WO2023193911A1

WO2023193911A1 - Positioning of collaborating devices

Info

Publication number: WO2023193911A1
Application number: PCT/EP2022/059238
Authority: WO
Inventors: Oana-Elena Barbu; Benny Vejlgaard; Johannes Harrebek
Original assignee: Nokia Technologies Oy
Priority date: 2022-04-07
Filing date: 2022-04-07
Publication date: 2023-10-12

Abstract

Disclosed is a method comprising obtaining, from a first terminal device, information regarding a cluster, wherein the cluster comprises the first terminal device and a second terminal device and the first terminal device and the second terminal device are collaborating terminal devices, determining a first functionality to be performed by the first terminal device and a second functionality to be performed by the second terminal device, wherein the first functionality and the second functionality are part of positioning of the first terminal device, determining, based at least partly on the first functionality, a first configuration for the first terminal device, determining, based at least partly on the second functionality, a second configuration for the second terminal device, and transmitting the first configuration and the second configuration.

Description

Positioning of Collaborating Devices

Field

The following exemplary embodiments relate to wireless communication and positioning of wireless devices.

Background

Cellular communication networks evolve, and the network structure may comprise not only terminal devices as such but also a group of terminal devices that collaborate together for better resources usage. Better usage of resources may be beneficial in various use cases as it may allow improved network capability.

Brief Description

The scope of protection sought for various embodiments of the invention is set out by the independent claims. The exemplary embodiments and features, if any, described in this specification that do not fall under the scope of the independent claims are to be interpreted as examples useful for understanding various embodiments of the invention.

According to a first aspect there is provided an apparatus comprising means for: establishing a connection to a terminal device to form a cluster, wherein the cluster comprises a plurality of terminal devices that collaborate, receiving, from a network entity, a configuration indicating at least one functionality to be performed, wherein the functionality is associated with positioning the apparatus based on the cluster, and performing the functionality according to the configuration received.

In some exemplary embodiments according to the first aspect, the means comprises at least one processor, and at least one memory, including a computer program code, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the performance of the apparatus. According to a second aspect there is provided an apparatus comprising at least one processor, and at least one memory including a computer program code, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus to: establish a connection to a terminal device to form a cluster, wherein the cluster comprises a plurality of terminal devices that collaborate, receive, from a network entity, a configuration indicating at least one functionality to be performed, wherein the functionality is associated with positioning the apparatus based on the cluster, and perform the functionality according to the configuration received.

According to a third aspect there is provided a method comprising: establishing a connection to a terminal device to form a cluster, wherein the cluster comprises a plurality of terminal devices that collaborate, receiving, from a network entity, a configuration indicating at least one functionality to be performed, wherein the functionality is associated with positioning the apparatus based on the cluster, and performing the functionality according to the configuration received.

According to a fourth aspect there is provided a computer program comprising instructions for causing an apparatus to perform at least the following: establish a connection to a terminal device to form a cluster, wherein the cluster comprises a plurality of terminal devices that collaborate, receive, from a network entity, a configuration indicating at least one functionality to be performed, wherein the functionality is associated with positioning the apparatus based on the cluster, and perform the functionality according to the configuration received.

According to a fifth aspect there is provided a computer program comprising instructions stored thereon for performing at least the following: establishing a connection to a terminal device to form a cluster, wherein the cluster comprises a plurality of terminal devices that collaborate, receiving, from a network entity, a configuration indicating at least one functionality to be performed, wherein the functionality is associated with positioning the apparatus based on the cluster, and performing the functionality according to the configuration received.

According to a sixth aspect there is provided a non-transitory computer readable medium comprising program instructions for causing an apparatus to perform at least the following: establish a connection to a terminal device to form a cluster, wherein the cluster comprises a plurality of terminal devices that collaborate, receive, from a network entity, a configuration indicating at least one functionality to be performed, wherein the functionality is associated with positioning the apparatus based on the cluster, and perform the functionality according to the configuration received.

According to a seventh aspect there is provided a non-transitory computer readable medium comprising program instructions stored thereon for performing at least the following: establishing a connection to a terminal device to form a cluster, wherein the cluster comprises a plurality of terminal devices that collaborate, receiving, from a network entity, a configuration indicating at least one functionality to be performed, wherein the functionality is associated with positioning the apparatus based on the cluster, and performing the functionality according to the configuration received.

According to an eight aspect there is provided an apparatus comprising means for: obtaining, from a first terminal device, information regarding a cluster, wherein the cluster comprises the first terminal device and a second terminal device and the first terminal device and the second terminal device are collaborating terminal devices, determining a first functionality to be performed by the first terminal device and a second functionality to be performed by the second terminal device, wherein the first functionality and the second functionality are part of positioning of the first terminal device, determining, based at least partly on the first functionality, a first configuration for the first terminal device, determining, based at least partly on the second functionality, a second configuration for the second terminal device, and transmitting the first configuration and the second configuration.

In some exemplary embodiments according to the first aspect, the means comprises at least one processor, and at least one memory, including a computer program code, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the performance of the apparatus.

According to a ninth aspect there is provided an apparatus comprising at least one processor, and at least one memory including a computer program code, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus to: obtain, from a first terminal device, information regarding a cluster, wherein the cluster comprises the first terminal device and a second terminal device and the first terminal device and the second terminal device are collaborating terminal devices, determine a first functionality to be performed by the first terminal device and a second functionality to be performed by the second terminal device, wherein the first functionality and the second functionality are part of positioning of the first terminal device, determine, based at least partly on the first functionality, a first configuration for the first terminal device, determine, based at least partly on the second functionality, a second configuration for the second terminal device, and transmit the first configuration and the second configuration.

According to a tenth aspect there is provided a method comprising: obtaining, from a first terminal device, information regarding a cluster, wherein the cluster comprises the first terminal device and a second terminal device and the first terminal device and the second terminal device are collaborating terminal devices, determining a first functionality to be performed by the first terminal device and a second functionality to be performed by the second terminal device, wherein the first functionality and the second functionality are part of positioning of the first terminal device, determining, based at least partly on the first functionality, a first configuration for the first terminal device, determining, based at least partly on the second functionality, a second configuration for the second terminal device, and transmitting the first configuration and the second configuration.

According to an eleventh aspect there is provided a computer program comprising instructions for causing an apparatus to perform at least the following: obtain, from a first terminal device, information regarding a cluster, wherein the cluster comprises the first terminal device and a second terminal device and the first terminal device and the second terminal device are collaborating terminal devices, determine a first functionality to be performed by the first terminal device and a second functionality to be performed by the second terminal device, wherein the first functionality and the second functionality are part of positioning of the first terminal device, determine, based at least partly on the first functionality, a first configuration for the first terminal device, determine, based at least partly on the second functionality, a second configuration for the second terminal device, and transmit the first configuration and the second configuration.

According to a twelfth aspect there is provided a computer program comprising instructions stored thereon for performing at least the following: obtaining, from a first terminal device, information regarding a cluster, wherein the cluster comprises the first terminal device and a second terminal device and the first terminal device and the second terminal device are collaborating terminal devices, determining a first functionality to be performed by the first terminal device and a second functionality to be performed by the second terminal device, wherein the first functionality and the second functionality are part of positioning of the first terminal device, determining, based at least partly on the first functionality, a first configuration for the first terminal device, determining, based at least partly on the second functionality, a second configuration for the second terminal device, and transmitting the first configuration and the second configuration. According to a thirteenth aspect there is provided a non-transitory computer readable medium comprising program instructions for causing an apparatus to perform at least the following: obtain, from a first terminal device, information regarding a cluster, wherein the cluster comprises the first terminal device and a second terminal device and the first terminal device and the second terminal device are collaborating terminal devices, determine a first functionality to be performed by the first terminal device and a second functionality to be performed by the second terminal device, wherein the first functionality and the second functionality are part of positioning of the first terminal device, determine, based at least partly on the first functionality, a first configuration for the first terminal device, determine, based at least partly on the second functionality, a second configuration for the second terminal device, and transmit the first configuration and the second configuration.

