WO2022061617A1 - Positioning reference signal transmission triggered by sounding reference signal - Google Patents

Positioning reference signal transmission triggered by sounding reference signal Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2022061617A1
WO2022061617A1 PCT/CN2020/117229 CN2020117229W WO2022061617A1 WO 2022061617 A1 WO2022061617 A1 WO 2022061617A1 CN 2020117229 W CN2020117229 W CN 2020117229W WO 2022061617 A1 WO2022061617 A1 WO 2022061617A1
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WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
transmission
reference signal
positioning reference
configuration information
determination
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/CN2020/117229
Other languages
French (fr)
Inventor
Claudio Rosa
Ryan Keating
Tao Tao
Timo Erkki Lunttila
Benny Vejlgaard
Original Assignee
Nokia Shanghai Bell Co., Ltd.
Nokia Solutions And Networks Oy
Nokia Technologies Oy
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Nokia Shanghai Bell Co., Ltd., Nokia Solutions And Networks Oy, Nokia Technologies Oy filed Critical Nokia Shanghai Bell Co., Ltd.
Priority to PCT/CN2020/117229 priority Critical patent/WO2022061617A1/en
Priority to CN202111107070.3A priority patent/CN114258130A/en
Publication of WO2022061617A1 publication Critical patent/WO2022061617A1/en

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    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L5/00—Arrangements affording multiple use of the transmission path
    • H04L5/003—Arrangements for allocating sub-channels of the transmission path
    • H04L5/0048—Allocation of pilot signals, i.e. of signals known to the receiver
    • H04L5/005—Allocation of pilot signals, i.e. of signals known to the receiver of common pilots, i.e. pilots destined for multiple users or terminals
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01S—RADIO DIRECTION-FINDING; RADIO NAVIGATION; DETERMINING DISTANCE OR VELOCITY BY USE OF RADIO WAVES; LOCATING OR PRESENCE-DETECTING BY USE OF THE REFLECTION OR RERADIATION OF RADIO WAVES; ANALOGOUS ARRANGEMENTS USING OTHER WAVES
    • G01S5/00—Position-fixing by co-ordinating two or more direction or position line determinations; Position-fixing by co-ordinating two or more distance determinations
    • G01S5/02—Position-fixing by co-ordinating two or more direction or position line determinations; Position-fixing by co-ordinating two or more distance determinations using radio waves
    • G01S5/0205—Details
    • G01S5/0236—Assistance data, e.g. base station almanac
    • G—PHYSICS
    • G01—MEASURING; TESTING
    • G01S—RADIO DIRECTION-FINDING; RADIO NAVIGATION; DETERMINING DISTANCE OR VELOCITY BY USE OF RADIO WAVES; LOCATING OR PRESENCE-DETECTING BY USE OF THE REFLECTION OR RERADIATION OF RADIO WAVES; ANALOGOUS ARRANGEMENTS USING OTHER WAVES
    • G01S5/00—Position-fixing by co-ordinating two or more direction or position line determinations; Position-fixing by co-ordinating two or more distance determinations
    • G01S5/02—Position-fixing by co-ordinating two or more direction or position line determinations; Position-fixing by co-ordinating two or more distance determinations using radio waves
    • G01S5/0205—Details
    • G01S5/0244—Accuracy or reliability of position solution or of measurements contributing thereto
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
    • H04W4/00—Services specially adapted for wireless communication networks; Facilities therefor
    • H04W4/02—Services making use of location information
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
    • H04W64/00—Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management

Definitions

  • Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to the field of telecommunication and in particular to devices, methods, apparatuses and computer readable storage media of Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) transmission in unlicensed band triggered by Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) .
  • PRS Positioning Reference Signal
  • SRS Sounding Reference Signal
  • NR New Radio
  • Some solutions are specified for NR positioning in release 16.
  • the solutions may comprise Downlink Time Difference of Arrival (DL-TDOA) , Uplink Time Difference of Arrival (UL-TDOA) , Downlink Angle of Departure (DL-AoD) , Uplink Angle of Arrival (UL-AoA) , Enhanced Cell ID (E-CID) , and Multi-cell Round Trip Time (Multi-RTT) . All these positioning mechanisms rely on the transmission/reception of PRS in downlink and/or SRS in uplink.
  • DL-TDOA Downlink Time Difference of Arrival
  • UL-TDOA Uplink Time Difference of Arrival
  • DL-AoD Downlink Angle of Departure
  • U-AoA Uplink Angle of Arrival
  • E-CID Enhanced Cell ID
  • Multi-RTT Multi-cell Round Trip Time
  • LBT Listen Before Talk
  • example embodiments of the present disclosure provide a solution of transmission of the second positioning reference signal in unlicensed band triggered by SRS.
  • a first device comprising at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program codes; the at least one memory and the computer program codes are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the first device at least to receive, from a second device, configuration information for a transmission of the first positioning reference signal from the first device and at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal associated with the transmission of the first positioning reference signal; in accordance with a determination that a positioning estimation based on the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal is required, perform the transmission of the first positioning reference signal based on the configuration information; and monitor the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal based on the configuration information, the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal being triggered, based on a detection of the transmission of the first positioning reference signal, from at least one of the second device or at least one third device.
  • a second device comprising at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program codes; the at least one memory and the computer program codes are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the second device at least to transmit, to a first device and at least one third device, configuration information for a SRS, from the first device and at least one PRS, transmission associated with the transmission of the first positioning reference signal, detect the transmission of the first positioning reference signal based on the configuration information; and cause the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal to the first device to be triggered based on the detection of the transmission of the first positioning reference signal.
  • a third device comprises at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program codes; the at least one memory and the computer program codes are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the third device at least to receive, from a second device, configuration information for a transmission of the first positioning reference signal from a first device and at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal associated with the transmission of the first positioning reference signal, detect the transmission of the first positioning reference signal based on the configuration information; and cause the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal to the first device to be triggered based on the detection of the transmission of the first positioning reference signal.
  • a method comprises receiving, from a second device, configuration information for a transmission of the first positioning reference signal from the first device and at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal associated with the transmission of the first positioning reference signal; in accordance with a determination that a positioning estimation based on the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal is required, performing the transmission of the first positioning reference signal based on the configuration information; and detecting the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal based on the configuration information, the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal being triggered, based on a detection of the transmission of the first positioning reference signal, from at least one of the second device or at least one third device.
  • a method comprises transmitting, to a first device and at least one third device, configuration information for a SRS, from the first device and at least one PRS, transmission associated with the transmission of the first positioning reference signal, detecting the transmission of the first positioning reference signal based on the configuration information; and causing the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal to the first device to be triggered based on the detection of the transmission of the first positioning reference signal.
  • a method comprising receiving from a second device, configuration information for a transmission of the first positioning reference signal from a first device and at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal associated with the transmission of the first positioning reference signal, detecting the transmission of the first positioning reference signal based on the configuration information; and causing the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal to the first device to be triggered based on the detection of the transmission of the first positioning reference signal.
  • an apparatus comprising means for receiving, from a second device, configuration information for a transmission of the first positioning reference signal from the first device and at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal associated with the transmission of the first positioning reference signal; in accordance with a determination that a positioning estimation based on the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal is required, means for performing the transmission of the first positioning reference signal based on the configuration information; and means for detecting the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal based on the configuration information, the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal being triggered, based on a detection of the transmission of the first positioning reference signal, from at least one of the second device or at least one third device.
  • an apparatus comprising means for transmitting, to a first device and at least one third device, configuration information for a SRS, from the first device and at least one PRS, transmission associated with the transmission of the first positioning reference signal, means for detecting the transmission of the first positioning reference signal based on the configuration information; and means for causing the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal to the first device to be triggered based on the detection of the transmission of the first positioning reference signal.
  • an apparatus comprising means for receiving from a second device, configuration information for a transmission of the first positioning reference signal from a first device and at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal associated with the transmission of the first positioning reference signal, means for detecting the transmission of the first positioning reference signal based on the configuration information; and means for causing the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal to the first device to be triggered based on the detection of the transmission of the first positioning reference signal.
  • a computer readable medium having a computer program stored thereon which, when executed by at least one processor of a device, causes the device to carry out the method according to the fourth aspect.
  • a computer readable medium having a computer program stored thereon which, when executed by at least one processor of a device, causes the device to carry out the method according to the fifth aspect.
  • a computer readable medium having a computer program stored thereon which, when executed by at least one processor of a device, causes the device to carry out the method according to the sixth aspect.
  • FIG. 1 illustrates an example environment in which example embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented
  • FIG. 2 shows a signaling chart illustrating a process of PRS transmission in unlicensed band triggered by SRS according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure
  • FIG. 3 shows a flowchart of an example method of PRS transmission in unlicensed band triggered by SRS according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure
  • FIG. 4 shows a flowchart of an example method of PRS transmission in unlicensed band triggered by SRS according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure
  • FIG. 5 shows a flowchart of an example method of PRS transmission in unlicensed band triggered by SRS according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure
  • FIG. 6 shows a simplified block diagram of a device that is suitable for implementing example embodiments of the present disclosure.
  • FIG. 7 shows a block diagram of an example computer readable medium in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.
  • references in the present disclosure to “one embodiment, ” “an embodiment, ” “an example embodiment, ” and the like indicate that the embodiment described may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but it is not necessary that every embodiment includes the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment. Further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with an example embodiment, it is submitted that it is within the knowledge of one skilled in the art to affect such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodiments whether or not explicitly described.
  • circuitry may refer to one or more or all of the following:
  • circuitry also covers an implementation of merely a hardware circuit or processor (or multiple processors) or portion of a hardware circuit or processor and its (or their) accompanying software and/or firmware.
  • circuitry also covers, for example and if applicable to the particular claim element, a baseband integrated circuit or processor integrated circuit for a mobile device or a similar integrated circuit in server, a cellular network device, or other computing or network device.
  • the term “communication network” refers to a network following any suitable communication standards, such as fifth generation (5G) systems, Long Term Evolution (LTE) , LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) , Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) , High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA) , Narrow Band Internet of Things (NB-IoT) and so on.
  • 5G fifth generation
  • LTE Long Term Evolution
  • LTE-A LTE-Advanced
  • WCDMA Wideband Code Division Multiple Access
  • HSPA High-Speed Packet Access
  • NB-IoT Narrow Band Internet of Things
  • the communications between a terminal device and a network device in the communication network may be performed according to any suitable generation communication protocols, including, but not limited to, the first generation (1G) , the second generation (2G) , 2.5G, 2.75G, the third generation (3G) , the fourth generation (4G) , 4.5G, the future fifth generation (5G) new radio (NR) communication protocols, and/or any other protocols either currently known or to be developed in the future.
  • suitable generation communication protocols including, but not limited to, the first generation (1G) , the second generation (2G) , 2.5G, 2.75G, the third generation (3G) , the fourth generation (4G) , 4.5G, the future fifth generation (5G) new radio (NR) communication protocols, and/or any other protocols either currently known or to be developed in the future.
  • Embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied in various communication systems. Given the rapid development in communications, there will of course also be future type communication technologies and systems with which the present disclosure may be embodied. It should not be seen as limiting the
  • the term “network device” refers to a node in a communication network via which a terminal device accesses the network and receives services therefrom.
  • the network device may refer to a base station (BS) or an access point (AP) , for example, a node B (NodeB or NB) , an evolved NodeB (eNodeB or eNB) , a NR Next Generation NodeB (gNB) , a Remote Radio Unit (RRU) , a radio header (RH) , a remote radio head (RRH) , a relay, a low power node such as a femto, a pico, and so forth, depending on the applied terminology and technology.
