Accurate positioning engine

Abstract

Aspects presented herein may improve positioning accuracy and latency of a positioning engine that receives at least one position constraint for assisted positioning. The wireless device obtains an indication of at least one position constraint for the positioning engine. The wireless device detects whether the at least one position constraint exceeds an error threshold based on a set of PR residuals between the wireless device and at least one satellite. The wireless device excludes the at least one location constraint from the computation at the positioning engine if the at least one location constraint exceeds the error threshold, or includes the at least one location constraint in the computation at the positioning engine if the at least one location constraint is below the error threshold.

Description

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This application claims the benefit of U.S. non-provisional patent application serial number 18 / 062,547, entitled “PRECISE POSITIONING ENGINE,” filed on December 6, 2022, which is expressly incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Technical Field

[0003] The present disclosure relates generally to communication systems and, more particularly, to wireless communications with respect to positioning.

[0004] introduction

[0005] Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide a variety of telecommunication services, such as telephony, video, data, messaging, and broadcasts. Typical wireless communication systems may employ multiple access technologies capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources. Examples of such multiple access technologies include code division multiple access (CDMA) systems, time division multiple access (TDMA) systems, frequency division multiple access (FDMA) systems, orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) systems, single-carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) systems, and time division synchronous code division multiple access (TD-SCDMA) systems.

[0006] These multiple access technologies have been adopted in various telecommunication standards to provide a common protocol that enables different wireless devices to communicate at a city, country, region, and even global level. An example telecommunication standard is 5G New Radio (NR). 5G NR is part of the continued mobile broadband evolution promulgated by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) to meet new requirements associated with latency, reliability, security, scalability (e.g., with the Internet of Things (IoT)) and other requirements. 5G NR includes services associated with enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), massive machine-type communications (mMTC), and ultra-reliable low-latency communications (URLLC). Certain aspects of 5G NR may be based on the 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard. Further improvements to 5G NR technology are needed. In addition, these improvements may also be applicable to other multiple access technologies and telecommunication standards that employ these technologies. Summary of the Invention

[0007] The following presents a simplified summary of one or more aspects in order to provide a basic understanding of these aspects. This summary is not an extensive overview of all contemplated aspects. This summary does not identify key or critical elements of all aspects, nor does it delineate the scope of any or all aspects. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts of one or more aspects in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that will be presented later.

[0008] In one aspect of the present disclosure, a method, computer-readable medium, and apparatus are provided. The apparatus obtains an indication of at least one location constraint for a positioning engine. The apparatus detects whether the at least one location constraint exceeds an error threshold based on a set of pseudorange (PR) residuals between a wireless device and at least one satellite. The apparatus excludes the at least one location constraint from calculations at the positioning engine if the at least one location constraint exceeds the error threshold, or includes the at least one location constraint in calculations at the positioning engine if the at least one location constraint is below the error threshold.

[0009] To achieve the foregoing and related ends, one or more aspects include the features fully described below and particularly pointed out in the claims. The following description and the accompanying drawings set forth in detail some illustrative features of one or more aspects. However, these features are indicative of only some of the various ways in which the principles of the various aspects can be employed. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0010] Figure 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a wireless communication system and an access network.

[0011] Figure 2A is a diagram illustrating an example of a first frame according to various aspects of the present disclosure.

[0012] Figure 2B is a diagram illustrating an example of downlink (DL) channels within a subframe according to various aspects of the present disclosure.

[0013] Figure 2C is a diagram illustrating an example of a second frame according to various aspects of the present disclosure.

[0014] Figure 2D is a diagram illustrating an example of uplink (UL) channels within a subframe according to various aspects of the present disclosure.

[0015] Figure 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a base station and a user equipment (UE) in an access network.

[0016] Figure 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of UE positioning based on reference signal measurement.

[0017] Figure 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) positioning according to various aspects of the present disclosure.

[0018] Figure 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of real-time kinematic (RTK) positioning according to various aspects of the present disclosure.

[0019] Figure 7Ais a graph illustrating example horizontal error and convergence time for a positioning engine that does not receive position constraints according to various aspects of the present disclosure.

[0020] Figure 7B is a diagram illustrating example horizontal error and convergence time for a positioning engine receiving position constraints in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.

[0021] Figure 8A is a graph illustrating example horizontal error and convergence time for a positioning engine receiving an erroneous position constraint in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.

[0022] Figure 8B is a graph illustrating example horizontal error and convergence time for a positioning engine receiving an erroneous position constraint in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.

[0023] Figure 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a positioning engine with location constraints according to various aspects of the present disclosure.

[0024] Figure 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a positioning engine having the ability to detect errors associated with location constraints in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.

[0025] Figure 11 is a graph illustrating example horizontal errors and convergence times for a positioning engine detecting position-constrained errors and recovering to a precise positioning engine (PPE) solution without position constraints, in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.

[0026] Figure 12 is a graph illustrating example horizontal errors and convergence times for a positioning engine detecting errors with position constraints and recovering to a PPE solution without position constraints, in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.

[0027] Figure 13 is a flow chart of a method of wireless communication.

[0028] Figure 14 is a flow chart of a method of wireless communication.

[0029] Figure 15 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware implementation for an apparatus or a network entity. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0030] Various aspects presented herein can improve the positioning accuracy and latency of a positioning engine that receives at least one position constraint for assisted positioning. Various aspects presented herein provide a positioning engine (e.g., a robust precise positioning engine (PPE)) having the ability to detect that a position constraint is associated with a large error exceeding a high error threshold (e.g., tens or hundreds of meters, etc.) and / or a marginal detectable error below a lower error threshold (e.g., below a high error threshold, such as several meters or sub-meters). The positioning engine presented herein may also include the ability to revert to conventional positioning engine performance (e.g., revert to conventional PPE performance that does not use position constraints) when it is detected that a position constraint is associated with an error (e.g., a large error and / or a marginal detectable constraint error, etc.). For example, in one aspect of the present disclosure, a positioning engine (e.g., a PPE) may detect a position constraint that includes a large error (e.g., tens or hundreds of meters) based on a pseudorange (PR) residual calculated using a position constraint input. Generally speaking, when a position constraint is associated with a large error, the PR residual may be very large. However, the PR residual checking mechanism may not be suitable for detecting position constraint errors of only a few meters or sub-meters (e.g., marginally detectable constrained errors). Therefore, in another aspect of the present disclosure, the positioning engine may be further configured to detect marginally detectable constrained errors based on position increments.

[0031] The detailed description set forth below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings is a description of various configurations and does not represent the only configurations in which the concepts described herein may be practiced. The detailed description includes specific details to provide a thorough understanding of the various concepts. However, these concepts may be practiced without these specific details. In some cases, well-known structures and components are shown in block diagram form to avoid obscuring such concepts.

[0032] Several aspects of telecommunication systems are presented with reference to various apparatuses and methods. These apparatuses and methods are described in the following detailed description and illustrated in the accompanying drawings by various blocks, components, circuits, processes, algorithms, etc. (collectively referred to as "elements"). These elements can be implemented using electronic hardware, computer software, or any combination thereof. Whether these elements are implemented as hardware or software depends on the specific application and the design constraints imposed on the overall system.

[0033] As an example, an element or any part of an element or any combination of elements can be implemented as a "processing system", which includes one or more processors. The example of a processor includes a microprocessor, a microcontroller, a graphics processing unit (GPU), a central processing unit (CPU), an application processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), a reduced instruction set computing (RISC) processor, a system on a chip (SoC), a baseband processor, a field programmable gate array (FPGA), a programmable logic device (PLD), a state machine, a gating logic, a discrete hardware circuit and other suitable hardware configured to perform various functionalities described throughout the present disclosure. One or more processors in a processing system can execute software. Whether referred to as software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language or other terms, software should be broadly interpreted as meaning an instruction, an instruction set, a code, a code segment, a program code, a program, a subroutine, a software component, an application, a software application, a software package, a routine, a subroutine, an object, an executable, a thread of execution, a procedure, a function or any combination thereof.

[0034] Thus, in one or more example aspects, specific implementations and / or use cases, the functions described may be implemented in hardware, software, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functions may be stored or encoded as one or more instructions or codes on a computer-readable medium. Computer-readable media include computer storage media. A storage medium may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer. As an example, such computer-readable media may include random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage, other magnetic storage devices, a combination of these types of computer-readable media, or any other medium that can be used to store computer-executable code in the form of instructions or data structures that can be accessed by a computer.

[0035] Although various aspects, specific implementations and / or use cases are described in this application by way of illustration of some examples, additional or different aspects, specific implementations and / or use cases may be produced in many different arrangements and scenarios. The various aspects, specific implementations and / or use cases described herein may be implemented across many different platform types, devices, systems, shapes, sizes and packaging arrangements. For example, various aspects, specific implementations and / or use cases may be produced via integrated chip implementations and other devices based on non-module components (e.g., end-user devices, vehicles, communication equipment, computing equipment, industrial equipment, retail / purchase equipment, medical equipment, devices that enable artificial intelligence (AI), etc.). Although some examples may or may not be specifically for use cases or applications, the examples described may have a wide range of applicability. Various aspects, specific implementations and / or use cases may be within the scope of chip-level or modular components to non-modular, non-chip-level implementations, and further to the scope of aggregation, distribution or original equipment manufacturer (OEM) equipment or systems in conjunction with one or more technologies herein. In some actual settings, the equipment in conjunction with the various aspects and features described may also include additional components and features for implementing and practicing the claimed and described aspects. For example, the transmission and reception of wireless signals necessarily include multiple components for both analog and digital purposes (e.g., hardware components including antennas, RF chains, power amplifiers, modulators, buffers, processors, interleavers, adders / summers, etc.). The techniques described herein can be practiced in a wide variety of devices of various sizes, shapes, and configurations, including chip-level components, systems, distributed arrangements, aggregated or disaggregated components, end-user devices, and the like.

[0036] The deployment of a communication system (such as a 5G NR system) can be arranged in a variety of ways with various components or parts. In a 5G NR system or network, a network node, a network entity, a mobility element of a network, a radio access network (RAN) node, a core network node, a network element or network equipment (such as a base station (BS)) or one or more units (or one or more components) that perform base station functionality can be implemented in a converged or decomposed architecture. For example, a BS (such as a Node B (NB), an evolved NB (eNB), an NR BS, a 5G NB, an access point (AP), a transmit receive point (TRP) or a cell, etc.) can be implemented as a converged base station (also known as a standalone BS or a monolithic BS) or a decomposed base station.

[0037] A converged base station may be configured to utilize a radio protocol stack that is physically or logically integrated within a single RAN node. A decomposed base station may be configured to utilize a protocol stack that is physically or logically distributed between two or more units, such as one or more central or centralized units (CUs), one or more distributed units (DUs), or one or more radio units (RUs). In some aspects, a CU may be implemented within a RAN node, and one or more DUs may be co-located with the CU, or alternatively, may be geographically or virtually distributed across one or more other RAN nodes. A DU may be implemented to communicate with one or more RUs. Each of the CU, DU, and RU may be implemented as a virtual unit, namely a virtual central unit (VCU), a virtual distributed unit (VDU), or a virtual radio unit (VRU).

[0038] Base station operation or network design may take into account the aggregated nature of base station functionality. For example, a disaggregated base station may be used in an integrated access backhaul (IAB) network, an open radio access network (O-RAN (a network configuration such as that initiated by the O-RAN Alliance)), or a virtualized radio access network (vRAN, also known as a cloud radio access network (C-RAN)). Disaggregation may include distributing functionality across two or more units at various physical locations, as well as virtually distributing functionality of at least one unit, which may enable flexibility in network design. Various units of a disaggregated base station or disaggregated RAN architecture may be configured for wired or wireless communication with at least one other unit.

[0039] Figure 1 FIG100 is a diagram illustrating an example of a wireless communication system and access network. The illustrated wireless communication system includes a disaggregated base station architecture. The disaggregated base station architecture may include one or more CUs 110, which may communicate directly with a core network 120 via a backhaul link, or indirectly with the core network 120 through one or more disaggregated base station units, such as a near real-time (near-RT) RAN intelligent controller (RIC) 125 via an E2 link, or a non-real-time (non-RT) RIC 115 associated with a service management and orchestration (SMO) framework 105, or both. The CU 110 may communicate with one or more DUs 130 via corresponding midhaul links, such as an F1 interface. The DU 130 may communicate with one or more RUs 140 via corresponding fronthaul links. The RU 140 may communicate with corresponding UEs 104 via one or more radio frequency (RF) access links. In some implementations, a UE 104 may be served simultaneously by multiple RUs 140.

[0040] Each of the units (i.e., CU 110, DU 130, RU 140, and near-RT RIC 125, non-RT RIC 115, and SMO framework 105) may include or be coupled to one or more interfaces configured to receive or transmit signals, data, or information (collectively, signals) via a wired or wireless transmission medium. Each of the units, or an associated processor or controller that provides instructions to the communication interfaces of these units, may be configured to communicate with one or more of the other units via a transmission medium. For example, these units may include a wired interface configured to receive signals or transmit signals to one or more of the other units via a wired transmission medium. Additionally, these units may include a wireless interface that may include a receiver, transmitter, or transceiver (such as an RF transceiver) configured to receive and / or transmit signals to one or more of the other units via a wireless transmission medium.

