WO2018067380A1

WO2018067380A1 - Uplink positioning for narrow band internet of things

Info

Publication number: WO2018067380A1
Application number: PCT/US2017/054141
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jie Cui; Yang Tang
Original assignee: Intel IP Corporation
Priority date: 2016-10-03
Filing date: 2017-09-28
Publication date: 2018-04-12
Also published as: DE112017003825T5

Abstract

An apparatus of a positioning server comprises one or more processors to generate an Information Request with an indication A to cause a serving evolved NodeB (eNB) to configure an uplink positioning signal for a target positioning user equipment (UE) served by the serving eNB, to select a set of location measurement units (LMUs) to obtain measurements of the uplink positioning signal from the target positioning UE, and to process one or more measurement reports from the set of LMUs. The apparatus of a positioning sever further comprises a memory to store the one or more measurement reports.

Description

UPLINK POSITIONING FOR NARROW BAND INTERNET OF THINGS

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] The present application claims the benefit of US Provisional Application No. 62/403,400 (P109989Z) filed October 3, 2016. Said Application No. 62/403,400 is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

[0002] In Narrow Band Internet of Things (NB-IoT), the uplink positioning signal is transmitted on a very narrow band which could deteriorate the receiving signal quality at the evolved NodeB (eNB) which consequently may impact positioning accuracy. The narrow band uplink positioning signal is sensitive to the interference and fading channel compared with the uplink positioning signal from a standard user equipment (UE) operating according to a Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard. In addition, the eNB is not required to configure uplink positioning signal for target UE for uplink time difference of arrival (UTDOA), that is the eNB can decide by itself on how to configure the uplink positioning signal. In the NB-IoT case, however, such an arrangement may cause problems the positioning accuracy.

[0003] In the 3GPP Technical Specification (TS) 36.305, in order to obtain uplink measurements for uplink positioning, the location measurement units (LMUs) should know the characteristics of the sounding reference signal (SRS) transmitted by the UE for the time period in which to calculate uplink measurement. These characteristics should be static over the periodic transmission of SRS signals during the uplink measurements. Hence, the evolved serving mobile location center (E-SMLC) will indicate to the serving eNB to direct the UE to transmit SRS signals for uplink positioning. It is up to the eNB to make the final decision on resources to be assigned and to communicate this configuration information back to the E-SMLC so that the E-SMLC can configure the LMUs. The eNB may decide to configure no resources for the UE and report the empty resource configuration to the E-SMLC, for example in the case where no resources are available. NB-IoT terminals are becoming more widely deployed current market, for example in the form of smart wearable devices, and the positioning requirements for those devices are becoming increasingly important. Thus, it would be beneficial to provide enhance current uplink positioning accuracy and interference mitigation.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES

[0004] Claimed subject matter is particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the concluding portion of the specification. However, such subject matter may be understood by reference to the following detailed description when read with the accompanying drawings in which:

[0005] FIG. 1 is a diagram of uplink positioning in accordance with one or more embodiments;

[0006] FIG. 2 is a diagram of a procedure for uplink positioning in which muting information is to indicate that scheduling or configuring of an uplink signal on an indicated time- frequency resource utilized by a target user equipment (UE) in accordance with one or more embodiments;

[0007] FIG. 3 is a diagram of a procedure for uplink positioning in which a scrambling sequence is used by a target user equipment (UE) and other different scrambling sequences are used by other UEs in accordance with one or more embodiments;

[0008] FIG. 4 is a diagram of example components of a device in accordance with some embodiments; and

[0009] FIG. 5 is a diagram of example interfaces of baseband circuitry in accordance with one or more embodiments.

[00010] It will be appreciated that for simplicity and/or clarity of illustration, elements illustrated in the figures have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements may be exaggerated relative to other elements for clarity. Further, if considered appropriate, reference numerals have been repeated among the figures to indicate corresponding and/or analogous elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[00011 ] In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth to provide a thorough understanding of claimed subject matter. It will, however, be understood by those skilled in the art that claimed subject matter may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures, components and/or circuits have not been described in detail.

[00012] Referring now to FIG. 1, a diagram of uplink positioning in accordance with one or more embodiments will be discussed. The network 100 as shown in FIG. 1 may include multiple evolved NodeB (eNB) devices such as eNBl 110, eNB2 112, and eNB3 114, and so on, and one or more user equipment (UE) devices such as UE1 116, UE2 118, and UE3 120, and so on. In one or more embodiments, one or more of the eNBs may include a corresponding location measurement units (LMUs), for example LMU1 122, LMU2 124, and LMU3 126 and so on.

[00013] There are different types of LMUs for uplink positioning. One type is: an LMU that is integrated into an eNB. In such an arrangement, the eNB and the LMU are co-located. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, eNBl 110 is the serving eNB of target positioning UE (UE1) 116, eNB2 112 is serving eNB for UE2 118, and eNB3 114 is the serving eNB for UE3 120. LMU1 122 is integrated into eNBl 110, LMU2 124 is integrated into eNB 2 112, and LMU3 126 is integrated into eNB3 114. UEl 116 may be configured to transmit an uplink positioning signal for uplink positioning on a specific time-frequency resource, and during the same time eNB2 112 and eNB3 114 may also configure uplink transmission for their own respective UEs, UE2 118 and UE3 120. Network 100 may also include a positioning server 128 in communication with the LMUs via an SLmAP, and furthermore the eNBs of network 100 also may be in communication with the positioning server 128 via a mobility management entity (MME) 130 over an LPPa, although the scope of the claimed subject matter is not limited in this respect.

