WO2024098308A1

WO2024098308A1 - Method for determining positioning satellite, and apparatus

Info

Publication number: WO2024098308A1
Application number: PCT/CN2022/130987
Authority: WO
Inventors: 毛玉欣
Original assignee: 北京小米移动软件有限公司
Priority date: 2022-11-09
Filing date: 2022-11-09
Publication date: 2024-05-16

Abstract

A method for determining a positioning satellite (12), and an apparatus, relating to the technical field of communications. The method comprises: a first network element sending a first request to a second network element, the first request carrying access information of a terminal device (11), the first request being used for requesting information of a satellite (12) for positioning of the terminal device (11), and the second network element being used for managing or acquiring satellite network operation information (201); and receiving satellite information of the positioning satellite (12) returned by the second network element, the positioning satellite (12) being determined by the second network element on the basis of the access information of the terminal device (11) (202). In scenarios of discontinuous coverage being present in NGSO satellite networks or satellite networks, the present invention can improve the accuracy of determining the satellite (12) performing location positioning of the terminal device (11), thus improving the accuracy of location positioning of the terminal device (11).

Description

A method and device for determining positioning satellite

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a method and device for determining a positioning satellite.

Background technique

When a terminal device (User Equipment, UE) accesses the 5G network using satellite access, the network equipment of the 5G network is required to verify the location of the terminal device to verify whether the user is allowed to access the Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) selected by the terminal device at the current location.

In one technical solution, the base station device can report the Tracking Area ID (TAI) representing the current location of the terminal device to the network device of the 5G network, and the network device verifies the location of the terminal device based on the TAI. Among them, the TAI can be determined based on the location information reported by the terminal device, for example, the TAI is determined based on the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) or the Assisting-GNSS (A-GNSS) information reported by the terminal device. However, the TAI representing the location of the terminal device generated based on the location information generated by any terminal device is unreliable, that is, there is a possibility that the terminal device sends a spoofed location, thereby affecting the accuracy of the terminal device's location positioning.

Summary of the invention

The present application proposes a method and device for determining positioning satellites, which can improve the accuracy of determining the satellites for performing terminal device location positioning, and further improve the accuracy of terminal device location positioning.

A first aspect embodiment of the present application provides a method for determining a positioning satellite, which is applied to a first network element, including: sending a first request to a second network element, the first request carrying access information of the terminal device, the first request being used to request information about a satellite for positioning the terminal device, the second network element being used to manage or obtain satellite network operation information; receiving satellite information of the positioning satellite returned by the second network element, the positioning satellite being determined by the second network element based on the access information of the terminal device.

In some embodiments of the present application, the first network element is an access and mobility management function (AMF) network element or a mobility management function entity (MME) network element; after receiving the satellite information of the positioning satellite returned by the second network element, the method further includes: sending a positioning request carrying the satellite information of the positioning satellite to a positioning management function (LMF) network element, so that the LMF network element sends a first positioning request carrying the satellite information of the positioning satellite to a radio access network (RAN) network element, and the first positioning request is used by the LMF network element to instruct the positioning satellite to locate the terminal device.

In some embodiments of the present application, the first network element is an LMF network element; before sending the first request to the second network element, the method also includes: receiving a second request sent by an AMF network element or an MME network element, the second request including access information of the terminal device, and the second request is used to request positioning of the terminal device.

In some embodiments of the present application, after receiving the satellite information of the positioning satellite returned by the second network element, the method further includes: sending a third request to the RAN network element, the third request carrying the satellite information of the positioning satellite, and the third request being used to request the RAN network element to instruct the positioning satellite to locate the terminal device.

In some embodiments of the present application, the first request also carries indication information, and the indication information is used by the second network element to determine the satellite for positioning the terminal device.

In some embodiments of the present application, the second network element is any one of the following:

Application function (AF) network element, satellite information management server, and satellite network operation and management center (OAM) network element.

In some embodiments of the present application, the access information of the terminal device includes at least one of the following:

The location information of the terminal device;

The movement trajectory information of the terminal device.

A second aspect embodiment of the present application provides a method for determining a positioning satellite, which is applied to a second network element, where the second network element is used to manage or obtain satellite network operation information. The method includes: receiving a first request sent by a first network element, where the first request is used to request information about a satellite for positioning a terminal device, and the first request carries access information of the terminal device; determining satellite information of the positioning satellite based on the access information of the terminal device; and returning satellite information of the positioning satellite to the first network element.

In some embodiments of the present application, determining the satellite information of the positioning satellite based on the access information of the terminal device includes: determining one or more satellites whose satellite signals cover the current position and/or trajectory of the terminal device as positioning satellites.

In some embodiments of the present application, the method also includes: when the first request carries indication information, determining that one or more satellites whose satellite signals cover the current position and/or trajectory of the terminal device are positioning satellites; the positioning satellites include satellites to which the terminal device accesses.

In some embodiments of the present application, the first network element is any one of the following:

AMF network element, MME network element, LMF network element.

AF network element, satellite information management server, satellite network operation and management center OAM network element.

The location information of the terminal device;

The movement trajectory information of the terminal device.

The third aspect embodiment of the present application provides a method for determining a positioning satellite, which is applied to a first network element, including: requesting a second network element to obtain satellite coverage information, the second network element being used to manage or obtain the coverage information; receiving the satellite coverage information returned by the second network element, the satellite coverage information being used to determine satellite information of a positioning satellite, the positioning satellite being a satellite used to position a terminal device.

In some embodiments of the present application, after receiving the satellite coverage information returned by the second network element, the method further includes: determining satellite information of the positioning satellite based on the satellite coverage information and access information of the terminal device.

In some embodiments of the present application, the first network element is an access and mobility management function AMF network element, or a mobility management function entity MME network element; after determining the satellite information of the positioning satellite based on the satellite coverage information and the access information of the terminal device, the method also includes: sending a first positioning request carrying the satellite information of the positioning satellite to a positioning management function LMF network element, and the first positioning request is used by the LMF network element to instruct the positioning satellite to locate the terminal device.

In some embodiments of the present application, the first network element is an AMF network element or an MME network element; after receiving the satellite coverage information returned by the second network element, the method further includes: sending a second positioning request to the LMF network element, the second positioning request carrying the satellite coverage information and the access information of the terminal device, the second positioning request is used by the LMF network element to determine the positioning satellite according to the satellite coverage information and the access information of the terminal device, and instruct the positioning satellite to locate the terminal device.

In some embodiments of the present application, the first network element is an LMF network element; before requesting the second network element to obtain satellite coverage information, the method also includes: receiving a third positioning request sent by an AMF network element or an MME network element, and the third positioning request carries access information of the terminal device.

In some embodiments of the present application, after determining the satellite information of the positioning satellite according to the satellite coverage information and the access information of the terminal device, the method further includes: sending a fourth positioning request to a RAN network element, the fourth positioning request carrying the satellite information of the positioning satellite, and the fourth positioning request being used to request the RAN network element to instruct the positioning satellite to locate the terminal device.

The location information of the terminal device;

The movement trajectory information of the terminal device.

The fourth aspect of the present application provides a method for determining a positioning satellite, which is applied to a second network element, where the second network element is used to manage or obtain satellite network operation information. The method includes: receiving an acquisition request sent by a first network element, where the acquisition request is used to request satellite coverage information; returning the satellite coverage information to the first network element, where the satellite coverage information is used to determine satellite information of a positioning satellite, where the positioning satellite is a satellite used to position the terminal device.

Access and mobility management function AMF network element, or mobility management function entity MME network element, or positioning management function LMF network element.

The fifth aspect embodiment of the present application provides a device for determining a positioning satellite, which is applied to a first network element, including: a first sending module, configured to send a first request to a second network element, the first request carries the access information of the terminal device, the first request is used to request information about a satellite for positioning the terminal device, and the second network element is used to manage or obtain satellite network operation information; a first receiving module, configured to receive satellite information of a positioning satellite returned by the second network element, the positioning satellite being determined by the second network element based on the access information of the terminal device.

The sixth aspect embodiment of the present application provides a device for determining a positioning satellite, which is applied to a second network element, where the second network element is a network element used to manage or obtain satellite network operation information. The device includes: a second receiving module, configured to receive a first request sent by a first network element, where the first request is used to request information about a satellite for positioning a terminal device, and the first request carries access information of the terminal device; a determination module, configured to determine the satellite information of the positioning satellite based on the access information of the terminal device; and a second sending module, configured to return the satellite information of the positioning satellite to the first network element.

The seventh aspect embodiment of the present application provides a device for determining a positioning satellite, which is applied to a first network element, including: a third sending module, configured to request a second network element to obtain satellite coverage information, and the second network element is used to manage or obtain the coverage information; a third receiving module, configured to receive the satellite coverage information returned by the second network element, and the satellite coverage information is used to determine the satellite information of the positioning satellite, and the positioning satellite is a satellite used to position a terminal device.

