the first generation analog wireless telephone service (1G), the second generation (2G) digital wireless telephone service (including temporary 2.5G and 2.75G networks), the third generation (3G ) high-speed data, wireless services that support the Internet, and fourth-generation (4G) services (for example, LTE or WiMax). The fifth-generation (5G) New Radio (NR) mobile service standard calls for higher data transfer speeds, more connections and better coverage, among other improvements. According to the Next Generation Mobile Networks Alliance, 5G NR is designed to provide tens of thousands of users with data rates of tens of megabits per second, and tens of thousands of employees in the office. 1 gigabit data rate per second.

For some applications, it may be useful or essential to be able to obtain the location of a mobile device via a wireless communication system. For example, applications such as navigation aids, public safety support, asset tracking, and management of moving objects in factories or warehouses may require positioning of mobile devices. For some applications and/or for certain types of mobile devices, it may be desirable to locate a mobile device with reduced power consumption and/or reduced latency for the mobile device. Accordingly, methods and systems for achieving reduced power consumption and/or reduced latency could be beneficial.

Supports positioning of UEs in a radio resource control (RRC) non-enabled state. The UE receives from the positioning server a request for periodic or triggered positioning and an indication whether subsequent position reporting events will use uplink, downlink or both uplink and downlink positioning when the UE is in the RRC inactive state. When an event is detected when the UE is in the RRC disabled state, the UE sends the first event report and the second event report to the positioning server to report the event and enable UE positioning when the UE is in the RRC disabled state. The event reports are each sent via Small Data Transfer (SDT). The first event report may include a Request Assistance Data message indicating a request for uplink (UL) positioning reference signal (PRS) configuration, while the second event report may include position measurements performed by the UE.

In one embodiment, a method performed by a user equipment (UE) for supporting positioning of a UE in a radio resource control (RRC) non-enabled state comprises the steps of: receiving a request to perform periodic or triggered positioning; receiving an indication of whether subsequent location reporting events will use uplink positioning, downlink positioning, or both uplink and downlink positioning when the UE is in the RRC non-enabled state; detecting while in the RRC non-enabled state event; and sending a first event report and a second event report to report the event and enable UE positioning when the UE is in the RRC non-enabled state, wherein the first event report and the second event report are each transmitted via small data ( SDT) and sent.

In one embodiment, a user equipment (UE) configured to support positioning of UEs in a radio resource control (RRC) non-enabled state includes: a wireless transceiver configured to communicate with Entities in the wireless network communicate wirelessly; at least one memory; at least one processor, the at least one processor coupled to the wireless transceiver and the at least one memory, wherein the at least one processor is configured to: via the A radio transceiver receives a request to perform periodic or triggered positioning; via the radio transceiver receives an indication whether subsequent location reporting events will use uplink positioning, downlink positioning, or uplink positioning when the UE is in the RRC inactive state and an indication of downlink positioning; detecting an event while in the RRC inactive state; and sending a first event report and a second event report via the radio transceiver to report the UE in the RRC inactive state event and enable UE positioning, wherein the first event report and the second event report are each sent via Small Data Transfer (SDT).

In an embodiment, a user equipment (UE) configured to support positioning of UEs in a radio resource control (RRC) non-enabled state comprises: for receiving a request to perform periodic or triggered positioning means for receiving an indication that a subsequent location reporting event will use uplink positioning, downlink positioning, or uplink and downlink positioning when the UE is in the RRC non-enabled state; for being in means for detecting an event while in the RRC inactive state; and means for sending a first event report and a second event report to report the event and enable UE positioning when the UE is in the RRC inactive state, wherein the first event report The first event report and the second event report are each sent via small data transfer (SDT).

In one embodiment, a non-transitory storage medium includes stored thereon code operable to configure at least one processor in a user equipment (UE) to support a radio resource control (RRC) Positioning of a UE in a non-enabled state, the code includes instructions for: receiving a request to perform periodic or triggered positioning; an indication of uplink positioning, downlink positioning, or both uplink and downlink positioning; detecting an event while in the RRC non-enabled state; and sending a first event report and a second event report for when the UE is in The event is reported when the RRC is not enabled and UE positioning is enabled, wherein the first event report and the second event report are each sent via Small Data Transmission (SDT).

In one embodiment, a method performed by a positioning server for supporting positioning of a user equipment (UE) in a radio resource control (RRC) inactive state comprises the steps of: sending to the UE a request for performing a periodic or triggering a request for positioning; sending to the UE an indication that subsequent location reporting events will use uplink positioning, downlink positioning, or both uplink and downlink positioning when the UE is in the RRC non-enabled state; and from the UE The UE receives the first event report and the second event report to report the UE's detection of the event and enable UE positioning when the UE is in the RRC non-enabled state, wherein when the UE is in the RRC non-enabled state, the first The event report and the second event report are each sent by the UE via Small Data Transport (SDT).

In one embodiment, a positioning server configured to support positioning of a user equipment (UE) in a radio resource control (RRC) non-enabled state includes: an external interface configured to communicate with a wireless network Entities in the road communicate wirelessly; at least one memory; at least one processor, the at least one processor is coupled to the external interface and the at least one memory, wherein the at least one processor is configured to: via the external interface to The UE sends a request to perform periodic or triggered positioning; sends a request to the UE via the external interface whether subsequent location reporting events will use uplink positioning, downlink positioning or uplink positioning when the UE is in the RRC inactive state an indication of road and downlink positioning; and receiving a first event report and a second event report from the UE via the external interface to report detection of events by the UE and enable UE positioning when the UE is in the RRC non-enabled state , wherein when the UE is in the RRC inactive state, the first event report and the second event report are each sent by the UE via small data transmission (SDT).

In one embodiment, a positioning server configured to support positioning of a user equipment (UE) in a non-radio resource control (RRC) enabled state includes: sending to the UE a request for performing periodic or triggered means for requesting a location; means for sending an indication to the UE that subsequent location reporting events will use uplink positioning, downlink positioning, or uplink and downlink positioning when the UE is in the RRC non-enabled state means; and means for receiving a first event report and a second event report from the UE to report detection of an event by the UE and enable UE positioning when the UE is in the RRC non-enabled state, wherein when the UE is in the RRC non-enabled state When RRC is not enabled, the first event report and the second event report are each sent by the UE via Small Data Transmission (SDT).

In one embodiment, a non-transitory storage medium includes stored thereon code operable to configure at least one processor in a location server to support a radio resource control (RRC) inactive state Positioning of a user equipment (UE), the code includes instructions for: sending a request to the UE to perform periodic or triggered positioning; sending a request to the UE when the UE is in the RRC disabled an indication that subsequent location reporting events will use uplink positioning, downlink positioning, or both uplink and downlink positioning when in the state; When the UE is in the non-enabled state, report the detection of the event by the UE and enable UE positioning, wherein when the UE is in the RRC non-enabled state, the first event report and the second event report are each transmitted by the UE via small data transmission (SDT ) while sending.

Aspects of the present case are provided in the following description and associated drawings for various examples provided for purposes of illustration. Alternative aspects can be devised without departing from the scope of the present case. Additionally, well-known elements of the present application will not be described in detail or will be omitted so as not to obscure the relevant details of the present application.

The words "exemplary" and/or "exemplary" are used herein to mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration." Any aspect described herein as "exemplary" and/or "exemplary" is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects. Likewise, the term "aspects" of the subject matter does not require that all aspects of the subject matter include the discussed feature, advantage or mode of operation.

Those of skill in the art will understand that the information and signals described below may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referred to throughout the following description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, light fields or particles, or any combination thereof , which depends partly on the particular application, partly on the desired design, partly on the corresponding technology, etc.

Furthermore, many aspects are described in terms of sequences of actions performed, for example, by elements of a computing device. It will be appreciated that the various acts described herein may be performed by specific circuitry (eg, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC)), by program instructions executed via one or more processors, or by a combination of both. Additionally, the sequences of actions described herein may be considered fully embodied in any form of non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored therein a corresponding set of computer instructions which, when executed, will cause or instruct the relevant The coupled processors perform the functionality described herein. Thus, the various aspects of this case can be embodied in many different forms, all of which are considered within the scope of the claimed subject matter. In addition, for each aspect described herein, the corresponding form of any such aspect may be described herein as, for example, "logic configured to perform the described action."

As used herein, unless otherwise stated, the terms "user equipment" (UE) and "base station" are not intended to be specific or otherwise limited to any particular radio access technology (RAT). In general, a UE can be any wireless communication device used by a user to communicate over a wireless communication network (e.g., mobile phone, router, tablet, laptop, for tracking consumables, packages, assets or other devices such as personal and pet Physical consumer tracking devices, wearable devices (e.g., smart watches, glasses, augmented reality (AR)/virtual reality (VR) headsets, etc.), vehicles (e.g., cars, motorcycles, bicycles, etc.), Internet of Things (IoT) devices, etc.). A UE may be mobile, or may be stationary (eg, at certain times) 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 equipment", "wireless device", "user equipment", "user terminal", "subscriber station" ”, “user terminal” or UT, “mobile terminal”, “mobile station”, “mobile device” or variations thereof. Typically, a UE can communicate with a core network via the RAN, and via the core network, the UE can connect with external networks such as the Internet and with other UEs. Of course, other mechanisms are also possible for the UE to connect to the core network and/or the Internet, such as via a wired access network, a wireless area network (WLAN) network (e.g. based on IEEE 802.11, etc.) .

A base station may operate according to one of several RATs for communicating with UEs depending on the network in which it is deployed, and may alternatively be referred to as an Access Point (AP), a Network Node, a NodeB, an Evolved NodeB (eNB ), New Radio (NR) Node B (also known as gNB), etc. Additionally, in some systems, a base station may provide purely edge node signaling functions, while in other systems, it may provide additional control and/or network management functions. The communication link through which a UE can send signals to a base station is called an uplink (UL) channel (eg, reverse traffic channel, reverse control channel, access channel, etc.). Communication links over which a base station can send signals to UEs are referred to as downlink (DL) or forward link channels (eg, paging channel, control channel, broadcast channel, forward traffic channel, etc.). As used herein, the term Traffic Channel (TCH) may stand for UL/Reverse or DL/Forward Traffic Channel.

The term "base station" may refer to a single physical transmission point or multiple physical transmission points that may or may not be co-located. For example, where the term "base station" refers to a single physical transmission point, the physical transmission point may be an antenna of the base station, which corresponds to a cell of the base station. Where the term "base station" refers to multiple co-located physical transmission points, the physical transmission points may be the base station's antenna array (e.g., as in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system or at a base station using beamforming in the case of). Where the term "base station" refers to multiple non-co-located physical transmission points, the physical transmission points may be a Distributed Antenna System (DAS) (a network of spatially separated antennas connected to a common source via a transmission medium) or a remote Radio Head (RRH) (Remote Base Station connected to Serving Base Station). Alternatively, the non-co-located physical transmission point may be a serving base station that receives measurement reports from the UE and a neighboring base station whose reference RF signal is being measured by the UE.

To support UE positioning, two categories of positioning solutions are defined: control plane and user plane. With control plane (CP) positioning, positioning and positioning support related signaling can be carried over existing network (and UE) interfaces and using existing protocols dedicated to signaling transport. For user plane (UP) positioning, signaling related to positioning and positioning support can be used as part of other data such as Internet Protocol (IP), Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and User Datagram Protocol (UDP) agreement to carry.

The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) has been based on the Global System for Mobile Communications GSM (2G), the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) (3G), the Long Term Evolution (LTE) of the Fourth Generation (4G) and the Fifth Generation (5G) )'s New Radio (NR) defines a control plane positioning solution for UEs using radio access. These solutions are defined in 3GPP Technical Specifications (TS) 23.271 and 23.273 (generic part), 43.059 (GSM access), 25.305 (UMTS access), 36.305 (LTE access) and 38.305 (NR access). The Open Action Alliance (OMA) has similarly defined a UP positioning solution called Secure User Plane Location (SUPL), which can be used to locate UEs accessing GSM-supported IP packets such as Universal Packet Radio Service (GPRS)), any of multiple radio interfaces supporting GRPS with UMTS or IP access with LTE or NR.

Both CP and UP positioning solutions can use a positioning server (LS) to support positioning. The positioning server may be part of or accessible from the UE's serving network or home network, or may simply be accessed via the Internet or via a local intranet. If the UE needs to be positioned, the positioning server may initiate a communication session with the UE (eg, a positioning communication session or a SUPL communication session) and coordinate UE location measurement and UE estimated location determination. During the positioning communication period, the positioning server can request the positioning capability of the UE (or the UE can provide positioning capability without request), can provide auxiliary information to the UE (for example, if the UE requests or does not exist) and can receive information from the UE. For example, position estimates or position measurements are requested for GNSS, Downlink Time Difference of Arrival (DL-TDOA), AOD, Multi-Cell RTT and/or Enhanced Cell ID (ECID) positioning methods. The UE may use the assistance data to acquire and measure GNSS and/or PRS signals (eg, by providing expected characteristics of the signals, such as frequency, expected time of arrival, signal decoding, signal Doppler).

In the UE-based mode of operation, the UE may also or instead use assistance data to help determine a position estimate from the resulting position measurements (for example, if the assistance data provides satellite almanac data in the case of GNSS positioning or base station positioning, and in Other base station characteristics such as PRS configuration are provided in case of terrestrial positioning using e.g. DL-TDOA, AOD, multi-cell RTT, etc.).

In the UE-assisted mode of operation, the UE may return position measurements to a positioning server, which may be based on these measurements and possibly other known or configured data (e.g. satellite almanac for GNSS position data, or base station characteristics, including base station location and possible PRS configuration in the case of terrestrial positioning using e.g. DL-TDOA, AOD, multi-cell RTT, etc.) to determine the UE's estimated location.

In another stand-alone mode of operation, the UE can perform position-related measurements without any positioning assistance data from the positioning server, and can further calculate the position or position without any positioning assistance data from the positioning server location changes. Positioning methods that can be used in standalone mode include GPS and GNSS (eg if the UE obtains satellite orbit data from data broadcast by the GPS and GNSS satellites themselves) and sensors.

Positioning methods (also called position methods) can be categorized as "uplink" (UL), "downlink" (DL), and "uplink and downlink" (UL +DL). The UL positioning method utilizes UL measurements of signals transmitted by the target UE (eg, UL PRS, sometimes referred to as SRS for positioning). Measurements are typically obtained by one or more base stations (eg, gNBs), access points or other network entities. UL positioning methods include UL-AOA, UL-TDOA and ECID. DL positioning methods utilize DL measurements of signals transmitted by one or more base stations, access points, SVs or other signal sources. Measurements are obtained by locating the target UE. DL positioning methods include DL-AOA, DL-TDOA, DL-AOD, A-GNSS, WLAN (also known as WiFi or Wi-Fi), and ECID. The UL+DL positioning method utilizes DL measurements obtained from signals transmitted by the target UE to one or more base stations, access points, SVs or other signal sources and DL measurements transmitted by the target UE and transmitted by one or more base stations, storage Both take point or UL measurements of signals obtained by other entities. UL+DL localization methods include RTT and multicellular RTT.

In the case of 3GPP CP positioning, the positioning server can be an Enhanced Serving Mobile Location Center (E-SMLC) in the case of LTE access, a Standalone SMLC (SAS) in the case of UMTS access, and a Standalone SMLC (SAS) in the case of GSM access. It can be a Serving Mobile Location Center (SMLC) in case of access, or a Location Management Function (LMF) in case of 5G NR access. In the case of OMA SUPL positioning, the positioning server can be a SUPL positioning platform (SLP), which can act as any of the following: (i) Home SLP (H-SLP), if in the UE's home network or with the home network, or if a permanent subscription is provided to the UE for location services; (ii) a discovered SLP (D-SLP), if in or associated with some other (non-home) network, or if not associated with any Network-associated; (iii) Emergency SLP (E-SLP), if it supports positioning for emergency dialing initiated by the UE; (iv) Visited SLP (V-SLP), if it is in the serving network or UE’s current local in or associated with the terminal area.

During positioning communication, the positioning server and the UE may exchange messages defined according to some positioning protocol in order to coordinate the decision to estimate the position. Possible positioning protocols may include, for example, the LTE Positioning Protocol (LPP) defined by 3GPP in 3GPP TS 37.355 and by OMA in OMA TS OMA-TS-LPPe-V1_0, OMA-TS-LPPe-V1_1 and OMA-TS-LPPe- The LPP Extension (LPPe) protocol defined in V2_0. LPP and LPPe protocols can be used in combination, where LPP messages contain embedded LPPe messages. The combined LPP and LPPe protocol may be referred to as LPP/LPPe. LPP and LPP/LPPe can be used to help support 3GPP control plane solutions for LTE or NR access, in which case LPP or LPP/LPPe messages are exchanged between UE and E-SMLC or between UE and LMF . LPP or LPPe messages may be exchanged between the UE and the E-SMLC via the UE's Serving Mobility Management Entity (MME) and Serving eNodeB (eNB). LPP or LPP/LPPe messages can also be exchanged between the UE and the LMF via the UE's Serving Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) and the serving NR Node B (also known as gNodeB or gNB). LPP and LPP/LPPe can also be used to help support the OMA SUPL solution for various types of wireless access supporting IP messaging such as LTE, NR and WiFi, where LPP or LPP/LPPe messages are on SUPL enabled terminals (SET ) (which is the term used for UEs with SUPL) and the SLP, and may be transmitted in SUPL messages such as SUPL POS or SUPL POS INIT messages.

A positioning server and a base station (e.g., eNodeB for LTE access or gNodeB for NR access) may exchange messages to enable the positioning server to (i) obtain location measurements for a particular UE from the base station, or ( ii) Obtain UE-independent location information from the base station, such as the location coordinates of the base station's antenna, cells supported by the base station (e.g., cell identification), cell timing of the base station, and/or signals transmitted by the base station (parameters such as PRS signal)). In the case of LTE access, the LPP A (LPPa) protocol can be used to transfer such messages between a base station acting as an eNodeB and a positioning server acting as an E-SMLC. In case of NR access, the New Radiolocation Protocol A (NRPPa) protocol can be used to transfer such messages between the base station acting as gNodeB and the positioning server acting as LMF.

During the positioning communication period, the UE may send positioning measurements to the positioning server infrequently. For example, a location server may not request frequent location measurements, eg, a periodic trigger for location measurements may have a long period. In another example, there may be a relatively long period between when the UE receives the assistance data or requests for positioning measurements and when the UE sends the positioning information. The base station (e.g., gNB) may not know the timing of the positioning measurement command from the positioning server to the UE and or when the UE will prepare or send the positioning measurement, because the positioning related information between the positioning server and the UE acts as an LPP The message passes transparently through the base station.

The connection (eg, RRC connection) between the UE and the base station can be released only by the base station. In the absence of information related to the timing of positioning measurements, the base station may not release the connection with the UE. Therefore, the UE may remain connected to the base station during the entire positioning measurement communication period, which may cause UE Additional resources and power are consumed. In addition, even if the base station releases the connection with the UE, if the UE sends positioning measurements immediately after the connection is released, it may need to start a new connection, which will consume additional power and time.

For example, for E911 or location tracking applications, GNSS fix may take more than 15 seconds. Maintaining a connected state with the base station during such an extended period may cause the UE to consume additional power.

As discussed herein, user equipment (UE) positioning can be supported when the UE is in a radio resource control (RRC) non-enabled state, including positioning using UL or UL+DL positioning methods. Compared with when the UE is in the idle state without RRC connection, the RRC inactive state can be used to reduce the delay and/or power consumption of the UE, and can support the UE to access the service network faster or the service network to store faster Take UE.

For UL-only positioning (eg, UL-TDOA, UL-AOA) or UL+DL positioning (eg, multi-RTT), the UE requires UL PRS configuration (eg, SRS for positioning). The UL PRS configuration is decided by the serving base station (eg gNB) of the target device (eg UE). For periodic or triggered delay MT-LR when UE is in radio resource control (RRC) inactive state, UE can use small data transmission (SDT) to send event report with location measurement to positioning server via serving base station. SDT in 3GPP refers to data transmission when RRC is not enabled. Specifically, SDT is used for the transmission of short bursts of data in the RRC_INACTIVE state. In this RRC_INACTIVE state, the UE does not need to establish and tear down the connection for this transmission, for example, when a small amount of data (such as a location measurement report) needs to be sent. Connection. Typically, the UE is required to perform multiple transmissions and receptions of control signals in order to initiate and maintain a connection with the network. If the payload size of the data is relatively small compared to the amount of control signals, establishing a connection for small data transfers may be inefficient (eg, in terms of UE power consumption) due to the control signal delivery management burden. Therefore, the SDT procedure has been developed in 3GPP to realize data transmission in RRC non-enabled state.

To initiate the SDT procedure, the UE may transmit the RRC Recovery Request message and data in parallel instead of transmitting the data after the RRC Recovery Request message has been sent and processed by the network. Subsequently, additional transmissions and/or receptions using SDT may also occur without the UE entering the RRC_CONNECTED state. The UE performs the SDT procedure without transitioning to the RRC_CONNECTED state.

Since SDT is a UE-initiated procedure, SDT is well suited for DL-only positioning methods (e.g., DL-TDOA), where the target UE performs DL measurements and reports the measured or calculated position to the positioning server when the target UE is in the RRC_INACTIVE state . However, current SDT procedures cannot reliably support UL-only and UL+DL positioning methods. For example, in order to transmit UL PRS to one or more base stations, a target UE needs UL PRS (eg, SRS for positioning) configuration provided to the UE by a serving base station. For the UL positioning method only, there are no measurements from the UE to report to the positioning server. For the UL+DL positioning method, the UE can only report the location measurement of the DL PRS after the UE has transmitted the UL PRS to one or more base stations.

Therefore, the SDT procedure needs to enable both to provide UL PRS configuration information to the target UE and to report location measurements to the location server. In order to comply with SDT procedures and standards, the requirement for UL PRS configuration information at the target UE also needs to be triggered by the target UE itself, however, for the UE in the RRC_INACTIVE state, the current 3GPP standard cannot achieve this currently.

Via the enhanced procedure as described herein, the UE may for example receive a request for periodic or triggered positioning from a positioning server (eg LMF) and may later enter the RRC inactive state. When an event is detected, the UE sends a first event report with Small Data Transmission (SDT) to the Location Server (LMF) together with an RRC recovery request, which may include a request indicating a request for UL PRS configuration LPP requests auxiliary data information. The positioning server sends an NRPPa positioning information request to the serving base station of the UE, which determines the UL PRS resources of the UE and sends the UL PRS configuration to the UE, eg in a subsequent DL SDT or RRC release message. The UE transmits UL PRS while remaining in the RRC inactive state, which is measured by one or more base stations, for example after receiving an RRC release message from the base station. The UE may additionally receive and measure downlink PRS from one or more base stations while remaining in the RRC inactive state. Subsequently, the UE may send a second event report with SDT to the positioning server via the RRC recovery request while remaining in the RRC inactive state, and the second event report may include the LPP providing location information message, eg, via measurement.

Figure 1 illustrates the architecture based on non-roaming 5G NR network for supporting UE UL or UL+DL positioning in RRC non-enabled state as discussed herein. 1 illustrates a communication system 100 that includes a UE 102, which is sometimes referred to herein as a "target UE" because UE 102 may be the target of a location request. Figure 1 also illustrates elements of fifth-generation (5G) networks including the Next-Generation Radio Access Network (NG-RAN) 112, which includes base stations sometimes referred to as New Radio (NR) NodeBs (BS), or gNBs 110 - 1 , 110 - 2 , 110 - 3 and Next Generation Evolved NodeB (ng-eNB) 114 , and 5G Core Network (5GCN) 150 , which communicate with external clients 130 . The architecture of the gNB 110 can be separated into functional parts, e.g. including gNB Central Unit (gNB-CU), one or more gNB Distributed Units (gNB-DU) and one or more gNB Remote Units (gNB-RUs) One or more of gNB 110, any of which may be physically co-located with other parts of gNB 110 or may be physically separated therefrom. 5G networks may also be referred to as New Radio (NR) networks; NG-RAN 112 may be referred to as NR RAN or 5G RAN; and 5G CN 150 may be referred to as Next Generation (NG) Core Networks (NGC). Communication system 100 may also use information from spacecraft (SV) 190 for global navigation satellite systems (GNSS), such as GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, or Beidou, or some other regional or regional satellite positioning system (SPS), such as IRNSS, EGNOS or WAAS. Additional elements of the communication system 100 are described below. Communication system 100 may include additional or alternative components.

FIG. 1 illustrates a serving gNB 110-1 and neighbor gNBs 110-2, 110-3, and ng-eNB 114 for a target UE 102. As shown in FIG. Neighboring gNB 110 may be capable of receiving and measuring uplink (UL) signals transmitted by target UE 102 and/or capable of transmitting downlink (DL) reference signals (RS) that may be received and measured by target UE 102 (eg Positioning Reference Signal (PRS)) any gNB 110.

The entity in the NG-RAN 112 that transmits the DL reference signal (RS) measured by the target UE 102 for a specific positioning communication session is generally referred to as a "transmission point" (TP) and may include the serving gNB 110-1 as well as the neighbor gNB 110 - one or more of 2, 110-3 and ng-eNB 114.

The entities in the NG-RAN 112 that receive and measure the UL signals (e.g., RS) transmitted by the target UE 102 for a particular positioning communication session are typically referred to as "reception points" (RPs) and may include the serving gNB 110-1 as well as neighbors. One or more of domain gNBs 110-2, 110-3 and ng-eNB 114.

