WO2022032192A1

WO2022032192A1 - Mechanisms for performing positioning measurements in 5g networks

Info

Publication number: WO2022032192A1
Application number: PCT/US2021/045101
Authority: WO
Inventors: Yi Guo; Alexey Khoryaev; Alexander Sirotkin; Sudeep Kumar Palat; Ziyi Li
Original assignee: Intel Corporation
Priority date: 2020-08-06
Filing date: 2021-08-06
Publication date: 2022-02-10

Abstract

The apparatus of a User Equipment, a system, a method and a machine-readable medium. The apparatus includes one or more processors to: decode a message from a location management function of a NR network, the message including information regarding assistance data; determine a selected positioning method; perform positioning reference signal (PRS) measurements using the selected positioning method; and send results of the PRS measurements for transmission to the LMF by communications resources of the UE.

Description

MECHANISMS FOR PERFORMING POSITIONING MEASUREMENTS IN 5G

NETWORKS

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This Application claims the benefit of, and priority from, U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/062,329 filed on August 6, 2021 and entitled “TECHNOLOGIES TO REDUCE END-TO-END LATENCY FOR NEW RADIO POSITIONING”. The disclosure of the prior application is considered part of and is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety in the disclosure of this application.

BACKGROUND

[0002] Various embodiments generally may relate to the field of wireless communications, and in particular, to the field of communication in a cellular network compliant with one of more Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) specifications.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0003] In the drawings, which are not necessarily drawn to scale, like numerals may describe similar components in different views. Like numerals having different letter suffixes may represent different instances of similar components. The drawings illustrate generally, by way of example, but not by way of limitation, various embodiments discussed in the present document.

[0004] Fig. 1 shows an example procedure Ifor NR Multi -RTT measurements.

[0005] Fig. 2 shows an example procedure according to one embodiment.

[0006] Fig. 3 illustrates a wireless network in accordance with various embodiments.

[0007] Fig. 4a shows an example NG-RAN UE Positioning architecture in 5GS applicable to positioning of a UE with NR or E-UTRA access.

[0008] Fig. 4b shows a diagram for a process for Location Service Support by NG-RAN.

[0009] Fig. 5 illustrates a User Equipment (UE) and a Radio Access Node (RAN) in wireless communication according to various embodiments.

[0010] Fig. 6 illustrates components according to some example embodiments, the components able to read instructions from a machine-readable or computer-readable medium and perform a process according to a first embodiment or a second embodiment as shown in Figs. 7 or 8, respectively.

[0011] Fig. 7 illustrates a flow chart for a process according to a first embodiment.

[0012] Fig. 8 illustrates a flow chart for a process according to a second embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0013] The following detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings. The same reference numbers may be used in different drawings to identify the same or similar elements. In the following description, for purposes of explanation and not limitation, specific details are set forth such as particular structures, architectures, interfaces, techniques, etc. in order to provide a thorough understanding of the various aspects of various embodiments. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art having the benefit of the present disclosure that the various aspects of the various embodiments may be practiced in other examples that depart from these specific details. In certain instances, descriptions of well-known devices, circuits, and methods are omitted so as not to obscure the description of the various embodiments with unnecessary detail. For the purposes of the present document, the phrases “A or B” and “A/B” mean (A), (B), or (A and B).

[0014] A new study item on the New Radio (NR) positioning enhancements in

[0015] Rel-17 has been approved to address the higher accuracy location and the lower latency requirements resulting from the new applications and use cases. The positioning enhancements should be evaluated and specified in order to meet the agreed upon requirements. For most commercial use cases, a sub-meter level accuracy (< 1 m) should be achieved with a target latency of less than hundred milliseconds (< 100 ms). For the IIoT use cases the requirements are stricter, and the positioning accuracy should be less than 0.2 m with the required latency of less than 10 ms. [0016] Therefore, one of the study objectives is to identify and evaluate the positioning techniques, including the DL and UL reference signals, signaling and procedures for improved accuracy, reduced latency, network and device efficiency.

[0017] Multi-RTT Positioning Method:

[0018] The NR Positioning Protocol A (NRPPa) carries information between the next generation (NG) radio access node (RAN) (NG-RAN) Node and a Location Management Function (LMF), and is used to support NR Multi- Round Trip Time (Multi-RTT) functions where measurements are transferred from a NR Node B (gNB) to an LMF. Other positioning functions are supported as discussed in 3GPP TS 38.305 v!6.1.0 0-07) (hereinafter “{!}”). The NRPPa protocol is transparent to the access and mobility management function (AMF). The AMF routes the NRPPa protocol data units (PDUs) transparently based on a Routing ID corresponding to the involved LMF over the NG control plane (NG-C) interface without knowledge of the involved NRPPa transaction. It carries the NRPPa PDUs over NG-C interface either in user equipment (UE) associated mode or non-UE associated mode. In case of a split gNB, the NRPPa protocol is terminated at the gNB centralized unit (gNB-CU).

[0019] The Multi-RTT positioning method makes use of the UE receive (Rx)-transmit (Tx) time (UE Rx-Tx time) difference measurements and downlink (DL) positioning reference signal (PRS) reference signal received power (RSRP) (DL-PRS-RSRP) of downlink signals received from multiple transmission reception points (TRPs), measured by the UE and the measured gNB Rx-Tx time difference measurements and uplink (UL) UL-SRS-RSRP at multiple TRPs of uplink signals transmitted from UE.

[0020] In the multi-RTT positioning method, the UE measures the UE Rx-Tx time difference measurements (and optionally DL-PRS-RSRP of the received signals) using assistance data received from the positioning server, and the TRPs measure the gNB Rx-Tx time difference measurements (and optionally UL-SRS-RSRP of the received signals) using assistance data received from the positioning server. The measurements are used to determine the RTT at the positioning server which are used to estimate the location of the UE.

[0021] In the Multi-RTT positioning method, the UE position is estimated based on measurements performed at both, that is, at UE and TRPs. The measurements performed at the UE and TRPs are UE/gNB Rx-Tx time difference measurements (and optionally DL-PRS-RSRP and UL-SRS-RSRP) of DL-PRS and UL-SRS, which are used by an LMF to determine the RTTs.

[0022] The UE may require measurement gaps to perform the Multi-RTT measurements from NR TRPs. The UE may request measurement gaps from a gNB using the procedure described in clause 7.4.1.1 of { 1 }.

[0023] Fig. 1 shows an example procedure 100 for NR Multi-RTT, which corresponds to the Rel-16 RAT dependent positioning method (see e.g., clause 8.10.4 of { 1 }). Fig. 1 shows the messaging between the LMF, gNBs, and a UE to perform LMF-initiated Location Information Transfer Procedure for Multi-RTT. In Fig. 1, a shown network includes a UE 102, a server gNB/TRP 104, one or more neighbor gNB/TRPs 106, and a LMF 108, which are in communication with one another as shown. [0024] The procedure 100 of Fig. 1 may include various operations 0-12 as will be described in more detail below:

At operation 0, LMF 108 may use the procedure in Figure 8.10.3.2.1-1 of { 1 } to obtain the TRP information required for Multi-RTT positioning.

At operation 1, LMF 108 may request the positioning capabilities of the target device (in this case, UE 102) using the Long Term Evolution (LTE) positioning protocol (PP) (LPP) Capability Transfer procedure described in clause 8.10.3.1.1 of { 1 }.

- At operation 2, LMF 108 sends a NRPPa POSITIONING INFORMATION REQUEST message to serving gNB 104 to request UL information for the target device as described in Figure 8.10.3.2.1-2 of { 1 }.

At operation 3, serving gNB 104 determines the resources available for UL sounding reference signal (SRS) (UL-SRS) and configures the target device (UE 102) with the UL- SRS resource sets at operation 3a.

At operation 4, serving gNB 104 provides the UL-SRS configuration information to LMF 108 in a NRPPa POSITIONING INFORMATION RESPONSE message. NOTE: It is up to implementation on whether SRS configuration is provided earlier than DL-PRS configuration.

At operation 5, LMF 108 may request activation of UE SRS transmission and sends a NRPPa SRS Activation Request message to serving gNB 104 of the target device as described in subclause 8.10.3.2.3 of { 1 }. The gNB then activates UE 102 SRS transmission. The target device, UE 102, begins the UL-SRS transmission according to the time domain behavior of its UL-SRS resource configuration.

At operation 6, LMF 108 provides the UL information to the selected gNBs, which may include serving gNB 104 and one or more neighbor gNBs 106, in a NRPPa MEASUREMENT REQUEST message as described in clause 8.10.3.2.2 of { 1 }. The message includes all information required to enable the selected gNBs/TRPs to perform the UL measurements.

At operation 7, LMF 108 sends a LPP Provide Assistance Data message to the target device, UE 102, as described in subclause 8.10.3.1.2.1 of { 1 }. The message includes any required assistance data for the target device, UE 102, to perform the necessary DL-PRS measurements.

At operation 8, LMF 108 sends a LPP Request Location Information message to the target device, UE 102, to request Multi -RTT measurements.

At operation 9a, the target device, UE 102, performs the DL-PRS measurements from all gNBs provided in the assistance data message at operation 7.