An eighth aspect embodiment of the present application provides a device for determining a positioning satellite, which is applied to a second network element, where the second network element is a network element used to manage or obtain satellite network operation information. The device includes: a fourth receiving module, configured to receive an acquisition request sent by a first network element, where the acquisition request is used to request to obtain satellite coverage information; a fourth sending module, configured to return the satellite coverage information to the first network element, where the satellite coverage information is used to determine satellite information of a positioning satellite, where the positioning satellite is a satellite used to position the terminal device.

A ninth aspect of the present application provides a system for determining a positioning satellite, including: a first network element and a second network element; the first network element executes the method described in the first aspect of the present application; and the second network element executes the method described in the second aspect of the present application.

The tenth aspect of the present application provides a system for determining a positioning satellite, including: a first network element and a second network element; the first network element executes the method described in the third aspect of the present application; and the second network element executes the method described in the fourth aspect of the present application.

The eleventh embodiment of the present application provides a communication device, which includes: a transceiver; a memory; a processor, which is connected to the transceiver and the memory respectively, and is configured to control the wireless signal reception and transmission of the transceiver by executing computer-executable instructions on the memory, and can implement the method of the first aspect embodiment, the second aspect embodiment, the third aspect embodiment, or the fourth aspect embodiment of the present application.

The twelfth aspect embodiment of the present application provides a computer storage medium, wherein the computer storage medium stores computer executable instructions; after the computer executable instructions are executed by the processor, the method of the first aspect embodiment, the second aspect embodiment, the third aspect embodiment, or the fourth aspect embodiment of the present application can be implemented.

The embodiments of the present application provide a method and apparatus for determining positioning satellites, which can improve the accuracy of determining the satellites for performing terminal device location positioning, thereby improving the accuracy of terminal device location positioning.

Additional aspects and advantages of the present application will be given in part in the description below, and in part will become apparent from the description below, or will be learned through the practice of the present application.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and/or additional aspects and advantages of the present application will become apparent and easily understood from the following description of the embodiments in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG1 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a system for determining a positioning satellite according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG2 is a schematic diagram of a flow chart of a method for determining a positioning satellite according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG3 is a schematic diagram of a flow chart of a method for determining a positioning satellite according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG4 is a schematic diagram of a flow chart of a method for determining a positioning satellite according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG5 is a schematic diagram of a flow chart of a method for determining a positioning satellite according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG6 is a schematic diagram of a flow chart of a method for determining a positioning satellite according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG7 is a schematic diagram of a flow chart of a positioning method according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG8 is a schematic diagram of a flow chart of a method for determining a positioning satellite according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG9 is a schematic diagram of a flow chart of a positioning method according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG10 is a schematic diagram of a flow chart of a method for determining a positioning satellite according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG11 is a schematic diagram of a flow chart of a method for determining a positioning satellite according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG12 is a schematic diagram of a flow chart of a method for determining a positioning satellite according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG13 is a schematic diagram of a flow chart of a method for determining a positioning satellite according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG14 is a schematic diagram of a flow chart of a method for determining a positioning satellite according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG15 is a schematic diagram of a flow chart of a positioning method according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG16 is a schematic diagram of a flow chart of a method for determining a positioning satellite according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG17 is a schematic diagram of a flow chart of a positioning method according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG18 is a block diagram of a device for determining a positioning satellite according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG19 is a block diagram of a device for determining a positioning satellite according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG20 is a block diagram of a device for determining a positioning satellite according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG21 is a block diagram of a device for determining a positioning satellite according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG22 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 23 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a chip provided in an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed ways

Embodiments of the present application are described in detail below, and examples of the embodiments are shown in the accompanying drawings, wherein the same or similar reference numerals throughout represent the same or similar elements or elements having the same or similar functions. The embodiments described below with reference to the accompanying drawings are exemplary and are intended to be used to explain the present application, and should not be construed as limitations on the present application. It should be noted that, in the absence of conflict, the embodiments of the present application and the features in the embodiments may be combined with each other.

The terms used in the embodiments of the present application are only for the purpose of describing specific embodiments, and are not intended to limit the embodiments of the present application. The singular forms of "a" and "the" used in the embodiments of the present application and the appended claims are also intended to include plural forms, unless the context clearly indicates other meanings. It should also be understood that the term "and/or" used herein refers to and includes any or all possible combinations of one or more associated listed items.

It should be understood that, although the terms first, second, third, etc. may be used to describe various information in the embodiments of the present application, these information should not be limited to these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish the same type of information from each other. For example, without departing from the scope of the embodiments of the present application, the first information may also be referred to as the second information, and similarly, the second information may also be referred to as the first information. Depending on the context, the word "if" as used herein may be interpreted as "at the time of" or "when" or "in response to determination".

When a terminal device uses satellite access to access the 5G network, the network equipment of the 5G network needs to verify the location of the terminal device to verify whether the user is allowed to access the PLMN selected by the terminal device at the current location. For example, since a satellite cell has a large coverage area, it may cover areas of both countries A and B (such as a typical satellite cell at the border between two countries covering both areas of the two countries), and the network operators of the two countries may share the satellite access, while country B requires that users from other countries are strictly prohibited from accessing the network of its own operator in a non-roaming manner. At this time, if a user from country A located in the border area selects the network of country B through the satellite access to access, the network equipment of the operator in country B needs to verify the location of the user's terminal device and determine whether the user's terminal device is located in country B. If it is not in country B, the user is prohibited from directly accessing the network of country B in a non-roaming manner.

In a technical solution, the base station device may report the Tracking Area ID (TAI) representing the current location of the terminal device to the network device, and the network device verifies the location of the terminal device based on the TAI. The TAI may be determined based on the location information reported by the terminal device, for example, the TAI may be determined based on the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) or the Assisting-GNSS (A-GNSS) information reported by the terminal device. However, the TAI representing the location of the terminal device generated based on the location information generated by any terminal device is unreliable, that is, there is a possibility that the terminal device sends a spoofed location. In the process of verifying the location of the terminal device, it is necessary to ensure that the obtained location of the terminal device is credible. Therefore, a satellite-based positioning method, that is, positioning the terminal device through a satellite, can be used to obtain reliable terminal device location information and provide it to the network device for location verification.

However, the satellites that provide coverage for the terminal device may change. For example, satellite A provides coverage for the terminal device during the T1 period, and satellite B provides coverage for the terminal device during the T2 period. In addition, the coverage of the terminal device by satellite access may be discontinuous, and satellite positioning must be performed only when there is signal coverage. Combined with the above scenario, when the network device decides to perform location verification on the terminal device, it cannot accurately determine the satellite that performs the terminal device location positioning, which in turn affects the accuracy of the terminal device location positioning.

To this end, this embodiment proposes a method and device for determining positioning satellites, which can improve the accuracy of determining the satellites for performing terminal device location positioning, and then locate the terminal device based on the satellite, thereby improving the accuracy of terminal device location positioning.

The method and device for determining positioning satellites provided in the present application are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Figure 1 shows a structural diagram of a network system according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 1, the network architecture may include at least one terminal device 11, at least one satellite 12, a wireless access network 13 (e.g., NG-RAN) and a core network 14 (e.g., a 5G core network).

In one example, the terminal device 11 can access the core network 14 through the wireless access network 13. For example, the wireless access network can be a satellite access network, that is, the terminal device accesses the 5G network using a satellite access method.

In one example, the satellite 12 is used to locate the terminal device 11. The satellite 12 may be, for example, a non-geosynchronous satellite (NGSO), such as a low earth orbit (LEO) satellite or a medium earth orbit (MEO) satellite.

In one example, when the core network 14 determines that the terminal device 11 uses a satellite network access based on the access network used by the terminal device 11, it is necessary to verify the location of the terminal device 11. In some embodiments of the present application, the core network 14 can determine the information of the satellite 12 for positioning the terminal device 11, and then instruct the satellite 12 to position the terminal device 11 through the wireless access network 13 to obtain the location information of the terminal device 11. Since the positioning is performed by the satellite, rather than the positioning determined based on the terminal device 11's own location information (which may be forged), the accuracy of the location verification performed on the terminal device 11 can be improved.

In some embodiments, the core network 14 may include a first network element and a second network element. The first network element is used to request the second network element to obtain information about satellites used to locate the terminal device. In one example, the first network element may be an AMF network element, or an MME network element, or an LMF network element, etc. The second network element is used to manage or obtain satellite network operation information. In one example, the second network element may be an AF network element, or a satellite information management server, or a satellite network operation management center (OAM) network element, etc. In this embodiment, the technical solution provided in the embodiment of the present application can be implemented specifically by the first network element and the second network element, and the specific content will be described in detail below.