According to a fourteenth aspect there is provided a non-transitory computer readable medium comprising program instructions stored thereon for performing at least the following: obtaining, from a first terminal device, information regarding a cluster, wherein the cluster comprises the first terminal device and a second terminal device and the first terminal device and the second terminal device are collaborating terminal devices, determining a first functionality to be performed by the first terminal device and a second functionality to be performed by the second terminal device, wherein the first functionality and the second functionality are part of positioning of the first terminal device, determining, based at least partly on the first functionality, a first configuration for the first terminal device, determining, based at least partly on the second functionality, a second configuration for the second terminal device, and transmitting the first configuration and the second configuration.

List of Drawings

In the following, the invention will be described in greater detail with reference to the embodiments and the accompanying drawings, in which

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a radio access network. FIG. 2A, 2B and 2C illustrate example embodiments in which collaborating terminal devices forming a cluster are utilized.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example embodiment in which a terminal device forms a collaboration group with at least one other terminal device.

FIG. 4A and 4B as well as FIG. 5 illustrate example embodiment of positioning a terminal device based on a cluster of collaborating terminal devices.

FIG. 6 and 7 illustrate an example embodiment of an apparatus.

Description of Embodiments

The following embodiments are exemplifying. Although the specification may refer to “an”, “one”, or “some” embodiment(s) in several locations of the text, this does not necessarily mean that each reference is made to the same embodiment(s), or that a particular feature only applies to a single embodiment. Single features of different embodiments may also be combined to provide other embodiments.

As used in this application, the term ‘circuitry’ refers to all of the following: (a) hardware-only circuit implementations, such as implementations in only analog and/or digital circuitry, and (b) combinations of circuits and software (and/or firmware), such as (as applicable): (i) a combination of processor(s) or (ii) portions of processor(s)/software including digital signal processor(s), software, and memory(ies) that work together to cause an apparatus to perform various functions, and (c) circuits, such as a microprocessor(s) or a portion of a microprocessor(s), that require software or firmware for operation, even if the software or firmware is not physically present. This definition of ‘circuitry’ applies to all uses of this term in this application. As a further example, as used in this application, the term ‘circuitry’ would also cover an implementation of merely a processor (or multiple processors) or a portion of a processor and its (or their) accompanying software and/or firmware. The term ‘circuitry’ would also cover, for example and if applicable to the particular element, a baseband integrated circuit or applications processor integrated circuit for a mobile phone or a similar integrated circuit in a server, a cellular network device, or another network device. The above-described embodiments of the circuitry may also be considered as embodiments that provide means for carrying out the embodiments of the methods or processes described in this document.

The techniques and methods described herein may be implemented by various means. For example, these techniques may be implemented in hardware (one or more devices), firmware (one or more devices), software (one or more modules), or combinations thereof. For a hardware implementation, the apparatus(es) of embodiments may be implemented within one or more application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signal processing devices (DSPDs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), graphics processing units (GPUs), processors, controllers, microcontrollers, microprocessors, other electronic units designed to perform the functions described herein, or a combination thereof. For firmware or software, the implementation can be carried out through modules of at least one chipset (e.g. procedures, functions, and so on) that perform the functions described herein. The software codes may be stored in a memory unit and executed by processors. The memory unit may be implemented within the processor or externally to the processor. In the latter case, it can be communicatively coupled to the processor via any suitable means. Additionally, the components of the systems described herein may be rearranged and/or complemented by additional components in order to facilitate the achievements of the various aspects, etc., described with regard thereto, and they are not limited to the precise configurations set forth in the given figures, as will be appreciated by one skilled in the art.

Embodiments described herein may be implemented in a communication system, such as in at least one of the following: Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) or any other second generation cellular communication system, Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS, 3G) based on basic wideband-code division multiple access (W-CDMA), high-speed packet access (HSPA), Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced, a system based on IEEE 802.11 specifications, a system based on IEEE 802.15 specifications, and/or a fifth generation (5G) mobile or cellular communication system. The embodiments are not, however, restricted to the system given as an example but a person skilled in the art may apply the solution to other communication systems provided with necessary properties.

FIG. 1 depicts examples of simplified system architectures showing some elements and functional entities, all being logical units, whose implementation may differ from what is shown. The connections shown in FIG. 1 are logical connections; the actual physical connections may be different. It is apparent to a person skilled in the art that the system may comprise also other functions and structures than those shown in FIG. 1. The example of FIG. 1 shows a part of an exemplifying radio access network.

FIG. 1 shows terminal devices 100 and 102 configured to be in a wireless connection on one or more communication channels in a cell with an access node (such as (e/g)NodeB) 104 providing the cell. The access node 104 may also be referred to as a node. The wireless link from a terminal device to a (e/g)NodeB is called uplink or reverse link and the wireless link from the (e/g) NodeB to the terminal device is called downlink or forward link. It should be appreciated that (e/g)NodeBs or their functionalities may be implemented by using any node, host, server or access point etc. entity suitable for such a usage. It is to be noted that although one cell is discussed in this exemplary embodiment, for the sake of simplicity of explanation, multiple cells may be provided by one access node in some exemplary embodiments.

A communication system may comprise more than one (e/g)NodeB in which case the (e/g)NodeBs may also be configured to communicate with one another over links, wired or wireless, designed for the purpose. These links may be used for signalling purposes. The (e/g)NodeB is a computing device configured to control the radio resources of communication system it is coupled to. The (e/g)NodeB may also be referred to as a base station, an access point or any other type of interfacing device including a relay station capable of operating in a wireless environment. The (e/g)NodeB includes or is coupled to transceivers. From the transceivers of the (e/g)NodeB, a connection is provided to an antenna unit that establishes bidirectional radio links to user devices. The antenna unit may comprise a plurality of antennas or antenna elements. The (e/g)NodeB is further connected to core network 110 (CN or next generation core NGC). Depending on the system, the counterpart on the CN side may be a serving gateway (S-GW, routing and forwarding user data packets), packet data network gateway (P-GW), for providing connectivity of terminal devices (UEs) to external packet data networks, or mobile management entity (MME), etc.

The terminal device (also called UE, user equipment, user terminal, user device, etc.) illustrates one type of an apparatus to which resources on the air interface are allocated and assigned, and thus any feature described herein with a terminal device may be implemented with a corresponding apparatus, such as a relay node. An example of such a relay node is a layer 3 relay (self-backhauling relay) towards the base station. Another example of such a relay node is a layer 2 relay. Such a relay node may contain a terminal device part and a Distributed Unit (DU) part. A CU (centralized unit) may coordinate the DU operation via F1AP -interface for example.