At operation 9b, each gNB configured at operation 6 (the selected gNBs) measures UE 102 SRS transmissions from the target device, UE 102.

At operation 10, the target device, UE 102, reports the DL-PRS measurements for Multi - RTT to LMF 108 in a LPP Provide Location Information message.

At operation 11, each of the selected gNBs at operation 6 reports UE 102 SRS measurements to LMF 108 in a NRPPa Measurement Response message as described in clause 8.10.3.2.2 of { 1 }.

At operation 12, LMF 108 determines the RTTs from UE 102 and gNB Rx-Tx time difference measurements for each selected gNB for which corresponding UL and DL measurements were provided at operations 10 and 11 and calculates the position of the target device.

[0025] Latency analysis:

[0026] Before LPP procedure between UE and LMF, for mobile terminal (MT) location request (LR) (MT-LR), there are procedures between location service (LCS) client, GMLC and AMF to trigger the positioning for the UE as.

[0027] The latency of the procedures between LCS client, gateway mobile location center

(GMLC), and access and mobility management function (AMF) for triggering positioning functions is tightly related to deployment, and out of the scope related to RAN. The delay analysis as set forth below in Table 1 does not consider these procedures, and only counts the procedures between the UE, LMF, AMF and gNB.

Table 1: Latency analysis on Rel-16 NR positioning (based on Multi-RTT)

[0028] Unless used differently herein, terms, definitions, and abbreviations may be consistent with terms, definitions, and abbreviations defined in 3GPP TR 21.905 vl6.0.0 9-06). For the purposes Table 1 above, the various acronyms the following abbreviations and definitions apply in order of appearance in the table:

□ TDOA: time difference of arrival

□ RRCReconfig: radio resource control reconfiguration message

□ SMC: security mode command

□ T UE processing: UE processing time

□ NAS: non-access stratum

□ TAMF: AMF processing time

□ RACH: random access channel

□ Max T LLPCapabilityEx change: maximum time for LLP Capability Exchange procedure

□ Max T-UESRSConfig: maximum time for UE SRS configuration procedure

□ Max T-UESRSActivation: maximum time for UE SRS activation procedure

□ MAC CE: medium access control control element

□ UE MAC: UE medium access control

□ Max TLPPAD: maximum time for LPP assistance data procedure

□ Max TLPPLocation: maximum time for LPP location procedure

□ TUEMeas: time for UE measurements

□ RAT radio access technology

[0029] In RANl#101-e, regarding the latency requirement, RANI agreed as follows:

[0030] In the agreement above, FFS stands for “for further study”, and IIoT stands for “industrial internet of things.”

[0031] Based on Table 1 above, an end-to-end (E2E) latency assumption 1 is that E2E latency is the latency from the time the LMF triggers the LPP procedure to the time when the UE provides the measurement results. The maximum E2E latency can be, from a RRC/LPP processing delay perspective, 110 ms (for the UE being RRC CONNECTED), 149.5ms (for the UE being RRC IDLE) and 128.5ms (for the UE being RRC INACTIVE) if we do not consider (1) the delay between the AMF, the LMF and the gNB, (2) the AMF processing delay and (3) the UE measurement delay. It is quite challenging to meet the E2E latency for commercial use cases, and more challenging for IIoT use cases.

[0032] Based on Table 1 above, an E2E latency assumption 2 is that E2E latency is the latency for the UE to provide the measurement results, that is, this latency does not take into account the above-described LPP procedure for capability/assi stance data, e.g. for the periodic measurement reporting. In such a case, the maximum E2E latency for the UE being in RRC CONNECTED mode is almost the same as TUEMeas if we do not consider the delay between AMF, LMF and gNB. The main work to reduce TUEMeas should be done in RANI. However if the UE is in a RRC IDLE or RRC INACTIVE state when performing the measurement, additional transition time may be needed to send the measurement results. If the UE needs to transit to RRC CONNECTED mode first before sending the measurement results, a maximum additional 39.5ms (where the AMF processing delay, the transmission delay between gNB and AMF are not counted) is needed for a UE that begins in a RRC IDLE state, and 18.5ms is needed for a UE that begins in a

RRC INACTIVE state. If the UE does not need to transit to RRC CONNECTED mode before sending the measurement results, the transition latency is not as long as in a case where transition to RRC CONNECTED would be needed. The latter however is dependent on an ultimate conclusion of ongoing standards discussions.

[0033] As things stand, the latency of E2E assumption 1 described above cannot meet the Rel-

17 E2E latency requirement. The latency of E2E assumption 2 cannot meet some of the Rel-17 E2E latency requirement, especially for an RRC IDLE/INACTIVE UE.

[0034] Some embodiments provide positioning procedures to address the above E2E latency requirements. According to some embodiments, a UE may use information in order to skip one or more LPP procedures. In some embodiments, the one or more LPP procedures may include the “exchange the capability”, “assistance data transfer”, and “location request” procedures/operations. In some embodiments, the information used by the UE to skip the one or more LPP procedures may correspond to a message regarding a configuration that is preconfigured, provided via broadcast signalling, or provided via some other signalling mechanism.

[0035] Some embodiments herein improve positioning latency and performance of NR communication systems. In particular, it has been shown that the embodiments herein are capable of reducing positioning latency by about 100ms.

[0036] UE SELECTED POSITIONING METHODS BASED ON ASSISTANCE DATA FROM THE NETWORK

[0037] Fig. 2 is a figure similar to Fig. 1, with like reference numerals for like components. Fig. 2 in particular shows an example procedure 200 for skipping the LPP procedure(s) of Fig. 1 on capability exchange and assistance data transmission. The operations of the procedure of Figure 2 may be the same or similar as those discussed previously with respect to Fig. 1, except as noted below.

[0038] In Fig. 2, operations 1 and 2 can work independently from one another. For example, the UE may still obtain the assistance data from LMF via the LPP procedure instead of reading SIBs, but only skip the LPP capability exchange procedure. Alternatively, the UE may only skip the LPP assistance data transfer procedure by obtaining the assistance data from system information blocks (SIBs), and still keep the LPP capability exchange procedure, and let the LMF decide/select the positioning methods. Alternatively, the UE may skip both LPP assistance data transfer procedure and LPP capability exchange procedure: at operation 1, to skip the assistance data transmission procedure, the UE may obtain DL PRS assistance data from a system information block (SIB); at operation 2, to skip the LPP capability exchange procedure, the UE may select positioning methods based on assistance data from the LMF.

[0039] According to some embodiments, the LMF has no idea what positioning methods (e.g., global navigation satellite system (GNSS), DL TDOA, DL angle of departure (AoD), UL angle of arrival (AoA), Multi-RTT, NR enhanced cell identity (ECID), UL TDOA, and/or others discussed in { 1 }) the UE can support if the LPP capability exchange procedure is skipped. To discover the positioning methods supported by the UE, some embodiments may involve the following operations: at operation 0, LMF 108 may use the procedure in Figure 8.10.3.2.1-1 of { 1 } to obtain the TRP information required for Multi-RTT positioning, similar to the state of the art procedure 100 of Fig. 1;

- at operation 1, the UE may obtain positioning assistance data from a SIB;

- at operation 2, the LMF may send the location request to the UE with the priority of each positioning method based on the quality of service (QoS); or just send the QoS to the UE;

- at operation 2a, the UE may select or determine a positioning method based on assistance data from the LMF; the UE may indicate the selected positioning methods to the LMF (can be separate procedure or combined with LPP provide location information of operation 10) at operation 3, the UE may perform measurements; at operation 4, the UE may send to the gNB a message indicating a need for SRS configuration; at operation 5, the gNB may determine the UL SRS resources for the UE; at operation 6a, the gNB may send the UE a message to configure the UE with UL SRS; at operation 6b, the UE may send its SRS configuration information to the LMF; at operation 6c, the gNB may activate the UE SRS transmission; operations 7, 9b, 10 and 11 are then akin to operations 6, 9b, 10 and 11 of Fig. 1, respectively.

[0040] If the selected positioning method is multi-RTT, then:

- PRS based measurement may involve the following: o If LPP assistance data transfer procedure is skipped, the UE should perform PRS based positioning measurements based on the PRS configuration indicated in system information; o if LPP assistance data transfer procedure is still used, the UE should perform PRS based positioning measurements based on the PRS configuration configured by LMF via LPP assistance data transfer procedure;

- operations 4 of Fig. 2 described above takes place if the UE has no SRS configuration: o according to alternative 1 : the UE may indicates the need of SRS configuration to the gNB, and get the configuration from the gNB;

□ according to alternative la: the UE may contact the LMF to indicate the selected positioning methods is Multi-RTT and/or , at operation 6b, the configured SRS configuration;

□ according to alternative lb: the gNB may contact the LMF to indicate the selected positioning methods is Multi-RTT and/or the configured SRS configuration. o according to alternative 2: the UE may select SRS configurations from system information, i.e. the gNB needs to broadcast the SRS configuration or SRS configuration pool, for example at operation 6a;

□ according to alternative 2a: the UE may contact the LMF to indicate the selected positioning methods is Multi-RTT, together with the selected SRS configuration;

□ according to alternative 2b: the UE may indicate the selected positioning methods and/or the selected SRS configuration to gNB, and the gNB may contact the LMF to indicate the selected positioning methods is Multi-RTT, and/or the configured SRS configuration.