Fig. 2 shows a schematic flow chart of a method for determining a positioning satellite according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Fig. 2, the method is applied to a first network element and may include the following steps.

Step 201: A first network element sends a first request to a second network element, where the first request is used to request information about a satellite for positioning a terminal device.

Exemplarily, the first network element is used to request the second network element to obtain information about satellites for positioning the terminal device. In an example, the first network element may be an AMF network element, or an MME network element, or an LMF network element, etc.

Exemplarily, the second network element is used to manage or obtain satellite network operation information. In one example, the second network element may be an AF network element, a satellite information management server, or a satellite network operation management center (OAM) network element.

It should be noted that this embodiment does not specifically limit the names of the first network element and the second network element, and is only an exemplary description.

Exemplarily, the first request may carry access information of the terminal device, such as information about the terminal device accessing a satellite network. Optionally, the access information of the terminal device may include: at least one of the location information of the terminal device and the movement track information of the terminal device. The location information of the terminal device may include one or more of the following:

Such as the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) information of the terminal device, the Tracking Area (TA) information where the terminal device is located, the cell ID (cell ID) serving the terminal device, the 5G base station ID (gNB-ID) to which the terminal device is connected, etc.

The movement trajectory information of the terminal device may include, for example, time series location information.

In some embodiments, after receiving the first request, the second network element may determine information about a satellite (also referred to as a positioning satellite) for positioning the terminal device according to the access information of the terminal device carried in the first request. The information about the positioning satellite includes, for example, a satellite identifier, such as a satellite name or ID number.

In other embodiments, the second network element may determine the satellite for positioning the terminal device based on the access information of the terminal device and the satellite coverage information (for example, the orbit information corresponding to each satellite at different times, the beam coverage area and other information), and return the information of the positioning satellite (the satellite used to position the terminal device) (such as the satellite identifier) to the first network element. The satellite coverage information includes the coverage information of at least one satellite access network.

Step 202: The first network element receives satellite information of a positioning satellite returned by the second network element, where the positioning satellite is determined by the second network element according to access information of the terminal device.

In some embodiments, after receiving satellite information (e.g., satellite identification) of a positioning satellite (a satellite used to locate a terminal device) returned by a second network element, the first network element may provide the satellite information to a radio access network (RAN) network element. The RAN network element instructs the positioning satellite (the satellite corresponding to the satellite identification) to locate the terminal device to obtain the location information of the terminal device. Since the positioning is performed by the satellite, rather than the positioning determined based on the terminal device's own location information (which may be forged), the accuracy of the network device's location verification of the terminal device can be improved.

It can be seen from the above that the method for determining positioning satellites provided in this embodiment can improve the accuracy of determining the satellites for performing terminal device location positioning, thereby improving the accuracy of terminal device location positioning.

Fig. 3 shows a flow chart of a method for determining a positioning satellite according to an embodiment of the present application. Taking the first network element being an AMF network element as an example, as shown in Fig. 3, the method may include the following steps.

Step 301: The AMF network element sends a first request to a second network element, where the first request is used to request information about a satellite for positioning a terminal device.

Among them, the AMF network element is a network element used for access and mobility management functions in the 5G Core Network (5GC). The second network element is used to manage or obtain satellite network operation information. In an example, the second network element can be an AF network element, a satellite information management server, or a satellite network operation management center (OAM) network element, etc.

In some embodiments, the terminal device accesses the 5G core network through a satellite access network, wherein the satellite access network includes non-geosynchronous satellites (NGSO), such as one or more low-orbit (LEO) satellites and medium-orbit (MEO) satellites. The AMF network element in the 5G core network determines the access method of the terminal device. If it is determined that the terminal device accesses the 5G core network through a satellite network, that is, the terminal device uses the access method of the satellite network, the AMF does need to verify the location of the terminal device.

The AMF network element sends a first request to the second network element to request information about a positioning satellite, which may be a satellite used to locate the terminal device. The first request may carry access information of the terminal device, so that the second network element determines the satellite identifier of the positioning satellite (the satellite used to locate the terminal device) according to the access information of the terminal device. For example, the second network element may find a satellite that can locate the terminal device in the current access area of the terminal device, i.e., a satellite used to locate the terminal device, based on the access information and satellite coverage information of the terminal device (for example, orbital information corresponding to each satellite at different times, beam coverage area, and other information).

Further optionally, the first request sent by the AMF network element to the second network element may also carry indication information, and the indication information is used to indicate the content returned by the second network. For example, when the first request contains the indication information, the second network element returns the satellite information corresponding to the satellite currently used by the terminal device to access the 5G core network according to the access information of the terminal device, and returns the satellite information corresponding to other satellites in the satellite network that can cover the current position or trajectory of the terminal device according to the access information of the terminal device, so as to subsequently comprehensively locate more accurate terminal device location information.

Alternatively, when the first request includes the indication information, the second network element returns the satellite information corresponding to the satellite used by the terminal device when it currently accesses the 5G core network according to the access information of the terminal device.

For another example, when the indication information in the first request is the first value, the second network element returns the satellite information corresponding to the satellite used by the terminal device when it currently accesses the 5G core network according to the access information of the terminal device. When the indication information in the first request is the second value, the second network element returns the satellite information corresponding to the satellite used by the terminal device when it currently accesses the 5G core network according to the access information of the terminal device, and returns the satellite information corresponding to other satellites in the satellite network that can cover the current position or trajectory of the terminal device according to the access information of the terminal device.

Step 302: The AMF network element receives satellite information of the positioning satellite returned by the second network element. The positioning satellite is determined by the second network element according to the access information of the terminal device.

Exemplarily, the second network element may determine the satellite for positioning the terminal device based on the access information of the terminal device and/or the coverage information of each satellite in the satellite network (for example, orbital information corresponding to each satellite at different times, beam coverage area, and other information). The number of positioning satellites determined by the second network element may be one or more.

In one example, the second network element determines that the satellite used by the terminal device when it is currently accessing the 5G core network is used to locate the terminal device. In another example, the second network element determines that all or part of the satellites in the satellite network that can cover the current position or running track of the terminal device are used to locate the terminal device.

Step 303: The AMF network element sends a first positioning request carrying satellite information of a positioning satellite to the LMF network element. The first positioning request is used by the LMF network element to instruct the positioning satellite to locate the terminal device.

The LMF network element is used to provide a positioning service for the terminal device. The RAN network element can be used to send a positioning instruction to a satellite corresponding to satellite information (such as a satellite identifier of a positioning satellite) to instruct the satellite to locate the terminal device and report the location information of the terminal device.

For example, based on positioning methods such as Multi RTT and DL/UL-TDOA, the terminal device can be positioned through the satellite corresponding to the satellite identifier to obtain reliable terminal device location information. It should be noted that the embodiment of the present application does not limit the method for positioning the terminal device by the satellite.

It should be noted that the embodiment of Figure 3 takes the first network element as an example, which is an AMF network element. In addition, the first network element can also be an MME network element. The MME network element is also a 5G core network element. Its specific implementation process can refer to the implementation process of the AMF network element in the embodiment of Figure 3, which will not be repeated here.

By applying the method for determining positioning satellites provided in this embodiment, the accuracy of determining the satellites for performing terminal device location positioning can be improved, thereby improving the accuracy of terminal device location positioning.

Fig. 4 shows a schematic flow chart of a method for determining a positioning satellite according to an embodiment of the present application. Taking the first network element being a LMF network element as an example, as shown in Fig. 4, the method may include the following steps.

Step 401: The LMF network element receives a second request sent by the AMF network element or the MME network element, where the second request is used to request positioning of the terminal device.

The second request includes access information of the terminal device.

In some embodiments, the terminal device accesses 5GC through a satellite access network, wherein the satellite access network is an NGSO satellite (such as LEO or MEO, etc.) network, or provides discontinuous coverage of signals. It is necessary to verify the location of the terminal device based on the access network used by the terminal device to determine whether the terminal device uses a satellite network for access. The AMF network element or the MME network element will request the LMF network element for satellite information for positioning the terminal device, and the request information carries the access information of the terminal device.

Step 402: The LMF network element sends a first request to the second network element based on the received second request, where the first request is used to request information about satellites for positioning the terminal device.

The second network element determines the satellite identifier of the positioning satellite (the satellite used to position the terminal device) according to the access information of the terminal device. For example, it can determine the satellite that can be used for positioning in the current access area of the terminal device, that is, the satellite used to position the terminal device, based on the access information of the terminal device and the satellite coverage information (for example, the orbital information corresponding to each satellite at different times, the beam coverage area, and other information).

Further optionally, the first request sent by the LMF network element to the second network element may also carry indication information of the purpose of the request, and the indication information is used by the second network element to determine the satellite for positioning the terminal device. For details, please refer to the corresponding description content in the embodiment of Figure 3, which will not be repeated here.

