WO2020125434A1

WO2020125434A1 - Multi-station positioning method and device

Info

Publication number: WO2020125434A1
Application number: PCT/CN2019/123410
Authority: WO
Inventors: 史桢宇; 王艺; 黄甦
Original assignee: 华为技术有限公司
Priority date: 2018-12-22
Filing date: 2019-12-05
Publication date: 2020-06-25
Also published as: CN111356075A

Abstract

The present application provides a multi-station positioning method and a device, pertaining to the technical field of communications, and solving the problem of insufficient positioning accuracy resulting from RTT measurements in a positioning structure centered around a positioning management function. The method of the present application solves the above problem, and improves positioning accuracy by coordinating multiple base stations to perform RTT positioning. The method comprises: a target apparatus receiving positioning assistance information sent by a positioning center, the positioning assistance information comprising cell identifiers and reference signal configurations of a serving base station and at least one neighboring base station; the target apparatus performing, according to the positioning assistance information, a positioning measurement with respect to a downlink reference signal; the target apparatus sending, according to the positioning assistance information, an uplink reference to the serving base station and the at least one neighboring base station; and the target apparatus sending to the positioning center a downlink positioning measurement report comprising reference signal receiving and sending time differences corresponding to the serving base station and the at least one neighboring base station measured by the target apparatus.

Description

Multi-site positioning method and device

Technical field

The invention relates to the positioning field in a wireless communication system, and in particular to a multi-site positioning method and device.

Background technique

With the continuous development of communication technology, communication between terminals and network nodes has become a common communication between devices. It is more and more important for network nodes to locate the terminal, or the terminal requests location services to implement specific applications. Generally, in an open outdoor scene, the use of a global positioning system (GPS) for positioning has reached a satisfactory positioning accuracy requirement of tens of meters. However, indoors or in complex urban areas, the current positioning effect of GPS is not ideal. At this time, it is necessary to obtain more line-of-sight by deploying sites indoors or in urban areas to achieve better positioning effects than GPS. . With the development of 5th generation mobile communications (5th generation mobile networks or 5th generation wireless systems, 5G) technology, there are more scenarios to consider, such as drones, Internet of Things, etc., and the emergence of these new scenarios is also The indicators such as positioning accuracy and delay put forward higher requirements. At present, the third generation partnership project (Third Generation Partnership Project, 3GPP) release 16 requires positioning accuracy to reach meter-level or even sub-meter-level positioning accuracy requirements. In the previous version, the positioning accuracy can only basically reach the accuracy requirement of about 30 meters, and there is still a certain distance from the positioning requirements of 5G. Therefore, in order to further improve the positioning accuracy, one method is to propose a new positioning technology, and the other method is to optimize the existing positioning technology.

How to measure the distance between the base station and the terminal is an important positioning technology in mobile communications. Existing long-term evolution (LTE) or 5G ranging is mainly affected by the timing synchronization error between base stations. The current timing synchronization error between base stations is [-130ns(nanosecond, ns), +130ns], which is converted into a distance error of [-39m(meter, m), 39m], which is far from meeting the positioning requirements. The timing error specified in the 3GPP evaluation method is [-50ns, +50ns], which translates into a distance error of [-15m, +15m], even if the observed time difference (OTDA) or upstream arrival time difference is used (uplink time of difference, UTDOA) is also difficult to achieve a positioning accuracy of 10 meters. Therefore, a scheme that is insensitive to synchronization errors or a technology that can overcome the timing error problem needs to be considered. On the other hand, 5G will also use a positioning architecture based on a positioning center. Under this positioning architecture, how to obtain high-precision positioning is one of the important contents of current 5G positioning research.

Summary of the invention

The embodiments of the present application provide a multi-site method and device, which solves the problem of insufficient positioning accuracy caused by a simple serving base station performing RTT measurement under an architecture centered on the positioning management function.

To achieve the above purpose, the embodiments of the present application adopt the following technical solutions:

In a first aspect, a multi-site positioning method is provided, which includes: a target device receiving positioning assistance information sent by a positioning center, where the positioning assistance information includes a cell identifier of a serving base station and at least one neighbor base station, and reference signal configuration; the target device according to the positioning assistance information Perform positioning measurement on the downlink reference signal; the target device sends an uplink reference to the serving base station and at least one neighbor base station according to the positioning assistance information; the target device sends a downlink positioning measurement report to the positioning center. The downlink positioning measurement report includes the serving base station and the target base station measured by the target device The time difference between the reception and transmission of the reference signal corresponding to at least one neighbor base station. In the above technical solution, by configuring multiple neighbor base stations to send downlink positioning reference signals to the target device, and simultaneously configuring the target device to send uplink reference signals to multiple base stations, the target device receives the downlink reference and uplink reference signals of multiple base stations or cells The transmission time difference is sent to the positioning center, so that the positioning center obtains the RTT of the target device relative to multiple base stations, thereby improving the positioning accuracy of the RTT.

In a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the reference signal configuration includes: at least one of a reference signal transmission start time, a transmission window, a measurement window, and reference signal information; the transmission window includes a transmission duration, The number of transmissions, at least one of the transmission intervals; the measurement window includes at least one of the duration of the measurement, the number of measurements, and the measurement interval; the information of the reference signal includes the generation parameters of the reference signal sequence, the transmission port, and the transmission At least one of power, time-frequency resources, and quasi-co-location. In the above technical solution, by receiving downlink reference configuration information from multiple base stations, the target device can receive downlink reference signals sent by the serving base station and neighbor base stations on the configured resources, and perform uplink reference signals on the configured uplink resources Sending; through the association relationship between the downlink reference signal and the uplink reference signal in the reference signal configuration, to ensure the correct measurement of the target device and the base station.

In a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the downlink positioning measurement report further includes: a cell identifier corresponding to a time difference between receiving and sending. In the above technical solution, the reception and transmission time difference measured by the target device corresponds to the cell identifier, so that the positioning center or the base station can identify the corresponding cell through the cell identifier, thereby completing the correct RTT calculation.

In a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, the downlink positioning measurement report is carried in a positioning protocol, or RRC signaling. In the above technical solution, the signaling problem of downlink positioning measurement report message transmission is solved. In different solutions, the downlink positioning measurement report is carried in different protocols. If it is a TA report of type 1, the target device needs to send the downlink positioning measurement report to the serving base station through RRC signaling. For reporting of type 2 TA, the target device directly sends the measurement report to the positioning management function (positioning center) through a positioning protocol, such as NRPP.

In a second aspect, a method for multi-site positioning is provided, including: a positioning center sends a downlink positioning measurement request to a target device, the downlink positioning measurement request includes positioning assistance information, and the positioning assistance information includes cell identifications of the serving base station and at least one neighbor base station, Reference signal configuration; the positioning center sends an uplink positioning measurement request to the serving base station and at least one neighbor base station; the positioning center receives an uplink positioning measurement report sent by the serving base station and/or at least one neighbor base station, and the uplink positioning measurement report includes the corresponding measurements measured by each base station Time difference between receiving and sending, or the time advance of the target device and each base station, the base station includes the serving base station and at least one neighbor base station. In the above technical solution, the downlink reference signal and the uplink reference signal are configured by sending a measurement request to the target device and the base station, so that the target device and the base station can obtain correct measurement resources for each other, reducing measurement overhead. The measurement of the RTT of the target device through multiple base stations improves the accuracy of multi-RTT measurement in an architecture centered on the location management function, and meets the measurement accuracy requirements of 5G. By associating the positioning assistance information with the cell identifier, it is ensured that the target device can correctly calculate the difference between the reception and transmission time of each base station or cell, thereby completing the correct positioning calculation.