  • BS base station
  • AP access point
  • NodeB or NB node B
  • eNodeB or eNB evolved NodeB
  • gNB Next Generation NodeB
  • RRU Remote Radio Unit
  • RH radio header
  • RRH remote radio head
  • relay a
  • a RAN split architecture comprises a gNB-CU (Centralized unit, hosting RRC, SDAP and PDCP) controlling a plurality of gNB-DUs (Distributed unit, hosting RLC, MAC and PHY) .
  • a relay node may correspond to DU part of the IAB node.
  • terminal device refers to any end device that may be capable of wireless communication.
  • a terminal device may also be referred to as a communication device, user equipment (UE) , a subscriber station (SS) , a portable subscriber station, a mobile station (MS) , or an access terminal (AT) .
  • UE user equipment
  • SS subscriber station
  • MS mobile station
  • AT access terminal
  • the terminal device may include, but not limited to, a mobile phone, a cellular phone, a smart phone, voice over IP (VoIP) phones, wireless local loop phones, a tablet, a wearable terminal device, a personal digital assistant (PDA) , portable computers, desktop computer, image capture terminal devices such as digital cameras, gaming terminal devices, music storage and playback appliances, vehicle-mounted wireless terminal devices, wireless endpoints, mobile stations, laptop-embedded equipment (LEE) , laptop-mounted equipment (LME) , USB dongles, smart devices, wireless customer-premises equipment (CPE) , an Internet of Things (IoT) device, a watch or other wearable, a head-mounted display (HMD) , a vehicle, a drone, a medical device and applications (e.g., remote surgery) , an industrial device and applications (e.g., a robot and/or other wireless devices operating in an industrial and/or an automated processing chain contexts) , a consumer electronics device, a device operating on commercial and/
  • the terminal device may also correspond to Mobile Termination (MT) part of the integrated access and backhaul (IAB) node (a.k.a. a relay node) .
  • MT Mobile Termination
  • IAB integrated access and backhaul
  • the terms “terminal device” , “communication device” , “terminal” , “user equipment” and “UE” may be used interchangeably.
  • a user equipment apparatus such as a cell phone or tablet computer or laptop computer or desktop computer or mobile IoT device or fixed IoT device
  • This user equipment apparatus can, for example, be furnished with corresponding capabilities as described in connection with the fixed and/or the wireless network node (s) , as appropriate.
  • the user equipment apparatus may be the user equipment and/or or a control device, such as a chipset or processor, configured to control the user equipment when installed therein. Examples of such functionalities include the bootstrapping server function and/or the home subscriber server, which may be implemented in the user equipment apparatus by providing the user equipment apparatus with software configured to cause the user equipment apparatus to perform from the point of view of these functions/nodes.
  • FIG. 1 shows an example communication network 100 in which embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented.
  • the communication network 100 may comprise a terminal device 110 (hereinafter may also be referred to as UE 110 or a first device 110) .
  • the communication network 100 may further comprise a network device 120-1 (hereinafter may also be referred to as a serving gNB 120-1 or a second device 120-1) .
  • the network device 120-1 may be the serving gNB of the terminal device 110.
  • the terminal device 110 may communicate with the network device 120-1.
  • the communication network 100 may further comprise network device 120-2.
  • the network device 120-2 can be considered as a neighbor gNB of the serving gNB 120-1 (hereinafter may also be referred to as a neighbor gNB 120-2) , which may communicate with the serving gNB 120-1 and the terminal device 110.
  • the communication network 100 may include any suitable number of network devices and terminal devices.
  • DL-TDOA positioning techniques rely on the Rx time difference from PRS measured by the UE, which are synchronously transmitted by different gNBs. Such techniques are therefore significantly impacted in case the PRS transmission by at least one of the gNBs is delayed due to LBT.
  • the present disclosure provides solutions of PRS transmission in unlicensed band triggered by a positioning reference signal transmitted from the UE, to ensure PRS scheduling without the impact of LBT in unlicensed spectrum.
  • the serving gNB may transmit a configuration of a positioning reference signal to the UE, which is associated with at least one PRS transmission from at least one of the gNBs involved in the positioning procedure.
  • the UE may transmit the positioning reference signal, such as a SRS.
  • the gNBs involved in the positioning procedure may detect the SRS transmission from the UE and transmit a PRS to the UE based on the detection.
  • FIG. 2 show a schematic process of PRS transmission in unlicensed band triggered by SRS.
  • the process 200 will be described with reference to FIG. 1.
  • the process 200 may involve the UE 110, the serving gNB 120-1 and the neighbour gNB 120-2 as illustrated in FIG. 1.
  • the serving gNB 120-1 may determine configuration information for a transmission of a positioning reference signal from the UE 110.
  • the positioning reference signal transmitted from the UE 110 may be referred to as a SRS.
  • the configuration information may comprise time and frequency resources for the SRS transmission, SRS sequence to be used for the SRS transmission, a time advance (TA) value for the SRS transmission, a SRS transmission window and the Channel Access Priority Class (CAPC) to be used for a LBT procedure performed at the UE 110 before the SRS transmission.
  • TA time advance
  • CAC Channel Access Priority Class
  • a specific SRS sequence may be configured to be used to trigger PRS transmission,
  • the configuration information may be associated with PRS transmissions from the serving gNB 120-1 and the at least one of the neighbour gNBs involved in the positioning procedure 120-2. That is, the SRS, transmitted from the UE 110 based on the configuration information, may trigger the serving gNB 120-1 and the at least one of the neighbour gNBs involved in the positioning procedure 120-2 to transmit the PRS.
  • the SRS transmitted from the UE 110 based on the configuration information may also be referred to as “the trigger SRS. ”
  • the serving gNB 120-1 may transmit 202 the configuration information for a transmission of SRS to the UE 110. Meanwhile, the serving gNB 120-1 may also transmit further configuration information for a PRS transmission along with the configuration information for the SRS transmission to the UE 110. It is to be understood that the configuration information can be transmitted from the serving gNB 120-1 to the UE 110 directly. Alternatively, the configuration information can also be transmitted from the serving gNB 120-1 to the UE 110 via Location Management Function (LMF) . In Radio Access Network, the configuration information can also be transmitted to the UE 110 via Location Management Component (LMC) . Similarly, the configuration information can be transmitted from the serving gNB 120-1 to the neighbour gNB 120-2 directly or via LMF or LMC.
  • LMF Location Management Function
  • LMC Location Management Component
  • the configuration information can also be transmitted from the serving gNB 120-1 to other related UEs.
  • the UE 110 or a subset of the UEs receiving the trigger SRS configuration can be configured to transmit the trigger SRS.
  • Other UEs may only be required to monitor for detection of the trigger SRS to prepare for reception of the DL PRS.
  • the gNBs may be used by the gNBs to transmit the PRS.
  • the trigger SRS may ideally be heard by all the desired gNBs.
  • the serving gNB may also determine which UE should be selected to send the trigger SRS.
  • the gNB may obtain a set of property parameters of the UE 110.
  • the set of property parameters may comprise at least one of an estimation of a prior location of the UE 110, a mobility report of the UE 110, a current time advance value of the UE 110, and a power level of the UE 110 for transmitting a previous sounding reference signal.
  • the LMF may assist the serving gNB to select the UE from which the trigger SRS is to be transmitted or the gNB may determine the target UE based on its own knowledge.
  • the UE 110 may, for example, obtain a time window for the SRS transmission, during which there may be one or more transmission occasions for transmitting the SRS. Within the time window, the UE 110 may determine 206 a COT to be shared with the serving gNB or other related gNBs for a PRS transmission by performing a LBT procedure for the SRS transmission.
  • the LBT procedure for the SRS transmission performed at the UE may be referred to as the Type 1 LBT, i.e. LBT with exponential back-off.
  • the UE 110 may obtain CAPC from the SRS configuration and perform the Type 1 LBT based on the CAPC.
  • the UE 110 may obtain the COT and transmit 208 the SRS to the serving gNB120-1 and the at least one neighbour gNB 120-2 based on the COT.
  • the serving gNB 120-1 may monitor 212 the SRS transmission from the UE based on the configuration information for the SRS transmission.
  • Other related gNBs for example, the neighbour gNB 120-2, may also monitor 214 the SRS transmission from the UE, if the other related gNBs have been received the configuration information for the SRS transmission.
  • the serving gNB 120-1 and the at least one neighbour gNB 120-2 may determine a time window for the SRS transmission from the configuration information and detect the SRS transmission from the UE 110 during the time window.
  • other related UEs may also detect the SRS transmission from the UE 110, to prepare for reception of the DL PRS transmission from the serving gNB 120-1 or other related gNB.
  • the serving gNB 120-1 may determine the COT initiated by the UE 110 and initiate transmission of the PRS associated to the trigger SRS within the COT.
  • the serving gNB 120-1 determines that the received signal power strength (RSRP) of the SRS exceeds a threshold level.
  • RSRP received signal power strength
  • the serving gNB 120-1 may, for example, determine the duration of a gap between the end of the trigger SRS transmission and the start of the next PRS transmission based on the configuration information for the SRS transmission.
  • the serving gNB 120-1 may determine the type of LBT procedure to be performed at the serving gNB 120-1 based on the duration of the gap.
  • the serving gNB 120-1 may perform a Type2C LBT. In this case, if the LBT procedure is successful, the serving gNB 120-1 may transmit PRS without performing energy detection and the duration of PRS should be less than 584 ⁇ s. In some example embodiments, if the gap is exactly 16 ⁇ s, the serving gNB 120-1 can apply Type2B LBT prior to PRS transmission. In some example embodiments, if the gap equals to or greater than 25 ⁇ s, the serving gNB 120-1 may perform Type2A LBT prior to PRS transmission.
  • the serving gNB 120-1 may not detect the SRS transmission. In this case, the serving gNB 120-1 may perform a Type1 LBT.
  • the serving gNB 120-1 may drop PRS transmission and wait for a new trigger SRS. Alternatively, the serving gNB 120-1 may be allowed to attempt PRS transmission multiple times in the configured transmission occasions within the obtained COT.
  • the PRS transmission may only be allowed to be performed within the trigger SRS transmission window.
  • an additional PRS transmission window may be configured for the PRS transmission.
  • the PRS transmission window may be explicitly or implicitly configured to be the same as the channel occupancy time COT.
  • the TA value of the UE may also impact the type of the LBT procedure.
  • the gNB should know the TA applied by the UE to ensure the gap is of a certain length. Assuming only cell-specific TA is used (i.e. small cells) , this can be signaled to the gNBs involved in the positioning procedure (other than the serving gNB) with the trigger SRS configuration. Alternatively, the gNBs participating in positioning on a given area may negotiate and agree upon a TA value to use for the UEs in all the cells. In case of UE-specific TA, to avoid signaling of UE-specific TA values among gNBs, other gNBs involved in the positioning procedure could assume worst case value for the TA.
  • the serving gNB 120-1 may transmit 216 the PRS to the UE 110.
  • the neighbor gNB 120-2 may also detect the SRS transmitted from the UE 110 and transmit 218 the PRS to the UE 110 based on the detection of the SRS transmission.
  • the procedure for detecting the SRS transmission from the UE 110, the procedure for triggering at least one PRS transmission from the neighbor gNB 120-2 to the UE 110 based on the detection of the SRS transmission and the procedure for performing a LBT before the at least one PRS transmission at the neighbor gNB 120-2 are same or similar with those of the serving gNB, as mentioned above, which will not be repeated.
  • the UE 110 may transmit 220 the trigger SRS again after performing a LBT procedure.
  • the LBT type can be Type2A, Type2B or Type2C LBT. In this way, an additional PRS transmission by one or more gNBs can be triggered and therefore, for example, the accuracy of DL TDOA measurements at the UE can be improved.