Step 403: The LMF network element receives the satellite information of the positioning satellite returned by the second network element.

Step 404: The LMF network element sends a third request to the RAN network element. The third request is used to request positioning of the terminal device. The third request carries satellite information of the positioning satellite.

Among them, the RAN network element instructs the positioning satellite to locate the terminal device, such as the RAN network element is used to send a positioning instruction to a satellite corresponding to satellite information (such as the satellite identifier of the positioning satellite) to instruct the satellite to locate the terminal device and report the location information of the terminal device.

Fig. 5 shows a schematic flow chart of a method for determining a positioning satellite according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Fig. 5, the method is applied to a second network element and may include the following steps.

Step 501: A second network element receives a first request sent by a first network element, where the first request is used to request information about a satellite for positioning a terminal device.

Such as the GNSS information of the terminal device, the TA information where the terminal device is located, the cell identifier serving the terminal device, the 5G base station identifier to which the terminal device is connected, etc.

Step 502: The second network element determines satellite information of the positioning satellite according to the access information of the terminal device.

In some embodiments, the second network element may determine the satellite for positioning the terminal device based on the access information of the terminal device and the satellite coverage information (for example, the orbit information corresponding to each satellite at different times, the beam coverage area and other information), and return the information of the positioning satellite (the satellite used to position the terminal device) (such as the satellite identifier) to the first network element. The satellite coverage information includes the coverage information of at least one satellite access network.

For example, one or more satellites whose satellite signals cover the current position and/or running track of the terminal device are determined as positioning satellites.

Step 503: The second network element returns satellite information of the positioning satellite to the first network element.

The execution process of the first network element after obtaining the satellite information of the positioning satellite can refer to the embodiment shown in Figure 2, which will not be repeated here.

Fig. 6 shows a flow chart of a method for determining a positioning satellite according to an embodiment of the present application. Taking the first network element being an AMF network element as an example, as shown in Fig. 6, the following steps may be included.

Step 601: The second network element receives a first request sent by the AMF network element, where the first request is used to request information about a satellite for positioning a terminal device.

In some embodiments, the AMF network element is a network element in the 5GC used for access and mobility management functions.

Step 602: The second network element determines satellite information of the positioning satellite according to the access information of the terminal device and the satellite coverage information.

In some embodiments, the second network element may determine the satellite for positioning the terminal device based on the access information of the terminal device and the satellite coverage information (for example, the orbital information corresponding to each satellite at different times, the beam coverage area, and other information), and return the information of the positioning satellite (the satellite used to position the terminal device) (such as the satellite identifier) to the AMF network element.

Further optionally, when the first request carries indication information, one or more satellites whose satellite signals cover the current position and/or trajectory of the terminal device are determined as positioning satellites; the positioning satellites include satellites to which the terminal device accesses.

When the indication information in the first request is a first value, one or more satellites whose satellite signals cover the current position and/or trajectory of the terminal device are determined to be positioning satellites; positioning satellites include satellites accessed by the terminal device; when the indication information in the first request is a second value, the satellite accessed by the terminal device is determined to be a positioning satellite; wherein the indication information is used by the second network element to determine the satellite for positioning the terminal device; the first value and the second value are different.

For details, please refer to the corresponding description in the embodiment of FIG3 , which will not be repeated here.

Step 603: The second network element returns the satellite information of the positioning satellite to the AMF network element.

The execution process of the AMF network element after obtaining the satellite information of the positioning satellite can refer to the embodiment shown in Figure 3, which will not be repeated here. It should be noted that the embodiment of Figure 6 takes the first network element as an example that the AMF network element is a network element. In addition, the first network element can also be an MME network element, which is also a 5G core network element. Its specific implementation process can refer to the implementation process of the AMF network element in the embodiment of Figure 6, which will not be repeated here.

As shown in FIG7 , a flowchart of a positioning method provided in an embodiment of the present application is provided. It can be applied to a system for determining a positioning satellite, and in the figure, the first network element is an AMF network element or an MME network element as an example. The method comprises the following steps:

Step A1, the terminal equipment (UE) accesses the 5GC through the 5G radio access network (NG-RAN), wherein the 5G radio access network is a satellite access network, the satellite access network is an NGSO satellite (such as LEO or MEO) network, or provides discontinuous coverage of signals.

In step A2, the AMF network element or MME network element (AMF/MME) in 5GC determines whether the terminal device uses satellite network access based on the access network used by the terminal device, and needs to verify the location of the terminal device.

This step is optional.

Step A3: The AMF network element or the MME network element (AMF/MME) requests the second network element (such as AF/satellite information management server/OAM, etc.) for satellite information for positioning the terminal device.

If the core network uses a service-oriented architecture, the AMF network element or the MME network element can request the satellite information from the second network element through the Network Exposure Function (NEF)/Service Capability Exposure Function (SCEF). The request message contains the access information of the terminal device (such as the location information of the terminal device: GNSS information or the TA where the terminal device is currently located, etc.). In order to further improve the accuracy of positioning the terminal device, in some embodiments, the request message may also include indication information that the requested satellite is used to position the terminal device.

Step A4: The second network element determines the satellite for locating the terminal device based on the access information and satellite coverage information of the terminal device, and sends the satellite identifier of the positioning satellite to the AMF network element or the MME network element.

Step A5: The AMF network element or the MME network element initiates a positioning request to the LMF network element, and the request includes a satellite identifier.

In some embodiments, the request may be such as Nlmf_Location_DetermineLocation Request.

Step A6: The LMF network element initiates a positioning request to the NG-RAN, where the request includes a satellite identifier.

Step A7: NG-RAN initiates a positioning command to the corresponding satellite based on the satellite identifier to obtain the location information of the terminal device.

Step A8: NG-RAN sends the terminal device location information obtained by positioning to the LMF network element.

Step A9: The LMF network element sends the terminal device location information to the AMF network element or the MME network element.

In some embodiments, a request response message may be received, such as Nlmf_Location_DetermineLocation Response, which includes the location information of the terminal device.

Step A10: The AMF network element or the MME network element verifies the location of the terminal device based on the location information of the terminal device.

By applying the positioning method provided in this embodiment, the accuracy of determining the satellite for performing terminal device location positioning can be improved, thereby improving the accuracy of terminal device location positioning.

Fig. 8 shows a schematic flow chart of a method for determining a positioning satellite according to an embodiment of the present application. Taking the first network element being a LMF network element as an example, as shown in Fig. 8 , the following steps may be included.

Step 701: The second network element receives a first request sent by the LMF network element, where the first request is used to request information about a satellite for positioning a terminal device.

Among them, the LMF network element is used to interact with the 5G core network to complete the positioning function of the terminal equipment.

Step 702: The second network element determines satellite information of the positioning satellite according to the access information of the terminal device and the satellite coverage information.

In some embodiments, the second network element can determine the satellite for positioning the terminal device based on the access information of the terminal device and the satellite coverage information (for example, the orbital information corresponding to each satellite at different times, the beam coverage area, and other information), and return the information of the positioning satellite (the satellite used to position the terminal device) (such as the satellite identifier) to the LMF network element.

Further optionally, when the first request carries indication information, one or more satellites whose satellite signals cover the current position and/or trajectory of the terminal device are determined to be positioning satellites; the positioning satellites include the satellites accessed by the terminal device; when the first request does not carry the indication information, the satellites accessed by the terminal device are determined to be positioning satellites; wherein the indication information is used by the second network element to determine the satellites for positioning the terminal device.

For details, please refer to the corresponding description in the embodiment of FIG4 , which will not be repeated here.

Step 703: The second network element returns the satellite information of the positioning satellite to the LMF network element.

The execution process of the LMF network element after obtaining the satellite information of the positioning satellite can refer to the embodiment shown in Figure 4, which will not be repeated here.

As shown in FIG9 , a flowchart of a positioning method provided in an embodiment of the present application is shown. It can be applied to a system for determining a positioning satellite, and the first network element is an LMF network element as an example. The method includes the following steps:

Step B1, the terminal equipment (UE) accesses the 5GC through the 5G radio access network (NG-RAN), wherein the 5G radio access network is a satellite access network, the satellite access network is an NGSO satellite (such as LEO or MEO) network, or provides discontinuous coverage of signals.

Step B2, the AMF network element or MME network element (AMF/MME) in 5GC determines whether the terminal device uses satellite network access based on the access network used by the terminal device, and needs to verify the location of the terminal device.

Step B3, the AMF network element or the MME network element (AMF/MME) initiates a positioning request to the LMF network element. The request includes the access information of the terminal device (such as the location information of the terminal device: GNSS information or the TA where the terminal device is currently located, etc.).