The terminal device may refer to a portable computing device that includes wireless mobile communication devices operating with or without a subscriber identification module (SIM), or an embedded SIM, eSIM, including, but not limited to, the following types of devices: a mobile station (mobile phone), smartphone, personal digital assistant (PDA), handset, device using a wireless modem (alarm or measurement device, etc.), laptop and/or touch screen computer, tablet, game console, notebook, and multimedia device. It should be appreciated that a user device may also be an exclusive or a nearly exclusive uplink only device, of which an example is a camera or video camera loading images or video clips to a network. A terminal device may also be a device having capability to operate in Internet of Things (loT) network which is a scenario in which objects are provided with the ability to transfer data over a network without requiring human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction. The terminal device may also utilise cloud. In some applications, a terminal device may comprise a small portable device with radio parts (such as a watch, earphones or eyeglasses) and the computation is carried out in the cloud. The terminal device (or in some embodiments a layer 3 relay node) is configured to perform one or more of user equipment functionalities.

Various techniques described herein may also be applied to a cyber-physical system (CPS) (a system of collaborating computational elements controlling physical entities). CPS may enable the implementation and exploitation of massive amounts of interconnected ICT devices (sensors, actuators, processors microcontrollers, etc.) embedded in physical objects at different locations. Mobile cyber physical systems, in which the physical system in question has inherent mobility, are a subcategory of cyber-physical systems. Examples of mobile physical systems include mobile robotics and electronics transported by humans or animals.

Additionally, although the apparatuses have been depicted as single entities, different units, processors and/or memory units (not all shown in FIG. 1) may be implemented.

5G enables using multiple input - multiple output (M1M0) antennas, many more base stations or nodes than the LTE (a so-called small cell concept), including macro sites operating in co-operation with smaller stations and employing a variety of radio technologies depending on service needs, use cases and/or spectrum available. 5G mobile communications supports a wide range of use cases and related applications including video streaming, augmented reality, different ways of data sharing and various forms of machine type applications such as (massive) machine-type communications (mMTC), including vehicular safety, different sensors and real-time control. 5G is expected to have multiple radio interfaces, namely below 6GHz, cmWave and mmWave, and also being integratable with existing legacy radio access technologies, such as the LTE. Integration with the LTE may be implemented, at least in the early phase, as a system, where macro coverage is provided by the LTE and 5G radio interface access comes from small cells by aggregation to the LTE. In other words, 5G is planned to support both inter-RAT operability (such as LTE-5G) and inter-Rl operability (inter-radio interface operability, such as below 6GHz - cmWave, below 6GHz - cmWave - mmWave). One of the concepts considered to be used in 5G networks is network slicing in which multiple independent and dedicated virtual sub-networks (network instances) may be created within the same infrastructure to run services that have different requirements on latency, reliability, throughput and mobility.

The current architecture in LTE networks is fully distributed in the radio and fully centralized in the core network. The low latency applications and services in 5G may require bringing the content close to the radio which may lead to local break out and multi-access edge computing (MEC). 5G enables analytics and knowledge generation to occur at the source of the data. This approach requires leveraging resources that may not be continuously connected to a network such as laptops, smartphones, tablets and sensors. MEC provides a distributed computing environment for application and service hosting. It also has the ability to store and process content in close proximity to cellular subscribers for faster response time. Edge computing covers a wide range of technologies such as wireless sensor networks, mobile data acquisition, mobile signature analysis, cooperative distributed peer-to-peer ad hoc networking and processing also classifiable as local cloud/fog computing and grid/mesh computing, dew computing, mobile edge computing, cloudlet, distributed data storage and retrieval, autonomic self-healing networks, remote cloud services, augmented and virtual reality, data caching, Internet of Things (massive connectivity and/or latency critical), critical communications (autonomous vehicles, traffic safety, real-time analytics, time-critical control, healthcare applications).

The communication system is also able to communicate with other networks, such as a public switched telephone network or the Internet 112, and/or utilise services provided by them. The communication network may also be able to support the usage of cloud services, for example at least part of core network operations may be carried out as a cloud service (this is depicted in FIG. 1 by “cloud” 114). The communication system may also comprise a central control entity, or a like, providing facilities for networks of different operators to cooperate for example in spectrum sharing.

Edge cloud may be brought into radio access network (RAN) by utilizing network function virtualization (NFV) and software defined networking (SDN). Using edge cloud may mean access node operations to be carried out, at least partly, in a server, host or node operationally coupled to a remote radio head or base station comprising radio parts. It is also possible that node operations will be distributed among a plurality of servers, nodes or hosts. Application of cloudRAN architecture enables RAN real time functions being carried out at the RAN side (in a distributed unit, DU 104) and non-real time functions being carried out in a centralized manner (in a centralized unit, CU 108).

It should also be understood that the distribution of labour between core network operations and base station operations may differ from that of the LTE or even be non-existent. Some other technology that may be used includes for example Big Data and all-lP, which may change the way networks are being constructed and managed. 5G (or new radio, NR) networks are being designed to support multiple hierarchies, where MEC servers can be placed between the core and the base station or nodeB (gNB). It should be appreciated that MEC can be applied in 4G networks as well.

5G may also utilize satellite communication to enhance or complement the coverage of 5G service, for example by providing backhauling or service availability in areas that do not have terrestrial coverage. Satellite communication may utilise geostationary earth orbit (GEO) satellite systems, but also low earth orbit (LEO) satellite systems, for example, mega-constellations. A satellite 106 comprised in a constellation may carry a gNB, or at least part of the gNB, that create on-ground cells. Alternatively, a satellite 106 may be used to relay signals of one or more cells to the Earth. The on-ground cells may be created through an on-ground relay node 104 or by a gNB located on-ground or in a satellite or part of the gNB may be on a satellite, the DU for example, and part of the gNB may be on the ground, the CU for example. Additionally, or alternatively, high-altitude platform station, HAPS, systems may be utilized.

It is to be noted that the depicted system is an example of a part of a radio access system and the system may comprise a plurality of (e/g)NodeBs, the terminal device may have an access to a plurality of radio cells and the system may comprise also other apparatuses, such as physical layer relay nodes or other network elements, etc. At least one of the (e/g)NodeBs may be a Home(e/g)nodeB. Additionally, in a geographical area of a radio communication system a plurality of different kinds of radio cells as well as a plurality of radio cells may be provided. Radio cells may be macro cells (or umbrella cells) which are large cells, usually having a diameter of up to tens of kilometers, or smaller cells such as micro-, femto- or picocells. The (e/g)NodeBs of FIG. 1 may provide any kind of these cells. A cellular radio system may be implemented as a multilayer network including several kinds of cells. In some exemplary embodiments, in multilayer networks, one access node provides one kind of a cell or cells, and thus a plurality of (e/g)NodeBs are required to provide such a network structure.

For fulfilling the need for improving the deployment and performance of communication systems, the concept of “plug-and-play” (e/g)NodeBs has been introduced. A network which is able to use “plug-and-play” (e/g)NodeBs, may include, in addition to Home (e/g)NodeBs (H(e/g)nodeBs), a home node B gateway, or HNB-GW (not shown in FIG. 1). A HNB Gateway (HNB-GW), which may be installed within an operator’s network may aggregate traffic from a large number of HNBs back to a core network.

As the amount of categories in which devices are capable of performing wireless communication is increasing, there are trends that indicate ever more terminal devices to be located in vicinity of each other. For example, loT devices may be colocated with terminal devices such as a mobile phones and/or household appliances. As another example, a terminal device such as mobile phone, may be in a car and may be connected to the car and/or other terminal devices such as a smart watch. The resources of the different terminal devices may vary and for example a smart watch or an loT device may have restrictions in terms of size, weight, power and cost which result in them having fewer resources compared to a mobile phone for example.