[00014] In order to obtain a position of the target positioning UE, the target positioning UE will transmit an uplink positioning signal to the LMUs to obtain positioning measurements for the target positioning UE. The LMUs then provide the positioning measurements to the positioning server 128. During the measurement procedure, the receiver of LMU2 124 will receive a strong signal from UE2 118 which could be an interference to the uplink positioning signal from UEl 116. As a result, the performance of LMU2 124 in measuring the uplink positioning signal from UEl could be impaired. A similar situation may occur for LMU3 114 when measuring the uplink positioning signal from UEl 116 wherein a signal from UE3 120 could impair the performance of LMU3 126 in measuring the uplink positioning signal from UEl 116. As a consequence, the uplink positioning accuracy could be very low. In accordance with one or more embodiments, the various approaches may be implemented to mitigate such interference from other UEs when measuring the uplink positioning signal from a target positioning UE via muting information or via a configuration of the uplink positioning signal from the target positioning UE which may be distributed by the positioning server 128 to the impacted eNBs to mute or configure the uplink time-frequency resource used by the target positioning UE and/or one or more of the other UEs.

[00015] Referring now to FIG. 2, a diagram of a procedure for uplink positioning in which muting information is to indicate that scheduling or configuring of an uplink signal on an indicated time-frequency resource utilized by a target user equipment (UE) in accordance with one or more embodiments will be discussed. In a first embodiment, the positioning server 128 may send information request to the serving eNB, eNBl 110, to indicate to the serving eNB to configure an uplink positioning signal for the target positioning UE, UEl 116. In this information request, additional information may be used to indicate that the configuration is mandatory. The serving eNB may configure the uplink positioning signal for the target positioning UE. The serving eNB may send the configuration information back to the positioning server. The positioning server then sends the measurement request to all involved LMU with the uplink positioning signal configuration information, and the positioning server will distribute the muting information to all the involved neighbor eNBs since the involved LMUs are integrated into these neighbor eNBs. The neighbor eNBs will then mute their respective UEs on the uplink time-frequency resource that is used by the target positioning UE for the uplink position signal.

[00016] To implement this embodiment as shown in FIG. 1, the positioning server 128 sends an Information Request message 210 using an LTE Positioning Protocol A (LPPa) protocol data unit (PDU) at operation indicating to the serving eNB, eNBl 110, instructions to invoke an uplink positioning signal for the target positioning UE, UE1 116. In this Information Request message 210, an indication A is used to indicate that it is a mandatory configuration case. This indication A is used to require the serving eNB to configure the UL positioning signal for the target positioning UE. After the serving eNB receives this indication A, the serving eNB may configure the UL positioning signal for the target positioning UE. Next, the serving eNB determines the resources to be allocated for the targeting positioning UE and sends an Information Response message 212 to the positioning server (E-SMLC) that includes the allocated resources and the associated parameters via an LPPa PDU. The serving eNB then allocates the resources to the target positioning UE and configures the target positioning UE with UL positing radio resource control (RRC) resources.

[00017] The positioning server (E-SMLC) 128 selects a set of LMUs such as LMU 122, LMU 124, and LMU 126 to be used for the uplink positioning operation, and sends a Measurement Request message 214 via a selective mapping (SLm) protocol with the UL positioning signal configuration to each one of LMUs. The positioning server 128 also sends via an LPPa PDU message 216 muting information or UL positioning signal configuration of the target positioning UE to the neighbor eNBs such as eNB2 112 and eNB 114 that include LMUs for this positioning operation. Muting information is to indicate that scheduling or configuring uplink signal on the specific time-frequency resource used by the target positioning UE is not allowed. After the one or more neighbor eNBs receivee this muting information or UL positioning signal configuration of the target positioning UE, the neighbor eNBs will not schedule or configure any uplink signal transmission on this time-frequency resource which is used by the target positioning UE. The LMUs then report back to positioning server (E-SMLC) 128 the uplink measurement reports obtained by the LMUs via SLM protocol message 218.

[00018] Referring now to FIG. 3, a diagram of a procedure for uplink positioning in which a scrambling sequence is used by a target user equipment (UE) and other different scrambling sequences are used by other UEs in accordance with one or more embodiments will be discussed. In a second embodiment, the positioning server 128 sends an information request to the serving eNB to indicate to the serving eNB to configure an uplink positioning signal for the target positioning UE. In this information request additional information may be used to indicate that the configuration is mandatory. The serving eNB configures the uplink positioning signal for the target positioning UE with a specific scramble sequence. The serving eNB sends the configuration information and scramble sequence information back to the positioning server 128. The positioning server 128 then sends the measurement request to all involved LMUs with the uplink positioning signal configuration information, and the positioning server 128 will then distribute the uplink signal configuration information to all the involved neighbor eNBs having involved LMUs that are integrated into these neighbor eNBs. The neighbor eNBs will then configure a specific scramble sequence for their respective UEs that are about to transmit an uplink signal on the same time-frequency resource used by the target positioning UE. This specific scramble sequence is different from the one used by the target positioning UE, and the correlation level of these two scramble sequences may be very low to avoid signal interference.

