Measurement and reporting of user equipment (UE) positioning in wireless networks

Abstract

The present disclosure describes methods, systems, and storage media for measuring and reporting user equipment (UE) positioning in a cellular network. Other embodiments are also described and / or claimed.

Description

[0001] Cross-references to related patent applications

[0002] This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62 / 713,419, filed on August 1, 2018, entitled “MEASUREMENTS AND REPORTING FOR USER EQUIPMENT (UE) POSITIONING IN WIRELESS NETWORKS,” the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. Background Art

[0003] Among other things, embodiments described herein may include enhanced methods for user positioning in wireless communication networks. Embodiments of the present disclosure may be applicable to next generation cellular systems, such as 3GPP LTE and 3GPP NR, as well as other communication networks. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0004] The embodiment will be more easily understood by the following specific implementation in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. In order to facilitate this description, similar reference numerals represent similar structural elements. In each figure of the accompanying drawings, the embodiment is shown by way of example and not limitation.

[0005] Figure 1 and Figure 2 and Figure 3 An example of an operational flow / algorithm structure according to some embodiments is shown.

[0006] Figure 4A An example of positioning accuracy improvement using Kalman filtering is shown in accordance with some embodiments.

[0007] Figure 4B Examples of first order reflections and virtual base stations are shown according to some embodiments.

[0008] Figure 4C An example of enhanced positioning using multipath measurements and virtual sources is shown in accordance with some embodiments.

[0009] Figure 4D An example of GDOP enhancement in an indoor scenario with four base stations inside a building is shown according to some embodiments.

[0010] Figure 4E An example of virtual base station coordinate calculation based on known deployment geometry according to some embodiments is shown.

[0011] Figure 4F An example of virtual base station coordinate calculation based on inter-transmission point measurements according to some embodiments is shown.

[0012] Figure 4G Examples of measurements of Doppler phase and angle of arrival for each path component of a multipath channel are shown in accordance with some embodiments.

[0013] Figure 4H A process for virtual base station calculation based on deployed transmission points is shown according to some embodiments.

[0014] Figure 5 Depicted is the architecture of a system of networks according to some embodiments.

[0015] Figure 6 Depicted are examples of components of an apparatus according to some embodiments.

[0016] Figure 7 Depicted are examples of interfaces for baseband circuitry according to some embodiments.

[0017] Figure 8 A block diagram of components capable of reading instructions from a machine-readable medium or computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium) and performing any one or more of the methods discussed herein is depicted according to some embodiments. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0018] Embodiments discussed herein may relate to determining UE location in a wireless network.Other embodiments are also described and / or claimed.

[0019] The following detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings. The same figure numbers may be used in different drawings to identify the same or similar elements. In the following description, specific details, such as specific structures, architectures, interfaces, technologies, etc., are set forth for the purpose of illustration rather than limitation, so as to provide a thorough understanding of the various aspects protected by the claims. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art who benefit from this disclosure that the various aspects of the invention protected by the claims may be practiced in other examples that deviate from these specific details. In some cases, descriptions of well-known devices, circuits, and methods are omitted so as not to obscure the description of the invention due to unnecessary details.

[0020] The various aspects of the exemplary embodiments will be described using terms commonly used by those skilled in the art to convey the essence of their work to other persons skilled in the art. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that alternative embodiments may be practiced using only some of the described aspects. For purposes of explanation, many specific quantities, materials, and configurations are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the exemplary embodiments. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that alternative embodiments may be practiced without these specific details. In other cases, well-known features may be omitted or simplified so as not to obscure the exemplary embodiments.

[0021] Furthermore, various operations will be described as multiple discrete operations in sequence in a manner that is most helpful in understanding the exemplary embodiments; however, the order of description should not be construed as implying that these operations are necessarily order dependent. In particular, these operations do not necessarily have to be performed in the order presented.

[0022] The phrases "in various embodiments", "in some embodiments", etc. may refer to the same or different embodiments. Unless the context dictates otherwise, the terms "comprising", "having", and "including" are synonymous. The phrase "A and / or B" means (A), (B), or (A and B). The phrases "A / B" and "A or B" mean (A), (B), or (A and B), similar to the phrase "A and / or B". For the purposes of the present disclosure, the phrase "at least one of A and B" means (A), (B), or (A and B). The description may use the phrases "in one embodiment", "in an embodiment", "in some embodiments", and / or "in various embodiments", which may each refer to one or more of the same or different embodiments. In addition, the terms "comprising", "including", "having", etc. used with the embodiments of the present disclosure are synonymous.

[0023] Examples of embodiments may be described as processes, which are depicted as flow charts, flow diagrams, data flow diagrams, structure diagrams, or block diagrams. Although a flow chart may describe operations as sequential processes, multiple of these operations may be performed in parallel, concurrently, or simultaneously. In addition, the order of the operations may be rearranged. A process may terminate when its operations are completed, but may also have additional steps not included in the accompanying drawings. A process may correspond to a method, function, procedure, subroutine, subprogram, etc. When a process corresponds to a function, its termination may correspond to the function returning to the calling function and / or the main function.

[0024] Examples of embodiments may be described in the general context of computer executable instructions (such as program codes, software modules, and / or functional processes) executed by one or more of the above-mentioned circuits. Program codes, software modules, and / or functional processes may include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc. that perform specific tasks or implement specific data types. The program codes, software modules, and / or functional processes discussed herein may be implemented using existing hardware in existing communication networks. For example, the program codes, software modules, and / or functional processes discussed herein may be implemented using existing hardware at existing network elements or control nodes.

[0025] UE Positioning in Wireless Networks

[0026] The embodiments herein may be applicable to any type of wireless communication network. The embodiments herein may be intended to improve the accuracy and reliability / confidence of user positioning for general scenarios and for specific situations where the number of reference nodes is limited or the GDOP (geometric dilution of precision) of the reference nodes is poor. The embodiments herein may enhance the positioning measurement report structure for positioning measurements using additional node telemetry parameters and multiple channel components (e.g., line of sight (LOS) / non-LOS (NLOS)) between a base station (BS) and a user. The embodiments herein may signal additional positioning measurements to increase user positioning reliability for general scenarios and for scenarios with a limited number of reference nodes or poor positioning geometry.

[0027] Embodiments herein may include a positioning algorithm to obtain measurements of signal positioning parameters (SLP) from a reference source only for the LOS channel component (i.e., the first arrival path), and use the measurements for the positioning process. In addition to the observed time difference of arrival (OTDOA) positioning method, embodiments herein may also include additional assistance information available to the network, such as information collected from various sensors (e.g., information about acceleration vectors and their magnitudes, velocity vectors and their magnitudes, etc.). If this additional information is signaled, it can significantly improve the accuracy of UE positioning.

[0028] Another problem addressed by embodiments herein may be for scenarios with a limited number of reference nodes. For example, in indoor scenarios, and especially given signal propagation at higher carrier frequencies, there may be a limited number of traditional SLP measurements that can be used in the positioning process due to the limited number of reference stations detected. In such cases, additional information may be extracted from the multipath channel components that may be used to improve positioning capabilities in certain scenarios.

[0029] Previous systems had several disadvantages, including:

[0030] Performance is very sensitive to the number of base stations involved in the positioning process.

[0031] • The performance is very sensitive to the relative position of the reference nodes due to the well known geometric dilution of precision problem ("bad geometry of the reference nodes").

[0032] • Current signaling protocols do not provide sufficient complementary signaling that can be beneficial for positioning. For example, data from various sensors (sensing information) can be processed and signaled to maximize positioning performance and more accurately track UE position by using different recursive filtering techniques such as Kalman filtering.