Step B4, the LMF network element requests the second network element (such as AF/satellite information management server/OAM, etc.) for satellite information for positioning the terminal device. If the core network uses a service-oriented architecture, the LMF network element can request the satellite information from the second network element through NEF/SCEF. The request message includes the access information of the terminal device. In order to further improve the accuracy of positioning the terminal device, in some embodiments, the request message may also include indication information that the requested satellite is used to position the terminal device.

Step B5: The second network element determines the satellite for locating the terminal device based on the access information and satellite coverage information of the terminal device, and sends the satellite identifier of the positioning satellite to the LMF network element.

Step B6: The LMF network element initiates a positioning request to the NG-RAN, where the request includes a satellite identifier.

Step B7: NG-RAN initiates a positioning command to the corresponding satellite based on the satellite identifier to obtain the location information of the terminal device.

Step B8: NG-RAN sends the terminal device location information obtained by positioning to the LMF network element.

Step B9: The LMF network element sends the terminal device location information to the AMF network element or the MME network element.

Step B10: The AMF network element or the MME network element verifies the location of the terminal device based on the location information of the terminal device.

Fig. 10 is a flow chart of a method for determining a positioning satellite according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Fig. 10, the method is applied to a first network element and may include the following steps.

Step 801: A first network element requests a second network element to obtain satellite coverage information, and the second network element is used to manage or obtain satellite coverage information.

The satellite coverage information includes coverage information of at least one satellite access network.

After receiving the request, the second network element may return the satellite coverage information to the first network element.

Step 802: The first network element receives satellite coverage information returned by the second network element. The satellite coverage information is used to determine satellite information of a positioning satellite. The positioning satellite is a satellite used to locate the terminal device.

The positioning satellite is a satellite used to locate the terminal device. After obtaining the satellite information (e.g., satellite identification) of the positioning satellite, this embodiment can provide the satellite information to the RAN network element. The RAN network element instructs the positioning satellite (the satellite corresponding to the satellite identification) to locate the terminal device to obtain the location information of the terminal device. Since the positioning is performed by the satellite, rather than the positioning determined based on the terminal device's own location information (which may be forged), the accuracy of the network device performing location verification on the terminal device can be improved.

Fig. 11 shows a flow chart of a method for determining a positioning satellite according to an embodiment of the present application. Taking the first network element being an AMF network element as an example, as shown in Fig. 11, the method may include the following steps.

Step 901: The AMF network element requests the second network element to obtain satellite coverage information, and the second network element is used to manage or obtain satellite coverage information.

The AMF network element is a 5G core network element. In this embodiment, the terminal device accesses the 5GC through a satellite access network, wherein the satellite access network is an NGSO satellite (such as LEO or MEO, etc.) network, or provides discontinuous coverage of signals. The AMF network element determines whether the terminal device uses a satellite network access based on the access network used by the terminal device, and needs to verify the location of the terminal device.

The AMF network element requests the second network element to obtain satellite coverage information, where the satellite coverage information is used to determine satellite information of a positioning satellite, where the positioning satellite may be a satellite used to position the terminal device.

Step 902: The AMF network element receives satellite coverage information returned by the second network element. The satellite coverage information is used to determine satellite information of a positioning satellite, where a positioning satellite is a satellite used to position a terminal device.

As an optional method, after step 902, the following may also be included: the AMF network element determines the satellite information of the positioning satellite according to the satellite coverage information and the access information of the terminal device. For example, according to the access information and satellite coverage information of the terminal device (including a set of satellites that can be used for positioning), find the corresponding satellite when the terminal device is currently connected to the satellite network, that is, the satellite used to implement positioning of the terminal device.

After the AMF network element determines the satellite information of the positioning satellite based on the satellite coverage information and the access information of the terminal device, the method of this embodiment may also include: sending a first positioning request carrying the satellite information of the positioning satellite to the LMF network element, the first positioning request is used by the LMF network element to instruct the positioning satellite to locate the terminal device, such as sending a positioning request carrying the satellite information of the positioning satellite to the LMF network element, so that the LMF network element sends a positioning request carrying the satellite information of the positioning satellite to the RAN network element, and the RAN network element is used to send a positioning instruction to the positioning satellite corresponding to the satellite information, so as to instruct the positioning satellite to locate the terminal device and report the location information of the terminal device.

In addition to the above-mentioned method in which the AMF network element itself determines the satellite information of the positioning satellite, as another optional method, after step 902, this embodiment may also include: sending a second positioning request to the LMF network element, the second positioning request carrying the satellite coverage information and the access information of the terminal device, the second positioning request is used by the LMF network element to determine the positioning satellite according to the satellite coverage information and the access information of the terminal device, and instruct the positioning satellite to locate the terminal device, such as sending a positioning request carrying the satellite coverage information and the access information of the terminal device to the LMF network element, so that the LMF network element determines the satellite identifier of the positioning satellite according to the satellite coverage information and the access information of the terminal device, and sends a positioning request carrying the satellite identifier of the positioning satellite to the RAN network element, the RAN network element is used to send a positioning instruction to the satellite corresponding to the satellite identifier to obtain the location information of the terminal device.

It should be noted that the embodiment of Figure 11 takes the first network element being an AMF network element as an example. In addition, the first network element can also be an MME network element. The MME network element is also a 5G core network element. Its specific implementation process can refer to the implementation process of the AMF network element in the embodiment of Figure 11, which will not be repeated here.

Fig. 12 shows a flow chart of a method for determining a positioning satellite according to an embodiment of the present application. Taking the first network element being a LMF network element as an example, as shown in Fig. 12, the method may include the following steps.

Step 1001: The LMF network element receives a third positioning request sent by the AMF network element or the MME network element, and the third positioning request carries the access information of the terminal device.

The terminal device accesses 5GC through a satellite access network, where the satellite access network is an NGSO satellite (such as LEO or MEO) network, or provides discontinuous coverage of signals. The terminal device uses a satellite network to access the access network, and the location of the terminal device needs to be verified. The AMF network element or the MME network element will request the LMF network element for satellite information for positioning the terminal device, and the request information carries the access information of the terminal device.

Step 1002: The LMF network element requests the second network element to obtain satellite coverage information based on the received positioning request.

Step 1003: The LMF network element receives the satellite coverage information returned by the second network element.

Step 1004: The LMF network element determines the satellite information of the positioning satellite based on the received satellite coverage information and the access information of the terminal device.

A positioning satellite is a satellite used to locate a terminal device. For example, based on the access information and satellite coverage information of the terminal device, the satellites available for positioning in the current access area of the terminal device, i.e., the satellites used to locate the terminal device, can be determined.

Further, after step 1004, a fourth positioning request is sent to the RAN network element, the fourth positioning request carries satellite information of the positioning satellite, and the fourth positioning request is used to request the RAN network element to instruct the positioning satellite to locate the terminal device, such as the LMF network element sends a positioning request carrying the satellite identifier of the positioning satellite to the RAN network element, and the RAN network element is used to send a positioning instruction to the satellite corresponding to the satellite identifier to obtain the location information of the terminal device. For example, based on positioning methods such as Multi RTT and DL/UL-TDOA, the terminal device can be positioned through the satellite corresponding to the satellite identifier to obtain reliable terminal device location information.

Fig. 13 shows a schematic flow chart of a method for determining a positioning satellite according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Fig. 13, the method is applied to a second network element and may include the following steps.

Step 1101: The second network element receives an acquisition request sent by the first network element, where the acquisition request is used to request satellite coverage information.

Step 1102: The second network element returns the satellite coverage information to the first network element, where the satellite coverage information is used to determine satellite information of a positioning satellite, where the positioning satellite is a satellite used to position the terminal device.

The satellite coverage information may be used to determine satellite information of a positioning satellite, which is a satellite used to locate the terminal device.

The execution process of the first network element after obtaining the satellite coverage information can be referred to the embodiment content shown in Figure 10, which will not be repeated here.

Fig. 14 shows a schematic flow chart of a method for determining a positioning satellite according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Fig. 14, taking the first network element as an AMF network element as an example, the following steps may be included.

Step 1201: The second network element receives an acquisition request sent by the AMF network element, where the acquisition request is used to request satellite coverage information.

Step 1202: The second network element returns the satellite coverage information to the AMF network element, where the satellite coverage information is used to determine satellite information of a positioning satellite, where the positioning satellite is a satellite used to position the terminal device.

The execution process of the AMF network element after obtaining the satellite coverage information can be referred to the embodiment content shown in Figure 11, which will not be repeated here.

It should be noted that the embodiment of Figure 14 takes the first network element as an example, which is an AMF network element. In addition, the first network element can also be an MME network element. The MME network element is also a 5G core network element. Its specific implementation process can refer to the implementation process of the AMF network element in the embodiment of Figure 14, which will not be repeated here.