[0041] At operation 7, (same as Rel-16), the LMF indicates the UE SRS configuration to measured gNBs, and, at operation 9b, obtain the UE measurement from UE.

[0042] If the selected positioning method is DL AoD, DL TDoA, the UE may:

- for PRS based measurement: o if the LPP assistance data transfer procedure is skipped, the UE may performs PRS based positioning measurements based on the PRS configuration indicated in system information; and/or o if the LPP assistance data transfer procedure is still used, the UE may perform PRS based positioning measurements based on the PRS configuration configured by LMF via LPP assistance data transfer procedure; and

- then at operation 10, the UE sends the measurement results and/or selected positioning method to the LMF via LPP message.

[0043] Systems And Implementations

[0044] The architectures, networks and/or processes of Figs. 3, 4a, 4b, 5 and 6 may be used to perform any of the aspects of embodiments described above in relation to Fig. 2.

[0045] Figs. 3-5 illustrate various systems, devices, and components that may implement aspects of disclosed embodiments.

[0046] Fig. 3 illustrates a network 300 in accordance with various embodiments. The network 800 may operate in a manner consistent with 3GPP technical specifications for LTE or 5G/NR systems. However, the example embodiments are not limited in this regard and the described embodiments may apply to other networks that benefit from the principles described herein, such as future 3 GPP systems, or the like.

[0047] The network 300 may include a UE 302, which may include any mobile or non-mobile computing device designed to communicate with a RAN 304 via an over-the-air connection. The UE 302 may be communicatively coupled with the RAN 304 by a Uu interface. The UE 302 may be, but is not limited to, a smartphone, tablet computer, wearable computer device, desktop computer, laptop computer, in-vehicle infotainment, in-car entertainment device, instrument cluster, head-up display device, onboard diagnostic device, dashtop mobile equipment, mobile data terminal, electronic engine management system, electronic/engine control unit, electronic/engine control module, embedded system, sensor, microcontroller, control module, engine management system, networked appliance, machine-type communication device, M2M or D2D device, loT device, etc.

[0048] In some embodiments, the network 300 may include a plurality of UEs coupled directly with one another via a sidelink interface. The UEs may be M2M/D2D devices that communicate using physical sidelink channels such as, but not limited to, PSBCH, PSDCH, PSSCH, PSCCH, PSFCH, etc.

[0049] In some embodiments, the UE 302 may additionally communicate with an AP 306 via an over-the-air connection. The AP 306 may manage a WLAN connection, which may serve to offload some/all network traffic from the RAN 304. The connection between the UE 302 and the AP 306 may be consistent with any IEEE 302.11 protocol, wherein the AP 306 could be a wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi®) router. In some embodiments, the UE 302, RAN 304, and AP 306 may utilize cellular- WLAN aggregation (for example, LWA/LWIP). Cellular-WLAN aggregation may involve the UE 302 being configured by the RAN 304 to utilize both cellular radio resources and WLAN resources. [0050] The RAN 304 may include one or more access nodes, for example, AN 308. AN 308 may terminate air-interface protocols for the UE 302 by providing access stratum protocols including RRC, PDCP, RLC, MAC, and LI protocols. In this manner, the AN 308 may enable data/voice connectivity between CN 320 and the UE 302. In some embodiments, the AN 308 may be implemented in a discrete device or as one or more software entities running on server computers as part of, for example, a virtual network, which may be referred to as a CRAN or virtual baseband unit pool. The AN 308 be referred to as a BS, gNB, RAN node, eNB, ng-eNB, NodeB, RSU, TRxP, TRP, etc. The AN 308 may be a macrocell base station or a low power base station for providing femtocells, picocells or other like cells having smaller coverage areas, smaller user capacity, or higher bandwidth compared to macrocells.

[0051] In embodiments in which the RAN 304 includes a plurality of ANs, they may be coupled with one another via an X2 interface (if the RAN 304 is an LTE RAN) or an Xn interface (if the RAN 304 is a 5G RAN). The X2/Xn interfaces, which may be separated into control/user plane interfaces in some embodiments, may allow the ANs to communicate information related to handovers, data/context transfers, mobility, load management, interference coordination, etc.

[0052] The ANs of the RAN 304 may each manage one or more cells, cell groups, component carriers, etc. to provide the UE 302 with an air interface for network access. The UE 302 may be simultaneously connected with a plurality of cells provided by the same or different ANs of the RAN 304. For example, the UE 302 and RAN 304 may use carrier aggregation to allow the UE 302 to connect with a plurality of component carriers, each corresponding to a Pcell or Scell. In dual connectivity scenarios, a first AN may be a master node that provides an MCG and a second AN may be secondary node that provides an SCG. The first/second ANs may be any combination of eNB, gNB, ng-eNB, etc.

[0053] The RAN 304 may provide the air interface over a licensed spectrum or an unlicensed spectrum. To operate in the unlicensed spectrum, the nodes may use LAA, eLAA, and/or feLAA mechanisms based on CA technology with PCells/Scells. Prior to accessing the unlicensed spectrum, the nodes may perform medium/carrier-sensing operations based on, for example, a listen-before-talk (LBT) protocol. [0054] In V2X scenarios the UE 302 or AN 308 may be or act as a RSU, which may refer to any transportation infrastructure entity used for V2X communications. An RSU may be implemented in or by a suitable AN or a stationary (or relatively stationary) UE. An RSU implemented in or by: a UE may be referred to as a “UE-type RSU”; an eNB may be referred to as an “eNB-type RSU”; a gNB may be referred to as a “gNB-type RSU”; and the like. In one example, an RSU is a computing device coupled with radio frequency circuitry located on a roadside that provides connectivity support to passing vehicle UEs. The RSU may also include internal data storage circuitry to store intersection map geometry, traffic statistics, media, as well as applications/software to sense and control ongoing vehicular and pedestrian traffic. The RSU may provide very low latency communications required for high speed events, such as crash avoidance, traffic warnings, and the like. Additionally or alternatively, the RSU may provide other cellular/WLAN communications services. The components of the RSU may be packaged in a weatherproof enclosure suitable for outdoor installation, and may include a network interface controller to provide a wired connection (e.g., Ethernet) to a traffic signal controller or a backhaul network.

[0055] In some embodiments, the RAN 304 may be an LTE RAN 310 with eNBs, for example, eNB 312. The LTE RAN 310 may provide an LTE air interface with the following characteristics: SCS of 15 kHz; CP-OFDM waveform for DL and SC-FDMA waveform for UL; turbo codes for data and TBCC for control; etc. The LTE air interface may rely on CSLRS for CSI acquisition and beam management; PDSCH/PDCCH DMRS for PDSCH/PDCCH demodulation; and CRS for cell search and initial acquisition, channel quality measurements, and channel estimation for coherent demodulation/detection at the UE. The LTE air interface may operating on sub-6 GHz bands. [0056] In some embodiments, the RAN 304 may be an NG-RAN 314 with gNBs, for example, gNB 316, or ng-eNBs, for example, ng-eNB 318. The gNB 316 may connect with 5G-enabled UEs using a 5G NR interface. The gNB 316 may connect with a 5G core through an NG interface, which may include an N2 interface or an N3 interface. The ng-eNB 318 may also connect with the 5G core through an NG interface, but may connect with a UE via an LTE air interface. The gNB 316 and the ng-eNB 318 may connect with each other over an Xn interface.

[0057] In some embodiments, the NG interface may be split into two parts, an NG user plane (NG-U) interface, which carries traffic data between the nodes of the NG-RAN 314 and a UPF 348 (e.g., N3 interface), and an NG control plane (NG-C) interface, which is a signaling interface between the nodes of the NG-RAN314 and an AMF 344 (e.g., N2 interface). [0058] The NG-RAN 314 may provide a 5G-NR air interface with the following characteristics: variable SCS; CP-OFDM for DL, CP-OFDM and DFT-s-OFDM for UL; polar, repetition, simplex, and Reed-Muller codes for control and LDPC for data. The 5G-NR air interface may rely on CSI- RS, PDSCH/PDCCH DMRS similar to the LTE air interface. The 5G-NR air interface may not use a CRS, but may use PBCH DMRS for PBCH demodulation; PTRS for phase tracking for PDSCH; and tracking reference signal for time tracking. The 5G-NR air interface may operating on FR1 bands that include sub-6 GHz bands or FR2 bands that include bands from 24.25 GHz to 52.6 GHz. The 5G-NR air interface may include an SSB that is an area of a downlink resource grid that includes PSS/SSS/PBCH.