Collaborating terminal devices however may help to overcome what may be lacking in resources for some terminal devices. The resources may comprise resources such as spectrum and processing power and/or processing capability. The collaboration may be understood as a method to improve network capability, i.e., support large throughput without single point resource consumption, which may improve coverage with 5GS resource efficiency, i.e., improve reliability without resource consumption during the period of good condition, and/or positioning accuracy. Further, the collaboration may improve user experience by managing the terminal devices and communications in network style. Thus, collaborating terminal devices may be understood as devices that are connected to each other and which share resources for the benefit of at least one of the collaborating devices. The collaborating terminal devices sharing their resources may be understood as a cluster and the cluster thus comprises the collaborating terminal devices and the cluster may be seen as one device by a network entity such as an access node or a location management function. It is also to be noted that the cluster comprising the collaborating terminal devices that share their resources may also be understood as a set that comprises the collaborating terminal devices. The resources may comprise hardware resources and/or software resources.

FIG. 2A, 2B and 2C illustrate example embodiments in which collaborating terminal devices forming a cluster 210 are utilized. The collaborating terminal devices comprised in the cluster 210 are connected to an access node 220 that is then connected to a core network 230. In FIG. 2B and 2C there is a direct link between the terminal devices while in FIG. 2A, there is no direct link between the collaborating terminal devices comprised in the cluster 210. In the FIGs. 2A, 2B, 2C the dashed arrows 236 illustrate 5G system signalling, the solid arrows 232 illustrate on-going media transmission to and from the core network, the dashed arrows 238 illustrate switched path and the crossed arrow 234 illustrates a failed path.

FIG. 2A illustrates an example embodiment of a use case of terminal device aggregation in which the terminal devices are aggregated such that UL throughput is improved in coverage limitation and UL transmission and DL reception may be separated from different terminal devices for UL boosting and power saving. FIG. 2B illustrates an example embodiment of a use case of service switching. Service switching enables fast switching of service across the collaborating terminal devices with no data loss. FIG. 2C illustrates as example embodiment of terminal device backup. In this exemplary embodiment the collaborating terminal devices comprised in the cluster 210 also connect to a third terminal device 215, which may be for example an automation device comprising an loT device. The terminal device backup may improve reliability and robustness for ultra-reliable low latency communication (URLLC) use cases while saving radio resources. As may be understood from the example embodiments of FIG. 2A-2C, collaborating terminal devices may offer various benefits.

In order to be able to position a terminal device, various approaches may be used. For example, inter-frequency (IF) positioning measurements may be performed during IF measurement gaps (MG). The MGs may be configured by an entity of the network, such as an access node, to which the terminal device is connected to during a radio resource control (RRC) connected state, and the MGs may have a periodicity such as 20, 40, 60, 80, 120 ms with a duration no longer than 6 ms, which may correspond to approximately four positioning reference signal (PRS) subframes in some example embodiments. An MG may be used by the terminal device to for example switch carrier frequency, perform positioning measurement on the new carrier and come back to the serving cell carrier. As mentioned, the MGs may be configured by the access node, which may be a serving gNB for example, according to requirements of a LTE positioning protocol (LPP) session. Such procedure is described for example in TS 38.331. However, it may be that MGs are allocated only if there is no ongoing data traffic to the terminal device, and thus some PRS measurements may be delayed until the terminal device becomes available. Using down prioritization of the PRS and/or carrier switching operations, such as carrier frequency offset compensation, beam selection, may introduce large latencies in the LPP positioning session which may the lead to the terminal device being unable to finalize the session within a target latency requirement. The target latency requirement may be for example 100 ms for some applications, and 10 ms for industrial loT (lloT) applications and vehicle to many (V2X) applications.

Time-division duplex (TDD) may be used for 5G deployments. In TDD, the time domain resource is split between downlink and uplink. Allocation of a limited time duration for the uplink in TDD may however result in reduced coverage, increased latency, and reduced capacity. Thus, allowing simultaneous existence of downlink and uplink, that is, full duplex, or, subband non-overlapping full duplex at the side of an access node within a conventional TDD band would be beneficial. While having full duplex at the side of the access node, the side of the terminal device half-duplex operation could still be allowed and frequency ranges may not have limitations.

To position a terminal device, also positioning based on carrier aggregation (CA) may be utilized. To enable high accuracy positioning, for example the rich 5G spectrum may be utilized by increasing a bandwidth for transmission and reception of the positioning reference signals based on PRS/sounding reference signal (SRS) bandwidth aggregation for intra-band carriers, and the other is to use the NR carrier phase measurements. Further, GNSS carrier phase positioning may be used for example outdoors to achieve centimetre-level positioning. Also, 5G carrier phase positioning may be used to achieve performance improvements in terms of indoor and outdoor positioning.

GNSS carrier phase positioning has been used very successfully for centimetre-level positioning but is limited to outdoor applications. NR carrier phase positioning has the potential for significant performance improvements for indoor and outdoor deployments in comparison with the existing NR positioning methods, as well as shorter latency and lower UE power consumption in comparison with RTK-GNSS outdoors.

When using CA based positioning, simultaneous PRS/SRS transmission on multiple carriers and different bandwidths may be enabled. Yet, some terminal devices may have limited CA capabilities. For example, there may be limitations in terms of the terminal device being capable of operating on a subset of carriers and associated bands. As another example, there may be circumstances that cause limitations to the CA capabilities of the terminal device. For example, the terminal device may be busy with serving data traffic on some other carriers which would otherwise be used for CA positioning. Another example of limitations that are caused by circumstances is a situation in which the terminal device requires measurement gaps to perform CA positioning on a set of carriers not associated with the serving access node.

When there are limitations in terms of the CA capabilities of the terminal device, the terminal device cannot optimally implement CA positioning, which causes the positioning accuracy to be compromised. In UL positioning, the positioning accuracy may further be limited by the transmit power available for the terminal device to perform UL signalling. For example, if the terminal device is capable of implementing CA on all required carriers, the transmit power available on the terminal device is split among the carriers, and thus, the power per carrier link decreases from the perspective of the network side. Consequently, the positioning link quality decreases thus hindering the positioning measurements acquisition.

If positioning of a terminal device is performed based on RTT positioning, which may use MGs or may be performed without using MGs, the positioning may be prone to latencies as the target terminal device is to measure and report on multiple distinct PRSs, which may arrive at different frequency bands. Further, the terminal device is to transmit multiple SRS in response to the PRS receptions, which may further increase latency. The SRS responses on PRS receptions may also be towards different directions for example by applying different transmit beams.

When using RTT based positioning, there may also be increased latency if MG-based positioning is used in combination with the RTT based positioning. The MG-base positioning requires the terminal device to switch multiple carriers in order to measure all selected PRS. Such operation requires the access node to allocate multiple MGs to the terminal device, which requires that the terminal device does not have any ongoing and/or urgent data traffic, which by default may be prioritized. Further, the terminal device may need to switch carriers for both PRS reception and SRS transmission, which may require the terminal device to switch the radio frequency (RF) chains, align beams and equalize the signal. Equalizing the signal may require computing and compensating carrier frequency offset, compensating phase etc. This all contributes to the latency. The operations mentioned previously may further be expensive in terms of spectral efficiency, computational complexity and positioning latency. Further, RTT based positioning may be unfavourable for positioning sessions triggered by time sensitive applications such as lloT and V2X, which require the terminal device to be localized in for example less than 10 ms with a sub-meter accuracy. As such, it would be beneficial to reduce the latency associated with RTT-based positioning of a terminal device without compromising the accuracy of the positioning. In other word, without reducing the size of the session of the number of positioning measurements.