It should be noted that FIG. 1 merely provides a general illustration of the various elements, any or all of which may be utilized as appropriate, and each of which may be repeated or omitted as desired. In particular, although only one UE 102 is illustrated, it should be understood that many UEs (eg, hundreds, thousands, millions of UEs, etc.) may utilize the communication system 100 . Similarly, the communication system 100 may include a greater or lesser number of SVs 190, gNBs 110, external clients 130, and/or other elements. The connections shown connecting the various elements in communication system 100 include data and signaling connections, which may include additional (intermediate) elements, direct or indirect physical and/or wireless connections, and/or additional networks. Furthermore, elements may be rearranged, combined, separated, substituted, 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) (also known as 4G), and IEEE 802.11 WiFi, among others. For example, in the case of using a wireless area network (WLAN) (eg, using an IEEE 802.11 radio interface), the UE 102 may communicate with the access network (AN) but not with the NG-RAN, and thus the element 112 is sometimes referred to herein as AN or RAN denoted by the terms "RAN", "(R)AN" or "(R)AN 112". In the case of an AN (eg, IEEE 802.11 AN), the AN may connect to a non-3GPP interworking function (N3IWF) (eg, in 5GCN 150 ) (not shown in FIG. 1 ), while the N3IWF connects to the AMF 154 .

As used herein, a target UE 102 may be any electronic device and may be referred to as a device, mobile device, wireless device, mobile terminal, terminal, mobile station (MS), Secure User Plane Location (SUPL) enabled terminal ( SET), or some other name. The target UE 102 may be a stand-alone device or may be embedded in another device (eg, a factory tool) to be monitored or tracked. In addition, UE 102 may correspond to smart watches, digital glasses, fitness monitors, smart cars, smart appliances, cell phones, smartphones, laptops, tablets, PDAs, for tracking consumer goods, packages, assets or devices such as personal and A physical consumer tracking device, control device, or some other portable or removable device for a pet. UE 102 may comprise a single entity, such as in a personal area network where a user may employ audio, video and/or data I/O devices and/or body sensors and a separate wired or wireless modem, or may comprise multiple entities. Typically, though not required, UE 102 may support wireless communications using one or more radio access technologies (RATs), such as GSM, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Wideband CDMA (WCDMA ), LTE, High Rate Packet Data (HRPD), IEEE 802.11 WiFi (also known as Wi-Fi), Bluetooth® (BT), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), 5G New Radio (NR) (e.g. , using NG-RAN 112 and 5GCN 150), etc. UE 102 may also support wireless communication using a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), which may be connected to other networks (eg, the Internet) using, for example, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) or Packet Cable. Use of one or more of these RATs may allow UE 102 to communicate with external client 130 (e.g., via UPF 158 and Internet 175) and/or allow external client 130 to receive location information about UE 102 (eg, via Gateway Mobile Location Center (GMLC) 160).

UE 102 may enter a connected state with a wireless communication network, which may include NG-RAN 112 . In one example, UE 102 may communicate with the cellular communication network via transmitting wireless signals to or receiving wireless signals from cellular transceivers in NG-RAN 112, such as gNB 110-1. The transceiver provides user and control plane protocol endpoints to the UE 102 and may be referred to as a base station, base station transceiver, radio base station, radio transceiver, radio network controller, transceiver function, base station subsystem ( BSS), Extended Service Set (ESS), or some other appropriate term.

In particular embodiments, UE 102 may have circuitry and processing resources capable of obtaining location-related measurements. Obtaining location-related measurements by the UE 102 may include measurements of signals received from satellite positioning systems (SPS) or global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) such as GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, or BeiDou Sputnik (SV) 190, and or may include measurements of signals received from terrestrial transmitters (eg, gNB 110 ) fixed at known locations. Subsequently, UE 102 or gNB 110-1 or a separate positioning server (eg, LMF 152 ) that may send measurements to UE 102 may use any of several positioning methods to obtain an Position estimation of UE 102 such as, for example, GNSS, Assisted GNSS (A-GNSS), Advanced Forward Link Trilateration (AFLT), Angle of Departure (AOD), DL Time Difference of Arrival (DL-TDOA), Round Trip Time (RTT), Multi-Cell RTT, WLAN (also known as WiFi) location or Enhanced Cell ID (ECID) or a combination thereof. In some of these technologies (e.g., A-GNSS, AFLT, DL-OTDOA), based at least in part on pilot frequencies, positioning reference signals (PRS) transmitted by transmitters or satellites and received at UE 102 or other positioning-related signals, can be measured at UE 102 relative to three or more terrestrial transmitters (e.g., gNB 110) fixed at known locations or relative to four or pseudoranges or timing differences of more than one SV 190 or a combination thereof.

The location server in FIG. 1 may correspond to, for example, a location management function (LMF) 152 or a secure user plane location (SUPL) location platform (SLP) 162 and may be able to provide location assistance data to the UE 102, including, for example, information about the location to be measured. Information about the signal (e.g., expected signal timing, signal decoding, signal frequency, signal Doppler), location and identification of the ground transmitter (e.g., gNB 110 ) and/or signal, timing and orbit for the GNSS SV 190 information to facilitate localization technologies such as A-GNSS, AFLT, AOD, DL-TDOA, multicellular RTT, and ECID. The facilitation may include improving signal acquisition and measurement accuracy of the UE 102, and in some cases enabling the UE 102 to calculate its estimated location based on the location measurements. For example, a positioning server (e.g., LMF 152 or SLP 162) may include an ephemeris (also referred to as a base station almanac (BSA)) that indicates when a cellular transceiver and/or a local transceiver is on one or more location and identity in a specific area (such as a specific venue), and can provide information describing signals transmitted by a cellular base station or AP (eg, gNB), such as transmission power and signal timing. UE 102 may obtain signal strength measurements (e.g., received signal strength indication (RSSI)) for signals received from cellular transceivers and/or local transceivers, and/or may obtain signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) , Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP), Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ), Time of Arrival (TOA), Angle of Arrival (AOA), Angle of Departure (AOD), Received Time-Transmission Time Difference (Rx-Tx) or UE 102 and the cellular The round-trip time (RTT) for signal propagation between transceivers (eg, gNB 110 ) or local transceivers (eg, WiFi access points (APs)). UE 102 may correlate these measurements with assistance data (e.g., terrestrial almanac data or GNSS Satellite data, such as GNSS ephemeris and/or GNSS ephemeris information) are used together to determine the position of the UE 102 .

In some embodiments, a network entity is used to assist in the positioning of the target UE 102 . For example, entities in the network such as gNBs 110 - 1 and 110 - 2 may measure UL signals transmitted by UE 102 . The UL signal may include (include or comprise) a UL reference signal such as a UL Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) or a UL Sounding Reference Signal (SRS). Entities that obtain location measurements (eg, gNBs 110-1 and 110-2) may then communicate the location measurements to UE 102 or LMF 152, which may use the measurements to determine or help determine UE 102's location. Examples of location measurements that may use UL signals may include RSSI, RSRP, RSRQ, TOA, Rx-Tx, AOA, and RTT.

The estimation of the position of the UE 102 may be referred to as a position, position estimate, position fix, fix, position, position estimate, or position fix, and may be geodetic, thus providing the UE 102 with position coordinates (e.g., latitude and longitude ), which may or may not include an altitude component (eg, altitude above sea level, above ground, or above ground, or above ground, or below ground). Alternatively, the location of the UE 102 may be expressed as a city location (eg, as a postal address or the name of a point in a building or a small area such as a particular room or floor). The location of the UE 102 may also be expressed as an area or space (defined geographically or in urban form) in which the UE 102 is expected to be located with some probability or confidence level (eg, 67% or 95%, etc.). The location of the UE 102 may also be a relative location comprising, for example, distance and direction defined relative to some origin at a known location or relative X, Y (and Z) coordinates, which are measured in a geodetic Defined academically or in urban terms or by reference to a point, area or space indicated on a map, floor plan or building plan. The location may be expressed as an absolute location estimate of the UE, such as location coordinates or address, or as a relative location estimate of the UE, such as distance and direction from a previous location estimate or from a known absolute location. The position of the UE may include linear velocity, angular velocity, linear acceleration, angular acceleration, angular orientation of the UE, e.g., orientation of the UE relative to a fixed global or local coordinate system, identification of a triggering event for locating the UE, or the like some combination. For example, triggering events may include zone events, motion events, or speed events. A zone event may be, for example, a UE moving into a defined zone, moving out of the zone and/or remaining in the zone. A motion event may include, for example, that the UE has moved a threshold linear distance or a threshold distance along the UE's trajectory. Speed events may include, for example, the UE reaching a minimum or maximum speed, a threshold increase and/or decrease in speed, and/or a threshold change in direction. In the description contained herein, use of the term position may include any of these variations unless otherwise indicated. When calculating the position of the UE, the x, y and z coordinates of the local end are usually solved first, and then the coordinates of the local end are converted to absolute coordinates as needed (for example, for latitude, longitude and altitude above or below mean sea level) .

As shown in Figure 1, pairs of gNBs 110 in the NG-RAN 112 may be connected to each other, eg directly as shown in Figure 1 or indirectly via other gNBs 110-1, 110-2. Providing access to the 5G network to the UE 102 via wireless communication between the UE 102 and one or more of the gNBs 110-1, 110-2, which may be provided on behalf of the UE 102 using 5G (eg, NR) Wireless communication access to 5GCN 150 . In FIG. 1, it is assumed that the serving gNB for UE 102 is gNB 110-1, but if UE 102 moves to another location, other gNBs (eg, gNB 110-2, 110-3 or gNB 114) may act as serving gNBs. gNB, or may act as a secondary gNB to provide UE 102 with additional coverage and bandwidth. Some gNBs in FIG. 1 (eg, gNB 110-2, 110-3, or ng-gNB 114) may be configured to act as location-only beacons, which may transmit signals (eg, directional PRS) to assist in the location of UE 102 , but cannot receive signals from UE 102 or other UEs.

As mentioned, although FIG. 1 illustrates nodes configured to communicate in accordance with the 5G communication protocol, nodes configured to communicate in accordance with other communication protocols, such as, for example, the LTE protocol, may be used. Such nodes configured to communicate using different protocols may be at least partially controlled by the 5GCN 150 . Thus, the NG-RAN 112 may include any combination of gNBs, LTE-capable evolved Node Bs (eNBs), or other types of base stations or access points. As an example, NG-RAN 112 may include one or more ng-eNBs 114 that provide LTE radio access to UE 102 and may connect to entities in 5GCN 150 , such as AMF 154 .

A gNB 110-1, 110-2, 110-3 or gNB 114 may communicate with an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) 154 and, for location functionality, a Location Management Function (LMF) 152. AMF 154 may support UE 102 mobility, including cell change and handover, and may participate in supporting a signaling connection with UE 102 and may help establish and release Protocol Data Unit (PDU) communication sessions for UE 102 supported by UPF 158 . Other functions of the AMF 154 may include: terminating the Control Plane (CP) interface from the NG-RAN 112; terminating Non-Access Stratum (NAS) signaling connections, NAS encryption and integrity protection from UEs such as UE 102; registration management; connection management; reachability management; mobility management; access authentication and authorization.

When UE 102 accesses NG-RAN 112, gNB 110-1 may support UE 102 positioning. The gNB 110 - 1 may also handle location service requests for the UE 102 , eg, received directly or indirectly from the GMLC 160 . In some embodiments, the node/system implementing the gNB 110-1 may additionally or alternatively implement other types of location support modules such as Enhanced Service Action Location Center (E-SMLC) or Secure User Plane Location (SUPL) Positioning Platform (SLP) 162 . Note that in some embodiments at least a portion of the positioning functionality (including the positioning of the UE 102) may be performed at the UE 102 (e.g., using signal measurements for signals transmitted by wireless nodes and assistance provided to the UE 102). location derivation).

GMLC 160 may support location requests for UE 102 received from external clients 130 and may forward such location requests to serving AMF 154 for UE 102 . AMF 154 may then forward the location request to gNB 110-1 or LMF 152, which may obtain one or more location estimates for UE 102 (e.g., upon request from external client 130), and may return the location estimates to The AMF 154 may return the location estimate to the external client 130 via the GMLC 160 . The GMLC 160 may contain subscription information for the external client 130 and may authenticate and authorize positioning requests from the external client 130 for the UE 102 . GMLC 160 may further initiate a positioning communication period for UE 102 via sending a positioning request for UE 102 to AMF 154, and may include in the positioning request the identity for UE 102 and the type of positioning requested (e.g., current positioning or periodic or sequence that triggers positioning).

Unified Data Management (UDM) 161 may be connected to GMLC 160 as shown. UDM 161 is similar to a Home Subscriber Server (HSS) for LTE access, and UDM 161 and HSS can be combined if desired. UDM 161 is a central database that contains user-related information and subscription-related information for UE 102 and can perform the following functions: UE authentication, UE identification, access authorization, registration and mobility management, subscription management, and SMS services manage. Although not shown in FIG. 1 , UDM 161 may be connected to other elements in 5GCN 150 , such as AMF 154 .

As further shown in FIG. 1 , external clients 130 may connect to core network 150 via GMLC 160 and/or SLP 162 . External client 130 may optionally connect to core network 150 and/or SLP 164 external to 5GCN 150 via Internet 175 . The external client 130 can be a server, a web server, or a user equipment such as a personal computer or UE.

A Network Exposure Function (NEF) 163 may be connected to the GMLC 160 and the AMF 154 . In some embodiments, NEF 163 may be connected to communicate directly with external client 130 or with application function (AF) 132 . The NEF 163 can support secure exposure of capabilities and events about the 5GCN 150 and UE 102 to the external client 130 or AF 132 , which can enable secure provision of information from the external client 130 or AF 132 to the 5GCN 150 . The NEF 163 may also be used, for example, to obtain the current or last known location of the UE 102, may obtain an indication of a change in the location of the UE 102, or an indication of when the UE 102 is available (or reachable). The external client 130 or the AF 132 can access the NEF 163 to obtain the location information of the UE 102 .

LMF 152 and gNB 110-1 may communicate using New Radiolocation Protocol A (NRPPa). NRPPa may be defined in 3GPP TS 38.455, where NRPPa messages are transmitted between gNB 110-1 and LMF 152. Additionally, LMF 152 and UE 102 may communicate using the LTE Positioning Protocol (LPP) defined in 3GPP TS 37.355, where LPP messages are communicated between UE 102 and LMF 152 via serving AMF 154 and serving gNB 110-1 for UE 102 between transfers. For example, LPP messages may be communicated between AMF 154 and UE 102 using 5G Non-Access Stratum (NAS) protocols. The LPP protocol can be used to support positioning of the UE 102 using DL and UL+DL positioning methods such as Assisted-GNSS (A-GNSS), Real-Time Kinematics (RTK), Wireless Area Network ( WLAN), DL Time Difference of Arrival (DL-TDOA), DL Angle of Departure (DL-AOD), Round Trip Time (RTT), Multicellular RTT and/or Enhanced Cell Identity (ECID). The NRPPa protocol can be used to support positioning of the UE 102 using UL and UL+DL positioning methods such as Uplink (UL) Time Difference of Arrival (UL-TDOA), Uplink (UL) Angle of Arrival (UL-AOA), Multicellular RTT or ECID (when used with measurements obtained by or received from gNB 110-1 , 110-2, 110-3 or ng-eNB 114 ) and/or may Used by the LMF 152 to obtain location-related information from the gNB 110 , such as defining parameters for positioning reference signal (PRS) transmission from the gNB 110 to support DL-TDOA, DL-AOD or multicellular RTT.

The gNB 110-1, 110-2, 110-3 or ng-eNB 114 may communicate with the AMF 154 using, for example, the Next Generation Application Protocol (NGAP) as defined in 3GPP Technical Specification (TS) 38.413. NGAP may enable AMF 154 to request the location of target UE 102 from gNB 110 - 1 for target UE 102 and may enable gNB 110 - 1 to return the location of UE 102 to AMF 154 .

The gNBs 110-1, 110-2, 110-3 or ng-eNB 114 may communicate with each other using, for example, the Xn Application Protocol (XnAP) as defined in 3GPP TS 38.423. XnAP may allow one gNB 110 to request another gNB 110 to obtain UL location measurements of the target UE 102 and return the UL location measurements. XnAP may also enable a gNB 110 to request another gNB 110 to transmit a downlink (DL) reference signal (RS) or PRS so that the target UE 102 can obtain DL location measurements of the transmitted DL RS or PRS.

A gNB (eg, gNB 110-1 ) may communicate with the target UE 102 using Radio Resource Control (RRC) protocols, eg, as defined in 3GPP TS 38.331. RRC may allow a gNB (eg, gNB 110-1 ) to request from the target UE 102 the location of DL RS or DL PRS transmitted by gNB 110-1 and/or by other gNBs 110-2, 110-3 or ng-eNB 114 Measure and return some or all position measurements. RRC may also enable a gNB (eg, gNB 110-1 ) to request the target UE 102 to transmit UL RS, PRS or SRS so that gNB 110-1 or other gNBs 110-2, 110-3 or ng-eNB 114 can obtain the transmission UL position measurement of UL RS, PRS or SRS.

Using UE-assisted positioning methods, UE 102 can obtain location measurements (e.g., RSSI, Rx-Tx, RTT, AOA, RSTD, RSRP and/or RSRQ measurements, or GNSS pseudorange, code phase and/or carrier phase measurements for the SV 190) and send the measurements to the entity performing the positioning server function (e.g., LMF 152 or SLP 162) to compute a location estimate for the UE 102. With UE-based positioning methods, UE 102 may obtain location measurements (e.g., which may be the same as or similar to those for UE-assisted positioning methods), and may calculate the location of UE 102 (e.g., by means of or auxiliary data received by the positioning server of SLP 162). Using network-based positioning methods, one or more base stations (e.g., gNB 110-1, 110-2) or APs may obtain location measurements (e.g., RSSI, RTT, AOA, RSRP, RSRQ, Rx-Tx, or TOA) and/or measurements obtained by UE 102 may be received and may be sent to a positioning server (eg, LMF 152 ) to compute a position estimate for UE 102 .

Information provided by gNB 110-2, 110-3 or ng-eNB 114 to gNB 110-1 using XnAP may include timing and configuration information for PRS transmission and location coordinates. The gNB 110-1 may then provide some or all of this information to the UE 102 as assistance data in an RRC message. In some embodiments, the RRC messages sent from gNB 110-1 to UE 102 may include embedded LPP messages.

The RRC message sent from gNB 110-1 to UE 102 may instruct UE 102 to perform any of various operations, depending on the desired functionality. For example, RRC messages may contain measurements or transmit uplink (UL) signals (such as positioning reference signal (PRS), sounding reference signal (SRS), or both). In the case of DL-TDOA, the RRC message may instruct the UE 102 to obtain one or more measurements (eg, RSTD measurements) of PRS signals transmitted within a particular cell supported by a particular gNB 110 . UE 102 may use measurements (eg, using DL-TDOA) to determine UE 102 location.

The gNB 110 in the NG-RAN 112 may also broadcast positioning assistance data to UEs, such as UE 102 .

As shown, session management function (SMF) 156 connects AMF 154 and UPF 158 . SMF 156 may manage the establishment, modification and issuance of PDU communication sessions for UE 102, perform IP address allocation and management for UE 102, act as a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server for UE 102, and select and control UPF 158.

User Plane Function (UPF) 158 may support voice and data bearers for UE 102 and may enable UE 102 voice and data access to other networks, such as Internet 175 . UPF 158 functions may include: Interconnection point during external PDU communication with the data network, packet (e.g., Internet Protocol (IP)) routing and forwarding, user plane portion of packet checking and policy rule enforcement, for use Quality of Service (QoS) handling, downlink packet buffering, and downlink data notification triggering in the operator plane. UPF 158 may be connected to SLP 162 to enable support for positioning UE 102 using the SUPL positioning solution defined by the Open Action Alliance (OMA). SLP 162 may further be connected to or accessible from external client 130 .

It should be appreciated that while FIG. 1 illustrates a network architecture with suitable, well-known variations for a non-roaming UE 102, a corresponding network architecture may be provided for a roaming UE 102.

In a 5G network supporting NR, the UE 102 may be in an RRC connected state (also referred to as "connected state"), an RRC idle state (also referred to as "idle state"), or an RRC inactive state (also referred to as "disabled state"). state"). The serving gNB 110-1 in the NG-RAN 112 may move the UE 102 (from the connected state) to the non-enabled state, where the UE connection context is maintained by the gNB 110-1 and the UE 102. The functionality of the UE 102 in the non-active state is largely the same as in the idle state, where the UE 102 will monitor for paging in a paging discontinuous reception (DRX) cycle. However, when in the non-enabled state, the UE 102 may also perform RAN-based notification area updates, for example periodically, and may obtain system information and may send system information when moving outside a configured RAN-based notification area (SI) Request (if configured). When resuming the RRC connection (i.e. when the UE 102 moves back to the connected state), since the gNB 110 and the UE 102 have already stored the UE connection context, compared to establishing the RRC connection from the idle state after the RRC connection is released, the data Activity recovery can be faster. Thus, by using the non-enabled state, the UE 102 can move back to the connected state with reduced power consumption and lower latency than entering the connected state from the idle state. Additionally, UE 102 may be able to perform limited communications with the 5G network (eg, with AMF 154 or LMF 152 ) while in the non-enabled state without transitioning back to the connected state. As further shown herein, this capability may be used to support positioning of the UE 102 with reduced power consumption and/or reduced latency of the UE 102 . Note that only the serving gNB 110 can suspend the RRC connection to move the UE 102 to the non-enabled state, but reverting back to the connected state can be triggered by either the UE 102 or the gNB 110 .

Figure 2 illustrates by way of example a simple UE RRC state machine 200 and state transitions in NR, eg as described in 3GPP TS 38.331. UE 102 may only have one RRC state in NR at a time. As shown, UE 102 may have NR RRC_CONNECTED state 202 , NR RRC_INACTIVE state 204 or NR RRC_IDLE state 206 . When an RRC connection has been established, UE 102 may be in RRC_CONNECTED state 202 or RRC_INACTIVE state 204 . If this is not the case, ie if no RRC connection is established, the UE 102 is in the RRC_IDLE state 206 .

In RRC_IDLE state 206, UE-specific DRX may be configured by upper layers and UE-controlled behavior may be based on network configuration. While in the RRC_IDLE state 206, the UE 102 can monitor SMS messages transmitted via the Downlink Control Information (DCI) using the Paging Radio Network Temporary Identifier (P-RNTI), using the 5G Serving Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity (S-TMSI) monitoring Paging channel for core network (CN) paging, performs neighbor cell measurements and cell (re)selection, obtains system information and sends SI requests (if configured), and performs logging of available measurements and configuration of logged measurements The location and time of the UE.

In RRC_INACTIVE state 204, UE-specific DRX may be configured by upper layer or by RRC layer and UE-controlled mobility may be based on network configuration. In addition, UE 102 stores UE non-enabled Access Stratum (AS) context and RAN based notification area is configured by RRC layer. While in RRC_INACTIVE state 204, the UE 102 can monitor SMS messages transmitted via DCI using P-RNTI, monitor paging channel for CN paging using 5G-S-TMSI and RAN paging using full Inactive-RNTI (I-RNTI) ; Perform neighbor cell measurement and cell (re)selection. Additionally, the UE 102 may periodically perform RAN-based notification area updates, and when moving outside the configured RAN-based notification area, obtain system information and send SI requests (if configured), and perform available measurements Record and configure the UE's location and time for the recorded measurements.

In the RRC_CONNECTED state 202, the UE 102 stores the AS context, is configured to transmit unicast material to/from the UE 102, and at lower layers, the UE 102 may be configured with UE-specific DRX. A UE 102 configured to support carrier aggregation (CA) may use one or more secondary cells (Scells) aggregated with a serving primary cell (SpCell) to increase bandwidth. A UE 102 configured to support dual connectivity (DC) may use a secondary cell group (SCG) aggregated with a main cell group (MCG) to increase bandwidth. Furthermore, RRC_Connected state 202 includes network controlled mobility within NR and to/from E-UTRA. When in the RRC_CONNECTED state 202, the UE 102 can monitor SMS messages transmitted via DCI using P-RNTI (if configured), monitor the control channel associated with the shared data channel to decide whether to schedule data for it, provide channel quality and feedback Information, perform neighbor cell measurement and measurement report, and obtain system information.

As shown in FIG. 2 , UE 102 may transition from NR RRC_CONNECTED state 202 to NR RRC_IDLE state 206 via being released by serving gNB 110 . The UE 102 may transition from the NR RRC IDLE state 206 to the NR RRC CONNECTED state 202 via establishing an RRC connection to the serving gNB 110 .

Additionally, the UE 102 may transition from the NR RRC_CONNECTED state 202 to the NR RRC_INACTIVE state 204 via a release by the serving gNB 110 with a suspension indication (sometimes simply referred to as suspension). The UE 102 may transition from the NR RRC_INACTIVE state 204 back to the NR RRC CONNECTED state 202 via resuming the RRC connection. Since the serving gNB 110 (also known as the anchor gNB after the UE 102 enters the inactive state) and the UE 102 both store the UE connection context (including the AS context), the NR RRC_CONNECTED state 202 and the NR RRC_IDLE state 206 are restored from the NR RRC_INACTIVE state 204 Establishing the NR RRC_CONNECTED state 202 can be significantly faster and requires less messaging than that. Additionally, as shown, while in the NR RRC_INACTIVE state 204, the UE 102 may transition to the NR RRC_IDLE state 206 via being released by the gNB 110.