[0041] In some aspects, the CU 110 may host one or more higher layer control functions. Such control functions may include radio resource control (RRC), packet data convergence protocol (PDCP), service data adaptation protocol (SDAP), etc. Each control function may be implemented using an interface that is configured to communicate signals with other control functions hosted by the CU 110. The CU 110 may be configured to handle user plane functionality (i.e., central unit-user plane (CU-UP)), control plane functionality (i.e., central unit-control plane (CU-CP)), or a combination thereof. In some specific implementations, the CU 110 may be logically split into one or more CU-UP units and one or more CU-CP units. When implemented in an O-RA configuration, the CU-UP unit may communicate bidirectionally with the CU-CP unit via an interface (such as an E1 interface). As needed, the CU 110 may be implemented to communicate with the DU 130 for network control and signal transmission.

[0042] The DU 130 may correspond to a logical unit that includes one or more base station functions for controlling the operation of one or more RUs 140. In some aspects, the DU 130 may host one or more of a radio link control (RLC) layer, a medium access control (MAC) layer, and one or more higher physical (PHY) layers (such as modules for forward error correction (FEC) encoding and decoding, scrambling, modulation and demodulation, etc.) based at least in part on a functional split (such as those defined by 3GPP). In some aspects, the DU 130 may also host one or more lower PHY layers. Each layer (or module) may be implemented using an interface configured to communicate signals with other layers (and modules) hosted by the DU 130 or with control functions hosted by the CU 110.

[0043] Lower layer functionality may be implemented by one or more RUs 140. In some deployments, a RU 140 controlled by a DU 130 may correspond to a logical node that hosts RF processing functionality or low PHY layer functionality (such as performing Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), Inverse FFT (iFFT), digital beamforming, Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) extraction and filtering, etc.), or both, based at least in part on a functional split (such as a lower layer functional split). In such an architecture, the RU 140 may be implemented to handle over-the-air (OTA) communications with one or more UEs 104. In some implementations, both real-time and non-real-time aspects of communicating with the control plane and user plane of the RU 140 may be controlled by the corresponding DU 130. In some scenarios, this configuration may enable the DU 130 and CU 110 to be implemented in a cloud-based RAN architecture (such as a vRAN architecture).

[0044] The SMO framework 105 can be configured to support RAN deployment and provisioning of both non-virtualized and virtualized network elements. For non-virtualized network elements, the SMO framework 105 can be configured to support the deployment of dedicated physical resources for RAN coverage requirements, which can be managed via an operations and maintenance interface (such as the O1 interface). For virtualized network elements, the SMO framework 105 can be configured to interact with a cloud computing platform (such as Open Cloud (O-Cloud) 190) to perform network element lifecycle management (such as instantiating virtualized network elements) via a cloud computing platform interface (such as the O2 interface). Such virtualized network elements may include, but are not limited to, CU 110, DU 130, RU 140, and near-RT RIC 125. In some implementations, the SMO framework 105 can communicate with hardware aspects of the 4G RAN (such as Open eNB (O-eNB) 111) via the O1 interface. Additionally, in some implementations, the SMO framework 105 can communicate directly with one or more RUs 140 via the O1 interface. The SMO framework 105 may also include a non-RT RIC 115 configured to support the functionality of the SMO framework 105 .

[0045] The non-RT RIC 115 may be configured to include logic that enables non-real-time control and optimization of RAN elements and resources, artificial intelligence (AI) / machine learning (ML) (AI / ML) workflows including model training and updating, or policy-based guidance of applications / features in the near-RT RIC 125. The non-RT RIC 115 may be coupled to or in communication with the near-RT RIC 125 (e.g., via an A1 interface). The near-RT RIC 125 may be configured to include logic that enables near-real-time control and optimization of RAN elements and resources through data collection and action via an interface (e.g., via an E2 interface) that connects one or more CUs 110, one or more DUs 130, or both, and an O-eNB with the near-RT RIC 125.

[0046] In some implementations, to generate AI / ML models to be deployed in the near-RT RIC 125, the non-RT RIC 115 may receive parameters or external enrichment information from an external server. Such information may be utilized by the near-RT RIC 125 and may be received from non-network data sources or from network functions at the SMO framework 105 or the non-RT RIC 115. In some examples, the non-RT RIC 115 or the near-RT RIC 125 may be configured to tune RAN behavior or performance. For example, the non-RT RIC 115 may monitor long-term trends and patterns in performance and employ AI / ML models to perform corrective actions through the SMO framework 105 (such as via reconfiguration of O1) or via the creation of RAN management policies (such as A1 policies).

[0047] At least one of the CU 110, DU 130, and RU 140 may be referred to as a base station 102. Thus, the base station 102 may include one or more of the CU 110, DU 130, and RU 140 (each component is indicated by a dotted line to indicate that each component may or may not be included in the base station 102). The base station 102 provides an access point to the core network 120 for the UE 104. The base station 102 may include a macro cell (a high-power cellular base station) and / or a small cell (a low-power cellular base station). Small cells include femto cells, pico cells, and micro cells. A network that includes both small cells and macro cells may be referred to as a heterogeneous network. A heterogeneous network may also include a home evolved Node B (eNB) (HeNB), which may provide services to a restricted group called a closed subscriber group (CSG). The communication link between RU 140 and UE 104 may include uplink (UL) (also known as reverse link) transmissions from UE 104 to RU 140 and / or downlink (DL) (also known as forward link) transmissions from RU 140 to UE 104. The communication link may utilize multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna technology, including spatial multiplexing, beamforming, and / or transmit diversity. The communication link may be over one or more carriers. For each carrier allocated in a carrier aggregation for a total of up to Yx MHz (x component carriers) for transmission in each direction, base station 102 / UE 104 may utilize spectrum with a bandwidth of up to Y MHz (e.g., 5 MHz, 10 MHz, 15 MHz, 20 MHz, 100 MHz, 400 MHz, etc.). These carriers may or may not be adjacent to each other. The allocation of carriers may be asymmetric with respect to DL and UL (e.g., more or fewer carriers may be allocated for DL ​​compared to UL). Component carriers may include a primary component carrier and one or more secondary component carriers. The primary component carrier may be referred to as a primary cell (PCell) and the secondary component carrier may be referred to as a secondary cell (SCell).

[0048] Some UEs 104 may communicate with each other using device-to-device (D2D) communication links 158. The D2D communication links 158 may use DL / UL wireless wide area network (WWAN) spectrum. The D2D communication links 158 may use one or more sidelink channels, such as a physical sidelink broadcast channel (PSBCH), a physical sidelink discovery channel (PSDCH), a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH), and a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH). D2D communication may be accomplished through various wireless D2D communication systems, such as, for example, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi based on the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standard, LTE, or NR.

[0049] The wireless communication system may also include a Wi-Fi AP 150 that communicates with a UE 104 (also referred to as a Wi-Fi station (STA)) via a communication link 154, for example, in the 5 GHz unlicensed spectrum. When communicating in the unlicensed spectrum, the UE 104 / AP 150 may perform a clear channel assessment (CCA) to determine whether the channel is available before communicating.

[0050] The electromagnetic spectrum is typically subdivided into various categories, bands, channels, etc. based on frequency / wavelength. In 5G NR, two initial operating bands have been identified as frequency range designations FR1 (410 MHz - 7.125 GHz) and FR2 (24.25 GHz - 52.6 GHz). Although a portion of FR1 is greater than 6 GHz, FR1 is often referred to (interchangeably) as the "sub-6 GHz" band in various documents and articles. A similar naming issue sometimes occurs with respect to FR2, which is often (interchangeably) referred to as the "millimeter wave" band in documents and articles, although it is different from the extremely high frequency (EHF) band (30 GHz - 300 GHz) identified as the "millimeter wave" band by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

[0051] Frequencies between FR1 and FR2 are generally referred to as mid-band frequencies. Recent 5G NR research has identified the operating band for these mid-band frequencies as frequency range designation FR3 (7.125 GHz–24.25 GHz). Frequency bands falling within FR3 may inherit FR1 characteristics and / or FR2 characteristics, thereby effectively extending the features of FR1 and / or FR2 to mid-band frequencies. In addition, higher frequency bands are currently being explored to extend 5G NR operation beyond 52.6 GHz. For example, three higher operating bands have been identified as frequency range designations FR2-2 (52.6 GHz–71 GHz), FR4 (71 GHz–114.25 GHz), and FR5 (114.25 GHz–300 GHz). Each of these higher frequency bands falls within the EHF band.

[0052] With the above in mind, unless otherwise specified, if the term "sub-6 GHz" or the like is used herein, it may broadly refer to frequencies that may be less than 6 GHz, may be within FR1, or may include mid-band frequencies. Furthermore, unless otherwise specified, if the term "millimeter wave" or the like is used herein, it may broadly refer to frequencies that may include mid-band frequencies, may be within FR2, FR4, FR2-2, and / or FR5, or may be within the EHF band.

[0053] Base station 102 and UE 104 may each include multiple antennas (such as antenna elements, antenna panels, and / or antenna arrays) to facilitate beamforming. Base station 102 may transmit beamformed signals 182 to UE 104 in one or more transmit directions. UE 104 may receive beamformed signals from base station 102 in one or more receive directions. UE 104 may also transmit beamformed signals 184 to base station 102 in one or more transmit directions. Base station 102 may receive beamformed signals from UE 104 in one or more receive directions. Base station 102 / UE 104 may perform beam training to determine the optimal receive and transmit directions for each of base station 102 / UE 104. The transmit and receive directions of base station 102 may or may not be the same. The transmit and receive directions of UE 104 may or may not be the same.

[0054] The base station 102 may include and / or be referred to as a gNB, a Node B, an eNB, an access point, a base transceiver station, a radio base station, a radio transceiver, a transceiver function, a basic service set (BSS), an extended service set (ESS), a transmit / receive point (TRP), a network node, a network entity, a network equipment, or some other suitable terminology. The base station 102 may be implemented as an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) node, a relay node, a sidelink node, a converged (monolithic) base station having a baseband unit (BBU) (including a CU and a DU) and a RU, or as a disaggregated base station including one or more of a CU, a DU, and / or a RU. A collection of base stations that may include disaggregated base stations and / or converged base stations may be referred to as a next generation (NG) RAN (NG-RAN).

[0055] The core network 120 may include an access and mobility management function (AMF) 161, a session management function (SMF) 162, a user plane function (UPF) 163, a unified data management (UDM) 164, one or more location servers 168, and other functional entities. The AMF 161 is a control node that handles signaling between the UE 104 and the core network 120. The AMF 161 supports registration management, connection management, mobility management, and other functions. The SMF 162 supports session management and other functions. The UPF 163 supports packet routing, packet forwarding, and other functions. The UDM 164 supports the generation of authentication and key agreement (AKA) credentials, user identity handling, access authorization, and subscription management. The one or more location servers 168 are exemplified as including a gateway mobile location center (GMLC) 165 and a location management function (LMF) 166. However, in general, the one or more location servers 168 may include one or more location / positioning servers, which may include one or more of the GMLC 165, LMF 166, Position Determination Entity (PDE), Serving Mobile Location Center (SMLC), Mobile Positioning Center (MPC), etc. The GMLC 165 and LMF 166 support UE location services. The GMLC 165 provides an interface for clients / applications (e.g., emergency services) to access UE positioning information. The LMF 166 receives measurements and assistance information from the NG-RAN and UE 104 via the AMF 161 to estimate the location of the UE 104. The NG-RAN may utilize one or more positioning methods to determine the location of the UE 104. Positioning the UE 104 may involve signal measurements, position estimation, and optionally velocity calculation based on these measurements. Signal measurements may be performed by the UE 104 and / or the serving base station 102. The measured signals may be based on one or more of a satellite positioning system (SPS) 170 (e.g., one or more of a global navigation satellite system (GNSS), a global positioning system (GPS), a non-terrestrial network (NTN), or other satellite positioning / location systems), LTE signals, wireless local area network (WLAN) signals, Bluetooth signals, a terrestrial beacon system (TBS), sensor-based information (e.g., an atmospheric pressure sensor, a motion sensor), an NR enhanced cell ID (NR E-CID) method, NR signals (e.g., multi-round trip time (multi-RTT), DL angle of departure (DL-AoD), DL time difference of arrival (DL-TDOA), UL time difference of arrival (UL-TDOA), and UL angle of arrival (UL-AoA) positioning), and / or other systems / signals / sensors.

[0056] Examples of UE 104 include a cellular phone, a smartphone, a Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) phone, a laptop, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a satellite radio, a global positioning system, a multimedia device, a video device, a digital audio player (e.g., an MP3 player), a camera, a game console, a tablet, a smart device, a wearable device, a vehicle, an electric meter, a gas pump, a large or small kitchen appliance, a healthcare device, an implant, a sensor / actuator, a display, or any other similarly functional device. Some of UE 104 may be referred to as IoT devices (e.g., a parking meter, a gas pump, a toaster, a vehicle, a heart monitor, etc.). UE 104 may also be referred to as a station, a mobile station, a subscriber station, a mobile unit, a subscriber unit, a wireless unit, a remote unit, a mobile device, a wireless device, a wireless communication device, a remote device, a mobile subscriber station, an access terminal, a mobile terminal, a wireless terminal, a remote terminal, a handset, a user agent, a mobile client, a client, or some other suitable terminology. In some scenarios, the term UE may also apply to one or more companion devices, such as in a device cluster arrangement. One or more of these devices may access the network collectively and / or individually.

[0057] Reference again Figure 1 In certain aspects, the UE 104 and / or the base station 102 may be configured to obtain an indication of at least one location constraint for a positioning engine; detect whether the at least one location constraint exceeds an error threshold based on a set of PR residuals between the wireless device and at least one satellite; and exclude the at least one location constraint from calculations at the positioning engine if the at least one location constraint exceeds the error threshold, or include the at least one location constraint in calculations at the positioning engine (e.g., via positioning engine component 198 / 199) if the at least one location constraint is below the error threshold.