[0033] The enhanced UE measurements and reporting discussed in the embodiments of this document can improve the positioning capabilities of the cellular network and provide users with more accurate positioning, especially in challenging environments. The embodiments of this document can provide an idea of ​​how such enhancements can be made and what additional SLP data can be used. For example, the embodiments of this document can:

[0034] Increase wireless IP combination.

[0035] Improve the accuracy of user positioning by using cellular wireless communication networks.

[0036] Improved performance in scenes with a limited number of positioning reference nodes or poor geometry.

[0037] The following terms may be used in this disclosure.

[0038] Signal Positioning Parameters (SLP) - Parameters of a signal applicable for user positioning purposes, such as phase difference, time of arrival (TOA), time difference of arrival (TDOA), propagation time / delay, angle of arrival / departure, received reference signal power, and any other information that may be relevant to facilitate the estimation of the UE's geographic coordinates.

[0039] Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) - A signal sent by a transmission point (e.g., cell / eNB / gNB / TRP / network entity) and used to measure the SLP that is useful for UE positioning. Depending on the implementation and the type of measurement and reporting, the PRS can be a specially designed sequence and signal or any data transmission with good cross-correlation and auto-correlation properties.

[0040] Beam - A beam may represent a beamformed transmission or reception of a signal, and it may be applied to analog (RF), digital baseband (BB), or hybrid beamforming methods. In the context of the present disclosure, a beam represents a resource (resource set) or antenna port index of a reference signal that may be used to estimate signal positioning parameters, including but not limited to a synchronization signal (SS), such as a primary synchronization signal (PSS) / secondary synchronization signal (SSS) PSS / SSS, SS block (SSB), channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) signal, sounding reference signal (SRS), random access channel (PRACH), or dedicated positioning reference signal (PRS).

[0041] The impact of Kalman filtering on positioning capability

[0042] Embodiments herein may include different recursive filtering techniques designed to track user positions to accurately estimate user positioning. For example, Kalman filtering may be based on an accurately known system model. From a positioning perspective, additional parameters such as UE velocity (velocity vector) may be known to the network / positioning entity.

[0043] Figure 4A An example of UE positioning accuracy depending on the accuracy of UE velocity is shown. Accurate knowledge of UE velocity can provide much better performance than the base scenario without considering velocity information. If the user coordinate estimate has a variance of 10m (curve 402), additional Kalman filtering can significantly reduce the positioning error if accurate velocity values ​​are provided to the positioning entity.

[0044] Assuming different positioning use cases and different node types for positioning (pedestrian UE, vehicle UE, drone UE, etc.), different data may be used to enhance the positioning accuracy of the applied modem filtering method (e.g., via a recursive filtering process based on Kalman theory, etc.). Therefore, in addition to the existing signaling specified in the LTE Positioning Protocol (LPP) / LTE Positioning Protocol A (LPPa) and the Next Generation Positioning Protocol A (NPPa), the embodiments herein may use additional signaling to collect geolocation information that may be obtained from other sensors (such as accelerometers, speedometers, inertial measurement units, etc.).

[0045] Examples of geolocation information may include:

[0046] Physical coordinate information

[0047] o In 2D or 3D format, and in any coordinate system (e.g., local or global, Cartesian or spherical, etc.): longitude, latitude, altitude (and signs of latitude, altitude) and a metric characterizing its uncertainty / error or distance traveled.

[0048] o Values ​​are in absolute or relative (differential) form relative to a reference point and time instance from a previous report.

[0049] Velocity vector information (absolute or relative to a reference point)

[0050] o In 2D and 3D formats, and in any coordinate system (e.g., local or global, Cartesian or spherical, etc.), including horizontal and vertical speeds / velocities and metrics characterizing their uncertainty / errors.

[0051] o Values ​​are in absolute or relative (differential) form relative to a reference point and time instance from a previous report.

[0052] Acceleration vector information

[0053] o In 2D and 3D formats, and in any coordinate system (e.g., local or global, Cartesian or spherical, etc.), including horizontal and vertical accelerations and metrics characterizing their uncertainty / error.

[0054] o Values ​​are in absolute or relative (differential) form relative to a reference point and time instance from a previous report.

[0055] Direction of travel

[0056] ○ Three-dimensional movement direction.

[0057] ○ Three-dimensional gyroscope measurement of 3D spatial orientation.

[0058] Timestamp information

[0059] ○ In a predefined timestamp format with relative or absolute timestamp values

[0060] Inclinometer data (tilt measurement)

[0061] Altitude sensor data (e.g., barometer data)

[0062] Magnetometer data

[0063] Different weather condition sensors (pressure, water, temperature, etc.)

[0064] Different control parameters, such as drive wheel rotation (for vehicles), engine traction for drones, etc.

[0065] Performance Limiting Factors

[0066] Typical positioning algorithms usually use all measurements of SLP for LOS channel components to estimate user positioning. The accuracy of user positioning depends on many factors. The embodiments of this article can solve the following problems, such as:

[0067] • The number of base stations / transmission points involved in UE positioning is limited (audibility issues).

[0068] Geometric Dilution of Precision (GDOP) – poor geometry of the reference node / transmission point.

[0069] The number of base stations

[0070] A typical algorithm for a positioning process based on a multi-point positioning concept, which may use at least 3 base stations based on TOA measurements for a 3D positioning process, and at least 4 base stations based on TDOA measurements for a 3D positioning process.

[0071] If the network topology is known (e.g., a map of the building and the locations of the TRPs within the building), second-order information gleaned from the channel impulse responses can be exploited.

[0072] The concept of virtual reference source

[0073] Figure 4B An example of a propagation channel between a base station and a user with two path components (a direct path and a reflected path / tap) is shown. Each of the channel paths has its own SLP (propagation delay, angle of arrival, etc.). The second channel tap is formed due to the reflection of a signal emitted from a surface, which on the other hand can be considered as a signal emitted by a virtual reference node, whose coordinates are defined by the reflecting surface geometry and the real base station location. It is assumed that the user is able to estimate the SLP of each component. In this case, the SLP from the real TRP and the virtual node can be estimated, which means that a specific user has two measurements for one real transmission point and one virtual transmission point instead of a single measurement from one reference node.

[0074] Figure 4C The ability to enhance user positioning with multipath measurements is shown. It is assumed that the current indoor scene contains only one base station transmitting PRS. In addition, it is assumed that the user is able to estimate the TOA of the LOS component - τ0 of the TOA measurement of the 1st order reflection channel path as -τ1-τ4. In addition, the coordinates of the virtual source (i.e., the first order reflector) that will be used in the positioning process can be known / determined. This problem can be solved in different ways, and examples of virtual node positioning determination will be provided in the following sections. The current set of assumptions leads to a situation where the user coordinates can be accurately estimated when only TOA measurements from a single base station are used.

[0075] Effects of Poor GDOP

[0076] Another negative factor affecting positioning accuracy is GDOP. GDOP can be described as the value of the positioning error variance, which depends on the relative positioning of the user and the reference point / base station. Figure 4D4 shows the impact of virtual base stations on the resulting GDOP for a standard 3GPP indoor scenario with 4 micro base stations. The positioning of the real base stations is marked by the inner four squares 420, while the outer eight squares 425 represent the virtual base stations. This shows that the positioning accuracy assigned to users not far from the vertical wall in an indoor environment without virtual nodes is worse than the case of positioning using virtual nodes. In other words, the utilization of NLOS channel components can significantly reduce the GDOP problem in indoor environments.