[00019] To implement such an embodiment, the positioning server (E-SMLC) 128 sends an Information Request message 310 via an LPPa PDU indicating to the serving eNB, eNBl 110, the need to invoke an uplink positioning signal for the target positioning UE, UE1 116. In this Information Request message 310, an indication A may be used to indicate that it is a mandatory configuration case. This indication A may be used to require the serving eNB to configure the UL positioning signal for the target positioning UE. After the serving eNB receives this indication A, the serving eNB will configure the UL positioning signal for the target positioning UE.

[00020] The serving eNB, eNB 110, then configures the uplink positioning signal for the target positioning UE, UE1 116, with a specific scramble sequence. This scramble sequence is for the purpose of interference avoidance. The serving eNB then sends an Information Response message 312 via an LPPa PDU to the positioning server (E-SMLC) 128 that includes the configuration information for UL positioning signal of target positioning UE including which time-frequency resource is used and which scramble sequence is used by the target positioning UE and which scramble sequence is used by and other UEs. The serving eNB then allocates the resources to the target positioning UE with a specific scramble sequence as reported to the positioning server 128.

[00021 ] The positioning server 128 then selects a set of LMUs, such as LMU1 122, LMU2 124, and LMU3 126, to be used for the uplink positioning operation, and sends a measurement request message 314 via an SLm protocol with the UL positioning signal configuration to each of the selected LMUs in the set. The positioning server 128 sends an UL positioning signal configuration message 316 via an LPPa PDU having configuration information of the target positioning UE to the one or more neighbor eNBs, such as eNB2 112 and eNB3 114, having integrated therewith the selected LMUs for this positioning operation. The UL positioning signal configuration of the target positioning UE includes the information of the time-frequency resource used for this UL positioning signal and the scramble sequence configuration. After the one or more neighbor eNBs receive this UL positioning signal configuration of the target positioning UE, the one or more neighbor eNBs will configure a specific scramble sequence for its own respective UEs who are about to transmit uplink signal on the same time-frequency resource used by the target positioning UE. The specific scramble sequence for the UEs of the one or more neighbor eNBs is different from the specific scramble sequence used by the target positioning UE. The correlation level of these two different scramble sequences may be very low to avoid signal interference. The selected LMUs obtain the uplink signal measurements from the target positioning UE, and then report the uplink measurement reports back to the positioning server via SLm protocol message 318.

[00022] FIG. 4 illustrates example components of a device 400 in accordance with some embodiments. The device 400 of FIG. 4 may tangibly embody the devices of FIG. 1, FIG. 2, and/or FIG. 3, for example eNB 1 110, eNB2 112, eNB3 114, UE1 116, UE2 118, UE3 120, LMU1 122, LMU2 124, LMU3 126, positioning server 126, and/or MME 130, although the scope of the claimed subject matter is not limited in these respects. In some embodiments, the device 400 may include application circuitry 402, baseband circuitry 404, Radio Frequency (RF) circuitry 406, front-end module (FEM) circuitry 408, one or more antennas 410, and power management circuitry (PMC) 412 coupled together at least as shown. The components of the illustrated device 400 may be included in a UE or a RAN node. In some embodiments, the device 400 may include less elements (e.g., a RAN node may not utilize application circuitry 402, and instead include a processor/controller to process IP data received from an EPC). In some embodiments, the device 400 may include additional elements such as, for example, memory/storage, display, camera, sensor, or input/output (I/O) interface. In other embodiments, the components described below may be included in more than one device (e.g., said circuitries may be separately included in more than one device for Cloud-RAN (C-RAN) implementations).

[00023] The application circuitry 402 may include one or more application processors. For example, the application circuitry 402 may include circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. The processor(s) may include any combination of general-purpose processors and dedicated processors (e.g., graphics processors, application processors, etc.). The processors may be coupled with or may include memory/storage and may be configured to execute instructions stored in the memory/storage to enable various applications or operating systems to run on the device 400. In some embodiments, processors of application circuitry 402 may process IP data packets received from an EPC.

[00024] The baseband circuitry 404 may include circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. The baseband circuitry 404 may include one or more baseband processors or control logic to process baseband signals received from a receive signal path of the RF circuitry 406 and to generate baseband signals for a transmit signal path of the RF circuitry 406. Baseband processing circuity 404 may interface with the application circuitry 402 for generation and processing of the baseband signals and for controlling operations of the RF circuitry 406. For example, in some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 404 may include a third generation (3G) baseband processor 404 A, a fourth generation (4G) baseband processor 404B, a fifth generation (5G) baseband processor 404C, or other baseband processor(s) 404D for other existing generations, generations in development or to be developed in the future (e.g., second generation (2G), si4h generation (6G), etc.). The baseband circuitry 404 (e.g., one or more of baseband processors 404A-D) may handle various radio control functions that enable communication with one or more radio networks via the RF circuitry 406. In other embodiments, some or all of the functionality of baseband processors 404A-D may be included in modules stored in the memory 404G and executed via a Central Processing Unit (CPU) 404E. The radio control functions may include, but are not limited to, signal modulation/demodulation, encoding/decoding, radio frequency shifting, etc. In some embodiments, modulation/demodulation circuitry of the baseband circuitry 404 may include Fast-Fourier Transform (FFT), precoding, or constellation mapping/demapping functionality. In some embodiments, encoding/decoding circuitry of the baseband circuitry 404 may include convolution, tail-biting convolution, turbo, Viterbi, or Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) encoder/decoder functionality. Embodiments of modulation/demodulation and encoder/decoder functionality are not limited to these examples and may include other suitable functionality in other embodiments.