To address the issues mentioned above, collaborating terminal devices may be utilized. Thus, a terminal device that is considered as a target terminal device, may utilize resources of other terminal devices that are nearby. For example, the terminal device that is the target terminal device for positioning, may utilize collaborating terminal devices, which may also be called as aiding terminal devices, for performing the positioning. The collaborating terminal devices thus are comprised in a cluster of collaborating terminal devices. In an example embodiment illustrated in FIG. 3, a terminal device 310, which is the target terminal device, may form a collaboration group with at least one other terminal device 315. In this example embodiment the target terminal device 310 is a mobile phone of the user 300 and the other terminal device 320 is a smart watch worn by the user 300 and which is connected to the terminal device 310. The connection between the terminal device 310 and 320 may be a sidelink (SL) connection 315. Together the terminal devices 310 and 320 form a cluster 330, which is a cluster comprising a plurality of terminal devices that form a group of collaborating terminal devices. The cluster 330 may be represented towards the network and towards the other entities of the network to which the terminal devices are connected to, as one terminal device. The target terminal device 310 may thus be empowered to share a RTT LPP session with the terminal device 320 using the connection 315 between the devices. By sharing the RTT LPP session, the cluster 330 may enable simultaneous performing of PRS measurement acquisition across carriers and frequency bands and also SRS transmission towards multiple transmission and reception points (TRPs). In the FIG. 3, there is a TRP 350 illustrated and in this example embodiment, the terminal device 310 transmits an SRS 352 to the TRP 350, which may also be understood as a network entity for positioning, and the terminal device 320 receives a PRS 354 from the TRP 350. Yet, as the terminal devices 310 and 320 are collaborating terminal devices, the TRP 350 considers the cluster 330 the terminal device 310 and 320 form as one terminal device. For the TRP 350 to be able to consider the cluster 330 as one terminal device, the target terminal device 310 communicates to the location management function (LMF) 340 of the network the establishment 345 of the cluster 330. The LMF may further be understood as another entity of the network, that is, as a network entity. The cluster 330 may thus be understood as a hybrid FD (HFD)target terminal device.

To configure a HFD for a round trip time implemented as full duplex (FD RTT), which is enabled using the HFD, the FD RTT session may be configured such that UL SRS transmission does not saturate DL reception of a terminal device thus preventing the terminal device from receiving and measuring the DL PRS. In one example embodiment, for an LMF to be able to configure the network such that a cluster may be considered as one HFD terminal device, there is signalling between from a TRP to the LMF reporting the FD capability. The signalling may be new radio positioning protocol (NRPP) signalling. The LMF in this example embodiment comprises a list of FD carriers.

Next, in this example embodiment, there is LPP and SL signalling to establish a collaboration strategy between the collaborating terminal devices for the FD RTT. For establishing the collaboration strategy, the target terminal device transmits LPP signalling to the LMF such that the target terminal device is localized. Also, the collaborating terminal devices are to be identified and thus there is SL signalling between the target terminal device and the other collaborating terminal devices, which are aiding terminal devices. Further, the target terminal device leads SL signalling such the HFD terminal device may be created. To create the HFD terminal device, which is a cluster of the collaborating terminal devices, proximity of candidate terminal devices that could be part of the cluster as aiding terminal devices, is estimated for example based on time of Arrival (To A] that is obtained from SL measurements during discover phase. Then, sources of the terminal devices or relative clock offsets between two terminal devices, are clock synchronized. In other words, terminal devices with the same clock source, or with relative clock offset smaller than a given threshold, are grouped. After this, the ability to cancel adjacent channel and/or co-channel interference of the candidate terminal devices is determined. This may be understood as determining interference cancellation and/or rejection type. Next, the transmission and/or beamforming capability per supported carrier is also determined for the candidate terminal devices.

Creating the HFD terminal device also comprises transmitting LPP signal from the target terminal device to the LMF identifying the HFD members, how the members interact, the capabilities for the RTT and the capabilities for beamforming. The target terminal device may have created the cluster that forms the HFD terminal device based on the considerations regarding the candidate devices described above. The target terminal device may then have selected the most suitable terminal devices for the cluster and then created the cluster. Yet, it is to be noted that in some other example embodiments, the target terminal device may provide information regarding the cluster to the LMF and the LMF then creates the cluster based on the information obtained from the target terminal device. The interaction of the collaborating terminal device forming the cluster may comprise identifying clock sources and/or their accuracies. It may additionally or alternatively comprise information indicative of the distance, from the target terminal device, to the aiding terminal device, for example received power and/or ToA. This may be required for correcting possible time difference between transmission and reception.

After receiving the signalling from the target terminal device indicating the HFD terminal device and its capabilities, that is, the cluster of the collaborating devices and their capabilities that can be understood as one device and its capabilities, the LMF configures an FD RTT for the HFD terminal device. The configuration comprises establishing the roles of each of the collaborating terminal devices. A role may be understood as identifying at least one functionality that is to be performed by the terminal device to which the role is assigned to and the configuration for the terminal device is then determined based on, at least partly, on the at least one functionality. The functionality may be part of a function, such as positioning of the target terminal device, that is to be performed by the HFD terminal device, that is, by the cluster of collaborating terminal devices in a collaborative manner. Thus, the positioning may be understood to be performed based on the cluster and the collaborating terminal devices comprised in the cluster share a positioning session for performing the positioning of the target terminal device. For example, it may be identified which terminal device performs a functionality comprising PRS reception and which one another functionality comprising SRS transmission as well as the associated time- frequency-space resources. The configuration may also comprise scheduling FD RTT under interference constrains. To do this, the LMF may use an interference alignment C 1 Aj approach such as scheduling simultaneous IL and DL but for different TRPs. For example, when one of the collaborating terminal devices is receiving a PRS from one TRP, another collaborating terminal device is transmitting as SRS to another TRP to ensure that UL transmission is not spatially overlapped onto the DL reception at the terminal device receiving the PRS. As such, the DL and UL streams may be pointed away from each other. As another example the LMF may utilize an interference cancellation (1C) approach. The LMF may determine the HFD members such that those are far apart in space and/or carrier frequency for the UL-DL interference not to saturate the DL terminal devices, then the LMF may instruct the DL terminal devices to apply their scheme of choice for 1C on the PRS. In this example, the information about the SRS configurations which may cause interference are indicated to the respective DL terminal devices. It is to be noted though that this may require FD capability at the respective TRP side.

The collaborating terminal devices may have different serving access nodes. In such case, in this example embodiment, the LMF may exchange NRPP signalling between the LMF and the serving access nodes that serve the members of the cluster, that is, the access nodes that serve the HFD. The signalling may comprise requesting the selected PRS and/or SRS resources obtained. The LMF may also transmit LPP assistance data to the target terminal device to inform the target terminal device about the FD RTT configuration it has selected. Finally, the SL signalling from the target terminal device to the aiding terminal devices is used to instruct the aiding terminal devices regarding the configuration for the FD RTT session.

FIG. 4A illustrates another example embodiment in which a cluster of collaborating terminal devices is used for FD RTT positioning. In this example embodiment, there is a TRP 420 that transmits the FD capability report 440 to the LMF 400. The LMF 400 then transmits signalling 442 to the target terminal device 412 that triggers localization of the target terminal device 412. The target terminal device may then transmit a request 444 to join a cluster of collaborating devices to an aiding terminal device 414. It is to be noted that there may also be other aiding terminal devices than the aiding terminal device 414. The aiding terminal device 414 then transmits a report 446 indicating its characteristics such as clock source and/or 1C capability. Then, the target terminal device 412 creates 450 the cluster of collaborating devices. The creation of the cluster may however, in some other example embodiments be created by the LMF 400 based on information regarding the cluster obtained from the target terminal device 412.