[0077] Determination of virtual reference node coordinates

[0078] The following options provide solutions for calculating the coordinates of a virtual reference source that can be used in the positioning process in embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0079] Case 1- Known Geometry (Map)

[0080] The geometry of the building and the positioning of the TRPs may be known in advance - a priori. For example, during the network installation process, the coordinates of the virtual sources (for 1st, 2nd, etc. reflections) may be explicitly calculated. Figure 4E An example is shown for the case when the geometry of the walls p and q is known, then the coordinates of the virtual base station can be calculated based on the location of the real base station / transmission point transmitting the PRS (ie the first order reflection).

[0081] Case 2 - Unknown Geometry (Map)

[0082] In the case of unknown surrounding geometry, the coordinates of the virtual reference source can be estimated during PRS transmission / reception between TPs. Each TP transmits a PRS, and all other TPs receive the signal and estimate the SLP for each channel component. In the case of a sufficient number of TPs, the positioning process can be applied to find the coordinates of the virtual TP, assuming that the SLP for the reflection path is estimated. In this scenario, the TP can be represented by an eNB / gNB or UE with known coordinates. Figure 4F An example of the situation is shown when the coordinates of 3 TPs (eg, base station 2 and 2 users) and the measured propagation delays of reflected signals on these TPs yield the ability to calculate the coordinates of virtual base station 1.

[0083] In case 2, the network can autonomously detect the localized virtual source by transmitting a scanning signal (e.g., beamforming PRS) for different multipath components and measuring the angle of arrival (AoA). The calibration of the antenna array and the knowledge of its rotation and orientation can also be used. Note that the location of the TP and the orientation of the antenna can be known to the TP.

[0084] RAT dependency measurement and reporting

[0085] Implementations herein may have the following impacts on RAT-dependent positioning and 3GPP specifications.

[0086] Measurement of multipath channel components

[0087] The UE may perform measurements of multipath channel components. In other words, it may report not only the power and timing information of the first arriving path, but also the power and timing information of other paths in the channel impulse response. The UE may report information about all detected paths for each beam (in the case of TX beam scanning) or beam pair (in the case of TX-RX beam scanning). The gNB / network may also configure the maximum number of paths to be reported through RRC / LPP / LPPa or NRPP / NRPPa signaling. In addition, the gNB / network may configure criteria to decide which path information may be reported. For example, the UE may report information for:

[0088] Only the first detected arrival path (τ 0 ).

[0089] The first detected arrival path and the N strongest multipath components (τ 1 ,τ 2 ,…,τ N ).

[0090] • The first detected arriving path and the paths with power above a predefined threshold, which may be defined with respect to the first arriving path power, the noise power, or the path with the peak power or the overall channel impulse response power for a given beam index or beam index pair.

[0091] Measurement of the Angle of Arrival (AoA) of each path of the multipath channel impulse response

[0092] In case of MIMO transmission and utilizing antenna arrays and / or panels with antenna arrays, the UE or gNB may also measure the angle of arrival of each component of the multipath channel by analyzing the phase differences observed between the corresponding antenna array elements for each path component (α(τ0), α(τ1), α(τ2), ..., α(τN)). Depending on the antenna configuration, the UE and / or gNB may measure elevation and azimuth angles. The angular information may provide additional spatial information and may be used to locate the UE if the antenna array orientation is known, which is always the case at least for gNBs. The spatial orientation of the UE antennas may also be known from an external source.

[0093] Measurement of the Doppler component of each path of the multipath channel impulse response

[0094] In addition to the timing and angle information for each path, the UE can also measure the Doppler (phase offset) of each path component of the multipath channel. It can be measured as the phase difference between two consecutive estimates of the channel impulse response. These measurements can provide additional information about the speed of the target UE. Figure 4F An example of determining virtual base station coordinates based on inter-TP measurements is shown.

[0095] Reference beam and reference cell

[0096] In terms of TDOA-based operations for UE positioning, the UE may be configured with a reference cell and a reference beam (in the case of TX beam scanning) or a reference beam pair (in the case of TX-RX beam scanning), whose timing (timing of the first arrival path) may be used to calculate the reference signal time difference (RSTD).

[0097] Inter-beam RSTD and intra-beam RSTD values ​​may be defined relative to a reference beam timing (eg, a first arrival path of a reference beam and a reference cell) or a reference beam pair within a reference cell.

[0098] The concept of beam can be replaced by the concept of antenna port.

[0099] For TDOA operation, the following references can be referred:

[0100] Reference TX beam. This reference TX beam from a given cell may be determined by the UE and reported to the gNB / network as a result of beam management of positioning reference signals (or other reference signals such as PSS / SSS, CSI-RS, SRS, etc.), or directly allocated by the gNB / network for UE operation. Alternatively, this beam may be autonomously determined by the UE based on pre-configuration by the gNB / network standard. For example, the SSB index of the synchronization signal or the CSI-RS / PRS resource index may be used to indicate beam related information.

[0101] Reference TX-RX beam pair. This reference beam pair from a given cell may be determined by the UE and reported to the gNB / network as a result of beam management of positioning reference signals (or other reference signals such as PSS / SSS, CSI-RS, SRS, PRACH, etc.), or directly assigned by the gNB / network for UE operation. Alternatively, this beam pair may be autonomously determined by the UE based on pre-configuration by the gNB / network standard.

[0102] · Reference cell. Considering that each cell may have multiple beams, it may also be determined which cell's beam is used as a reference for RSTD measurement (ie, the reference cell).

[0103] Intra-beam, inter-beam and inter-cell RSTD measurements

[0104] The following measurements may be additionally introduced into the NR specification to capture RSTD:

[0105] Inter-beam RSTD measurement (capturing the relative timing of the first arrival path of a given beam / beam pair with respect to the first arrival path of a reference beam / beam pair)

[0106] ○ The embodiments of this document can cover the scenario where a cell has multiple TPs and each TP has one or more associated beams.

[0107] Intra-beam RSTD measurement (captures the relative timing of the multipath components within a given beam with respect to the first arriving path of a given beam / beam pair or a reference beam / beam pair)

[0108] Inter-cell RSTD measurements, if the beams are quasi-collocated, the UE can also be configured to perform RSTD measurements by processing the timing information from all beams of a given cell

[0109] It should be noted that the embodiments of this document may assume that inter-beam RSTD measurement also covers the case when TX beams belong to different cells, that is, inter-cell inter-beam RSTD measurement. In addition, a beam may refer to a reference signal transmitted on a corresponding resource / port belonging to a certain type of reference signal (e.g., SSS / PSS, CSI-RS, PRS, etc.).

[0110] Reporting and Configuration

[0111] The UE is configured with a reference cell and a reference beam or beam pair or a reference cell ID, and a reference resource index of a reference signal.

[0112] UE is configured with RSTD reporting mechanism (periodic or even triggered)

[0113] The UE performs one or several types of RSTD measurements based on the following configurations: inter-beam / intra-beam and inter-cell RSTD measurements

[0114] Procedure for detecting virtual reference sources

[0115] To determine the virtual reference source, the embodiments of this document may assume that the deployed transmission points (TPs) know their coordinates and antenna system orientations accurately. The TPs may perform TX and RX beam scanning sequentially to estimate the propagation delays and AoA / AoD angles of all multipath components. Predefined scheduling may be used for PRS transmission reception from each TP. The combination of AoA / AoD information with the known coordinates of the TP may be used to detect the location of the virtual reference node through multipath measurements. For inter-TP measurements, beamformed PRS may be used in conjunction with an intelligent beam management process. The process for determining the virtual source may be outside the scope of the 3GPP specification itself and may be done in a vendor-specific manner, however, in the case of UE-based or UE-assisted positioning, the UE / network may know the parameters of the virtual source used for positioning. Figure 4H An example of determining a virtual base station based on deployed transmission points is shown.