[00025] In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 404 may include one or more audio digital signal processor(s) (DSP) 404F. The audio DSP(s) 404F may be include elements for compression/decompression and echo cancellation and may include other suitable processing elements in other embodiments. Components of the baseband circuitry may be suitably combined in a single chip, a single chipset, or disposed on a same circuit board in some embodiments. In some embodiments, some or all of the constituent components of the baseband circuitry 404 and the application circuitry 402 may be implemented together such as, for example, on a system on a chip (SOC).

[00026] In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 404 may provide for communication compatible with one or more radio technologies. For example, in some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 404 may support communication with an evolved universal terrestrial radio access network (EUTRAN) or other wireless metropolitan area networks (WMAN), a wireless local area network (WLAN), a wireless personal area network (WPAN). Embodiments in which the baseband circuitry 404 is configured to support radio communications of more than one wireless protocol may be referred to as multi-mode baseband circuitry.

[00027] RF circuitry 406 may enable communication with wireless networks using modulated electromagnetic radiation through a non-solid medium. In various embodiments, the RF circuitry 406 may include switches, filters, amplifiers, etc. to facilitate the communication with the wireless network. RF circuitry 406 may include a receive signal path which may include circuitry to down-convert RF signals received from the FEM circuitry 408 and provide baseband signals to the baseband circuitry 404. RF circuitry 406 may also include a transmit signal path which may include circuitry to up-convert baseband signals provided by the baseband circuitry 404 and provide RF output signals to the FEM circuitry 408 for transmission.

[00028] In some embodiments, the receive signal path of the RF circuitry 406 may include mixer circuitry 406a, amplifier circuitry 406b and filter circuitry 406c. In some embodiments, the transmit signal path of the RF circuitry 406 may include filter circuitry 406c and mixer circuitry 406a. RF circuitry 406 may also include synthesizer circuitry 406d for synthesizing a frequency for use by the mixer circuitry 406a of the receive signal path and the transmit signal path. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 406a of the receive signal path may be configured to down- convert RF signals received from the FEM circuitry 408 based on the synthesized frequency provided by synthesizer circuitry 406d. The amplifier circuitry 406b may be configured to amplify the down-converted signals and the filter circuitry 406c may be a low-pass filter (LPF) or band- pass filter (BPF) configured to remove unwanted signals from the down-converted signals to generate output baseband signals. Output baseband signals may be provided to the baseband circuitry 404 for further processing. In some embodiments, the output baseband signals may be zero-frequency baseband signals, although this is not a requirement. In some embodiments, mixer circuitry 406a of the receive signal path may comprise passive mixers, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[00029] In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 406a of the transmit signal path may be configured to up-convert input baseband signals based on the synthesized frequency provided by the synthesizer circuitry 406d to generate RF output signals for the FEM circuitry 408. The baseband signals may be provided by the baseband circuitry 404 and may be filtered by filter circuitry 406c.

[00030] In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 406a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 406a of the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged for quadrature downconversion and upconversion, respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 406a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 406a of the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged for image rejection (e.g., Hartley image rejection). In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 406a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 406a may be arranged for direct downconversion and direct upconversion, respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 406a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 406a of the transmit signal path may be configured for super-heterodyne operation.

[00031 ] In some embodiments, the output baseband signals and the input baseband signals may be analog baseband signals, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some alternate embodiments, the output baseband signals and the input baseband signals may be digital baseband signals. In these alternate embodiments, the RF circuitry 406 may include analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and digital-to- analog converter (DAC) circuitry and the baseband circuitry 404 may include a digital baseband interface to communicate with the RF circuitry 406. In some dual-mode embodiments, a separate radio IC circuitry may be provided for processing signals for each spectrum, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[00032] In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 406d may be a fractional-N synthesizer or a fractional N/N+l synthesizer, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect as other types of frequency synthesizers may be suitable. For example, synthesizer circuitry 406d may be a delta-sigma synthesizer, a frequency multiplier, or a synthesizer comprising a phase-locked loop with a frequency divider. The synthesizer circuitry 406d may be configured to synthesize an output frequency for use by the mixer circuitry 406a of the RF circuitry 406 based on a frequency input and a divider control input. In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 406d may be a fractional N/N+l synthesizer.

[00033] In some embodiments, frequency input may be provided by a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO), although that is not a requirement. Divider control input may be provided by either the baseband circuitry 404 or the applications processor 402 depending on the desired output frequency. In some embodiments, a divider control input (e.g., N) may be determined from a lookup table based on a channel indicated by the applications processor 402.