In a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the reference signal configuration includes: at least one of a reference signal transmission start time, a transmission window, a measurement window, and reference signal information; the transmission window includes a transmission duration, The number of transmissions, at least one of the transmission intervals; the measurement window includes at least one of the duration of the measurement, the number of measurements, and the measurement interval; the information of the reference signal includes the generation parameters of the reference signal sequence, the transmission port, and the transmission At least one of power, time-frequency resources, and quasi-co-location. In the above technical solution, through the reference signal configuration, the target device and the base station receive and/or send the reference signal on the specified resource, which reduces the measurement overhead of the target device and the base station, improves the efficiency of positioning reference signal transmission, and ensures Correct measurement of target equipment and base station.

In a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the downlink positioning measurement report further includes: a cell identifier corresponding to the time difference between receiving and sending. In the above technical solution, the reception and transmission time difference measured by the target device corresponds to the cell identifier, so that the positioning center or the base station can identify the corresponding cell through the cell identifier, thereby completing the correct RTT calculation.

In a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the uplink positioning measurement report includes: the cell identity and/or type corresponding to the reception time difference. In the above technical solution, by matching the difference in reception and transmission time in the uplink positioning measurement report with the cell identifier, the positioning center or the base station can identify the corresponding cell through the cell identifier, thereby completing the correct RTT calculation. The type information can make the content of the uplink positioning measurement report reported by the base station different, and meet the different calculation needs of the positioning management function.

In a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the downlink positioning measurement report and/or the uplink positioning measurement report received by the positioning center are carried in the positioning protocol. In the above technical solution, the signaling problem of downlink positioning measurement report message transmission is solved. In different solutions, the downlink positioning measurement report is carried in different protocols. If it is a TA report of type 1, the target device needs to send the downlink positioning measurement report to the serving base station through RRC signaling. For reporting of type 2 TA, the target device directly sends the measurement report to the positioning management function (positioning center) through a positioning protocol, such as NRPP.

In a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the uplink positioning measurement request includes: Cell ID, at least one of an uplink reference signal configuration, a measurement, and a report indication; the uplink reference signal configuration includes a starting position for uplink reference signal measurement , The measurement window, at least one of the information of the uplink reference signal; the measurement window includes at least one of the measurement duration, the number of measurements, and the measurement interval; the information of the uplink reference signal includes the generation parameter of the reference signal sequence, and is sent At least one of port, transmission power, time-frequency resource, and quasi-co-location relationship. In the above technical solution, the uplink positioning measurement request enables the base station to receive and/or send the reference signal on the designated resource, which reduces the measurement overhead of the base station, improves the efficiency of the positioning reference signal transmission, and ensures the target device and the base station Measure correctly.

In a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the positioning center receives a downlink positioning measurement report sent by the target device, and the downlink positioning measurement report includes reception and transmission of reference signals corresponding to the serving base station and at least one neighbor base station measured by the target device Time difference. In the above technical solution, the positioning management function (positioning center) can directly support the type 2 RTT positioning method by directly receiving the reception and transmission time difference of each base station measured by the target device, so that the positioning center can obtain the required positioning calculation parameters from the target device.

In a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the positioning center sends the downlink reference signal configuration to the serving base station and at least one neighbor base station. In the above technical solution, by sending the downlink reference signal configuration to the serving base station and at least one neighbor base station, the serving base station and the neighbor base station can send the downlink reference signal on a predetermined resource to avoid the downlink positioning reference signal and the reference signal to be sent by the base station or Interference problems caused by conflicting downlink data.

In a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the positioning center receives a downlink reference signal configuration response sent by the serving base station and at least one neighbor base station, and the downlink reference signal configuration response includes a downlink reference signal configuration list. In the above technical solution, the downlink reference signal configuration list enables the positioning management center to coordinate the transmission of reference signals among multiple base stations, and select a more consistent time-frequency resource for downlink reference signal transmission to achieve the acquisition of positioning parameters. In order to reduce the problem that the positioning delay is too large due to the large difference in the reference signal resources of each base station.

In a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the positioning center instructs the serving base station to send the received and sent time difference measured by the target device to the corresponding neighbor base station. In the above technical solution, through the indication information, the target device can determine which protocol to use to send the positioning measurement result, so that different positioning methods can be supported in the same positioning system, which is more flexible.

In a possible implementation manner of the second aspect, the positioning center receives measurement information of multiple stations sent by the target device, and the measurement information of the multiple stations includes physical cell identity, RSRP, RSRQ, SINR, SSB index, and CSI-RS At least one of the indexes. In the above technical solution, the measurement information of multiple sites enables the location management function (location center) to select neighbor base stations based on the measurement information of the target device, so that the neighbor base station selected by the location management function is effective, thereby avoiding the location management function The neighbor base station selected without the measurement information of the target device may be invalid, thereby causing the problem of insufficient positioning accuracy.

In yet another aspect of the present application, a terminal is provided, which is used to implement the functions of the multi-site positioning method provided in any one of the possible implementation manners of the first aspect above, and the functions may be implemented by hardware or by Implement the corresponding software through hardware. The hardware or software includes one or more units corresponding to the above functions.

In a possible implementation manner, the structure of the terminal includes a processor, and the processor is configured to support the user equipment to perform the multi-site positioning provided in the first aspect or any possible implementation manner of the first aspect. Methods. Optionally, the terminal may further include a memory and a communication interface, where the memory stores codes and data, the memory is coupled to the processor, and the communication interface is coupled to the processor or memory.

In yet another aspect of the present application, a positioning node is provided. The positioning node is used to implement the functions of the multi-site positioning method provided in the second aspect or any possible implementation manner of the second aspect. Realized by hardware, it can also be implemented by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more units corresponding to the above functions.

In a possible implementation manner, the structure of the positioning node includes a processor configured to support the network node to perform the multi-site positioning provided by the foregoing second aspect or any possible implementation manner of the second aspect The function of the method. Optionally, the network node may further include a memory and a communication interface, where the memory stores codes required for processing and/or baseband processors, the memory is coupled to the processor, and the communication interface is coupled to the memory or processor.

In still another aspect of the present application, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, in which instructions are stored in a computer-readable storage medium, which when executed on a computer, causes the computer to perform the first aspect or the first aspect The method of multi-site positioning provided by any possible implementation manner, or the method of performing measurement reporting provided by the foregoing second aspect or any possible implementation manner of the second aspect.

In yet another aspect of the present application, a computer program product containing instructions is provided, which, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the first aspect or any possible implementation manner of the first aspect. A method of site positioning, or a method of performing multi-site positioning provided by the foregoing second aspect or any possible implementation manner of the second aspect.

In another aspect of the present application, a communication system is provided. The communication system includes a plurality of devices including a terminal and a positioning node; wherein, the terminal is a terminal provided in the above aspects, and is used to support the terminal to perform the above The method for multi-site positioning provided in one aspect or any possible implementation manner of the first aspect; and/or, the positioning node is the positioning node provided in the above aspects, and is used to support a network node to perform the second aspect or The multi-site positioning method provided by any possible implementation manner of the second aspect.

In yet another aspect of the application, an apparatus is provided. The apparatus is a processor, an integrated circuit, or a chip, and is used to perform the steps performed by the processing unit of the terminal in the embodiment of the present invention, for example, for received reference signals Perform measurements and send uplink reference signals to the serving base station and at least one neighbor base station, and report the measurement results. The device is also used to perform terminal processing or actions already described in other aspects or embodiments described above, and will not be repeated here.

In yet another aspect of the application, another apparatus is provided, where the apparatus is a processor, an integrated circuit, or a chip, and is used to perform the steps performed by the processing unit of the positioning node in the embodiment of the present invention. The positioning node is supported to perform the functions of processing the positioning node sending the downlink reference signal configuration and the uplink reference signal configuration message to the base station in the foregoing embodiment, selecting neighbor base stations, and performing RTT calculation based on the measurement results sent by the base station and/or the target device. The another device is also used to perform the processing or actions of the positioning node that have been described in other aspects or embodiments described above, which will not be repeated here.