[0059] In some embodiments, the 5G-NR air interface may utilize BWPs for various purposes. For example, BWP can be used for dynamic adaptation of the SCS. For example, the UE 302 can be configured with multiple BWPs where each BWP configuration has a different SCS. When a BWP change is indicated to the UE 302, the SCS of the transmission is changed as well. Another use case example of BWP is related to power saving. In particular, multiple BWPs can be configured for the UE 302 with different amount of frequency resources (for example, PRBs) to support data transmission under different traffic loading scenarios. A BWP containing a smaller number of PRBs can be used for data transmission with small traffic load while allowing power saving at the UE 302 and in some cases at the gNB 316. A BWP containing a larger number of PRBs can be used for scenarios with higher traffic load.

[0060] The RAN 304 is communicatively coupled to CN 320 that includes network elements to provide various functions to support data and telecommunications services to customers/subscribers (for example, users of UE 302). The components of the CN 320 may be implemented in one physical node or separate physical nodes. In some embodiments, NFV may be utilized to virtualize any or all of the functions provided by the network elements of the CN 320 onto physical compute/ storage resources in servers, switches, etc. A logical instantiation of the CN 320 may be referred to as a network slice, and a logical instantiation of a portion of the CN 320 may be referred to as a network sub-slice.

[0061] In some embodiments, the CN 320 may be an LTE CN 322, which may also be referred to as an EPC. The LTE CN 322 may include MME 324, SGW 326, SGSN 328, HSS 330, PGW 332, and PCRF 334 coupled with one another over interfaces (or “reference points”) as shown. Functions of the elements of the LTE CN 322 may be briefly introduced as follows. [0062] The MME 324 may implement mobility management functions to track a current location of the UE 302 to facilitate paging, bearer activation/deactivation, handovers, gateway selection, authentication, etc.

[0063] The SGW 326 may terminate an SI interface toward the RAN and route data packets between the RAN and the LTE CN 322. The SGW 326 may be a local mobility anchor point for inter-RAN node handovers and also may provide an anchor for inter-3GPP mobility. Other responsibilities may include lawful intercept, charging, and some policy enforcement.

[0064] The SGSN 328 may track a location of the UE 302 and perform security functions and access control. In addition, the SGSN 328 may perform inter-EPC node signaling for mobility between different RAT networks; PDN and S-GW selection as specified by MME 324; MME selection for handovers; etc. The S3 reference point between the MME 324 and the SGSN 328 may enable user and bearer information exchange for inter-3GPP access network mobility in idle/active states.

[0065] The HSS 330 may include a database for network users, including subscription-related information to support the network entities’ handling of communication sessions. The HSS 330 can provide support for routing/roaming, authentication, authorization, naming/addressing resolution, location dependencies, etc. An S6a reference point between the HSS 330 and the MME 324 may enable transfer of subscription and authentication data for authenticating/authorizing user access to the LTE CN 320.

[0066] The PGW 332 may terminate an SGi interface toward a data network (DN) 336 that may include an application/content server 338. The PGW 332 may route data packets between the LTE CN 322 and the data network 336. The PGW 332 may be coupled with the SGW 326 by an S5 reference point to facilitate user plane tunneling and tunnel management. The PGW 332 may further include a node for policy enforcement and charging data collection (for example, PCEF).

Additionally, the SGi reference point between the PGW 332 and the data network YX 36 may be an operator external public, a private PDN, or an intra-operator packet data network, for example, for provision of IMS services. The PGW 332 may be coupled with a PCRF 334 via a Gx reference point.

[0067] The PCRF 334 is the policy and charging control element of the LTE CN 322. The PCRF 334 may be communicatively coupled to the app/content server 338 to determine appropriate QoS and charging parameters for service flows. The PCRF 332 may provision associated rules into a PCEF (via Gx reference point) with appropriate TFT and QCI. [0068] In some embodiments, the CN 320 may be a 5GC 340. The 5GC 340 may include an AUSF 342, AMF 344, SMF 346, UPF 348, NSSF 350, NEF 352, NRF 354, PCF 356, UDM 358, and AF 360 coupled with one another over interfaces (or “reference points”) as shown. Functions of the elements of the 5GC 340 may be briefly introduced as follows.

[0069] The AUSF 342 may store data for authentication of UE 302 and handle authentication- related functionality. The AUSF 342 may facilitate a common authentication framework for various access types. In addition to communicating with other elements of the 5GC 340 over reference points as shown, the AUSF 342 may exhibit an Nausf service-based interface.

[0070] The AMF 344 may allow other functions of the 5GC 340 to communicate with the UE 302 and the RAN 304 and to subscribe to notifications about mobility events with respect to the UE 302. The AMF 344 may be responsible for registration management (for example, for registering UE 302), connection management, reachability management, mobility management, lawful interception of AMF-related events, and access authentication and authorization. The AMF 344 may provide transport for SM messages between the UE 302 and the SMF 346, and act as a transparent proxy for routing SM messages. AMF 344 may also provide transport for SMS messages between UE 302 and an SMSF. AMF 344 may interact with the AUSF 342 and the UE 302 to perform various security anchor and context management functions. Furthermore, AMF 344 may be a termination point of a RAN CP interface, which may include or be an N2 reference point between the RAN 304 and the AMF 344; and the AMF 344 may be a termination point of NAS (Nl) signaling, and perform NAS ciphering and integrity protection. AMF 344 may also support NAS signaling with the UE 302 over an N3 IWF interface.

[0071] The SMF 346 may be responsible for SM (for example, session establishment, tunnel management between UPF 348 and AN 308); UE IP address allocation and management (including optional authorization); selection and control of UP function; configuring traffic steering at UPF 348 to route traffic to proper destination; termination of interfaces toward policy control functions; controlling part of policy enforcement, charging, and QoS; lawful intercept (for SM events and interface to LI system); termination of SM parts of NAS messages; downlink data notification; initiating AN specific SM information, sent via AMF 344 over N2 to AN 308; and determining SSC mode of a session. SM may refer to management of a PDU session, and a PDU session or “session” may refer to a PDU connectivity service that provides or enables the exchange of PDUs between the UE 302 and the data network 336. [0072] The UPF 348 may act as an anchor point for intra-RAT and inter-RAT mobility, an external PDU session point of interconnect to data network 336, and a branching point to support multi-homed PDU session. The UPF 348 may also perform packet routing and forwarding, perform packet inspection, enforce the user plane part of policy rules, lawfully intercept packets (UP collection), perform traffic usage reporting, perform QoS handling for a user plane (e.g., packet filtering, gating, UL/DL rate enforcement), perform uplink traffic verification (e.g., SDF-to- QoS flow mapping), transport level packet marking in the uplink and downlink, and perform downlink packet buffering and downlink data notification triggering. UPF 348 may include an uplink classifier to support routing traffic flows to a data network.

[0073] The NSSF 350 may select a set of network slice instances serving the UE 302. The NSSF 350 may also determine allowed NSSAI and the mapping to the subscribed S-NSSAIs, if needed. The NSSF 350 may also determine the AMF set to be used to serve the UE 302, or a list of candidate AMFs based on a suitable configuration and possibly by querying the NRF 354. The selection of a set of network slice instances for the UE 302 may be triggered by the AMF 344 with which the UE 302 is registered by interacting with the NSSF 350, which may lead to a change of AMF. The NSSF 350 may interact with the AMF 344 via an N22 reference point; and may communicate with another NSSF in a visited network via an N31 reference point (not shown). Additionally, the NSSF 350 may exhibit an Nnssf service-based interface.

[0074] The NEF 352 may securely expose services and capabilities provided by 3 GPP network functions for third party, internal exposure/re-exposure, AFs (e.g., AF 360), edge computing or fog computing systems, etc. In such embodiments, the NEF 352 may authenticate, authorize, or throttle the AFs. NEF 352 may also translate information exchanged with the AF 360 and information exchanged with internal network functions. For example, the NEF 352 may translate between an AF-Service-Identifier and an internal 5GC information. NEF 352 may also receive information from other NFs based on exposed capabilities of other NFs. This information may be stored at the NEF 352 as structured data, or at a data storage NF using standardized interfaces. The stored information can then be re-exposed by the NEF 352 to other NFs and AFs, or used for other purposes such as analytics. Additionally, the NEF 352 may exhibit an Nnef servicebased interface.

[0075] The NRF 354 may support service discovery functions, receive NF discovery requests from NF instances, and provide the information of the discovered NF instances to the NF instances. NRF 354 also maintains information of available NF instances and their supported services. As used herein, the terms “instantiate,” “instantiation,” and the like may refer to the creation of an instance, and an “instance” may refer to a concrete occurrence of an object, which may occur, for example, during execution of program code. Additionally, the NRF 354 may exhibit the Nnrf service-based interface.

[0076] The PCF 356 may provide policy rules to control plane functions to enforce them, and may also support unified policy framework to govern network behavior. The PCF 356 may also implement a front end to access subscription information relevant for policy decisions in a UDR of the UDM 358. In addition to communicating with functions over reference points as shown, the PCF 356 exhibit an Npcf service-based interface.