As shown in FIG15, a flowchart of a positioning method provided in an embodiment of the present application is provided. It can be applied to a system for determining a positioning satellite, and in the figure, the first network element is an AMF network element or an MME network element as an example. The method includes the following steps:

Step C1, the terminal equipment (UE) accesses the 5GC through the 5G radio access network (NG-RAN), wherein the 5G radio access network is a satellite access network, the satellite access network is an NGSO satellite (such as LEO or MEO) network, or provides discontinuous coverage of signals.

In step C2, the AMF network element or MME network element (AMF/MME) in 5GC determines whether the terminal device uses satellite network access based on the access network used by the terminal device, and needs to verify the location of the terminal device.

Step C3, the AMF network element or the MME network element (AMF/MME) obtains the satellite coverage information of the current location of the terminal device from the second network element (such as AF/satellite information management server/OAM, etc.).

Step C4: The AMF network element or the MME network element determines the satellite for positioning the terminal device based on the access information and satellite coverage information of the terminal device.

Step C5: The AMF network element or the MME network element initiates a positioning request to the LMF network element, and the request includes a satellite identifier.

Step C6: The LMF network element initiates a positioning request to the NG-RAN, where the request includes a satellite identifier.

Step C7: NG-RAN initiates a positioning command to the corresponding satellite based on the satellite identifier to obtain the location information of the terminal device.

Step C8: NG-RAN sends the terminal device location information obtained by positioning to the LMF network element.

Step C9: The LMF network element sends the terminal device location information to the AMF network element or the MME network element.

Step C10: The AMF network element or the MME network element verifies the location of the terminal device based on the location information of the terminal device.

Fig. 16 shows a flow chart of a method for determining a positioning satellite according to an embodiment of the present application. Taking the first network element being a LMF network element as an example, as shown in Fig. 16, the following steps may be included.

Step 1301: The second network element receives an acquisition request sent by the LMF network element, where the acquisition request is used to request satellite coverage information.

Step 1302: The second network element returns the satellite coverage information to the LMF network element, where the satellite coverage information is used to determine satellite information of a positioning satellite, where the positioning satellite is a satellite used to position the terminal device.

The execution process of the LMF network element after obtaining the satellite coverage information can be found in the embodiment shown in FIG. 12 , which will not be described in detail here.

As shown in FIG17 , a flowchart of a positioning method provided in an embodiment of the present application is provided. It can be applied to a system for determining positioning satellites, and the first network element in the figure is an LMF network element as an example. The method includes the following steps:

Step D1, the terminal equipment (UE) accesses the 5GC through the 5G radio access network (NG-RAN), wherein the 5G radio access network is a satellite access network, the satellite access network is an NGSO satellite (such as LEO or MEO) network, or provides discontinuous coverage of signals.

In step D2, the AMF network element or MME network element (AMF/MME) in 5GC determines whether the terminal device uses satellite network access based on the access network used by the terminal device, and needs to verify the location of the terminal device.

Step D3, the AMF network element or the MME network element (AMF/MME) initiates a positioning request to the LMF network element. The request includes the access information of the terminal device (such as the location information of the terminal device: GNSS information or the TA where the terminal device is currently located, etc.).

Step D4, the LMF network element obtains the satellite coverage information of the current location of the terminal device from the second network element (such as AF/satellite information management server/OAM, etc.).

Step D5: The LMF network element determines the satellite for positioning the terminal device based on the access information and satellite coverage information of the terminal device.

Step D6: The LMF network element initiates a positioning request to the NG-RAN, where the request includes the satellite identifier of the positioning satellite.

Step D7: NG-RAN initiates a positioning command to the corresponding satellite based on the satellite identifier to obtain the location information of the terminal device.

Step D8: NG-RAN sends the terminal device location information obtained by positioning to the LMF network element.

Step D9: The LMF network element sends the terminal device location information to the AMF network element or the MME network element.

Step D10: The AMF network element or the MME network element verifies the location of the terminal device based on the location information of the terminal device.

In the above embodiments provided by the present application, the methods provided by the embodiments of the present application are introduced from the perspectives of the first network element and the second network element, respectively. In order to implement the functions of the methods provided by the above embodiments of the present application, the first network element and the second network element may include a hardware structure and a software module, and the above functions may be implemented in the form of a hardware structure, a software module, or a hardware structure plus a software module. A certain function of the above functions may be executed in the form of a hardware structure, a software module, or a hardware structure plus a software module.

Corresponding to the methods for determining positioning satellites provided in the above-mentioned embodiments, the present application also provides a device for determining positioning satellites. Since the device for determining positioning satellites provided in the embodiments of the present application corresponds to the methods for determining positioning satellites provided in the above-mentioned embodiments, the implementation method of the method for determining positioning satellites is also applicable to the device for determining positioning satellites provided in this embodiment and will not be described in detail in this embodiment.

FIG18 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a device for determining a positioning satellite provided in an embodiment of the present application. The device for determining a positioning satellite can be used for a first network element.

As shown in Figure 18, the device may include: a first sending module 1401, configured to send a first request to a second network element, the first request carries the access information of the terminal device, the first request is used to request information about a satellite for positioning the terminal device, and the second network element is used to manage or obtain satellite network operation information; a first receiving module 1402, configured to receive satellite information of a positioning satellite returned by the second network element, and the positioning satellite is determined by the second network element based on the access information of the terminal device.

In some embodiments, the first network element is an AMF network element or an MME network element; the first sending module 1401 is also configured to send a first positioning request carrying satellite information of the positioning satellite to the positioning management function LMF network element, and the first positioning request is used by the LMF network element to instruct the positioning satellite to locate the terminal device.

In some embodiments, the first network element is an LMF network element; the first receiving module 1402 is also configured to receive a second request sent by an AMF network element or an MME network element, wherein the second request includes access information of the terminal device, and the second request is used to request positioning of the terminal device.

In some embodiments, the first sending module 1401 is further configured to send a third request to the RAN network element, wherein the third request carries satellite information of the positioning satellite, and the third request is used to request the RAN network element to instruct the positioning satellite to locate the terminal device.

In some embodiments, the first request also carries indication information, and the indication information is used by the second network element to determine the satellite for positioning the terminal device.

In some embodiments, the second network element is an AF network element, or a satellite information management server, or a satellite network operation management center (OAM) network element.

In some embodiments, the access information of the terminal device includes at least one of the following:

The location information of the terminal device;

The movement trajectory information of the terminal device.

By applying the technical solution of this embodiment, the accuracy of determining the satellite for performing terminal device location positioning can be improved, thereby improving the accuracy of terminal device location positioning.

Fig. 19 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a device for determining a positioning satellite provided in an embodiment of the present application. The device for determining a positioning satellite may be used in a second network element.

As shown in Figure 19, the device may include: a second receiving module 1501, configured to receive a first request sent by a first network element, the first request is used to request information about a satellite for positioning a terminal device, and the first request carries access information of the terminal device; a determination module 1502, configured to determine the satellite information of the positioning satellite based on the access information of the terminal device; and a second sending module 1503, configured to return the satellite information of the positioning satellite to the first network element.

In some embodiments, the determination module 1502 is specifically configured to determine that one or more satellites whose satellite signals cover the current position and/or movement trajectory of the terminal device are positioning satellites.

In some embodiments, the determination module 1502 is further configured to determine, when the first request carries indication information, that one or more satellites whose satellite signals cover the current position and/or trajectory of the terminal device are positioning satellites; the positioning satellites include satellites to which the terminal device accesses.

In some embodiments, the first network element is an AMF network element, or an MME network element, or an LMF network element.

The location information of the terminal device;

The movement trajectory information of the terminal device.

Fig. 20 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a device for determining a positioning satellite provided in an embodiment of the present application. The device for determining a positioning satellite may be used in a first network element.

As shown in Figure 20, the device may include: a third sending module 1601, configured to request satellite coverage information from a second network element, and the second network element is used to manage or obtain the coverage information; a third receiving module 1602, configured to receive the satellite coverage information returned by the second network element, and the satellite coverage information is used to determine the satellite information of the positioning satellite, and the positioning satellite is a satellite used to position the terminal device.

In some embodiments, the third receiving module 1602 is further configured to, after receiving the satellite coverage information returned by the second network element, the method further includes: determining the satellite information of the positioning satellite based on the satellite coverage information and the access information of the terminal device.

In some embodiments, the first network element is an AMF network element or an MME network element; the third sending module 1601 is also configured to send a first positioning request carrying the satellite information of the positioning satellite to the positioning management function LMF network element after determining the satellite information of the positioning satellite based on the satellite coverage information and the access information of the terminal device, wherein the first positioning request is used by the LMF network element to instruct the positioning satellite to locate the terminal device.

In some embodiments, the first network element is an AMF network element or an MME network element; the third sending module 1601 is also configured to send a second positioning request to the LMF network element after receiving the satellite coverage information returned by the second network element, the second positioning request carrying the satellite coverage information and the access information of the terminal device, the second positioning request is used by the LMF network element to determine the positioning satellite according to the satellite coverage information and the access information of the terminal device, and instruct the positioning satellite to locate the terminal device.