It can be understood that the device, computer storage medium, or computer program product of the multi-site positioning method provided above is used to perform the corresponding method provided above. Therefore, for the beneficial effects that can be achieved, refer to the above provided The beneficial effects in the corresponding method will not be repeated here.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION

1 is a schematic diagram of a positioning system provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

2 is a flow chart of main measurement and reporting of LTE RTT provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of RTT measurement performed by multiple base stations according to an embodiment of the present invention;

4 is a flowchart of a method for obtaining reference configuration information of a base station by an LMF provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

5 is a schematic diagram of a possible structure of a target device provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

6 is a schematic diagram of a possible logical structure of a terminal provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

7 is a schematic diagram of a possible structure of a positioning node provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

8 is a schematic diagram of a possible logical structure of a positioning node provided by an embodiment of the present invention.

detailed description

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be described below in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, but not all the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without making creative efforts, All belong to the protection scope of the present invention.

It should be understood that the names of all the nodes and messages in this application are only the names set by this application for the convenience of description. The names in the actual network may be different. It should not be understood that this application limits the names of various nodes and messages. On the contrary, Any name that has the same or similar function as the node or message used in this application is considered as a method or equivalent replacement of this application, which is within the scope of protection of this application and will not be repeated below.

In the 5G system, the positioning architecture based on the positioning center will still be adopted. In the architecture based on the positioning center, how to use round trip time (RTT) positioning technology to further improve the positioning accuracy is the positioning method considered by 5G positioning, especially The use of multiple RTT (multiple RTT, multi-RTT) to achieve 5G high-precision positioning is an important research direction.

In order to better understand a method and device for time synchronization disclosed in the embodiments of the present invention, the network architecture used in the embodiments of the present invention will be described below. Please refer to FIG. 1, which is a schematic structural diagram of a communication system to which an embodiment of the present application is applicable.

It should be noted that the communication systems mentioned in the embodiments of the present application include but are not limited to: narrow-band Internet of Things (NB-IoT) system, wireless local area network (WLAN) system, LTE system , Next-generation 5G mobile communication system or communication system after 5G, such as NR, device-to-device (D2D) communication system.

In the communication system shown in FIG. 1, a conventional positioning system architecture 100 is given. A positioning system 100 includes at least a target device 101, a base station (BS) 102, an access management function (access management function, AMF) 103, and a location management function (Location Management Function, LMF) 104. The positioning system 100 may also include an enhanced service mobile management center (enhanced serving mobile location (E-SMLC)) and a secure user plane positioning (SUPL) positioning platform (SUPL location 106 platform). Among them, SLP 106 is used for user plane positioning, and E-SMLC 105 is used for control plane positioning. The base station 102 includes a 5G base station and/or a next-generation base station of LTE.

The target device 101 in the above positioning system includes but is not limited to: user equipment (UE), mobile station, access terminal, subscriber unit, user station, mobile station, remote station, remote terminal, mobile device, terminal, wireless Communication equipment, user agents, wireless local area network (wireless local access network, WLAN) stations (station, ST), cellular phones, cordless phones, session initiation protocol (session initiation protocol (SIP) phones, wireless local loop (wireless local loop loop, WLL) stations, personal digital processing (personal digital assistant (PDA), handheld devices with wireless communication capabilities, computing devices, other processing devices connected to wireless modems, in-vehicle devices, wearable devices, mobility in future 5G networks Station and terminal devices in public land mobile network (PLMN) networks that are evolving in the future. The target device may also be referred to as a terminal device or terminal, which will not be described in detail below.

The base station 102 may include multiple base stations 102, including a serving base station and a neighbor base station. The neighbor base station refers to a base station adjacent to the serving base station. The base station 102 includes but is not limited to: evolved node B (evolved node base, eNB), radio network controller (radio network controller (RNC), node B (node B, NB), base station controller (base station controller, BSC ), base transceiver station (BTS), home base station (eg, home evolved NodeB, or home node B, HNB), baseband unit (BBU), eLTE (evolved LTE, eLTE) base station, NR base station (next generation node B, gNB), etc.

In the positioning system 100, the message transmission between the target device 101 and/or the base station 102 and the LMF is transmitted through the LTE positioning protocol (LTE positioning protocol, LPP).

For convenience of description, the following explains the terms or concepts involved in the embodiments of the present application.

Beam: It is a communication resource. It can be a wide beam, a narrow beam, or other types of beams. The beamforming technology may be beamforming technology or other technical means. The beamforming technology may be digital beamforming technology, analog beamforming technology or hybrid beamforming technology. Different beams can be considered as different resources. The terminal and the network node may send the same information or different information through different beams.

Multiple beams with the same or similar communication characteristics can be considered as one beam. One beam can include one or more antenna ports for transmitting data channels, control channels, and sounding signals. For example, a transmit beam can refer to the distribution of signal strength formed in different directions in space after the signal is transmitted through the antenna. The receiving beam may refer to the signal intensity distribution of the wireless signal received from the antenna in different directions in space.

One or more antenna ports forming a beam can be regarded as a set of antenna ports. The embodiment of the beam in the protocol can also be a spatial filter. The beam information can be identified by index information. The index information may correspond to the resource identifier of the configured terminal, for example, the index information may correspond to the configured CSI-RS identity (ID) or resource, or may correspond to the configured upstream sounding signal (SRS) ID or resource . The index information may also be index information carried by the signal or channel display carried by the beam or implicitly carried, for example, the index information may be a synchronization signal (synchronization signal, SS) sent by the beam or PBCH index information indicating the beam.

The identification of the beam information may include the absolute index of the beam, the relative index of the beam, the logical index of the beam, the index of the antenna port corresponding to the beam, the index of the antenna port group corresponding to the beam, the time index of the downlink SS block, and the corresponding index of the beam Link (BPL) information or index, Tx parameter or index corresponding to the beam, Rx parameter or index corresponding to the beam, transmission weight or index corresponding to the beam, weight matrix ( weight), weight vector, weight corresponding to the beam, receiving weight corresponding to the beam, codebook or index corresponding to the beam, receiving codebook or index corresponding to the beam, etc.

Positioning protocol: The positioning protocol is a high-level protocol, including LPP and/or new air positioning protocol (new radio positioning protocol (NRPP). If there is no special statement in this application, the positioning protocol generally refers to any protocol used to transmit positioning parameters or information. The protocol contains one or more messages used to implement the interaction of positioning parameters or information between positioning network elements. Positioning network elements include but are not limited to target equipment, base stations, positioning centers, and other equipment or devices used for positioning.

Serving base station: A serving base station may also be called a serving cell (servinig cell), which refers to a base station or cell that establishes a connection with a target device. Generally, the serving base station implements information transmission with the terminal, such as measurement report transmission, positioning parameter configuration, and so on.

Neighbor base station: A neighbor base station may also be called a neighbor cell (neighbor cell), which refers to a base station or cell where the target device can receive the reference signal sent by the base station but does not establish a connection with the target device. The neighbor base station is relative to the serving base station. The target device can receive the signal from the neighbor base station. These base stations can be called the neighbor base station of the serving base station. The serving base station and the neighbor base station may not be directly adjacent base stations. The serving base station can communicate directly or indirectly with neighboring base stations through wired or wireless connections. Indirect communication includes transit through other devices or base stations.

Quasi co-location (qusi-colocation, QCL): used to indicate that there are one or more same or similar communication characteristics between multiple resources. For multiple resources with QCL relationship, the same or similar communication configuration can be used .

For example, if two antenna ports have a co-location relationship, the large-scale characteristics of the channel where one port transmits a symbol can be inferred from the large-scale characteristics of the channel that transmits a symbol on the other port. Large-scale characteristics can include delay spread, average delay, Doppler spread, Doppler frequency shift, average gain, receive parameters, terminal receive beam number, transmit/receive channel correlation, receive angle of arrival (angel-of-arrival, AOA), spatial correlation of receiver antennas, main AOA, average AOA, AOA expansion, etc.