  • the UE 110 may attempt a transmission of new trigger SRS.
  • Back-to-back SRS-PRS-SRS transmissions could be repeated as many times as necessary, within the UE–acquired COT, to achieve the required time accuracy of measurements or to ensure enough gNBs are involved in the process by the end.
  • the UE 110 may attempt a transmission of new trigger SRS.
  • the PRS trigger could also come along with CG-UCI (i.e. UL control associated with configured grant transmissions) .
  • CG-UCI i.e. UL control associated with configured grant transmissions
  • One advantage of using CG-UCI is that it allows for longer gNB processing time (from detection of trigger RS to transmission of PRS) while still using Type2C LBT.
  • the UE can share the initiated COT with responding gNBs, thus mitigating the impact of LBT procedure on the transmission of PRS, as well as potential hidden-node problem at the UE.
  • transmission of periodic PRS in unlicensed spectrum can be reduced, hence interference over unlicensed is also reduced.
  • FIG. 3 shows a flowchart of an example method 300 of transmission of the second positioning reference signal in unlicensed band triggered by SRS according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure.
  • the method 300 can be implemented at the first device 110 as shown in FIG. 1.
  • the method 500 will be described with reference to FIG. 1.
  • the first device receives, from a second device, configuration information for transmission of the first positioning reference signal from the first device and at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal associated with the transmission of the first positioning reference signal.
  • the first device determines a positioning estimation based on the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal is required, the first device performs the transmission of the first positioning reference signal based on the configuration information.
  • the first device monitors the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal based on the configuration information, the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal being triggered, based on a detection of the transmission of the first positioning reference signal, from at least one of the second device or at least one third device.
  • the configuration information comprises at least one of a first time window within which the transmission of the first positioning reference signal is allowed to be performed, a second time window within which a reception of the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal is performed at the first device; at least one of a channel access type or a priority class for a listen before talk procedure to be performed at the first device before the transmission of the first positioning reference signal, and a time advance value for the transmission of the first positioning reference signal.
  • the first device may obtain, from the configuration information, a first time window within which the transmission of the first positioning reference signal is allowed to be performed and perform a listen before talk procedure based on at least one of a channel access type or a priority class before the first time window starts. If the first device determines that the listen before talk procedure is successful, the first device may determine a channel occupancy time to be shared with at least one of the second device and the at least one third device; and performing the transmission of the first positioning reference signal based on the channel occupancy time.
  • the first device may determine whether a receiving power level of the second positioning reference signal is lower than a threshold level. If the first device determines that the receiving power level is lower than a threshold level, the first device may perform a further transmission of the first positioning reference signal.
  • the first device may determine whether a level of a reference signal time difference quality associated with the second positioning reference signal is lower than a threshold level. If the first device determines that the level of the reference signal time difference quality is lower than a threshold level, the first device may perform a further transmission of the first positioning reference signal.
  • FIG. 4 shows a flowchart of an example method 400 of transmission of the second positioning reference signal in unlicensed band triggered by SRS according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure.
  • the method 400 can be implemented at the second device 120-1 as shown in FIG. 1. For the purpose of discussion, the method 400 will be described with reference to FIG. 1.
  • the second device transmits, to a first device and at least one third device, configuration information for transmission of the first positioning reference signal from the first device and at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal associated with the transmission of the first positioning reference signal.
  • the second device detect the transmission of the first positioning reference signal based on the configuration information
  • the second device causes the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal to the first device to be triggered based on the detection of the transmission of the first positioning reference signal.
  • the configuration information comprises at least one of a first time window within which the transmission of the first positioning reference signal is allowed to be performed, a second time window within which a reception of the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal is performed at the first device; at least one of a channel access type or a priority class for a listen before talk procedure to be performed at the first device before the transmission of the first positioning reference signal, and a time advance value for the transmission of the first positioning reference signal.
  • the second device may obtain, from the configuration information, a first time window within which the transmission of the first positioning reference signal is allowed to be performed; and detect the transmission of the first positioning reference signal within the first time window.
  • the second device may obtain a channel occupancy time shared with at least one of the second device and the at least one third device and cause the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal to be triggered within the channel occupancy time.
  • the second device may determine, based on the configuration information, a duration of a gap between an end time point of the transmission of the first positioning reference signal and a start time point of the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal within the channel occupancy time and determine a type of a listen before talk procedure to be performed based on the duration of the gap. If the second device determines that the determined type of the listen before talk procedure is successful, the second device may cause the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal to be triggered
  • the second device may perform a first type of the listen before talk procedure.
  • the second device may perform a second type of the listen before talk procedure, the second threshold gap being greater than the first threshold gap.
  • the second device may determine a subsequent transmission occasion for a subsequent transmission of the second positioning reference signal within the channel occupancy time and cause the subsequent transmission of the second positioning reference signal to be triggered based on the subsequent transmission occasion.
  • the second device may performing a third type of a listen before talk procedure. If the second device determines that the third type of the listen before talk procedure is successful, the second device may cause the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal to be triggered.
  • the second device may determine whether the transmission of the first positioning reference signal is to be initiated from the first device based on a set of property parameters of the first device. If the second device determines that the transmission of the first positioning reference signal is to be initiated from the first device, the second device may transmit the configuration information to the first device.
  • the set of property parameters comprises at least one of an estimation of a prior location of the first device, a mobility report of the first device, a current time advance value of the first device, and a power level of the first device for a previous transmission of the first positioning reference signal.
  • FIG. 5 shows a flowchart of an example method 500 of transmission of the second positioning reference signal in unlicensed band triggered by SRS according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure.
  • the method 500 can be implemented at the third device 120-2 as shown in FIG. 1.
  • the method 400 will be described with reference to FIG. 1.
  • the third device receives, from the second device, configuration information for transmission of the first positioning reference signal from the first device and at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal associated with the transmission of the first positioning reference signal.
  • the third device detects the transmission of the first positioning reference signal based on the configuration information
  • the third device causes the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal to the first device to be triggered based on the detection of the transmission of the first positioning reference signal.
  • the third device may obtain, from the configuration information, a first time window within which the transmission of the first positioning reference signal is allowed to be performed; and detect the transmission of the first positioning reference signal within the first time window.
  • the third device may obtain a channel occupancy time shared with at least one of the second device and the at least one third device and cause the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal to be triggered within the channel occupancy time.
  • the third device may determine, based on the configuration information, a duration of a gap between an end time point of the transmission of the first positioning reference signal and a start time point of the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal within the channel occupancy time and determine a type of a listen before talk procedure to be performed based on the duration of the gap. If the third device determines that the determined type of the listen before talk procedure is successful, the third device may cause the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal to be triggered
  • the third device may perform a first type of the listen before talk procedure.
  • the third device may perform a second type of the listen before talk procedure, the second threshold gap being greater than the first threshold gap.
  • the third device may determine a subsequent transmission occasion for a subsequent transmission of the second positioning reference signal within the channel occupancy time and cause the subsequent transmission of the second positioning reference signal to be triggered based on the subsequent transmission occasion.
  • the third device may performing a third type of a listen before talk procedure. If the third device determines that the third type of the listen before talk procedure is successful, the third device may cause the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal to be triggered.
  • an apparatus capable of performing the method 300 may comprise means for performing the respective steps of the method 300.
  • the means may be implemented in any suitable form.
  • the means may be implemented in a circuitry or software module.
  • the apparatus comprises means for receiving, from a second device, configuration information for a transmission of the first positioning reference signal from the first device and at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal associated with the transmission of the first positioning reference signal; in accordance with a determination that a positioning estimation based on the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal is required, means for performing the transmission of the first positioning reference signal based on the configuration information; and means for detecting the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal based on the configuration information, the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal being triggered, based on a detection of the transmission of the first positioning reference signal, from at least one of the second device or at least one third device.
  • an apparatus capable of performing the method 400 may comprise means for performing the respective steps of the method 400.
  • the means may be implemented in any suitable form.
  • the means may be implemented in a circuitry or software module.
  • the apparatus comprises means for transmitting, to a first device and at least one third device, configuration information for a SRS, from the first device and at least one PRS, transmission associated with the transmission of the first positioning reference signal, means for detecting the transmission of the first positioning reference signal based on the configuration information; and means for causing the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal to the first device to be triggered based on the detection of the transmission of the first positioning reference signal.
  • an apparatus capable of performing the method 500 may comprise means for performing the respective steps of the method 500.
  • the means may be implemented in any suitable form.
  • the means may be implemented in a circuitry or software module.
  • the apparatus comprises means for receiving from a second device, configuration information for a transmission of the first positioning reference signal from a first device and at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal associated with the transmission of the first positioning reference signal, means for detecting the transmission of the first positioning reference signal based on the configuration information; and means for causing the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal to the first device to be triggered based on the detection of the transmission of the first positioning reference signal.
  • FIG. 6 is a simplified block diagram of a device 600 that is suitable for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure.
  • the device 600 may be provided to implement the communication device, for example the UE 110, the serving gNB 120-1 and the neighbour gNB 120-2 as shown in FIG. 1.
  • the device 600 includes one or more processors 610, one or more memories 640 coupled to the processor 610, and one or more transmitters and/or receivers (TX/RX) 640 coupled to the processor 610.
  • TX/RX transmitters and/or receivers
  • the TX/RX 640 is for bidirectional communications.
  • the TX/RX 640 has at least one antenna to facilitate communication.
  • the communication interface may represent any interface that is necessary for communication with other network elements.
  • the processor 610 may be of any type suitable to the local technical network and may include one or more of the following: general purpose computers, special purpose computers, microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs) and processors based on multicore processor architecture, as non-limiting examples.
  • the device 600 may have multiple processors, such as an application specific integrated circuit chip that is slaved in time to a clock which synchronizes the main processor.
  • the memory 620 may include one or more non-volatile memories and one or more volatile memories.
  • the non-volatile memories include, but are not limited to, a Read Only Memory (ROM) 624, an electrically programmable read only memory (EPROM) , a flash memory, a hard disk, a compact disc (CD) , a digital video disk (DVD) , and other magnetic storage and/or optical storage.
  • the volatile memories include, but are not limited to, a random access memory (RAM) 622 and other volatile memories that will not last in the power-down duration.
  • a computer program 630 includes computer executable instructions that are executed by the associated processor 610.
  • the program 630 may be stored in the ROM 620.
  • the processor 610 may perform any suitable actions and processing by loading the program 630 into the RAM 620.
  • the embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented by means of the program 630 so that the device 600 may perform any process of the disclosure as discussed with reference to FIGs. 2 to 5.
  • the embodiments of the present disclosure may also be implemented by hardware or by a combination of software and hardware.
  • the program 630 may be tangibly contained in a computer readable medium which may be included in the device 600 (such as in the memory 620) or other storage devices that are accessible by the device 600.
  • the device 600 may load the program 630 from the computer readable medium to the RAM 622 for execution.
  • the computer readable medium may include any types of tangible non-volatile storage, such as ROM, EPROM, a flash memory, a hard disk, CD, DVD, and the like.
  • FIG. 6. shows an example of the computer readable medium 600 in form of CD or DVD.
  • the computer readable medium has the program 630 stored thereon.
  • various embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in hardware or special purpose circuits, software, logic or any combination thereof. Some aspects may be implemented in hardware, while other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software which may be executed by a controller, microprocessor or other computing device. While various aspects of embodiments of the present disclosure are illustrated and described as block diagrams, flowcharts, or using some other pictorial representations, it is to be understood that the block, device, system, technique or method described herein may be implemented in, as non-limiting examples, hardware, software, firmware, special purpose circuits or logic, general purpose hardware or controller or other computing devices, or some combination thereof.