[0116] RAT independent measurement and reporting

[0117] In an embodiment, the UE may share additional information with the positioning entity responsible for calculating / estimating the UE coordinates for a given timestamp:

[0118] Measurement

[0119] The measurements discussed in this section are RAT independent and are performed by other technologies / devices (eg, Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receivers, barometers, speedometers, accelerometers, inertial measurement units, sensors, etc.).

[0120] For RAT independent measurements, the UE may be configured with conditions that may trigger reporting of specific information or periodically provide updates to the network with a pre-configured period for reporting.

[0121] Report

[0122] The following information may be incorporated into the information element (IE) of the LPP / LPPa / NPP / NPPa or RRC signaling protocol to assist UE positioning:

[0123] Physical coordinate information

[0124] o In 2D or 3D format, and in any coordinate system (e.g., local or global, Cartesian or spherical, etc.): longitude, latitude, altitude (and signs of latitude, altitude), and a metric characterizing their uncertainty / error (e.g., error standard deviation)

[0125] ○ Values ​​relative to a reference point and from a previously reported time instance in absolute or relative (differential) form

[0126] ○ The UE may indicate the technology used to estimate coordinates or report for a given technology, e.g. GPS, GNSS, TBS, INS

[0127] Velocity vector information (absolute or relative to a reference point)

[0128] o In 2D and 3D formats and in any coordinate system (e.g. local or global, Cartesian or spherical, etc.), including horizontal and vertical speed / velocity and metrics characterizing their uncertainty / error (e.g. error standard deviation)

[0129] ○ Values ​​relative to a reference point and from a previously reported time instance in absolute or relative (differential) form

[0130] o The UE may indicate the technology used to estimate the velocity vector or report for a given technology, such as GPS, GNSS, TBS, speedometer, etc.

[0131] Acceleration vector information

[0132] o In 2D and 3D formats and in any coordinate system (e.g., local or global, Cartesian or spherical, etc.), including horizontal and vertical accelerations and metrics characterizing their uncertainty / error (e.g., error standard deviation)

[0133] ○ Values ​​relative to a reference point and from a previously reported time instance in absolute or relative (differential) form

[0134] o The UE may indicate the technology used to estimate the acceleration vector or report for a given technology, such as GPS, GNSS, TBS, accelerometer, etc.

[0135] Direction of travel

[0136] ○3D movement direction

[0137] ○3D gyroscope measurement of 3D spatial orientation

[0138] Relative distance traveled

[0139] ○ If the UE can measure the relative distance travelled between timestamps, this information is also useful for positioning

[0140] Timestamp information

[0141] ○ In a predefined timestamp format with relative or absolute timestamp values

[0142] Inclinometer data (tilt measurement)

[0143] Altitude sensor data (e.g., barometer data)

[0144] Magnetometer data

[0145] Different weather condition sensors (pressure, humidity, temperature, etc.)

[0146] Different control parameters, such as drive wheel rotation (for vehicles), engine traction (for drones), etc.

[0147] Figure 5 The architecture of a system 500 of a network according to some embodiments is shown. System 500 is shown to include user equipment (UE) 501 and UE 502. UE 501 and UE 502 are shown as smart phones (e.g., handheld touch screen mobile computing devices that can connect to one or more cellular networks), but these UEs can also include any mobile or non-mobile computing devices, such as personal data assistants (PDAs), pagers, laptop computers, desktop computers, wireless handheld terminals, or any computing device that includes a wireless communication interface.

[0148] In some embodiments, either UE 501 and UE 502 may include an Internet of Things (IoT) UE, which may include a network access layer designed for low-power IoT applications that utilize short-term UE connections. The IoT UE may utilize technologies such as machine-to-machine (M2M) or machine-type communication (MTC) to exchange data with an MTC server or device via a public land mobile network (PLMN), proximity-based services (ProSe) or device-to-device (D2D) communication, a sensor network, or an IoT network. The M2M or MTC data exchange may be a machine-initiated data exchange. The IoT network describes interconnected IoT UEs, which may include uniquely identifiable embedded computing devices (within the Internet infrastructure) with short-lived connections. The IoT UE may execute background applications (e.g., keep-alive messages, status updates, etc.) to facilitate connectivity to the IoT network.

[0149] UE 501 and UE 502 may be configured to connect, e.g., be communicatively coupled, to a radio access network (RAN) 510—RAN 510 may be, e.g., an evolved universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS) terrestrial radio access network (E-UTRAN), a next generation RAN (NG RAN), or some other type of RAN. UE 501 and UE 502 utilize connection 503 and connection 504, respectively, each of which includes a physical communication interface or layer (discussed in further detail below); in this example, connection 503 and connection 504 are shown as air interfaces to achieve communicatively coupling, and may be consistent with a cellular communication protocol, such as a global system for mobile communications (GSM) protocol, a code division multiple access (CDMA) network protocol, a push-to-talk (PTT) protocol, a cellular PTT (POC) protocol, a universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS) protocol, a 3GPP long term evolution (LTE) protocol, a fifth generation (5G) protocol, a new radio (NR) protocol, etc.

[0150] In this embodiment, UE 501 and UE 502 may also directly exchange communication data via ProSe interface 505. ProSe interface 505 may alternatively be referred to as a sidelink interface including one or more logical channels including, but not limited to, a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH), a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH), a physical sidelink discovery channel (PSDCH), and a physical sidelink broadcast channel (PSBCH).

[0151] UE 502 is shown configured to access access point (AP) 506 via connection 507. Connection 507 may include a local wireless connection, such as a connection consistent with any IEEE 802.11 protocol, where AP 506 would include wireless fidelity. In this example, AP 506 is shown connected to the Internet without being connected to the core network of the wireless system (described in further detail below).

[0152] The RAN 510 may include one or more access nodes that enable connection 503 and connection 504. These access nodes (ANs) may be referred to as base stations (BSs), node Bs, evolved node Bs (eNBs), next generation node Bs (gNBs), RAN nodes, etc., and may include ground stations (e.g., terrestrial access points) or satellite stations that provide coverage within a geographic area (e.g., a cell). The RAN 510 may include one or more RAN nodes (e.g., macro RAN nodes 511) for providing macro cells, and one or more RAN nodes (e.g., low power (LP) RAN nodes 512) for providing femto cells or pico cells (e.g., cells with smaller coverage areas, smaller user capacity, or higher bandwidth than macro cells).

[0153] Either the RAN node 511 or the RAN node 512 may terminate the air interface protocol and may be the first point of contact for the UE 501 or the UE 502. In some embodiments, either the RAN node 511 or the RAN node 512 may fulfill various logical functions of the RAN 510, including but not limited to the functions of a radio network controller (RNC), such as radio bearer management, uplink and downlink dynamic radio resource management and data packet scheduling, and mobility management.

[0154] According to some embodiments, UE 501 and UE 502 may be configured to communicate with each other or with any of RAN node 511 and RAN node 512 through a multi-carrier communication channel using orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) communication signals according to various communication techniques, such as, but not limited to, orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) communication techniques (e.g., for downlink communication) or single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) communication techniques (e.g., for uplink and ProSe or sidelink communication), but the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. OFDM signals may include multiple orthogonal subcarriers.