Specifically, the QCL can be specified by a quasi-co-location indication, which is used to indicate whether at least two groups of antenna ports have a quasi-co-location relationship, including: a quasi-co-location indication is used to indicate at least two groups of antenna ports to send SCI- Whether the RS comes from the same transmission point or beam group. The network node can notify the terminal that the RS-sending port has a QCL relationship, helping the terminal to receive and demodulate the RS. For example, the terminal can confirm that the A port and the B port have a QCL relationship, that is, the large-scale parameters of the RS measured on the A port can be used for the measurement and demodulation of the RS on the B port.

In the existing LTE positioning protocol, the RTT-based positioning method is included in the enhanced cell identification (Enhanced Cell-ID, E-CID) positioning method. Figure 2 shows the main measurement and reporting process of LTE RTT. FIG. 2(a) is a process of reporting RTT measurement results through a base station, and FIG. 2(b) is a process of reporting RTT measurement results through a target device.

In (a) of Figure 2, after performing the request capability, the E-SMLC obtains the positioning capability of the target device, and initiates an LTE positioning protocol copy (LTE positioning protocol) (LPPa) measurement initiation request to the base station, so that the base station and the target device During the RRC measurement process, after the RRC measurement is completed, the base station sends the measurement result to the E-SMLC.

The RTT positioning measurement process of FIG. 2(b) is basically similar, the difference is that the location information is directly provided by the target device to the E-SMLC through LPP, and will not be described in detail.

In the LTE RTT positioning measurement, only the serving base station is used for positioning measurement, and the measurement is based on the E-CID method. Therefore, the accuracy of the measurement is very limited, and the location of the target device in the cell cannot be obtained, so It is difficult to obtain high-precision positioning.

This application is mainly based on the next generation positioning architecture, using the E-CID method, using the serving base station and at least one neighboring base station to achieve RTT measurement, so as to obtain RTT E-CID RTT higher accuracy positioning measurement .

In order to achieve the above-mentioned high-precision positioning, this embodiment adopts a multi-site positioning method, which includes: the target device receives positioning assistance information sent by the positioning center, and the positioning assistance information includes cell identifiers of the serving base station and at least one neighbor base station, and pilot configuration Information; the target device performs positioning measurement on the downlink reference signal according to the positioning assistance information; the target device sends an uplink reference signal to the serving base station and at least one neighbor base station according to the positioning assistance information; the target device sends a downlink positioning measurement report to the positioning center, The downlink positioning measurement report includes the reception and transmission time difference (Rx-Tx time difference) of the reference signals corresponding to the serving base station and at least one neighbor base station measured by the target device.

The reference signal configuration includes: at least one of the start time of the reference signal transmission, the transmission window, the measurement window, and the information of the reference signal; the transmission window includes at least one of the transmission duration, the number of transmissions, and the transmission interval The measurement window includes at least one of the measurement duration, the number of measurements, and the measurement interval; the information of the reference signal includes the generation parameters of the reference signal sequence, the transmission port, the transmission power, the time-frequency resource, and the quasi-co-location relationship At least one.

The downlink positioning measurement report also includes: a cell ID (cell ID) corresponding to the time difference between receiving and sending.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of multiple base stations performing RTT measurement according to an embodiment of the present application. Figure 3 includes a serving base station and at least one neighbor base station (three are taken as examples in the figure). In the example shown in FIG. 3, the positioning management function LMF is used as the center, and multiple base stations are controlled to coordinate RTT measurement through the positioning management function (LMF). The positioning management function is also called a positioning center. The following uses LMF for description. It should be understood that the LMF and the positioning center in this embodiment are the same, and will not be repeated below. The multiple base stations include a serving base station and at least one neighbor base station. The steps are as follows:

S301: Perform positioning capability interaction between the target device and the LMF. The positioning capability interaction may be that the LMF requests the positioning capability of the target device, and the target device reports the positioning capability to the LMF after receiving the positioning capability. The positioning capability information interaction can refer to the existing positioning capability process, which will not be repeated here.

S302. The LMF sends downlink reference signal (re)configuration to multiple base stations.

The multiple base stations include a serving base station and at least one neighbor base station. The configuration can also be reconfiguration. Downlink reference signals include but are not limited to positioning reference signals (PRS), demodulation reference signals (DMRS), tracking reference signals (TRS), channel state information reference signals (channel state information) reference (signal, CSI-RS), SRS. The following is the same and will not be repeated here.

LMF decides which base stations do RTT measurement. After LMF sends downlink reference signal (re)configuration to these base stations through NRPP replica (NRPP Annex), these base stations send downlink reference signal configuration response to NMF through NRPPa. Downlink reference signal configuration The response includes a downlink reference signal configuration list, which is used by the target device to select and configure the downlink positioning reference signal. Therefore, the LMF configuring downlink reference signals for multiple base stations may be a negotiation process. The LMF may first request the multiple base stations to provide information on possible downlink reference signals through the downlink reference signal configuration, and each base station may feed back multiple possible Information of the downlink reference signal. The LMF determines the downlink reference signal sent by each base station according to the downlink reference signal fed back by each base station for positioning by the target device.

The downlink reference signal configuration includes the starting position (or time) of the downlink reference signal measurement, the transmission window, and information of the downlink reference signal. LMF can specify the starting time for sending downlink reference signals and the sending window. Multiple base stations feed back the information of the downlink reference signal. The sending window may include but is not limited to at least one of the duration of sending, the number of sending, and the sending interval. The information of the downlink reference signal may include, but is not limited to, at least one of a reference signal sequence generation parameter, a transmission port, a transmission power, a time-frequency resource, and a quasi-co-location relationship.

The above message transmission through the NRPPa protocol is only an example, and may also be a copy of LPP (LPP annex, LPPa). The specific application is not restricted, and the following is the same and will not be repeated here.

S303. The LMF sends the uplink reference signal (re)configuration to multiple base stations. This step is similar to step S302, except that the LMF configures multiple base stations to measure the uplink reference signal. The uplink reference signal configuration includes but is not limited to at least one of the starting position (or time) of the uplink reference signal measurement, the measurement window, and information of the uplink reference signal.

Uplink reference signals include but are not limited to sounding reference signals, DMRS, etc. Multiple base stations can configure the starting time and measurement window of possible uplink reference signal measurements. The measurement window may include but is not limited to at least one of measurement duration, number of measurements, and measurement interval. The measurement window may also be referred to as a search window, which refers to a time range in which the base station searches for uplink reference signals. The information of the uplink reference signal may include, but is not limited to, at least one of a reference signal sequence generation parameter, a transmission port, a transmission power, a time-frequency resource, and a quasi-co-location relationship. The LMF can specify the reception of the uplink reference of multiple base stations, and can also determine the configuration of the uplink reference signal through negotiation, and the specific implementation does not impose restrictions on this application.

Similarly, since the uplink reference signal also requires resources, in order to avoid interference, the LMF can also negotiate with multiple base stations through the request process to determine the resource for each base station to receive the uplink reference signal. Specifically, each base station gives the time-frequency resource of the uplink reference signal, the start time of measurement, the measurement window, and so on. The LMF configures the transmission of the uplink reference signal of the target device based on this information.

It should be understood that the downlink reference signal and the uplink reference signal of each base station need to match, that is, the target device should be able to quickly transmit the uplink reference signal after receiving the downlink reference signal. The specific implementation of this application is not bound.

It should be understood that the above steps S302 and S303 may be completed by one step, or may be implemented by being divided into two steps as shown above, and the specific implementation is not restricted in this application.

S304. The LMF sends a downlink positioning measurement request to the target device.