[0058] Figure 2A FIG200 is a diagram illustrating an example of a first subframe within a 5G NR frame structure. Figure 2B FIG230 is a diagram illustrating an example of DL channels within a 5G NR subframe. Figure 2C FIG250 is a diagram illustrating an example of a second subframe within a 5G NR frame structure. Figure 2D FIG280 is a diagram illustrating an example of UL channels within a 5G NR subframe. The 5G NR frame structure may be frequency division duplex (FDD), where for a particular set of subcarriers (carrier system bandwidth), subframes within that subcarrier set are dedicated to either DL or UL, or time division duplex (TDD), where for a particular set of subcarriers (carrier system bandwidth), subframes within that subcarrier set are dedicated to both DL and UL. Figure 2A 、 Figure 2CIn the example provided, the 5G NR frame structure is assumed to be TDD, where subframe 4 is configured with slot format 28 (most of which are DL), where D is DL, U is UL, and F is flexible between DL / UL, and subframe 3 is configured with slot format 1 (all of which are UL). Although subframes 3 and 4 are shown as having slot formats 1 and 28, respectively, any particular subframe can be configured with any of the various available slot formats 0-61. Slot formats 0 and 1 are all DL and all UL, respectively. The other slot formats 2-61 include a mix of DL, UL, and flexible symbols. The UE is configured with the slot format via the received slot format indicator (SFI) (dynamically configured via DL control information (DCI) or semi-statically / statically configured via radio resource control (RRC) signaling). Note that the following description also applies to the 5G NR frame structure as TDD.

[0059] Figures 2A to 2D The frame structure is illustrated, and various aspects of the present disclosure are applicable to other wireless communication technologies that may have different frame structures and / or different channels. A frame (10ms) can be divided into 10 equally sized subframes (1ms). Each subframe may include one or more time slots. A subframe may also include a mini-time slot, which may include 7, 4, or 2 symbols. Each time slot may include 14 or 12 symbols, depending on whether the cyclic prefix (CP) is normal or extended. For a normal CP, each time slot may include 14 symbols, and for an extended CP, each time slot may include 12 symbols. The symbols on the DL may be CP orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) (CP-OFDM) symbols. The symbols on the UL may be CP-OFDM symbols (for high throughput scenarios) or discrete Fourier transform (DFT) spread OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) symbols (also known as single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) symbols) (for power-limited scenarios; limited to single-stream transmission). The number of slots within a subframe is based on the CP and the parameter set. The parameter set defines the subcarrier spacing (SCS) (see Table 1). The symbol length / duration can be scaled with 1 / SCS.

[0060]

[0061] Table 1: Parameter set, SCS and CP

[0062] For normal CP (14 symbols / slot), different parameter sets μ0 to 4 allow 1, 2, 4, 8, and 16 slots per subframe, respectively. For extended CP, parameter set 2 allows 4 slots per subframe. Thus, for normal CP and parameter set μ, there are 14 symbols / slot and 2 μ time slots / subframe. The subcarrier spacing can be equal to 2 μ*15kHz, where μ is parameter set 0 to 4. Therefore, the subcarrier spacing for parameter set μ=0 is 15kHz, and the subcarrier spacing for parameter set μ=4 is 240kHz. Symbol length / duration is inversely related to subcarrier spacing. Figures 2A to 2D An example is provided for a normal CP with 14 symbols per slot and a parameter set μ=2 with 4 slots per subframe. The slot duration is 0.25 ms, the subcarrier spacing is 60 kHz, and the symbol duration is approximately 16.67 μs. Within a frame set, there may be one or more different bandwidth parts (BWPs) that are frequency-division multiplexed (see Figure 2B ). Each BWP may have a specific parameter set and CP (normal or extended).

[0063] A resource grid can be used to represent the frame structure. Each slot includes a resource block (RB) (also called a physical RB (PRB)) that extends over 12 consecutive subcarriers. The resource grid is divided into multiple resource elements (REs). The number of bits carried by each RE depends on the modulation scheme.

[0064] like Figure 2A As illustrated, some of the REs carry reference (pilot) signals (RS) for the UE. The RSs may include a demodulation RS (DM-RS) (indicated as R for a particular configuration, but other DM-RS configurations are possible) and a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) for channel estimation at the UE. The RSs may also include a beam measurement RS (BRS), a beam refinement RS (BRRS), and a phase tracking RS (PT-RS).

[0065] Figure 2BExamples of various DL channels within a subframe of a frame are illustrated. The physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) carries DCI within one or more control channel elements (CCEs) (e.g., 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16 CCEs), each CCE comprising six RE groups (REGs), each REG comprising 12 consecutive REs within an OFDM symbol of a RB. The PDCCH within a BWP may be referred to as a control resource set (CORESET). During a PDCCH monitoring opportunity on the CORESET, the UE is configured to monitor PDCCH candidates in a PDCCH search space (e.g., a common search space, a UE-specific search space), where the PDCCH candidates have different DCI formats and different aggregation levels. Additional BWPs may be located at higher and / or lower frequencies across the channel bandwidth. The primary synchronization signal (PSS) may be within symbol 2 of a specific subframe of the frame. The PSS is used by UE 104 to determine subframe / symbol timing and physical layer identification. The secondary synchronization signal (SSS) may be within symbol 4 of a specific subframe of the frame. The SSS is used by the UE to determine the physical layer cell identity group number and radio frame timing. Based on the physical layer identity and the physical layer cell identity group number, the UE can determine the physical cell identifier (PCI). Based on the PCI, the UE can determine the location of the DM-RS. The physical broadcast channel (PBCH) carrying the master information block (MIB) can be logically grouped with the PSS and SSS to form a synchronization signal (SS) / PBCH block (also referred to as an SS block (SSB)). The MIB provides the system frame number (SFN) and the number of RBs in the system bandwidth. The physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) carries user data, broadcast system information not sent over the PBCH (such as the system information block (SIB)), and paging messages.

[0066] like Figure 2C As illustrated, some of the REs carry DM-RS (indicated as R for a specific configuration, but other DM-RS configurations are possible) for channel estimation at the base station. The UE may transmit the DM-RS of the physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) and the DM-RS of the physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH). The PUSCH DM-RS may be transmitted in the first or first two symbols of the PUSCH. Depending on whether a short PUCCH or a long PUCCH is transmitted and depending on the specific PUCCH format used, the PUCCH DM-RS may be transmitted in different configurations. The UE may transmit a sounding reference signal (SRS). The SRS may be transmitted in the last symbol of the subframe. The SRS may have a comb structure, and the UE may transmit the SRS on one of the comb structures in the comb structure. The SRS may be used by the base station for channel quality estimation to achieve frequency-dependent scheduling of the UL.

[0067] Figure 2DExamples of various UL channels within a subframe of a frame are illustrated. The PUCCH may be located at a position as indicated in one configuration. The PUCCH carries uplink control information (UCI), such as a scheduling request, a channel quality indicator (CQI), a precoding matrix indicator (PMI), a rank indicator (RI), and hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) acknowledgement (ACK) (HARQ-ACK) feedback (i.e., one or more HARQ ACK bits indicating one or more ACKs and / or negative ACKs (NACKs)). The PUSCH carries data and may additionally be used to carry a buffer status report (BSR), a power headroom report (PHR), and / or UCI.

[0068] Figure 3 3 is a block diagram of a base station 310 in an access network communicating with a UE 350. In the DL, Internet Protocol (IP) packets may be provided to a controller / processor 375. The controller / processor 375 implements layer 3 and layer 2 functionality. Layer 3 includes a radio resource control (RRC) layer, and layer 2 includes a service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) layer, a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, a radio link control (RLC) layer, and a medium access control (MAC) layer. The controller / processor 375 provides RRC layer functionality associated with broadcasting of system information (e.g., MIB, SIB), RRC connection control (e.g., RRC connection paging, RRC connection establishment, RRC connection modification, and RRC connection release), inter-radio access technology (RAT) mobility, and measurement configuration for UE measurement reporting; PDCP layer functionality associated with header compression / decompression, security (ciphering, deciphering, integrity protection, integrity verification), and handover support functions; RLC layer functionality associated with delivery of upper layer packet data units (PDUs), error correction through ARQ, concatenation, segmentation and reassembly of RLC service data units (SDUs), resegmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functionality associated with mapping between logical channels and transport channels, multiplexing of MAC SDUs onto transport blocks (TBs), demultiplexing of MAC SDUs from TBs, scheduling information reporting, error correction through HARQ, priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.

[0069] The transmit (TX) processor 316 and receive (RX) processor 370 implement Layer 1 functionality associated with various signal processing functions. Layer 1, which includes the physical (PHY) layer, may include error detection on transport channels, forward error correction (FEC) coding / decoding of transport channels, interleaving, rate matching, mapping onto physical channels, modulation / demodulation of physical channels, and MIMO antenna processing. The TX processor 316 handles the mapping onto signal constellations based on various modulation schemes (e.g., binary phase-shift keying (BPSK), quadrature phase-shift keying (QPSK), M-order phase-shift keying (M-PSK), and M-order quadrature amplitude modulation (M-QAM). The coded and modulated symbols are then separated into parallel streams. Each stream is then mapped to an OFDM subcarrier, multiplexed with a reference signal (e.g., a pilot) in the time and / or frequency domain, and then combined using an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) to produce a physical channel carrying the time-domain OFDM symbol stream. The OFDM stream is spatially pre-coded to generate multiple spatial streams. Channel estimates from a channel estimator 374 may be used to determine the coding and modulation schemes, as well as for spatial processing. The channel estimates may be derived from a reference signal and / or channel state feedback transmitted by the UE 350. Each spatial stream may then be provided to a different antenna 320 via a separate transmitter 318Tx. Each transmitter 318Tx may modulate a radio frequency (RF) carrier using a corresponding spatial stream for transmission.

[0070] At the UE 350, each receiver 354Rx receives a signal via its corresponding antenna 352. Each receiver 354Rx recovers the information modulated onto the RF carrier and provides the information to a receive (RX) processor 356. The TX processor 368 and the RX processor 356 implement Layer 1 functionality associated with various signal processing functions. The RX processor 356 performs spatial processing on the information to recover any spatial streams destined for the UE 350. If multiple spatial streams are destined for the UE 350, they may be combined into a single OFDM symbol stream by the RX processor 356. The RX processor 356 then converts the OFDM symbol stream from the time domain to the frequency domain using a fast Fourier transform (FFT). The frequency domain signal includes a separate OFDM symbol stream for each subcarrier of the OFDM signal. The symbols on each subcarrier, as well as the reference signal, are recovered and demodulated by determining the most likely signal constellation point transmitted by the base station 310. These soft decisions may be based on channel estimates estimated by the channel estimator 358. The soft decisions are then decoded and deinterleaved to recover the data and control signals originally sent on the physical channel by base station 310. The data and control signals are then provided to a controller / processor 359, which implements layer 3 and layer 2 functionality.

[0071] The controller / processor 359 may be associated with a memory 360 that stores program codes and data. The memory 360 may be referred to as a computer-readable medium. In the UL, the controller / processor 359 provides demultiplexing between transport and logical channels, packet reassembly, decryption, header decompression, and control signal processing to recover IP packets. The controller / processor 359 is also responsible for error detection using an ACK and / or NACK protocol to support HARQ operations.

[0072] Similar to the functionality described in conjunction with DL transmissions performed by the base station 310, the controller / processor 359 provides RRC layer functionality associated with system information (e.g., MIB, SIB) acquisition, RRC connection, and measurement reporting; PDCP layer functionality associated with header compression / decompression and security (encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification); RLC layer functionality associated with delivery of upper layer PDUs, error correction through ARQ, concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC SDUs, resegmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functionality associated with mapping between logical channels and transport channels, multiplexing of MAC SDUs onto TBs, demultiplexing of MAC SDUs from TBs, scheduling information reporting, error correction through HARQ, priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.

[0073] Channel estimates derived by the channel estimator 358 based on a reference signal or feedback transmitted by the base station 310 may be used by the TX processor 368 to select the appropriate coding and modulation schemes and to facilitate spatial processing. The spatial streams generated by the TX processor 368 may be provided to different antennas 352 via separate transmitters 354Tx. Each transmitter 354Tx may modulate an RF carrier with a corresponding spatial stream for transmission.

[0074] UL transmissions are processed at the base station 310 in a manner similar to that described in conjunction with the receiver functionality at the UE 350. Each receiver 318Rx receives a signal through its corresponding antenna 320. Each receiver 318Rx recovers information modulated onto an RF carrier and provides the information to the RX processor 370.

[0075] The controller / processor 375 may be associated with a memory 376 that stores program codes and data. The memory 376 may be referred to as a computer-readable medium. In the UL, the controller / processor 375 provides demultiplexing between transport and logical channels, packet reassembly, decryption, header decompression, and control signal processing to recover IP packets. The controller / processor 375 is also responsible for error detection using an ACK and / or NACK protocol to support HARQ operations.

[0076] At least one of the TX processor 368, the RX processor 356, and the controller / processor 359 may be configured to perform operations related to Figure 1 The positioning engine component 198 combines various aspects.

[0077] At least one of the TX processor 316, the RX processor 370, and the controller / processor 375 may be configured to perform operations related to Figure 1 The positioning engine component 199 combines various aspects.