[0155] In some embodiments, a downlink resource grid may be used for downlink transmissions from either of RAN node 511 and RAN node 512 to UE 501 and UE 502, while uplink transmissions may utilize similar techniques. The grid may be a time-frequency grid, referred to as a resource grid or a time-frequency resource grid, which is a physical resource in the downlink in each time slot. For OFDM systems, such a time-frequency plane representation is common practice, which makes wireless resource allocation intuitive. Each column and each row of the resource grid corresponds to an OFDM symbol and an OFDM subcarrier, respectively. The duration of the resource grid in the time domain corresponds to a time slot in a radio frame. The smallest time-frequency unit in the resource grid is represented as a resource element. Each resource grid includes a plurality of resource blocks, which describe the mapping of certain physical channels to resource elements. Each resource block includes a set of resource elements; in the frequency domain, this may represent the minimum amount of resources that can currently be allocated. Such resource blocks are used to transmit several different physical downlink channels.

[0156] The physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) may carry user data and higher layer signaling to UE 501 and UE 502. The physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) may carry information about the transport format and resource allocation related to the PDSCH channel, etc. The PDCCH may also inform UE 501 and UE 502 of the transport format, resource allocation, and H-ARQ (Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request) information related to the uplink shared channel. Typically, downlink scheduling (allocation of control and shared channel resource blocks to UE 502 within a cell) may be performed at either RAN node 511 or RAN node 512 based on channel quality information fed back from either UE 501 or UE 502. Downlink resource allocation information may be sent on the PDCCH for (e.g., allocated to) each of UE 501 and UE 502.

[0157] PDCCH can use control channel elements (CCE) to transmit control information. Before being mapped to resource elements, the PDCCH complex-valued symbols can first be organized into quadruplets, which can then be arranged using a sub-block interleaver for rate matching. One or more of these CCEs can be used to transmit each PDCCH, where each CCE can correspond to four sets of nine physical resource elements, called resource element groups (REGs). Four quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) symbols can be mapped to each REG. Depending on the size of the downlink control information (DCI) and channel conditions, one or more CCEs can be used to transmit the PDCCH. There may be four or more different PDCCH formats defined in LTE with different numbers of CCEs (e.g., aggregation levels, L=1, 2, 4, or 8).

[0158] Some embodiments may use the concept of resource allocation for control channel information, which is an extension of the above concept. For example, some embodiments may utilize an enhanced physical downlink control channel (EPDCCH) that uses PDSCH resources for control information transmission. One or more enhanced control channel elements (ECCEs) may be used to transmit EPDCCH. Similar to the above, each ECCE may correspond to four sets of nine physical resource elements, referred to as enhanced resource element groups (EREGs). In some cases, ECCEs may have other numbers of EREGs.

[0159] RAN 510 is shown as being communicatively coupled to a core network (CN) 520 via an S1 interface 513. In an embodiment, CN 520 may be an evolved packet core (EPC) network, a next generation packet core (NPC) network, or some other type of CN. In this embodiment, S1 interface 513 is divided into two parts: S1-U interface 514, which carries traffic data between RAN node 511 and RAN node 512 and serving gateway (S-GW) 522; and S1-mobility management entity (MME) interface 515, which is a signaling interface between RAN node 511 and RAN node 512 and MME 521.

[0160] In this embodiment, CN 520 includes MME 521, S-GW 522, Packet Data Network (PDN) Gateway (P-GW) 523 and Home Subscriber Server (HSS) 524. MME 521 may be similar in function to the control plane of a conventional Serving General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) Support Node (SGSN). MME 521 may manage mobility aspects in access, such as gateway selection and tracking area list management. HSS 524 may include a database for network users, which includes subscription-related information for supporting network entities in handling communication sessions. Depending on the number of mobile subscribers, the capacity of the equipment, the organization of the network, etc., CN 520 may include one or more HSS 524. For example, HSS 524 may provide support for routing / roaming, authentication, authorization, naming / addressing resolution, positioning dependencies, etc.

[0161] The S-GW 522 may terminate the S1 interface 513 towards the RAN 510 and route data packets between the RAN 510 and the CN 520. In addition, the S-GW 522 may be a local mobility anchor for inter-RAN node handovers and may also provide an anchor for inter-3GPP mobility. Other responsibilities may include lawful interception, charging, and enforcement of certain policies.

[0162] The P-GW 523 may terminate the SGi interface toward the PDN. The P-GW 523 may route data packets between the EPC network and an external network such as a network including an application server 530 (alternatively referred to as an application function (AF)) via an Internet Protocol (IP) interface 525. Generally, the application server 530 may be an element that provides an application program that uses IP bearer resources with the core network (e.g., UMTS packet service (PS) domain, LTE PS data service, etc.). In this embodiment, the P-GW 523 is shown as being communicatively coupled to the application server 530 via an IP communication interface 525. The application server 530 may also be configured to support one or more communication services (e.g., Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) sessions, PTT sessions, group communication sessions, social networking services, etc.) for the UE 501 and UE 502 via the CN 520.

[0163] The P-GW 523 may also be a node for policy enforcement and charging data collection. The Policy and Charging Enforcement Function (PCRF) 526 is a policy and charging control element of the CN 520. In a non-roaming scenario, there may be a single PCRF in a domestic public land mobile network (HPLMN) associated with an Internet Protocol Connectivity Access Network (IP-CAN) session of the UE. In a roaming scenario with local traffic breakout, there may be two PCRFs associated with the UE's IP-CAN session: a domestic PCRF (H-PCRF) within the HPLMN and a visited PCRF (V-PCRF) within a visited public land mobile network (VPLMN). The PCRF 526 may be communicatively coupled to the application server 530 via the P-GW 523. The application server 530 may signal the PCRF 526 to indicate a new service flow and select appropriate quality of service (QoS) and charging parameters. PCRF 526 may configure the rules to a Policy and Charging Enforcement Function (PCEF) (not shown) with the appropriate Communication Flow Template (TFT) and QoS Class Identifier (QCI), which initiates the QoS and charging specified by application server 530 .

[0164] Figure 6Exemplary components of a device 600 according to some embodiments are shown. In some embodiments, the device 600 may include an application circuit 602, a baseband circuit 604, a radio frequency (RF) circuit 606, a front-end module (FEM) circuit 608, one or more antennas 610, and a power management circuit (PMC) 612 (at least coupled together as shown). The components of the illustrated device 600 may be included in a UE or a RAN node. In some embodiments, the device 600 may include fewer elements (e.g., the RAN node may not utilize the application circuit 602, but include a processor / controller to process IP data received from the EPC). In some embodiments, the device 600 may include additional elements, such as, for example, a memory / storage device, a display, a camera, a sensor, or an input / output (I / O) interface. In other embodiments, the components described below may be included in more than one device (e.g., the circuit may be separately included in more than one device for a specific implementation of a cloud-RAN (C-RAN)).

[0165] The application circuit 602 may include one or more application processors. For example, the application circuit 602 may include circuits such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. The processors may include any combination of general-purpose processors and special-purpose processors (e.g., graphics processors, application processors, etc.). These processors may be coupled to or may include memory / storage devices, and may be configured to execute instructions stored in the memory / storage devices to enable various applications or operating systems to run on the device 600. In some embodiments, the processor of the application circuit 602 may process IP data packets received from the EPC.