[00034] Synthesizer circuitry 406d of the RF circuitry 406 may include a divider, a delay- locked loop (DLL), a multiplexer and a phase accumulator. In some embodiments, the divider may be a dual modulus divider (DMD) and the phase accumulator may be a digital phase accumulator (DP A). In some embodiments, the DMD may be configured to divide the input signal by either N or N+l (e.g., based on a carry out) to provide a fractional division ratio. In some example embodiments, the DLL may include a set of cascaded, tunable, delay elements, a phase detector, a charge pump and a D-type flip-flop. In these embodiments, the delay elements may be configured to break a VCO period up into Nd equal packets of phase, where Nd is the number of delay elements in the delay line. In this way, the DLL provides negative feedback to help ensure that the total delay through the delay line is one VCO cycle.

[00035] In some embodiments, synthesizer circuitry 406d may be configured to generate a carrier frequency as the output frequency, while in other embodiments, the output frequency may be a multiple of the carrier frequency (e.g., twice the carrier frequency, four times the carrier frequency) and used in conjunction with quadrature generator and divider circuitry to generate multiple signals at the carrier frequency with multiple different phases with respect to each other. In some embodiments, the output frequency may be a LO frequency (fLO). In some embodiments, the RF circuitry 406 may include an IQ/polar converter.

[00036] FEM circuitry 408 may include a receive signal path which may include circuitry configured to operate on RF signals received from one or more antennas 410, amplify the received signals and provide the amplified versions of the received signals to the RF circuitry 406 for further processing. FEM circuitry 408 may also include a transmit signal path which may include circuitry configured to amplify signals for transmission provided by the RF circuitry 406 for transmission by one or more of the one or more antennas 410. In various embodiments, the amplification through the transmit or receive signal paths may be done solely in the RF circuitry 406, solely in the FEM 408, or in both the RF circuitry 406 and the FEM 408.

[00037] In some embodiments, the FEM circuitry 408 may include a TX/RX switch to switch between transmit mode and receive mode operation. The FEM circuitry may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of the FEM circuitry may include an LNA to amplify received RF signals and provide the amplified received RF signals as an output (e.g., to the RF circuitry 406). The transmit signal path of the FEM circuitry 408 may include a power amplifier (PA) to amplify input RF signals (e.g., provided by RF circuitry 406), and one or more filters to generate RF signals for subsequent transmission (e.g., by one or more of the one or more antennas 410).

[00038] In some embodiments, the PMC 412 may manage power provided to the baseband circuitry 404. In particular, the PMC 412 may control power-source selection, voltage scaling, battery charging, or DC-to-DC conversion. The PMC 412 may often be included when the device 400 is capable of being powered by a battery, for example, when the device is included in a UE. The PMC 412 may increase the power conversion efficiency while providing desirable implementation size and heat dissipation characteristics. While FIG. 4 shows the PMC 412 coupled only with the baseband circuitry 404. However, in other embodiments, the PMC 4 12 may be additionally or alternatively coupled with, and perform similar power management operations for, other components such as, but not limited to, application circuitry 402, RF circuitry 406, or FEM 408. [00039] In some embodiments, the PMC 412 may control, or otherwise be part of, various power saving mechanisms of the device 400. For example, if the device 400 is in an RRC_Connected state, where it is still connected to the RAN node as it expects to receive traffic shortly, then it may enter a state known as Discontinuous Reception Mode (DRX) after a period of inactivity. During this state, the device 400 may power down for brief intervals of time and thus save power.

[00040] If there is no data traffic activity for an extended period of time, then the device 400 may transition off to an RRC_Idle state, where it disconnects from the network and does not perform operations such as channel quality feedback, handover, etc. The device 400 goes into a very low power state and it performs paging where again it periodically wakes up to listen to the network and then powers down again. The device 400 may not receive data in this state, in order to receive data, it must transition back to RRC_Connected state.

[00041 ] An additional power saving mode may allow a device to be unavailable to the network for periods longer than a paging interval (ranging from seconds to a few hours). During this time, the device is totally unreachable to the network and may power down completely. Any data sent during this time incurs a large delay and it is assumed the delay is acceptable

[00042] Processors of the application circuitry 402 and processors of the baseband circuitry 404 may be used to execute elements of one or more instances of a protocol stack. For example, processors of the baseband circuitry 404, alone or in combination, may be used execute Layer 3, Layer 2, or Layer 1 functionality, while processors of the application circuitry 404 may utilize data (e.g., packet data) received from these layers and further execute Layer 4 functionality (e.g., transmission communication protocol (TCP) and user datagram protocol (UDP) layers). As referred to herein, Layer 3 may comprise a radio resource control (RRC) layer, described in further detail below. As referred to herein, Layer 2 may comprise a medium access control (MAC) layer, a radio link control (RLC) layer, and a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, described in further detail below. As referred to herein, Layer 1 may comprise a physical (PHY) layer of a UE/RAN node, described in further detail below.

[00043] FIG. 5 illustrates example interfaces of baseband circuitry in accordance with some embodiments. As discussed above, the baseband circuitry 404 of FIG. 4 may comprise processors 404A-404E and a memory 404G utilized by said processors. Each of the processors 404A-404E may include a memory interface, 504A-504E, respectively, to send/receive data to/from the memory 404G.