FIG. 3 schematically illustrates signals of various messages sent between elements of the communication system 100 illustrated in FIG. 1 during the location preparation procedure for periodically triggered delayed location requests for action-terminated location requests (MT-LRs Transfer process 300 .

At Phase 1, which includes Phases 1a, 1b-1, and 1b-2, the external LCS Client 130 or AF 132 (via NEF 163) sends a request to the GMLC 160 for a location report for a periodic, triggered, or UE-available location event . For example, external LCS client 130 sends LCS service request message to GMLC 160 at phase 1a, or AF 132 sends Nnef_EventExposure_Subscribe message to NEF 163 at phase 1b-1, and NEF 163 sends Ngmlc_Location_ProvideLocation request message at phase 1b-2. The request sent at Phase 1 indicates a request for periodic location estimates (e.g., at fixed periodic intervals) for or triggered location reporting (e.g., location estimates) of the UE 102 for the UE 102, which periodic location estimates or Triggered location reporting is returned to the external LCS client 130 or AF 132 whenever a triggering event occurs at the UE 102 . For example, a trigger event may occur when UE 102 moves more than a defined threshold distance from a previous location when a location report (e.g., location estimate) was sent to external LCS client 130 or AF 132, or when UE 102 moves out of or A trigger event may occur when moving into a defined geographic area. GMLC 160 may typically be a home GMLC (H-GMLC) for UE 102 .

At Phase 2, GMLC 160 may verify UE privacy requirements with UDM 161 via Nudm_SDM_Get message.

At Phase 3, the GMLC 160 queries the UDM 161 for the AMF address (and in case of roaming, the VGMLC address) via the Nudm_UECM_Get message.

At phase 4, the GMLC 160 sends a location request to the serving AMF 154 via a Namf_Location_ProvidePositioningInfo request message (via a visited GMLC (V-GMLC) (not shown) in case of roaming).

At stage 5, the AMF 154 returns an acknowledgment (Namf_Location_ProvidePositioningInfo response message) to the GMLC 160 indicating that the request has been accepted.

At stage 6, which includes stages 6a, 6b-1 and 6b-2, GMLC 160 returns an acknowledgment to external LCS client 130 or AF 132 indicating that the request was accepted. For example, GMLC 160 sends LCS Service Response message to external LCS client 130 at stage 6a, or GMLC 160 sends Ngmlc_Location_ProvideLocation response message to NEF 163 at stage 6b-1 and NEF 163 sends Nnef_EventExposure_Notify message.

At stage 7, if UE 102 is currently unreachable (eg, using extended discontinuous reception (eDRX) or in power save mode (PSM)), AMF 154 waits for UE 102 to become reachable.

At stage 8, if the UE 102 is then in the Connection Management (CM) IDLE state, the AMF 154 initiates a network-triggered service request procedure to establish a signaling connection with the UE 102 .

At stages 9 and 10, the AMF 154 may notify the UE 102 of the location request and, if necessary, may verify the privacy requirements via the location notification trigger request and location notification return result messages transmitted using the NAS.

At stage 11 , AMF 154 selects LMF 152 .

At phase 12, the AMF 154 initiates a request to the LMF 152 for delayed UE location (periodic or triggered location) via the NlmfLocation_DetermineLocationRequest message. The request sent by AMF 154 to LMF 152 may include all or at least some of the information included in the original request at Phase 1 (which includes information for periodic or triggered positioning requests), and may also include the identity of UE 102, The identity or address of the GMLC 160 and some tag or reference established by the signaling process 300 for the location communication session.

At stage 13 the LMF 152 may perform a positioning procedure with the UE 102 . During this phase, the LMF 152 may acquire the UE 102 positioning capabilities and may also acquire the (initial) UE 102 location eg via exchanging LPP messages with the UE 102 . The UE 102 positioning capability may indicate that the UE 102 supports at least one of uplink positioning, downlink positioning, uplink and downlink positioning, or a combination thereof when in the RRC non-enabled state. The LMF 152 may then decide whether to enable uplink positioning, downlink positioning, and/or uplink and downlink positioning at stages 14 and 16 in the RRC non-enabled state based on the UE 102 positioning capabilities.

At stage 14, since periodic or triggered positioning is requested, LMF 152 sends a Supplementary Service (SS) LCS Periodic Triggered Induction Request message to UE 102, which includes delayed MT-LR information, which may include information on the requested Periodic or triggered positioning information, such as event type, requested positioning method (e.g., UL, DL, or UL+DL positioning method) and reporting interval, and the identity or address of the GMLC 160, the signaling process 300 is A tag or reference to an established location communication session and/or an embedded LPP packet data unit (PDU) indicating certain allowed or required location measurements. LMF 152 may indicate that UE 102 may send event reports while in the RRC non-enabled state (eg, as discussed in Figures 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, and 4E). If the request at stage 14 can be supported, UE 102 returns an acknowledgment to LMF 152 in a SS LCS Periodic-Triggered Return Result message (stage 15).

At stages 16-18, LMF 152 provides a response to external LCS client 130 or AF 132 (via NEF 163 ) via an intermediate network entity. For example, at stage 16, LMF 152 provides a response to AMF 154 in a Nlmf_Location_DetermineLocation response message. At stage 17, AMF 154 provides a response to GMLC 160 in a Namf_Location_EventNotify message. At stage 18, which includes stages 18a, 18b-1 and 18b-2, GMLC 160 sends a reply to external LCS client 130 or AF 132. For example, GMLC 160 sends LCS Service Response message to external LCS client 130 at stage 18a, or GMLC 160 sends Ngmlc_Location_EventNotify message to NEF 163 at stage 18b-1 and NEF 163 sends Nnef_EventExposure_Notify to AF 132 at stage 18b-2 message. The response indicates whether periodic positioning or triggered positioning was successfully enabled in the UE 102 .

FIG. 4A schematically illustrates the SDT sent between elements of the communication system 100 illustrated in FIG. Signaling process 400 of various messages for periodically triggered event reports of delayed MT-LR procedures. The signal transfer process 400 may be a continuation of the signal transfer process 300 shown in FIG. 3, as shown in stage 1a in FIG. 4A. Thus, stages 1 to 18 in FIG. 3 may have occurred prior to the events and stages described for FIG. 4A. Note that this is usually the case unless a positioning server located in NG-RAN 112 is used, in which case signaling may have previously occurred similar to FIG. Servos occur as a replacement or addition to the LMF 152. In case of the UL+DL positioning method, the signaling flow 400 utilizes two event reports sent by the UE 102 to the LMF 152, where the first event report supports the UL positioning part and the second event report supports the DL positioning part. LMF 152 sends an event report acknowledgment to UE 102 after receiving each event report. This can help keep the UE 102 in the RRC INACTIVE state and avoid the need for the gNB 110-S to put the UE 102 in the CONNECTED state, which would otherwise incur additional delay and signaling.

4A illustrates the presence in the NG-RAN 112 of a serving gNB 110-S and an anchor gNB 110-A, which may be the same gNB 110 in some cases. Serving gNB 110-S interacts with UE 102, while anchor gNB 110-A maintains a connection with AMF 154 on behalf of UE 102. The anchor gNB 110-A represents the previous serving gNB 110 for the UE 102, eg, before the UE 102 entered the RRC non-enabled state. For example, UE 102 is in connected state with serving gNB 110 and serving AMF 154 before entering RRC non-enabled state. At some point, the serving gNB 110 may have sent the UE 102 an RRC release message with a pause indication. Subsequently, the UE 102 will enter the RRC non-enabled state, and the serving gNB 110 may then become the anchor gNB 110-A (although in some cases the anchor gNB 110-A may have been and still be different from the previous serving gNB 110, as in 3GPP TS described in 38.300). After entering the RRC non-enabled state, UE 102 may move. If the UE 102 is to report periodic or trigger events for periodic or triggered positioning, the movement of the UE 102 may require the UE 102 to use a different serving gNB 110, denoted serving gNB 110-S in FIG. 4A , and the earlier Serving gNB 110 acts as anchor gNB 110-A. In some embodiments, the serving gNB 110-S and the anchor gNB 110-A may be the same entity, eg, where the UE 102 is not significantly moving. The NG-RAN 112 may also include other gNBs 110 (not shown in FIG. 4A ), which may be collectively referred to as gNBs 110 .

FIG. 4A illustrates the use of LMF 152, which is in 5GCN 150, as shown in FIG. 1 . Communications between gNB 110 and LMF 152 may be transported via AMF 154 . In some embodiments, a location server may reside in the NG-RAN 112, eg, sometimes referred to as a location server agent (LSS) or a location management element (LMC). For all stages in signaling flow 400, no gNB 110 to LMF 152 NRPPa messages may be required by the LSS or LMC, which may be located, for example, in anchor gNB 110-A.

As shown in Phase 1a, a delayed 5GC-MT-LR procedure for periodic or triggered location events, such as shown in Figure 3 or generally as specified in 3GPP TS 23.273, is performed. The UE 102 may receive delayed MT-LR information with a periodic or triggered trigger request message, eg, which includes information about the requested periodic or triggered positioning, such as event type, requested positioning method, and reporting interval. UE 102 or LMF 152 may provide some delayed MT-LR information together with positioning capability information of UE 102 to initial serving gNB 110 of UE 102 (which may be gNB 110-A for example), and initial serving gNB 110 may use The delayed MT-LR information and the positioning capabilities of the UE 102 are used to transition the UE 102 to the RRC inactive state. LMF 152 may perform one or more positioning procedures at stage 13 of FIG. 3 (or step 15 of 3GPP TS 23.273 clause 6.3.1) to request and obtain UE 102 positioning capabilities or provide UE 102 with any necessary assistance information. For UL+DL positioning using multiple RTTs, the LCS Periodic Trigger Positioning Initiator at Phase 14 of Figure 3 (or step 16 of 3GPP TS 23.273 Clause 6.3.1) may include an embedded LPP Request Positioning Info message, which indicates for Allowed or required multi-RTT position measurements for each positioning event reported. The initial serving gNB 110 releases the UE 102 from RRC_CONECTED to RRC_INACTIVE via RRC Release with SuspendConfig (not shown in FIG. 4A ). UE 102 may be configured with CG-SDT or RA-SDT for small data transmission.

At phase 1b, the initial serving gNB 110 (shown here as gNB 110-A) may receive NRPPa assistance information from the LMF 152, such as the capability for UL+DL positioning when the UE 102 is in RRC_INACTIVE or a configured delay in the UE 102 MT-LR information. The initial serving gNB 110 may use this information to transfer the UE's RRC state to RRC_INACTIVE instead of RRC_IDLE. For periodic events, the initial serving gNB 110 may then also know when an event report from the UE 102 is generally expected.

As represented by block 402, UE 102 is then in an RRC non-enabled state. For example, UE 102 may have entered the RRC non-enabled state as described above. Subsequently, UE 102 has no active RRC connection with NG-RAN 112, but still has Non-Access Stratum (NAS) signaling connected with serving AMF 154 via anchor gNB 110-A. Thus, there is a signaling connection between the AMF 154 and the anchor gNB 110-A on behalf of the UE 102 when in the RRC non-enabled state, but this signaling connection is not actively extended to the UE 102.

At Phase 2, UE 102 monitors for the occurrence of a trigger event or periodic event requested during Phase 1 . The UE 102 may detect periodic or events that trigger delayed MT-LR initiated in the UE 102 at stages 14 and 15 in FIG. 3 . The event may be a periodic event or a trigger event, such as described for stage 1 of FIG. 3 . Immediately after (or some time before) the event is detected, the UE 102 may decide which positioning method to use for the detected event according to the request in stage 14 of FIG. 3 . The determined positioning method may be based on: (i) the positioning method included in the LPP request location information message carried in the LCS periodic trigger trigger request at stage 14 of FIG. The targeting method of the previous event report for . The UE 102 may also decide whether to allow event reporting using SDT in the RRC non-enabled state based on: (i) an indication received at phase 14; or (ii) an earlier reception from the previous serving gNB 110 An indication of (eg, an indication received when UE 102 first entered or previously entered the RRC inactive state). When event reporting using SDT is enabled in the RRC non-enabled state and after an event is detected at stage 2, the UE 102 only performs the stage of SDT procedure #1 (described below) for the UL positioning method, the UE 102 only performs Phases for SDT procedure #2 (described below) plus phase 14a without phase 18b for the DL positioning method, or UE 102 performs phases of SDT procedures #1 and #2 for the UL+DL positioning method ( Plus stage 14a). When event reporting is not allowed in the RRC non-enabled state, the UE 102 may send an RRC resume request to the current serving gNB (the serving gNB is gNB 110-S (as described above)) to enter the RRC connected state, and then use the Periodic or triggered delay MT-LR solutions described in TS 23.273 and 3GPP TS 38.305 to report events. In that case, the rest of the signaling process 400 is not performed. Otherwise, when event reporting is enabled in the RRC non-enabled state, the UE 102 performs the stages described below for the signaling flow 400 .

SDT procedure #1 includes stages 3 to 13 in Figure 4A and can be performed for UL-PRS (SRS) configurations, which can be used for UL-only or UL+DL positioning methods (but not for DL-only positioning methods).

At Phase 3, when an event is detected (or earlier), UE 102 performs a 2-step or 4-step Random Access Channel (RACH) procedure. In case of 2-step RACH, UE 102 includes the RRC recovery request message in the PUSCH payload for MsgA; in case of 4-step RACH, UE 102 sends the RRC recovery request message to gNB 110-S in msg3. Otherwise, if the configured allowed (CG)-SDT resources are configured on the selected UL carrier and valid, UE 102 sends an RRC recovery request message to gNB 110-S in a CG transmission. The UE 102 sends the RRC UL Information Transfer message including the UL NAS Transmission message and the RRC Recovery Request with SDT. The UE 102 includes the LCS event report in the payload container of the UL NAS transmission message, and includes the delayed route identifier (received during Phase 1a) in the additional info parameter of the UL NAS transmission message (e.g. as defined in 3GPP TS 24.501 ). For UL+DL positioning (Multi-RTT), the LCS event report includes an embedded LPP Request Assistance Data message with information element (IE) NR-Multi-RTT-RequestAssistanceData and nr-AdType set to "ul-srs" to request UL-PRS for multi-RTT positioning, such as specified in 3GPP TS 37.355. For UL-only positioning, the LPP Request Assistance Data message is currently not defined in the LPP protocol. UL-only positioning is a network-based positioning method that does not require assistance data or location measurement reports from the UE. Therefore, the LPP request/provide assistance data and LPP request/provide location information procedures are not applicable for UL positioning only. For UL-only positioning, a new LPP Request Assistance Data message can be used to allow requesting UL PRS in case of UL-only positioning, or the LPP Request Assistance Data message for multi-RTT can also be extended or generalized to support UL-only positioning. Alternatively, for UL positioning only, the LCS event report at Phase 3 does not include the embedded LPP request assistance data message. LMF 152 can then deduce from the absence of LPP messages in the LCS event report that UL-only positioning is being performed and can then also deduce that UE 102 will not perform the second SDT procedure. That is, the LMF 152 may then not wait for the second LCS event report before performing stage 17.5. For UL+DL positioning (multiple RTT), LCS event reporting may additionally include embedded LPP providing location information messages and (E)CID measurements. Embedded LPP request assistance data and/or Cell ID in LPP provided location information can help LMF 152 decide whether additional DL-PRS assistance data is required at UE 102 or additional TRP should be indicated for UL measurements at stage 11 (ie, due to potential UE 102 movement after Phase 1). For example, if UE 102 observes (e.g., during phase 1a) that there are no cells providing DL-PRS assistance data for multiple RTTs, UE 102 may include the UL-PRS request in the LPP request assistance data message in the LCS event report Also request additional DL-PRS ancillary information. The cell ID observed by UE 102 may be provided in the LPP Provide Location Information message for E-CID. The LMF 152 may also use the UE reported cell ID to decide the cells for which the UE 102 will measure the DL-PRS at stage 14a, and at stage 11 may instruct the gNB 110/TRP corresponding to those cells to measure the UL PRS (transmitted by UE 102), thereby helping to ensure that LMF 152 will get UL measurements for the same cells that UE 102 will get DL measurements, thereby enabling LMF 152 to decide for each of these cells at stage 17.5 RTT.

At Phase 4, the Serving gNB 110-S sends the LCS Event Report (when included in Phase 3) with the LPP Request Assistance Data message to the Serving AMF 154 in the NGAP Uplink NAS Transport message. The AMF determines the LMF 152 according to the delayed route identifier received in the Additional Information IE of the UL NAS TRANSPORT message, and forwards the LCS event report with the embedded LPP message to the LMF 152 by triggering the Namf_Communication_N1MessageNotify service operation. AMF 154 also includes the payload container type and associated identifier set as the delayed routing identifier. When gNB 110-S is different from gNB 110-A, serving gNB 110-S may send LCS event reports to AMF 154 and LMF 152 via anchor gNB 110-A.

At stage 5, LMF 152 sends an NRPPa Positioning Information Request message to serving gNB 110-S (eg, via gNB 110-A) to request UL-PRS for UE 102 . The NRPPa Location Information Request PDU is first provided to the AMF 154 using the Namf_Communication_N1N2MessageTransfer service operation for the AMF 154 to request the transfer of the NRPPa PDU to the serving gNB 110-S of the UE. The AMF 154 then forwards the NRPPa PDU to the serving gNB-110-S in an NGAP downlink UE-associated NRPPa transmission message (and possibly via the gNB 110-A).

At Phase 6, which includes Phase 6a, the serving gNB 110-S decides the resources available for UL-PRS. In some embodiments, the serving gNB 110-S may provide the UL-PRS configuration to the UE 102 via a subsequent DL SDT at stage 6b (eg, in the case of semi-persistent UL-PRS).

At Phase 7, serving gNB 110-S provides UL-PRS configuration information to LMF 152 in an NRPPa Positioning Information Response message. The NRPPa Positioning Information Response PDU is first provided to the AMF 154 in an NGAP uplink UE-associated NRPPa transmission message (eg, via gNB 110-A). AMF 154 then forwards the NRPPa PDU to LMF 152 by invoking a Namf_Communication_N2InfoNotify service operation to LMF 152 .

At stage 8, in case of semi-persistent UL-PRS, LMF 152 requests enabling of UL-PRS transmission via (eg, via gNB 110-A) sending an NRPPa Positioning Enable Request message to UE 102's serving gNB 110-S.

At stage 9, the serving gNB 110-S enables UL-PRS transmission in the UE 102 via a MAC-CE UL PRS enablement request in case of semi-persistent UL-PRS.

At stage 10, in case of semi-persistent UL-PRS, the serving gNB 110-S sends an NRPPa Positioning Enable Response message to the LMF 152 (e.g., via gNB 110-A) indicating successful enablement of UL-PRS at the UE 102 .

At stage 11, the LMF 152 sends an NRPPa measurement request to one or more gNBs 110, which includes the UL-PRS measurement configuration.

At stage 12, LMF 152 (eg, via gNB 110-A) sends a supplementary service LCS event report acknowledgment to serving gNB 110-S.

At phase 13, the serving gNB 110-S sends a RRC release message with suspendConfig to keep the UE 102 in the RRC_INACTIVE state. The serving gNB 110-S may use the NRPPa assistance information from Phase 1b to assist this step. For example, if anchor gNB 110-A receives NRPPa assistance information from phase 1b, gNB 110-A may direct gNB 110-S to keep UE 102 in RRC INACTIVE state. The RRC release message includes the RRC DL information transfer including the event report acknowledgment received at phase 12 . If phase 6b does not occur (eg in case of periodic UL-PRS), the RRC release message includes the UL-PRS configuration. If phase 9 does not occur (eg in case of semi-persistent UL-PRS), the RRC release message includes MAC-CE UL PRS enablement.

SDT procedure #2 includes stages 15 to 20 and can be performed for measurement reporting, eg, for DL-only or UL+DL positioning methods. Stages 14a, 15, 16, 18 to 20 are not performed for the UL-only positioning method.

At stage 14a, UE 102 may receive DL PRS from one or more gNBs 110 and perform DL positioning measurements if performing DL only or UL+DL positioning. For example, UE 102 may also or alternatively perform DL position measurements for other positioning methods (eg, such as A-GNSS or WLAN), if requested during phase la.

At stage 14b, UE 102 may transmit UL PRS (eg, UL SRS) according to the UL PRS configuration received at stage 6b or stage 13. Each gNB 110 configured at phase 11 performs UL-PRS (eg, UL SRS) measurements.

At stage 15, the UE 102 sends an RRC UL information transfer message containing the UL NAS transmission message and an RRC resume request with SDT. The UE 102 includes the LCS Event Report and LPP Provided Location Information messages in the payload container of the UL NAS transmission message, and includes the delayed route identifier (received during Phase 1a) in the additional information of the UL NAS transmission message (e.g. 3GPP TS 24.501 as defined in ).

At stage 16, the serving gNB 110-S sends a LCS event report with LPP provision location information message to the serving AMF 154 in an NGAP uplink NAS transmission message (eg, via gNB 110-A). The AMF 154 determines the LMF 152 according to the delayed route identifier received in the Additional Information IE of the UL NAS TRANSPORT message, and forwards the LCS event report with the embedded LPP message to the LMF 152 by triggering the Namf_Communication_N1MessageNotify service operation. AMF 154 also includes the payload container type and associated identifier set as the delayed routing identifier.

At stage 17, after performing UL-PRS (eg, UL SRS) measurements, gNBs 110 each provide the UL measurements to LMF 152 in NRPPa measurement response messages.

At stage 17.5, the LMF 152 may use the DL PRS measurements (and/or other DL measurements) obtained at stage 16 and/or the UL PRS measurements obtained at stage 17 to perform a location decision for the UE 102 . LMF 152 may then send an event containing the location decided for UE 102 to external client 130 or AF 132 via GMLC 160 (in case of external client 130) or via GMLC 160 and NEF 163 (in case of AF 132) report), for example, as described in 3GPP TS 23.273, but not illustrated in Figure 4A.

At stage 18, for semi-persistent UL-PRS, LMF 152 may send an NRPPa Positioning Disable Request to serving gNB 110-S in stage 18a (eg, via gNB 110-A) to request that UL-PRS be deactivated at UE 102. PRS transmission. The serving gNB 110-S deactivates UL-PRS transmission via the MAC-CE PRS deactivation sent in phase 18b.

At stage 19, LMF 152 (eg, via gNB 110-A) sends an LCS event report acknowledgment to serving gNB 110-S.

At phase 20, the serving gNB 110-S sends a RRC release message with suspendConfig to keep the UE 102 in the RRC_INACTIVE state. For example, gNB 110-A may direct gNB 110-S to keep UE 102 in RRC INACTIVE state. The RRC release message includes the RRC DL information transfer including the event report acknowledgment received at stage 19 . If phase 18b does not occur (in case of semi-persistent UL-PRS), the RRC release message includes MAC-CE UL PRS deactivation.

As shown, at block 404, the UE 102 may remain in the RRC non-enabled state and the procedure may repeat.

The signaling flow 400 allows the anchor gNB 110 -A to remain the anchor gNB for the UE 102 at block 404 after the event reporting has occurred. However, it is also possible for the serving gNB 110-S to become the new anchor gNB for the UE 102 during Phase 13 or during Phase 20. For example (and as described in 3GPP TS 38.300), the serving gNB 110-S may request and obtain the UE 102 context from the anchor gNB 110-A (not shown in FIG. 4A ), and may then perform a serving AMF 154 and send a context release indication to the anchor gNB 110-A (not shown in FIG. 4A ). The serving gNB 110-S then becomes the new anchor gNB 110-A for the UE 102, which avoids the need to send messages to and receive messages from the LMF 152 via the anchor gNB 110-A. Becoming the new anchor gNB 110-A may add additional signaling and latency, but may also reduce latency by avoiding further signaling between the serving gNB 110-S and the anchor gNB 110-A. In particular, the reduced delay for later event reporting may be beneficial if UE 102 continues to access the same serving gNB 110-S for later event reporting.

FIG. 4B , which includes FIGS. 4B-1 and 4B-2 , illustrates initiation and reporting of a location event for a periodic or delayed 5GC-MT-LR procedure for a triggered location event when the UE 102 is in the RRC INACTIVE state. This procedure may apply to UE 102 due to NR access to 5GC. FIG. 4B illustrates a procedure similar to that of FIG. 4A, where UE 102 sends one or two event reports as in FIG. 4A. Serving gNB 110-S and Anchor gNB 110-A of UE 102 are not shown in FIG. 4B , but may still exist in NG-RAN 112 and subsequently support the signaling state between UE 102 and AMF 154 and LMF 152. This behaves as described in Figure 4A.

At Phase 1 in Figure 4B, a delayed 5GC-MT-LR procedure for periodic or triggered location events is performed with the following differences, such as shown in Figure 3 or generally as specified in 3GPP TS 23.273.