[0077] The UDM 358 may handle subscription-related information to support the network entities’ handling of communication sessions, and may store subscription data of UE 302. For example, subscription data may be communicated via an N8 reference point between the UDM 358 and the AMF 344. The UDM 358 may include two parts, an application front end and a UDR. The UDR may store subscription data and policy data for the UDM 358 and the PCF 356, and/or structured data for exposure and application data (including PFDs for application detection, application request information for multiple UEs 302) for the NEF 352. The Nudr service-based interface may be exhibited by the UDR 221 to allow the UDM 358, PCF 356, and NEF 352 to access a particular set of the stored data, as well as to read, update (e.g., add, modify), delete, and subscribe to notification of relevant data changes in the UDR. The UDM may include a UDM-FE, which is in charge of processing credentials, location management, subscription management and so on. Several different front ends may serve the same user in different transactions. The UDM-FE accesses subscription information stored in the UDR and performs authentication credential processing, user identification handling, access authorization, registration/mobility management, and subscription management. In addition to communicating with other NFs over reference points as shown, the UDM 358 may exhibit the Nudm service-based interface.

[0078] The AF 360 may provide application influence on traffic routing, provide access to NEF, and interact with the policy framework for policy control.

[0079] In some embodiments, the 5GC 340 may enable edge computing by selecting operator/3rd party services to be geographically close to a point that the UE 302 is attached to the network. This may reduce latency and load on the network. To provide edge-computing implementations, the 5GC 340 may select a UPF 348 close to the UE 302 and execute traffic steering from the UPF 348 to data network 336 via the N6 interface. This may be based on the UE subscription data, UE location, and information provided by the AF 360. In this way, the AF 360 may influence UPF (re)selection and traffic routing. Based on operator deployment, when AF 360 is considered to be a trusted entity, the network operator may permit AF 360 to interact directly with relevant NFs. Additionally, the AF 360 may exhibit an Naf service-based interface.

[0080] The data network 336 may represent various network operator services, Internet access, or third party services that may be provided by one or more servers including, for example, application/content server 338.

[0081] The 5GS may also include an SCP (or individual instances of the SCP) that supports indirect communication (see e.g., 3GPP TS 23.501 vl6.4.0 0-03-27), hereinafter “{2}”, section 7.1.1); delegated discovery (see e.g., {2} section 7.1.1); message forwarding and routing to destination NF/NF service(s), communication security (e.g., authorization of the NF Service Consumer to access the NF Service Producer API) (see e.g., 3GPP TS 33.501), load balancing, monitoring, overload control, etc.; and discovery and selection functionality for UDM(s), AUSF(s), UDR(s), PCF(s) with access to subscription data stored in the UDR based on UE's SUPI, SUCI or GPSI (see e.g., {2} section 6.3). Load balancing, monitoring, overload control functionality provided by the SCP may be implementation specific. The SCP may be deployed in a distributed manner. More than one SCP can be present in the communication path between various NF Services. The SCP, although not an NF instance, can also be deployed distributed, redundant, and scalable.

[0082] Fig. 4a shows an example NG-RAN UE Positioning architecture in 5GS applicable to positioning of a UE 402 with NR or E-UTRA access.

[0083] The AMF 444 receives a request for some location service associated with a particular target UE 402 from another entity (e.g., GMLC or another UE 402) or the AMF 444 itself decides to initiate some location service on behalf of a particular target UE 402 (e.g., for an IMS emergency call from the UE 402) as described in 3GPP TS 23.502 vl6.5.1 0-08-06) (hereinafter “{3}” and 3GPP TS 23.273 vl6.4.0 0-07-09) (hereinafter “{4}”). The AMF 444 then sends a location services request to an LMF.

[0084] The LMF processes the location services request which may include transferring assistance data to the target UE 402 to assist with UE-based and/or UE-assisted positioning and/or may include positioning of the target UE 402. The LMF then returns the result of the location service back to the AMF 444 (e.g., a position estimate for the UE 402. In the case of a location service req UE 402 managed by an entity other than the AMF 444 (e.g., a GMLC or UE 402), the AMF 444 returns the location service result to this entity.

[0085] An NG-RAN 414 node may control several TRPs/TPs, such as remote radio heads, or DL- PRS-only TPs for support of PRS-based TBS.

[0086] An LMF may have a proprietary signaling connection to an E-SMLC which may enable an LMF to access information from E-UTRAN (e.g. to support the OTDOA for E-UTRA positioning method using downlink measurements obtained by a target UE 402 of signals from eNBs and/or PRS-only TPs in E-UTRAN). Details of the signaling interaction between an LMF and E-SMLC are outside the scope of this specification.

[0087] An LMF may have a proprietary signaling connection to an SLP. The SLP is the SUPL entity responsible for positioning over the user plane. Further details of user-plane positioning are provided in OMA-AD-SUPL-V2 0: "Secure User Plane Location Architecture Approved Version 2.0" (hereinafter “[15]”) and OMA-TS-ULP-V2 0 4: "UserPlane Location Protocol Approved Version 2.0.4" (hereinafter “[16]”).

[0088] The LMF manages the support of different location services for target UEs 402, including positioning of UEs 402 and delivery of assistance data to UEs 402. The LMF may interact with the serving gNB 416 or serving ng-eNB 418 for a target UE 402 in order to obtain position measurements for the UE 402, including uplink measurements made by an NG-RAN 414 and downlink measurements made by the UE 402 that were provided to an NG-RAN 414 as part of other functions such as for support of handover.

[0089] The LMF may interact with a target UE 402 in order to deliver assistance data if requested for a particular location service, or to obtain a location estimate if that was requested.

[0090] The LMF may interact with multiple NG-RAN 414 nodes to provide assistance data information for broadcasting. The assistance data information for broadcast may optionally be segmented and/or ciphered by the LMF. The LMF may also interact with AMFs 444 to provide ciphering key data information to the AMF 444 as described in greater detail in {4}.

[0091] For positioning of a target UE 402, the LMF decides on the position methods to be used, based on factors that may include the LCS Client type, the required QoS, UE positioning capabilities, gNB positioning capabilities and ng-eNB positioning capabilities. The LMF then invokes these positioning methods in the UE 402, serving gNB 416 and/or serving ng-eNB 418. The positioning methods may yield a location estimate for UE-based position methods and/or positioning measurements for UE-assisted and network-based position methods. The LMF may combine all the received results and determine a single location estimate for the target UE 402 (hybrid positioning). Additional information like accuracy of the location estimate and velocity may also be determined.

[0092] The UE 402 may make measurements of downlink signals from NG-RAN 414 and other sources such as E-UTRAN, different GNSS and TBS systems, WLAN access points, Bluetooth beacons, UE 402 barometric pressure and motion sensors. The measurements to be made will be determined by the chosen positioning method. The UE 402 may also contain LCS applications, or access an LCS application either through communication with a network accessed by the UE 402 or through another application residing in the UE 402. This LCS application may include the needed measurement and calculation functions to determine the UE’s 402 position with or without network assistance. This is outside of the scope of this specification. The UE 402 may also, for example, contain an independent positioning function (e.g., GPS) and thus be able to report its position, independent of the NG-RAN 414 transmissions. The UE 402 with an independent positioning function may also make use of assistance information obtained from the network.

[0093] The gNB 416 is a network element of NG-RAN 414 that may provide measurement information for a target UE 402 and communicates this information to an LMF. To support NR RAT-Dependent positioning, the gNB 416 may provide measurement results for position estimation and makes measurements of radio signals for a target UE 402 and communicates these measurements to an LMF. A gNB 416 may serve several TRPs, including for example remote radio heads, and UL-SRS only RPs and DL-PRS-only TPs. A gNB 416 may broadcast assistance data information, received from an LMF, in positioning System Information messages.

[0094] The ng-eNB 418 is a network element of NG-RAN 414 that may provide measurement results for position estimation and makes measurements of radio signals for a target UE and communicates these measurements to an LMF. The ng-eNB 418 makes its measurements in response to requests from the LMF (on demand or periodically). An ng-eNB 418 may serve several TPs, including for example remote radio heads and PRS-only TPs for PRS-based TBS positioning for E-UTRA. An ng-eNB 418 may broadcast assistance data information, received from an LMF, in positioning System Information messages.

[0095] To support positioning of a target UE 402 and delivery of location assistance data to a UE 402 with NG-RAN 414 access in 5GS, location related functions are distributed as shown in the architecture in Figure 5.1-1 and as clarified in greater detail in {2} and {4}. The overall sequence of events applicable to the UE 402, NG-RAN 414 and LMF for any location service is shown in Fig. 3b.

[0096] Note that when the AMF 444 receives a Location Service Request in case of the UE 402 is in CM-IDLE state, the AMF 444 performs a network triggered service request as defined in {3} and {4} in order to establish a signaling connection with the UE 402 and assign a specific serving gNB 416 or ng-eNB 418. The UE 402 is assumed to be in connected mode before the beginning of the flow shown in the Fig. 3b; that is, any signaling that might be required to bring the UE 402 to connected mode prior to step la is not shown. The signaling connection may, however, be later released (e.g. by the NG-RAN 414 node as a result of signaling and data inactivity) while positioning is still ongoing.