In some embodiments, the first network element is an LMF network element; the third receiving module 1602 is also configured to receive a third positioning request sent by an AMF network element or an MME network element before requesting the second network element to obtain satellite coverage information, and the third positioning request carries the access information of the terminal device.

In some embodiments, the third sending module 1601 is further configured to send a fourth positioning request to the RAN network element, wherein the fourth positioning request carries satellite information of the positioning satellite, and the fourth positioning request is used to request the RAN network element to instruct the positioning satellite to locate the terminal device.

The location information of the terminal device;

The movement trajectory information of the terminal device.

Fig. 21 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a device for determining a positioning satellite provided in an embodiment of the present application. The device for determining a positioning satellite may be used in a second network element.

As shown in Figure 17, the device may include: a fourth receiving module 1701, configured to receive an acquisition request sent by the first network element, the acquisition request is used to request to obtain satellite coverage information; a fourth sending module 1702, configured to return the satellite coverage information to the first network element, the satellite coverage information is used to determine the satellite information of the positioning satellite, and the positioning satellite is a satellite used to position the terminal device.

Please refer to Figure 22, which is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device 1800 provided in this embodiment. The communication device 1800 can be a network device, or a user device, or a chip, a chip system, or a processor that supports the network device to implement the above method, or a chip, a chip system, or a processor that supports the user device to implement the above method. The device can be used to implement the method described in the above method embodiment, and the details can be referred to the description in the above method embodiment.

The communication device 1800 may include one or more processors 1801. The processor 1801 may be a general-purpose processor or a dedicated processor, etc. For example, it may be a baseband processor or a central processing unit. The baseband processor may be used to process the communication protocol and communication data, and the central processing unit may be used to control the communication device (such as a base station, a baseband chip, a terminal device, a terminal device chip, a DU or a CU, etc.), execute a computer program, and process the data of the computer program.

Optionally, the communication device 1700 may further include one or more memories 1802, on which a computer program 1804 may be stored, and the processor 1801 executes the computer program 1804 so that the communication device 1800 performs the method described in the above method embodiment. Optionally, data may also be stored in the memory 1702. The communication device 1800 and the memory 1802 may be provided separately or integrated together.

Optionally, the communication device 1800 may further include a transceiver 1805 and an antenna 1806. The transceiver 1805 may be referred to as a transceiver unit, a transceiver, or a transceiver circuit, etc., and is used to implement a transceiver function. The transceiver 1805 may include a receiver and a transmitter, the receiver may be referred to as a receiver or a receiving circuit, etc., and is used to implement a receiving function; the transmitter may be referred to as a transmitter or a transmitting circuit, etc., and is used to implement a transmitting function.

Optionally, the communication device 1800 may further include one or more interface circuits 1807. The interface circuit 1807 is used to receive code instructions and transmit them to the processor 1801. The processor 1801 executes the code instructions to enable the communication device 1800 to execute the method described in the above method embodiment.

In one implementation, the processor 1801 may include a transceiver for implementing the receiving and sending functions. For example, the transceiver may be a transceiver circuit, an interface, or an interface circuit. The transceiver circuit, interface, or interface circuit for implementing the receiving and sending functions may be separate or integrated. The above-mentioned transceiver circuit, interface, or interface circuit may be used for reading and writing code/data, or the above-mentioned transceiver circuit, interface, or interface circuit may be used for transmitting or delivering signals.

In one implementation, the processor 1801 may store a computer program 1803, which runs on the processor 1801 and enables the communication device 1800 to perform the method described in the above method embodiment. The computer program 1803 may be fixed in the processor 1801, in which case the processor 1801 may be implemented by hardware.

In one implementation, the communication device 1800 may include a circuit that can implement the functions of sending or receiving or communicating in the aforementioned method embodiment. The processor and transceiver described in the present application can be implemented in an integrated circuit (IC), an analog IC, a radio frequency integrated circuit RFIC, a mixed signal IC, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a printed circuit board (PCB), an electronic device, etc. The processor and transceiver can also be manufactured using various IC process technologies, such as complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS), N-type metal oxide semiconductor (nMetal-oxide-semiconductor, NMOS), P-type metal oxide semiconductor (positive channel metal oxide semiconductor, PMOS), bipolar junction transistor (bipolar junction transistor, BJT), bipolar CMOS (BiCMOS), silicon germanium (SiGe), gallium arsenide (GaAs), etc.

The communication device described in the above embodiments may be a network device or a user device, but the scope of the communication device described in the present application is not limited thereto, and the structure of the communication device may not be limited by FIG. 22. The communication device may be an independent device or may be part of a larger device. For example, the communication device may be:

(1) Independent integrated circuit IC, or chip, or chip system or subsystem;

(2) having a set of one or more ICs, and optionally, the IC set may also include a storage component for storing data and computer programs;

(3) ASIC, such as modem;

(4) Modules that can be embedded in other devices;

(5) Receivers, terminal devices, intelligent terminal devices, cellular phones, wireless devices, handheld devices, mobile units, vehicle-mounted devices, network devices, cloud devices, artificial intelligence devices, etc.;

(6)Others

For the case where the communication device can be a chip or a chip system, please refer to the schematic diagram of the chip structure shown in Figure 23. The chip shown in Figure 23 includes a processor 1901 and an interface 1902. The number of processors 1901 can be one or more, and the number of interfaces 1902 can be multiple.

Optionally, the chip further includes a memory 1903, and the memory 1903 is used to store necessary computer programs and data.

Those skilled in the art may also understand that the various illustrative logical blocks and steps listed in the embodiments of the present application may be implemented by electronic hardware, computer software, or a combination of the two. Whether such functions are implemented by hardware or software depends on the specific application and the design requirements of the entire system. Those skilled in the art may use various methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be understood as exceeding the scope of protection of the embodiments of the present application.

The present application also provides a readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon, which implement the functions of any of the above method embodiments when executed by a computer.

The present application also provides a computer program product, which implements the functions of any of the above method embodiments when executed by a computer.

In the above embodiments, it can be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, it can be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer programs. When the computer program is loaded and executed on a computer, the process or function according to the embodiment of the present application is generated in whole or in part. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. The computer program can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium. For example, the computer program can be transmitted from one website site, computer, server or data center by wired (e.g., coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (digital subscriber line, DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) mode to another website site, computer, server or data center. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device such as a server or data center that contains one or more available media integrated. Available media can be magnetic media (e.g., floppy disks, hard disks, tapes), optical media (e.g., high-density digital video discs (DVD)), or semiconductor media (e.g., solid state disks (SSD)), etc.

A person skilled in the art may understand that the various numerical numbers such as first and second involved in the present application are only used for the convenience of description and are not used to limit the scope of the embodiments of the present application, but also indicate the order of precedence.

At least one in the present application can also be described as one or more, and a plurality can be two, three, four or more, which is not limited in the present application. In the embodiments of the present application, for a technical feature, the technical features in the technical feature are distinguished by "first", "second", "third", "A", "B", "C" and "D", etc., and there is no order of precedence or size between the technical features described by the "first", "second", "third", "A", "B", "C" and "D".

As used herein, the terms "machine-readable medium" and "computer-readable medium" refer to any computer program product, apparatus, and/or device (e.g., disk, optical disk, memory, programmable logic device (PLD)) for providing machine instructions and/or data to a programmable processor, including a machine-readable medium that receives machine instructions as a machine-readable signal. The term "machine-readable signal" refers to any signal for providing machine instructions and/or data to a programmable processor.

The systems and techniques described herein may be implemented in a computing system that includes back-end components (e.g., as a data server), or a computing system that includes middleware components (e.g., an application server), or a computing system that includes front-end components (e.g., a user computer with a graphical user interface or a web browser through which a user can interact with implementations of the systems and techniques described herein), or a computing system that includes any combination of such back-end components, middleware components, or front-end components. The components of the system may be interconnected by any form or medium of digital data communication (e.g., a communications network). Examples of communications networks include: a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), and the Internet.

A computer system may include clients and servers. Clients and servers are generally remote from each other and usually interact through a communication network. The relationship of client and server is generated by computer programs running on respective computers and having a client-server relationship to each other.

It should be understood that the various forms of processes shown above can be used to reorder, add or delete steps. For example, the steps recorded in this application can be executed in parallel, sequentially or in different orders, as long as the expected results of the technical solution of this application can be achieved, and this document is not limited here.

In addition, it should be understood that the various embodiments described in the present application may be implemented individually or in combination with other embodiments when the solution permits.

Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the units and algorithm steps of each example described in conjunction with the embodiments applied for herein can be implemented in electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are performed in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional and technical personnel can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered to be beyond the scope of this application.