Once the cluster has been created, the target terminal device 412 transmits a report 452 indicating the cluster to the LMF 400. The report may also indicate characteristics of the cluster such as identifying the collaborating terminal devices and their time-offsets. After this the LMF 400 establishes 460 roles for the collaborating terminal devices comprised in the cluster. The establishing may comprise for example determining if 1A or 1C approach is to be utilized. After this, there is signalling 462 between the LMF 400 and the access node serving the target terminal device 412 for setting up the configuration for performing a function with the cluster. The function in this example embodiment is the FD RTT. Also, signalling 464 is transmitted between the LMF 400 and the access node 434 serving the aiding terminal device 414 to set up the configuration for performing the function that is this example embodiment is the FD RTT. As for configuring the target terminal device 412 and the aiding terminal device 414, the configuration may be performed in any suitable manner. For example, the serving access node may receive the configuration from the LMF 400 and then configure the terminal device it serves or the TRP may receive the configuration from the LMF 400 and then configure the terminal devices. The configuration is used to indicate a functionality to be performed by the respective terminal device such that positioning of the target terminal device 412 may be performed based on the cluster. Thus, the functionality is associated with the positioning of the target terminal device 412.

Once the configurations are ready, the LMF 400 transmits FD RTT deployment 466 to the target terminal device 412 and the target terminal device 412 transmits the FD RTT deployment 468 to the aiding terminal device 414. After this, the signalling and measurement reports for FD RTT 470 may occur between the LMF 400, the terminal devices 412 and 414 and the TRP 420. Also, the LMF 400 may determine an estimation 480 of the location of the target terminal device 412. The determination may include compensating for the clock mismatches, time-offset compensation and/or compensating for distance if the target terminal device 412 and the aiding terminal device 414 are more than a threshold distance apart from each other.

In the example embodiment of FIG. 4A, the deployment of the RTT session among the HFD members is led by the target terminal device 412 and enabled via SL signalling between the target terminal device 412 and the aiding terminal device 414. This may need to be performed after all the involved access nodes have been informed and/or agreed on that the terminal device they serve will act as an aiding terminal device. This allows the access nodes to schedule optimally the resources of the aiding terminal devices. For example, the scheduling may be performed to optimize which measurement gaps are needed, where, when and for how long their data traffic can occur, etc.

FIG. 4B illustrates another example embodiment which is a variation of the example embodiment illustrated in FIG. 4A. In the example embodiment illustrated in FIG. 4B the signalling proceeds as described in FIG. 4A until the configuration of the aiding terminal device 414. In this example embodiment, instead of the target terminal device 412 configuring the aiding terminal device 414, the access node 434 that serves the aiding terminal device 414 also transmits 469 the configuration for performing the function to the aiding terminal device 414. After this, the example embodiment proceeds as the example embodiment illustrated in FIG. 4A. The benefit of configuring the aiding terminal device 414 by its serving access node 434 is that the access node 434 is then capable of modifying and/or halting the session of the aiding terminal device 414 at any point in time, for example in case there is higher priority traffic needs or if the aiding terminal device 414 requests to leave the session due to low battery for example. The configuration of the aiding terminal device 414 may be performed in this example embodiment for example by using RRC signalling.

The example embodiment of FIG. 4A and 4B may have advantages such as reduced latency associated with RTT and maintaining the same accuracy level as the standard

RTT.

As is mentioned previously, in an example embodiment, a cluster of collaborating terminal devices may also be used for UL CA positioning session. In such an example embodiment, the target terminal device may establish a joint strategy with nearby terminal devices such that the target terminal device shares its UL CA LPP session with the one or more aiding terminal devices. Such collaboration enables simultaneous performing of SRS transmission towards one or more TRPs and different carriers with different bandwidths. Yet, the cluster may be understood as one terminal device from the perspective of the network elements such as LMF, access nodes and TRPs. The cluster may be understood, in this example embodiment, as a hybrid CA (HCA) terminal device. Such an HCA terminal device may have the benefit of not being limited to the transmission power of one terminal device.

In an example embodiment an HCA is configured for performing a function such as positioning based on CA. To achieve this, LPP and SL signalling are performed to establish a collaboration strategy for UL CA positioning. In this example embodiment, a request for localization is transmitted to the target terminal device. This may comprise LPP signalling from the LMF to the target terminal device. Optionally, the request may also indicate allowance for collaboration for CA. Then, the aiding terminal devices are also identified. This may be achieved using SL signalling triggered by the target terminal device using SL 1UC framework by considering the distance between the candidate terminal devices that are the terminal devices that could be part of the cluster of collaborating terminal devices. The distance may be obtained from TOA estimates that are obtained via SL discovery procedures for example. The consideration may also comprise considering UL transmission capabilities, such as carrier, and/or current traffic load, of the candidate terminal devices. The target terminal device may further consider maximum residual carrier frequency offset (CFO) of the candidate terminal devices and their ability to compensate CFO, clock sources of the candidate terminal devices, and/or validity period of the cluster which may depend on for example a mobility pattern, such as speed, of the terminal devices.

Next, in this example embodiment, there is LPP signalling from the target terminal device to the LMF. The signalling identifies the cluster, comprising the terminal devices, that may be considered as one HCA terminal device, by identifying the terminal devices of the cluster, their characteristics including their capabilities for the CA, such as supported carriers and bandwidth, their time offsets with regard to the target terminal device, their residual CFO, or differential CFO with regard to the target terminal device, and/or the validity of their session. After this, in this example embodiment, the LMF may configure an UL CA positioning for the HCA terminal device. The LMF may for example determine roles for the terminal devices comprised in the cluster, that is for the target terminal device and for the one or more aiding terminal devices respectively. Determining the roles may comprise establishing SRS code and the associated time-frequency-space resources. Then NRPP signalling is exchanged between the LMF and the access nodes that serve a terminal device comprised in the cluster. The signalling may comprise requesting selected SRS resources obtained when determining the roles.

Next, in this example embodiment, the LPP assistance data from LMF to the target terminal device is transmitted. The assistance data comprises information regarding the UL CA configuration such as the roles determined for the aiding terminal devices. Then, using SL signalling, the target terminal device may transmit instructions to the aiding terminal devices regarding the configuration of the UL CA session. Alternatively, the UL CA session may be deployed at the one or more aiding terminal devices by their respective serving access node via RRC signalling, or by the LMF via individual LPP signalling. After the configuration of the one or more aiding terminal devices is performed, the one or more aiding terminal devices may monitor the quality of the ongoing session and/or track other data traffic needs. The one or more aiding terminal devices may then transmit signalling to the target terminal device, to the LMF or to their respective serving access node requesting a session abandonment due to for example higher priority traffic or severe interference detection. Additionally, or alternatively, the one or more aiding terminal devices may also transmit a request, to the target terminal device, to the LMF, or to their respective serving access node, requesting session modification due to for example sudden movement. It is to be noted that the signalling between an aiding terminal device and the target terminal device may occur via SL, while the signalling to and from the LMF may occur via LPP and the signalling between the serving access node and the aiding terminal device may occur using RRC.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example embodiment in which UL CA positioning is performed for a cluster of collaborating terminal devices. In this example embodiment, there is a TRP 520 that transmits the UL CA capability report 540 to the LMF 500. The LMF 500 then transmits signalling 542 to the target terminal device 512 that triggers localization of the target terminal device 512. The target terminal device may then transmit a request 544 to join a cluster of collaborating devices to an aiding terminal device 514. It is to be noted that there may also be other aiding terminal devices than the aiding terminal device 514 and additionally, the aiding terminal devices may be selected from candidate terminal devices. The aiding terminal device 514 then transmits a report 546 indicating its characteristics such as clock source and/or 1C capability. Then, the target terminal device 512 creates 550 the cluster of collaborating devices. It is to be noted that alternatively, in some example embodiments, the cluster of collaborating devices may be created by the LMF 500 based on information regarding the cluster received from the target terminal device 512.