  • the present disclosure also provides at least one computer program product tangibly stored on a non-transitory computer readable storage medium.
  • the computer program product includes computer-executable instructions, such as those included in program modules, being executed in a device on a target real or virtual processor, to carry out the methods 300-500 as described above with reference to FIGs. 3-5.
  • program modules include routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, or the like that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types.
  • the functionality of the program modules may be combined or split between program modules as desired in various embodiments.
  • Machine-executable instructions for program modules may be executed within a local or distributed device. In a distributed device, program modules may be located in both local and remote storage media.
  • Program code for carrying out methods of the present disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. These program codes may be provided to a processor or controller of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing device, such that the program codes, when executed by the processor or controller, cause the functions/operations specified in the flowcharts and/or block diagrams to be implemented.
  • the program code may execute entirely on a machine, partly on the machine, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the machine and partly on a remote machine or entirely on the remote machine or server.
  • the computer program codes or related data may be carried by any suitable carrier to enable the device, device or processor to perform various processes and operations as described above.
  • Examples of the carrier include a signal, computer readable medium, and the like.
  • the computer readable medium may be a computer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium.
  • a computer readable medium may include but not limited to an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, device, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples of the computer readable storage medium would include an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM) , a read-only memory (ROM) , an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory) , an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) , an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

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Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to devices, methods, apparatuses and computer readable storage media of transmission of the second positioning reference signal in unlicensed band triggered by SRS. The method comprises receiving from a second device, configuration information for a transmission of the first positioning reference signal from the first device and at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal associated with the transmission of the first positioning reference signal; in accordance with a determination that a positioning estimation based on the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal is required, performing the transmission of the first positioning reference signal based on the configuration information; and detecting the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal based on the configuration information, the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal being triggered, based on a detection of the transmission of the first positioning reference signal, from at least one of the following the second device; or at least one third device. In this way, by using specific SRS configuration to trigger transmission of the second positioning reference signal in unlicensed spectrum, the UE can share the initiated COT with responding gNBs, thus mitigating the impact of LBT procedure on the transmission of PRS, as well as potential hidden-node problem at the UE. At the same time, transmission of periodic PRS in unlicensed spectrum can be reduced, hence interference over unlicensed is also reduced.

Description

POSITIONING REFERENCE SIGNAL TRANSMISSION TRIGGERED BY SOUNDING REFERENCE SIGNAL FIELD
Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to the field of telecommunication and in particular to devices, methods, apparatuses and computer readable storage media of Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) transmission in unlicensed band triggered by Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) .
BACKGROUND
The native positioning has been supported in New Radio (NR) . Some solutions are specified for NR positioning in release 16. For example, the solutions may comprise Downlink Time Difference of Arrival (DL-TDOA) , Uplink Time Difference of Arrival (UL-TDOA) , Downlink Angle of Departure (DL-AoD) , Uplink Angle of Arrival (UL-AoA) , Enhanced Cell ID (E-CID) , and Multi-cell Round Trip Time (Multi-RTT) . All these positioning mechanisms rely on the transmission/reception of PRS in downlink and/or SRS in uplink.
Support for NR-based access to unlicensed spectrum (NR-U) was also introduced in release 16. The NR operation in unlicensed bands relies on the transmitting device sensing the radio resources before commencing transmission. This technique is known as Listen Before Talk (LBT) . Different types of LBT procedures, such as Type 1 LBT, Type 2A/2B LBT and Type 2C LBT, have been defined for NR-based access to unlicensed spectrum.
SUMMARY
In general, example embodiments of the present disclosure provide a solution of transmission of the second positioning reference signal in unlicensed band triggered by SRS.
In a first aspect, there is provided a first device. The first device comprises at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program codes; the at least one memory and the computer program codes are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the first device at least to receive, from a second device, configuration  information for a transmission of the first positioning reference signal from the first device and at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal associated with the transmission of the first positioning reference signal; in accordance with a determination that a positioning estimation based on the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal is required, perform the transmission of the first positioning reference signal based on the configuration information; and monitor the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal based on the configuration information, the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal being triggered, based on a detection of the transmission of the first positioning reference signal, from at least one of the second device or at least one third device.
In a second aspect, there is provided a second device. The second device comprises at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program codes; the at least one memory and the computer program codes are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the second device at least to transmit, to a first device and at least one third device, configuration information for a SRS, from the first device and at least one PRS, transmission associated with the transmission of the first positioning reference signal, detect the transmission of the first positioning reference signal based on the configuration information; and cause the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal to the first device to be triggered based on the detection of the transmission of the first positioning reference signal.
In a third aspect, there is provided a third device. The third device comprises at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program codes; the at least one memory and the computer program codes are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the third device at least to receive, from a second device, configuration information for a transmission of the first positioning reference signal from a first device and at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal associated with the transmission of the first positioning reference signal, detect the transmission of the first positioning reference signal based on the configuration information; and cause the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal to the first device to be triggered based on the detection of the transmission of the first positioning reference signal.
In a fourth aspect, there is provided a method. The method comprises receiving, from a second device, configuration information for a transmission of the first positioning reference signal from the first device and at least one transmission of the second positioning  reference signal associated with the transmission of the first positioning reference signal; in accordance with a determination that a positioning estimation based on the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal is required, performing the transmission of the first positioning reference signal based on the configuration information; and detecting the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal based on the configuration information, the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal being triggered, based on a detection of the transmission of the first positioning reference signal, from at least one of the second device or at least one third device.
In a fifth aspect, there is provided a method. The method comprises transmitting, to a first device and at least one third device, configuration information for a SRS, from the first device and at least one PRS, transmission associated with the transmission of the first positioning reference signal, detecting the transmission of the first positioning reference signal based on the configuration information; and causing the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal to the first device to be triggered based on the detection of the transmission of the first positioning reference signal.
In a sixth aspect, there is provided a method. The method comprise receiving from a second device, configuration information for a transmission of the first positioning reference signal from a first device and at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal associated with the transmission of the first positioning reference signal, detecting the transmission of the first positioning reference signal based on the configuration information; and causing the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal to the first device to be triggered based on the detection of the transmission of the first positioning reference signal.
In a seventh aspect, there is provided an apparatus comprising means for receiving, from a second device, configuration information for a transmission of the first positioning reference signal from the first device and at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal associated with the transmission of the first positioning reference signal; in accordance with a determination that a positioning estimation based on the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal is required, means for performing the transmission of the first positioning reference signal based on the configuration information; and means for detecting the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal based on the configuration information, the at least one transmission of the  second positioning reference signal being triggered, based on a detection of the transmission of the first positioning reference signal, from at least one of the second device or at least one third device.
In an eighth aspect, there is provided an apparatus comprising means for transmitting, to a first device and at least one third device, configuration information for a SRS, from the first device and at least one PRS, transmission associated with the transmission of the first positioning reference signal, means for detecting the transmission of the first positioning reference signal based on the configuration information; and means for causing the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal to the first device to be triggered based on the detection of the transmission of the first positioning reference signal.
In a ninth aspect, there is provided an apparatus comprising means for receiving from a second device, configuration information for a transmission of the first positioning reference signal from a first device and at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal associated with the transmission of the first positioning reference signal, means for detecting the transmission of the first positioning reference signal based on the configuration information; and means for causing the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal to the first device to be triggered based on the detection of the transmission of the first positioning reference signal.
In a tenth aspect, there is provided a computer readable medium having a computer program stored thereon which, when executed by at least one processor of a device, causes the device to carry out the method according to the fourth aspect.
In an eleventh aspect, there is provided a computer readable medium having a computer program stored thereon which, when executed by at least one processor of a device, causes the device to carry out the method according to the fifth aspect.
In a twelfth aspect, there is provided a computer readable medium having a computer program stored thereon which, when executed by at least one processor of a device, causes the device to carry out the method according to the sixth aspect.
Other features and advantages of the embodiments of the present disclosure will also be apparent from the following description of specific embodiments when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate, by way of example, the principles of embodiments of the disclosure.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Embodiments of the disclosure are presented in the sense of examples and their advantages are explained in greater detail below, with reference to the accompanying drawings, where
FIG. 1 illustrates an example environment in which example embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented;
FIG. 2 shows a signaling chart illustrating a process of PRS transmission in unlicensed band triggered by SRS according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;
FIG. 3 shows a flowchart of an example method of PRS transmission in unlicensed band triggered by SRS according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;
FIG. 4 shows a flowchart of an example method of PRS transmission in unlicensed band triggered by SRS according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;
FIG. 5 shows a flowchart of an example method of PRS transmission in unlicensed band triggered by SRS according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;
FIG. 6 shows a simplified block diagram of a device that is suitable for implementing example embodiments of the present disclosure; and
FIG. 7 shows a block diagram of an example computer readable medium in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.
Throughout the drawings, the same or similar reference numerals represent the same or similar element.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Principle of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to some example embodiments. It is to be understood that these embodiments are described only for the purpose of illustration and help those skilled in the art to understand and implement the present disclosure, without suggesting any limitation as to the scope of the disclosure. The disclosure described herein can be implemented in various manners other than the ones described below.
In the following description and claims, unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skills in the art to which this disclosure belongs.
References in the present disclosure to “one embodiment, ” “an embodiment, ” “an example embodiment, ” and the like indicate that the embodiment described may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but it is not necessary that every embodiment includes the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment. Further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with an example embodiment, it is submitted that it is within the knowledge of one skilled in the art to affect such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodiments whether or not explicitly described.
It shall be understood that although the terms “first” and “second” etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish functionalities of various elements. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the listed terms.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of example embodiments. As used herein, the singular forms “a” , “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” , “comprising” , “has” , “having” , “includes” and/or “including” , when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, elements, and/or components etc., but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components and/or combinations thereof.
As used in this application, the term “circuitry” may refer to one or more or all of the following:
(a) hardware-only circuit implementations (such as implementations in only analog and/or digital circuitry) and
(b) combinations of hardware circuits and software, such as (as applicable) :
(i) a combination of analog and/or digital hardware circuit (s) with software/firmware and
(ii) any portions of hardware processor (s) with software (including digital signal processor (s) ) , software, and memory (ies) that work together to cause an apparatus, such as a mobile phone or server, to perform various functions) and
(c) hardware circuit (s) and or processor (s) , such as a microprocessor (s) or a portion of a microprocessor (s) , that requires software (e.g., firmware) for operation, but the software may not be present when it is not needed for operation.
This definition of circuitry applies to all uses of this term in this application, including in any claims. As a further example, as used in this application, the term circuitry also covers an implementation of merely a hardware circuit or processor (or multiple processors) or portion of a hardware circuit or processor and its (or their) accompanying software and/or firmware. The term circuitry also covers, for example and if applicable to the particular claim element, a baseband integrated circuit or processor integrated circuit for a mobile device or a similar integrated circuit in server, a cellular network device, or other computing or network device.
As used herein, the term “communication network” refers to a network following any suitable communication standards, such as fifth generation (5G) systems, Long Term Evolution (LTE) , LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) , Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) , High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA) , Narrow Band Internet of Things (NB-IoT) and so on. Furthermore, the communications between a terminal device and a network device in the communication network may be performed according to any suitable generation communication protocols, including, but not limited to, the first generation (1G) , the second generation (2G) , 2.5G, 2.75G, the third generation (3G) , the fourth generation (4G) , 4.5G, the future fifth generation (5G) new radio (NR) communication protocols, and/or any other protocols either currently known or to be developed in the future. Embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied in various communication systems. Given the rapid development in communications, there will of course also be future type communication technologies and systems with which the present disclosure may be embodied. It should not be seen as limiting the scope of the present disclosure to only the aforementioned system.