At stage 14 in Figure 3 or as specified in step 16 of 3GPP TS 23.273 clause 6.3.1, the LMF 152 indicates to the UE 102 whether subsequent location reporting events when the UE 102 is in the RRC INACTIVE state will use UL, DL or UL+ DL positioning. For example, the LMF 152 may include an indication of what type of positioning may be used in the LCS periodic trigger trigger request sent to the UE 102 at stage 14 in FIG. Step 16 in clause 6.3.1 of TS 23.273) The LCS Periodic Trigger Initiation Request sent to the UE 102 includes an LPP message with such an indication. If UL positioning is to be used, the LMF 152 does not include the LPP positioning information in the LCS periodic triggering request sent to the UE 102 at stage 14 in FIG. 3 . If DL positioning is to be used, the LMF 152 includes the LPP positioning message in the LCS periodic trigger trigger request sent to the UE 102 at stage 14 in FIG. measurement or position estimation based on DL position measurement. If UL+DL positioning is to be used, LMF 152 includes an LPP positioning message in the LCS periodic trigger request sent to UE 102 at stage 14, where the LPP positioning message (e.g., LPP Request Location Information message) identifies UL+DL positioning method and request DL position measurements for this positioning method. The LMF 152 also includes the delay route identifier in the LCS Periodic Trigger Locator as an identification of the LMF 152 . If the event report does not require the UE 102's location, or if the location based on the cell ID would satisfy the location quality of service (QoS), the LMF 152 follows the DL location procedure but does not trigger the trigger request periodically in the LCS sent to the UE 102 at stage 14 Including LPP positioning information. The UE 102 will then not obtain the DL location measurements at Phase 4 or include the LPP positioning message in the SSR message sent at Phase 5 .

The delayed route identifier indicating the preset LMF 152 may not be included in the LCS periodic trigger location trigger sent at phase 14 in Figure 3 (step 16 of 3GPP TS 23.273 clause 6.3.1), because for the following phases 5 to 21 Event reporting at , the LMF 152 needs to know what type of positioning was indicated at Phase 1 in order to properly support the subsequent phases. However, the default LMF 152 may not know what type of positioning was indicated at stage 1 .

At Phase 2 in Figure 4B, UE 102 enters the RRC INACTIVE state some time before the event is detected. For example, UE 102's previous serving gNB 110 may have sent UE 102 an RRC release message with a pause indication. Subsequently, the UE 102 will enter the RRC non-enabled state, and the previous serving gNB 110 may then subsequently become the anchor gNB 110-A for the UE 102 (although in some cases, the anchor gNB 110-A for the UE 102 may have been and still is different from UE 102's last serving gNB 110, as described in 3GPP TS 38.300). If the UE 102 was not in the RRC INACTIVE state when the event was detected (e.g., at phase 3), the UE 102 may follow the procedure described for steps 22 to 31 in 3GPP TS 23.273 clause 6.3.1 to report the event to LMF 152 and LCS Client 130 or AF 132, depending on the type of LPP message or the absence of an LPP message received at Phase 1 (eg, Phase 14 in FIG. 3 ). LMF 152 may not know if UE 102 is in RRC INACTIVE state. This situation allows the LMF 152 to follow the procedures described here or in 3GPP TS 23.273 clause 6.3.1 for event reporting. Utilizing the procedure described herein in FIG. 4B, a UE 102 that was initially in the RRC INACTIVE state may remain in the RRC INACTIVE state after completion of the procedure. Using the procedure in 3GPP TS 23.273 clause 6.3.1, a UE 102 initially in the RRC INACTIVE state may move to the RRC CONNECTED state during the procedure in 3GPP TS 23.273 clause 6.3.1.

At Phase 3, UE 102 monitors and detects the triggering events requested during Phase 1 .

At stage 4, if DL positioning was indicated at stage 1, UE 102 obtains the DL position measurements or location estimates requested in the LPP message received in stage 1. If UL positioning or UL+DL positioning is indicated at phase 1, then phase 4 is skipped.

At Phase 5, UE 102 sends an RRC resume request with Small Data Transmission (SDT) to serving gNB 110 (eg, gNB 110-S) in NG-RAN 112 . The RRC resume request includes an RRC UL information transfer message including a UL NAS TRANSPORT message including a supplementary service event report message. If DL positioning is indicated at Phase 1, UE 102 includes in the Supplementary Service Event Report message an LPP positioning message (e.g., an LPP Provides Location Information message) that includes the DL position measurements obtained at Phase 4 or location estimate. If UL+DL positioning is indicated at Phase 1, the UE 102 includes in the Supplementary Service Event Report message the LPP Positioning message (e.g., LPP Request Assistance Data message), which includes support for UL configuration indicated to the UE at Phase 1 102 is a request for the UL+DL positioning method. If UL+DL positioning is indicated at Phase 1, the event report message may also include an identifier (eg, a numeric identifier) that can identify the event report message. If UL positioning is indicated at Phase 1, the UE 102 does not include the LPP positioning message in the SSE event report message. The event report message may also include other information (eg, the type of event being reported) described in step 25 of TS 23.273 clause 6.3.1. The UL NAS TRANSPORT message also includes the delayed route identifier received in stage 14 in FIG. 3 .

At phase 6, the serving gNB 110 forwards the UL NAS TRANSPORT message to the serving AMF 154 in the N2 uplink NAS transport message. If the serving gNB 110 is not the anchor gNB 110 of the UE 102 (eg, not gNB 110-A), the UL NAS TRANSPORT message may be forwarded to the serving AMF 154 via the anchor gNB 110 .

At stage 7, AMF 154 checks the integrity of the NAS message and decrypts its content. AMF 154 then invokes the Namf_Communication_N1MessageNotify service operation to forward the event report to service LMF 152 .

At stage 8, if UL or UL+DL positioning was indicated to the UE 102 at stage 1, the LMF 152 uses a network-assisted positioning procedure (as described in stages 5, 6a, 7, 8, 10 in FIG. 4A or As described in 3GPP TS 23.273 clause 6.11.2) to request the serving gNB 110 to provide the UE 102 with the UL configuration (eg, UL SRS or UL PRS configuration) at stage 12 . Serving gNB 110 then decides on the UL configuration (e.g., UL SRS or UL PRS configuration at stage 6a as in FIG. 4A ) and provides details of the decided UL configuration back to LMF 152 (e.g., as at stage 7 in FIG. 4A ). ). The LMF 152 also requests the NG-RAN 112 gNB 110 node to make UL location measurements for the UE 102 using the non-UE-associated network assistance data procedure (eg, at stage 11 in FIG. 4A ). Since UE 102 is in RRC INACTIVE state and thus in CM CONNECTED state, AMF 154 will not perform a network triggered service request to support UL or UL+DL positioning. This avoids UE 102 transitioning to RRC CONNECTED state.

At stage 9, the LMF 152 invokes the Namf_Communication_N1N2MessageTransfer operation to return an acknowledgment of the event report. If the LMF 152 changes, the acknowledgment may include the new LMF 152's delayed route identifier.

At phase 10, the AMF 154 forwards the acknowledgment to the serving gNB 110 in a DL NAS TRANSPORT message encapsulated in the N2 downlink NAS transport message. If the serving gNB 110 is not the anchor gNB 110 of the UE 102 , the DL NAS TRANSPORT message can be forwarded to the serving gNB 110 via the anchor gNB 110 .

At phase 11 , serving gNB 110 sends a subsequent DL SDT message to UE 102 and includes the NAS message received in phase 10 .

At Phase 12, serving gNB 110 sends an RRC Release message to UE 102 to keep UE 102 in RRC INACTIVE state, and includes any UL configuration to support UL or UL+DL positioning. In some implementations (eg, in the case of semi-persistent UL-PRS), stage 6b and/or stage 9 of FIG. 4A may also be performed by the serving gNB 110 before stages 11 and 12 . If DL positioning is indicated to UE 102 at stage 1, LMF 152 and UE 102 skip stages 13-21 and proceed to stage 22.

At stage 13 , if UL or UL+DL positioning was indicated at stage 1 , UE 102 transmits a UL positioning signal according to the UL configuration received at stage 12 . If UL+DL positioning is indicated at Phase 1, the UE 102 also obtains the DL position measurements requested at Phase 1 . The NG-RAN 112 gNB 110 node requested to obtain UL location measurements at stage 8 obtains UL location measurements for the UL positioning signal transmitted by the UE 102 .

At stage 14, the NG-RAN 112 gNB node uses the non-UE 102 associated network assistance profile procedure in 3GPP TS 23.273 clause 6.11.3 or as shown at stage 17 in Figure 4A to be obtained at stage 13 The UL position measurements are communicated to the LMF 152 . If UL positioning is indicated to UE 102 at stage 1, LMF 152 and UE 102 skip stages 15-21 and proceed to stage 22. If UL+DL positioning is indicated to UE 102 at phase 1, LMF 152 and UE 102 proceed with phases 15-21.

At stage 15, the UE 102 sends an RRC resume request with small data transmission to the serving gNB 110 . The RRC resume request includes an RRC UL information transfer message including a UL NAS TRANSPORT message including a supplementary service event report message. The event report message may indicate that the event report is a second event report associated with the first event report sent at stage 5 and include LPP location information (e.g., LPP provides location information message), which includes the DL position measurement. For example, the event report message may include an event type parameter indicating that the event report is a second event report associated with a previous event report already sent to the LMF 152 (at stages 5-7). The event report message may also or alternatively include an identifier (eg, a numeric identifier) in the event report message that is the same as the identifier included in the first event report sent at stage 5 . If the LMF 152 changes, the UL NAS TRANSPORT message also includes the delayed route identifier received in stage 14 of Figure 3 (or step 16 in clause 6.3.1 of 3GPP TS 23.273 clause) or in stage 11 of this procedure.

At stage 16, the serving gNB 110 forwards the UL NAS TRANSPORT message to the serving AMF 154 in an N2 uplink NAS transport message. If the serving gNB 110 is not the anchor gNB 110-A of the UE 102, the UL NAS TRANSPORT message may be forwarded to the serving AMF 154 via the anchor gNB 110-A.

At stage 17, AMF 154 checks the integrity of the NAS message and decrypts its content. AMF 154 then invokes the Namf_Communication_N1MessageNotify service operation to forward the event report to service LMF 152 .

At stage 18, the LMF 152 invokes the Namf_Communication_N1N2MessageTransfer operation to return an acknowledgment of the event report. LMF 152 may use an indication of a second event report associated with the first event report received at stage 7 to treat the event report received at stage 17 from AMF 154 as a continuation of the first event report rather than Separate reports of unrelated incidents. The LMF 152 may also or instead use the same identifier in the second event report as received in the first event report at stage 7 to treat the event report received at stage 17 as the first event report. A continuation of an incident report rather than a separate unrelated incident report. For example, LMF 152 would not treat the second event report received at stage 17 as the same as the first event report received at stage 7 .

At stage 19, the AMF 154 forwards the acknowledgment to the serving gNB 110 in a DL NAS TRANSPORT message encapsulated in the N2 downlink NAS transport message. If the serving gNB 110 is not the anchor gNB 110-A of the UE 102, the DL NAS TRANSPORT message may be forwarded to the serving gNB 110 via the anchor gNB 110-A.

At stage 20 , serving gNB 110 sends a subsequent DL SDT message to UE 102 and includes the NAS message received in stage 19 .

At stage 21, serving gNB 110 sends an RRC release message to UE 102 to keep UE 102 in RRC INACTIVE state.

At stage 22 and after one of stage 21 when UL+DL positioning is indicated at stage 1, stage 14 when UL positioning is indicated at stage 1, or stage 12 when DL positioning is indicated at stage 1 , UE 102 remains in the RRC INACTIVE state.

At stage 23, if the event report requires a location estimate, the LMF 152 decides the UE 102 location using one of the following: For DL positioning, the LMF 152 uses the DL location measurements or location estimates received at stage 7 or Cell ID provided by AMF 154 at stage 7; for UL positioning, LMF 152 uses UL position measurements received at stage 14; for UL+DL positioning, LMF 152 uses UL position measurements received at stage 14 and DL position measurements received at stage 17 . LMF 152 may not attempt to obtain additional location measurements from UE 102 or from NG-RAN 112, eg, because doing so may otherwise cause UE 102 to enter RRC CONNECTED state, which would increase UE 102 power consumption.

At stage 24, steps 28 to 31 of clause 6.3.1 of 3GPP TS 23.273 are performed to send an event report from the LMF 152 to the LCS client 130 or AF 132, including any positions obtained at stage 23, and monitor Next periodic or triggering event at UE 102.

FIG. 4C illustrates positioning events initiated and reported for periodic or triggered positioning events delayed 5GC-MT-LR procedures when the UE 102 is in the RRC INACTIVE state and when the event is reported with DL positioning or without positioning. This procedure may apply to UE 102 due to NR access to 5GC. FIG. 4C illustrates a procedure similar to FIGS. 4A and 4B but limited to DL positioning of UE 102 or no positioning. Serving gNB 110-S and Anchor gNB 110-A of UE 102 are not shown in FIG. 4C, but may still exist in NG-RAN 112 and subsequently support the signaling state between UE 102 and AMF 154 and LMF 152. This behaves as described in Figure 4A.

At Phase 1 in Figure 4C, a delayed 5GC-MT-LR procedure for periodic or triggered location events is performed with the following differences, such as shown in Figure 3 or generally as specified in 3GPP TS 23.273.

At stage 14 in Figure 3 or as specified in step 16 of 3GPP TS 23.273 clause 6.3.1, the LMF 152 indicates to the UE 102 that subsequent location reporting events will use UL positioning or not use positioning when the UE 102 is in the RRC INACTIVE state . If DL positioning is to be used, LMF 152 includes an LPP positioning message (e.g., LPP request location information message) in the LCS periodic trigger trigger request sent to UE 102 at stage 14 in FIG. 3 , wherein the LPP positioning message requests DL location measurement or position estimation based on DL position measurement. If the location of the UE 102 is not required for the event report, or if the location QoS based on the cell ID would satisfy the location QoS, the LMF 152 does not include the LPP location information in the LCS periodic trigger request sent to the UE 102 at stage 14 in FIG. 3 . The delayed route identifier indicating the preset LMF 152 may not be included in the LCS periodic trigger location trigger sent at stage 14 in Figure 3 (or in step 16 of 3GPP TS 23.273 clause 6.3.1), because for the following stages Event reports at 5 to 11, the LMF 152 needs to know what type of positioning was indicated at phase 1 in order to properly support these subsequent phases. However, by default the LMF 152 will generally not know what type of positioning was indicated at Phase 1 .

At Phase 2 in Figure 4C, UE 102 enters the RRC INACTIVE state some time before the event is detected, eg, as described for Phase 2 in Figure 4B. If the UE 102 is not in the RRC INACTIVE state when the event is detected, the UE 102 may follow the procedure described for steps 22 to 31 in 3GPP TS 23.273 clause 6.3.1 to report the event to the LMF 152 and the LCS Client 130 or AF 132. LMF 152 may not know if UE 102 is in RRC INACTIVE state. This allows the LMF 152 to follow the procedure described here for Figure 4C or in 3GPP TS 23.273 clause 6.3.1 for event reporting. Utilizing the procedure described herein for FIG. 4C, a UE 102 that was initially in the RRC INACTIVE state may remain in the RRC INACTIVE state after completion of the procedure. Using the procedure in 3GPP TS 23.273 clause 6.3.1, a UE 102 initially in the RRC INACTIVE state may move to the RRC CONNECTED state during the procedure in 3GPP TS 23.273 clause 6.3.1.

At Phase 3, UE 102 monitors and detects the triggering events requested during Phase 1 .

At stage 4, if DL positioning was indicated at stage 1, UE 102 obtains the DL position measurements or location estimates requested in the LPP message received in stage 1. If DL positioning is not indicated at Phase 1, then Phase 4 is skipped.

At phase 5, the UE 102 sends an RRC resume request with Small Data Transmission (SDT) to the serving gNB 110 in the NG-RAN 112 . The RRC resume request includes an RRC UL information transfer message including a UL NAS TRANSPORT message including a supplementary service event report message. If DL positioning is indicated at Phase 1, UE 102 includes in the Supplementary Service Event Report message an LPP positioning message (e.g., an LPP Provides Location Information message) that includes the DL position measurements obtained at Phase 4 or location estimate. If DL positioning is not indicated at Phase 1, the UE 102 does not include the LPP positioning information in the SSE event report message. The event report message may also include other information (eg, the type of event being reported) as described in step 25 of TS 23.273 clause 6.3.1. The UL NAS TRANSPORT message also includes the delayed route identifier received in stage 14 in FIG. 3 .

At phase 6, the serving gNB 110 forwards the UL NAS TRANSPORT message to the serving AMF 154 in the N2 uplink NAS transport message. If the serving gNB 110 is not the anchor gNB 110-A of the UE 102, the UL NAS TRANSPORT message may be forwarded to the serving AMF 154 via the anchor gNB 110-A.

At stage 7, AMF 154 checks the integrity of the NAS message and decrypts its content. AMF 154 then invokes the Namf_Communication_N1MessageNotify service operation to forward the event report to service LMF 152 .

At stage 8, the LMF 152 invokes the Namf_Communication_N1N2MessageTransfer operation to return an acknowledgment of the event report. If the LMF 152 changes, the acknowledgment may include the new LMF 152's delayed route identifier.

At phase 9, the AMF 154 forwards the acknowledgment to the serving gNB 110 in a DL NAS TRANSPORT message encapsulated in the N2 downlink NAS transport message. If the serving gNB 110 is not the anchor gNB 110-A of the UE 102, the DL NAS TRANSPORT message may be forwarded to the serving gNB 110 via the anchor gNB 110-A.

At stage 10, serving gNB 110 sends a subsequent DL SDT message to UE 102 and includes the NAS message received at stage 9.

At phase 11, serving gNB 110 sends an RRC release message to UE 102 to keep UE 102 in RRC INACTIVE state.

At phase 12, after phase 11, the UE 102 remains in the RRC INACTIVE state.

At stage 13, if the event report requires a location estimate, the LMF 152 determines the UE 102 location using the DL location measurements or location estimates received at stage 7 or the cell ID provided by the AMF 154 at stage 7. LMF 152 may not attempt to obtain additional location measurements from UE 102 or from NG-RAN 112, eg, because doing so may otherwise cause UE 102 to enter RRC CONNECTED state, which would increase UE 102 power consumption.

At stage 14, steps 28 to 31 of clause 6.3.1 are performed to send an event report from the LMF 152 to the LCS client 130 or AF 132, the event report including any location obtained at stage 13, and monitoring next periodic or trigger event.

Figure 4D illustrates positioning events initiated and reported for periodic or triggered positioning events delayed 5GC-MT-LR procedures when UE 102 is in RRC INACTIVE state and when event reporting uses UL positioning. This procedure may apply to UE 102 due to NR access to 5GC. FIG. 4D illustrates a procedure similar to FIGS. 4A and 4B but limited to UE 102 UL positioning. Serving gNB 110-S and Anchor gNB 110-A of UE 102 are not shown in FIG. 4D , but may still exist in NG-RAN 112 and subsequently support the signaling state between UE 102 and AMF 154 and LMF 152. This behaves as described in Figure 4A.

At Phase 1 in Figure 4D, a delayed 5GC-MT-LR procedure for periodic or triggered location events is performed with the following differences, such as shown in Figure 3 or generally as specified in 3GPP TS 23.273.

At stage 14 in Figure 3 or as specified in step 16 of 3GPP TS 23.273 clause 6.3.1, the LMF 152 indicates to the UE 102 when the UE 102 is in the RRC INACTIVE state, e.g. via the The LCS periodic-triggered trigger request does not include LPP positioning information, and subsequent location reporting events can use UL positioning. The delayed route identifier indicating the preset LMF 152 may not be included in the LCS periodic trigger location trigger sent at stage 14 in Figure 3 (or in step 16 in 3GPP TS 23.273 clause 6.3.1), because for the following Event reporting at stages 4 through 11, the LMF 152 needs to know what type of positioning was indicated at stage 1 in order to properly support these subsequent stages. However, the default LMF 152 may generally not know what type of positioning was indicated at stage 1 .

At Phase 2 in Figure 4D, UE 102 enters the RRC INACTIVE state some time before the event is detected, eg, as described for Phase 2 in Figure 4B. If the UE 102 is not in the RRC INACTIVE state when the event is detected, the UE 102 may follow the procedure described for steps 22 to 31 in 3GPP TS 23.273 clause 6.3.1 to report the event to the LMF 152 and the LCS Client 130 or AF 132. LMF 152 may not know if UE 102 is in RRC INACTIVE state. This allows the LMF 152 to follow the procedure described here for Figure 4D or in 3GPP TS 23.273 clause 6.3.1 for event reporting. Utilizing the procedure described herein for FIG. 4D, a UE 102 that was initially in the RRC INACTIVE state may remain in the RRC INACTIVE state after completion of the procedure. Using the procedure in 3GPP TS 23.273 clause 6.3.1, a UE initially in the RRC INACTIVE state may move to the RRC CONNECTED state during the procedure in 3GPP TS 23.273 clause 6.3.1.

At Phase 3 in FIG. 4D , UE 102 monitors and detects the trigger event requested during Phase 1 .

At phase 4, the UE 102 sends an RRC resume request with Small Data Transmission (SDT) to the serving gNB 110 in the NG-RAN 112 . The RRC resume request includes an RRC UL information transfer message including a UL NAS TRANSPORT message including a supplementary service event report message. UE 102 may not include LPP positioning information in the supplementary service event report message. The incident report message may include other information (eg, the type of incident being reported) as described in step 25 of TS 23.273 clause 6.3.1. The UL NAS TRANSPORT message also includes the delayed route identifier received at stage 14 in FIG. 3 .

At phase 5, the serving gNB 110 forwards the UL NAS TRANSPORT message to the serving AMF 154 in the N2 uplink NAS transport message. If the serving gNB 110 is not the anchor gNB 110-A of the UE 102, the UL NAS TRANSPORT message may be forwarded to the serving AMF 154 via the anchor gNB 110-A.

At stage 6, AMF 154 checks the integrity of the NAS message and decrypts its content. AMF 154 then invokes the Namf_Communication_N1MessageNotify service operation to forward the event report to service LMF 152 .

At Phase 7, the LMF 152 uses the Network Assisted Location procedure (as described in Phases 5, 6a, 7, 8, 10 in Figure 4A or as described in 3GPP TS 23.273 Clause 6.11.2) to request the serving gNB 110 in The UL configuration (eg, UL SRS or UL PRS configuration) is provided to UE 102 at stage 11 . Serving gNB 110 then decides on the UL configuration (e.g., UL SRS or UL PRS configuration at stage 6a as in FIG. 4A ) and provides details of the decided UL configuration back to LMF 152 (e.g., as at stage 7 in FIG. 4A ). ). The LMF 152 also requests the NG-RAN 112 gNB 110 node to make UL location measurements for the UE 102 using the non-UE associated network assistance data procedure (eg, at stage 11 in FIG. 4A ). Because UE 102 is in RRC INACTIVE state and thus in CM CONNECTED state, AMF 154 will not perform a network triggered service request to support UL positioning. This avoids UE 102 transitioning to RRC CONNECTED state.

At stage 8, the LMF 152 invokes the Namf_Communication_N1N2MessageTransfer operation to return an acknowledgment of the event report. If the LMF 152 changes, the acknowledgment may include the new LMF 152's delayed route identifier.

At phase 9, the AMF 154 forwards the acknowledgment to the serving gNB 110 in a DL NAS TRANSPORT message encapsulated in the N2 downlink NAS transport message. If the serving gNB 110 is not the anchor gNB 110-A of the UE 102, the DL NAS TRANSPORT message may be forwarded to the serving gNB 110 via the anchor gNB 110-A.

At stage 10, the receiving gNB node sends a subsequent DL SDT message to UE 102 and includes the NAS message received at stage 9.

At Phase 11, serving gNB 110 sends an RRC Release message to UE 102 to keep UE 102 in RRC INACTIVE state, and includes the UL Configure to support UL positioning. In some implementations (eg, in the case of semi-persistent UL-PRS), stage 6b and/or stage 9 of FIG. 4A may also be performed by the serving gNB 110 before stages 10 and 11 .

At stage 12, the UE 102 transmits a UL positioning signal according to the UL configuration received at stage 11. The NG-RAN 112 gNB 110 node requested to obtain UL location measurements at stage 7 obtains UL location measurements for the UL positioning signal transmitted by the UE 102 .

At Phase 13, the NG-RAN 112 gNB 110 node uses the non-UE 102 associated network assistance data procedure in 3GPP TS 23.273 Clause 6.11.3 or as shown at Phase 17 in Figure 4A to be obtained at Phase 12 The UL position measurements of are transmitted to the LMF 152.

At phase 14, after phase 13, the UE 102 remains in the RRC INACTIVE state.

At stage 15 the LMF 152 uses the UL location measurements received at stage 13 to determine the location of the UE 102 . LMF 152 may not attempt to obtain additional location measurements from UE 102 or from NG-RAN 112, eg, because doing so may otherwise cause UE 102 to enter RRC CONNECTED state, which would increase UE 102 power consumption.

At stage 16, steps 28 to 31 of clause 6.3.1 are performed to send an event report from the LMF 152 to the LCS client 130 or AF 132, the event report including any location obtained at stage 15, and monitoring next periodic or trigger event.