[0166] The baseband circuit 604 may include circuits such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. The baseband circuit 604 may include one or more baseband processors or control logic components to process baseband signals received from the receive signal path of the RF circuit 606 and generate baseband signals for the transmit signal path of the RF circuit 606. The baseband processing circuit 604 may interact with the application circuit 602 to generate and process baseband signals and control the operation of the RF circuit 606. For example, in some embodiments, the baseband circuit 604 may include a third generation (3G) baseband processor 604A, a fourth generation (4G) baseband processor 604B, a fifth generation (5G) baseband processor 604C, or other baseband processors 604D of other existing generations, generations under development or generations to be developed in the future (e.g., second generation (2G), sixth generation (6G), etc.). The baseband circuit 604 (e.g., one or more baseband processors of the baseband processors 604A-604D) may handle various radio control functions that enable communication with one or more radio networks via the RF circuit 606. In other embodiments, some or all of the functions of the baseband processors 604A-604D may be included in a module stored in the memory 604G and executed via the central processing unit (CPU) 604E. The radio control functions may include, but are not limited to, signal modulation / demodulation, encoding / decoding, radio frequency shifting, etc. In some embodiments, the modulation / demodulation circuitry of the baseband circuitry 604 may include fast Fourier transform (FFT), precoding, or constellation mapping / demapping functions. In some embodiments, the encoding / decoding circuitry of the baseband circuitry 604 may include convolution, tail-biting convolution, turbo, Viterbi, or low-density parity check (LDPC) encoder / decoder functions. The implementation of the modulation / demodulation and encoder / decoder functions is not limited to these examples, and may include other suitable functions in other embodiments.

[0167] In some embodiments, the baseband circuit 604 may include one or more audio digital signal processors (DSPs) 604F. The audio DSP 604F may include elements for compression / decompression and echo cancellation, and may include other suitable processing elements in other embodiments. In some embodiments, the components of the baseband circuit may be appropriately combined in a single chip, a single chipset, or disposed on the same circuit board. In some embodiments, some or all of the components of the baseband circuit 604 and the application circuit 602 may be implemented together, such as on a system on a chip (SOC).

[0168] In some embodiments, the baseband circuit 604 may provide communications compatible with one or more radio technologies. For example, in some embodiments, the baseband circuit 604 may support communications with an Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (EUTRAN) or other wireless metropolitan area network (WMAN), wireless local area network (WLAN), wireless personal area network (WPAN). Embodiments in which the baseband circuit 604 is configured to support radio communications of more than one wireless protocol may be referred to as multi-mode baseband circuits.

[0169] RF circuit 606 can communicate with a wireless network through a non-solid medium using modulated electromagnetic radiation. In various embodiments, RF circuit 606 may include switches, filters, amplifiers, etc. to facilitate communication with a wireless network. RF circuit 606 may include a receive signal path, which may include circuits for down-converting RF signals received from FEM circuit 608 and providing baseband signals to baseband circuit 604. RF circuit 606 may also include a transmit signal path, which may include circuits for up-converting baseband signals provided by baseband circuit 604 and providing RF output signals for transmission to FEM circuit 608.

[0170] In some embodiments, the receive signal path of the RF circuit 606 may include a mixer circuit 606a, an amplifier circuit 606b, and a filter circuit 606c. In some embodiments, the transmit signal path of the RF circuit 606 may include a filter circuit 606c and a mixer circuit 606a. The RF circuit 606 may also include a synthesizer circuit 606d for synthesizing the frequency used by the mixer circuit 606a for the receive signal path and the transmit signal path. In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 606a of the receive signal path may be configured to down-convert the RF signal received from the FEM circuit 608 based on the synthesized frequency provided by the synthesizer circuit 606d. The amplifier circuit 606b may be configured to amplify the down-converted signal, and the filter circuit 606c may be a low pass filter (LPF) or a band pass filter (BPF) configured to remove unwanted signals from the down-converted signal to generate an output baseband signal. The output baseband signal may be provided to the baseband circuit 604 for further processing. In some embodiments, the output baseband signal may be a zero frequency baseband signal, although this is not required.In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 606a of the receive signal path may include a passive mixer, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0171] In some embodiments, mixer circuit 606a of the transmit signal path can be configured to upconvert an input baseband signal based on a synthesized frequency provided by synthesizer circuit 606d to generate an RF output signal for FEM circuit 608. The baseband signal can be provided by baseband circuit 604 and can be filtered by filter circuit 606c.

[0172] In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 606a of the receiving signal path and the mixer circuit 606a of the transmitting signal path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged to be used for orthogonal down-conversion and up-conversion, respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 606a of the receiving signal path and the mixer circuit 606a of the transmitting signal path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged to be used for image suppression (e.g., Hartley image suppression). In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 606a of the receiving signal path and the mixer circuit 606a of the transmitting signal path may be arranged for direct down-conversion and direct up-conversion, respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 606a of the receiving signal path and the mixer circuit 606a of the transmitting signal path may be configured for superheterodyne operation.

[0173] In some embodiments, the output baseband signal and the input baseband signal may be analog baseband signals, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some alternative embodiments, the output baseband signal and the input baseband signal may be digital baseband signals. In these alternative embodiments, the RF circuit 606 may include an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) circuit and a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuit, and the baseband circuit 604 may include a digital baseband interface to communicate with the RF circuit 606.

[0174] In some dual-mode embodiments, separate radio IC circuits may be provided to process signals for each spectrum, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0175] In some embodiments, synthesizer circuit 606d may be a fractional-N synthesizer or a fractional N / N+1 synthesizer, but the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect, as other types of frequency synthesizers may also be suitable. For example, synthesizer circuit 606d may be a delta-sigma synthesizer, a frequency multiplier, or a synthesizer including a phase-locked loop with a frequency divider.

[0176] Synthesizer circuit 606d may be configured to synthesize an output frequency based on the frequency input and the divider control input for use by mixer circuit 606a of RF circuit 606. In some embodiments, synthesizer circuit 606d may be a fractional-N / N+1 synthesizer.

[0177] In some embodiments, the frequency input may be provided by a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO), although this is not required. The divider control input may be provided by the baseband circuit 604 or the application processor 602 according to the desired output frequency. In some embodiments, the divider control input (e.g., N) may be determined from a lookup table based on the channel indicated by the application processor 602.

[0178] The synthesizer circuit 606d of the RF circuit 606 may include a frequency divider, a delay locked loop (DLL), a multiplexer, and a phase accumulator. In some embodiments, the frequency divider may be a dual-mode frequency divider (DMD), and the phase accumulator may be a digital phase accumulator (DPA). In some embodiments, the DMD may be configured to divide the input signal by N or N+1 (e.g., based on a carry) to provide a fractional division ratio. In some example embodiments, the DLL may include a cascaded, tunable, delay element, a phase detector, a charge pump, and a set of D-type flip-flops. In these embodiments, the delay element may be configured to divide the VCO cycle into Nd equal phase groups, where Nd is the number of delay elements in the delay line. In this way, the DLL provides negative feedback to help ensure that the total delay through the delay line is one VCO cycle.

[0179] In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuit 606d can be configured to generate a carrier frequency as an output frequency, while in other embodiments, the output frequency can be a multiple of the carrier frequency (e.g., twice the carrier frequency, four times the carrier frequency) and used with a quadrature generator and divider circuit to generate multiple signals with multiple different phases relative to each other at the carrier frequency. In some embodiments, the output frequency can be the LO frequency (fLO). In some embodiments, the RF circuit 606 can include an IQ / polarity converter.

[0180] The FEM circuitry 608 may include a receive signal path that may include circuitry configured to operate on RF signals received from one or more antennas 610, amplify the received signals, and provide an amplified version of the received signals to the RF circuitry 606 for further processing. The FEM circuitry 608 may also include a transmit signal path that may include circuitry configured to amplify transmit signals provided by the RF circuitry 606 for transmission through one or more of the one or more antennas 610. In various embodiments, amplification by either the transmit signal path or the receive signal path may be accomplished only in the RF circuitry 606, only in the FEM 608, or in both the RF circuitry 606 and the FEM 608.