Once the cluster has been created, the target terminal device 512 transmits a report 552 indicating the cluster to the LMF 500. The report may also indicate characteristics of the cluster such as identifying the collaborating terminal devices, their CFO compensation capability, their residual CFO per carrier and their timeoffsets. After this the LMF 500 establishes 560 roles for the collaborating terminal devices comprised in the cluster. The establishing may comprise for example determining a configuration for each of the terminal devices in the cluster. After this, there is signalling 562 between the LMF 500 and the access node serving the target terminal device 512 for setting up the configuration for performing a function with the cluster. The function in this example embodiment is the UL CA positioning. Also, signalling 564 is transmitted between the LMF 500 and the access node 534 serving the aiding terminal device 514 to set up the configuration for the target terminal device 512 for performing the function that is this example embodiment is the UL CA positioning. The LMF 500 then transmits 566 a configuration according to the role determined for the target terminal device 512 thus configuring the target terminal device for the deployment of the cluster for performing the positioning. The access node 534 on the other hand transmits 568 the configuration for the deployment for the aiding terminal device to the aiding terminal device for configuring it according to the role determined for it by the LMF 500.

Then, the UL CA positioning 570 is performed for the cluster of the collaborating devices that for the HCA. The aiding terminal device 514 then monitors 580 the status. The status monitoring may be for example with regards to interference, urgent data traffic etc. The aiding terminal device may then, based on the monitoring, transmit a request 582 to its serving access node 534 requesting session modification. The serving access node 534 then transmits to the LMF 500 the request 584 to modify an individual deployment, which in this example embodiment is for the aiding terminal device 514, and then this triggers also a reconfiguration of the deployment session. Next, the serving access node 534 may modify 586 the deployment of the aiding terminal device 514 accordingly. For example, the session may be halted. Next, in 590, the UL CAL for the cluster is reconfigured. This may be achieved for example by performing again the steps starting from the request 544. Based on this, the LMF may estimate 595 the location of the target terminal device 512. The estimation may be performed such that characteristics such as residual CFP and time-offset of the terminal devices comprised in the cluster are taken into account. In the example embodiment of FIG. 5, the residual CFO of all the terminal devices comprised in the cluster forming the HCA terminal device may need to be known by the LMF 500 in order to compensate the different phase drifts that their transmission introduce. Also, the clock sources may need to be known by the LMF 500 so that potential clock drifts and/or offsets are accounted for when corroborating the different UL positioning measurements. Further, there may also be variations to the example embodiment of FIG. 5. For example, the transmission 568 may be replaced by an LPP message from the LMF 500, or by a SL message from the target terminal device 512. Further, the request 582 may be transmitted to the LMF 500 via LPP instead. Such alternative results in the LMF 500 reconfiguring the session in collaboration with the respective access nodes via NRPP and then the LMF 500 transmits a reconfiguration message itself, via LPP, to the aiding terminal device 514.

The example embodiment illustrated in FIG. 5 may have advantages such as increased resolution in UL positioning due to increased total bandwidth and overcoming UL transmission power constrains of a single terminal device in CA.

In this example embodiments described above, the target terminal device may also be understood as a first terminal device and its serving access node as the first access node. Correspondingly, the aiding terminal device may be understood as a second terminal device and its serving access node as a second access node. It is also to be noted that in some example embodiments the cluster may be formed by an LMF. Further, in some example embodiments, the configuration may be provided to the aiding terminal devices by the target terminal device in which case the target terminal device may also determine which aiding terminal device performs which functionality in the cluster. For example, if two carries are configured for the positioning, the target terminal device may determine based on the received configuration that it uses the first carrier 1 and selects an aiding terminal device that is to use the second carrier in the configuration. It is further to be noted that the positioning tasks may be performed simultaneously in some example embodiments. FIG. 6 illustrates an apparatus 600, which may be an apparatus such as, or comprised in, a terminal device, according to an example embodiment. The apparatus 600 comprises a processor 610. The processor 610 interprets computer program instructions and processes data. The processor 610 may comprise one or more programmable processors. The processor 610 may comprise programmable hardware with embedded firmware and may, alternatively or additionally, comprise one or more application specific integrated circuits, ASICs.

The processor 610 is coupled to a memory 620. The processor is configured to read and write data to and from the memory 620. The memory 620 may comprise one or more memory units. The memory units may be volatile or non-volatile. It is to be noted that in some example embodiments there may be one or more units of nonvolatile memory and one or more units of volatile memory or, alternatively, one or more units of non-volatile memory, or, alternatively, one or more units of volatile memory. Volatile memory may be for example RAM, DRAM or SDRAM. Non-volatile memory may be for example ROM, PROM, EEPROM, flash memory, optical storage or magnetic storage. In general, memories may be referred to as non-transitory computer readable media. The memory 620 stores computer readable instructions that are execute by the processor 610. For example, non-volatile memory stores the computer readable instructions and the processor 610 executes the instructions using volatile memory for temporary storage of data and/or instructions.

The computer readable instructions may have been pre-stored to the memory 620 or, alternatively or additionally, they may be received, by the apparatus, via electromagnetic carrier signal and/or may be copied from a physical entity such as computer program product. Execution of the computer readable instructions causes the apparatus 600 to perform functionality described above.

In the context of this document, a “memory” or “computer-readable media” may be any non-transitory media or means that can contain, store, communicate, propagate or transport the instructions for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device, such as a computer.

The apparatus 600 further comprises, or is connected to, an input unit 630. The input unit 630 comprises one or more interfaces for receiving a user input. The one or more interfaces may comprise for example one or more motion and/or orientation sensors, one or more cameras, one or more accelerometers, one or more microphones, one or more buttons and one or more touch detection units. Further, the input unit 630 may comprise an interface to which external devices may connect to.

The apparatus 600 also comprises an output unit 640. The output unit comprises or is connected to one or more displays capable of rendering visual content such as a light emitting diode, LED, display, a liquid crystal display, LCD and a liquid crystal on silicon, LCoS, display. The output unit 640 further comprises one or more audio outputs. The one or more audio outputs may be for example loudspeakers or a set of headphones.

The apparatus 600 may further comprise a connectivity unit 650. The connectivity unit 650 enables wired and/or wireless connectivity to external networks. The connectivity unit 650 may comprise one or more antennas and one or more receivers that may be integrated to the apparatus 600 or the apparatus 600 may be connected to. The connectivity unit 650 may comprise an integrated circuit or a set of integrated circuits that provide the wireless communication capability for the apparatus 600. Alternatively, the wireless connectivity may be a hardwired application specific integrated circuit, ASIC.

It is to be noted that the apparatus 600 may further comprise various component not illustrated in the FIG. 6. The various components may be hardware component and/or software components.