Those skilled in the art can clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the systems, devices and units described above can refer to the corresponding processes in the aforementioned method embodiments and will not be repeated here.

The above is only a specific implementation of the present application, but the protection scope of the present application is not limited thereto. Any person skilled in the art who is familiar with the present technical field can easily think of changes or substitutions within the technical scope disclosed in the present application, which should be included in the protection scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application should be based on the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

A method for determining a positioning satellite, applied to a first network element, is characterized by comprising:

Sending a first request to a second network element, where the first request carries access information of the terminal device, the first request is used to request information of a satellite for positioning the terminal device, and the second network element is used to manage or obtain satellite network operation information;

Receive satellite information of a positioning satellite returned by the second network element, where the positioning satellite is determined by the second network element according to the access information of the terminal device.
The method according to claim 1 is characterized in that the first network element is an access and mobility management function AMF network element, or a mobility management function entity MME network element;

After receiving the satellite information of the positioning satellite returned by the second network element, the method further includes:

A first positioning request carrying satellite information of the positioning satellite is sent to a positioning management function LMF network element, where the first positioning request is used by the LMF network element to instruct the positioning satellite to locate the terminal device.
The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the first network element is a LMF network element;

Before sending the first request to the second network element, the method further includes:

Receive a second request sent by an AMF network element or an MME network element, where the second request includes access information of the terminal device, and the second request is used to request positioning of the terminal device.
The method according to claim 3, characterized in that after receiving the satellite information of the positioning satellite returned by the second network element, the method further comprises:

A third request is sent to the RAN network element, wherein the third request carries satellite information of the positioning satellite, and the third request is used to request the RAN network element to instruct the positioning satellite to locate the terminal device.
The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4 is characterized in that the first request also carries indication information, and the indication information is used by the second network element to determine the satellite for positioning the terminal device.
The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the second network element is any one of the following:

Application functions: AF network element, satellite information management server, satellite network operation and management center OAM network element.
The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the access information of the terminal device includes at least one of the following:

The location information of the terminal device;

The movement trajectory information of the terminal device.
A method for determining a positioning satellite, applied to a second network element, characterized in that the second network element is used to manage or obtain satellite network operation information, and the method includes:

receiving a first request sent by a first network element, where the first request is used to request information about a satellite for positioning a terminal device, and the first request carries access information of the terminal device;

Determining satellite information of a positioning satellite according to the access information of the terminal device;

Return the satellite information of the positioning satellite to the first network element.
The method according to claim 8, characterized in that determining the satellite information of the positioning satellite according to the access information of the terminal device comprises:

One or more satellites whose satellite signals cover the current position and/or running track of the terminal device are determined as positioning satellites.
The method according to claim 8 or 9, characterized in that the method further comprises:

When the first request carries indication information, one or more satellites whose satellite signals cover the current position and/or trajectory of the terminal device are determined as positioning satellites; the positioning satellites include satellites accessed by the terminal device.
The method according to any one of claims 8 to 10, wherein the first network element is any one of the following:

Access and mobility management function AMF network element, mobility management function entity MME network element, positioning management function LMF network element.
The method according to any one of claims 8 to 11, wherein the second network element is any one of the following:

Application functions: AF network element, satellite information management server, satellite network operation and management center OAM network element.
The method according to any one of claims 8 to 12, characterized in that the access information of the terminal device includes at least one of the following:

The location information of the terminal device;

The movement trajectory information of the terminal device.
A method for determining a positioning satellite, applied to a first network element, is characterized by comprising:

Requesting a second network element to obtain satellite coverage information, where the second network element is used to manage or obtain satellite coverage information;

The satellite coverage information returned by the second network element is received, where the satellite coverage information is used to determine satellite information of a positioning satellite, where the positioning satellite is a satellite used to position a terminal device.
The method according to claim 14, characterized in that after receiving the satellite coverage information returned by the second network element, the method further comprises:

Satellite information of the positioning satellite is determined according to the satellite coverage information and the access information of the terminal device.
The method according to claim 15, characterized in that the first network element is an access and mobility management function AMF network element, or a mobility management function entity MME network element;

After determining the satellite information of the positioning satellite according to the satellite coverage information and the access information of the terminal device, the method further includes:

A first positioning request carrying satellite information of the positioning satellite is sent to a positioning management function LMF network element, where the first positioning request is used by the LMF network element to instruct the positioning satellite to locate the terminal device.
The method according to claim 14, characterized in that the first network element is an access and mobility management function AMF network element, or a mobility management function entity MME network element;

After receiving the satellite coverage information returned by the second network element, the method further includes:

A second positioning request is sent to the LMF network element, wherein the second positioning request carries the satellite coverage information and the access information of the terminal device, and the second positioning request is used by the LMF network element to determine the positioning satellite according to the satellite coverage information and the access information of the terminal device, and instruct the positioning satellite to locate the terminal device.
The method according to claim 15, characterized in that the first network element is a LMF network element;

Before requesting the second network element to obtain satellite coverage information, the method further includes:

Receive a third positioning request sent by an AMF network element or an MME network element, wherein the third positioning request carries access information of the terminal device.
The method according to claim 18, characterized in that after determining the satellite information of the positioning satellite according to the satellite coverage information and the access information of the terminal device, the method further comprises:

A fourth positioning request is sent to the RAN network element, where the fourth positioning request carries satellite information of the positioning satellite, and the fourth positioning request is used to request the RAN network element to instruct the positioning satellite to locate the terminal device.
The method according to any one of claims 14 to 19, characterized in that the access information of the terminal device includes at least one of the following:

The location information of the terminal device;

The movement trajectory information of the terminal device.
The method according to any one of claims 14 to 20, wherein the second network element is any one of the following:

Application functions: AF network element, satellite information management server, satellite network operation and management center OAM network element.
A method for determining a positioning satellite, applied to a second network element, characterized in that the second network element is used to manage or obtain satellite network operation information, and the method includes:

receiving an acquisition request sent by the first network element, where the acquisition request is used to request to acquire satellite coverage information;

The satellite coverage information is returned to the first network element, where the satellite coverage information is used to determine satellite information of a positioning satellite, where the positioning satellite is a satellite used to position the terminal device.
The method according to claim 22, wherein the first network element is any one of the following:

Access and mobility management function AMF network element, or mobility management function entity MME network element, or positioning management function LMF network element.
The method according to any one of claims 22 to 23, wherein the second network element is any one of the following:

Application functions: AF network element, satellite information management server, satellite network operation and management center OAM network element.
A device for determining a positioning satellite, applied to a first network element, characterized by comprising:

A first sending module is configured to send a first request to a second network element, where the first request carries access information of the terminal device, the first request is used to request information of a satellite for positioning the terminal device, and the second network element is used to manage or obtain satellite network operation information;

The first receiving module is configured to receive satellite information of a positioning satellite returned by the second network element, where the positioning satellite is determined by the second network element according to the access information of the terminal device.
A device for determining a positioning satellite, applied to a second network element, characterized in that the second network element is a network element for managing or acquiring satellite network operation information, and the device comprises:

A second receiving module is configured to receive a first request sent by a first network element, where the first request is used to request information about a satellite for positioning a terminal device, and the first request carries access information of the terminal device;

A determination module, configured to determine satellite information of a positioning satellite according to the access information of the terminal device;

The second sending module is configured to return the satellite information of the positioning satellite to the first network element.
A device for determining a positioning satellite, applied to a first network element, characterized by comprising:

A third sending module is configured to request a second network element to obtain satellite coverage information, where the second network element is used to manage or obtain the coverage information;

The third receiving module is configured to receive the satellite coverage information returned by the second network element, where the satellite coverage information is used to determine satellite information of a positioning satellite, where the positioning satellite is a satellite used to position the terminal device.
A device for determining a positioning satellite, applied to a second network element, characterized in that the second network element is a network element for managing or acquiring satellite network operation information, and the device comprises:

a fourth receiving module, configured to receive an acquisition request sent by the first network element, where the acquisition request is used to request to acquire satellite coverage information;

The fourth sending module is configured to return the satellite coverage information to the first network element, where the satellite coverage information is used to determine satellite information of a positioning satellite, where the positioning satellite is a satellite used to position the terminal device.
A system for determining a positioning satellite, characterized by comprising: a first network element and a second network element;

The first network element performs the method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, or the method according to any one of claims 14 to 21;

The second network element performs the method according to any one of claims 8 to 13, or the method according to any one of claims 22 to 24.
A communication device, comprising: a transceiver; a memory; a processor, connected to the transceiver and the memory respectively, configured to control the wireless signal reception and transmission of the transceiver by executing computer executable instructions on the memory, and capable of implementing any one of the methods of claims 1 to 24.
A computer storage medium, wherein the computer storage medium stores computer executable instructions; after the computer executable instructions are executed by a processor, the method according to any one of claims 1 to 24 can be implemented.