As used herein, the term “network device” refers to a node in a communication network via which a terminal device accesses the network and receives services therefrom. The network device may refer to a base station (BS) or an access point (AP) , for example, a  node B (NodeB or NB) , an evolved NodeB (eNodeB or eNB) , a NR Next Generation NodeB (gNB) , a Remote Radio Unit (RRU) , a radio header (RH) , a remote radio head (RRH) , a relay, a low power node such as a femto, a pico, and so forth, depending on the applied terminology and technology. A RAN split architecture comprises a gNB-CU (Centralized unit, hosting RRC, SDAP and PDCP) controlling a plurality of gNB-DUs (Distributed unit, hosting RLC, MAC and PHY) . A relay node may correspond to DU part of the IAB node.
The term “terminal device” refers to any end device that may be capable of wireless communication. By way of example rather than limitation, a terminal device may also be referred to as a communication device, user equipment (UE) , a subscriber station (SS) , a portable subscriber station, a mobile station (MS) , or an access terminal (AT) . The terminal device may include, but not limited to, a mobile phone, a cellular phone, a smart phone, voice over IP (VoIP) phones, wireless local loop phones, a tablet, a wearable terminal device, a personal digital assistant (PDA) , portable computers, desktop computer, image capture terminal devices such as digital cameras, gaming terminal devices, music storage and playback appliances, vehicle-mounted wireless terminal devices, wireless endpoints, mobile stations, laptop-embedded equipment (LEE) , laptop-mounted equipment (LME) , USB dongles, smart devices, wireless customer-premises equipment (CPE) , an Internet of Things (IoT) device, a watch or other wearable, a head-mounted display (HMD) , a vehicle, a drone, a medical device and applications (e.g., remote surgery) , an industrial device and applications (e.g., a robot and/or other wireless devices operating in an industrial and/or an automated processing chain contexts) , a consumer electronics device, a device operating on commercial and/or industrial wireless networks, and the like. The terminal device may also correspond to Mobile Termination (MT) part of the integrated access and backhaul (IAB) node (a.k.a. a relay node) . In the following description, the terms “terminal device” , “communication device” , “terminal” , “user equipment” and “UE” may be used interchangeably.
Although functionalities described herein can be performed, in various example embodiments, in a fixed and/or a wireless network node, in other example embodiments, functionalities may be implemented in a user equipment apparatus (such as a cell phone or tablet computer or laptop computer or desktop computer or mobile IoT device or fixed IoT device) . This user equipment apparatus can, for example, be furnished with corresponding capabilities as described in connection with the fixed and/or the wireless network node (s) ,  as appropriate. The user equipment apparatus may be the user equipment and/or or a control device, such as a chipset or processor, configured to control the user equipment when installed therein. Examples of such functionalities include the bootstrapping server function and/or the home subscriber server, which may be implemented in the user equipment apparatus by providing the user equipment apparatus with software configured to cause the user equipment apparatus to perform from the point of view of these functions/nodes.
FIG. 1 shows an example communication network 100 in which embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented. As shown in FIG. 1, the communication network 100 may comprise a terminal device 110 (hereinafter may also be referred to as UE 110 or a first device 110) . The communication network 100 may further comprise a network device 120-1 (hereinafter may also be referred to as a serving gNB 120-1 or a second device 120-1) . The network device 120-1 may be the serving gNB of the terminal device 110. The terminal device 110 may communicate with the network device 120-1.
Furthermore, the communication network 100 may further comprise network device 120-2. The network device 120-2 can be considered as a neighbor gNB of the serving gNB 120-1 (hereinafter may also be referred to as a neighbor gNB 120-2) , which may communicate with the serving gNB 120-1 and the terminal device 110.
It is to be understood that the number of network devices and terminal devices shown in FIG. 1 is given for the purpose of illustration without suggesting any limitations. The communication network 100 may include any suitable number of network devices and terminal devices.
On the unlicensed spectrum, transmission of periodic signals needs to be minimized to avoid unnecessary interference. On the other hand, accurate positioning estimation may require frequent transmission of PRS and therefore significant signaling overhead. Therefore, a solution of non-periodic PRS transmissions may be desirable.
Moreover, DL-TDOA positioning techniques rely on the Rx time difference from PRS measured by the UE, which are synchronously transmitted by different gNBs. Such techniques are therefore significantly impacted in case the PRS transmission by at least one of the gNBs is delayed due to LBT.
Therefore, the present disclosure provides solutions of PRS transmission in unlicensed band triggered by a positioning reference signal transmitted from the UE, to  ensure PRS scheduling without the impact of LBT in unlicensed spectrum. In this solution, the serving gNB may transmit a configuration of a positioning reference signal to the UE, which is associated with at least one PRS transmission from at least one of the gNBs involved in the positioning procedure. Based on the configuration of a positioning reference signal, the UE may transmit the positioning reference signal, such as a SRS. Then, the gNBs involved in the positioning procedure may detect the SRS transmission from the UE and transmit a PRS to the UE based on the detection.
Principle and implementations of the present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to FIG. 2, which show a schematic process of PRS transmission in unlicensed band triggered by SRS. For the purpose of discussion, the process 200 will be described with reference to FIG. 1. The process 200 may involve the UE 110, the serving gNB 120-1 and the neighbour gNB 120-2 as illustrated in FIG. 1.
The serving gNB 120-1 may determine configuration information for a transmission of a positioning reference signal from the UE 110. Hereinafter the positioning reference signal transmitted from the UE 110 may be referred to as a SRS. For example, the configuration information may comprise time and frequency resources for the SRS transmission, SRS sequence to be used for the SRS transmission, a time advance (TA) value for the SRS transmission, a SRS transmission window and the Channel Access Priority Class (CAPC) to be used for a LBT procedure performed at the UE 110 before the SRS transmission. In some example embodiments, a specific SRS sequence may be configured to be used to trigger PRS transmission,
The configuration information may be associated with PRS transmissions from the serving gNB 120-1 and the at least one of the neighbour gNBs involved in the positioning procedure 120-2. That is, the SRS, transmitted from the UE 110 based on the configuration information, may trigger the serving gNB 120-1 and the at least one of the neighbour gNBs involved in the positioning procedure 120-2 to transmit the PRS. Thus, hereinafter the SRS transmitted from the UE 110 based on the configuration information may also be referred to as “the trigger SRS. ”
As shown in FIG. 2, the serving gNB 120-1 may transmit 202 the configuration information for a transmission of SRS to the UE 110. Meanwhile, the serving gNB 120-1 may also transmit further configuration information for a PRS transmission along with the configuration information for the SRS transmission to the UE 110. It is to be understood  that the configuration information can be transmitted from the serving gNB 120-1 to the UE 110 directly. Alternatively, the configuration information can also be transmitted from the serving gNB 120-1 to the UE 110 via Location Management Function (LMF) . In Radio Access Network, the configuration information can also be transmitted to the UE 110 via Location Management Component (LMC) . Similarly, the configuration information can be transmitted from the serving gNB 120-1 to the neighbour gNB 120-2 directly or via LMF or LMC.
In some example embodiments, it is also possible that the configuration information can also be transmitted from the serving gNB 120-1 to other related UEs. In this case, only one UE, for example, the UE 110 (or a subset of the UEs) receiving the trigger SRS configuration can be configured to transmit the trigger SRS. Other UEs may only be required to monitor for detection of the trigger SRS to prepare for reception of the DL PRS.
As a Channel Occupancy Time initiated by the UE and shared with the gNBs may be used by the gNBs to transmit the PRS. The trigger SRS may ideally be heard by all the desired gNBs. Thus, the serving gNB may also determine which UE should be selected to send the trigger SRS.
In some example embodiments, for the UE 110, the gNB may obtain a set of property parameters of the UE 110. The set of property parameters may comprise at least one of an estimation of a prior location of the UE 110, a mobility report of the UE 110, a current time advance value of the UE 110, and a power level of the UE 110 for transmitting a previous sounding reference signal. The LMF may assist the serving gNB to select the UE from which the trigger SRS is to be transmitted or the gNB may determine the target UE based on its own knowledge.
If the UE 110 determines a position estimation based on PRS is to be performed at the UE 110, based on the SRS configuration, the UE 110 may, for example, obtain a time window for the SRS transmission, during which there may be one or more transmission occasions for transmitting the SRS. Within the time window, the UE 110 may determine 206 a COT to be shared with the serving gNB or other related gNBs for a PRS transmission by performing a LBT procedure for the SRS transmission.
In this case, the LBT procedure for the SRS transmission performed at the UE may be referred to as the Type 1 LBT, i.e. LBT with exponential back-off. The UE 110 may  obtain CAPC from the SRS configuration and perform the Type 1 LBT based on the CAPC.
If the LBT procedure is successful, the UE 110 may obtain the COT and transmit 208 the SRS to the serving gNB120-1 and the at least one neighbour gNB 120-2 based on the COT.
The serving gNB 120-1 may monitor 212 the SRS transmission from the UE based on the configuration information for the SRS transmission. Other related gNBs, for example, the neighbour gNB 120-2, may also monitor 214 the SRS transmission from the UE, if the other related gNBs have been received the configuration information for the SRS transmission.
For example, the serving gNB 120-1 and the at least one neighbour gNB 120-2 may determine a time window for the SRS transmission from the configuration information and detect the SRS transmission from the UE 110 during the time window.
In some example embodiments, other related UEs may also detect the SRS transmission from the UE 110, to prepare for reception of the DL PRS transmission from the serving gNB 120-1 or other related gNB.
In some example embodiments, if the serving gNB 120-1 detects the trigger SRS transmission from the UE 110, the serving gNB 120-1 may determine the COT initiated by the UE 110 and initiate transmission of the PRS associated to the trigger SRS within the COT.
In some example embodiments, only when the serving gNB 120-1 determines that the received signal power strength (RSRP) of the SRS exceeds a threshold level, the gNB 120-1 determines that the SRS is received.
In some example embodiments, if the serving gNB 120-1 detects the trigger SRS transmission from the UE 110 and the PRS transmission is to be initiated by the serving gNB 120-1, the serving gNB 120-1 may, for example, determine the duration of a gap between the end of the trigger SRS transmission and the start of the next PRS transmission based on the configuration information for the SRS transmission. The serving gNB 120-1 may determine the type of LBT procedure to be performed at the serving gNB 120-1 based on the duration of the gap.
In some example embodiments, if the gap is less than 16μs, the serving gNB 120-1 may perform a Type2C LBT. In this case, if the LBT procedure is successful, the serving  gNB 120-1 may transmit PRS without performing energy detection and the duration of PRS should be less than 584μs. In some example embodiments, if the gap is exactly 16 μs, the serving gNB 120-1 can apply Type2B LBT prior to PRS transmission. In some example embodiments, if the gap equals to or greater than 25μs, the serving gNB 120-1 may perform Type2A LBT prior to PRS transmission.
In some example embodiments, it is possible that the serving gNB 120-1 may not detect the SRS transmission. In this case, the serving gNB 120-1 may perform a Type1 LBT.
If the LBT procedure performed at the serving gNB 120-1 fails, the serving gNB 120-1 may drop PRS transmission and wait for a new trigger SRS. Alternatively, the serving gNB 120-1 may be allowed to attempt PRS transmission multiple times in the configured transmission occasions within the obtained COT.
In some example embodiments, the PRS transmission may only be allowed to be performed within the trigger SRS transmission window. In some example embodiments, an additional PRS transmission window may be configured for the PRS transmission. In some example embodiments, the PRS transmission window may be explicitly or implicitly configured to be the same as the channel occupancy time COT.