[00044] The baseband circuitry 404 may further include one or more interfaces to communicatively couple to other circuitries/devices, such as a memory interface 512 (e.g., an interface to send/receive data to/from memory external to the baseband circuitry 404), an application circuitry interface 514 (e.g., an interface to send/receive data to/from the application circuitry 402 of FIG. 4), an RF circuitry interface 516 (e.g., an interface to send/receive data to/from RF circuitry 406 of FIG. 4), a wireless hardware connectivity interface 518 (e.g., an interface to send/receive data to/from Near Field Communication (NFC) components, Bluetooth® components (e.g., Bluetooth® Low Energy), Wi-Fi® components, and other communication components), and a power management interface 520 (e.g., an interface to send/receive power or control signals to/from the PMC 412.

[00045] The following are example implementations of the subject matter described herein. It should be noted that any of the examples and the variations thereof described herein may be used in any permutation or combination of any other one or more examples or variations, although the scope of the claimed subject matter is not limited in these respects.

[00046] In example one, an apparatus of a positioning server comprises one or more processors to generate an Information Request with an indication A to cause a serving evolved NodeB (eNB) to configure an uplink positioning signal for a target positioning user equipment (UE) served by the serving eNB, to select a set of location measurement units (LMUs) to obtain measurements of the uplink positioning signal from the target positioning UE, and to process one or more measurement reports from the set of LMUs, and a memory to store the one or more measurement reports. Example two may include the subject matter of example one or any of the examples described herein, wherein the one or more processors are to generate muting information or configuration information of the uplink positioning signal of the target positioning UE for one or more neighbor eNBs to mute one or more UEs served by the one or more neighbor eNBs on the time-frequency resource used by the target positioning UE. Example three may include the subject matter of example one or any of the examples described herein, wherein the one or more processors are to generate a message for one or more neighbor eNBs with scramble sequence information used by the target positioning UE for one or more neighbor eNBs to configure a specific scramble sequence for one or more UEs served by the one or more neighbor eNBs, the specific scramble sequence being different than the scramble sequence used by the target positioning UE. Example four may include the subject matter of example one or any of the examples described herein, wherein the positioning server comprises an evolved serving mobile location center (E-SMLC). Example five may include the subject matter of example one or any of the examples described herein, wherein the LMUs are collocated with the serving eNB and one or more neighbor eNBs.

[00047] In example six, an apparatus of an evolved NodeB (eNB) comprises one or baseband processors to process an Information Request that includes an indication A received from a positioning server to configure an uplink positioning signal for a target positioning user equipment (UE) served by the eNB, to allocate resources for the uplink positioning signal for the target positioning UE for one or more location measurement units (LMUs) to obtain measurements of the uplink positioning signal from the target positioning UE, and a memory to store information on the allocated resources. Example seven may include the subject matter of example six or any of the examples described herein, wherein the one or more baseband processors are to generate an Information Response message for the positioning server that includes information on the allocated resources. Example eight may include the subject matter of example six or any of the examples described herein, wherein the one or more baseband processors are to configure the uplink positioning signal for the target positioning UE with a scramble sequence for interference avoidance, wherein one or more neighbor eNBs are to configure a specific scramble sequence for one or more UEs served by the one or more neighbor eNBs, the specific scramble sequence being different than the scramble sequence used by the target positioning UE. Example nine may include the subject matter of example six or any of the examples described herein, wherein the positioning server comprises an evolved serving mobile location center (E-SMLC). Example ten may include the subject matter of example six or any of the examples described herein, wherein the LMUs are collocated with the eNB and one or more neighbor eNBs.

[00048] In example eleven, one or more machine-readable media have instructions stored thereon that, if executed by an apparatus of a positioning server, result in generating an Information Request with an indication A to cause a serving evolved NodeB (eNB) to configure an uplink positioning signal for a target positioning user equipment (UE) served by the serving eNB, selecting a set of location measurement units (LMUs) to obtain measurements of the uplink positioning signal from the target positioning UE, and processing one or more measurement reports from the set of LMUs. Example twelve may include the subject matter of example eleven or any of the examples described herein, wherein the instructions, if executed, further result in generating muting information or configuration information of the uplink positioning signal of the target positioning UE for one or more neighbor eNBs to mute one or more UEs served by the one or more neighbor eNBs on the time-frequency resource used by the target positioning UE. Example thirteen may include the subject matter of example eleven or any of the examples described herein, wherein the instructions, if executed, further result in generating a message for one or more neighbor eNBs with scramble sequence information used by the target positioning UE for one or more neighbor eNBs to configure a specific scramble sequence for one or more UEs served by the one or more neighbor eNBs, the specific scramble sequence being different than the scramble sequence used by the target positioning UE. Example fourteen may include the subject matter of example eleven or any of the examples described herein, wherein the positioning server comprises an evolved serving mobile location center (E-SMLC). Example fifteen may include the subject matter of example eleven or any of the examples described herein, wherein the LMUs are collocated with the serving eNB and one or more neighbor eNBs.