[0097] Fig. 4b shows a diagram for a process 400b for Location Service Support by NG-RAN as described below in the following operations: la. either: some entity in the 5GC (e.g. GMLC) requests some location service (e.g. positioning) for a target UE 402 to the serving AMF 444; lb. or: the serving AMF 444 for a target UE 402 determines the need for some location service (e.g. to locate the UE 402 for an emergency call); lc. or: the UE 402 requests some location service (e.g. positioning or delivery of assistance data) to the serving AMF 444 at the NAS level;

2. the AMF 444 transfers the location service request to an LMF;

3a. the LMF instigates location procedures with the serving and possibly neighboring ng-eNB 418 or gNB 416 in the NG-RAN 414 - e.g. to obtain positioning measurements or assistance data;

3b. in addition to operation 3a or instead of operation 3a, the LMF instigates location procedures with the UE 402 - e.g. to obtain a location estimate or positioning measurements or to transfer location assistance data to the UE 402;

4. the LMF provides a location service response to the AMF 444 and includes any needed results - e.g. success or failure indication and, if requested and obtained, a location estimate for the UE 402;

5a. If operation la was performed, the AMF 444 returns a location service response to the 5GC entity in operation la and includes any needed results - e.g. a location estimate for the UE 402.

5b. if operation lb occurred, the AMF 444 uses the location service response received in operation 4 to assist the service that triggered this in operation lb (e.g. may provide a location estimate associated with an emergency call to a GMLC);

5c. If operation 1c was performed, the AMF 444 returns a location service response to the UE 402 and includes any needed results - e.g. a location estimate for the UE 402.

[0098] Location procedures applicable to NG-RAN 414 occur in steps 3a and 3b in Fig. 4b and are defined in greater detail in this specification. Other steps in Fig. 3b are applicable only to the 5GC and are described in greater detail and in {3} and {4}.

[0099] Operations 3a and 3b can involve the use of different position methods to obtain location related measurements for a target UE 402 and from these compute a location estimate and possibly additional information like velocity. Positioning methods supported in this release are summarized in clause 4.3 of { 1 } and described in detail in clause 8 of { 1 }.

[0100] Fig. 5 schematically illustrates a wireless network 500 in accordance with various embodiments. The wireless network 500 may include a UE 502 in wireless communication with an AN 504. The UE 502 and AN 504 may be similar to, and substantially interchangeable with, like- named components described elsewhere herein.

[0101] The UE 502 may be communicatively coupled with the AN 504 via connection 506. The connection 506 is illustrated as an air interface to enable communicative coupling, and can be consistent with cellular communications protocols such as an LTE protocol or a 5G NR protocol operating at mmWave or sub-6GHz frequencies.

[0102] The UE 502 may include a host platform 508 coupled with a modem platform 510. The host platform 508 may include application processing circuitry 512, which may be coupled with protocol processing circuitry 514 of the modem platform 510. The application processing circuitry 512 may run various applications for the UE 502 that source/sink application data. The application processing circuitry 512 may further implement one or more layer operations to transmit/receive application data to/from a data network. These layer operations may include transport (for example UDP) and Internet (for example, IP) operations

[0103] The protocol processing circuitry 514 may implement one or more of layer operations to facilitate transmission or reception of data over the connection 506. The layer operations implemented by the protocol processing circuitry 514 may include, for example, MAC, RLC, PDCP, RRC and NAS operations.

[0104] The modem platform 510 may further include digital baseband circuitry 516 that may implement one or more layer operations that are “below” layer operations performed by the protocol processing circuitry 514 in a network protocol stack. These operations may include, for example, PHY operations including one or more of HARQ-ACK functions, scrambling/descrambling, encoding/decoding, layer mapping/de-mapping, modulation symbol mapping, received symbol/bit metric determination, multi-antenna port precoding/ decoding, which may include one or more of space-time, space-frequency or spatial coding, reference signal generation/detection, preamble sequence generation and/or decoding, synchronization sequence generation/detection, control channel signal blind decoding, and other related functions.

[0105] The modem platform 510 may further include transmit circuitry 518, receive circuitry 520, RF circuitry 522, and RF front end (RFFE) 524, which may include or connect to one or more antenna panels 526. Briefly, the transmit circuitry 518 may include a digital -to-analog converter, mixer, intermediate frequency (IF) components, etc.; the receive circuitry 520 may include an anal og-to-digi tai converter, mixer, IF components, etc.; the RF circuitry 522 may include a low- noise amplifier, a power amplifier, power tracking components, etc.; RFFE 524 may include filters (for example, surface/bulk acoustic wave filters), switches, antenna tuners, beamforming components (for example, phase-array antenna components), etc. The selection and arrangement of the components of the transmit circuitry 518, receive circuitry 520, RF circuitry 522, RFFE 524, and antenna panels 526 (referred generically as “transmit/receive components”) may be specific to details of a specific implementation such as, for example, whether communication is time division multiplexed (TDM) or frequency division multiplexed (FDM), in mmWave or sub-6 gHz frequencies, etc. In some embodiments, the transmit/receive components may be arranged in multiple parallel transmit/receive chains, may be disposed in the same or different chips/modules, etc.

[0106] In some embodiments, the protocol processing circuitry 514 may include one or more instances of control circuitry (not shown) to provide control functions for the transmit/receive components.

[0107] A UE reception may be established by and via the antenna panels 526, RFFE 524, RF circuitry 522, receive circuitry 520, digital baseband circuitry 516, and protocol processing circuitry 514. In some embodiments, the antenna panels 526 may receive a transmission from the AN 504 by receive-beamforming signals received by a plurality of antennas/antenna elements of the one or more antenna panels 526.

[0108] A UE transmission may be established by and via the protocol processing circuitry 514, digital baseband circuitry 516, transmit circuitry 518, RF circuitry 522, RFFE 524, and antenna panels 526. In some embodiments, the transmit components of the UE 504 may apply a spatial filter to the data to be transmitted to form a transmit beam emitted by the antenna elements of the antenna panels 526.

[0109] Similar to the UE 502, the AN 504 may include a host platform 528 coupled with a modem platform 530. The host platform 528 may include application processing circuitry 532 coupled with protocol processing circuitry 534 of the modem platform 530. The modem platform may further include digital baseband circuitry 536, transmit circuitry 538, receive circuitry 540, RF circuitry 542, RFFE circuitry 544, and antenna panels 546. The components of the AN 504 may be similar to and substantially interchangeable with like-named components of the UE 502. In addition to performing data transmission/reception as described above, the components of the AN 508 may perform various logical functions that include, for example, RNC functions such as radio bearer management, uplink and downlink dynamic radio resource management, and data packet scheduling.

[0110] Fig. 6 is a block diagram illustrating components, according to some example embodiments, able to read instructions from a machine-readable or computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium) and perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein. Specifically, Fig. 6 shows a diagrammatic representation of hardware resources 600 including one or more processors (or processor cores) 610, one or more memory/storage devices 620, and one or more communication resources 630, each of which may be communicatively coupled via a bus 640 or other interface circuitry. For embodiments where node virtualization (e.g., NFV) is utilized, a hypervisor 602 may be executed to provide an execution environment for one or more network slices/ sub-slices to utilize the hardware resources 600.

[OHl] The processors 610 may include, for example, a processor 612 and a processor 614. The processors 610 may be, for example, a central processing unit (CPU), a reduced instruction set computing (RISC) processor, a complex instruction set computing (CISC) processor, a graphics processing unit (GPU), a DSP such as a baseband processor, an ASIC, an FPGA, a radio-frequency integrated circuit (RFIC), another processor (including those discussed herein), or any suitable combination thereof.

[0112] The memory/storage devices 620 may include main memory, disk storage, or any suitable combination thereof. The memory/storage devices 620 may include, but are not limited to, any type of volatile, non-volatile, or semi-volatile memory such as dynamic random access memory (DRAM), static random access memory (SRAM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), Flash memory, solid-state storage, etc.

[0113] The communication resources 630 may include interconnection or network interface controllers, components, or other suitable devices to communicate with one or more peripheral devices 604 or one or more databases 606 or other network elements via a network 608. For example, the communication resources 630 may include wired communication components (e.g., for coupling via USB, Ethernet, etc.), cellular communication components, NFC components, Bluetooth® (or Bluetooth® Low Energy) components, Wi-Fi® components, and other communication components.

[0114] Instructions 650 may comprise software, a program, an application, an applet, an app, or other executable code for causing at least any of the processors 610 to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein. The instructions 650 may reside, completely or partially, within at least one of the processors 610 (e.g., within the processor’s cache memory), the memory/storage devices 620, or any suitable combination thereof. Furthermore, any portion of the instructions 650 may be transferred to the hardware resources 600 from any combination of the peripheral devices 604 or the databases 606. Accordingly, the memory of processors 610, the memory/storage devices 620, the peripheral devices 604, and the databases 606 are examples of computer-readable and machine-readable media.

[0115] For one or more embodiments, at least one of the components set forth in one or more of the preceding figures may be configured to perform one or more operations, techniques, processes, and/or methods as set forth in the example section below. For example, the baseband circuitry as described above in connection with one or more of the preceding figures may be configured to operate in accordance with one or more of the examples set forth below. For another example, circuitry associated with a UE, base station, network element, etc. as described above in connection with one or more of the preceding figures may be configured to operate in accordance with one or more of the examples set forth below in the example section.