Furthermore, the TA value of the UE may also impact the type of the LBT procedure. The gNB should know the TA applied by the UE to ensure the gap is of a certain length. Assuming only cell-specific TA is used (i.e. small cells) , this can be signaled to the gNBs involved in the positioning procedure (other than the serving gNB) with the trigger SRS configuration. Alternatively, the gNBs participating in positioning on a given area may negotiate and agree upon a TA value to use for the UEs in all the cells. In case of UE-specific TA, to avoid signaling of UE-specific TA values among gNBs, other gNBs involved in the positioning procedure could assume worst case value for the TA.
After the LBT procedure is successful at the serving gNB 120-1, the serving gNB 120-1 may transmit 216 the PRS to the UE 110.
It is to be understood that other related gNBs, for example, the neighbor gNB 120-2 may also detect the SRS transmitted from the UE 110 and transmit 218 the PRS to the UE 110 based on the detection of the SRS transmission. The procedure for detecting the SRS transmission from the UE 110, the procedure for triggering at least one PRS transmission from the neighbor gNB 120-2 to the UE 110 based on the detection of the SRS  transmission and the procedure for performing a LBT before the at least one PRS transmission at the neighbor gNB 120-2 are same or similar with those of the serving gNB, as mentioned above, which will not be repeated.
If the UE 110 receives the PRS from the serving gNB 120-1 or the neighbour gNB 120-2, in some example embodiments, if the time point at which the PRS is received is still within the time window for the SRS transmission or the COT initiated by the UE 110, the UE may transmit 220 the trigger SRS again after performing a LBT procedure. In this case, the LBT type can be Type2A, Type2B or Type2C LBT. In this way, an additional PRS transmission by one or more gNBs can be triggered and therefore, for example, the accuracy of DL TDOA measurements at the UE can be improved.
In some example embodiments, if the UE 110 determines that RSRP of the received PRS is lower than a threshold level, the UE 110 may attempt a transmission of new trigger SRS.
Back-to-back SRS-PRS-SRS transmissions could be repeated as many times as necessary, within the UE–acquired COT, to achieve the required time accuracy of measurements or to ensure enough gNBs are involved in the process by the end.
In some example embodiments, if the UE 110 determines that the transmission of the PRS was delayed by LBT, the UE 110 may attempt a transmission of new trigger SRS.
Alternative to SRS, the PRS trigger could also come along with CG-UCI (i.e. UL control associated with configured grant transmissions) . There can be e.g. a specific CG-PUSCH configuration that is dedicated for transmission of a positioning request by a UE. One advantage of using CG-UCI is that it allows for longer gNB processing time (from detection of trigger RS to transmission of PRS) while still using Type2C LBT.
In this way, by using specific SRS configuration to trigger PRS transmission in unlicensed spectrum, the UE can share the initiated COT with responding gNBs, thus mitigating the impact of LBT procedure on the transmission of PRS, as well as potential hidden-node problem at the UE. At the same time, transmission of periodic PRS in unlicensed spectrum can be reduced, hence interference over unlicensed is also reduced.
It is to be understood that the solution proposed in the present disclosure may also be adopted for the transmission of other reference signal used for positioning in unlicensed bands between the UE and gNBs.
FIG. 3 shows a flowchart of an example method 300 of transmission of the second positioning reference signal in unlicensed band triggered by SRS according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. The method 300 can be implemented at the first device 110 as shown in FIG. 1. For the purpose of discussion, the method 500 will be described with reference to FIG. 1.
At 310, the first device receives, from a second device, configuration information for transmission of the first positioning reference signal from the first device and at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal associated with the transmission of the first positioning reference signal.
At 320, if the first device determines a positioning estimation based on the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal is required, the first device performs the transmission of the first positioning reference signal based on the configuration information.
At 330, the first device monitors the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal based on the configuration information, the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal being triggered, based on a detection of the transmission of the first positioning reference signal, from at least one of the second device or at least one third device..
In some example embodiments, the configuration information comprises at least one of a first time window within which the transmission of the first positioning reference signal is allowed to be performed, a second time window within which a reception of the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal is performed at the first device; at least one of a channel access type or a priority class for a listen before talk procedure to be performed at the first device before the transmission of the first positioning reference signal, and a time advance value for the transmission of the first positioning reference signal.
In some example embodiments, the first device may obtain, from the configuration information, a first time window within which the transmission of the first positioning reference signal is allowed to be performed and perform a listen before talk procedure based on at least one of a channel access type or a priority class before the first time window starts. If the first device determines that the listen before talk procedure is successful, the first device may determine a channel occupancy time to be shared with at  least one of the second device and the at least one third device; and performing the transmission of the first positioning reference signal based on the channel occupancy time.
In some example embodiments, if the first device determines that the second positioning reference signal is received, the first device may determine whether a receiving power level of the second positioning reference signal is lower than a threshold level. If the first device determines that the receiving power level is lower than a threshold level, the first device may perform a further transmission of the first positioning reference signal.
In some example embodiments, if the first device determines that the second positioning reference signal is received, the first device may determine whether a level of a reference signal time difference quality associated with the second positioning reference signal is lower than a threshold level. If the first device determines that the level of the reference signal time difference quality is lower than a threshold level, the first device may perform a further transmission of the first positioning reference signal.
FIG. 4 shows a flowchart of an example method 400 of transmission of the second positioning reference signal in unlicensed band triggered by SRS according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. The method 400 can be implemented at the second device 120-1 as shown in FIG. 1. For the purpose of discussion, the method 400 will be described with reference to FIG. 1.
At 410, the second device transmits, to a first device and at least one third device, configuration information for transmission of the first positioning reference signal from the first device and at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal associated with the transmission of the first positioning reference signal.
At 420, the second device detect the transmission of the first positioning reference signal based on the configuration information
At 430, the second device causes the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal to the first device to be triggered based on the detection of the transmission of the first positioning reference signal.
In some example embodiments, the configuration information comprises at least one of a first time window within which the transmission of the first positioning reference signal is allowed to be performed, a second time window within which a reception of the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal is performed at the first device; at least one of a channel access type or a priority class for a listen before talk  procedure to be performed at the first device before the transmission of the first positioning reference signal, and a time advance value for the transmission of the first positioning reference signal.
In some example embodiments, the second device may obtain, from the configuration information, a first time window within which the transmission of the first positioning reference signal is allowed to be performed; and detect the transmission of the first positioning reference signal within the first time window.
In some example embodiments, if the second device determines that transmission of the first positioning reference signal is successfully detected, the second device may obtain a channel occupancy time shared with at least one of the second device and the at least one third device and cause the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal to be triggered within the channel occupancy time.
In some example embodiments, the second device may determine, based on the configuration information, a duration of a gap between an end time point of the transmission of the first positioning reference signal and a start time point of the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal within the channel occupancy time and determine a type of a listen before talk procedure to be performed based on the duration of the gap. If the second device determines that the determined type of the listen before talk procedure is successful, the second device may cause the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal to be triggered
In some example embodiments, if the second device determines that the duration of the gap is lower than a first threshold duration, the second device may perform a first type of the listen before talk procedure.
In some example embodiments, if the second device determines that the duration of the gap equals to a first threshold duration or exceed a second threshold duration, the second device may perform a second type of the listen before talk procedure, the second threshold gap being greater than the first threshold gap.
In some example embodiments, if the second device determines that the determined type of the listen before talk procedure is unsuccessful, the second device may determine a subsequent transmission occasion for a subsequent transmission of the second positioning reference signal within the channel occupancy time and cause the subsequent transmission of the second positioning reference signal to be triggered based on the  subsequent transmission occasion.
In some example embodiments, if the second device determines that the transmission of the first positioning reference signal is unsuccessfully detected, the second device may performing a third type of a listen before talk procedure. If the second device determines that the third type of the listen before talk procedure is successful, the second device may cause the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal to be triggered.
In some example embodiments, the second device may determine whether the transmission of the first positioning reference signal is to be initiated from the first device based on a set of property parameters of the first device. If the second device determines that the transmission of the first positioning reference signal is to be initiated from the first device, the second device may transmit the configuration information to the first device.
In some example embodiments, the set of property parameters comprises at least one of an estimation of a prior location of the first device, a mobility report of the first device, a current time advance value of the first device, and a power level of the first device for a previous transmission of the first positioning reference signal.
FIG. 5 shows a flowchart of an example method 500 of transmission of the second positioning reference signal in unlicensed band triggered by SRS according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. The method 500 can be implemented at the third device 120-2 as shown in FIG. 1. For the purpose of discussion, the method 400 will be described with reference to FIG. 1.
At 510, the third device receives, from the second device, configuration information for transmission of the first positioning reference signal from the first device and at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal associated with the transmission of the first positioning reference signal.
At 520, the third device detects the transmission of the first positioning reference signal based on the configuration information
At 530, the third device causes the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal to the first device to be triggered based on the detection of the transmission of the first positioning reference signal.
In some example embodiments, the third device may obtain, from the  configuration information, a first time window within which the transmission of the first positioning reference signal is allowed to be performed; and detect the transmission of the first positioning reference signal within the first time window.
In some example embodiments, if the third device determines that transmission of the first positioning reference signal is successfully detected, the third device may obtain a channel occupancy time shared with at least one of the second device and the at least one third device and cause the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal to be triggered within the channel occupancy time.
In some example embodiments, the third device may determine, based on the configuration information, a duration of a gap between an end time point of the transmission of the first positioning reference signal and a start time point of the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal within the channel occupancy time and determine a type of a listen before talk procedure to be performed based on the duration of the gap. If the third device determines that the determined type of the listen before talk procedure is successful, the third device may cause the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal to be triggered
In some example embodiments, if the third device determines that the duration of the gap is lower than a first threshold duration, the third device may perform a first type of the listen before talk procedure.
In some example embodiments, if the third device determines that the duration of the gap equals to a first threshold duration or exceed a second threshold duration, the third device may perform a second type of the listen before talk procedure, the second threshold gap being greater than the first threshold gap.
In some example embodiments, if the third device determines that the determined type of the listen before talk procedure is unsuccessful, the third device may determine a subsequent transmission occasion for a subsequent transmission of the second positioning reference signal within the channel occupancy time and cause the subsequent transmission of the second positioning reference signal to be triggered based on the subsequent transmission occasion.
In some example embodiments, if the third device determines that the transmission of the first positioning reference signal is unsuccessfully detected, the third device may performing a third type of a listen before talk procedure. If the third device determines  that the third type of the listen before talk procedure is successful, the third device may cause the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal to be triggered.
In some example embodiments, an apparatus capable of performing the method 300 (for example, implemented at the UE 110) may comprise means for performing the respective steps of the method 300. The means may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the means may be implemented in a circuitry or software module.
In some example embodiments, the apparatus comprises means for receiving, from a second device, configuration information for a transmission of the first positioning reference signal from the first device and at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal associated with the transmission of the first positioning reference signal; in accordance with a determination that a positioning estimation based on the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal is required, means for performing the transmission of the first positioning reference signal based on the configuration information; and means for detecting the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal based on the configuration information, the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal being triggered, based on a detection of the transmission of the first positioning reference signal, from at least one of the second device or at least one third device.
In some example embodiments, an apparatus capable of performing the method 400 (for example, implemented at the serving gNB 120-1) may comprise means for performing the respective steps of the method 400. The means may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the means may be implemented in a circuitry or software module.
In some example embodiments, the apparatus comprises means for transmitting, to a first device and at least one third device, configuration information for a SRS, from the first device and at least one PRS, transmission associated with the transmission of the first positioning reference signal, means for detecting the transmission of the first positioning reference signal based on the configuration information; and means for causing the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal to the first device to be triggered based on the detection of the transmission of the first positioning reference signal.
In some example embodiments, an apparatus capable of performing the method  500 (for example, implemented at the neighbour gNB 120-2) may comprise means for performing the respective steps of the method 500. The means may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the means may be implemented in a circuitry or software module.