The downlink positioning measurement request is carried in the NRPP, and the downlink positioning measurement request includes positioning assistance information. The positioning assistance information includes Cell ID and reference signal configuration. The reference signal configuration includes a downlink reference signal configuration and/or an uplink reference signal configuration. The downlink positioning measurement request also includes instructing the target device to measure the downlink reference signal and report the measurement result. The Cell ID corresponds to the serving base station and at least one neighbor base station. Each base station associates the Cell ID, the information of the downlink reference signal, and the information of the uplink reference signal. Because each cell or base station sends a reference signal and also receives the SRS sent by the target device.

It should be understood that the cell ID (cell ID) includes a cell ID, or a global cell ID (GCI), or a physical cell ID (PCI), or a transmission point ID (transmission point identity, TP ID) , Or the identity of the base station, etc., the same below, no longer repeat.

Among them, the reference signal configuration (downlink reference signal configuration and/or uplink reference signal configuration) includes but is not limited to the start time of the reference signal transmission, the transmission window or the measurement window (the measurement window is also called the search window), and the information of the reference signal At least one. The information of the transmission window and the measurement window and the reference signal are as described above, and will not be repeated here. It should be understood that for the downlink reference signal, the reference signal configuration may indicate a measurement window, and for the uplink reference signal, a transmission window may be indicated.

S305. The LMF sends uplink positioning measurement requests to multiple base stations.

The uplink positioning measurement request sent by the LMF to the serving base station and at least one neighboring base station through NRPPa includes positioning assistance information. The positioning assistance information includes but is not limited to at least one of Cell ID, uplink reference signal configuration, measurement, and reporting instructions. The uplink reference signal configuration is as described above and will not be repeated here.

The above configuration of the reference signal through steps S304 and S305 can enable the target device and multiple base stations to measure the reference signal, and the relevant parameters of the RTT calculation can be obtained through the measurement of the reference signal. For example, the measurement of the downlink reference signal and the transmission of the uplink reference signal by the target device can measure the difference between the reception and transmission time of the downlink reference signal corresponding to a cell or base station and the uplink reference signal sent to the corresponding cell or base station. By receiving the uplink reference signal, the base station can obtain the time difference between sending the downlink reference signal and receiving the uplink reference signal sent by the target device. Through the measurement information of the target device and multiple base stations, LMF can calculate the RTT of multiple cells or base stations, thereby achieving more accurate positioning calculation.

S306a. The target device performs downlink reference signal measurement.

After receiving the downlink positioning measurement request sent by the LMF, the target device receives the downlink reference signal on the specified time-frequency resource according to the downlink reference signal configuration. The measurement of the reference signal is the same as the measurement process of the existing reference signal, and will not be described in detail.

S306b. Multiple base stations perform uplink reference signal measurement.

After receiving the uplink positioning measurement request sent by the LMF, multiple base stations receive the uplink reference signal on the specified time-frequency resource according to the configuration of the uplink reference signal. The measurement of the reference signal is the same as the measurement process of the existing reference signal, and will not be described in detail.

S307. The target device sends a downlink positioning measurement report to the LMF.

The downlink positioning measurement report contains the Rx-Tx time difference of the target device. The downlink positioning measurement report can be reported in two ways: one is that the target device reports the Rx-Tx time difference to the LMF through NRPP; the other is that the target device first reports to the serving base station through RRC, and then the serving base station reports to the positioning through NRPPa center. The specific implementation method is not restricted in this application. It should be understood that NRPP or NRPPa is just an example, and may also be other positioning protocols, such as LPP.

The Rx-Tx time difference included in the downlink positioning measurement report is the time difference between the downlink reference signal reception time and the uplink reference signal transmission time corresponding to the same base station or cell in the downlink reference signal configuration and the uplink reference signal configuration. Therefore, the downlink positioning measurement report includes the cell ID corresponding to the Rx-Tx time difference. By associating the Rx-Tx time difference with the cell identification, the LMF can clearly determine which cell the Rx-Tx time difference is in in the multi-site RTT measurement, so that the correct parameters are used for calculation in the RTT calculation.

S308. The base station sends an uplink positioning measurement report to the LMF.

The uplink positioning measurement report includes the corresponding reception and transmission time difference measured by each base station, or the time advance of the target device and each base station. The base station includes a serving base station, and may also include at least one neighbor base station.

The uplink positioning measurement report includes the cell identity and/or type corresponding to the time difference between receiving and sending.

Each base station sends an uplink positioning measurement report to the LMF through NRPPa. The uplink positioning measurement report includes the timing advance (TA) of the base station. There are two types of base station TA: The first type (type 1) is the Rx-Tx time difference of the base station and the Rx-Tx time difference of the target device. This information requires the target device to report the Rx-Tx time difference before reporting to the Positioning center; the second type (type 2) is the Rx-Tx time difference of the base station. Therefore, the uplink positioning measurement report sent by the base station may further include a TA type indication, and the type indication may be type 1 or type 2.

If the base station reports type 1, you need to obtain the Rx-Tx time difference measured by the target device. Since there is usually only one serving base station in multi-site RTT measurement, the neighbor base station does not establish a connection with the target device, so the target device cannot directly send the measured Rx-Tx time difference of the neighbor base station to the neighbor base station. At this time, the target device may send the Rx-Tx time differences of all cells or base stations to the serving base station, and the serving base station sends them to each neighbor base station. In order to facilitate the serving base station to send the Rx-Tx time difference of the neighbor base station sent by the target device to the corresponding neighbor base station, the Rx-Tx time difference measured by the target device needs to be sent to the serving base station through the RRC protocol, and the serving base station uses the Rx-Tx time The association relationship between the difference and the cell sends the Rx-Tx time difference corresponding to each cell or base station to the neighbor base station through the Xn interface.

In order to realize the function of type 1 described above, the LMF needs to instruct the serving base station to send the reception and transmission time difference measured by the target device to the corresponding neighbor base station. The indication may be indicated by a TA of type 1. If the serving base station receives a TA of type 1 from the LMF, it needs to send the received and transmitted time difference measured by the target device to the corresponding neighbor base station. This can be defined by the protocol definition. The LMF can also instruct the serving base station to send the received and sent time difference measured by the target device to the corresponding neighbor base station through a dedicated indication message. The specific implementation method is not restricted in this application.

It should be understood that step S307 is not necessary when supporting the reporting of type 1 of multiple base stations, because the LMF can already locate the target device according to the measurement parameters provided by multiple base stations.

In a possible implementation, at least one neighbor base station sends the reception and transmission time difference obtained by the upper and lower positioning measurements to the serving base station, and the serving base station uniformly completes sending the uplink positioning measurement report to the LMF. Correspondingly, if the neighbor base station needs to send the uplink positioning measurement result through the serving base station, the LMF needs to configure the neighbor base station to send the uplink positioning measurement result to the serving base station. Specifically, an indication may be added to the uplink reference signal (re)configuration message in step S303, and the information of the serving base station is notified to the neighboring base station. The information of the serving base station includes but is not limited to the cell identity of the serving base station, and the physical address (such as IP (internet protocol, IP) address).

Similarly, the LMF adds an indication to the uplink reference signal (re)configuration message sent to the serving base station to instruct the serving base station to uniformly report the uplink positioning measurement results of multiple sites. Specifically, the uplink reference signal (re)configuration message sent to the serving base station will also include at least one of the cell ID and physical address of the neighbor base station.

Therefore, the LMF receives the serving base station and/or at least one neighbor base station to send an uplink positioning measurement report. The uplink positioning measurement report includes the corresponding reception and transmission time difference measured by each base station, or the time advance of the target device and each base station. The base station includes the The serving base station and at least one neighbor base station. Specific implementation method This application does not make any restrictions, and depends on the protocol definition or implementation.

By sending the RTT to the LMF through the above base station, the LMF can obtain the RTT measured by multiple base stations, so that the LMF can calculate a more accurate positioning of the target device. Compared with the traditional RTT measurement using only one serving base station, it significantly improves the positioning accuracy based on enhanced cell identification (E-CID) to meet the higher precision positioning requirements of 5G in the future.