[0078] Figure 4 is a diagram 400 illustrating an example of UE positioning based on reference signal measurements (which may also be referred to as "network-based positioning") according to various aspects of the present disclosure. UE 404 may be at time T SRS_TX UL-SRS 412 is sent and at time T PRS_RX Receive DL Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) (DL-PRS) 410. TRP 406 may be at time T SRS_RX Receive UL-SRS 412 and at time T PRS_TX 410. The UE 404 may receive the DL-PRS 410 before transmitting the UL-SRS 412, or may transmit the UL-SRS 412 before receiving the DL-PRS 410. In both cases, the positioning server (e.g., the location server 168) or the UE 404 may determine the UL-SRS 412 based on the || T SRS_RX –T PRS_TX |–|T SRS_TX –T PRS_RX || to determine RTT 414. Thus, multi-RTT positioning may utilize UE Rx-Tx time difference measurements (ie, |T SRS_TX –T PRS_RX |) and DL-PRS reference signal received power (RSRP) (DL-PRS-RSRP), and the measured TRP Rx-Tx time difference measurement (ie, |T SRS_RX –T PRS_TX|) and UL-SRS-RSRP. UE 404 uses assistance data received from the positioning server to measure the UE Rx-Tx time difference measurement (and / or the DL-PRS-RSRP of the received signal), and TRP 402, 406 uses assistance data received from the positioning server to measure the gNB Rx-Tx time difference measurement (and / or the UL-SRS-RSRP of the received signal). These measurements can be used at the positioning server or UE 404 to determine the RTT, which is used to estimate the position of UE 404. Other methods for determining RTT are possible, such as, for example, using DL-TDOA and / or UL-TDOA measurements.

[0079] PRS can be defined for network-based positioning (e.g., NR positioning) to enable UEs to detect and measure more neighboring transmit and receive points (TRPs), with multiple configurations supported to enable various deployments (e.g., indoor, outdoor, sub-6, mmW, etc.). To support PRS beam operation, beam scanning can also be configured for PRS. The UL positioning reference signal can be based on a sounding reference signal (SRS) with enhancement / adjustment for positioning purposes. In some examples, the UL-PRS can be referred to as "SRS for positioning," and a new information element (IE) can be configured for SRS for positioning in RRC signaling.

[0080] DL PRS-RSRP may be defined as the linear average of the power contributions (in watts) of the resource elements of the antenna ports carrying the configured DL PRS reference signal for RSRP measurement, within the considered measurement frequency bandwidth. In some examples, for FR1, the reference point for DL ​​PRS-RSRP may be the UE's antenna connector. For FR2, DL PRS-RSRP may be measured based on the combined signal from the antenna elements corresponding to a given receiver branch. For both FR1 and FR2, if the UE uses receiver diversity, the reported DL PRS-RSRP value may not be lower than the corresponding DL PRS-RSRP of any of the individual receiver branches. Similarly, UL SRS-RSRP may be defined as the linear average of the power contributions (in watts) of the resource elements carrying the sounding reference signal (SRS). UL SRS-RSRP may be measured over the configured resource elements, within the considered measurement frequency bandwidth, and during configured measurement occasions. In some examples, for FR1, the reference point for UL SRS-RSRP may be the antenna connector of the base station (e.g., gNB). For FR2, the UL SRS-RSRP may be measured based on the combined signals from the antenna elements corresponding to a given receiver branch. For FR1 and FR2, if the base station uses receiver diversity, the reported UL SRS-RSRP value may not be lower than the corresponding UL SRS-RSRP of any of the individual receiver branches.

[0081] PRS-Path RSRP (PRS-RSRPP) can be defined as the power of the linear average of the channel response at the i-th path delay of the resource element carrying the DL PRS signal configured for measurement, where the DL PRS-RSRPP for the 1st path delay is the power contribution corresponding to the first detected path in time. In some examples, the PRS path phase measurement can refer to the phase associated with the i-th path of the channel derived using the PRS resource.

[0082] DL-AoD positioning may utilize the measured DL-PRS-RSRP of downlink signals received at a UE 404 from multiple TRPs 402, 406. The UE 404 uses assistance data received from a positioning server to measure the DL-PRS-RSRP of the received signals, and the resulting measurements, along with the azimuth angle of departure (A-AoD), the zenith angle of departure (Z-AoD), and other configuration information, are used to position the UE 404 relative to neighboring TRPs 402, 406.

[0083] DL-TDOA positioning may utilize DL Reference Signal Time Difference (RSTD) (and / or DL-PRS-RSRP) of downlink signals received at a UE 404 from multiple TRPs 402, 406. The UE 404 uses assistance data received from a positioning server to measure the DL RSTD (and / or DL-PRS-RSRP) of the received signals, and the resulting measurements, along with other configuration information, are used to position the UE 404 relative to neighboring TRPs 402, 406.

[0084] UL-TDOA positioning may utilize the UL relative time of arrival (RTOA) (and / or UL-SRS-RSRP) of uplink signals transmitted from a UE 404 at multiple TRPs 402, 406. The TRPs 402, 406 measure the UL-RTOA (and / or UL-SRS-RSRP) of the received signals using assistance data received from a positioning server, and the resulting measurements, along with other configuration information, are used to estimate the position of the UE 404.

[0085] UL-AoA positioning may utilize the measured azimuth angle of arrival (A-AoA) and zenith angle of arrival (Z-AoA) of uplink signals sent from a UE 404 at multiple TRPs 402, 406. The TRPs 402, 406 measure the A-AoA and Z-AoA of the received signals using assistance data received from a positioning server, and the resulting measurements, along with other configuration information, are used to estimate the position of the UE 404. For purposes of this disclosure, positioning operations in which a UE provides measurements to a base station / positioning entity / server for use in calculating the UE's position may be described as "UE-assisted," "UE-assisted positioning," and / or "UE-assisted position calculation," while positioning operations in which a UE measures and estimates its own position may be described as "UE-based," "UE-based positioning," and / or "UE-based position calculation."

[0086] Additional positioning methods may be used to estimate the position of the UE 404, such as, for example, UE-side UL-AoD and / or DL-AoA. Note that data / measurements from various technologies may be combined in various ways to increase accuracy, determine and / or enhance certainty, supplement / complement measurements, and / or replace / provide missing information. For example, some UE positioning mechanisms may be radio access technology (RAT) dependent (e.g., positioning of the UE is based on the RAT), such as downlink positioning (e.g., observed time difference of arrival (OTDOA) measurements), uplink positioning (e.g., uplink time difference of arrival (UTDOA) measurements), and / or combined DL and UL based positioning (e.g., measurements of RTT relative to neighboring cells). Some wireless communication systems may also support enhanced cell ID (E-CID) positioning procedures based on radio resource management (RRM) measurements. On the other hand, some UE positioning mechanisms may be RAT-independent (e.g., UE positioning does not depend on RAT), such as enhanced GNSS, and / or positioning technologies based on WLAN, Bluetooth, Terrestrial Beacon System (TBS), and / or positioning technologies based on sensors (e.g., air pressure sensors, motion sensors), etc. Some UE positioning mechanisms may be based on a hybrid model, in which multiple positioning methods are used, which may include both RAT-dependent positioning technologies and RAT-independent positioning technologies (e.g., GNSS and OTDOA hybrid positioning).

[0087] It should be noted that the terms "positioning reference signal" and "PRS" generally refer to specific reference signals used for positioning in NR and LTE systems. However, as used herein, the terms "positioning reference signal" and "PRS" may also refer to any type of reference signal that can be used for positioning, such as, but not limited to, PRS, TRS, PTRS, CRS, CSI-RS, DMRS, PSS, SSS, SSB, SRS, UL-PRS, and the like, as defined in LTE and NR. Furthermore, the terms "positioning reference signal" and "PRS" may refer to either downlink or uplink positioning reference signals, unless otherwise indicated by the context. To further distinguish between the types of PRS, downlink positioning reference signals may be referred to as "DL PRS," and uplink positioning reference signals (e.g., SRS, PTRS used for positioning) may be referred to as "UL-PRS." Furthermore, for signals that can be transmitted in both the uplink and downlink (e.g., DMRS, PTRS), these signals may be prepended with "UL" or "DL" to distinguish their direction. For example, "UL-DMRS" may be distinguished from "DL-DMRS."

[0088] A device (e.g., a UE) equipped with a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receiver (which may include a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver) may determine its position based on GNSS positioning. GNSS is a network of satellites that broadcasts timing and orbit information used for navigation and positioning measurements. GNSS may include groups of satellites, called clusters, that broadcast signals (which may be referred to as GNSS signals) to control stations and users of the GNSS. Based on the broadcast signals, users may be able to determine their position (e.g., via a trilateration process). For the purposes of this disclosure, a device (e.g., a UE) equipped with a GNSS receiver or capable of receiving GNSS signals may be referred to as a GNSS device, and a device (such as a satellite) capable of sending GNSS signals may be referred to as a space vehicle (SV).

[0089] Figure 5 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of GNSS positioning according to various aspects of the present disclosure. A GNSS device 506 may calculate its position and time based at least in part on data (e.g., GNSS signals 504) received from a plurality of space vehicles (SVs) 502, wherein each SV 502 may carry a record of its position and time and may transmit this data (e.g., the record) to the GNSS device 506. Each SV 502 may also include a clock that is synchronized with the other clocks of the SV and with a clock on the ground. If an SV 502 detects a deviation from the time kept on the ground, the SV 502 may correct for it. The GNSS device 506 may also include a clock, but the clock of the GNSS device 506 may be less stable and less accurate than the clock of each SV 502.

[0090] Because the speed of radio waves can be constant and independent of satellite speed, the time delay between the time when SV 502 transmits GNSS signal 504 and the time when GNSS device 506 receives GNSS signal 504 can be proportional to the distance from SV 502 to GNSS device 506. In some examples, GNSS device 506 can use as few as four SVs to estimate / calculate one or more unknown quantities associated with a position fix (e.g., three position fix coordinates and a clock bias from satellite time, etc.).

[0091] Each SV 502 may continuously broadcast a GNSS signal 504 (e.g., with a modulated carrier wave) that may include a pseudorandom code (e.g., a sequence of ones and zeros) known to the GNSS device 506 and may also include a message including the time of transmission and the SV's position at that time. In other words, each GNSS signal 504 may carry two types of information: time and carrier wave (e.g., a modulated waveform of an incoming signal to be transmitted electromagnetically). Based on the GNSS signal 504 received from each SV 502, the GNSS device 506 may measure the time of arrival (TOA) of the GNSS signal 504 and calculate the time of flight (TOF) of the GNSS signal 504. Based on the TOF, the GNSS device 506 may then estimate its three-dimensional position and clock bias, and the GNSS device 506 may determine its position on the Earth. For example, the position of the GNSS device 506 may be converted into latitude, longitude, and altitude relative to an ellipsoidal Earth model. These coordinates may be displayed on, for example, a moving map display, or recorded or used by some other system (such as a vehicle guidance system).

[0092] While the distance between a GNSS device and an SV can be calculated based on the time it takes for a GNSS signal to reach the GNSS device, the SV's signal sequence may be delayed relative to the GNSS device's sequence. Therefore, in some examples, a delay may be applied to the GNSS device's sequence to align the two sequences. For example, to calculate the delay, the GNSS device may align the pseudo-random binary sequence included in the SV's signal with an internally generated pseudo-random binary sequence. Because the SV's GNSS signal takes time to reach the GNSS device, the SV's sequence may be delayed relative to the GNSS device's sequence. By gradually delaying the GNSS device's sequence, the two sequences can eventually be aligned.

[0093] The accuracy of GNSS-based positioning may depend on various factors, such as satellite geometry, signal obstruction, atmospheric conditions, and / or receiver design features / quality. For example, a GNSS receiver used in a smartphone or smartwatch may have lower accuracy than a GNSS receiver used in a vehicle or surveying equipment. To improve the accuracy of GNSS positioning (e.g., from meters to centimeters), real-time kinematic (RTK) technology or mechanisms (hereinafter collectively referred to as RTK engines) may be used in positioning devices (e.g., UEs, surveying equipment, automotive GNSS systems, etc.). For example, an RTK engine may enable a positioning device to use correction information from a base station to mitigate one or more error sources in the GNSS receiver's pseudorange (PR) and carrier phase (CP) measurements, which may include satellite orbit errors, satellite clock errors, and / or atmospheric errors. As a result, the positioning device may achieve better accuracy.

[0094] Figure 6 600 is a diagram illustrating an example of RTK positioning according to various aspects of the present disclosure. In one example, at least two receivers may be used in association with RTK positioning, where at least one of the receivers may be fixed, which may be referred to as a base station 602 or an RTK base station, and at least one other receiver may be mobile (e.g., may move from time to time), which may be referred to as a rover or rover device 604 (e.g., a GNSS / GPS receiver, UE, rover, etc.). In other words, an RTK system may include at least a base station and a rover, where the base station may be a fixed receiver whose position is known.

[0095] The range between an SV 606 (e.g., a GNSS / GPS satellite) and a rover device 604, or between an SV 606 and a base station 602, may be calculated by determining the number of carrier cycles between the SV 606 and the rover device 604 or the base station 602 and multiplying that number by the carrier wavelength 612 of the carrier wave 610 (e.g., a carrier signal) transmitted by the SV 606. For example, if the SV 606 transmits a carrier wave 610 having a wavelength 612 of ten (10) meters, and the rover device 604 receives the carrier wave 610 and determines that there are five hundred (500) carrier cycles between the SV 606 and the rover device 604, the rover device 604 may calculate the distance between the SV 606 and the rover device 604 by multiplying the determined number of carrier cycles (e.g., 500) by the carrier wavelength 612 (e.g., 10 meters), which may be five kilometers (e.g., 500×10=5000). Similarly, base station 602 may also receive carrier wave 610 from SV 606 and determine the range of the carrier wave from satellite 606 based on the wavelength 612 of carrier wave 610 and the number of carrier wave cycles between base station 602 and SV 606. Rover device 604 and / or base station 602 may calculate the range (e.g., distance) between rover device 604 / base station 602 and multiple (e.g., four or more) SVs (e.g., SV 606 and SV 608) to determine their geographic locations (e.g., their positions on Earth).