[0181] In some embodiments, the FEM circuit 608 may include a TX / RX switch to switch between transmit mode and receive mode operation. The FEM circuit 608 may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of the FEM circuit 608 may include a low noise amplifier (LNA) to amplify the received RF signal and provide the amplified received RF signal as an output (e.g., provided to the RF circuit 606). The transmit signal path of the FEM circuit 608 may include a power amplifier (PA) for amplifying an input RF signal (e.g., provided by the RF circuit 606); and one or more filters for generating an RF signal for subsequent transmission (e.g., through one or more of the one or more antennas 610).

[0182] In some embodiments, PMC 612 can manage the power provided to baseband circuit 604. Specifically, PMC 612 can control power selection, voltage scaling, battery charging, or DC-DC conversion. When device 600 is capable of being powered by a battery, for example, when the device is included in a UE, PMC 612 can generally be included. PMC 612 can improve power conversion efficiency while providing the desired specific implementation size and heat dissipation characteristics.

[0183] Figure 6 PMC 612 is shown coupled only to baseband circuit 604. However, in other embodiments, PMC 612 may additionally or alternatively be coupled to other components (such as, but not limited to, application circuit 602, RF circuit 606, or FEM 608) and perform similar power management operations.

[0184] In some embodiments, the PMC 612 may control or otherwise be part of various power saving mechanisms of the device 600. For example, if the device 600 is in the RRC_Connected state, where the device is still connected to the RAN node because it expects to receive traffic immediately, then after a period of inactivity, the device may enter a state known as discontinuous reception mode (DRX). During this state, the device 600 may be powered off for short time intervals, thereby saving power.

[0185] If there is no data traffic activity for an extended period of time, the device 600 may transition to the RRC_Idle state, in which the device is disconnected from the network and does not perform operations such as channel quality feedback, handover, etc. The device 600 enters a very low power state and performs paging, in which the device periodically wakes up again to listen to the network and then powers down again. The device 600 cannot receive data in this state, and in order to receive data, it must transition back to the RRC_Connected state.

[0186] An additional power saving mode can keep a device from using the network for longer than the paging interval (which can range from a few seconds to several hours). During this time, the device is completely unable to connect to the network and can be completely powered down. Any data sent during this time will be significantly delayed, and it is assumed that the delay is acceptable.

[0187] The processor of the application circuit 602 and the processor of the baseband circuit 604 can be used to execute elements of one or more instances of the protocol stack. For example, the processor of the baseband circuit 604 can be used alone or in combination to perform layer 3, layer 2, or layer 1 functions, while the processor of the application circuit 602 can utilize data received from these layers (e.g., packet data) and further perform layer 4 functions (e.g., transport communication protocol (TCP) and user datagram protocol (UDP) layers). As mentioned herein, layer 3 may include a radio resource control (RRC) layer, which will be described in further detail below. As mentioned herein, layer 2 may include a medium access control (MAC) layer, a radio link control (RLC) layer, and a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, which will be described in further detail below. As mentioned herein, layer 1 may include a physical (PHY) layer of a UE / RAN node, which will be described in further detail below.

[0188] Figure 7 An exemplary interface of a baseband circuit according to some embodiments is shown. As discussed above, Figure 6 The baseband circuit 604 may include processors 604A-604E and a memory 604G used by the processors. Each of the processors 604A-604E may include a memory interface 704A-704E for sending / receiving data to / from the memory 604G, respectively.

[0189] The baseband circuit 604 may also include: one or more interfaces to communicatively couple to other circuits / devices, such as a memory interface 712 (e.g., an interface for sending / receiving data to / from a memory external to the baseband circuit 604); an application circuit interface 714 (e.g., an interface for sending / receiving data to / from a memory external to the baseband circuit 604); Figure 6 RF circuit interface 716 (for example, for sending / receiving data to / from the application circuit 602); Figure 6 an interface for sending / receiving data to / from a RF circuit 606); a wireless hardware connection interface 718 (e.g., for sending / receiving data to / from a near field communication (NFC) component, Parts (e.g. Low power consumption), components and other communication components to send / receive data); and a power management interface 720 (eg, an interface for sending / receiving power or control signals to / from PMC 612).

[0190] Figure 8is a block diagram illustrating components capable of reading instructions from a machine-readable or computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium) and capable of performing any one or more of the methods discussed herein, according to some exemplary embodiments. Specifically, Figure 8 A schematic diagram of hardware resources 800 is shown, including one or more processors (or processor cores) 810, one or more memory / storage devices 820, and one or more communication resources 830, each of which can be communicatively coupled via a bus 840. For embodiments in which node virtualization (e.g., NFV) is utilized, a hypervisor 802 may be executed to provide an execution environment for one or more network slices / sub-slices to utilize hardware resources 800.

[0191] Processor 810 (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a reduced instruction set computing (RISC) processor, a complex instruction set computing (CISC) processor, a graphics processing unit (GPU), a digital signal processor (DSP) (such as a baseband processor), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a radio frequency integrated circuit (RFIC), another processor, or any suitable combination thereof) may include, for example, processor 812 and processor 814.

[0192] The memory / storage device 820 may include main memory, disk storage, or any suitable combination thereof. The memory / storage device 820 may include, but is not limited to, any type of volatile or non-volatile memory, such as dynamic random access memory (DRAM), static random access memory (SRAM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, solid-state storage, etc.

[0193] The communication resources 830 may include an interconnect or network interface component or other suitable device to communicate with one or more peripheral devices 804 or one or more databases 806 via the network 808. For example, the communication resources 830 may include a wired communication component (e.g., for coupling via a universal serial bus (USB)), a cellular communication component, an NFC component, Parts (e.g. Low power consumption), components and other communication components.

[0194] The instructions 850 may include software, programs, applications, applet, applications, or other executable code for causing at least any one of the processors 810 to perform any one or more of the methods discussed herein. The instructions 850 may reside completely or partially in at least one of the processors 810 (e.g., in a cache memory of the processor), the memory / storage device 820, or any suitable combination thereof. In addition, any portion of the instructions 850 may be transmitted to the hardware resources 800 from any combination of the peripheral device 804 or the database 806. Therefore, the memory of the processor 810, the memory / storage device 820, the peripheral device 804, and the database 806 are examples of computer-readable media and machine-readable media.

[0195] In various embodiments, Figures 5 to 8 equipment / components, especially Figure 7 The baseband circuit can be used to practice all or part of Figures 1 to 3 Any of the depicted operational flows / algorithm structures.

[0196] Figure 1 An example of an operational flow / algorithm structure that may be performed by a next generation Node B (gNB) according to some embodiments is depicted in . In this example, the operational flow / algorithm structure 100 may include retrieving configuration information from a memory at 105 that a user equipment (UE) will use to perform multipath channel component measurements. The operational flow / algorithm structure 100 may also include generating a message including the configuration information at 110. The operational flow / algorithm structure 100 may also include encoding the message for transmission to the UE at 115. The operational flow / algorithm structure 100 may also include receiving multipath channel component measurements from the UE at 120. The operational flow / algorithm structure 100 may also include determining a position of a virtual reference source based on the multipath channel component measurements at 125. The operational flow / algorithm structure 100 may also include determining a position of the UE based on the position of the virtual reference source at 130.

[0197] Figure 2Another example of an operational flow / algorithm structure that may be performed by a UE according to some embodiments is depicted in . In this example, the operational flow / algorithm structure 200 may include receiving a configuration message at 205, the configuration message including configuration information for performing multipath channel component measurements. The operational flow / algorithm structure 200 may also include performing multipath channel component measurements based on the configuration information at 210. The operational flow / algorithm structure 200 may also include encoding a message for transmission at 215, the message including information about the multipath channel components, the information including a signal positioning parameter (SLP), where the SLP is: a time of arrival (TOA) parameter, a time difference of arrival (TDOA) parameter, a propagation time, an angle of arrival, an angle of departure, or a reference signal power level.