In some example embodiments, the apparatus comprises means for receiving from a second device, configuration information for a transmission of the first positioning reference signal from a first device and at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal associated with the transmission of the first positioning reference signal, means for detecting the transmission of the first positioning reference signal based on the configuration information; and means for causing the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal to the first device to be triggered based on the detection of the transmission of the first positioning reference signal.
FIG. 6 is a simplified block diagram of a device 600 that is suitable for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure. The device 600 may be provided to implement the communication device, for example the UE 110, the serving gNB 120-1 and the neighbour gNB 120-2 as shown in FIG. 1. As shown, the device 600 includes one or more processors 610, one or more memories 640 coupled to the processor 610, and one or more transmitters and/or receivers (TX/RX) 640 coupled to the processor 610.
The TX/RX 640 is for bidirectional communications. The TX/RX 640 has at least one antenna to facilitate communication. The communication interface may represent any interface that is necessary for communication with other network elements.
The processor 610 may be of any type suitable to the local technical network and may include one or more of the following: general purpose computers, special purpose computers, microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs) and processors based on multicore processor architecture, as non-limiting examples. The device 600 may have multiple processors, such as an application specific integrated circuit chip that is slaved in time to a clock which synchronizes the main processor.
The memory 620 may include one or more non-volatile memories and one or more volatile memories. Examples of the non-volatile memories include, but are not limited to, a Read Only Memory (ROM) 624, an electrically programmable read only memory (EPROM) , a flash memory, a hard disk, a compact disc (CD) , a digital video disk (DVD) , and other magnetic storage and/or optical storage. Examples of the volatile memories  include, but are not limited to, a random access memory (RAM) 622 and other volatile memories that will not last in the power-down duration.
A computer program 630 includes computer executable instructions that are executed by the associated processor 610. The program 630 may be stored in the ROM 620. The processor 610 may perform any suitable actions and processing by loading the program 630 into the RAM 620.
The embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented by means of the program 630 so that the device 600 may perform any process of the disclosure as discussed with reference to FIGs. 2 to 5. The embodiments of the present disclosure may also be implemented by hardware or by a combination of software and hardware.
In some embodiments, the program 630 may be tangibly contained in a computer readable medium which may be included in the device 600 (such as in the memory 620) or other storage devices that are accessible by the device 600. The device 600 may load the program 630 from the computer readable medium to the RAM 622 for execution. The computer readable medium may include any types of tangible non-volatile storage, such as ROM, EPROM, a flash memory, a hard disk, CD, DVD, and the like. FIG. 6. shows an example of the computer readable medium 600 in form of CD or DVD. The computer readable medium has the program 630 stored thereon.
Generally, various embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in hardware or special purpose circuits, software, logic or any combination thereof. Some aspects may be implemented in hardware, while other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software which may be executed by a controller, microprocessor or other computing device. While various aspects of embodiments of the present disclosure are illustrated and described as block diagrams, flowcharts, or using some other pictorial representations, it is to be understood that the block, device, system, technique or method described herein may be implemented in, as non-limiting examples, hardware, software, firmware, special purpose circuits or logic, general purpose hardware or controller or other computing devices, or some combination thereof.
The present disclosure also provides at least one computer program product tangibly stored on a non-transitory computer readable storage medium. The computer program product includes computer-executable instructions, such as those included in program modules, being executed in a device on a target real or virtual processor, to carry  out the methods 300-500 as described above with reference to FIGs. 3-5. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, or the like that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. The functionality of the program modules may be combined or split between program modules as desired in various embodiments. Machine-executable instructions for program modules may be executed within a local or distributed device. In a distributed device, program modules may be located in both local and remote storage media.
Program code for carrying out methods of the present disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. These program codes may be provided to a processor or controller of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing device, such that the program codes, when executed by the processor or controller, cause the functions/operations specified in the flowcharts and/or block diagrams to be implemented. The program code may execute entirely on a machine, partly on the machine, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the machine and partly on a remote machine or entirely on the remote machine or server.
In the context of the present disclosure, the computer program codes or related data may be carried by any suitable carrier to enable the device, device or processor to perform various processes and operations as described above. Examples of the carrier include a signal, computer readable medium, and the like.
The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium. A computer readable medium may include but not limited to an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, device, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples of the computer readable storage medium would include an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM) , a read-only memory (ROM) , an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory) , an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) , an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing.
Further, while operations are depicted in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or in sequential order, or that all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirable  results. In certain circumstances, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Likewise, while several specific implementation details are contained in the above discussions, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the present disclosure, but rather as descriptions of features that may be specific to particular embodiments. Certain features that are described in the context of separate embodiments may also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented in multiple embodiments separately or in any suitable sub-combination.
Although the present disclosure has been described in languages specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the present disclosure defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.

Claims (60)

  1. A first device comprising:
    at least one processor; and
    at least one memory including computer program codes;
    the at least one memory and the computer program codes are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the first device at least to:
    receive, from a second device, configuration information for a transmission of a first positioning reference signal from the first device and at least one transmission of a second positioning reference signal associated with the transmission of the first positioning reference signal;
    in accordance with a determination that a positioning estimation based on the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal is required, perform the transmission of the first positioning reference signal based on the configuration information; and
    monitor the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal based on the configuration information, the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal being triggered, based on a detection of the transmission of the first positioning reference signal, from at least one of the following:
    the second device; or
    at least one third device.
  2. The first device of Claim 1, wherein the configuration information comprises at least one of the following:
    a first time window within which the transmission of the first positioning reference signal is allowed to be performed,
    a second time window within which a reception of the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal is performed at the first device,
    at least one of a channel access type or a priority class for a listen before talk procedure to be performed at the first device before the transmission of the first positioning reference signal, and
    a time advance value for the transmission of the first positioning reference signal.
  3. The first device of Claim 1, wherein the first device is caused to perform the transmission of the first positioning reference signal by:
    obtaining, from the configuration information, a first time window within which the transmission of the first positioning reference signal is allowed to be performed;
    performing a listen before talk procedure based on at least one of a channel access type or a priority class before the first time window starts;
    in accordance with a determination that the listen before talk procedure is successful, determining a channel occupancy time to be shared with at least one of the second device and the at least one third device; and
    performing the transmission of the first positioning reference signal based on the channel occupancy time.
  4. The first device of Claim 1, wherein the first device is further caused to:
    in accordance with a determination that the second positioning reference signal is received, determine whether a receiving power level of the second positioning reference signal is lower than a threshold level; and
    in accordance with a determination that the receiving power level is lower than a threshold level, perform a further transmission of the first positioning reference signal.
  5. The first device of Claim 1, wherein the first device is further caused to:
    in accordance with a determination that the second positioning reference signal is received, determine whether a level of a reference signal time difference quality associated with the second positioning reference signal is lower than a threshold level; and
    in accordance with a determination that the level of the reference signal time difference quality is lower than a threshold level, perform a further transmission of the first positioning reference signal.
  6. The first device of Claim 1, wherein the first device comprises a terminal device, the second device comprises a network device and the at least one third device comprises a network device.
  7. A second device comprising:
    at least one processor; and
    at least one memory including computer program codes;
    the at least one memory and the computer program codes are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the second device at least to:
    transmit, to a first device and at least one third device, configuration information for a transmission of a first positioning reference signal from the first device and at least one transmission of a second positioning reference signal associated with the transmission of the first positioning reference signal;
    detect the transmission of the first positioning reference signal based on the configuration information; and
    cause the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal to the first device to be triggered based on the detection of the transmission of the first positioning reference signal.
  8. The second device of Claim 7, wherein the configuration information comprises at least one of the following:
    a first time window within which the transmission of the first positioning reference signal is allowed to be performed,
    a second time window within which a reception of the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal is performed at the first device,
    at least one of a channel access type or a priority class for a listen before talk procedure to be performed at the first device before the transmission of the first positioning reference signal, and
    a cell-specific time advance value for the transmission of the first positioning reference signal.
  9. The second device of Claim 7, wherein the second device is caused to detect the transmission of the first positioning reference signal by:
    obtaining, from the configuration information, a first time window within which the transmission of the first positioning reference signal is allowed to be performed; and
    detecting the transmission of the first positioning reference signal within the first time window.
  10. The second device of Claim 7, wherein the second device is caused to cause the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal to be triggered by:
    in accordance with a determination that the transmission of the first positioning  reference signal is successfully detected, obtaining a channel occupancy time shared with at least one of the second device and the at least one third device; and
    causing the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal to be triggered within the channel occupancy time.
  11. The second device of Claim 10, wherein the second device is caused to cause the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal to be triggered within the channel occupancy time by:
    determining, based on the configuration information, a duration of a gap between an end time point of the transmission of the first positioning reference signal and a start time point of the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal within the channel occupancy time;
    determining a type of a listen before talk procedure to be performed at the second device based on the duration of the gap; and
    in accordance with a determination that the determined type of the listen before talk procedure is successful, causing the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal to be triggered.
  12. The second device of Claim 11, wherein the second device is caused to determine the type of the listen before talk procedure by:
    in accordance with a determination that the duration of the gap is lower than a first threshold duration, performing a first type of the listen before talk procedure.
  13. The second device of Claim 11, wherein the second device is caused to determine the type of the listen before talk procedure by:
    in accordance with a determination that the duration of the gap equals to a first threshold duration or exceed a second threshold duration, performing a second type of the listen before talk procedure, the second threshold duration being greater than the first threshold duration.
  14. The second device of Claim 11, wherein the second device is further caused to:
    in accordance with a determination that the determined type of the listen before talk procedure is unsuccessful, determine a subsequent transmission occasion for a subsequent transmission of the second positioning reference signal within the channel  occupancy time; and
    cause the subsequent transmission of the second positioning reference signal to be triggered based on the subsequent transmission occasion.
  15. The second device of Claim 7, wherein the second device is caused to cause the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal to be triggered by:
    in accordance with a determination that the transmission of the first positioning reference signal is unsuccessfully detected, performing a third type of a listen before talk procedure; and
    in accordance with a determination that the third type of the listen before talk procedure is successful, causing the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal to be triggered.
  16. The second device of Claim 7, wherein the second device is further caused to transmit the configuration information by:
    determining whether the transmission of the first positioning reference signal is to be initiated from the first device based on a set of property parameters of the first device; and
    in accordance with a determination that the transmission of the first positioning reference signal is to be initiated from the first device, transmitting the configuration information to the first device.
  17. The second device of Claim 16, wherein the set of property parameters comprises at least one of the following:
    an estimation of a prior location of the first device,
    a mobility report of the first device,
    a current time advance value of the first device, and
    a power level of the first device for a previous transmission of the first positioning reference signal.
  18. The second device of Claim 7, wherein the first device comprises a terminal device, the second device comprises a network device and the third device comprises a network device.
  19. A third device comprising:
    at least one processor; and
    at least one memory including computer program codes;
    the at least one memory and the computer program codes are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the third device at least to:
    receive from a second device, configuration information for a transmission of a first positioning reference signal from a first device and at least one transmission of a second positioning reference signal associated with the transmission of the first positioning reference signal;
    detect the transmission of the first positioning reference signal based on the configuration information; and
    cause the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal to the first device to be triggered based on the detection of the transmission of the first positioning reference signal.
  20. The third device of Claim 19, wherein the third device is caused to detect the transmission of the first positioning reference signal by:
    obtaining, from the configuration information, a first time window within which the transmission of the first positioning reference signal is allowed to be performed; and
    detecting the transmission of the first positioning reference signal within the first time window.