[0096] During RTK positioning, a rover device 604 (e.g., a UE, client device, etc.) may undergo an "ambiguity resolution" process to determine the number of carrier cycles between the SV 606 and the rover device 604. In other words, when the rover device 604 receives carrier waves from the SV 606, the rover device 604 may take time to calculate how many carrier cycles exist between the SV 606 and the rover device 604. In some examples, a GNSS receiver with more complex or high-end antennas / hardware (such as automotive-grade antennas) may be able to resolve ambiguities in a relatively short time (e.g., within seconds), while a GNSS receiver with less complex or low-end antennas / hardware (such as antennas used in mobile phones and / or smartwatches) may take longer (e.g., 10 to 30 minutes or more) to resolve ambiguities. In some examples, ambiguities may also be referred to as "integer ambiguities." In some examples, the process by which a GNSS receiver resolves ambiguities may be referred to as convergence, and the time it takes the device to resolve ambiguities may be referred to as convergence time.

[0097] In some scenarios, the range calculated by rover device 604 may include errors due to SV clocks and ephemeris, as well as ionospheric and tropospheric delays. Furthermore, since rover device 604 is more likely to be mobile, the quality of the signal / carrier received from each SV may change as the rover device moves from one location to another. For example, if rover device 604 moves from an open sky area to an area with buildings, the signal from one or more SVs 606 / 608 may be blocked / reflected by the buildings. Consequently, the range calculated by rover device 604 may begin to drift and may include errors.

[0098] On the other hand, since base station 602 is likely stationary, has a known location, and may be equipped with a more sophisticated and advanced GNSS receiver, base station 602 may be able to maintain accurate range calculations compared to rover device 604. For example, base station 602 may be located at a site (e.g., an open sky area) with minimal environmental influences (such as interference and multipath). Thus, under RTK positioning, since base station 602 may already know its location (e.g., via pre-measurement), base station 602 may perform measurements on the SV to obtain a reference receiver measurement (e.g., to estimate the difference between the base station and the SV). Base station 602 may then subtract the geometric distance between the base station location and the SV location from the reference receiver measurement to obtain a reference correction (e.g., based on the difference or error). Base station 602 may generate correction data 614 (or a correction signal) based on the obtained reference correction and send the correction data 614 to rover device 604 to assist rover device 604 in correcting errors. For example, since the rover device 604 can generally be configured to be located near the base station 602 (e.g., within 6 miles, 12 miles, etc.), the rover device 604 is likely to encounter similar errors as the base station 602 (e.g., similar ionospheric delay and tropospheric delay, etc.). Therefore, the rover device 604 can use the correction data 614 from the base station 602 to improve and speed up its own estimated positioning from the GNSS constellation to achieve centimeter accuracy. In other words, the base station can be configured to remain in a fixed / known position and send correction data to one or more rover devices, and the one or more rover devices can use the correction data to increase the accuracy of their positioning and the speed of error correction. Therefore, the rover device 604 can use an algorithm that combines ambiguity resolution and differential correction to determine its position. The positioning accuracy that the rover device 604 can achieve may depend on its distance from the base station 602 and the accuracy of the differential correction (e.g., correction data 614).

[0099] In some examples, software or applications that receive positioning-related measurements from GNSS chipsets and / or sensors to estimate the position, speed, and / or altitude of a device may be referred to as a positioning engine. In addition, a positioning engine capable of achieving a specific high level of accuracy (e.g., centimeter / decimeter horizontal accuracy) and / or latency may be referred to as a precise positioning engine (PPE). For example, a positioning engine capable of performing RTK (e.g., receiving or processing correction data associated with RTK) may be considered a PPE. Another example of a PPE is a positioning engine capable of performing precise point positioning (PPP). PPP is a positioning technology that removes or models GNSS system errors to provide a high level of position accuracy from a single receiver. The PPP solution depends on GNSS satellite clock and orbit corrections generated from a network of global reference stations. Once the corrections are calculated, they are transmitted to the end user via satellite or over the Internet. These corrections are used by the receiver to achieve decimeter-level or better positioning without the involvement of a base station.

[0100] In one aspect of the present disclosure, in order to further improve the accuracy and latency of positioning, the positioning engine (e.g., PPE, PPP and / or RTK, etc.) may also be configured to receive at least one external position constraint. For the purposes of this disclosure, a position constraint may refer to information associated with positioning-related measurements, positioning-related uncertainties and / or output from another device, entity or component, which may be used to assist the positioning performed by the positioning device to achieve better positioning accuracy and shorten convergence time. For example, the position constraint source may be a dead reckoning (DR) output from a fusion engine, an image / visual output from a camera or image capture device, a pre-surveyed landmark with a known position, a manual user input, an odometer output, a map matching output, an ultra-wideband (UWB) positioning output, a terrestrial positioning output, a Wi-Fi positioning output, a network-based positioning output, or a combination thereof.

[0101] One purpose of configuring the positioning engine to receive at least one position constraint from an external source is to reduce convergence time at the positioning engine (e.g., to enable the positioning engine to resolve ambiguities more quickly). Figure 6As described, a GNSS receiver with less complex antennas / hardware may take a relatively long time to converge compared to a GNSS receiver with more complex antennas / hardware. Therefore, by enabling a positioning engine associated with a GNSS receiver with less complex antennas / hardware to receive at least one position constraint (e.g., information related to position and / or position uncertainty, etc.) from another device, entity, or component, the convergence time of the positioning engine may be shortened. For example, a positioning device that enters an indoor structure (e.g., a tunnel, a building, etc.) may not be able to receive GNSS signals and perform positioning based on GNSS. After the positioning device leaves the indoor structure and is able to receive GNSS signals again, it may take a certain amount of time for the positioning device to converge. However, if a source of position constraints is available, it can be used by the positioning device to help shorten the long convergence time.

[0102] While location constraints can be used to assist the positioning engine, the accuracy and convergence time of the positioning engine may be reduced or worsened if the location constraint information is inaccurate or erroneous. For example, the location uncertainty associated with the location constraint may be overly optimistic. In some scenarios, the positioning engine may be bound to location constraint information (e.g., output) that is believed to be incorrect for a long time, which may cause the positioning engine to perform / provide inaccurate positioning for a period of time. In other scenarios, the convergence time of the positioning engine may be even longer with incorrect location constraint information.

[0103] Figure 7A 700A is a diagram illustrating an example horizontal error and convergence time for a positioning engine that does not receive position constraints according to various aspects of the present disclosure. As shown in diagram 700A, after the positioning engine begins receiving GNSS signals, the positioning engine may require some time to converge, such as to maintain a horizontal error (HE) associated with a position fix below a certain error threshold (e.g., 0.3 meters, 0.2 meters, etc.).

[0104] Figure 7B 700B is a diagram illustrating an example horizontal error and convergence time for a positioning engine receiving position constraints according to various aspects of the present disclosure. As shown in diagram 700B, after the positioning engine begins receiving GNSS signals and with the assistance of at least one position constraint, the time for the positioning engine to converge may be relatively shorter than for a positioning engine not receiving position constraints as shown in diagram 700A.

[0105] Figure 8A800A is a diagram illustrating an example horizontal error and convergence time for a positioning engine receiving an erroneous position constraint according to various aspects of the present disclosure. As shown in diagram 800A, if the positioning engine receives an erroneous or incorrect position constraint for an extended period of time, the positioning engine may not be able to converge within a certain period of time. For example, the positioning engine may be associated with a 70 cm error and a 1 cm uncertainty in each dimension for an extended period of time.

[0106] Figure 8B FIG800B is a diagram illustrating an example horizontal error and convergence time of a positioning engine receiving an erroneous position constraint according to various aspects of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG800B, in another case where the positioning engine receives an erroneous or incorrect position constraint, as shown in FIG800B, Figure 7A The positioning engine may take longer to converge than a positioning engine that does not receive location constraints as shown.

[0107] Various aspects presented herein can improve the positioning accuracy and convergence time of a positioning engine that receives at least one position constraint for assisted positioning. Various aspects presented herein provide a positioning engine (e.g., a robust PPE) having the ability to detect that a position constraint is associated with an error that exceeds (e.g., is greater than and / or equal to) a high error threshold (e.g., tens or hundreds of meters, etc.) and / or is less than a lower error threshold (e.g., less than or equal to a few meters or sub-meters). For the purposes of this disclosure, an error that exceeds a "high error threshold" may be referred to as a "large error," and an error that does not exceed the high error threshold or is less than the low error threshold (or is within the range of the lower error threshold) may be referred to as a "marginal error" or "marginally detectable constrained error." In some examples, large errors may be detected based on pseudorange (PR) residuals, and marginally detectable constrained errors may not be detected based on PR residuals. PR residuals may refer to the difference between the calculated distance to a satellite and the measured PR (e.g., the PR measurement minus the calculated distance). The positioning engine presented herein may also include the ability to revert to conventional positioning engine performance (e.g., revert to conventional PPE performance without using position constraints) if it is detected that position constraints are associated with errors (e.g., large errors and / or marginally detectable constraint errors, etc.).

[0108] In one aspect of the present disclosure, the positioning engine (e.g., PPE) may detect position constraints including large errors based on PR residuals calculated using position constraint inputs. Generally speaking, when position constraints are associated with large errors (e.g., tens to hundreds of meters), the PR residuals may be very large. Therefore, the PR residuals can be used to detect large errors. However, the PR residual verification mechanism may not be suitable for detecting position constraint errors of only a few meters or sub-meters (e.g., marginally detectable constrained errors). Therefore, in another aspect of the present disclosure, the positioning engine may also be configured to detect marginally detectable constrained errors based on performing a cross-check between an unconstrained PPE solution and a constrained PPE solution and / or between a position increment and a constrained PPE solution.

[0109] Figure 9 900 is a diagram illustrating an example of a positioning engine (e.g., a conventional PPE) with position constraints according to various aspects of the present disclosure. As shown at 904, a positioning engine 902 (e.g., a PPE with an extended Kalman filter (EKF)) can receive position constraint information from another device, component, or entity (such as from an IMU sensor, a camera, or another device). As shown at 906, based on the received position constraint information, the positioning engine can generate a solution (e.g., a PPE solution) with position constraints. For the purposes of this disclosure, a solution, such as a PPE solution, can refer to a set of parameters associated with a Kalman filter (KF) or a KF state. For example, a set of parameters associated with a KF or a KF state can include position, velocity, receiver clock, receiver clock rate, inter-satellite type bias (ISTB), and / or ambiguity terms, etc.

[0110] Figure 10 1000 is a diagram illustrating an example of a positioning engine having the ability to detect errors associated with position constraints (such as marginal detectable constrained errors) according to various aspects of the present disclosure. Various aspects presented herein provide a positioning engine (e.g., a robust PPE) that is capable of detecting position constrained errors (e.g., large errors, marginal errors, errors exceeding an error threshold, and / or errors that cannot be detected based on a PR residual check mechanism, etc.) and recovering from position constrained errors. Although Figure 1000 illustrates various aspects of the present disclosure through PPE, this is for illustrative purposes only. The aspects presented herein may also be applied to other types of position engines, such as a PPP engine, an RTK engine, or a conventional (non-PPE) position engine. The positioning engine may operate / run on various wireless devices or GNSS-based positioning devices / servers, such as on a UE, a base station, a network node, a network entity, a position server, or an Internet of Things (IoT) device.

[0111] In one aspect, the PPE 1002 (e.g., a positioning engine) may include multiple functional modules (these functional modules may also be referred to as "functional logic" or simply "logic"), such as a PPE module 1004, a position constraint module 1006, a buffer module 1008, an ambiguity information maintenance module 1010, an ambiguity constraint module 1012, a cross-check module 1014, a position increment determination module 1016 and / or an aggregator module 1018, etc.

[0112] The PPE 1002 may be configured to detect whether the location constraint includes an error (e.g., a large error) based on a PR residual calculated using the location constraint input. Since the PR residual may be very large when the location constraint is associated with an error exceeding a large error threshold (e.g., greater than or equal to tens to hundreds of meters), the PPE 1002 may determine that the location constraint includes an error based on the calculated PR residual. If the PPE 1002 determines that the location constraint includes an error based on the calculated PR residual, the PPE 1002 may exclude the location constraint from the calculations at the PPE 1002 (e.g., positioning calculations). On the other hand, if the PPE 1002 determines that the location constraint does not include an error, the PPE 1002 may include the location constraint in the calculations at the PPE 1002. However, this PR residual checking mechanism may not be suitable for detecting location constraint errors of only a few meters or sub-meters (e.g., marginally detectable constraint errors). As such, the PPE 1002 may also be configured to detect marginal detectable constraint errors based on performing a cross-check between an unconstrained PPE solution and a constrained PPE solution and / or between a position increment and a constrained PPE solution.

[0113] For example, as shown at 1020, since the PPE 1002 can perform positioning without position constraints, the PPE module 1004 can be configured to output a PPE solution that is not associated with position constraints. This PPE solution without position constraints can always be available or generated.

[0114] As shown at 1022, when the PPE 1002 is configured to perform positioning using at least one position constraint, the position constraint module 1006 of the PPE 1002 may receive position constraint information from a component, entity, or another device (e.g., a sensor, a camera, etc.). In addition, the position constraint module 1006 may also receive a PPE solution generated from the PPE module 1004 without position constraints.