The apparatus 700 of FIG. 7 illustrates an example embodiment of an apparatus that may be an access node or be comprised in an access node. The apparatus may be, for example, a circuitry or a chipset applicable to an access node to realize the described embodiments. The apparatus 700 may be an electronic device comprising one or more electronic circuitries. The apparatus 700 may comprise a communication control circuitry 710 such as at least one processor, and at least one memory 720 including a computer program code (software) 722 wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code (software) 722 are configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus 700 to carry out any one of the example embodiments of the access node described above.

The memory 720 may be implemented using any suitable data storage technology, such as semiconductor-based memory devices, flash memory, magnetic memory devices and systems, optical memory devices and systems, fixed memory and removable memory. The memory may comprise a configuration database for storing configuration data. For example, the configuration database may store current neighbour cell list, and, in some example embodiments, structures of the frames used in the detected neighbour cells.

The apparatus 700 may further comprise a communication interface 730 comprising hardware and/or software for realizing communication connectivity according to one or more communication protocols. The communication interface 730 may provide the apparatus with radio communication capabilities to communicate in the cellular communication system. The communication interface may, for example, provide a radio interface to terminal devices. The apparatus 1700 may further comprise another interface towards a core network such as the network coordinator apparatus and/or to the access nodes of the cellular communication system. The apparatus 700 may further comprise a scheduler 1740 that is configured to allocate resources.

Even though the invention has been described above with reference to an example according to the accompanying drawings, it is clear that the invention is not restricted thereto but can be modified in several ways within the scope of the appended claims. Therefore, all words and expressions should be interpreted broadly and they are intended to illustrate, not to restrict, the embodiment. It will be obvious to a person skilled in the art that, as technology advances, the inventive concept can be implemented in various ways. Further, it is clear to a person skilled in the art that the described embodiments may, but are not required to, be combined with other embodiments in various ways.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising at least one processor, and at least one memory including a computer program code, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus to: establish a connection to a terminal device to form a cluster, wherein the cluster comprises a plurality of terminal devices that collaborate; receive, from a network entity, a configuration indicating at least one functionality to be performed, wherein the functionality is associated with positioning the apparatus based on the cluster; and perform the functionality according to the configuration received.

2. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the positioning the apparatus is based on a shared positioning session in which the apparatus performs said at least one functionality and the terminal device performs another, different functionality associated with the positioning the apparatus based on the cluster.

3. An apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the apparatus is further caused to provide the terminal device another configuration indicating the other functionality associated with the positioning of the apparatus based on the cluster.

4. An apparatus according to claims 2 or 3, wherein the apparatus is further caused to perform said at least one functionality simultaneously with said different functionality performed by the terminal device.

5. An apparatus according to any previous claim, wherein the positioning is performed based on carrier aggregation and the at least one functionality comprises performing a transmission on at least one carrier and the at least one carrier is different than a carrier on which the terminal device performs transmission.

6. An apparatus according to any previous claim, wherein the positioning is performed based on round trip time implemented using full duplex and the at least one functionality comprises performing uplink or downlink positioning.

7. An apparatus according to any previous claim, wherein the network entity is a location management function, and the apparatus is further caused to transmit characteristics of the plurality of terminal devices comprised in the cluster to the location management function.

8. An apparatus according to any previous claim, wherein the apparatus is further caused to form the cluster.

9. An apparatus according to any of claims 1 to 6, wherein the network entity is an access node.

10. An apparatus according to any previous claim, wherein the apparatus is, or is comprised in, another terminal device.

11. An apparatus comprising at least one processor, and at least one memory including a computer program code, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus to: obtain, from a first terminal device, information regarding a cluster, wherein the cluster comprises the first terminal device and a second terminal device and the first terminal device and the second terminal device are collaborating terminal devices; determine a first functionality to be performed by the first terminal device and a second functionality to be performed by the second terminal device, wherein the first functionality and the second functionality are part of positioning of the first terminal device; determine, based at least partly on the first functionality, a first configuration for the first terminal device; determine, based at least partly on the second functionality, a second configuration for the second terminal device; and transmit the first configuration and the second configuration.

12. An apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the apparatus is further caused to transmit the first configuration to the first terminal device and to transmit the second configuration to the second terminal device or to an access node serving the second terminal device.

13. An apparatus according to claim 11 or 12, wherein the apparatus is further caused to receive transmissions according to the first and second configuration and to estimate a location of the first terminal device based, at least partly, on the received transmissions.

14. An apparatus according to any of claims 11 to 13, wherein the apparatus is further caused to transmit a first request to an access node serving the first terminal device requesting resources according to the first configuration and a second request to the access node serving the second terminal device requesting resources according to the second configuration.

15. An apparatus according to any of the claims 11 to 14, wherein the positioning of the first terminal device is based on round trip time implemented using full duplex.

16. An apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the apparatus is further caused to receive, from a transmission and reception point, an indication regarding full duplex capability of the transmission and reception point.

17. An apparatus according to claim 15 or 16, wherein the apparatus is further caused to perform scheduling based on an interference alignment or based on interference cancellation.

18. An apparatus according to any of claims 11 to 14, wherein the positioning of the first terminal device is based on uplink carrier aggregation.

19. An apparatus according to claim 18, wherein the apparatus is further caused to receive, from a transmission and reception point, an indication regarding uplink carrier aggregation of the transmission and reception point.

20. An apparatus according to claim 18 or 19, wherein the apparatus is further caused to receive a request to modify and individual deployment for the positioning of the first terminal device.

21. An apparatus according to any of claims 11 to 20, wherein the apparatus is further caused to create the cluster based on the obtained information regarding the cluster.

22. An apparatus according to any of claims 11 to 21, wherein the apparatus is comprised in a location management function.

23. A method comprising: establishing a connection to a terminal device to form a cluster, wherein the cluster comprises a plurality of terminal devices that collaborate; receiving, from a network entity, a configuration indicating at least one functionality to be performed, wherein the functionality is associated with positioning the apparatus based on the cluster; and performing the functionality according to the configuration received.

24. A method comprising: obtaining, from a first terminal device, information regarding a cluster, wherein the cluster comprises the first terminal device and a second terminal device and the first terminal device and the second terminal device are collaborating terminal devices; determining a first functionality to be performed by the first terminal device and a second functionality to be performed by the second terminal device, wherein the first functionality and the second functionality are part of positioning of the first terminal device; determining, based at least partly on the first functionality, a first configuration for the first terminal device; determining, based at least partly on the second functionality, a second configuration for the second terminal device; and transmitting the first configuration and the second configuration.

25. A computer program comprising instructions stored thereon for performing at least the following: establishing a connection to a terminal device to form a cluster, wherein the cluster comprises a plurality of terminal devices that collaborate; receiving, from a network entity, a configuration indicating at least one functionality to be performed, wherein the functionality is associated with positioning the apparatus based on the cluster; and performing the functionality according to the configuration received.

26. A computer program comprising instructions stored thereon for performing at least the following: obtaining, from a first terminal device, information regarding a cluster, wherein the cluster comprises the first terminal device and a second terminal device and the first terminal device and the second terminal device are collaborating terminal devices; determining a first functionality to be performed by the first terminal device and a second functionality to be performed by the second terminal device, wherein the first functionality and the second functionality are part of positioning of the first terminal device; determining, based at least partly on the first functionality, a first configuration for the first terminal device; determining, based at least partly on the second functionality, a second configuration for the second terminal device; and transmitting the first configuration and the second configuration.