  21. The third device of Claim 19, wherein the third device is caused to cause the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal to be triggered by:
    in accordance with a determination that the transmission of the first positioning reference signal is successfully detected, obtaining a channel occupancy time shared with at least one of the second device and the at least one third device; and
    causing the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal to be triggered within the channel occupancy time.
  22. The third device of Claim 21, wherein the third device is caused to cause the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal to be triggered within the channel occupancy time by:
    determining, based on the configuration information, a duration of a gap between  an end time point of the transmission of the first positioning reference signal and a start time point of the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal within the channel occupancy time;
    determining a type of a listen before talk procedure to be performed at the third device based on the duration of the gap; and
    in accordance with a determination that the determined type of the listen before talk procedure is successful, causing the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal to be triggered.
  23. The third device of Claim 22, wherein the third device is caused to determine the type of the listen before talk procedure by:
    in accordance with a determination that the duration of the gap is lower than a first threshold duration, performing a first type of the listen before talk procedure.
  24. The third device of Claim 22, wherein the third device is caused to determine the type of the listen before talk procedure by:
    in accordance with a determination that the duration of the gap equals to a first threshold duration or exceed a second threshold duration, performing a second type of the listen before talk procedure, the second threshold duration being greater than the first threshold duration.
  25. The third device of Claim 22, wherein the third device is further caused to:
    in accordance with a determination that the determined type of the listen before talk procedure is unsuccessful, determine a subsequent transmission occasion for a subsequent transmission of the second positioning reference signal within the channel occupancy time; and
    cause the subsequent transmission of the second positioning reference signal to be triggered based on the subsequent transmission occasion.
  26. The third device of Claim 19, wherein the third device is caused to cause the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal to be triggered by:
    in accordance with a determination that the transmission of the first positioning reference signal is unsuccessfully detected, performing a third type of a listen before talk procedure; and
    in accordance with a determination that the third type of the listen before talk procedure is successful, causing the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal to be triggered.
  27. The third device of Claim 19, wherein the first device comprises a terminal device, the second device comprises a network device and the third device comprises a network device.
  28. A method comprising:
    receiving, at a first device and from a second device, configuration information for a transmission of a first positioning reference signal from the first device and at least one transmission of a second positioning reference signal associated with the transmission of the first positioning reference signal;
    in accordance with a determination that a positioning estimation based on the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal is required, performing the transmission of the first positioning reference signal based on the configuration information; and
    detecting the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal based on the configuration information, the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal being triggered, based on a detection of the transmission of the first positioning reference signal, from at least one of the following:
    the second device; or
    at least one third device.
  29. The method of Claim 28, wherein the configuration information comprises at least one of the following:
    a first time window within which the transmission of the first positioning reference signal is allowed to be performed,
    a second time window within which a reception of the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal is performed at the first device,
    at least one of a channel access type or a priority class for a listen before talk procedure to be performed at the first device before the transmission of the first positioning reference signal, and
    a time advance value for the transmission of the first positioning reference signal.
  30. The method of Claim 28, wherein performing the transmission of the first positioning reference signal comprises:
    obtaining, from the configuration information, a first time window within which the transmission of the first positioning reference signal is allowed to be performed;
    performing a listen before talk procedure based on at least one of a channel access type or a priority class before the first time window starts;
    in accordance with a determination that the listen before talk procedure is successful, determining a channel occupancy time to be shared with at least one of the second device and the at least one third device; and
    performing the transmission of the first positioning reference signal based on the channel occupancy time.
  31. The method of Claim 28, further comprising:
    in accordance with a determination that second positioning reference signal is received, determining whether a receiving power level of the second positioning reference signal is lower than a threshold level; and
    in accordance with a determination that the receiving power level is lower than a threshold level, performing a further transmission of the first positioning reference signal.
  32. The method of Claim 28, further comprising:
    in accordance with a determination that second positioning reference signal is received, determine whether a level of a reference signal time difference quality associated with the second positioning reference signal is lower than a threshold level; and
    in accordance with a determination that the level of the reference signal time difference quality is lower than a threshold level, performing a further transmission of the first positioning reference signal.
  33. The method of Claim 28, wherein the first device comprises a terminal device, the second device comprises a network device and the at least one third device comprises a network device.
  34. A method comprising:
    transmitting, from a second device and to a first device and at least one third  device, , configuration information for a transmission of a first positioning reference signal from the first device and at least one transmission of a second positioning reference signal associated with the transmission of the first positioning reference signal;
    detecting the transmission of the first positioning reference signal based on the configuration information; and
    causing the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal to the first device to be triggered based on the detection of the transmission of the first positioning reference signal.
  35. The method of Claim 34, wherein the configuration information comprises at least one of the following:
    a first time window within which the transmission of the first positioning reference signal is allowed to be performed,
    a second time window within which a reception of the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal is performed at the first device,
    at least one of a channel access type or a priority class for a listen before talk procedure to be performed at the first device before the transmission of the first positioning reference signal, and
    a time advance value for the transmission of the first positioning reference signal.
  36. The method of Claim 34, wherein detecting the transmission of the first positioning reference signal comprises:
    obtaining, from the configuration information, a first time window within which the transmission of the first positioning reference signal is allowed to be performed; and
    detecting the transmission of the first positioning reference signal within the first time window.
  37. The method of Claim 36, wherein causing the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal to be triggered comprises:
    in accordance with a determination that the transmission of the first positioning reference signal is successfully detected, obtaining a channel occupancy time to be shared with at least one of the second device and the at least one third device; and
    causing the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal to be triggered within the channel occupancy time.
  38. The method of Claim 37, wherein causing the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal to be triggered within the channel occupancy time comprises:
    determining, based on the configuration information, a gap between an end time point of the transmission of the first positioning reference signal and a start time point of the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal wthin the channel occupancy time;
    determining a type of a listen before talk procedure to be performed at the second device based on the gap; and
    in accordance with a determination that the determined type of the listen before talk procedure is successful, causing the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal to be triggered.
  39. The method of Claim 38, wherein determining the type of the listen before talk procedure comprises:
    in accordance with a determination that a duration the gap is lower than a first threshold duration, performing a first type of the listen before talk procedure.
  40. The method of Claim 38, wherein determining the type of the listen before talk procedure comprises:
    in accordance with a determination that a duration the gap equals to a first threshold duration or exceed a second threshold duration, performing a second type of the listen before talk procedure, the second threshold duration being greater than the first threshold duration.
  41. The method of Claim 38, further comprising:
    in accordance with a determination that the determined type of the listen before talk procedure is unsuccessful, determining a subsequent transmission occasion for a subsequent transmission of the second positioning reference signal within the channel occupancy time; and
    causing the subsequent transmission of the second positioning reference signal to be triggered based on the subsequent transmission occasion.
  42. The method of Claim 34, wherein causing the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal to be triggered comprises:
    in accordance with a determination that the transmission of the first positioning reference signal is unsuccessfully detected, performing a third type of a listen before talk procedure; and
    in accordance with a determination that the third type of the listen before talk procedure is successful, causing the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal to be triggered.
  43. The method of Claim 34, wherein transmitting the configuration information comprises:
    determining whether the transmission of the first positioning reference signal is to be initiated from the first device based on a set of property parameters of the first device; and
    in accordance with a determination that the transmission of the first positioning reference signal is to be initiated from the first device, transmitting the configuration information to the first device.
  44. The method of Claim 43, wherein the set of property parameters comprises at least one of the following:
    an estimation of a prior location of the first device,
    a mobility report of the first device,
    a current time advance value of the first device, and
    a power level of the first device for transmission of the first positioning reference signal.
  45. The method of Claim 34, wherein the first device comprises a terminal device, the second device comprises a network device and the third device comprises a network device.
  46. A method comprising:
    receive, at a third device and from a second device, configuration information for a transmission of a first positioning reference signal from a first device and at least one transmission of a second positioning reference signal associated with the transmission of  the first positioning reference signal;
    detecting the transmission of the first positioning reference signal based on the configuration information; and
    causing the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal to the first device to be triggered based on the detection of the transmission of the first positioning reference signal.
  47. The method of Claim 46, wherein detecting the transmission of the first positioning reference signal comprises:
    obtaining, from the configuration information, a first time window within which the transmission of the first positioning reference signal is allowed to be performed; and
    detecting the transmission of the first positioning reference signal within the first time window.
  48. The method of Claim 46, wherein causing the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal to be triggered comprises:
    in accordance with a determination that the transmission of the first positioning reference signal is successfully detected, obtaining a channel occupancy time to be shared with at least one of the second device and the at least one third device; and
    causing the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal to be triggered within the channel occupancy time.
  49. The method of Claim 48, wherein causing the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal to be triggered within the channel occupancy time comprises:
    determining, based on the configuration information, a gap between an end time point of the transmission of the first positioning reference signal and a start time point of the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal wthin the channel occupancy time;
    determining a type of a listen before talk procedure to be performed at the third device based on the gap; and
    in accordance with a determination that the determined type of the listen before talk procedure is successful, causing the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal to be triggered.
  50. The method of Claim 49, wherein determining the type of the listen before talk procedure comprises:
    in accordance with a determination that a duration the gap is lower than a first threshold duration, performing a first type of the listen before talk procedure.
  51. The method of Claim 49, wherein determining the type of the listen before talk procedure comprises:
    in accordance with a determination that a duration the gap equals to a first threshold duration or exceed a second threshold duration, performing a second type of the listen before talk procedure, the second threshold duration being greater than the first threshold duration.
  52. The method of Claim 49, further comprising:
    in accordance with a determination that the determined type of the listen before talk procedure is unsuccessful, determining a subsequent transmission occasion for a subsequent transmission of the second positioning reference signal within the channel occupancy time; and
    causing the subsequent transmission of the second positioning reference signal to be triggered based on the subsequent transmission occasion.
  53. The method of Claim 46, wherein causing the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal to be triggered comprises:
    in accordance with a determination that the transmission of the first positioning reference signal is unsuccessfully detected, performing a third type of a listen before talk procedure; and
    in accordance with a determination that the third type of the listen before talk procedure is successful, causing the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal to be triggered.
  54. The method of Claim 46, wherein the first device comprises a terminal device, the second device comprises a network device and the third device comprises a network device.
  55. An apparatus comprising:
    means for receiving, from a second device, configuration information for a transmission of a first positioning reference signal from the first device and at least one transmission of a second positioning reference signal associated with the transmission of the first positioning reference signal;
    means for in accordance with a determination that a positioning estimation based on the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal is required, performing the transmission of the first positioning reference signal based on the configuration information; and
    means for detecting the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal based on the configuration information, the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal being triggered, based on a detection of the transmission of the first positioning reference signal, from at least one of the following:
    the second device; or
    at least one third device.
  56. An apparatus comprising:
    means for transmitting, to a first device and at least one third device, configuration information for a transmission of a first positioning reference signal from the first device and at least one transmission of a second positioning reference signal associated with the transmission of the first positioning reference signal;
    means for detecting the transmission of the first positioning reference signal based on the configuration information; and
    means for causing the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal to the first device to be triggered based on the detection of the transmission of the first positioning reference signal.
  57. An apparatus comprising:
    means for receiving, from a second device, configuration information for a transmission of a first positioning reference signal from a first device and at least one transmission of a second positioning reference signal associated with the transmission of the first positioning reference signal;
    means for detecting the transmission of the first positioning reference signal based on the configuration information; and
    means for causing the at least one transmission of the second positioning reference signal to the first device to be triggered based on the detection of the transmission of the first positioning reference signal.
  58. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising program instructions for causing an apparatus to perform at least the method of any of claims 28-33.
  59. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising program instructions for causing an apparatus to perform at least the method of any of claims 34-45.
  60. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising program instructions for causing an apparatus to perform at least the method of any of claims 46-54.
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