[0115] After receiving the position constraint information and the PPE solution without position constraints, the position constraint module 1006 may combine / convert them and generate ambiguity information with position constraints (e.g., similar to a data structure), as shown at 1024. This ambiguity information with position constraints may be buffered at the buffer module 1008 (rather than directly changing the KF / EKF state in the PPE module 1004), as shown at 1026.

[0116] In some examples, as shown at 1028, the ambiguity information maintenance module 1010 may be used to ensure that the ambiguity information with position constraints is up to date, such as by receiving inputs from the PPE module 1004 and comparing them with the buffered ambiguity information with position constraints from the buffer module 1008. For example, the PPE solution from the PPE module 1004 may change over time as the PPE 1002 moves to different locations, as one or more satellites change their positions, or as the PPE 1002 connects to new satellites, etc. Therefore, both the PPE solution without position constraints and the ambiguity information with position constraints may always be available to the PPE 1002.

[0117] As shown at 1030, the ambiguity constraint module 1012 may receive a PPE solution without position constraints from the PPE module 1004 and buffered ambiguity information with position constraints from the buffer module 1008, and the ambiguity constraint module 1012 may combine the two pieces of information and generate a PPE solution with position constraints, such as shown at 1032.

[0118] Thus, as shown at 1020 and 1032, at each epoch (e.g., at a particular time or at a particular point in time), there may be two sets of PPE solutions available at PPE 1002: a PPE solution without position constraints and a PPE solution with position constraints (e.g., obtained via ambiguity constraint module 1012). In other words, there may be two sets of parameters for the KF / KF state.

[0119] In one aspect of the present disclosure, as shown at 1034, in order to determine whether the position constraint information is accurate or contains errors (e.g., marginal errors), the cross-check module 1014 of the PPE 1002 may perform a first cross-check (cross-check 1) between the two PPE solutions by comparing the values / calculated distances of the PPE solution without the position constraints and the PPE solution with the position constraints. In some examples, the first cross-check may be able to detect erroneous constraint information with marginal constraint position errors and very small constraint position uncertainties (e.g., 1 cm). Based on the first cross-check or comparison, if the horizontal error (HE) difference and / or the three-dimensional (3D) distance between the two PPE solutions is above a first error / distance threshold, the cross-check module 1014 may determine that the position constraint information is erroneous or inaccurate. On the other hand, if the horizontal error difference and / or the 3D distance between the two PPE solutions is below the first error / distance threshold, the cross-check module 1014 may determine that the position constraint information is accurate or acceptable (but may accept the second cross-check discussed below).

[0120] As shown at 1036, the aggregator module 1018 can be used to aggregate PPE solutions without position constraints and PPE solutions with position constraints and generate an aggregated PPE solution. If the cross-check module 1014 determines that the position constraint information is erroneous or inaccurate (e.g., the horizontal error difference and / or the 3D distance exceeds a distance threshold), the aggregator module 1018 can reject / exclude the PPE solution with position constraints and only use the PPE solution without position constraints. In other words, the aggregated PPE solution generated by the aggregator module 1018 can only include PPE solutions without position constraints. This configuration can prevent the PPE 1002 from using erroneous position constraint information that affects positioning accuracy, such as Figure 8A and Figure 8B shown.

[0121] In some scenarios, when the position constraint information is different (or the constraint error type is different), its impact on the PPE 1002 may also be different. Therefore, in another aspect of the present disclosure, the PPE 1002 may also be configured to perform a second cross-check (cross-check 2) to improve the accuracy of position constraint error detection / identification. For example, the first cross-check may be configured to detect erroneous position constraint information with a marginal constraint position error of a first (e.g., very small) constraint position uncertainty (e.g., 1 cm), and the second cross-check may be configured to detect erroneous position constraint information with a marginal constraint position error of a second (e.g., larger) constraint position uncertainty (e.g., 10 cm). In another example, the first cross-check may be more suitable for detecting a first type of position constraint error, while the second cross-check may be more suitable for detecting a second type of position constraint error.

[0122] In one example, as shown at 1038, at the same epoch, the position increment determination module 1016 may be configured to receive a carrier phase increment (DCP) and determine a position increment (e.g., a change in position of the PPE 1002) of the PPE 1002. Note that the position increment may not be an absolute position of the PPE 1002, but rather a relative position of the PPE 1002 with high accuracy. For example, the relative position may be the position of the PPE 1002 at the second point in time (T1) relative to the position of the PPE 1002 at the first point in time (T0).

[0123] Then, as shown at 1040, the cross-check module 1014 can be configured to perform a second cross-check between the position increment and the PPE solution with position constraints to determine whether the position constraint information includes a position constraint error (e.g., a marginal detectable error) by comparing their values / calculated distances. For example, the cross-check module 1014 can compare the horizontal error difference or 3D distance between the position increment from the position increment determination module 1016 and the position increment derived based on the PPE solution with position constraints (the position increment may be referred to as the "derived position increment" hereinafter). If the position increment matches the derived position increment, the cross-check module 1014 can determine that the position constraint information is accurate. On the other hand, if there is a difference between the position increment and the derived position increment, or if the difference between them exceeds a difference threshold (e.g., a second error / distance threshold), the cross-check module 1014 can determine that the position constraint information is erroneous or inaccurate.

[0124] Similarly, as discussed in conjunction with 1036, based on the second cross-check result, the aggregator module 1018 may determine whether to use or aggregate the PPE solution with position constraints. For example, if the cross-check module 1014 determines that the position constraint information is erroneous or inaccurate based on the second cross-check, the aggregator module 1018 may reject / exclude the PPE solution with position constraints and only use the PPE solution without position constraints. In other words, when the first cross-check (at 1034) or the second cross-check (at 1040) fails, the aggregator module 1018 may revert to the PPE solution without position constraints (e.g., PPE 1002 may perform positioning without position constraints). In some scenarios, if the PPE solution without position constraints (or PPE module 1004) converges, the aggregator module 1018 may also revert to the PPE solution without position constraints.

[0125] The cross-check module 1014 can improve the robustness of the PPE solution by performing a first cross-check between different PPE solutions and a second cross-check between the position increments and the derived position increments. Thus, aspects presented herein (e.g., two-step cross-checking) can improve the accuracy of positioning using at least one position constraint at the PPE 1002 by enabling the PPE 1002 to detect both large errors and marginal detectable constraint errors associated with the position constraint information to ensure that the position constraint information is accurate to a certain extent.

[0126] Figure 11 is a diagram 1100 illustrating an example horizontal error and convergence time of a positioning engine that detects a marginal detectable constraint error with a first (e.g., very small) position constraint uncertainty (e.g., 1 cm uncertainty) in a position constraint and reverts to a PPE solution with no position constraint, according to various aspects of the present disclosure. As shown at 1102 (and in conjunction with Figure 8A As discussed above, when a positioning engine (e.g., PPE 1002) receives erroneous or incorrect position constraints, the positioning engine may not be able to converge within a specific time period. On the other hand, as shown at 1104, in combination with Figure 10 The first cross-check discussed in 1034 may enable the positioning engine to detect that the constraint information includes an error (or a first type of error) when cross-checking between a PPE solution without position constraints and a PPE solution with position constraints, and the positioning engine may exclude the PPE solution with position constraints from positioning.

[0127] Figure 12 is a diagram 1200 illustrating an example horizontal error and convergence time of a positioning engine that detects a marginal detectable constraint error with a second (e.g., larger) position constraint uncertainty (e.g., 10 cm) in a position constraint and reverts to a PPE solution without position constraints, according to various aspects of the present disclosure. As shown at 1202 (and in conjunction with Figure 8B As discussed above), when a positioning engine (e.g., PPE 1002) receives erroneous or incorrect position constraints, the positioning engine may take longer to converge. On the other hand, as shown at 1204, in combination with Figure 10 The second cross-check discussed in 1040 may enable the positioning engine to detect that the constraint information includes an error (or a second type of error) when cross-checking between a position increment obtained from measuring carrier phase increments and a position increment derived based on a solution with position constraints, and the positioning engine may exclude the solution with position constraints from positioning.

[0128] Figure 131300 is a flow chart of a method of wireless communication. The method may be performed by a wireless device (e.g., base station 102; LMF 166; UE 104, 404; GNSS device 506; rover device 604; PPE 1002; apparatus 1504). The method may enable a wireless device (e.g., a positioning engine) to detect whether a location constraint is associated with an error and, if so, to revert to normal positioning engine performance.

[0129] At 1302, the wireless device may obtain an indication of at least one location constraint for a positioning engine, such as in conjunction with Figure 10 For example, at 1022, PPE 1002 may obtain location constraint information via its location constraint module 1006. The means for obtaining an indication of the at least one location constraint may be provided by, for example, Figure 15 The positioning engine component 198, the cellular baseband processor 1524 and / or the transceiver 1522 of the device 1504 are executed.

[0130] In one example, the at least one position constraint includes at least one of: dead reckoning (DR) output from a fusion engine, camera vision output from at least one camera, user manual input, odometry output, map matching output, ultra-wideband (UWB) positioning output, terrestrial positioning output, Wi-Fi positioning output, or network-based positioning output.

[0131] In another example, the wireless device is a UE, a base station, a network node, a network entity, a location server, a positioning engine, or an IoT device.

[0132] In another example, the positioning engine is a PPP engine or a RTK engine.

[0133] In another example, an indication of at least one location constraint for a positioning engine is obtained after a GNSS outage.

[0134] In another example, to obtain the indication of the at least one location constraint, the wireless device may receive the indication of the at least one location constraint from the positioning engine.

[0135] At 1304, the wireless device may calculate a set of PR residuals between the wireless device and at least one satellite via a positioning engine, such as a combination of Figure 10 For example, PPE 1002 may use the position constraint to calculate the PR residual set. The components for calculating the PR residual set may be, for example, Figure 15 The positioning engine component 198, the cellular baseband processor 1524 and / or the transceiver 1522 of the device 1504 are executed.

[0136] In one example, the PR residual set includes at least one of the following: a receiver clock error, a position constraint error, or an atmospheric error.

[0137] At 1306, the wireless device may detect whether the at least one position constraint exceeds an error threshold based on a set of PR residuals between the wireless device and at least one satellite, such as in combination with Figure 10 For example, since the PR residual may be very large when the position constraint is associated with a large error, the PPE 1002 may detect whether the at least one position constraint is associated with an error (e.g., a large error) based on the PR residual. The component for detecting whether the at least one position constraint exceeds the error threshold may be, for example, Figure 15 The positioning engine component 198, the cellular baseband processor 1524 and / or the transceiver 1522 of the device 1504 are executed.

[0138] In one example, the error threshold is a maximum error threshold (eg, a large error threshold).

[0139] At 1308, the wireless device may exclude the at least one location constraint from calculations at the positioning engine if the at least one location constraint exceeds an error threshold, or include the at least one location constraint in calculations at the positioning engine if the at least one location constraint is below an error threshold, such as in conjunction with Figure 10 For example, if the PPE 1002 determines that the position constraint includes an error based on the calculated PR residual, the PPE 1002 may exclude the position constraint from the calculations (e.g., positioning calculations) at the PPE 1002. On the other hand, as shown at 1036, if the position constraint does not exceed the error threshold, the aggregator module 1018 of the PPE 1002 may include the position constraint in the calculations. The means for excluding or including the at least one position constraint may be provided by, for example, Figure 15 The positioning engine component 198, the cellular baseband processor 1524 and / or the transceiver 1522 of the device 1504 are executed.

[0140] In one example, to include the at least one location constraint in calculations by the positioning engine, the wireless device may restore the at least one location constraint if the at least one location constraint is below an error threshold. In such an example, the wireless device may calculate a difference between a first location of the wireless device calculated by the positioning engine without the at least one location constraint and a second location of the wireless device calculated by the positioning engine with the at least one location constraint. The wireless device may exclude the at least one location constraint from calculations by the positioning engine in response to the difference exceeding the difference threshold, or include the at least one location constraint in calculations by the positioning engine in response to the difference not exceeding the difference threshold. In such an example, the first location of the wireless device and the second location of the wireless device are calculated for the same epoch. In another example, to restore the at least one location constraint if the at least one location constraint is below an error threshold, the wireless device may exclude the at least one location constraint from calculations by the positioning engine if the positioning engine converges without the at least one location constraint.

[0141] In another example, to include the at least one position constraint in the calculation at the positioning engine when the at least one position constraint is below an error threshold, the wireless device may estimate a first position increment of the wireless device using the DCP, the wireless device may calculate a difference between a first position of the wireless device calculated based on the first position increment and a second position of the wireless device calculated based on a second position increment derived from the at least one position constraint, and the wireless device may exclude the at least one position constraint from the calculation at the positioning engine in response to the difference exceeding the difference threshold, or include the at least one position constraint in the calculation at the positioning engine in response to the difference not exceeding the difference threshold. In such an example, the first position of the wireless device and the second position of the wireless device are calculated for the same epoch.

[0142] At 1310, the wireless device may initiate the calculation at the positioning engine after excluding the at least one location constraint from the calculation, or include the at least one location constraint in the calculation, such as in conjunction with Figure 10 For example, at 1036, the aggregator module 1018 of the PPE 1002 may generate an aggregated PPE solution, and the PPE 1002 may perform positioning based on the aggregated PPE solution. The means for initiating this calculation at the positioning engine may be provided by, for example, Figure 15 The positioning engine component 198, the cellular baseband processor 1524 and / or the transceiver 1522 of the device 1504 are executed.