[00049] In example sixteen, one or more machine-readable media have instructions stored thereon that, if executed by an apparatus of an evolved NodeB (eNB), result in processing an Information Request that includes an indication A received from a positioning server to configure an uplink positioning signal for a target positioning user equipment (UE) served by the eNB, and allocating resources for the uplink positioning signal for the target positioning UE for one or more location measurement units (LMUs) to obtain measurements of the uplink positioning signal from the target positioning UE. Example seventeen may include the subject matter of example sixteen or any of the examples described herein, wherein the instructions, if executed, further result in generating an Information Response message for the positioning server that includes information on the allocated resources. Example eighteen may include the subject matter of example sixteen or any of the examples described herein, wherein the instructions, if executed, further result in configuring the uplink positioning signal for the target positioning UE with a scramble sequence for interference avoidance, wherein one or more neighbor eNBs are to configure a specific scramble sequence for one or more UEs served by the one or more neighbor eNBs, the specific scramble sequence being different than the scramble sequence used by the target positioning UE. Example nineteen may include the subject matter of example sixteen or any of the examples described herein, wherein the positioning server comprises an evolved serving mobile location center (E-SMLC). Example twenty may include the subject matter of example sixteen or any of the examples described herein, wherein the LMUs are collocated with the eNB and one or more neighbor eNBs.

[00050] In example twenty-one, an apparatus of a positioning server comprises means for generating an Information Request with an indication A to cause a serving evolved NodeB (eNB) to configure an uplink positioning signal for a target positioning user equipment (UE) served by the serving eNB, means for selecting a set of location measurement units (LMUs) to obtain measurements of the uplink positioning signal from the target positioning UE, and means for processing one or more measurement reports from the set of LMUs. Example twenty-two may include the subject matter of example twenty-one or any of the examples described herein, further comprising means for generating muting information or configuration information of the uplink positioning signal of the target positioning UE for one or more neighbor eNBs to mute one or more UEs served by the one or more neighbor eNBs on the time-frequency resource used by the target positioning UE. Example twenty-three may include the subject matter of example twenty-one or any of the examples described herein, further comprising means for generating a message for one or more neighbor eNBs with scramble sequence information used by the target positioning UE for one or more neighbor eNBs to configure a specific scramble sequence for one or more UEs served by the one or more neighbor eNBs, the specific scramble sequence being different than the scramble sequence used by the target positioning UE. Example twenty-four may include the subject matter of example twenty-one or any of the examples described herein, wherein the positioning server comprises an evolved serving mobile location center (E-SMLC). Example twenty-five may include the subject matter of example twenty-one or any of the examples described herein, wherein the LMUs are collocated with the serving eNB and one or more neighbor eNBs.

[00051 ] In example twenty-six. an apparatus of an evolved NodeB (eNB) comprises means for processing an Information Request that includes an indication A received from a positioning server to configure an uplink positioning signal for a target positioning user equipment (UE) served by the eNB, and means for allocating resources for the uplink positioning signal for the target positioning UE for one or more location measurement units (LMUs) to obtain measurements of the uplink positioning signal from the target positioning UE. Example twenty-seven may include the subject matter of example twenty- six or any of the examples described herein, further comprising means for generating an Information Response message for the positioning server that includes information on the allocated resources. Example twenty-eight may include the subject matter of example twenty-six or any of the examples described herein, further comprising means for configuring the uplink positioning signal for the target positioning UE with a scramble sequence for interference avoidance, wherein one or more neighbor eNBs are to configure a specific scramble sequence for one or more UEs served by the one or more neighbor eNBs, the specific scramble sequence being different than the scramble sequence used by the target positioning UE. Example twenty-nine may include the subject matter of example twenty-six or any of the examples described herein, wherein the positioning server comprises an evolved serving mobile location center (E-SMLC). Example thirty may include the subject matter of example twenty-six or any of the examples described herein, wherein the LMUs are collocated with the eNB and one or more neighbor eNBs. In example thirty-one, machine -readable storage includes machine-readable instructions, when executed, to realize an apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim.

[00052] In the description herein and/or claims, the terms coupled and/or connected, along with their derivatives, may be used. In particular embodiments, connected may be used to indicate that two or more elements are in direct physical and/or electrical contact with each other. Coupled may mean that two or more elements are in direct physical and/or electrical contact. Coupled, however, may also mean that two or more elements may not be in direct contact with each other, but yet may still cooperate and/or interact with each other. For example, "coupled" may mean that two or more elements do not contact each other but are indirectly joined together via another element or intermediate elements. Finally, the terms "on," "overlying," and "over" may be used in the following description and claims. "On," "overlying," and "over" may be used to indicate that two or more elements are in direct physical contact with each other. It should be noted, however, that "over" may also mean that two or more elements are not in direct contact with each other. For example, "over" may mean that one element is above another element but not contact each other and may have another element or elements in between the two elements. Furthermore, the term "and/or" may mean "and", it may mean "or", it may mean "exclusive-or", it may mean "one", it may mean "some, but not all", it may mean "neither", and/or it may mean "both", although the scope of claimed subject matter is not limited in this respect. In the description herein and/or claims, the terms "comprise" and "include," along with their derivatives, may be used and are intended as synonyms for each other.

[00053] Although the claimed subject matter has been described with a certain degree of particularity, it should be recognized that elements thereof may be altered by persons skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and/or scope of claimed subject matter. It is believed that the subject matter pertaining to uplink positioning for narrow band internet of things (IoT) and many of its attendant utilities will be understood by the forgoing description, and it will be apparent that various changes may be made in the form, construction and/or arrangement of the components thereof without departing from the scope and/or spirit of the claimed subject matter or without sacrificing all of its material advantages, the form herein before described being merely an explanatory embodiment thereof, and/or further without providing substantial change thereto. It is the intention of the claims to encompass and/or include such changes.