Figure 4E, which includes Figures 4E-1 and 4E-2, illustrates the delay 5GC-MT-LR for periodic or positioning events initiated and reported when UE 102 is in RRC INACTIVE state and when event reporting uses UL+DL positioning The program's trigger positioning event. This procedure may apply to UE 102 due to NR access to 5GC. FIG. 4E illustrates a procedure similar to FIGS. 4A and 4B but limited to UL+DL positioning of UE 102 . Serving gNB 110-S and Anchor gNB 110-A of UE 102 are not shown in FIG. 4E , but may still exist in NG-RAN 112 and subsequently support the signaling state between UE 102 and AMF 154 and LMF 152. This behaves as described in Figure 4A.

At phase 1 in Figure 4E, a delayed 5GC-MT-LR procedure for periodic or triggered location events is performed with the following differences, such as shown in Figure 3 or as specified in 3GPP TS 23.273 clause 6.3.1 the average.

At stage 14 of FIG. 3 or as specified in step 16 in 3GPP TS 23.273 clause 6.3.1, LMF 152 indicates to UE 102 that when UE 102 is in RRC INACTIVE state, via sending The LCS periodic-trigger trigger request to UE 102 includes LPP positioning message (for example, LPP request location information message), and subsequent location reporting events will use UL+DL positioning, where the LPP positioning message identifies the UL+DL positioning method and requests DL Position measurements are used for this positioning method. The LMF 152 also includes the delay route identifier in the LCS Periodic Trigger Locator as an identification of the LMF 152 . The delayed route identifier indicating the preset LMF 152 may not be included in the LCS periodic trigger location trigger sent at phase 14 of Figure 3 (or in step 16 in 3GPP TS 23.273 clause 6.3.1), because for the following phase Event reports at 4 to 20, the LMF 152 needs to know what type of positioning was indicated at Phase 1 in order to properly support these subsequent phases. However, the default LMF 152 may generally not know what type of positioning was indicated at stage 1 .

At phase 2, UE 102 enters the RRC INACTIVE state some time before the event is detected, eg, as described for phase 2 in FIG. 4B. If the UE 102 is not in the RRC INACTIVE state when the event is detected at step 3, the UE 102 may follow the procedure described for steps 22 to 31 in 3GPP TS 23.273 clause 6.3.1 to report the event to the LMF 152 and the LCS client end 130 or AF 132. LMF 152 may not know if UE 102 is in RRC INACTIVE state. This allows the LMF 152 to follow the procedure described here for Figure 4E or in clause 6.3.1 for event reporting. Utilizing the procedure described herein for FIG. 4E, a UE 102 that was initially in the RRC INACTIVE state may remain in the RRC INACTIVE state after completion of the procedure. Using the procedure in 3GPP TS 23.273 clause 6.3.1, a UE initially in the RRC INACTIVE state may move to the RRC CONNECTED state during the procedure in 3GPP TS 23.273 clause 6.3.1.

At Phase 3, UE 102 monitors and detects the triggering events requested during Phase 1 .

At phase 4, the UE 102 sends an RRC resume request with Small Data Transmission (SDT) to the serving gNB 110 in the NG-RAN 112 . The RRC resume request includes an RRC UL information transfer message including a UL NAS TRANSPORT message including a supplementary service event report message. The UE 102 includes an LPP positioning message (eg, LPP Request Assistance Data message) in the supplementary service event report message, which includes a request for UL configuration to support the UL+DL positioning method indicated to the UE 102 at Phase 1 . The event report message may also include other information (eg, the type of event being reported) as described in step 25 of 3GPP TS 23.273 clause 6.3.1. The event report message may also include an identifier (eg, a numeric identifier) that can identify the event report message. The UL NAS TRANSPORT message also includes the delayed route identifier received in stage 14 in FIG. 3 .

At phase 5, the serving gNB 110 forwards the UL NAS TRANSPORT message to the serving AMF 154 in the N2 uplink NAS transport message. If the serving gNB 110 is not the anchor gNB 110-A of the UE 102, the UL NAS TRANSPORT message may be forwarded to the serving AMF 154 via the anchor gNB 110A.

At stage 6, AMF 154 checks the integrity of the NAS message and decrypts its content. AMF 154 then invokes the Namf_Communication_N1MessageNotify service operation to forward the event report to service LMF 152 .

At Phase 7, the LMF 152 uses the Network Assisted Location procedure (as described in Phases 5, 6a, 7, 8, 10 in Figure 4A or as described in 3GPP TS 23.273 Clause 6.11.2) to request the serving gNB 110 in The UL configuration (eg, UL SRS or UL PRS configuration) is provided to UE 102 at stage 11 . Serving gNB 110 then decides on the UL configuration (e.g., UL SRS or UL PRS configuration at stage 6a as in FIG. 4A ) and provides details of the decided UL configuration back to LMF 152 (e.g., as at stage 7 in FIG. 4A ). ). The LMF 152 also requests the NG-RAN 112 gNB 110 node to make UL location measurements for the UE 102 using the non-UE 102 associated network assistance data procedure (eg, at stage 11 in FIG. 4A ). Since UE 102 is in RRC INACTIVE state and thus in CM CONNECTED state, AMF 154 will not perform a network triggered service request to support UL+DL positioning. This avoids UE 102 transitioning to RRC CONNECTED state.

At stage 8, the LMF 152 invokes the Namf_Communication_N1N2MessageTransfer operation to return an acknowledgment of the event report. If the LMF 152 changes, the acknowledgment may include the new LMF 152's delayed route identifier.

At phase 9, the AMF 154 forwards the acknowledgment to the serving gNB 110 in a DL NAS TRANSPORT message encapsulated in the N2 downlink NAS transport message. If the serving gNB 110 is not the anchor gNB 110-A of the UE 102, the DL NAS TRANSPORT message may be forwarded to the serving gNB 110 via the anchor gNB 110-A.

At stage 10, serving gNB 110 sends a subsequent DL SDT message to UE 102 and includes the NAS message received at stage 9.

At Phase 11, serving gNB 110 sends an RRC Release message to UE 102 to keep UE 102 in RRC INACTIVE state, and includes any UL configuration to support UL+DL positioning. In some implementations (eg, in the case of semi-persistent UL-PRS), stage 6b and/or stage 9 of FIG. 4A may also be performed by the serving gNB 110 before stages 10 and 11 .

At stage 12, the UE 102 transmits a UL positioning signal according to the UL configuration received at stage 11. UE 102 also obtains the DL location measurements requested at Phase 1 . The NG-RAN 112 gNB 110 node requested to obtain UL location measurements at stage 7 obtains UL location measurements for the UL positioning signal transmitted by the UE 102 .

At Phase 13, the NG-RAN 112 gNB 110 node uses the non-UE 102 associated network assistance data procedure in 3GPP TS 23.273 Clause 6.11.3 or as shown at Phase 17 in Figure 4A to be obtained at Phase 12 The UL position measurements of are transmitted to the LMF 152.

At stage 14, the UE 102 sends an RRC resume request with small data transmission to the serving gNB 110 . The RRC resume request includes an RRC UL information transfer message including a UL NAS TRANSPORT message including a supplementary service event report message. The event report message may indicate that the event report is a second event report associated with the first event report sent at stage 4 and include LPP location information (e.g., LPP provides location information message), which includes the DL position measurement. For example, the event report message may include an event type parameter indicating that the event report is a second event report associated with a previous event report already sent to the LMF 152 (at stages 4-6). The event report message may also or alternatively include an identifier (eg, a numeric identifier) in the event report message that is the same as the identifier included in the first event report sent at stage 4 . If the LMF 152 changes, the UL NAS TRANSPORT message also includes the delayed route identifier received at stage 14 of Figure 3 (or step 16 in clause 6.3.1 of 3GPP TS 23.273 clause) or in stage 10 of this procedure .

At stage 15, the serving gNB 110 forwards the UL NAS TRANSPORT message to the serving AMF 154 in an N2 uplink NAS transport message. If the serving gNB 110 is not the anchor gNB 110-A of the UE 102, the UL NAS TRANSPORT message may be forwarded to the serving AMF 154 via the anchor gNB 110-A.

At stage 16, AMF 154 checks the integrity of the NAS message and decrypts its content. AMF 154 then invokes the Namf_Communication_N1MessageNotify service operation to forward the event report to service LMF 152 .

At stage 17, the LMF 152 invokes the Namf_Communication_N1N2MessageTransfer operation to return an acknowledgment of the event report. LMF 152 may use an indication of a second event report associated with the first event report received at stage 6 to treat the event report received at stage 16 from AMF 154 as a continuation of the first event report rather than Separate reports of unrelated incidents. The LMF 152 may also or instead use the same identifier in the second event report as received in the first event report at stage 6 to treat the event report received at stage 16 as the first event report. A continuation of an incident report rather than a separate unrelated incident report. For example, LMF 152 would not treat the second event report received at stage 16 as the same as the first event report received at stage 6 .

At stage 18, the AMF 154 forwards the acknowledgment to the serving gNB 110 in a DL NAS TRANSPORT message encapsulated in the N2 downlink NAS transport message. If the serving gNB 110 is not the anchor gNB 110-A of the UE 102, the DL NAS TRANSPORT message may be forwarded to the serving gNB 110 via the anchor gNB 110-A.

At stage 19 , serving gNB 110 sends a subsequent DL SDT message to UE 102 and includes the NAS message received at stage 18 .

At stage 20, serving gNB 110 sends an RRC release message to UE 102 to keep UE 102 in RRC INACTIVE state.

At stage 21, after stage 20, the UE 102 remains in the RRC INACTIVE state.

At stage 22 the LMF 152 uses the UL location measurements received at stage 13 and the DL location measurements received at stage 16 to determine the location of the UE 102 . LMF 152 may not attempt to obtain additional location measurements from UE 102 or from NG-RAN 112, eg, because doing so may otherwise cause UE 102 to enter RRC CONNECTED state, which would increase UE 102 power consumption.

At stage 23, steps 28 to 31 of clause 6.3.1 are performed to send an event report from the LMF 152 to the LCS client 130 or AF 132, the event report including any location obtained at stage 22, and monitoring next periodic or trigger event.

FIG. 5 illustrates a schematic block diagram illustrating certain exemplary features of a UE 500, for example, the UE may be the UE 102 shown in FIG. The state supports positioning of the UE, eg, as discussed herein. For example, UE 500 may execute the signaling flow shown in FIG. 4A , FIG. 4B , FIG. 4C , FIG. 4D and/or FIG. 4E , the process flow shown in FIG. 8 , and accompanying algorithms disclosed herein. UE 500 may, for example, include: one or more processors 502; memory 504; an external interface (e.g., a wireless network interface), such as at least one wireless transceiver 510, an SPS receiver 515, and one or more sensors 513, the external interface can be operatively coupled to the non-transitory computer readable medium 520 and the memory 504 via one or more connections 506 (eg, busses, wires, optical fibers, links, etc.). SPS receiver 515 may, for example, receive and process SPS signals from SV 190 shown in FIG. 1 . The one or more sensors 513 may be, for example, an inertial measurement unit (IMU), which may include one or more accelerometers, one or more gyroscopes, magnetometers, and the like. The UE 500 may also include additional items not shown, such as a user interface that may include, for example, a display, a keypad, or other input device (such as a virtual keypad on the display) through which a user may interface with the UE. catch. In certain exemplary embodiments, all or part of UE 500 may take the form of a chipset or the like.

The at least one wireless transceiver 510 may be a transceiver for both the WWAN communication system and the WLAN communication system, or may include separate transceivers for the WWAN and WLAN. Wireless transceiver 510 may include a transmitter 512 and a receiver 514 coupled to one or more antennas 511 for transmitting (e.g., on one or more uplink channels and/or one or more sidelink channels) and/or receive (e.g., on one or more downlink channels and/or one or more sidelink channels) wireless signals and convert signals from wireless to wired (e.g., electrical and/or or optical) signals and conversion from wired (e.g., electrical and/or optical) signals to wireless signals. Thus, transmitter 512 may include multiple transmitters, which may be separate elements or combined/integrated elements, and/or receiver 514 may include multiple receivers, which may be separate elements or combined/integrated elements. The wireless transceiver 510 may be configured to transmit signals (eg, communicate with base stations and access points and/or one or more other devices) according to various radio access technologies (RATs), such as: 5G New Radio (NR), GSM (Global Mobile System), 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 (PC5), IEEE 802.11 (including IEEE 802.11p), WiFi, WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), Bluetooth®, Zigbee, etc. New radios can use mm wave frequencies and/or frequencies below 6 GHz. Wireless transceiver 510 may be communicatively coupled to a transceiver interface, which may be at least partially integrated with wireless transceiver 510 , eg, via an optical and/or electrical connection.

In some embodiments, UE 500 may include antenna 511, which may be internal or external. UE antenna 511 may be used to transmit and/or receive signals processed by wireless transceiver 510 . In some embodiments, UE antenna 511 may be coupled to wireless transceiver 510 . In some embodiments, measurements of signals received (transmitted) by the UE 500 may be performed at the connection point of the UE antenna 511 with the wireless transceiver 510 . For example, measurement reference points for received (transmitted) RF signal measurements may be the input (output) terminals of the receiver 514 (transmitter 512 ) and the output (input) terminals of the UE antenna 511 . In a UE 500 with multiple UE antennas 511 or antenna arrays, an antenna connector can be considered as a virtual point representing the aggregated output (input) of multiple UE antennas. In some embodiments, UE 500 may measure received signals including signal strength and TOA measurements, and the raw measurements may be processed by one or more processors 502 .

One or more processors 502 may be implemented using a combination of hardware, firmware, and software. For example, one or more processors 502 may be configured to implement one or more instructions or code 508 on a non-transitory computer-readable medium, such as medium 520 and/or memory 504, to perform the tasks discussed herein. function. In some embodiments, one or more processors 502 may represent one or more circuits that may be configured to perform at least a portion of a data signal calculation procedure or process related to the operation of UE 500 .

Media 520 and/or memory 504 may store instructions or code 508 containing executable code or software instructions that, when executed by one or more processors 502, use One or more processors 502 act as a special purpose computer programmed to perform the disclosed techniques. As shown in UE 500, medium 520 and/or memory 504 may include one or more elements or modules, which may be implemented by one or more processors 502 to perform the methods described herein. Although elements or modules are shown as software in media 520 executable by one or more processors 502, it should be understood that elements or modules may be stored in memory 504 or may be in one or more processors 502 or Dedicated hardware outside of the processor.

A number of software modules and tables may be resident on medium 520 and/or memory 504 and utilized by one or more processors 502 to manage the communications and functionality described herein. It should be understood that the organization of the contents of media 520 and/or memory 504 as shown by UE 500 is exemplary only, and thus the functionality of modules and/or data structures may be combined, separated, and/or differently Structured, this depends on the UE 500 implementation.

The medium 520 and/or memory 504 may include a location communication module 522 which, when implemented by the one or more processors 502, configures the one or more processors 502 to communicate with the location location via the serving base station via the wireless transceiver 510 The server performs a positioning communication period, which includes: receiving a positioning service request including periodic or triggered positioning; receiving a request for positioning capability and a request for position information, such as, for example, positioning measurements for UE-assisted positioning procedures, or for example Position estimation for UE based positioning procedures. The one or more processors 502 are configured to send a response to the location service request, eg, by providing location capabilities and requested location information. One or more processors 502 may be configured to monitor for events, such as periodic or trigger events. One or more processors 502 may be configured to generate and send an event report in SDT with an RRC recovery request, which may include a request for assistance material (for example, for UL PRS configuration), for example, as shown in FIG. Discussed at Stage 3 of 4A. The one or more processors 502 may also be configured to receive assistance data and other information, eg, for receiving and measuring DL PRS and other information for transmitting UL PRS. For example, one or more processors 502 may be configured to receive one or more UL PRS configurations, which may be provided in a subsequent DL SDT or in an RRC message such as an RRC Release message, such as in stage 6b or stage 4A of FIG. 4A as described in 13. The one or more processors 502 may be configured to receive MAC-CE UL PRS Enable, eg, at the MAC-CE level or in an RRC message such as an RRC Release message, such as described in stages 9 and 13 of FIG. 4A . The one or more processors 502 may be configured to perform positioning related procedures, such as transmitting UL PRS and/or receiving and measuring DL PRS for positioning measurements, such as Rx-Tx, AOA, AOD, TOA, RSRP, etc. One or more processors 502 may be configured to generate and send positioning information (e.g., including DL PRS measurements and/or position estimates (if generated)) in an event report in SDT with RRC recovery request to the LMF, eg, as discussed at stage 15 of Figure 4A. The one or more processors 502 may be configured to receive MAC-CE UL-PRS deactivation, for example at the MAC-CE level or in an RRC message such as an RRC Release message, such as described in stages 18b and 20 of FIG. 4A .

The medium 520 and/or memory 504 may include an RRC deactivation module 524 which, when implemented by the one or more processors 502, configures the one or more processors 502 to send and receive messages with the gNB to enter RRC deactivation state.

The medium 520 and/or the memory 504 may include an RRC recovery module 526 which, when implemented by the one or more processors 502, configures the one or more processors 502 to send to and receive from the gNB associated with the RRC recovery request message. For example, one or more processors 502 may be configured to send an SDT with an RRC recovery request message to the serving gNB, and may be configured to include requests for UL PRS configuration and/or positioning location information (e.g., including DL PRS measurements and and/or location estimate (if generated)) LPP Request Auxiliary Data message. The one or more processors 502 may be configured to receive subsequent DL SDT messages from the serving gNB, which may include UL PRS configuration. The one or more processors 502 may be configured to receive an RRC release message from the serving gNB, which may include an event report acknowledgment, and may be configured to receive a UL PRS configuration in the RRC release message.

Depending on the application, the methods described herein can be implemented in various ways. For example, the methods can be implemented in hardware, firmware, software or any combination thereof. For a hardware implementation, one or more processors 502 may be implemented on one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signal processing devices (DSPDs), programmable logic devices ( PLD), Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), processor, controller, microcontroller, microprocessor, electronic device, other electronic unit designed to perform the functions described herein, or a combination thereof.

For a firmware and/or software implementation, the methodologies may be implemented with modules (eg, procedures, functions, and so on) that perform the functions described herein. Any machine-readable medium tangibly embodying instructions can be used to implement the methods described herein. For example, software code may be stored on a non-transitory computer-readable medium 520 or memory 504 that is coupled to and executed by one or more processors 502 . Memory may be implemented within the one or more processors or external to the one or more processors. As used herein, the term "memory" refers to any type of long-term, short-term, volatile, non-volatile or other memory, and is not limited to any particular type or quantity of memory, or The type of media on which the memory is stored.

If implemented in firmware and/or software, the functions may be stored as one or more instructions or code 508 on a non-transitory computer-readable medium such as medium 520 and/or memory 504 . Examples include computer readable media encoded with a data structure and computer readable media encoded with computer program code 508 . For example, a non-transitory computer-readable medium including code 508 stored thereon may include code 508 for supporting positioning of UEs in an RRC non-enabled state in a manner consistent with disclosed embodiments. The non-transitory computer readable medium 520 includes tangible computer storage media. Storage media may be any available media that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example and without limitation, such non-transitory computer-readable media may include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM, or other optical storage, magnetic disk storage, or other magnetic storage devices, or may be used to store Desired program code 508 in the form of a data structure and any other medium that can be accessed by a computer; as used herein, disk and optical disc includes compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD) , floppy disk and Blu-ray disc, where magnetic disks usually reproduce data magnetically, and optical disks reproduce data optically with the help of lasers. The above combinations should also be included in the category of computer-readable media.

In addition to being stored on the computer-readable medium 520, instructions and/or data may also be provided as signals on a transmission medium included in the communication device. For example, the communication device may include a wireless transceiver 510 with signals indicative of commands and data. The instructions and materials are configured to cause one or more processors to perform the functions outlined in the claims. That is, the communication device includes a transmission medium with signals indicative of information for performing disclosed functions.

Memory 504 may represent any data storage mechanism. The memory 504 may include, for example, primary memory and/or secondary memory. Main memory may include, for example, random access memory, read only memory, and the like. Although shown in this example as being separate from the one or more processors 502, it should be understood that all or part of the main memory may be located within or otherwise co-located/coupled with the one or more processors 502 . Secondary memory may include, for example, the same or similar type of memory as primary memory and/or one or more data storage devices or systems such as, for example, magnetic disk drives, optical disk drives, magnetic tape drives, solid-state memory drives, and the like.

In some embodiments, the secondary memory can be operable to receive the non-transitory computer-readable medium 520, or can be configured to be coupled to the non-transitory computer-readable medium. Thus, in certain exemplary embodiments, the methods and/or apparatus presented herein may take the form of all or a portion of a computer-readable medium 520, which may include computer-implementable The program code 508, when executed by the one or more processors 502, the computer-implementable code may be operable to perform all or a portion of the exemplary operations described herein. Computer readable medium 520 may be part of memory 504 .

FIG. 6 illustrates a schematic block diagram illustrating certain exemplary features of a positioning server 600, such as the LMF 152 or the SLP 162 shown in FIG. 1 or the LMC or LSS located in the NG-RAN 112 , the positioning server is configured to support positioning of a UE (eg, UE 102 ) in an RRC non-enabled state, as discussed herein. The positioning server 600 may execute the signal transmission flow shown in FIG. 4A , FIG. 4B , FIG. 4C , FIG. 4D and/or FIG. 4E , such as the process flow shown in FIG. 9 and the algorithm disclosed herein. Positioning server 600 may, for example, include: one or more processors 602; memory 604; external interface 616 (e.g., to a base station in a core network and/or a physical wired or wireless network interface), the external interface The non-transitory computer-readable medium 620 and the memory 604 can be operably coupled via one or more connections 606 (eg, busses, wires, optical fibers, links, etc.). In certain exemplary embodiments, all or part of positioning server 600 may take the form of a chipset or the like.

One or more processors 602 may be implemented using a combination of hardware, firmware, and software. For example, one or more processors 602 may be configured to implement one or more instructions or code 608 on a non-transitory computer-readable medium, such as medium 620 and/or memory 604, to perform the tasks discussed herein. function. In some embodiments, one or more processors 602 may represent one or more circuits that may be configured to perform at least a portion of a data signal calculation procedure or process related to the operation of positioning server 600 .

Media 620 and/or memory 604 may store instructions or code 608 containing executable code or software instructions that, when executed by one or more processors 602, use One or more processors 602 act as a special purpose computer programmed to perform the disclosed techniques. As shown in location server 600 , medium 620 and/or memory 604 may include one or more components or modules, which may be implemented by one or more processors 602 to perform the methods described herein. Although elements or modules are shown as software in media 620 executable by one or more processors 602, it is to be understood that elements or modules may be stored in memory 604 or may be in one or more processors 602 or Dedicated hardware outside of the processor.

A number of software modules and tables may be resident on medium 620 and/or memory 604 and utilized by one or more processors 602 to manage the communications and functionality described herein. It should be understood that the organization of the contents of media 620 and/or memory 604 as shown by location server 600 is exemplary only, and thus the functionality of modules and/or data structures may be combined, separated, and/or This can be structured in different ways, depending on the implementation of the positioning server 600 .

Media 620 and/or memory 604 may include a location communication module 622 which, when implemented by one or more processors 602, configures one or more processors 602 to communicate via a serving base station via, for example, an external device as discussed herein. The interface 616 performs a positioning communication period with the UE, which includes: sending a positioning service request, such as a request for positioning capability and a request for location information, such as, for example, positioning measurement for UE-assisted positioning process, or for example, for UE-based Position estimation for the localization process. The one or more processors 602 are configured to receive a response to the location service request, including, for example, receiving location capabilities and requested location information from the UE. One or more processors 602 may be configured to send and receive messages for periodically locating communication sessions. The one or more processors 402 may be configured to receive an event report from a UE in an RRC non-enabled state, the event report including an LPP request assistance data message indicating a request for UL PRS configuration. The one or more processors 602 may also be configured to send an NRPPa positioning information request to the UE's serving base station to request the UE's UL positioning reference signal when the UE is in the RRC inactive state. The one or more processors 602 may also be configured to receive the UL positioning reference signal configuration from the serving base station and send a UL measurement request including the UL positioning reference signal configuration to at least one base station. The one or more processors 602 may also be configured to send an event report acknowledgment to the UE in the RRC non-enabled state. The one or more processors 602 may also be configured to: receive a measurement response from at least one base station, the measurement response including measurements of UL PRS transmitted by the UE in the RRC inactive state; The measurement response of at least one base station is used to determine the location of the UE. The one or more processors 602 may also be configured to receive an event report from a UE in an RRC non-enabled state, the event report including an LPP providing location information message, the message including a message sent by a UE in an RRC non-enabled state such as using WiFi or SPS Measurements perform position measurements, such as Rx-Tx, AOA, TOA, RSRP, etc., or other types of measurements. The one or more processors 602 can also be configured to determine the location of the UE based at least in part on the location measurements in the LPP provided location information message.

Depending on the application, the methods described herein can be implemented in various ways. For example, the methods can be implemented in hardware, firmware, software or any combination thereof. For a hardware implementation, one or more processors 602 may be implemented on one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signal processing devices (DSPDs), programmable logic devices ( PLD), Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), processor, controller, microcontroller, microprocessor, electronic device, other electronic unit designed to perform the functions described herein, or a combination thereof.