[0116] Fig. 7 shows a process 700 according to an embodiment. At operation 702, the process includes decoding a message from a location management function of a NR network, the message including information regarding assistance data. At operation 704, the process includes determining a selected positioning method. At operation 706, the process includes performing positioning reference signal (PRS) measurements using the selected positioning method. At operation 708, the process includes sending results of the PRS measurements for transmission to the LMF by communications resources.

[0117] Fig. 8 shows a process 800 according to an embodiment. At operation 802, the process includes encoding a message including information regarding assistance data. At operation 804, the process includes sending the message including the information regarding assistance data to communications resources of the LMF device for transmission to a UE. At operation 806, the process includes determining a selected positioning method of the UE. At operation 808, the process includes decoding results of PRS measurements by the UE, the PRS measurements made using the selected positioning method.

[0118] Examples:

[0119] Example 1 includes an apparatus of a New Radio (NR) User Equipment (UE), the apparatus including a memory, and one or more processors coupled to the memory, the memory storing instructions, and the one or more processors to implement the instructions to: decode a message from a location management function of a NR network, the message including information regarding assistance data; determine a selected positioning method; perform positioning reference signal (PRS) measurements using a selected positioning method; and send results of the PRS measurements for transmission to the LMF by communications resources of the UE.

[0120] Example 2 includes the subject matter of Example 1, wherein the information regarding assistance data is included in a system information block (SIB) message.

[0121] Example 3 includes the subject matter of Example 1, wherein the assistance data includes information regarding a priority of positioning methods available for use by the UE based on a quality of service (QoS) for communication with the UE.

[0122] Example 4 includes the subject matter of any one of Examples 1-3, wherein the one or more processors are to provide the results of the PRS measurements to the LMF in a Long Term Evolution Positioning Protocol (LPP) location information message.

[0123] Example 5 includes the subject matter of any one of Examples 1-3, the one or more processors to further decode a message from the LMF including information regarding a quality of service (QoS) for communication with the UE.

[0124] Example 6 includes the subject matter of Example 1, the one or more processors to further determine the selected positioning method by selecting a positioning method based on the assistance data. [0125] Example 7 includes the subject matter of Example 6, the one or more processors to further send information regarding the selected positioning method for transmission to the LMF. [0126] Example 8 includes the subject matter of Example 7, the one or more processors to send the information regarding the positioning method for transmission to a New Radio (NR) Node B (gNB) to cause the gNB to forward the information regarding the positioning method to the LMF. [0127] Example 9 includes the subject matter of Example 1, the one or more processors to further decode a system information block message including information regarding the selected positioning method.

[0128] Example 10 includes the subject matter of any one of Examples 1-3, and 6-9, the one or more processors to further encode for transmission to a NR Node B (gNB) a message to indicate a need for synchronization reference signal (SRS) configuration, send the message to indicate the need for SRS configuration for transmission to the gNB, and decode a message from the gNB including the SRS configuration.

[0129] Example 11 includes the subject matter of Example 10, wherein the message including the SRS configuration includes a system information block (SIB).

[0130] Example 12 includes the subject matter of Example 10, wherein the SRS configuration is from a SRS configuration pool.

[0131] Example 13 includes the subject matter of Example 10, the one or more processors to further send information regarding the SRS configuration for transmission to the LMF.

[0132] Example 14 includes the subject matter of Example 13, the one or more processors to send the information regarding the SRS configuration for transmission to a New Radio (NR) Node B (gNB) to cause the gNB to forward the information regarding the SRS configuration to the LMF. [0133] Example 15 includes the subject matter of any one of Examples 1-3 and 6-9, further including the communications resources.

[0134] Example 16 method to be performed at an apparatus of a New Radio (NR) User Equipment (UE), the method including: decoding a message from a location management function of a NR network, the message including information regarding assistance data; determining a selected positioning method; performing positioning reference signal (PRS) measurements using a selected positioning method; and sending results of the PRS measurements for transmission to the LMF by communications resources of the UE.

[0135] Example 17 includes the subject matter of Example 16, wherein the information regarding assistance data is included in a system information block (SIB) message. [0136] Example 18 includes the subject matter of Example 16, the method including providing the results of the PRS measurements to the LMF in a Long Term Evolution Positioning Protocol (LPP) location information message.

[0137] Example 19 includes the subject matter of Example 16, wherein the assistance data includes information regarding a priority of positioning methods available for use by the UE based on a quality of service (QoS) for communication with the LTE.

[0138] Example 20 includes the subject matter of Example 16, the method further including decoding a message from the LMF including information regarding a quality of service (QoS) for communication with the UE.

[0139] Example 21 includes the subject matter of Example 16, the method further including determining the selected positioning method by selecting a positioning method based on the assistance data.

[0140] Example 22 includes the subject matter of Example 21, the method further including sending information regarding the selected positioning method for transmission to the LMF.

[0141] Example 23 includes the subject matter of Example 22, the method further including sending the information regarding the positioning method for transmission to a New Radio (NR) Node B (gNB) to cause the gNB to forward the information regarding the positioning method to the LMF.

[0142] Example 24 includes the subject matter of Example 16, the method further including decoding a system information block message including information regarding the selected positioning method.

[0143] Example 25 includes the subject matter of Example 16, the method further including encoding for transmission to a NR Node B (gNB) a message to indicate a need for synchronization reference signal (SRS) configuration, sending the message to indicate the need for SRS configuration for transmission to the gNB, and decoding a message from the gNB including the SRS configuration.

[0144] Example 26 includes the subject matter of Example 25, wherein the message including the SRS configuration includes a system information block (SIB).

[0145] Example 27 includes the subject matter of Example 25, wherein the SRS configuration is from a SRS configuration pool.

[0146] Example 28 includes the subject matter of Example 25, the method further including sending information regarding the SRS configuration for transmission to the LMF. [0147] Example 29 includes the subject matter of Example 28, the method further including sending the information regarding the SRS configuration for transmission to a New Radio (NR) Node B (gNB) to cause the gNB to forward the information regarding the SRS configuration to the LMF.

[0148] Example 30 includes the subject matter of Example 16, further including transmitting and receiving messages using the communications resources.

[0149] Example 31 includes an apparatus of a New Radio (NR) location management function (LMF) device, the apparatus including a memory, and one or more processors coupled to the memory, the memory storing instructions, and the one or more processors to implement the instructions to: encode a message including information regarding assistance data; send the message including the information regarding assistance data to communications resources of the LMF device for transmission to the UE; determine a selected positioning method of the UE; and decode results of PRS measurements by the UE, the PRS measurements made using the selected positioning method.

[0150] Example 32 includes the subject matter of Example 31, wherein the information regarding assistance data is included in a system information block (SIB) message.

[0151] Example 33 includes the subject matter of Example 31, wherein the assistance data includes information regarding a priority of positioning methods available for use by the UE based on a quality of service (QoS) for communication with the UE.

[0152] Example 34 includes the subject matter of any one of Examples 31-33, wherein the results of the PRS measurements are in a Long Term Evolution Positioning Protocol (LPP) location information message.

[0153] Example 35 includes the subject matter of any one of Examples 31-33, the one or more processors to further encode a message to the UE including information regarding a quality of service (QoS) for communication with the UE.

[0154] Example 36 includes the subject matter of Example 31, the one or more processors to further determine information sent by the UE regarding the selected positioning method.

[0155] Example 37 includes the subject matter of Example 36, wherein the information sent by the UE is forwarded to the LMF by way of a NR Node B (gNB).

[0156] Example 38 includes the subject matter of Example 31, the one or more processors to further encode for transmission to the UE a system information block message including information regarding the selected positioning method. [0157] Example 39 includes the subject matter of Example 31, the one or more processors to further decode information sent by the UE regarding an SRS configuration of the UE.

[0158] Example 40 includes the subject matter of Example 39, wherein the information sent by the UE regarding the SRS configuration of the UE is forwarded to the LMF by way of a NR Node B (gNB).

[0159] Example 41 includes the subject matter of any one of Examples 31-33 and 36-40, further including the communications resources.

[0160] Example 42 includes a method to be performed at an apparatus of a New Radio (NR) location management function (LMF) device, the method including: encoding a message including information regarding assistance data; sending the message including the information regarding assistance data to communications resources of the LMF device for transmission to the UE; determining a selected positioning method of the UE; and decoding results of PRS measurements by the UE, the PRS measurements made using the selected positioning method.

[0161] Example 43 includes the subject matter of Example 42, wherein the information regarding assistance data is included in a system information block (SIB) message.

[0162] Example 44 includes the subject matter of Example 42, wherein the assistance data includes information regarding a priority of positioning methods available for use by the UE based on a quality of service (QoS) for communication with the UE.

[0163] Example 45 includes the subject matter of any one of Examples 42-44, wherein the results of the PRS measurements are in a Long Term Evolution Positioning Protocol (LPP) location information message.

[0164] Example 46 includes the subject matter of any one of Examples 42-44, the method further including encoding a message to the UE including information regarding a quality of service (QoS) for communication with the UE.