S309. The LMF performs RTT calculation.

After the LMF obtains the Rx-Tx time difference of the target device for each cell or base station and the Rx-Tx time difference of the target device measured by the base station, or obtains the type 1 timing advance information provided by multiple base stations, you can target the target The location of the device is calculated accurately.

Specifically, since the positions of multiple base stations are known, the distance between the target device and each base station or cell can be calculated through the measured Rx-Tx time difference. Through the curve, multiple base stations can determine the spatial location of the target device The only location. The specific calculation can refer to the existing calculation method and will not be repeated here.

It should be understood that the more the number of base stations participating in the RTT measurement, the higher the accuracy of calculation for the target device. For example, the target device that can be measured by the measurement results of the two base stations may have multiple possibilities, because the point where the sphere or arc centered on the two base stations intersect may be the location of the target device. However, through the measurement of multiple base stations, the unique spatial position of the target device can be obtained, and the spatial position includes the height from the ground.

Through the above embodiment, a serving base station and at least one auxiliary base station can measure the target device to obtain the target device and accurate location information. Compared with the traditional RTT measurement based on the serving base station, the multi-site RTT positioning measurement method is significantly improved The positioning accuracy of the target device meets the requirements of 5G high-precision positioning. The above embodiment provides an RTT positioning method for multi-site collaboration based on a traditional LMF-centric positioning architecture. Through the interaction of multiple messages and configuration of positioning parameters, the multi-site RTT positioning method is realized.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a method for obtaining reference configuration information of a base station by an LMF provided by an embodiment of the present application. In Figure 4, the main consideration is that in 5G networks, due to the use of beams, not all target devices may receive the beams of neighboring base stations. For example, the signal sent by other base stations may not be received in a certain direction due to the orientation of the target device. Happening. Therefore, before the LMF determines that the neighboring base station cooperates with the serving base station to perform RTT positioning measurement, it is necessary to first obtain the base station information that can be measured by the target device, so as to determine the neighboring base station participating in the positioning according to the measurement information of the target device. The embodiment shown in FIG. 4 includes the following steps:

S401, the same as step S301, no more details.

S402. The LMF sends a measurement information report request to the target device and/or serving base station.

Because there is a connection between the target device and the serving base station, it is possible that the serving base station has the mobility measurement information of the target device, and through the mobility measurement information, the LMF can determine the neighboring base stations participating in the positioning.

If the serving base station does not have the mobility information of the target device, or if the mobility information of the target device exists for more than a certain threshold, it cannot accurately reflect the information of the neighbor base station that the current base station can measure. The serving base station can further configure the target device to move Measurement, and report the measurement results of mobility.

LMF can also directly send measurement information reporting request to the target device. After receiving the measurement information report request, the target device may directly send the mobility measurement result to the LMF if it already has the mobility measurement result. If the target device does not have mobility measurement results, or if the mobility measurement results exist for more than a certain threshold, the mobility measurement needs to be performed again to obtain the latest mobility measurement results. The specific mobility measurement is the same as the existing mobility measurement mechanism and will not be repeated here.

LMF can also send measurement information report requests to the serving base station and the target device at the same time.

The measurement information report request sent by the LMF to the serving base station is carried in a copy of the positioning protocol, such as NRPPa or LPPa. The measurement information report request sent by the LMF to the target device is carried in a positioning protocol, such as NRPP or LPP.

The measurement information reporting request may also specify a threshold that the reported reference signal needs to meet. The threshold of the reference signal is the same as the mobility measurement and will not be described in detail.

S403. The serving base station and/or target device sends a measurement information report response to the LFM.

The measurement information report response includes the mobility measurement result of the target device. The mobility measurement result includes at least one of a cell ID (cell ID), RSRP, RSRQ, SINR, SSB index, and CSI-RS index associated with each measured reference signal. It should be understood that the measurement information report response may also be considered to include at least one of a cell ID (cell ID), RSRP, RSRQ, SINR, SSB index, and CSI-RS index associated with each measured reference signal.

In a possible implementation, the target device sends the mobility measurement result to the serving base station through RRC signaling, and indicates that the measurement result needs to be sent to the LMF. The serving base station sends the mobility measurement result to the LMF through a copy of the positioning protocol, such as NRPPa.

In a possible implementation, the target device sends the mobility measurement result to the LMF through a positioning protocol, such as NRPP or LPP protocol.

After receiving the mobility measurement result of the target device, the LMF determines the neighbor base stations that can participate in positioning according to the mobility measurement result.

It should be understood that the above steps S402 and S403 can be applied not only to multi-site RTT measurement, but also to other positioning measurement methods, and can be implemented as an independent embodiment without having to rely on the multi-site RTT positioning measurement method.

Steps S404 to S411 are the same as steps S302 to S309, and will not be repeated here.

Through the above embodiments, the LMF selects neighbor base stations by acquiring the mobility measurement results of the target device, which can improve the availability of the neighbor base stations selected in the positioning measurement, thereby making the measurement of the selected neighbor base stations effective and avoiding wrong selection And affect the accuracy of positioning measurement.

The above mainly introduces the solutions provided by the embodiments of the present application from the perspective of interaction between various network elements. It can be understood that each network element, such as a target device and a positioning management function (or positioning center), includes a hardware structure and/or a software module corresponding to performing each function in order to realize the above-mentioned functions. Those skilled in the art should easily realize that, in combination with the network elements and algorithm steps of the examples described in the embodiments disclosed herein, the present application can be implemented in the form of hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is performed by hardware or computer software driven hardware depends on the specific application of the technical solution and design constraints. Professional technicians can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of this application.

In the embodiments of the present application, the target device and the positioning node may be divided into functional modules according to the above method examples. For example, the functional modules may be divided into various functional modules, or two or more functions may be integrated into one processing module. The above integrated modules can be implemented in the form of hardware or software function modules. It should be noted that the division of the modules in the embodiments of the present application is schematic, and is only a division of logical functions. In actual implementation, there may be another division manner. It should also be understood that the functional modules of the target device in this application do not include all the functional modules of the target device, but only include the functional modules related to this application, and the positioning node is also the same, which will not be repeated here.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a possible structure of the target device involved in the foregoing embodiment provided by the present application. The target device includes: a receiving unit 501, a processing unit 502, and a sending unit 503. The receiving unit 501 is used to support the target device to perform S301, S304 in FIG. 3, and S401, S402, S406 in FIG. 4; the processing unit 502 is used to support the target device to perform downlink reference signal measurement in S306a in FIG. 3, or FIG. 4 The downlink reference signal measurement in S408a, or the processing of receiving messages and sending messages in FIGS. 3 and 4; the sending unit 503 is used to support the target device to perform S307 in FIG. 3 and S409 in FIG. 4.

In terms of hardware implementation, the receiving unit 501 may be a receiver, and the sending unit 503 may be a transmitter. The receiver and the transmitter are integrated in the communication unit to form a communication interface.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a possible logical structure of the target device involved in the foregoing embodiment provided by an embodiment of the present application. The target device includes: a processor 602. In the embodiment of the present application, the processor 602 is used to control and manage the actions of the target device. For example, the processor 602 is used to support the target device to execute S306a in FIG. 3 and S408a in FIG. 4 in the foregoing embodiment. And the processing of the received message and the sent message in FIGS. 3 and 4. Optionally, the target device may further include: a memory 601 and a communication interface 603; the processor 602, the communication interface 603, and the memory 601 may be connected to each other or via a bus 604. The communication interface 603 is used to support the target device to communicate, and the memory 601 is used to store the program code and data of the target device. The processor 602 calls the code stored in the memory 601 for control management. The memory 601 may be coupled with the processor or not. The communication interface 603 is used to realize the control management of the receiving and sending actions performed by the target device in FIG. 3 and FIG.