For a firmware and/or software implementation, the methodologies may be implemented with modules (eg, procedures, functions, and so on) that perform the functions described herein. Any machine-readable medium tangibly embodying instructions can be used to implement the methods described herein. For example, software code may be stored on a non-transitory computer-readable medium 620 or memory 604 that is coupled to and executed by one or more processors 602 . Memory may be implemented within the one or more processors or external to the one or more processors. As used herein, the term "memory" refers to any type of long-term, short-term, volatile, non-volatile or other memory, and is not limited to any particular type or quantity of memory, or The type of media on which the memory is stored.

If implemented in firmware and/or software, the functions may be stored as one or more instructions or code 608 on a non-transitory computer-readable medium such as medium 620 and/or memory 604 . Examples include computer readable media encoded with a data structure and computer readable media encoded with computer program code 608 . For example, a non-transitory computer-readable medium including program code 608 stored thereon may include an RRC connection for supporting an RRC connection between a UE and a base station during positioning communications in a manner consistent with disclosed embodiments. Code 608 suspended. Non-transitory computer-readable media 620 include tangible computer storage media. Storage media may be any available media that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example and without limitation, such non-transitory computer-readable media may include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM, or other optical storage, magnetic disk storage, or other magnetic storage devices, or may be used to store Desired program code 608 in the form of a data structure and any other medium that can be accessed by a computer; as used herein, disk and optical disc includes compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD) , floppy disk and Blu-ray disc, where magnetic disks usually reproduce data magnetically, and optical disks reproduce data optically with the help of lasers. The above combinations should also be included in the category of computer-readable media.

In addition to being stored on the computer-readable medium 620, instructions and/or data may also be provided as signals on a transmission medium included in the communication device. For example, a communication device may include an external interface 616 with signals indicative of commands and data. The instructions and materials are configured to cause one or more processors to perform the functions outlined in the claims. That is, the communication device includes a transmission medium with signals indicative of information for performing disclosed functions.

Memory 604 may represent any data storage mechanism. The memory 604 may include, for example, primary memory and/or secondary memory. Main memory may include, for example, random access memory, read only memory, and the like. Although shown in this example as being separate from the one or more processors 602, it should be understood that all or part of the main memory may be located within or otherwise co-located/coupled with the one or more processors 602 . Secondary memory may include, for example, the same or similar type of memory as primary memory and/or one or more data storage devices or systems such as, for example, magnetic disk drives, optical disk drives, magnetic tape drives, solid-state memory drives, and the like.

In some embodiments, the secondary memory can be operable to receive the non-transitory computer-readable medium 620, or can be configured to be coupled to the non-transitory computer-readable medium. Thus, in certain exemplary embodiments, the methods and/or apparatus presented herein may take the form of all or a portion of a computer-readable medium 620, which may include computer-executable The program code 608, when executed by the one or more processors 602, the computer-implementable code may be operable to perform all or a portion of the exemplary operations described herein. Computer readable medium 620 may be part of memory 604 .

Figure 7 illustrates a schematic block diagram illustrating certain exemplary features of a base station 700, such as the gNB 110 shown in Figure 1, which is enabled to support Positioning of a UE (eg, UE 102), as discussed herein. Base station 700 may be an eNB, gNB 110 or ng-eNB 114. The base station 700 may execute the signal transmission process in FIG. 4A , FIG. 4B , FIG. 4C , FIG. 4D and/or FIG. 4E . Base station 700 may include, for example: one or more processors 702; memory 704; external interfaces, which may include transceiver 710 (e.g., a wireless network interface) and communication interface 716 (e.g., directly or via one or more wired or wireless network interface of an intermediate entity to other base stations and/or entities in the core network (such as a positioning server), the external interface may be via one or more connections 706 (e.g., bus, wire, , optical fiber, link, etc.) are operably coupled to non-transitory computer readable medium 720 and memory 704. Base station 700 may also include additional items not shown, such as a user interface that may include, for example, a display, a keypad, or other input device (such as a virtual keypad on a display) through which a user may communicate with the base station Make the interface. In certain exemplary embodiments, all or a portion of base station 700 may take the form of a chipset or the like. Transceiver 710 may, for example, include a transmitter 712 capable of transmitting one or more signals over one or more types of wireless communication networks and a receiver for receiving one or more signals transmitted over one or more types of wireless communication networks. device 714. Communication interface 716 may be wired or wireless capable of connecting to other base stations in a RAN or network entity such as a location server such as LMF 152 or SLP 162 via various entities such as AMF 154 or UPF 158 shown in FIG. transceiver.

In some embodiments, base station 700 may include antenna 711, which may be internal or external. Antenna 711 may be used to transmit and/or receive signals processed by transceiver 710 . In some embodiments, an antenna 711 may be coupled to the transceiver 710 . In some embodiments, measurements of signals received (transmitted) by base station 700 may be performed at the point of connection of antenna 711 to transceiver 710 . For example, measurement reference points for measurements of received (transmitted) RF signals may be the input (output) terminals of the receiver 714 (transmitter 712 ) and the output (input) terminals of the antenna 711 . In a base station 700 with multiple antennas 711 or antenna arrays, an antenna connector may be considered as a virtual point representing the aggregated output (input) of the multiple antennas. In some embodiments, base station 700 may measure received signals including signal strength and TOA measurements, and the raw measurements may be processed by one or more processors 702 .

One or more processors 702 may be implemented using a combination of hardware, firmware, and software. For example, one or more processors 702 may be configured to implement one or more instructions or code 708 on a non-transitory computer-readable medium, such as medium 720 and/or memory 704, to perform the tasks discussed herein. function. In some embodiments, one or more processors 702 may represent one or more circuits that may be configured to perform at least a portion of a data signal calculation procedure or process related to the operation of base station 700 .

Media 720 and/or memory 704 may store instructions or code 708 containing executable code or software instructions that, when executed by one or more processors 702, use One or more processors 702 act as a special purpose computer programmed to perform the disclosed techniques. As shown in base station 700, medium 720 and/or memory 704 may include one or more components or modules, which may be implemented by one or more processors 702 to perform the methods described herein. Although elements or modules are shown as software in media 720 executable by one or more processors 702, it should be understood that elements or modules may be stored in memory 704 or may be in one or more processors 702 or Dedicated hardware outside of the processor. A number of software modules and tables may be resident in the medium 720 and/or memory 704 and utilized by the one or more processors 702 to manage the communications and functionality described herein. It should be understood that the organization of the contents of media 720 and/or memory 704 as shown by base station 700 is exemplary only, and thus the functionality of modules and/or data structures may be combined, separated, and/or in different The manner in which this is structured depends on the base station 700 implementation.

The medium 720 and/or the memory 704 may include an RRC deactivation module 722 which, when implemented by the one or more processors 702, configures the one or more processors 702 to send and receive messages related to the RRC deactivation state , including the SDT message with the recovery request and the RRC release message flowing into and out of the UE. The one or more processors 702 may be configured to receive an SDT with an event report and an RRC recovery request message from the UE via the transceiver 710 when the UE is in the RRC non-enabled state, and forward the event report to a location server (LMF), For example, as discussed at stages 3, 4 and 15, 16 of Figure 4A. The one or more processors 702 may be configured to send an RRC release message via the transceiver 710 from the UE, wherein the UE remains in the RRC inactive state. For example, the RRC release message may include an event reporting acknowledgment from the LMF as part of UE positioning, and may include UL PRS configuration or UL PRS deactivation.

Media 720 and/or memory 704 may include location communication module 724 which, when implemented by one or more processors 702, configures one or more processors 702 to communicate, for example, via external interfaces (transceiver 710 and communication interface 716 ) Perform a positioning communication period with the UE and the positioning server (eg, LMF). For example, the one or more processors 702 may be configured to receive an event report after (or before) the UE detects the event, e.g. instruct. The one or more processors 702 may be configured to receive the NRPPa location information request from the location server and determine the UE's UL PRS configuration, which may be provided to the UE via a subsequent DL SDT or RRC release message when the UE is in the RRC inactive state UE. Additionally, the one or more processors 702 may be configured to provide the LMF with positioning information received from the UE in SDT with RRC resume message. The one or more processors 702 may be configured to send a MAC-CE UL PRS Enable, eg, at the MAC-CE level or in an RRC message such as an RRC Release message, such as described in stages 9 and 13 of FIG. 4A . The one or more processors 702 may be configured to send MAC-CE UL-PRS deactivation, for example at the MAC-CE level or in an RRC message such as an RRC Release message, such as described in stages 18b and 20 of FIG. 4A .

Depending on the application, the methods described herein can be implemented in various ways. For example, the methods can be implemented in hardware, firmware, software or any combination thereof. For a hardware implementation, one or more processors 702 may be implemented on one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signal processing devices (DSPDs), programmable logic devices ( PLD), Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), processor, controller, microcontroller, microprocessor, electronic device, other electronic unit designed to perform the functions described herein, or a combination thereof.

For a firmware and/or software implementation, the methodologies may be implemented with modules (eg, procedures, functions, and so on) that perform the functions described herein. Any machine-readable medium tangibly embodying instructions can be used to implement the methods described herein. For example, software code may be stored on a non-transitory computer-readable medium 720 or memory 704 that is coupled to and executed by one or more processors 702 . Memory may be implemented within the one or more processors or external to the one or more processors. As used herein, the term "memory" refers to any type of long-term, short-term, volatile, non-volatile or other memory, and is not limited to any particular type or quantity of memory, or The type of media on which the memory is stored.

If implemented in firmware and/or software, the functions may be stored as one or more instructions or code 708 on a non-transitory computer-readable medium such as medium 720 and/or memory 704 . Examples include computer readable media encoded with a data structure and computer readable media encoded with computer program code 708 . For example, a non-transitory computer-readable medium including program code 708 stored thereon may include a device for supporting an RRC connection between a UE and a base station during positioning communications in a manner consistent with disclosed embodiments. Code 708 suspended. Non-transitory computer readable media 720 include physical computer storage media. A storage media may be any available media that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example and without limitation, such non-transitory computer-readable media may include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM, or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage, or other magnetic storage devices, or may be used to store Desired program code 708 in the form of a data structure and any other medium that can be accessed by a computer; as used herein, disk and optical disc includes compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD) , floppy disk, and Blu-ray disc, where disks usually reproduce data magnetically, and optical discs reproduce data optically with the help of lasers. The above combinations should also be included in the category of computer-readable media.

In addition to being stored on the computer-readable medium 720, instructions and/or data may also be provided as signals on a transmission medium included in the communication device. For example, a communication device may include a transceiver 710 with signals indicative of commands and data. The instructions and materials are configured to cause one or more processors to perform the functions outlined in the claims. That is, the communication device includes a transmission medium with signals indicative of information for performing disclosed functions.

Memory 704 may represent any data storage mechanism. Memory 704 may include, for example, primary memory and/or secondary memory. Main memory may include, for example, random access memory, read only memory, and the like. Although shown in this example as being separate from the one or more processors 702, it should be understood that all or part of the main memory may be located within or otherwise co-located/coupled with the one or more processors 702 . Secondary memory may include, for example, the same or similar type of memory as primary memory and/or one or more data storage devices or systems such as, for example, magnetic disk drives, optical disk drives, magnetic tape drives, solid-state memory drives, and the like.

In some embodiments, the secondary memory can be operative to receive the non-transitory computer-readable medium 720, or can be configured to be coupled to the non-transitory computer-readable medium. Thus, in certain exemplary embodiments, the methods and/or apparatus presented herein may take the form of all or a portion of a computer-readable medium 720, which may include computer-implementable Program code 708, when executed by one or more processors 702, the computer-implementable code may be operable to perform all or a portion of the exemplary operations described herein. Computer readable medium 720 may be part of memory 704 .

FIG. 8 illustrates the steps performed by a user equipment (UE), such as the UE 102 shown in FIG. 1 or the UE 500 shown in FIG. 5 , in a manner consistent with disclosed embodiments, to support A flowchart of an example method 800 of positioning of a UE in a (RRC) non-enabled state.

At block 802, the UE receives a request to perform periodic or triggered positioning, eg, as discussed at stage 14 of FIG. 3 . For example, a request to perform a periodic or triggered positioning may be received from a first positioning server, such as a location management function (eg, LMF 152 ). Means for receiving requests to perform periodic or triggered positioning may include, for example, a wireless transceiver 510 and one or more processors 502 with dedicated hardware or in memory 504 and/or medium 520 in UE 500 Implement executable code or software instructions, such as location communication module 522 shown in FIG. 5 .

At block 804, the UE receives an indication that subsequent location reporting events will use uplink positioning, downlink positioning, or uplink and downlink positioning when the UE is in the RRC non-enabled state, e.g., as shown in FIG. 3, and stage 1 of FIGS. 4B, 4C, 4D, and 4E. In one embodiment, the request to perform periodic or triggered positioning includes whether subsequent location reporting events will use uplink positioning, downlink positioning, or uplink and downlink positioning when the UE is in the RRC inactive state. Indication of location, for example, as discussed in stage 14 of Figure 3 and stage 1 of Figures 4B, 4C, 4D and 4E. The means for receiving an indication of whether a subsequent location reporting event will use uplink positioning, downlink positioning, or both uplink and downlink positioning when the UE is in the RRC non-enabled state may include, for example, a wireless transceiver 510 and One or more processors 502 having dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in memory 504 and/or media 520 in UE 500 , such as location communication module 522 shown in FIG. 5 .

At block 806, the UE detects an event while in the RRC non-enabled state, e.g., as discussed at block 402 and stage 2 of FIG. 4A and stages 2 and 3 of FIGS. 4B, 4C, 4D, and 4E . Means for detecting events while in the RRC non-enabled state may include, for example, a wireless transceiver 510 and one or more processors 502 with dedicated hardware or memory 504 and/or media in the UE 500 Executable code or software instructions are implemented in 520 , such as RRC disable module 524 and location communication period module 522 shown in FIG. 5 .

At block 808, the UE sends a first event report and a second event report to report the event and enable UE positioning when the UE is in the RRC non-enabled state, wherein the first event report and the second event report are each via a small Data transmission (SDT), eg, as discussed at stages 3 and 15 of FIG. 4A , stages 5 and 15 of FIG. 4B , and stages 4 and 14 of FIG. 4E . The first event report and the second event report may be sent, for example, to a second positioning server, such as a location management function (eg, LMF 152 ), which may be the same as the first positioning server. Used to send a first event report and a second event report to report the event and enable UE positioning when the UE is in the RRC non-enabled state (wherein the first event report and the second event report are each via Small Data Transmission (SDT ) and sending) may include, for example, a wireless transceiver 510 and one or more processors 502 having dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in memory 504 and/or media 520 in UE 500, Such as the positioning communication period module 522 and the RRC recovery module 526 shown in FIG. 5 .

In some embodiments, each of the first event report and the second event report is sent, for example, by the UE in an RRC recovery request message, for example, as in stages 3 and 15 of FIG. 4A , and stages 5 and 15 of FIG. 4B . 15 and as discussed at stages 4 and 14 of Figure 4E. The means for sending each of the first event report and the second event report in the RRC recovery request message may include, for example, a wireless transceiver 510 and one or more processors 502 with dedicated hardware or in the UE 500 Executable code or software instructions are implemented in the memory 504 and/or the medium 520, such as the location communication module 522 and the RRC recovery module 526 shown in FIG. 5 .

In some embodiments, the second event report includes an indication that the second event report is associated with the first event report, eg, as discussed in stage 15 of Figure 4B and stage 14 of Figure 4E. In one embodiment, the indication that the second event report is associated with the first event report includes an event type parameter, eg, as discussed in stage 15 of Figure 4B and stage 14 of Figure 4E. In one embodiment, the first event report and the second event report each include a shared identifier, wherein an indication that the second event report is associated with the first event report includes the shared identifier, for example, as shown in FIG. Stages 5 and 15 of Figure 4B and Stages 4 and 14 of Figure 4E are discussed. In one embodiment, the indication that the second event report is associated with the first event report enables (e.g., the second positioning server) to treat the second event report as a continuation of the first event report, e.g. , as discussed for stage 18 of FIG. 4B and stage 17 of FIG. 4E.

In certain embodiments (referred to herein as UL+DL implementations), the (e.g., UE) receiver will use uplink and downlink positioning for subsequent location reporting events when the UE is in the RRC non-enabled state. An indication of , for example, as discussed in stage 14 of FIG. 3 and stage 1 of FIGS. 4B and 4E . The first event report may include a Long Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP) Request Assistance Data message indicating a request for, for example, an uplink (UL) Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) configuration comprised by the UE, as in the phase of FIG. 4A 3. As discussed at Stage 5 of Figure 4B and Stage 4 of Figure 4E. The UE may then receive the UL PRS configuration from the serving base station, eg as discussed at stages 6b and 13 of Figure 4A, stage 12 of Figure 4B and stage 11 of Figure 4E. In one embodiment, the UL PRS configuration is received in a subsequent downlink (DL) SDT, eg, as discussed at stage 6b of Figure 4A. In one embodiment, the UL PRS configuration is received in an RRC release message, eg, as discussed at stage 13 of Figure 4A, stage 12 of Figure 4B, and stage 11 of Figure 4E. In another embodiment, the UL PRS configuration is received in a subsequent downlink (DL) SDT, eg, as discussed at stage 6b of Figure 4A. Means for receiving an indication that subsequent location reporting events will use uplink and downlink positioning when the UE is in the RRC non-enabled state may include, for example, a wireless transceiver 510 and one or more processors 502 having Dedicated hardware or executable code or software instructions implemented in memory 504 and/or medium 520 in UE 500, such as location communication module 522 shown in FIG. 5 . Means for reporting at a first event including a Long Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP) Request Assistance Data message indicating a request for an uplink (UL) Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) configuration may include, for example, a wireless transceiver 510 and One or more processors 502, which have dedicated hardware or implement executable code or software instructions in memory 504 and/or medium 520 in UE 500, such as positioning communication period module 522 and RRC recovery module 526 . Means for receiving UL positioning reference signal configurations from a base station may include, for example, a wireless transceiver 510 and one or more processors 502 having dedicated hardware or implemented in memory 504 and/or medium 520 in UE 500 Executable code or software instructions, such as the positioning communication period module 522 and the RRC recovery module 526 shown in FIG. 5 .

In some embodiments (e.g., in DL implementations or some UL+DL implementations), the second event report includes the LPP providing location information message (e.g., included by the UE), which includes location measurements generated by the UE , for example, as discussed at FIG. 4A, stage 15 of FIG. 4B and stage 14 of FIG. 4E. A UE may receive a downlink (DL) PRS from one or more base stations (eg, one or more gNBs 110 ), eg, as discussed at stage 14a of FIG. 4A , stage 13 of FIG. 4B , and stage 12 of FIG. 4E of. The UE may then measure DL PRS to generate location measurements while in the RRC non-enabled state, eg, as discussed at stage 14a of FIG. 4A , stage 13 of FIG. 4B and stage 12 of FIG. 4E . The means for including an LPP location information message including location measurements generated by the UE in the second event report may include, for example, a wireless transceiver 510 and one or more processors 502 having Dedicated hardware or executable code or software instructions implemented in memory 504 and/or medium 520 in UE 500, such as positioning communication period module 522 and RRC recovery module 526 shown in FIG. 5 . Means for receiving downlink (DL) PRS from one or more base stations may include, for example, a wireless transceiver 510 and one or more processors 502 with dedicated hardware or memory 504 in the UE 500 and Executable code or software instructions are embodied in/or medium 520 , such as location communication module 522 shown in FIG. 5 . Means for measuring the DL PRSs to generate the position measurements while in the RRC inactive state may include, for example, a wireless transceiver 510 and one or more processors 502 with dedicated hardware or at the UE The memory 504 and/or the medium 520 in 500 implement executable code or software instructions, such as the location communication module 522 shown in FIG. 5 .

In some UL+DL implementation schemes, UE can also transmit UL PRS when RRC is not enabled based on UL PRS configuration, which can realize UL PRS measurement through multiple base stations (eg, gNB 110), where UE's The position is determined, for example, by a second positioning server based at least in part on UL PRS measurements, for example, as in stages 14b, 17 and 17.5 of FIG. 4A , stages 13, 14 and 23 of FIG. 4B and stages 12, 13 and 22 discussed. For example, base stations may obtain UL PRS measurements based on the transmitted UL PRS and may send the UL PRS measurements to the second positioning server. Used to transmit UL PRS based on UL PRS configuration when RRC is not enabled (this enables UL PRS measurements by a plurality of base stations, wherein the UE's location) may include, for example, a wireless transceiver 510 and one or more processors 502 having dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in memory 504 and/or media 520 in UE 500, such as those shown in FIG. The positioning communication period module 522 shown in FIG.

In some implementations (e.g., some UL+DL implementations), the UE may receive the medium memory from the serving base station (e.g., serving gNB 110) in one of subsequent downlink (DL) SDT or RRC release messages. Take Control-Control Element (MAC-CE) UL PRS Enable, eg, as discussed in stages 9 and 13 of Figure 4A. The UE may then receive MAC-CE UL PRS deactivation from the serving base station in one of subsequent downlink (DL) SDT or RRC release messages, eg, as discussed in stages 18b and 20 of FIG. 4A . For receiving a medium access control-control element (MAC-CE) UL PRS enable from the serving base station in one of subsequent downlink (DL) SDT or RRC release messages and in subsequent downlink (DL) The means for receiving MAC-CE UL PRS deactivation from the serving base station in one of the SDT or RRC release message may include, for example, a wireless transceiver 510 and one or more processors 502 with dedicated hardware or in the UE 500 Executable code or software instructions are implemented in the memory 504 and/or the medium 520, such as the location communication module 522 and the RRC recovery module 526 shown in FIG. 5 .

In some embodiments, the UE may provide the UE's positioning capabilities to a serving base station, a positioning server (e.g., a first or a second positioning server), or both, the positioning capabilities indicating that in the RRC inactive state Uplink positioning, downlink positioning, at least one of uplink and downlink positioning or a combination thereof are supported at times, eg, as discussed at stage 13 of FIG. 3 and stage 1a of FIG. 4A . Used to provide the UE's positioning capabilities to the serving base station, positioning server, or both (these positioning capabilities indicate support for uplink positioning, downlink positioning, uplink and downlink positioning when in the RRC inactive state) at least one or a combination of road positioning) may include, for example, a wireless transceiver 510 and one or more processors 502 with dedicated hardware or implemented in memory 504 and/or media 520 in UE 500 Executable code or software instructions, such as the location communication module 522 shown in FIG. 5 .

In some embodiments, for example, the request to perform periodic or triggered positioning (which may be received from the first positioning server) includes the UE's delayed MT-LR information, and the UE may send a request to the serving base station (e.g., serving gNB 110) Provide the UE's delayed MT-LR information and the UE's positioning capability, wherein the delayed MT-LR information includes one or more of event type, requested positioning method, and reporting interval, and wherein the UE's Delaying MT-LR information and positioning capabilities enables (e.g. via serving base station) the UE to transition to the RRC non-enabled state, e.g. as discussed in stage 14 of FIG. 3 and stage 1a of FIG. 4A and block 402 of. Means for providing the UE's delayed MT-LR information and the UE's positioning capabilities to the serving base station may include, for example, a wireless transceiver 510 and one or more processors 502 with dedicated hardware or memory in the UE 500 504 and/or medium 520 implement executable code or software instructions, such as location communication module 522 shown in FIG. 5 .

FIG. 9 illustrates the steps performed by a positioning server, such as the LMF 152 shown in FIG. 1 or the positioning server 600 shown in FIG. A flowchart of an exemplary method 900 of positioning of a user equipment (eg, UE 102 ) in an RRC) non-enabled state.

At block 902 , the positioning server sends a request to the UE to perform periodic or triggered positioning, eg, as discussed at stage 14 of FIG. 3 . Means for sending requests to the UE to perform periodic or triggered positioning may include, for example, an external interface 616 and one or more processors 602 with dedicated hardware or memory 604 in the positioning server 600 and/or Executable code or software instructions are embodied in or medium 620 , such as location communication module 622 shown in FIG. 6 .

At block 904, the positioning server sends to the UE an indication whether subsequent location reporting events will use uplink positioning, downlink positioning, or both uplink and downlink positioning when the UE is in the RRC inactive state, For example, as discussed in stage 14 of Figure 3 and stage 1 of Figures 4B, 4C, 4D and 4E. The means for sending an indication to the UE whether subsequent location reporting events will use uplink positioning, downlink positioning, or both uplink and downlink positioning when the UE is in the RRC non-enabled state may include, for example, an external interface 616 and one or more processors 602, which have dedicated hardware or implement executable code or software instructions in memory 604 and/or medium 620 in positioning server 600, such as the positioning communication period shown in FIG. 6 Module 622.

At block 906, the positioning server receives a first event report and a second event report from the UE to report the UE's detection of an event and enable UE positioning when the UE is in the RRC inactive state, wherein when the UE is in the RRC inactive state When the RRC is not enabled, the first event report and the second event report are each sent by the UE via small data transmission (SDT), for example, as shown in phases 3, 4 and 15, 16 of Figure 4A, and in Figure 4B Stages 5-7, 15-17, and stages 4-6 and 14-16 of Figure 4E are discussed. For receiving a first event report and a second event report from the UE to report the UE's detection of an event and enable UE positioning when the UE is in the RRC non-enabled state (wherein when the UE is in the RRC non-enabled state , the first event report and the second event report are each sent by the UE via a small data transfer (SDT)) components may include, for example, an external interface 616 and one or more processors 602, which have dedicated hardware or in The memory 604 and/or the medium 620 in the positioning server 600 implement executable code or software instructions, such as the positioning communication module 622 shown in FIG. 6 .