Claims

What is claimed is: 1. An apparatus of a positioning server, comprising:

one or more processors to generate an Information Request with an indication A to cause a serving evolved NodeB (eNB) to configure an uplink positioning signal for a target positioning user equipment (UE) served by the serving eNB, to select a set of location measurement units (LMUs) to obtain measurements of the uplink positioning signal from the target positioning UE, and to process one or more measurement reports from the set of LMUs; and

a memory to store the one or more measurement reports.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are to generate muting information or configuration information of the uplink positioning signal of the target positioning UE for one or more neighbor eNBs to mute one or more UEs served by the one or more neighbor eNBs on the time-frequency resource used by the target positioning UE.

3. The apparatus of any one of claims 1-2, wherein the one or more processors are to generate a message for one or more neighbor eNBs with scramble sequence information used by the target positioning UE for one or more neighbor eNBs to configure a specific scramble sequence for one or more UEs served by the one or more neighbor eNBs, the specific scramble sequence being different than the scramble sequence used by the target positioning UE.

4. The apparatus of any one of claims 1-3, wherein the positioning server comprises an evolved serving mobile location center (E-SMLC).

5. The apparatus of any one of claims 1-4, wherein the LMUs are collocated with the serving eNB and one or more neighbor eNBs.

6. An apparatus of an evolved NodeB (eNB), comprising:

one or baseband processors to process an Information Request that includes an indication A received from a positioning server to configure an uplink positioning signal for a target positioning user equipment (UE) served by the eNB, to allocate resources for the uplink positioning signal for the target positioning UE for one or more location measurement units (LMUs) to obtain measurements of the uplink positioning signal from the target positioning UE; and

a memory to store information on the allocated resources.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the one or more baseband processors are to generate an Information Response message for the positioning server that includes information on the allocated resources.

8. The apparatus of any one of claims 6-7, wherein the one or more baseband processors are to configure the uplink positioning signal for the target positioning UE with a scramble sequence for interference avoidance, wherein one or more neighbor eNBs are to configure a specific scramble sequence for one or more UEs served by the one or more neighbor eNBs, the specific scramble sequence being different than the scramble sequence used by the target positioning UE.

9. The apparatus of any one of claims 6-8, wherein the positioning server comprises an evolved serving mobile location center (E-SMLC).

10. The apparatus of any one of claims 6-9, wherein the LMUs are collocated with the eNB and one or more neighbor eNBs.

11. One or more machine-readable media having instructions stored thereon that, if executed by an apparatus of a positioning server, result in:

generating an Information Request with an indication A to cause a serving evolved NodeB (eNB) to configure an uplink positioning signal for a target positioning user equipment (UE) served by the serving eNB;

selecting a set of location measurement units (LMUs) to obtain measurements of the uplink positioning signal from the target positioning UE; and

processing one or more measurement reports from the set of LMUs.

12. The one or more machine-readable media of claim 11, wherein the instructions, if executed, further result in generating muting information or configuration information of the uplink positioning signal of the target positioning UE for one or more neighbor eNBs to mute one or more UEs served by the one or more neighbor eNBs on the time-frequency resource used by the target positioning UE.

13. The one or more machine-readable media of any one of claims 11-12, wherein the instructions, if executed, further result in generating a message for one or more neighbor eNBs with scramble sequence information used by the target positioning UE for one or more neighbor eNBs to configure a specific scramble sequence for one or more UEs served by the one or more neighbor eNBs, the specific scramble sequence being different than the scramble sequence used by the target positioning UE.

14. The one or more machine-readable media of any one of claims 11-13, wherein the positioning server comprises an evolved serving mobile location center (E-SMLC).

15. The one or more machine-readable media of any one of claims 11-14, wherein the LMUs are collocated with the serving eNB and one or more neighbor eNBs.

16. One or more machine-readable media having instructions stored thereon that, if executed by an apparatus of an evolved NodeB (eNB), result in:

processing an Information Request that includes an indication A received from a positioning server to configure an uplink positioning signal for a target positioning user equipment

(UE) served by the eNB; and

allocating resources for the uplink positioning signal for the target positioning UE for one or more location measurement units (LMUs) to obtain measurements of the uplink positioning signal from the target positioning UE.

17. The one or more machine-readable media of claim 16, wherein the instructions, if executed, further result in generating an Information Response message for the positioning server that includes information on the allocated resources.

18. The one or more machine-readable media of any one of claims 16-17, wherein the instructions, if executed, further result in configuring the uplink positioning signal for the target positioning UE with a scramble sequence for interference avoidance, wherein one or more neighbor eNBs are to configure a specific scramble sequence for one or more UEs served by the one or more neighbor eNBs, the specific scramble sequence being different than the scramble sequence used by the target positioning UE.

19. The one or more machine-readable media of any one of claims 16-18, wherein the positioning server comprises an evolved serving mobile location center (E-SMLC).

20. The one or more machine-readable media of any one of claims 16-19, wherein the LMUs are collocated with the eNB and one or more neighbor eNBs.