The processor 602 may be a central processor unit, a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor, an application specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, hardware components, or any combination thereof. It can implement or execute various exemplary logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in conjunction with the disclosure of the present application. The processor may also be a combination of computing functions, for example, including one or more microprocessor combinations, a combination of a digital signal processor and a microprocessor, and so on. The bus 604 may be a peripheral component interconnection (Peripheral Component Interconnect, PCI) bus or an extended industry standard architecture (Extended Industry Standard Architecture, EISA) bus, or the like. The bus can be divided into an address bus, a data bus, and a control bus. For ease of representation, only a thick line is used in FIG. 6, but it does not mean that there is only one bus or one type of bus.

The above-mentioned processor 602, memory 601 and communication interface 603 may also be integrated in a dedicated integrated circuit, for example, a processing chip or a processing circuit. The communication interface 603 may be a communication interface including wireless transmission and reception, or may be an interface of a digital signal input after processing the received wireless signal through other processing circuits.

FIG. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of a positioning node involved in the foregoing embodiment provided by the present application. In this application, the positioning node is a positioning server or a positioning management function. The positioning node includes a sending unit 701 and a receiving unit 703. Among them, the sending unit 701 is used to support positioning nodes to execute S301, S302, S303, S304, and S305 in FIG. 3, and S401, S402, S404, S405, S406, and S407 in FIG. 4; the receiving unit 703 is used to support positioning node execution S301, S302, S303, S307, and S308 in FIG. 3, S305 in FIG. 4, and S401, S403, S404, S405, S409, and S410 in FIG.

The positioning node may further include a processing unit 702 for supporting the positioning node to execute the positioning node in the foregoing method embodiment to select a neighbor base station, S309 in the embodiment of FIG. 3, S411 in the embodiment of FIG. 4, and the like.

In terms of hardware implementation, the sending unit 701 may be a transmitter, and the receiving unit 703 may be a receiver. The receiver and the transmitter are integrated in the communication unit to form a communication interface.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of a possible logical structure of the positioning node involved in the foregoing embodiment provided by an embodiment of the present application. The positioning node includes: a processor 802. In the embodiment of the present application, the processor 802 is used to control and manage the actions of the positioning node. For example, the processor 802 is used to support the positioning node to execute the receiving unit 703, the sending unit 701, and the processing unit 702 in the foregoing embodiment Processing various messages, selecting neighbor nodes, calculating RTT based on measurement results received from the target device or base station, etc. Optionally, the positioning node may further include: a memory 801 and a communication interface 803; the processor 802, the communication interface 803, and the memory 801 may be connected to each other or via a bus 804. Among them, the communication interface 803 is used to support the positioning node to communicate, and the memory 801 is used to store the program code and data of the positioning node. The processor 802 calls the code stored in the memory 801 for control management. The memory 801 may be coupled with the processor or not.

The processor 802 may be a central processor unit, a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor, an application specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array or other programmable logic devices, transistor logic devices, hardware components, or any combination thereof. It can implement or execute various exemplary logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in conjunction with the disclosure of the present application. The processor may also be a combination of computing functions, for example, including one or more microprocessor combinations, a combination of a digital signal processor and a microprocessor, and so on. The bus 804 may be a peripheral component interconnection standard (Peripheral Component Interconnect, PCI) bus or an extended industry standard architecture (Extended Industry Standard Architecture, EISA) bus, or the like. The bus can be divided into an address bus, a data bus, and a control bus. For ease of representation, only a thick line is used in FIG. 8, but it does not mean that there is only one bus or one type of bus.

The above-mentioned processor 802, memory 801 and communication interface 803 may also be integrated in a dedicated integrated circuit, for example, a processing chip or a processing circuit. The communication interface 803 may be a communication interface including wireless transceiver, or may be an interface of a digital signal input after processing the received wireless signal through other processing circuits.

In another embodiment of the present application, a readable storage medium is also provided. The readable storage medium stores computer-executable instructions. When a device (which may be a single-chip microcomputer, chip, etc.) or processor executes FIG. 3 or FIG. 4 In the step of the target device or the positioning node in the multi-site positioning method, the computer executes instructions in the storage medium. The foregoing readable storage medium may include various media that can store program codes, such as a U disk, a mobile hard disk, a read-only memory, a random access memory, a magnetic disk, or an optical disk.

In another embodiment of the present application, a computer program product is also provided. The computer program product includes computer-executable instructions, which are stored in a computer-readable storage medium; at least one processor of the device may be The read storage medium reads the computer-executed instruction, and at least one processor executes the computer-executed instruction to cause the device to implement the steps of the target device and the positioning node in the multi-site positioning method provided in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4.

In another embodiment of the present application, a communication system is further provided. The communication system includes at least one target device, one positioning node, one serving base station, and at least one neighbor base station. The target device may be the target device provided in FIG. 5 or FIG. 6, and is used to perform the steps of the target device in the multi-site positioning method provided in FIG. 3 or FIG. 4; and/or, the positioning node may be FIG. 7 or FIG. 8 is a positioning node provided, and is used to perform the steps performed by the positioning node in the multi-site positioning method provided in FIG. 3 or FIG. 4. It should be understood that the communication system may include multiple target devices and positioning nodes. The target devices may simultaneously measure reference signals sent by multiple positioning nodes and send uplink reference signals to the positioning nodes. The target devices measure the downlink of the same cell or base station The time difference between the reception of the reference signal and the uplink reference signal is sent, and the measurement result is reported to the serving base station through RRC, or sent to the positioning center through a positioning protocol (location management function).

In the embodiment of the present application, the target device receives reference signals sent by multiple base stations, measures the reference signals, and simultaneously sends uplink reference signals, so that multiple base stations can measure the uplink reference signals sent by the target device, and the terminal measures The time difference between the reception and transmission of the downlink reference signal and the uplink reference signal of the same cell or base station, and report the measurement results, so that the positioning center obtains the RTT between each base station and the target device, thereby accurately positioning the target device . Through the above method, in the positioning architecture based on the positioning management function, the RTT positioning method is more accurate and meets the positioning accuracy requirements of 5G.

Finally, it should be noted that the above is only a specific implementation of this application, but the scope of protection of this application is not limited to this, any changes or replacements within the technical scope disclosed in this application should be covered in this Within the scope of protection applied for. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

A multi-site positioning method, characterized in that it includes:

The target device receives positioning assistance information sent by the positioning center, where the positioning assistance information includes the cell identification of the serving base station and at least one neighbor base station, and the reference signal configuration;

The target device performs positioning measurement on the downlink reference signal according to the positioning assistance information;

The target device sends an uplink reference signal to the serving base station and at least one neighbor base station according to the positioning assistance information;

The target device sends a downlink positioning measurement report to the positioning center, where the downlink positioning measurement report includes a time difference between reception and transmission of reference signals measured by the target device corresponding to the serving base station and at least one neighbor base station.
The method according to claim 1, wherein the reference signal configuration comprises: at least one of a start time of sending the reference signal, a transmission window, a measurement window, and information of the reference signal;

The sending window includes at least one of sending duration, sending times and sending interval;

The measurement window includes at least one of measurement duration, measurement times, and measurement intervals;

The reference signal information includes at least one of a reference signal sequence generation parameter, a transmission port, a transmission power, a time-frequency resource, and a quasi-co-location relationship.
The method according to any one of claims 1 or 2, wherein the downlink positioning measurement report further comprises: a cell identity corresponding to the difference between the received and sent time.
The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the downlink positioning measurement report is carried in a positioning protocol, or RRC signaling.
A multi-site positioning method, characterized in that it includes:

The positioning center sends a downlink positioning measurement request to the target device, where the downlink positioning measurement request includes positioning assistance information, and the positioning assistance information includes cell identifiers of the serving base station and at least one neighbor base station, and reference signal configuration;