In one embodiment, the second event report includes an indication that the second event report is associated with the first event report, for example, as discussed in stages 15 to 18 of FIG. 4B and stages 14 to 17 of FIG. 4E of. In one embodiment, the indication that the second event report is associated with the first event report includes an event type parameter, eg, as discussed in stages 15 to 18 of Figure 4B and stages 14 to 17 of Figure 4E. In one embodiment, the first event report and the second event report each include a shared identifier, wherein an indication that the second event report is associated with the first event report includes the shared identifier, for example, as shown in FIG. Stages 5 and 15 to 18 of Figure 4B and Stages 4 and 14 to 17 of Figure 4E. The positioning server may treat the second event report as a continuation of the first event report based on an indication that the second event report is associated with the first event report, for example, as in stage 18 of FIG. 4B and FIG. 4E As discussed in Phase 17. Means for treating the second event report as a continuation of the first event report based on an indication that the second event report is associated with the first event report may include, for example, an external interface 616 and one or more processors 602 having dedicated hardware or implementing executable code or software instructions in memory 604 and/or medium 620 in location server 600 , such as location communication module 622 shown in FIG. 6 .

In some implementations (referred to herein as UL+DL implementations), sending (e.g., a positioning server) a response to subsequent location reporting events when the UE is in the RRC inactive state will use uplink and downlink Indication of location, eg, as discussed in stage 14 of Figure 3 and stage 1 of Figures 4B and 4E. This first event report may then include a Long Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP) Request Assistance Data message indicating a request for, for example, an uplink (UL) Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) configuration comprised by the UE, e.g. 4A, Stage 3, FIG. 4B, Stage 5, and FIG. 4E, Stage 4. The positioning server may then send a request for the UL PRS configuration to the UE's serving base station (eg, serving gNB 110) when the UE is in the RRC non-enabled state, for example, as shown in phase 5 of FIG. 4A, phase 5 of FIG. 4B Stage 8 and Stage 7 of Figure 4E are discussed. The positioning server may then receive the UL PRS configuration from the serving base station, wherein the serving base station sends the UL PRS configuration to the UE, for example, as in stages 6b, 7 and 13 of FIG. 4A , and stages 8 and 12 of FIG. 4B and as discussed at stages 7 and 11 of Figure 4E. Means for sending an indication that subsequent location reporting events will use uplink and downlink positioning when the UE is in the RRC non-enabled state may include, for example, an external interface 616 and one or more processors 602 with dedicated Executable code or software instructions are implemented in hardware or in memory 604 and/or medium 620 in location server 600 , such as location communication module 622 shown in FIG. 6 . Means for sending a request for the UL positioning reference signal to the serving base station of the UE when the UE is in the RRC non-enabled state may include, for example, an external interface 616 and one or more processors 602 having dedicated hardware Or implement executable code or software instructions in the memory 604 and/or the medium 620 in the location server 600 , such as the location communication module 622 shown in FIG. 6 . Means for receiving UL positioning reference signal configurations from a serving base station may include, for example, an external interface 616 and one or more processors 602 with dedicated hardware or memory 604 and/or media 620 in the positioning server 600 Executable code or software instructions are implemented in an implementation, such as the positioning communication period module 622 shown in FIG. 6 .

In some UL+DL implementations, the positioning server sends a UL measurement request to at least one base station (eg, gNB 110), which includes a UL PRS configuration, eg, as in phase 11 of FIG. 4A , phase 8 of FIG. 4B , and As discussed at stage 7 of Figure 4E. Means for sending a UL measurement request including the UL PRS configuration to at least one base station, such as an external interface 616 and one or more processors 602 with dedicated hardware or memory 604 in the positioning server 600 And/or the medium 620 implements executable code or software instructions, such as the location communication module 622 shown in FIG. 6 .

In some UL+DL implementations, the second event report may include an LPP provide location information message including location measurements performed by the UE in the RRC inactive state, e.g., as shown in FIG. 4A Stages 15 and 16, stages 15 to 17 of FIG. 4B and stages 14 to 16 of FIG. 4E are discussed. The location server may then determine the location of the UE based at least in part on location measurements in the LPP provided location information message, e.g., as discussed at stage 17.5 of FIG. 4A , stage 23 of FIG. 4B , and stage 22 of FIG. 4E . Means for determining the location of the UE based at least in part on location measurements in the LPP providing location information message may include, for example, an external interface 616 and one or more processors 602 with dedicated hardware or in a location server The memory 604 and/or the medium 620 in 600 implement executable code or software instructions, such as the location communication module 622 shown in FIG. 6 .

In some UL+DL implementations, the positioning server may receive a measurement response from the at least one base station, the measurement response including the measurement of the UL PRS transmitted by the UE in the RRC inactive state, for example, as shown in FIG. 4A, stage 14 of FIG. 4B, and stage 13 of FIG. 4E. The location server may then further determine the location of the UE based on the measurement responses from the at least one base station, eg as discussed at stage 17.5 of Figure 4A, stage 23 of Figure 4B and stage 22 of Figure 4E. The means for receiving a measurement response from the at least one base station (the measurement response includes a measurement of the UL positioning reference signal transmitted by the UE in the RRC inactive state) may include, for example, an external interface 616 and one or more Processor 602, which has dedicated hardware or implements executable code or software instructions in memory 604 and/or medium 620 in positioning server 600, such as positioning communication module 622 shown in FIG. 6 . Means for further determining the location of the UE based on the measurement responses from the at least one base station may include, for example, an external interface 616 and one or more processors 602 with dedicated hardware or memory in the positioning server 600 Executable code or software instructions are implemented in the body 604 and/or the medium 620 , such as the positioning communication module 622 shown in FIG. 6 .

Those of skill in the art will understand that information and signals may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referred to throughout the above description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

Furthermore, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or a combination of both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative elements, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present disclosure.

The various illustrative logic blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein can be implemented or performed by a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) ), field programmable gate array (FPGA), or other programmable logic device), individual gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor, but, optionally, the processor can be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, eg, a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

The steps of the methods, sequences and/or algorithms described in conjunction with the aspects disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in software modules executed by a processor, or in a combination of both. Software modules can reside in random access memory (RAM), flash memory, read only memory (ROM), erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), electronically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM) , scratchpad, hard disk, removable disk, CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor such that the processor can read information from, and write information to, the storage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may be integral to the processor. The processor and storage medium can be resident in the ASIC. The ASIC may be resident in a user terminal (eg, UE). In the alternative, the processor and storage medium may reside as separate components in the user terminal.

In one or more exemplary aspects, the functions described may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functions may be stored on or transmitted over as one or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media includes both computer storage media and communication media (including any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another). A storage media may be any available media that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example and not limitation, such computer readable media may include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage media or other magnetic storage devices, or may be used to carry or store Any other medium that has desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer. Also, any connection is properly termed a computer-readable medium. For example, if software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave, then the definition of medium includes Coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio and microwave. Disk and disc, as used herein, includes compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disc and blu-ray disc where disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs usually reproduce data with the aid of lasers. Optically reproduces data. The above combinations should also be included in the category of computer-readable media.

According to the description, embodiments may comprise different combinations of features. Implementation examples are described in the following numbered clauses:

Clause 1. A method performed by a user equipment (UE) for supporting positioning of a UE in a radio resource control (RRC) non-enabled state, the method comprising the steps of: receiving a request to perform periodic or triggered positioning; receiving an indication of whether subsequent location reporting events will use uplink positioning, downlink positioning, or both uplink and downlink positioning when the UE is in the RRC non-enabled state; detecting while in the RRC non-enabled state event; and sending a first event report and a second event report to report the event and enable UE positioning when the UE is in the RRC non-enabled state, wherein the first event report and the second event report are each transmitted via small data ( SDT) and sent.

Clause 2. The method of clause 1, wherein a request to perform a periodic or triggered positioning is received from a positioning server, and the first event report and the second event report are sent to the positioning server.

Clause 3. The method of clause 2, wherein the location server includes a location management function (LMF).

Clause 4. The method according to any one of clauses 1 to 3, wherein each of the first event report and the second event report is sent in an RRC recovery request message.

Clause 5. The method of any one of clauses 1 to 4, wherein the second event report includes an indication that the second event report is associated with the first event report.

Clause 6. The method of clause 5, wherein the indication that the second event report is associated with the first event report includes an event type parameter.

Clause 7. The method of any one of clauses 5 to 6, wherein the first event report and the second event report each include a shared identifier, wherein the second event report is associated with an indication of the first event report Include the shared identifier.

Clause 8. The method according to any one of clauses 5 to 7, wherein the indication that the second event report is associated with the first event report enables the second event report to be considered a continuation of the first event report.

Clause 9. The method of any one of clauses 1 to 8, wherein: an indication is received that subsequent location reporting events will use uplink and downlink positioning when the UE is in the RRC non-enabled state; the first event The report includes a Long Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP) Request Assistance Data message indicating a request for uplink (UL) Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) configuration; and the method also includes the step of: receiving the UL from the serving base station PRS configuration.

Clause 10. The method of clause 9, wherein the UL PRS configuration is received in a subsequent downlink (DL) SDT.

Clause 11. The method according to any one of clauses 9 to 10, wherein the UL PRS configuration is received in an RRC release message.

Clause 12. The method according to any one of clauses 9 to 11, further comprising the step of: implementing UL PRS amounts by base stations based on the UL Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) configuration while in the RRC inactive state and transmitting UL PRS based on at least in part the UL PRS measurements, wherein the location of the UE is determined based at least in part on the UL PRS measurements.

Clause 13. The method according to any one of clauses 9 to 12, further comprising the step of: receiving medium access control from the serving base station in one of a subsequent downlink (DL) SDT or RRC release message - control element (MAC-CE) UL PRS enable; and receive MAC-CE UL PRS deactivation from the serving base station in one of a subsequent downlink (DL) SDT or RRC release message.

Clause 14. The method according to any one of clauses 1 to 13, wherein the second event report includes an LPP provided location information message including location measurements generated by the UE.

Clause 15. The method of clause 14, further comprising the steps of: receiving downlink (DL) PRSs from one or more base stations; and measuring the DL PRSs while in the RRC inactive state to generate the Iso-position measurement.

Clause 16. The method according to any one of clauses 1 to 15, further comprising the step of providing positioning capabilities to a serving base station, a positioning server, or both, the positioning capabilities indicating that while in the RRC inactive state At least one of uplink positioning, downlink positioning, uplink and downlink positioning, or a combination thereof is supported.

Clause 17. The method according to any one of clauses 1 to 16, wherein the request to perform periodic or triggered positioning includes delayed MT-LR information of the UE, the method further comprising the step of: providing the serving base station with the UE's Delayed MT-LR information and positioning capabilities of the UE, wherein the delayed MT-LR information includes one or more of event type, requested positioning method, and reporting interval, and wherein the delayed MT-LR information of the UE and Positioning capability enables transition of the UE to the RRC non-enabled state.

Clause 18. The method according to any one of clauses 1 to 17, wherein the request to perform periodic or triggered positioning comprises uplink positioning, downlink positioning, downlink Road positioning is also an indication of uplink and downlink positioning.

Clause 19. A user equipment (UE) configured to support positioning of a UE in a radio resource control (RRC) non-enabled state, the UE comprising: a wireless transceiver configured to communicate with a wireless Entities in the network communicate wirelessly; at least one memory; at least one processor coupled to the wireless transceiver and the at least one memory, wherein the at least one processor is configured to: via the wireless The transceiver receives a request to perform periodic or triggered positioning; whether subsequent location reporting events will use uplink positioning, downlink positioning or uplink positioning when the UE is in the RRC non-enabled state is received via the wireless transceiver an indication of downlink positioning; detecting an event while in the RRC inactive state; and sending a first event report and a second event report via the radio to report the event when the UE is in the RRC inactive state And enabling UE positioning, wherein the first event report and the second event report are respectively sent via Small Data Transmission (SDT).

Clause 20. The UE of clause 19, wherein the request to perform periodic or triggered positioning is received from a positioning server, and the first event report and the second event report are sent to the positioning server.

Clause 21. The UE according to clause 20, wherein the positioning server comprises a location management function (LMF).

Clause 22. The UE according to any one of clauses 19 to 21, wherein each of the first event report and the second event report is sent in an RRC recovery request message.

Clause 23. The UE according to any one of clauses 19 to 22, wherein the second event report includes an indication that the second event report is associated with the first event report.

Clause 24. The UE of clause 23, wherein the indication that the second event report is associated with the first event report comprises an event type parameter.

Clause 25. The UE according to any one of clauses 23 to 24, wherein the first event report and the second event report each comprise a common identifier, wherein the second event report is associated with an indication of the first event report Include the shared identifier.

Clause 26. The UE according to any one of clauses 23 to 25, wherein the indication that the second event report is associated with the first event report enables the second event report to be considered a continuation of the first event report.

Clause 27. The UE according to any one of clauses 19 to 26, wherein: receiving an indication that subsequent location reporting events will use uplink and downlink positioning when the UE is in the RRC non-enabled state; the first event The report includes a Long Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP) Request Assistance Data message indicating a request for uplink (UL) Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) configuration; and the at least one processor is also configured to, via the wireless transceiver The UL PRS configuration is received from the serving base station.

Clause 28. The UE of clause 27, wherein the UL PRS configuration is received in a subsequent downlink (DL) SDT.

Clause 29. The UE according to any one of clauses 27 to 28, wherein the UL PRS configuration is received in an RRC release message.

Clause 30. The UE according to any one of clauses 27 to 29, wherein the at least one processor is also configured to: when in the RRC non-enabled state, enable a plurality of base stations based on the UL Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) configuration UL PRS measurements are made to transmit UL PRS via the wireless transceiver, wherein a location of the UE is determined based at least in part on the UL PRS measurements.

Clause 31. The UE according to any one of clauses 27 to 30, wherein the at least one processor is also configured to, via the wireless transceiver, in one of a subsequent downlink (DL) SDT or RRC release message from the The serving base station receives a medium access control-control element (MAC-CE) UL PRS enablement and receives the MAC-CE UL PRS from the serving base station in one of a subsequent downlink (DL) SDT or RRC release message disabled.

Clause 32. The UE according to any one of clauses 19 to 31, wherein the second event report comprises an LPP provided location information message comprising location measurements generated by the UE.

Clause 33. The UE of clause 32, wherein the at least one processor is also configured to: receive a downlink (DL) PRS from one or more base stations via the wireless transceiver; and in the RRC inactive state The DL PRSs are measured over time to generate the position measurements.

Clause 34. A UE according to any one of clauses 19 to 33, which provides positioning capabilities to a serving base station, a positioning server, or both, the positioning capabilities indicating that uplink positioning is supported when in the RRC inactive state , downlink positioning, at least one of uplink and downlink positioning, or a combination thereof.

Clause 35. The UE according to any one of clauses 19 to 34, wherein the request to perform periodic or triggered positioning includes delayed MT-LR information of the UE, the method further comprising the step of: providing the serving base station with the UE's Delayed MT-LR information and positioning capabilities of the UE, wherein the delayed MT-LR information includes one or more of event type, requested positioning method, and reporting interval, and wherein the delayed MT-LR information of the UE and Positioning capability enables transition of the UE to the RRC non-enabled state.

Clause 36. The UE according to any one of clauses 19 to 35, wherein the request to perform periodic or triggered positioning includes that subsequent location reporting events when the UE is in the RRC inactive state will use uplink positioning, downlink Road positioning is also an indication of uplink and downlink positioning.

Clause 37. A user equipment (UE) configured to support positioning of a UE in a radio resource control (RRC) non-enabled state, the UE comprising: for receiving a request to perform periodic or triggered positioning means for receiving an indication that subsequent location reporting events will use uplink positioning, downlink positioning, or both uplink and downlink positioning when the UE is in the RRC non-enabled state; means for detecting an event while in an RRC inactive state; and means for sending a first event report and a second event report to report the event and enable UE positioning when the UE is in the RRC inactive state, wherein the first event report The event report and the second event report are each sent via Small Data Transfer (SDT).

Clause 38. The UE of clause 37, wherein the request to perform periodic or triggered positioning is received from a positioning server, and the first event report and the second event report are sent to the positioning server.

Clause 39. The UE according to clause 38, wherein the positioning server comprises a location management function (LMF).

Clause 40. The UE according to any one of clauses 37 to 39, wherein each of the first event report and the second event report is sent in an RRC recovery request message.

Clause 41. The UE according to any one of clauses 37 to 40, wherein the second event report comprises an indication that the second event report is associated with the first event report.

Clause 42. The UE of clause 41, wherein the indication that the second event report is associated with the first event report comprises an event type parameter.

Clause 43. The UE according to any one of clauses 41 to 42, wherein the first event report and the second event report each include a common identifier, wherein the second event report is associated with an indication of the first event report Include the shared identifier.

Clause 44. The UE according to any one of clauses 41 to 43, wherein the indication that the second event report is associated with the first event report enables the second event report to be considered a continuation of the first event report.

Clause 45. The UE according to any one of clauses 37 to 44, wherein: receiving an indication that subsequent location reporting events will use uplink and downlink positioning when the UE is in the RRC non-enabled state; the first event The report includes a Long Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP) Request Assistance Data message indicating a request for uplink (UL) Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) configuration; and the UE also includes a message for receiving the UL PRS from the serving base station Configuration artifacts.

Clause 46. The UE of clause 45, wherein the UL PRS configuration is received in a subsequent downlink (DL) SDT.

Clause 47. The UE according to any one of clauses 45 to 46, wherein the UL PRS configuration is received in an RRC release message.

Clause 48. The UE according to any one of clauses 45 to 47, further comprising: an amount for implementing UL PRS by base stations based on the UL positioning reference signal (PRS) configuration when in the RRC non-enabled state means for transmitting UL PRS based at least in part on the UL PRS measurements, wherein the location of the UE is determined based at least in part on the UL PRS measurements.

Clause 49. A UE according to any one of clauses 45 to 48, further comprising means for: receiving from the serving base station in one of a subsequent downlink (DL) SDT or RRC release message receiving medium access control-control element (MAC-CE) UL PRS enablement; and receiving MAC-CE UL PRS deactivation from the serving base station in one of a subsequent downlink (DL) SDT or RRC release message.

Clause 50. The UE according to any one of clauses 37 to 49, wherein the second event report comprises an LPP provided location information message comprising location measurements performed by the UE.

Clause 51. The UE according to clause 50, further comprising: means for receiving downlink (DL) PRSs from one or more base stations; and for measuring the DLs while in the RRC inactive state PRS is used to generate the components of the position measurements.

Clause 52. A UE according to any one of clauses 37 to 51, which also comprises means for providing positioning capabilities to a serving base station, a positioning server, or both, the positioning capabilities being indicated in the RRC inactive state At least one of uplink positioning, downlink positioning, uplink and downlink positioning, or a combination thereof is supported at times.

Clause 53. The UE according to any one of clauses 37 to 52, wherein the request to perform periodic or triggered positioning includes delayed MT-LR information of the UE, the method further comprising the step of: providing the serving base station with the UE's Delayed MT-LR information, wherein the delayed MT-LR information includes one or more of event type, requested positioning method, reporting interval, and wherein the delayed MT-LR information and positioning capabilities of the UE enable the The UE transitions to the RRC non-enabled state.

Clause 54. A UE according to any one of clauses 37 to 53, wherein the request to perform periodic or triggered positioning comprises uplink positioning, downlink positioning, downlink Road positioning is also an indication of uplink and downlink positioning.

Clause 55. A non-transitory storage medium comprising stored thereon code operable to configure at least one processor in a user equipment (UE) to support a radio resource control (RRC) inactive state Positioning of the UE, the code includes instructions for: receiving a request to perform periodic or triggered positioning; An indication of positioning, downlink positioning, or uplink and downlink positioning; detecting an event while in the RRC non-enabled state; and sending a first event report and a second event report to the UE in the RRC non-enabled state The event is reported when the state is enabled and UE positioning is enabled, wherein the first event report and the second event report are each sent via small data transfer (SDT).

Clause 56. The non-transitory storage medium of clause 55, wherein a request to perform a periodic or triggered positioning is received from a positioning server, and the first event report and the second event report are sent to the positioning server .

Clause 57. The non-transitory storage medium of clause 56, wherein the location server includes a location management function (LMF).

Clause 58. The non-transitory storage medium according to any one of clauses 55 to 57, wherein each of the first event report and the second event report is sent in an RRC recovery request message.

Clause 59. The non-transitory storage medium of any one of clauses 55 to 58, wherein the second event report includes an indication that the second event report is associated with the first event report.

Clause 60. The non-transitory storage medium of clause 59, wherein the indication that the second event report is associated with the first event report includes an event type parameter.

Clause 61. The non-transitory storage medium of any one of clauses 59 to 60, wherein the first event report and the second event report each include a common identifier, wherein the second event report is identical to the first event report The associated indication includes the shared identifier.

Clause 62. The non-transitory storage medium according to any one of clauses 59 to 61, wherein the indication that the second event report is associated with the first event report enables the second event report to be considered as the first event Continuation of the report.

Clause 63. The non-transitory storage medium according to any one of clauses 55 to 62, wherein: an indication is received that subsequent location reporting events will use uplink and downlink positioning when the UE is in the RRC inactive state; The first event report includes a Long Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP) Request Assistance Data message indicating a request for uplink (UL) Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) configuration; and the code also includes a The station receives the UL PRS configuration instruction.

Clause 64. The non-transitory storage medium of Clause 63, wherein the UL PRS configuration is received in a subsequent downlink (DL) SDT.

Clause 65. The non-transitory storage medium according to any one of clauses 63 to 64, wherein the UL PRS configuration is received in an RRC release message.

Clause 66. The non-transitory storage medium according to any one of clauses 63 to 65, wherein the code also includes instructions for: while in the RRC inactive state based on the UL Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) The configuration enables transmission of UL PRS by UL PRS measurements performed by a plurality of base stations, wherein the location of the UE is determined based at least in part on the UL PRS measurements.

Clause 67. The non-transitory storage medium according to any one of clauses 63 to 66, wherein the code also includes instructions for performing the following in a subsequent downlink (DL) SDT or RRC release message receiving a medium access control-control element (MAC-CE) UL PRS enablement from the serving base station in one of; and receiving from the serving base station in one of a subsequent downlink (DL) SDT or RRC release message MAC-CE UL PRS disabled.

Clause 68. The non-transitory storage medium according to any one of clauses 55 to 67, wherein the second event report comprises an LPP provided location information message comprising location measurements performed by the UE.

Clause 69. The non-transitory storage medium according to clause 68, wherein the code also includes instructions for: receiving a downlink (DL) PRS from one or more base stations; The DL PRS are measured to generate the position measurements while in an enabled state.

Clause 70. The non-transitory storage medium according to any one of clauses 55 to 69, which provides a means for positioning capabilities to a serving base station, a positioning server, or both, the positioning capabilities being indicated in the RRC inactive state At least one of uplink positioning, downlink positioning, uplink and downlink positioning, or a combination thereof is supported at times.

Clause 71. The non-transitory storage medium according to any one of clauses 55 to 70, wherein the request to perform periodic or triggered positioning includes delayed MT-LR information of the UE, the method further comprising the step of: sending to the serving base station providing delayed MT-LR information of the UE, wherein the delayed MT-LR information includes one or more of event type, requested positioning method, reporting interval, and wherein the delayed MT-LR information and positioning capability of the UE Transition of the UE to the RRC non-enabled state is enabled.

Clause 72. The non-transitory storage medium according to any one of clauses 55 to 71, wherein the request to perform periodic or triggered positioning includes that subsequent location reporting events will use uplink when the UE is in the RRC-inactive state An indication of positioning, downlink positioning, or uplink and downlink positioning.

Clause 73. A method, performed by a positioning server, for supporting positioning of a user equipment (UE) in a radio resource control (RRC) inactive state, the method comprising the step of: sending to the UE a request for performing a periodic or triggering a request for positioning; sending to the UE an indication that subsequent location reporting events will use uplink positioning, downlink positioning, or both uplink and downlink positioning when the UE is in the RRC non-enabled state; and from the UE The UE receives the first event report and the second event report to report the UE's detection of the event and enable UE positioning when the UE is in the RRC non-enabled state, wherein when the UE is in the RRC non-enabled state, the first The event report and the second event report are each sent by the UE via Small Data Transport (SDT).

Clause 74. The method of clause 73, wherein the second event report includes an indication that the second event report is associated with the first event report.

Clause 75. The method of clause 74, wherein the indication that the second event report is associated with the first event report includes an event type parameter.

Clause 76. The method of any one of clauses 74 to 75, wherein the first event report and the second event report each include a shared identifier, wherein an indication that the second event report is associated with the first event report Include the shared identifier.

Clause 77. The method according to any one of clauses 74 to 76, further comprising the step of: treating the second event report as the first event report based on an indication that the second event report is associated with the first event report Continuation of Incident Report.

Clause 78. The method of any one of clauses 73 to 77, wherein: an indication is sent that subsequent location reporting events will use uplink and downlink positioning when the UE is in the RRC non-enabled state; the first event The report includes a Long Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP) Request Assistance Data message indicating a request for uplink (UL) Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) configuration; the method also includes the steps of: when the UE is in the RRC non-enabled sending a request for the UL PRS configuration to a serving base station of the UE; and receiving the UL PRS configuration from the serving base station, wherein the serving base station sends the UL PRS configuration to the UE.