[0165] Example 47 includes the subject matter of Example 42, the method further including determining information sent by the UE regarding the selected positioning method.

[0166] Example 48 includes the subject matter of Example 47, wherein the information sent by the UE is forwarded to the LMF by way of a NR Node B (gNB).

[0167] Example 49 includes the subject matter of Example 42, the method further including encoding for transmission to the UE a system information block message including information regarding the selected positioning method. [0168] Example 50 includes the subject matter of Example 42, the method further including decoding information sent by the UE regarding an SRS configuration of the UE.

[0169] Example 51 includes the subject matter of Example 50, wherein the information sent by the UE regarding the SRS configuration of the UE is forwarded to the LMF by way of a NR Node B (gNB).

[0170] Example 52 includes the subject matter of any one of Examples 42-44 and 47-51, further including the communications resources.

[0171] Example 53 includes a machine readable medium including code, when executed, to cause a machine to perform the method of any one of claims 16-30 and 42-52.

[0172] Example 54 includes an apparatus including means to perform the method of any one of claims 16-30 and 42-52.

[0173] Example Z01 may include an apparatus comprising means to perform one or more elements of a method described in or related to any of examples 12-23 and 26-45, or any other method or process described herein.

[0174] Example Z02 may include one or more non-transitory computer-readable media comprising instructions to cause an electronic device, upon execution of the instructions by one or more processors of the electronic device, to perform one or more elements of a method described in or related to any of examples 12-23 and 26-45, or any other method or process described herein.

[0175] Example Z03 may include an apparatus comprising logic, modules, or circuitry to perform one or more elements of a method described in or related to any of examples 12-23 and 26- 45, or any other method or process described herein.

[0176] Example Z04 may include a method, technique, or process as described in or related to any of the examples above, or portions or parts thereof.

[0177] Example Z05 may include an apparatus comprising: one or more processors and one or more computer-readable media comprising instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the method, techniques, or process as described in or related to any of the example above, or portions thereof.

[0178] Example Z06 may include a signal as described in or related to any of examples 1-8, or portions or parts thereof.

[0179] Example Z07 may include a datagram, packet, frame, segment, protocol data unit (PDU), or message as described in or related to any of examples 1-8, or portions or parts thereof, or otherwise described in the present disclosure. [0180] Example Z08 may include a signal encoded with data as described in or related to any of examples 1-8, or portions or parts thereof, or otherwise described in the present disclosure.

[0181] Example Z09 may include a signal encoded with a datagram, packet, frame, segment, protocol data unit (PDU), or message as described in or related to any of examples 1-8, or portions or parts thereof, or otherwise described in the present disclosure.

[0182] Example Z10 may include an electromagnetic signal carrying computer-readable instructions, wherein execution of the computer-readable instructions by one or more processors is to cause the one or more processors to perform the method, techniques, or process as described in or related to any of examples 1-8, or portions thereof.

[0183] Example Z11 may include a computer program comprising instructions, wherein execution of the program by a processing element is to cause the processing element to carry out the method, techniques, or process as described in or related to any of examples 1-8, or portions thereof.

[0184] Example Z12 may include a signal in a wireless network as shown and described herein.

[0185] Example Z13 may include a method of communicating in a wireless network as shown and described herein.

[0186] Example Z14 may include a system for providing wireless communication as shown and described herein.

[0187] Example Z15 may include a device for providing wireless communication as shown and described herein.

[0188] Any of the above-described examples may be combined with any other example (or combination of examples), unless explicitly stated otherwise. The foregoing description of one or more implementations provides illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the scope of embodiments to the precise form disclosed. Modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings or may be acquired from practice of various embodiments. [0189] Any of the above-described Examples may be combined with any other example (or combination of examples), unless explicitly stated otherwise. Aspects described herein can also implement a hierarchical application of the scheme for example, by introducing a hierarchical prioritization of usage for different types of users (e.g., low/medium/high priority, etc.), based on a prioritized access to the spectrum e.g. with highest priority to tier-1 users, followed by tier-2, then tier-3, etc. users, etc. Some of the features in the present disclosure are defined for network elements (or network equipment) such as Access Points (APs), eNBs, gNBs, core network elements (or network functions), application servers, application functions, etc. Any embodiment discussed herein as being performed by a network element may additionally or alternatively be performed by a UE, or the UE may take the role of the network element (e.g., some or all features defined for network equipment may be implemented by a UE).

[0190] Although these implementations have been described with reference to specific exemplary aspects, it will be evident that various modifications and changes may be made to these aspects without departing from the broader scope of the present disclosure. Many of the arrangements and processes described herein can be used in combination or in parallel implementations to provide greater bandwidth/throughput and to support edge services selections that can be made available to the edge systems being serviced. Accordingly, the specification and drawings are to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense. The accompanying drawings that form a part hereof show, by way of illustration, and not of limitation, specific aspects in which the subject matter may be practiced. The aspects illustrated are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the teachings disclosed herein. Other aspects may be utilized and derived therefrom, such that structural and logical substitutions and changes may be made without departing from the scope of this disclosure. This Detailed Description, therefore, is not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of various aspects is defined only by the appended claims, along with the full range of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.

[0191] Such aspects of the inventive subject matter may be referred to herein, individually and/or collectively, merely for convenience and without intending to voluntarily limit the scope of this application to any single aspect or inventive concept if more than one is in fact disclosed. Thus, although specific aspects have been illustrated and described herein, it should be appreciated that any arrangement calculated to achieve the same purpose may be substituted for the specific aspects shown. This disclosure is intended to cover any and all adaptations or variations of various aspects. Combinations of the above aspects and other aspects not specifically described herein will be apparent to those of skill in the art upon reviewing the above description.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus of a New Radio (NR) User Equipment (UE), the apparatus including a memory, and one or more processors coupled to the memory, the memory storing instructions, and the one or more processors to implement the instructions to: decode a message from a location management function of a NR network, the message including information regarding assistance data; determine a selected positioning method; perform positioning reference signal (PRS) measurements using the selected positioning method; and send results of the PRS measurements for transmission to the LMF by communications resources of the UE.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the information regarding assistance data is included in a system information block (SIB) message.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the assistance data includes information regarding a priority of positioning methods available for use by the UE based on a quality of service (QoS) for communication with the UE.

4. The apparatus of any one of claims 1-3, wherein the one or more processors are to provide the results of the PRS measurements to the LMF in a Long Term Evolution Positioning Protocol (LPP) location information message.

5. The apparatus of any one of claims 1-3, the one or more processors to further decode a message from the LMF including information regarding a quality of service (QoS) for communication with the UE.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, the one or more processors to further determine the selected positioning method by selecting a positioning method based on the assistance data.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, the one or more processors to further send information regarding the selected positioning method for transmission to the LMF.

36

8. The apparatus of claim 7, the one or more processors to send the information regarding the positioning method for transmission to a New Radio (NR) Node B (gNB) to cause the gNB to forward the information regarding the positioning method to the LMF.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, the one or more processors to further decode a system information block message including information regarding the selected positioning method.

10. The apparatus of any one of claims 1-3, and 6-9, the one or more processors to further encode for transmission to a NR Node B (gNB) a message to indicate a need for synchronization reference signal (SRS) configuration, send the message to indicate the need for SRS configuration for transmission to the gNB, and decode a message from the gNB including the SRS configuration.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the message including the SRS configuration includes a system information block (SIB).

12. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the SRS configuration is from a SRS configuration pool.

13. The apparatus of claim 10, the one or more processors to further send information regarding the SRS configuration for transmission to the LMF.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, the one or more processors to send the information regarding the SRS configuration for transmission to a New Radio (NR) Node B (gNB) to cause the gNB to forward the information regarding the SRS configuration to the LMF.

15. The apparatus of any one of claims 1-3 and 6-9, further including the communications resources.

16. A method to be performed at an apparatus of a New Radio (NR) User Equipment (UE), the method including: decoding a message from a location management function of a NR network, the message including information regarding assistance data; determining a selected positioning method; performing positioning reference signal (PRS) measurements using the selected positioning method; and

37 sending results of the PRS measurements for transmission to the LMF by communications resources of the UE.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the information regarding assistance data is included in a system information block (SIB) message.

18. The method of claim 16, the method including providing the results of the PRS measurements to the LMF in a Long Term Evolution Positioning Protocol (LPP) location information message.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein the assistance data includes information regarding a priority of positioning methods available for use by the UE based on a quality of service (QoS) for communication with the UE.

20. The method of claim 16, the method further including decoding a message from the LMF including information regarding a quality of service (QoS) for communication with the UE.

21. The method of claim 16, the method further including determining the selected positioning method by selecting a positioning method based on the assistance data.

22. The method of claim 21, the method further including sending information regarding the selected positioning method for transmission to the LMF.

23. The method of claim 22, the method further including sending the information regarding the positioning method for transmission to a New Radio (NR) Node B (gNB) to cause the gNB to forward the information regarding the positioning method to the LMF.

24. A machine readable medium including code, when executed, to cause a machine to perform the method of any one of claims 16-23

25. An apparatus including means to perform the method of any one of claims 16-23.