The positioning center sends an uplink positioning measurement request to the serving base station and at least one neighbor base station;

The positioning center receives an uplink positioning measurement report sent by the serving base station and/or the at least one neighbor base station, where the uplink positioning measurement report includes a corresponding reception and transmission time difference measured by each base station, or the target device and each A time advance of a base station. The base station includes the serving base station and at least one neighbor base station.
The method according to claim 5, wherein the reference signal configuration comprises: at least one of a reference signal transmission start time, a transmission window, a measurement window, and reference signal information;

The sending window includes at least one of sending duration, sending times and sending interval;

The measurement window includes at least one of measurement duration, measurement times, and measurement intervals;

The reference signal information includes at least one of a reference signal sequence generation parameter, a transmission port, a transmission power, a time-frequency resource, and a quasi-co-location relationship.
The method according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the downlink positioning measurement report further comprises: a cell identifier corresponding to the difference between the received and sent time.
The method according to any one of claims 5-7, wherein the uplink positioning measurement report includes: a cell identity and/or type corresponding to the received and sent time difference.
The method according to any one of claims 5-8, wherein the downlink positioning measurement report and/or the uplink positioning measurement report received by the positioning center are carried in a positioning protocol.
The method according to any one of claims 5-9, wherein the uplink positioning measurement request includes: Cell ID, at least one of uplink reference signal configuration, measurement, and report indication;

The uplink reference signal configuration includes at least one of a starting position for measuring the uplink reference signal, a measurement window, and information of the uplink reference signal;

The measurement window includes at least one of measurement duration, measurement times, and measurement intervals;

The information of the uplink reference signal includes at least one of a reference signal sequence generation parameter, a transmission port, a transmission power, a time-frequency resource, and a quasi-co-location relationship.
The method according to any one of claims 5-10, comprising:

The positioning center receives a downlink positioning measurement report sent by a target device, where the downlink positioning measurement report includes a time difference between reception and transmission of reference signals measured by the target device corresponding to the serving base station and at least one neighbor base station.
The method according to any one of claims 5-11, comprising: the positioning center sending a downlink reference signal configuration to the serving base station and at least one neighbor base station.
The method according to claim 12, comprising: the positioning center receiving a downlink reference signal configuration response sent by the serving base station and at least one neighbor base station, the downlink reference signal configuration response including a downlink reference signal configuration list .
The method according to claims 5-13, comprising: the positioning center instructing the serving base station to send the reception and transmission time difference measured by the target device to a corresponding neighbor base station.
The method according to any one of claims 5-14, comprising: the positioning center receiving measurement information of a plurality of stations sent by the target device, the measurement information of the plurality of stations including a physical cell identifier , At least one of RSRP, RSRQ, SINR, SSB index, and CSI-RS index.
A target device, characterized in that it includes:

A receiving unit, configured to receive positioning assistance information sent by a positioning center, where the positioning assistance information includes a cell identifier of a serving base station and at least one neighbor base station, and a reference signal configuration;

A processing unit, configured to perform positioning measurement on the downlink reference signal according to the positioning assistance information;

A sending unit, configured to send an uplink reference to the serving base station and at least one neighbor base station according to the positioning assistance information;

The sending unit is further configured to send a downlink positioning measurement report to the positioning center, where the downlink positioning measurement report includes reception and transmission of reference signals corresponding to the serving base station and at least one neighbor base station measured by the target device Time difference.
The target device according to claim 16, wherein the reference signal configuration includes: at least one of a start time for sending the reference signal, a sending window, a measurement window, and information about the reference signal;

The sending window includes at least one of sending duration, sending times and sending interval;

The measurement window includes at least one of measurement duration, measurement times, and measurement intervals;

The reference signal information includes at least one of a reference signal sequence generation parameter, a transmission port, a transmission power, a time-frequency resource, and a quasi-co-location relationship.
The target device according to claim 16 or 17, wherein the downlink positioning measurement report further includes: a cell identifier corresponding to the difference between the reception and transmission time.
The target device according to any one of claims 16 to 18, wherein the downlink positioning measurement report is carried in a positioning protocol or RRC signaling.
A positioning node, characterized in that it includes:

A sending unit, configured to send a downlink positioning measurement request to the target device, where the downlink positioning measurement request includes positioning assistance information, the positioning assistance information includes a cell identifier of a serving base station and at least one neighbor base station, and a reference signal configuration;

The sending unit is further configured to send an uplink positioning measurement request to the serving base station and at least one neighbor base station;

A receiving unit, configured to receive an uplink positioning measurement report sent by the serving base station and/or the at least one neighbor base station, where the uplink positioning measurement report includes a corresponding reception and transmission time difference measured by each base station, or the target device and The amount of time advance of each base station. The base station includes the serving base station and at least one neighbor base station.
The positioning node according to claim 20, wherein the reference signal configuration comprises: at least one of a start time of reference signal transmission, a transmission window, a measurement window, and reference signal information;

The sending window includes at least one of sending duration, sending times and sending interval;

The measurement window includes at least one of measurement duration, measurement times, and measurement intervals;

The reference signal information includes at least one of a reference signal sequence generation parameter, a transmission port, a transmission power, a time-frequency resource, and a quasi-co-location relationship.
The positioning node according to claim 20 or 21, wherein the downlink positioning measurement report further includes: a cell identifier corresponding to the difference between the reception and transmission time.
The positioning node according to any one of claims 20-22, wherein the uplink positioning measurement report includes: a cell identity and/or type corresponding to the difference between the received and sent time.
The positioning node according to any one of claims 20 to 23, wherein the downlink positioning measurement report and/or the uplink positioning measurement report received by the positioning center are carried in a positioning protocol.
The positioning node according to any one of claims 20 to 24, wherein the uplink positioning measurement request includes: Cell ID, at least one of uplink reference signal configuration, measurement, and report indication;

The uplink reference signal configuration includes at least one of a starting position for measuring the uplink reference signal, a measurement window, and information of the uplink reference signal;

The measurement window includes at least one of measurement duration, measurement times, and measurement intervals;

The information of the uplink reference signal includes at least one of a reference signal sequence generation parameter, a transmission port, a transmission power, a time-frequency resource, and a quasi-co-location relationship.
The positioning node according to any one of claims 20-25, comprising:

The receiving unit is further configured to receive a downlink positioning measurement report sent by a target device, where the downlink positioning measurement report includes a time difference between reception and transmission of reference signals measured by the target device corresponding to the serving base station and at least one neighbor base station .
The positioning node according to any one of claims 20 to 26, comprising:

The sending unit is further configured to send a downlink reference signal configuration to the serving base station and at least one neighbor base station.
The positioning node according to any one of claims 20 to 27, comprising:

The receiving unit is further configured to receive a downlink reference signal configuration response sent to the serving base station and at least one neighbor base station. The downlink reference signal configuration response includes a downlink reference signal configuration list.
The positioning node according to any one of claims 20 to 28, comprising:

The sending unit is further used to instruct the serving base station to send the received and sent time difference measured by the target device to the corresponding neighbor base station.
The positioning node according to any one of claims 20 to 29, comprising:

The receiving unit is further configured to receive a measurement information report response sent by the target device or sent by a base station, where the measurement information report response includes at least one of a physical cell identifier, RSRP, RSRQ, SINR, SSB index, and CSI-RS index One, the base station includes the serving base station and at least one neighbor base station.
A communication device, characterized in that it includes:

A processor, which is used to couple with the memory and execute instructions in the memory, and when the instructions are executed, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 4 is implemented.
A communication device, characterized in that it includes:

A processor, which is used to couple with a memory and execute instructions in the memory, and when the instructions are executed, implement the method according to any one of claims 5 to 15.
A readable storage medium, characterized in that a program is stored on the readable storage medium, and when the program is executed, the positioning method according to any one of claims 1-4 or 5-15 is realized.