[0143] Figure 141400 is a flow chart of a method of wireless communication. The method may be performed by a wireless device (e.g., base station 102; LMF 166; UE 104, 404; GNSS device 506; rover device 604; PPE 1002; apparatus 1504). The method may enable a wireless device (e.g., a positioning engine) to detect whether a location constraint is associated with an error and, if so, to revert to normal positioning engine performance.

[0144] At 1402, the wireless device may obtain an indication of at least one location constraint for a positioning engine, such as in conjunction with Figure 10 For example, at 1022, PPE 1002 may obtain location constraint information via its location constraint module 1006. The means for obtaining an indication of the at least one location constraint may be provided by, for example, Figure 15 The positioning engine component 198, the cellular baseband processor 1524 and / or the transceiver 1522 of the device 1504 are executed.

[0145] In one example, the at least one location constraint includes at least one of: DR output from a fusion engine, camera vision output from at least one camera, user manual input, odometry output, map matching output, UWB positioning output, terrestrial positioning output, Wi-Fi positioning output, or network-based positioning output.

[0146] In another example, the wireless device is a UE, a base station, a network node, a network entity, a location server, a positioning engine, or an IoT device.

[0147] In another example, the positioning engine is a PPP engine or a RTK engine.

[0148] In another example, an indication of at least one location constraint for a positioning engine is obtained after a GNSS outage.

[0149] In another example, to obtain the indication of the at least one location constraint, the wireless device may receive the indication of the at least one location constraint from the positioning engine.

[0150] In another example, the wireless device may calculate a set of PR residuals between the wireless device and at least one satellite via the positioning engine, such as by combining Figure 10 For example, PPE 1002 may use the position constraint to calculate the PR residual set. The components for calculating the PR residual set may be, for example, Figure 15 The positioning engine component 198, the cellular baseband processor 1524 and / or the transceiver 1522 of the device 1504 are executed.

[0151] In another example, the PR residual set includes at least one of: a receiver clock error, a position constraint error, or an atmospheric error.

[0152] At 1406, the wireless device may detect whether the at least one position constraint exceeds an error threshold based on a set of PR residuals between the wireless device and at least one satellite, such as in combination with Figure 10 For example, since the PR residual may be very large when the position constraint is associated with a large error, the PPE 1002 may detect whether the at least one position constraint is associated with an error (e.g., a large error) based on the PR residual. The component for detecting whether the at least one position constraint exceeds the error threshold may be, for example, Figure 15 The positioning engine component 198, the cellular baseband processor 1524 and / or the transceiver 1522 of the device 1504 are executed.

[0153] In one example, the error threshold is a maximum error threshold (eg, a large error threshold).

[0154] At 1408, the wireless device may exclude the at least one location constraint from calculations at the positioning engine if the at least one location constraint exceeds an error threshold, or include the at least one location constraint in calculations at the positioning engine if the at least one location constraint is below an error threshold, such as in conjunction with Figure 10 For example, if the PPE 1002 determines that the position constraint includes an error based on the calculated PR residual, the PPE 1002 may exclude the position constraint from the calculations (e.g., positioning calculations) at the PPE 1002. On the other hand, as shown at 1036, if the position constraint does not exceed the error threshold, the aggregator module 1018 of the PPE 1002 may include the position constraint in the calculations. The means for excluding or including the at least one position constraint may be provided by, for example, Figure 15 The positioning engine component 198, the cellular baseband processor 1524 and / or the transceiver 1522 of the device 1504 are executed.

[0155] In one example, to include the at least one location constraint in calculations by the positioning engine, the wireless device may restore the at least one location constraint if the at least one location constraint is below an error threshold. In such an example, the wireless device may calculate a difference between a first location of the wireless device calculated by the positioning engine without the at least one location constraint and a second location of the wireless device calculated by the positioning engine with the at least one location constraint. The wireless device may exclude the at least one location constraint from calculations by the positioning engine in response to the difference exceeding the difference threshold, or include the at least one location constraint in calculations by the positioning engine in response to the difference not exceeding the difference threshold. In such an example, the first location of the wireless device and the second location of the wireless device are calculated for the same epoch. In another example, to restore the at least one location constraint if the at least one location constraint is below an error threshold, the wireless device may exclude the at least one location constraint from calculations by the positioning engine if the positioning engine converges without the at least one location constraint.

[0156] In another example, to include the at least one position constraint in the calculation at the positioning engine when the at least one position constraint is below an error threshold, the wireless device may estimate a first position increment of the wireless device using the DCP, the wireless device may calculate a difference between a first position of the wireless device calculated based on the first position increment and a second position of the wireless device calculated based on a second position increment derived from the at least one position constraint, and the wireless device may exclude the at least one position constraint from the calculation at the positioning engine in response to the difference exceeding the difference threshold, or include the at least one position constraint in the calculation at the positioning engine in response to the difference not exceeding the difference threshold. In such an example, the first position of the wireless device and the second position of the wireless device are calculated for the same epoch.

[0157] In another example, the wireless device may initiate the calculation at the positioning engine after excluding the at least one location constraint from the calculation, or include the at least one location constraint in the calculation, such as in conjunction with Figure 10 For example, at 1036, the aggregator module 1018 of the PPE 1002 may generate an aggregated PPE solution, and the PPE 1002 may perform positioning based on the aggregated PPE solution. The means for initiating this calculation at the positioning engine may be provided by, for example, Figure 15 The positioning engine component 198, the cellular baseband processor 1524 and / or the transceiver 1522 of the device 1504 are executed.

[0158] Figure 1515 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware implementation for an apparatus 1504. The apparatus 1504 may be a UE, a component of a UE, or may implement UE functionality. In some aspects, the apparatus 1504 may include a cellular baseband processor 1524 (also referred to as a modem) coupled to one or more transceivers 1522 (e.g., a cellular RF transceiver). The cellular baseband processor 1524 may include on-chip memory 1524′. In some aspects, the apparatus 1504 may also include one or more subscriber identity module (SIM) cards 1520 and an application processor 1506 coupled to a secure digital (SD) card 1508 and a screen 1510. The application processor 1506 may include on-chip memory 1506′. In some aspects, the device 1504 may also include a Bluetooth module 1512, a WLAN module 1514, an SPS module 1516 (e.g., a GNSS module), one or more sensor modules 1518 (e.g., an atmospheric pressure sensor / altimeter; a motion sensor such as an inertial measurement unit (IMU), a gyroscope, and / or an accelerometer; light detection and ranging (LIDAR), radio-aided detection and ranging (RADAR), sound navigation and ranging (SONAR), a magnetometer, audio, and / or other technologies for positioning), an additional memory module 1526, a power source 1530, and / or a camera 1532. The Bluetooth module 1512, the WLAN module 1514, and the SPS module 1516 may include an on-chip transceiver (TRX) (or, in some cases, only a receiver (RX)). The Bluetooth module 1512, the WLAN module 1514, and the SPS module 1516 may include their own dedicated antennas and / or communicate using antenna 1580. The cellular baseband processor 1524 communicates with the UE 104 and / or RUs associated with the network entity 1502 via the transceiver 1522 via one or more antennas 1580. The cellular baseband processor 1524 and the application processor 1506 may each include computer-readable media / memory 1524', 1506', respectively. An additional memory module 1526 may also be considered a computer-readable medium / memory. Each computer-readable medium / memory 1524', 1506', 1526 may be non-transitory. The cellular baseband processor 1524 and the application processor 1506 are each responsible for general processing, including executing software stored on the computer-readable medium / memory. When executed by the cellular baseband processor 1524 / application processor 1506, this software enables the cellular baseband processor 1524 / application processor 1506 to perform the various functions described above. The computer-readable medium / memory may also be used to store data manipulated by the cellular baseband processor 1524 / application processor 1506 when executing the software.The cellular baseband processor 1524 / application processor 1506 may be a component of the UE 350 and may include the memory 360 and / or at least one of the TX processor 368, the RX processor 356, and the controller / processor 359. In one configuration, the apparatus 1504 may be a processor chip (modem and / or applications) and include only the cellular baseband processor 1524 and / or the application processor 1506, and in another configuration, the apparatus 1504 may be the entire UE (e.g., see ). Figure 3 350) and includes additional modules of device 1504.

[0159] As discussed above, positioning engine component 198 is configured to obtain an indication of at least one location constraint for the positioning engine. Positioning engine component 198 may also be configured to detect whether the at least one location constraint exceeds an error threshold based on a set of PR residuals between the wireless device and at least one satellite. Positioning engine component 198 may also be configured to exclude the at least one location constraint from calculations at the positioning engine if the at least one location constraint exceeds the error threshold, or to include the at least one location constraint in calculations at the positioning engine if the at least one location constraint is below the error threshold. Positioning engine component 198 may reside within cellular baseband processor 1524, application processor 1506, or both. Positioning engine component 198 may be one or more hardware components specifically configured to perform the process / algorithm, implemented by one or more processors configured to perform the recited process / algorithm, stored on a computer-readable medium for implementation by one or more processors, or some combination thereof. As shown, apparatus 1504 may include various components configured for various functions. In one configuration, the apparatus 1504 (and specifically, the cellular baseband processor 1524 and / or the application processor 1506) includes means for obtaining an indication of at least one location constraint for a positioning engine. The apparatus 1504 may also include means for detecting whether the at least one location constraint exceeds an error threshold based on a set of PR residuals between the wireless device and at least one satellite. The apparatus 1504 may also include means for excluding the at least one location constraint from calculations at the positioning engine if the at least one location constraint exceeds the error threshold, or means for including the at least one location constraint in calculations at the positioning engine if the at least one location constraint is below the error threshold.

[0160] In one configuration, the at least one location constraint includes at least one of: DR output from a fusion engine, camera vision output from at least one camera, user manual input, odometry output, map matching output, UWB positioning output, terrestrial positioning output, Wi-Fi positioning output, or network-based positioning output.

[0161] In another configuration, the wireless device is a UE, a base station, a network node, a network entity, a location server, a positioning engine, or an IoT device.

[0162] In another configuration, the positioning engine is a PPP engine or an RTK engine.

[0163] In another configuration, an indication of at least one location constraint for a positioning engine is obtained after a GNSS outage.

[0164] In another configuration, to obtain the indication of the at least one location constraint, the wireless device may receive the indication of the at least one location constraint from the positioning engine.

[0165] In another configuration, the apparatus 1504 may further include means for computing, via the positioning engine, a set of PR residuals between the wireless device and the at least one satellite.

[0166] In another configuration, the set of PR residuals includes at least one of: a receiver clock error, a position constraint error, or an atmospheric error.

[0167] In another configuration, the error threshold is a maximum error threshold (eg, a large error threshold).

[0168] In one configuration, the means for including the at least one location constraint in calculations at the positioning engine includes configuring apparatus 1504 to restore the at least one location constraint if the at least one location constraint is below an error threshold. In such a configuration, apparatus 1504 may further include: means for calculating a difference between a first location of the wireless device calculated by the positioning engine without the at least one location constraint and a second location of the wireless device calculated by the positioning engine with the at least one location constraint; and means for excluding the at least one location constraint from calculations at the positioning engine in response to the difference exceeding a difference threshold; or means for including the at least one location constraint in calculations at the positioning engine in response to the difference not exceeding the difference threshold. In such a configuration, the first location of the wireless device and the second location of the wireless device are calculated for the same epoch. In another configuration, to restore the at least one location constraint if the at least one location constraint is below an error threshold, apparatus 1504 may further exclude the at least one location constraint from calculations at the positioning engine if the positioning engine converges without the at least one location constraint.

[0169] In another configuration, including the at least one position constraint in the calculation at the positioning engine if the at least one position constraint is below an error threshold comprises configuring means 1504 to estimate a first position increment for the wireless device using the DCP, calculate a difference between a first position of the wireless device calculated based on the first position increment and a second position of the wireless device calculated based on a second position increment derived from the at least one position constraint, and responsive to the difference exceeding a difference threshold, either excluding the at least one position constraint from the calculation at the positioning engine or responsive to the difference not exceeding the difference threshold. In such a configuration, the first position of the wireless device and the second position of the wireless device are calculated for the same epoch.

[0170] In another configuration, the apparatus 1504 may further include means for initiating calculations at the positioning engine after excluding the at least one location constraint from the calculations or including the at least one location constraint in the calculations.

[0171] This means may be the positioning engine component 198 of the apparatus 1504 configured to perform the functions recited by the means. As described above, the apparatus 1504 may include the TX processor 368, the RX processor 356, and the controller / processor 359. Thus, in one configuration, this means may be the TX processor 368, the RX processor 356, and / or the controller / processor 359 configured to perform the functions recited by the means.

[0172] It should be understood that the specific order or hierarchy of blocks in the disclosed processes / flowcharts is merely illustrative of exemplary methods. It should be understood that the specific order or hierarchy of blocks in the processes / flowcharts may be rearranged based on design preferences. Furthermore, some blocks may be combined or omitted. The accompanying method claims provide elements of the various blocks in a sample order, but are not limited to the specific order or hierarchy provided.