Clause 79. The method of clause 78, further comprising the step of: sending a UL measurement request including the UL PRS configuration to at least one base station.

Clause 80. The method of any one of clauses 78 to 79, wherein the second event report comprises an LPP Provided Location Information message, the LPP Provided Location Information message comprising location measurements performed by UEs in the RRC inactive state, The method also includes the step of determining a location of the UE based at least in part on a location measurement in the LPP provided location information message.

Clause 81. The method of clause 80, further comprising the step of: receiving a measurement response from the at least one base station, the measurement response comprising a measurement of UL PRS transmitted by the UE in the RRC inactive state; and further The location is determined based on measurement responses from the at least one base station.

Clause 82. The method of any one of clauses 73 to 81, wherein the location server comprises a location management function (LMF).

Clause 83. A positioning server configured to support positioning of a user equipment (UE) in a radio resource control (RRC) non-enabled state, the positioning server comprising: an external interface configured to communicate with Entities in the wireless network communicate wirelessly; at least one memory; at least one processor, the at least one processor is coupled to the external interface and the at least one memory, wherein the at least one processor is configured to: via the external The interface sends to the UE a request to perform periodic or triggered positioning; via the external interface sends to the UE a request that subsequent location reporting events when the UE is in the RRC inactive state will use uplink positioning, downlink positioning or an indication of uplink and downlink positioning; and receiving a first event report and a second event report from the UE via the external interface to report detection of events by the UE and enablement when the UE is in the RRC inactive state UE positioning, wherein the first event report and the second event report are each sent by the UE via small data transmission (SDT) when the UE is in the RRC inactive state.

Clause 84. The location server of clause 83, wherein the second event report includes an indication that the second event report is associated with the first event report.

Clause 85. The location server of clause 84, wherein the indication that the second event report is associated with the first event report includes an event type parameter.

Clause 86. The location server of any one of clauses 84 to 85, wherein the first event report and the second event report each include a shared identifier, wherein the second event report is associated with the first event report The indication for includes the shared identifier.

Clause 87. The positioning server according to any one of clauses 84 to 86, wherein the at least one processor is also configured to, based on an indication that the second event report is associated with the first event report, the second event report The report is considered a continuation of this first incident report.

Clause 88. The positioning server according to any one of clauses 83 to 87, wherein: an indication is received that uplink and downlink positioning are to be used for subsequent location reporting events when the UE is in the RRC inactive state; the clause An event report comprising a Long Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP) Request Assistance Data message indicating a request for uplink (UL) Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) configuration; the at least one processor is also configured to: when the UE sending a request for the UL PRS configuration to a serving base station of the UE via the external interface when the RRC is not enabled; and receiving the UL PRS configuration from the serving base station via the external interface, wherein the serving base station sends the request to the serving base station The UE sends the UL PRS configuration.

Clause 89. The positioning server of clause 88, wherein the at least one processor is also configured to send a UL measurement request including the UL PRS configuration to at least one base station.

Clause 90. The positioning server according to any one of clauses 88 to 89, wherein the second event report comprises an LPP provided location information message comprising a location quantity performed by the UE in the RRC inactive state wherein the at least one processor is also configured to: determine the location of the UE based at least in part on the location measurement in the LPP providing location information message.

Clause 91. The positioning server of clause 90, wherein the at least one processor is also configured to: receive a measurement response from the at least one base station via the external interface, the measurement response comprising a measuring the UL PRS transmitted by the UE; and further determining the location based on the measurement response from the at least one base station.

Clause 92. The positioning server according to any one of clauses 83 to 91, wherein the positioning server comprises a location management function (LMF).

Clause 93. A positioning server configured to support positioning of a user equipment (UE) in a radio resource control (RRC) non-enabled state, the positioning server comprising: for sending to the UE a periodic or means for triggering a request for positioning; for sending to the UE an indication as to whether subsequent location reporting events will use uplink positioning, downlink positioning, or uplink and downlink positioning when the UE is in the RRC inactive state means for indicating; and means for receiving a first event report and a second event report from the UE to report detection of an event by the UE and enable UE positioning when the UE is in the RRC non-enabled state, wherein when the UE In the RRC inactive state, the first event report and the second event report are each sent by the UE via Small Data Transmission (SDT).

Clause 94. The location server of clause 93, wherein the second event report includes an indication that the second event report is associated with the first event report.

Clause 95. The location server of clause 94, wherein the indication that the second event report is associated with the first event report includes an event type parameter.

Clause 96. The location server of any one of clauses 94 to 95, wherein the first event report and the second event report each include a shared identifier, wherein the second event report is associated with the first event report The indication for includes the shared identifier.

Clause 97. A location server according to any one of clauses 94 to 96, further comprising means for treating the second event report as the first event report based on an indication that the second event report is associated with the first event report Continuation component of an incident report.

Clause 98. The positioning server according to any one of clauses 93 to 97, wherein: an indication is received that uplink and downlink positioning are to be used for subsequent location reporting events when the UE is in the RRC inactive state; the clause 98. An event report includes a Long Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP) Request Assistance Data message indicating a request for uplink (UL) Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) configuration; the positioning server also includes: for when the UE is in means for sending a request for the UL PRS configuration to the serving base station of the UE when the RRC is not enabled; and means for receiving the UL PRS configuration from the serving base station, wherein the serving base station sends the UE the UL PRS configuration UL PRS configuration.

Clause 99. The positioning server of claim 98, further comprising means for sending a UL measurement request including the UL PRS configuration to at least one base station.

Clause 100. The positioning server according to any one of clauses 98 to 99, wherein the second event report comprises an LPP provided location information message comprising a location quantity performed by the UE in the RRC inactive state The method also includes means for determining a location of the UE based at least in part on a location measurement in the LPP providing location information message.

Clause 101. The positioning server of clause 100, further comprising: means for receiving a measurement response from the at least one base station, the measurement response comprising an amount of UL PRS transmitted by the UE in the RRC inactive state and means for determining the location further based on a measurement response from the at least one base station.

Clause 102. The positioning server according to any one of clauses 93 to 101, wherein the positioning server comprises a location management function (LMF).

Clause 103. A non-transitory storage medium comprising stored thereon code operable to configure at least one processor in a location server to support a user in a radio resource control (RRC) disabled state Positioning of a device (UE), the code includes instructions for: sending a request to the UE to perform periodic or triggered positioning; sending a request to the UE for subsequent an indication that a location reporting event will use uplink positioning, downlink positioning, or both; and receiving a first event report and a second event report from the UE for when the UE is in the RRC inactive state reporting the UE's detection of events and enabling UE positioning when the UE is in the RRC inactive state, wherein the first event report and the second event report are each sent by the UE via Small Data Transmission (SDT) .

Clause 104. The non-transitory storage medium of clause 103, wherein the second event report includes an indication that the second event report is associated with the first event report.

Clause 105. The non-transitory storage medium of clause 104, wherein the indication that the second event report is associated with the first event report includes an event type parameter.

Clause 106. The non-transitory storage medium of any one of clauses 104 to 105, wherein the first event report and the second event report each include a common identifier, wherein the second event report is identical to the first event report The associated indication includes the shared identifier.

Clause 107. The non-transitory storage medium according to any one of clauses 104 to 106, wherein the program also includes instructions for associating the second event report with the first event report based on the indication that the second event report is associated with the first event report Instructions considered a continuation of this first incident report.

Clause 108. The non-transitory storage medium according to any one of clauses 103 to 107, wherein: an indication is sent that subsequent location reporting events will use uplink and downlink positioning when the UE is in the RRC inactive state; The first event report includes a Long Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP) Request Assistance Data message indicating a request for an uplink (UL) Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) configuration; the at least one processor is also configured to: when Sending a request for the UL PRS configuration to a serving base station of the UE when the UE is in the RRC non-enabled state; and receiving the UL PRS configuration from the serving base station, wherein the serving base station sends the UL PRS configuration to the UE .

Clause 109. The non-transitory storage medium of Clause 108, wherein the at least one processor is also configured to send a UL measurement request including the UL PRS configuration to at least one base station.

Clause 110. The non-transitory storage medium according to any one of clauses 108 to 109, wherein the second event report comprises an LPP provided location information message comprising a message performed by the UE in the RRC inactive state Location measurement, wherein the at least one processor is also configured to determine the location of the UE based at least in part on the location measurement in the LPP providing location information message.

Clause 111. The non-transitory storage medium of clause 110, wherein the at least one processor is also configured to: receive a measurement response from the at least one base station, the measurement response comprising a transmission by the UE in the RRC inactive state the measurement of the UL PRS; and further determine the location based on the measurement response from the at least one base station.

Clause 112. The non-transitory storage medium according to any one of clauses 103 to 111, wherein the location server comprises a location management function (LMF).

While the foregoing disclosure illustrates illustrative aspects of the present case, it should be noted that various changes and modifications may be made herein without departing from the scope of the present case as defined by the appended claims. The functions, steps and/or actions of the method claims in accordance with aspects of the invention described herein need not be performed in any particular order. Furthermore, although elements of the present case may be described or claimed in the singular, the plural is contemplated unless limitation to the singular is expressly stated.

100: Communication system 102:UE 110-1: gNB 110-2: gNB 110-3: gNB 110-A: Anchor gNB 110-S: Serving gNB 112:NG-RAN 114: ng-eNB 130: external client 132: Application function (AF) 150:5GCN 152:LMF 154:AMF 156:SMF 158:UPF 160:GMLC 161:UDM 162:SLP 163:NEF 164:SLP 175:Internet 190:SV 200: UE RRC state machine 202: RRC_CONNECTED state 204: RRC_INACTIVE state 206: RRC_IDLE state 300: Signal transmission process 400: Signal transmission process 402: block 420: Signal transmission process 440: Signal transmission process 460: Signal transmission process 480: Signal transmission process 500:UE 502: Processor 504: memory 506: connector 508: Command or code 510: wireless transceiver 511: Antenna 512: Transmitter 513: sensor 514: Receiver 515: SPS receiver 520: Non-transitory computer-readable media 522: Positioning communication period module 524: RRC non-enabled module 526:RRC recovery module 600: positioning server 602: Processor 604: memory 606: connector 608: Instruction or code 616: external interface 620: Non-transitory computer-readable media 622: Positioning communication period module 700: base station 702: Processor 704: memory 706: connector 708: Instruction or code 710: Transceiver 711: Antenna 712:transmitter 714: Receiver 716: communication interface 720: Non-transitory computer-readable media 722: RRC non-enabled module 724: Positioning communication period module 800: method 802: block 804: block 806: cube 808: cube 900: method 902: block 904: block 906: block

The drawings are presented to help describe the various aspects of the present invention and are provided merely to illustrate the aspects and not to limit the aspects.

FIG. 1 illustrates a high-level system architecture of a wireless communication system according to an aspect of the present invention.

Figure 2 illustrates a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection state machine and state transitions.

FIG. 3 schematically illustrates the signaling flow of various messages sent between elements of the communication system during a location preparation procedure for a delayed action terminated location request (MT-LR).

Figure 4A diagrammatically illustrates various messages sent between elements of the communication system for event reporting of delayed MT-LR requests for uplink or uplink plus downlink positioning when the UE is in the RRC non-enabled state signal transmission process.

Figure 4B, which includes Figures 4B-1 and 4B-2, illustrates the delayed MT- The signal transmission process of various messages of the positioning event of the LR program.

Figure 4C diagrammatically illustrates the messages sent between elements of the communication system for initiation and reporting for periodic or positioning events when the UE is in the RRC non-enabled state and when the event reporting uses downlink positioning or does not use positioning Signaling process for various messages that delay the positioning event of the MT-LR program.

Figure 4D diagrammatically illustrates the delay MT-LR procedure for initiating and reporting for periodic or positioning events sent between elements of the communication system when the UE is in the RRC non-enabled state and when the event reporting uses UL positioning Signaling process for various messages of a location event.

Figure 4E, which includes Figures 4E-1 and 4E-2, illustrates the information sent between elements of the communication system when the UE is in the RRC non-enabled state and when the event report uses uplink plus downlink positioning. Signaling process for initiating and reporting various messages for periodic or delayed MT-LR procedures for location events.

Figure 5 illustrates a schematic block diagram illustrating certain exemplary features of a UE configured for event reporting for a delayed MT-LR when in the RRC non-enabled state.

Figure 6 illustrates a schematic block diagram illustrating certain exemplary features of a positioning server configured for UE event reporting for a delayed MT-LR when in the RRC non-enabled state.

Figure 7 illustrates a schematic block diagram illustrating certain exemplary features of a base station configured for UE event reporting for delayed MT-LR when in the RRC non-enabled state.

8 illustrates a flowchart of an exemplary method performed by a UE for supporting location services for the UE.

FIG. 9 illustrates a flowchart of an exemplary method performed by a location server for supporting location services for UEs.

Elements, stages, steps and/or actions with the same reference numerals in different drawings may correspond to each other (eg, may be similar or identical to each other). Additionally, some elements in the various figures are labeled using numerical prefixes followed by letters or numerical suffixes. Elements with the same numerical prefix but different suffixes may be different instances of the same type of element. A numeric prefix without any suffix is used herein to represent any element with that numeric prefix. For example, different examples of base stations 110-1, 110-2, 110-3 are illustrated in FIG. Reference to base station 110 then refers to any of base stations 110-1, 110-2, 110-3.

Domestic deposit information (please note in order of depositor, date, and number) none Overseas storage information (please note in order of storage country, institution, date, and number) none

800: method

802: block

804: block

806: cube

808: cube

Claims (56)

A method performed by a user equipment (UE) for supporting positioning of the UE in a radio resource control (RRC) inactive state, the method comprising the following steps: receiving a request to perform periodic or triggered positioning; receiving an indication that subsequent location reporting events will use uplink positioning, downlink positioning, or both uplink and downlink positioning when the UE is in the RRC inactive state; detecting an event while in the RRC inactive state; and sending a first event report and a second event report to report the event and enable UE positioning when the UE is in the RRC non-enabled state, wherein the first event report and the second event report are each via Small Data Transmission (SDT ) while sending. The method according to claim 1, wherein the request to perform periodic or triggered positioning is received from a positioning server, and the first event report and the second event report are sent to the positioning server. The method according to claim 2, wherein the positioning server includes a location management function (LMF). The method according to claim 1, wherein each of the first event report and the second event report is sent in an RRC recovery request message. The method according to claim 1, wherein the second event report includes an indication that the second event report is associated with the first event report. The method according to claim 5, wherein the indication that the second event report is associated with the first event report includes an event type parameter. The method of claim 5, wherein the first event report and the second event report each include a shared identifier, and wherein the indication that the second event report is associated with the first event report includes the shared identifier. The method according to claim 5, wherein the indication that the second event report is associated with the first event report enables the second event report to be considered a continuation of the first event report. The method according to claim 1, wherein: receiving the indication that uplink and downlink positioning will be used for subsequent location reporting events when the UE is in the RRC inactive state; the first event report includes a long term evolution (LTE) positioning protocol (LPP) request assistance data message indicating a request for an uplink (UL) positioning reference signal (PRS) configuration; and The method also includes the step of: receiving the UL PRS configuration from a serving base station. The method according to claim 9, wherein the UL PRS configuration is received in a subsequent downlink (DL) SDT. The method according to claim 9, wherein the UL PRS configuration is received in an RRC release message. According to the method of claim 9, it also includes the following steps: enabling UL PRS measurements by base stations to transmit UL PRS based on the UL Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) configuration while in the RRC inactive state, wherein the UE is determined based at least in part on the UL PRS measurements of a location. According to the method of claim 9, it also includes the following steps: receiving a medium access control-control element (MAC-CE) UL PRS enablement from the serving base station in one of a subsequent downlink (DL) SDT or an RRC release message; and A MAC-CE UL PRS deactivation is received from the serving base station in one of a subsequent downlink (DL) SDT or an RRC release message. The method according to claim 1, wherein the second event report includes an LPP provided location information message, and the LPP provided location information message includes location measurements generated by the UE. According to the method of claim 14, it also includes the following steps: receiving downlink (DL) PRS from one or more base stations; and The DL PRSs are measured while in the RRC inactive state to generate the location measurements. The method according to claim 1, which also includes the steps of: providing positioning capabilities to a serving base station, a positioning server, or both, the positioning capabilities indicating support for uplink positioning when in the RRC inactive state, At least one of downlink positioning, uplink and downlink positioning, or a combination thereof. The method according to claim 1, wherein the request for performing periodic or triggered positioning includes delayed MT-LR information of the UE, the method also includes the step of: providing the delayed MT-LR information of the UE to a serving base station and the positioning capability of the UE, wherein the delayed MT-LR information includes one or more of an event type, a requested positioning method, and a reporting interval, and wherein the delayed MT-LR information of the UE and the positioning Capabilities enable transitioning the UE to the RRC non-enabled state. The method according to claim 1, wherein the request for performing periodic or triggered positioning includes whether uplink positioning, downlink positioning or uplink positioning will be used for subsequent location reporting events when the UE is in the RRC inactive state and This indication of downlink positioning. A user equipment (UE) configured to support positioning of the UE in a radio resource control (RRC) non-enabled state, the UE comprising: a wireless transceiver configured to communicate wirelessly with entities in a wireless network; at least one memory; at least one processor coupled to the wireless transceiver and the at least one memory, wherein the at least one processor is configured to: receiving a request to perform periodic or triggered positioning via the wireless transceiver; receiving via the wireless transceiver an indication that subsequent location reporting events will use uplink positioning, downlink positioning, or both uplink and downlink positioning when the UE is in the RRC inactive state; detecting an event while in the RRC inactive state; and sending a first event report and a second event report via the radio transceiver to report the event and enable UE positioning when the UE is in the RRC inactive state, wherein the first event report and the second event report are each via Sent with Small Data Transfer (SDT). The UE according to claim 19, wherein the request to perform periodic or triggered positioning is received from a positioning server, and the first event report and the second event report are sent to the positioning server. The UE according to claim 20, wherein the location server includes a location management function (LMF). The UE according to claim 19, wherein each of the first event report and the second event report is sent in an RRC recovery request message. The UE according to claim 19, wherein the second event report includes an indication that the second event report is associated with the first event report. The UE according to claim 23, wherein the indication that the second event report is associated with the first event report includes an event type parameter. The UE according to claim 23, wherein the first event report and the second event report each include a shared identifier, wherein the indication that the second event report is associated with the first event report includes the shared identifier. The UE according to claim 23, wherein the indication that the second event report is associated with the first event report enables the second event report to be considered a continuation of the first event report. The UE according to claim 19, wherein: receiving the indication that uplink and downlink positioning will be used for subsequent location reporting events when the UE is in the RRC inactive state; the first event report includes a long term evolution (LTE) positioning protocol (LPP) request assistance data message indicating a request for an uplink (UL) positioning reference signal (PRS) configuration; and The at least one processor is also configured to receive the UL PRS configuration from a serving base station via the wireless transceiver. The UE according to claim 27, wherein the UL PRS configuration is received in a subsequent downlink (DL) SDT. The UE according to claim 27, wherein the UL PRS configuration is received in an RRC release message. The UE according to claim 27, wherein the at least one processor is also configured to: enabling UL PRS measurements by base stations to transmit UL PRS via the wireless transceiver based at least in part on the UL PRS quantities based on the UL Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) configuration while in the RRC inactive state measure to determine a location of the UE. The UE according to claim 27, wherein the at least one processor is also configured to receive a medium from the serving base station via the wireless transceiver in one of a subsequent downlink (DL) SDT or an RRC release message Access Control-Control Element (MAC-CE) UL PRS Enable and receive a MAC-CE UL PRS Disable from the serving base station in one of a subsequent downlink (DL) SDT or an RRC Release message . The UE according to claim 19, wherein the second event report includes an LPP provided location information message, the LPP provided location information message includes location measurements generated by the UE. The UE according to claim 32, wherein the at least one processor is also configured to: receiving downlink (DL) PRS from one or more base stations via the wireless transceiver; and The DL PRSs are measured while in the RRC inactive state to generate the location measurements. The UE according to claim 19, which provides positioning capabilities to a serving base station, a positioning server, or both, the positioning capabilities indicating support for uplink positioning, downlink positioning, At least one or a combination of uplink and downlink positioning. The UE according to claim 19, wherein the request for performing periodic or triggered positioning includes delayed MT-LR information of the UE, the method further comprising the step of: providing the delayed MT-LR information of the UE to a serving base station and the positioning capability of the UE, wherein the delayed MT-LR information includes one or more of an event type, a requested positioning method, and a reporting interval, and wherein the delayed MT-LR information of the UE and the positioning Capabilities enable transitioning the UE to the RRC non-enabled state. The UE according to claim 19, wherein the request for performing periodic or triggered positioning includes whether uplink positioning, downlink positioning or uplink positioning will be used for subsequent location reporting events when the UE is in the RRC inactive state and This indication of downlink positioning. A method performed by a positioning server for supporting positioning of a user equipment (UE) in a radio resource control (RRC) inactive state, the method comprising the following steps: sending to the UE a request to perform periodic or triggered positioning; sending to the UE an indication of whether subsequent location reporting events will use uplink positioning, downlink positioning, or both uplink and downlink positioning when the UE is in the RRC inactive state; and receiving a first event report and a second event report from the UE to report the UE's detection of an event and enable UE positioning when the UE is in the RRC inactive state , the first event report and the second event report are each sent by the UE via small data transfer (SDT). The method according to claim 37, wherein the second event report includes an indication that the second event report is associated with the first event report. The method according to claim 38, wherein the indication that the second event report is associated with the first event report includes an event type parameter. The method of claim 38, wherein the first event report and the second event report each include a shared identifier, and wherein the indication that the second event report is associated with the first event report includes the shared identifier. The method according to claim 38, further comprising the step of treating the second event report as a continuation of the first event report based on the indication that the second event report is associated with the first event report. The method according to claim 37, wherein: sending the indication that uplink and downlink positioning will be used for subsequent location reporting events when the UE is in the RRC inactive state; the first event report includes a long term evolution (LTE) positioning protocol (LPP) request assistance data message indicating a request for an uplink (UL) positioning reference signal (PRS) configuration; The method also includes the steps of: sending a request for the UL PRS configuration to a serving base station of the UE when the UE is in the RRC inactive state; and The UL PRS configuration is received from the serving base station, wherein the serving base station sends the UL PRS configuration to the UE. The method according to claim 42 also includes the step of: sending a UL measurement request including the UL PRS configuration to at least one base station. The method according to claim 42, wherein the second event report includes an LPP providing location information message, the LPP providing location information message including location measurements performed by the UE in the RRC inactive state, the method also includes the following steps : A location of the UE is determined based at least in part on the location measurements in the LPP provided location information message. According to the method of claim 44, it also includes the following steps: receiving a measurement response from the at least one base station, the measurement response including measurements of UL PRS transmitted by the UE in the RRC inactive state; and The location is further determined based on the measurement response from the at least one base station. The method according to claim 37, wherein the positioning server includes a location management function (LMF). A positioning server configured to support positioning of a user equipment (UE) in a radio resource control (RRC) inactive state, the positioning server includes: an external interface configured to wirelessly communicate with entities in a wireless network; at least one memory; At least one processor coupled to the external interface and the at least one memory, wherein the at least one processor is configured to: sending a request to perform periodic or triggered positioning to the UE via the external interface; sending to the UE via the external interface an indication whether subsequent location reporting events will use uplink positioning, downlink positioning, or both uplink and downlink positioning when the UE is in the RRC inactive state; and receiving a first event report and a second event report from the UE via the external interface to report the UE's detection of an event and enable UE positioning when the UE is in the RRC inactive state When RRC is not enabled, the first event report and the second event report are each sent by the UE via Small Data Transmission (SDT). The location server according to claim 47, wherein the second event report includes an indication that the second event report is associated with the first event report. The location server according to claim 48, wherein the indication that the second event report is associated with the first event report includes an event type parameter. The location server according to claim 48, wherein the first event report and the second event report each include a shared identifier, wherein the indication that the second event report is associated with the first event report includes the shared identifier symbol. The location server according to claim 48, wherein the at least one processor is also configured to treat the second event report as the first event based on the indication that the second event report is associated with the first event report A continuation of the report. The positioning server according to claim 47, wherein: sending the indication that uplink and downlink positioning will be used for subsequent location reporting events when the UE is in the RRC inactive state; the first event report includes a long term evolution (LTE) positioning protocol (LPP) request assistance data message indicating a request for an uplink (UL) positioning reference signal (PRS) configuration; The at least one processor is also configured to: sending a request for the UL PRS configuration to a serving base station of the UE via the external interface when the UE is in the RRC inactive state; and The UL PRS configuration is received from the serving base station via the external interface, wherein the serving base station sends the UL PRS configuration to the UE. The positioning server according to claim 52, wherein the at least one processor is also configured to send a UL measurement request including the UL PRS configuration to at least one base station. The positioning server according to claim 52, wherein the second event report includes an LPP providing location information message, the LPP providing location information message including location measurements performed by the UE in the RRC inactive state, wherein the at least one The processor is also configured to: A location of the UE is determined based at least in part on the location measurements in the LPP provided location information message. The positioning server according to claim 54, wherein the at least one processor is also configured to: receiving a measurement response from at least one base station via the external interface, the measurement response including measurements of UL PRS transmitted by the UE in the RRC inactive state; and The location is further determined based on the measurement response from the at least one base station. The positioning server according to claim 47, wherein the positioning server includes a location management function (LMF).

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