[0173] The foregoing description is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to practice the various aspects described herein. Various modifications to these aspects will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other aspects. Therefore, the claims are not limited to the aspects described herein, but should be given the full scope consistent with the language claims. Unless specifically stated otherwise, references to elements in the singular do not mean "one and only one," but rather "one or more." Terms such as "if," "when," and "while" do not imply a direct temporal relationship or reaction. That is, these phrases, such as "when...", do not imply immediate action in response to the occurrence of an action or during the occurrence of an action, but simply imply that if the conditions are met, the action will occur, but no specific or immediate time limit is required for the action to occur. The word "exemplary" is used herein to mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration." Any aspect described herein as "exemplary" is not necessarily to be interpreted as preferred or advantageous over other aspects. Unless otherwise specifically stated, the term "some" refers to one or more. Combinations such as “at least one of A, B, or C,” “one or more of A, B, or C,” “at least one of A, B, and C,” “one or more of A, B, and C,” and “A, B, C, or any combination thereof” include any combination of A, B, and / or C, which may include multiple As, multiple Bs, or multiple Cs. Specifically, combinations such as “at least one of A, B, or C,” “one or more of A, B, or C,” “at least one of A, B, and C,” “one or more of A, B, and C,” and “A, B, C, or any combination thereof” may be only A, only B, only C, A and B, A and C, B and C, or A, B, and C, where any such combination may include one or more members of A, B, or C. A set should be interpreted as a set of elements, where the number of elements is one or more. Thus, for a set of X, X will include one or more elements. If a first device receives data from or sends data to a second device, the data may be received / sent directly between the first device and the second device, or indirectly between the first device and the second device through a collection of devices. All structural and functional equivalents of the elements of the various aspects described throughout this disclosure that are known or later become known to a person of ordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and are covered by the claims. In addition, nothing disclosed herein is intended to be dedicated to the public, regardless of whether such disclosure is explicitly recited in the claims. Words such as "module," "mechanism," "element," and "device" are not a substitute for the word "component." Therefore, no claim element will be understood to be part-plus-function unless the element is explicitly recited using the phrase "component for..."

[0174] As used herein, the phrase "based on" should not be interpreted as referring to a closed set of information, one or more conditions, one or more factors, etc. In other words, the phrase "based on A" (where "A" can be information, a condition, a factor, etc.) should be interpreted as "based at least on A" unless specifically stated differently.

[0175] The following aspects are merely illustrative and may be combined with other aspects or teachings described herein without limitation.

[0176] Aspect 1 is a method of wireless communication at a wireless device, the method comprising: obtaining an indication of at least one position constraint for a positioning engine; detecting whether the at least one position constraint exceeds an error threshold based on a set of PR residuals between the wireless device and at least one satellite; and excluding the at least one position constraint from calculations at the positioning engine if the at least one position constraint exceeds the error threshold, or including the at least one position constraint in the calculations at the positioning engine if the at least one position constraint is below the error threshold.

[0177] Aspect 2 is a method according to Aspect 1, wherein the at least one location constraint includes at least one of the following: DR output from a fusion engine, camera vision output from at least one camera, user manual input, odometry output, map matching output, UWB positioning output, ground positioning output, Wi-Fi positioning output, or network-based positioning output.

[0178] Aspect 3 is the method according to aspect 1 or 2, further comprising: calculating the PR residual set between the wireless device and the at least one satellite via the positioning engine.

[0179] Aspect 4 is the method according to aspect 3, wherein the PR residual set includes at least one of the following: receiver clock error, position constraint error, or atmospheric error.

[0180] Aspect 5 is a method according to any one of aspects 1 to 4, further comprising: initiating the calculation at the positioning engine after excluding the at least one location constraint from the calculation or including the at least one location constraint in the calculation.

[0181] Aspect 6 is a method according to any one of aspects 1 to 5, wherein including the at least one location constraint in the calculation at the positioning engine includes: restoring the at least one location constraint if the at least one location constraint is below the error threshold.

[0182] Aspect 7 is a method according to Aspect 6, wherein restoring the at least one position constraint when the at least one position constraint is lower than the error threshold includes: calculating the difference between the first position of the wireless device calculated based on the positioning engine without the at least one position constraint and the second position of the wireless device calculated based on the positioning engine with the at least one position constraint; and excluding the at least one position constraint from the calculation at the positioning engine in response to the difference exceeding the difference threshold, or including the at least one position constraint in the calculation at the positioning engine in response to the difference not exceeding the difference threshold.

[0183] Aspect 8 is the method of aspect 7, wherein the first position of the wireless device and the second position of the wireless device are calculated for the same epoch.

[0184] Aspect 9 is a method according to aspect 6, wherein restoring the at least one position constraint when the at least one position constraint is below the error threshold includes: excluding the at least one position constraint from the calculation at the positioning engine when the positioning engine converges without the at least one position constraint.

[0185] Aspect 10 is a method according to any one of aspects 1 to 9, wherein including the at least one location constraint in the calculation at the positioning engine when the at least one location constraint is below the error threshold includes: calculating a first location increment of the wireless device using a DCP; calculating a difference between a first location of the wireless device calculated based on the first location increment and a second location of the wireless device calculated based on a second location increment derived from the at least one location constraint; and excluding the at least one location constraint from the calculation at the positioning engine in response to the difference exceeding a difference threshold, or including the at least one location constraint in the calculation at the positioning engine in response to the difference not exceeding the difference threshold.

[0186] Aspect 11 is a method according to aspect 10, wherein the first position of the wireless device and the second position of the wireless device are calculated for the same epoch.

[0187] Aspect 12 is a method according to any one of aspects 1 to 11, wherein the wireless device is a UE, a base station, a network node, a network entity, a location server, a positioning engine, or an IoT device.

[0188] Aspect 13 is a method according to any one of aspects 1 to 12, wherein the positioning engine is a PPP engine or an RTK engine.

[0189] Aspect 14 is a method according to any one of aspects 1 to 13, wherein the error threshold is a maximum error threshold.

[0190] Aspect 15 is a method according to any one of aspects 1 to 14, wherein the indication of the at least one location constraint for the positioning engine is obtained after a GNSS outage.

[0191] Aspect 16 is a method according to any one of aspects 1 to 15, wherein obtaining the indication of the at least one location constraint comprises receiving the indication of the at least one location constraint from the positioning engine.

[0192] Aspect 17 is an apparatus for wireless communication at a wireless device, the apparatus comprising: a memory; and at least one processor, the at least one processor being coupled to the memory and configured to implement any one of aspects 1 to 16 based at least in part on information stored in the memory.

[0193] Aspect 18 is the apparatus of aspect 17, further comprising at least one of a transceiver or an antenna coupled to the at least one processor.

[0194] Aspect 19 is an apparatus for wireless communication, comprising means for implementing any one of Aspects 1 to 16.

[0195] Aspect 20 is a computer-readable medium (eg, non-transitory computer-readable medium) storing computer-executable code, wherein the code, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to implement any one of aspects 1 to 16.

Claims

1. An apparatus for wireless communication at a wireless device, the apparatus comprising: Memory; and at least one processor coupled to the memory, the at least one processor configured to: obtaining an indication of at least one location constraint for positioning an engine; detecting whether the at least one position constraint exceeds an error threshold based on a set of pseudorange (PR) residuals between the wireless device and at least one satellite; as well as The at least one location constraint is excluded from calculations at the positioning engine if the at least one location constraint exceeds the error threshold, or the at least one location constraint is included in the calculations at the positioning engine if the at least one location constraint is below the error threshold.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the at least one location constraint comprises at least one of: Dead Reckoning (DR) output from the fusion engine, camera vision output from at least one camera, Manual input by the user, Odometer output, Map matching output, Ultra-wideband (UWB) positioning output, Ground positioning output, Wi-Fi positioning output, or Web-based positioning output.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: The set of PR residuals between the wireless device and the at least one satellite is calculated via the positioning engine. 4 . The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein the set of PR residuals comprises at least one of: a receiver clock error, a position constraint error, or an atmospheric error.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: The calculation is initiated at the positioning engine after the at least one processor is configured to exclude the at least one location constraint from the calculation or include the at least one location constraint in the calculation.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein to include the at least one location constraint in the calculation at the positioning engine, the at least one processor is configured to: restore the at least one location constraint if the at least one location constraint is below the error threshold.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein to restore the at least one position constraint if the at least one position constraint is below the error threshold, the at least one processor is configured to: calculating a difference between a first location of the wireless device calculated based on the positioning engine without the at least one location constraint and a second location of the wireless device calculated based on the positioning engine with the at least one location constraint; and In response to the difference exceeding a difference threshold, excluding the at least one location constraint from the calculation at the positioning engine, or in response to the difference not exceeding the difference threshold, including the at least one location constraint in the calculation at the positioning engine. 8 . The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the first position of the wireless device and the second position of the wireless device are configured to be calculated for a same epoch.

9. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein to restore the at least one position constraint if the at least one position constraint is below the error threshold, the at least one processor is configured to: The at least one location constraint is excluded from the calculation at the positioning engine if the positioning engine converges without the at least one location constraint.

10. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein to include the at least one location constraint in the calculation at the positioning engine if the at least one location constraint is below the error threshold, the at least one processor is configured to: estimating a first position increment of the wireless device using a delta carrier phase (DCP); calculating a difference between a first position of the wireless device calculated based on the first position increment and a second position of the wireless device calculated based on a second position increment derived from the at least one position constraint; as well as In response to the difference exceeding a difference threshold, excluding the at least one location constraint from the calculation at the positioning engine, or in response to the difference not exceeding the difference threshold, including the at least one location constraint in the calculation at the positioning engine. 11 . The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the first position of the wireless device and the second position of the wireless device are configured to be calculated for a same epoch.

12. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the wireless device is a user equipment (UE), a base station, a network node, a network entity, a location server, the positioning engine, or an Internet of Things (IoT) device.

13. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the positioning engine is a Precise Point Positioning (PPP) engine or a Real-Time Kinematics (RTK) engine. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the error threshold is a maximum error threshold.

15. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is configured to obtain the indication of the at least one location constraint for the positioning engine after a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) outage.

16. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising at least one of a transceiver or an antenna coupled to the at least one processor, wherein to obtain the indication of the at least one location constraint, the at least one processor is configured to: receive the indication of the at least one location constraint from the positioning engine via at least one of the transceiver or the antenna.

17. A method of wireless communication at a wireless device, the method comprising: obtaining an indication of at least one location constraint for positioning an engine; detecting whether the at least one position constraint exceeds an error threshold based on a set of pseudorange (PR) residuals between the wireless device and at least one satellite; as well as The at least one location constraint is excluded from calculations at the positioning engine if the at least one location constraint exceeds the error threshold, or the at least one location constraint is included in the calculations at the positioning engine if the at least one location constraint is below the error threshold.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the at least one location constraint comprises: At least one of the following: Dead Reckoning (DR) output from the fusion engine, camera vision output from at least one camera, Manual input by the user, Odometer output, Map matching output, Ultra-wideband (UWB) positioning output, Ground positioning output, Wi-Fi positioning output, or Web-based positioning output.

19. The method according to claim 17, further comprising: The set of PR residuals between the wireless device and the at least one satellite is calculated via the positioning engine.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the set of PR residuals comprises at least one of: a receiver clock error, a position constraint error, or an atmospheric error.

21. The method according to claim 17, further comprising: The calculation is initiated at the positioning engine after excluding the at least one location constraint from or including the at least one location constraint in the calculation.

22. The method of claim 17, wherein including the at least one location constraint in the calculation at the positioning engine comprises: The at least one position constraint is restored if the at least one position constraint is below the error threshold.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein restoring the at least one position constraint if the at least one position constraint is below the error threshold comprises: calculating a difference between a first location of the wireless device calculated based on the positioning engine without the at least one location constraint and a second location of the wireless device calculated based on the positioning engine with the at least one location constraint; as well as In response to the difference exceeding a difference threshold, excluding the at least one location constraint from the calculation at the positioning engine, or in response to the difference not exceeding the difference threshold, including the at least one location constraint in the calculation at the positioning engine.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the first position of the wireless device and the second position of the wireless device are calculated for the same epoch.

25. The method of claim 22, wherein restoring the at least one position constraint if the at least one position constraint is below the error threshold comprises: The at least one location constraint is excluded from the calculation at the positioning engine if the positioning engine converges without the at least one location constraint.

26. The method of claim 17, wherein including the at least one location constraint in the calculation at the positioning engine if the at least one location constraint is below the error threshold comprises: calculating a first position increment for the wireless device using a delta carrier phase (DCP); calculating a difference between a first position of the wireless device calculated based on the first position increment and a second position of the wireless device calculated based on a second position increment derived from the at least one position constraint; as well as In response to the difference exceeding a difference threshold, excluding the at least one location constraint from the calculation at the positioning engine, or in response to the difference not exceeding the difference threshold, including the at least one location constraint in the calculation at the positioning engine.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein the first position of the wireless device and the second position of the wireless device are calculated for the same epoch.

28. The method of claim 17, wherein obtaining the indication of the at least one location constraint comprises: The indication of the at least one location constraint is received from the positioning engine.

29. An apparatus for wireless communication at a wireless device, the apparatus comprising: means for obtaining an indication of at least one position constraint for positioning an engine; means for detecting whether the at least one position constraint exceeds an error threshold based on a set of pseudorange (PR) residuals between the wireless device and at least one satellite; and Means for excluding the at least one location constraint from calculations at the positioning engine if the at least one location constraint exceeds the error threshold, or including the at least one location constraint in the calculations at the positioning engine if the at least one location constraint is below the error threshold.

30. A computer-readable medium storing computer-executable code at a wireless device, the code, when executed by a processor, causing the processor to: obtaining an indication of at least one location constraint for positioning an engine; detecting whether the at least one position constraint exceeds an error threshold based on a set of pseudorange (PR) residuals between the wireless device and at least one satellite; and The at least one location constraint is excluded from calculations at the positioning engine if the at least one location constraint exceeds the error threshold, or the at least one location constraint is included in the calculations at the positioning engine if the at least one location constraint is below the error threshold.

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