[0198] Figure 3 Another example of an operational flow / algorithm structure that may be performed by a gNB according to some embodiments is depicted in . In this example, the operational flow / algorithm structure 300 may include generating a configuration message at 305, the configuration message including configuration information that a user equipment (UE) will use to perform multipath channel component measurements. The operational flow / algorithm structure 300 may also include encoding the configuration message for transmission to the UE at 310. The operational flow / algorithm structure 300 may also include receiving a multipath channel component measurement message from the UE at 315. The operational flow / algorithm structure 300 may also include determining a location of a virtual reference source based on information in the multipath channel component measurement message at 320. The operational flow / algorithm structure 300 may also include determining a location of the UE based on the location of the virtual reference source at 325.

[0199] Example

[0200] Some non-limiting examples are provided below.

[0201] Embodiment 1 includes a device comprising: a memory for storing configuration information that a user equipment (UE) will use to perform multipath channel component measurements; and a processing circuit coupled to the memory to: retrieve the configuration information from the memory; generate a message including the configuration information; encode the message for transmission to the UE; receive multipath channel component measurements from the UE; determine the location of a virtual reference source based on the multipath channel component measurements; and determine the location of the UE based on the location of the virtual reference source.

[0202] Embodiment 2 includes an apparatus according to embodiment 1 or some other embodiments herein, wherein the message is transmitted via radio resource control (RRC) signaling, long term evolution positioning protocol (LPP) signaling, LPP appendix (LPPa) signaling, or new radio positioning protocol (NRPP) signaling.

[0203] Embodiment 3 includes an apparatus according to embodiment 1 or some other embodiments herein, wherein the configuration information is used to enable the UE to determine: a first detected arrival path, a strongest multipath component, or a path having a power level above a predetermined threshold.

[0204] Embodiment 4 includes the apparatus according to embodiment 1 or some other embodiments herein, wherein the configuration information is used to enable the UE to determine an angle of arrival (AoA) of each path of a multipath channel.

[0205] Embodiment 5 includes the apparatus according to embodiment 1 or some other embodiments herein, wherein the configuration information is used to enable the UE to determine a phase offset for each path of a multipath channel.

[0206] Embodiment 6 includes an apparatus according to embodiment 1 or some other embodiments herein, wherein configuration information is used to identify a reference cell and a reference beam for transmit (TX) beam scanning, or a reference beam for transmit receive (TX-RX) beam scanning.

[0207] Embodiment 7 includes an apparatus according to embodiment 1 or some other embodiments herein, wherein the multipath channel component measurement includes a signal positioning parameter (SLP), and wherein the SLP is: a time of arrival (TOA) parameter, a time difference of arrival (TDOA) parameter, a propagation time, an angle of arrival, an angle of departure, or a reference signal power level.

[0208] Embodiment 8 includes an apparatus according to embodiment 1 or some other embodiments herein, wherein the multipath channel component measurement includes measurement of a signal received directly by the UE from the base station and measurement of a signal received by the UE from the base station after reflection from an object.

[0209] Embodiment 9 includes the apparatus of embodiment 8 or some other embodiments herein, wherein the position of the virtual reference source is determined based on a measurement of the reflected signal.

[0210] Embodiment 10 includes one or more computer-readable media storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause a user equipment (UE) to: receive a configuration message including configuration information for performing multipath channel component measurements; perform multipath channel component measurements based on the configuration information; and encode a message for transmission, the message including information about the multipath channel components, the information including a signal positioning parameter (SLP), wherein the SLP is: a time of arrival (TOA) parameter, a time difference of arrival (TDOA) parameter, a propagation time, an angle of arrival, an angle of departure, or a reference signal power level.

[0211] Embodiment 11 comprises one or more computer-readable media according to embodiment 10 or some other embodiments herein, wherein the configuration message is received via radio resource control (RRC) signaling, long term evolution positioning protocol (LPP) signaling, LPP appendix (LPPa) signaling, or new radio positioning protocol (NRPP) signaling.

[0212] Embodiment 12 includes one or more computer-readable media according to embodiment 10 or some other embodiments herein, wherein configuration information is used to enable the UE to determine: a first detected arrival path, a strongest multipath component, or a path having a power level above a predetermined threshold.

[0213] Embodiment 13 includes one or more computer-readable media according to embodiment 10 or some other embodiments herein, wherein the configuration information is used to enable the UE to determine an angle of arrival (AoA) of each path of a multipath channel.

[0214] Embodiment 14 includes one or more computer-readable media according to embodiment 10 or some other embodiments herein, wherein the configuration information is used to enable the UE to determine a phase offset for each path of a multipath channel.

[0215] Embodiment 15 comprises one or more computer-readable media as described in embodiment 10 or some other embodiments herein, wherein configuration information is used to identify a reference cell and a reference beam for transmit (TX) beam scanning, or a reference beam for transmit receive (TX-RX) beam scanning.

[0216] Embodiment 16 includes one or more computer-readable media according to embodiment 10 or some other embodiments herein, wherein the multipath channel component measurement information includes measurements of signals received by the UE directly from the base station, and measurements of signals received by the UE from the base station after reflection from an object.

[0217] Embodiment 17 includes one or more computer-readable media storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause a next-generation Node B (gNB) to: generate a configuration message comprising configuration information that a user equipment (UE) will use to perform multipath channel component measurements; encode the configuration message for transmission to the UE; receive a multipath channel component measurement message from the UE; determine a location of a virtual reference source based on information in the multipath channel component measurement message; and determine a location of the UE based on the location of the virtual reference source.

[0218] Embodiment 18 comprises one or more computer-readable media according to embodiment 17 or some other embodiments herein, wherein the message is transmitted via radio resource control (RRC) signaling, long term evolution positioning protocol (LPP) signaling, LPP appendix (LPPa) signaling, or new radio positioning protocol (NRPP) signaling.

[0219] Embodiment 19 includes one or more computer-readable media according to embodiment 17 or some other embodiments herein, wherein configuration information is used to enable the UE to determine: the first detected arrival path, the strongest multipath component, the path with a power level above a predetermined threshold, the angle of arrival (AoA) of each path of the multipath channel, the phase offset of each path of the multipath channel, a reference cell and a reference beam for transmit (TX) beam scanning, or a reference beam for transmit receive (TX-RX) beam scanning.

[0220] Embodiment 20 includes one or more computer-readable media according to embodiment 17 or some other embodiments herein, wherein the multipath channel component measurements include measurements of signals received by the UE directly from the base station, and measurements of signals received by the UE from the base station after reflection from an object, and wherein the position of the virtual reference source is determined based on the measurements of the reflected signals.

[0221] Embodiment 21 may include an apparatus comprising means for performing one or more elements of the method described in or related to any of Embodiments 1 to 20, or any other method or process described herein.

[0222] Embodiment 22 may include one or more non-transitory computer-readable media, which include instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of an electronic device, cause the electronic device to perform one or more elements of a method described in or related to any of Embodiments 1 to 20 or any other method or process described herein.

[0223] Embodiment 23 may include a device comprising logic components, modules and / or circuits for performing one or more elements of the method described in or related to any of Embodiments 1 to 20 or any other method or process described herein.

[0224] Embodiment 24 may include a method, technique or process as described or related to any one of Embodiments 1 to 20, or a portion or component thereof.

[0225] Embodiment 25 may include a device comprising: one or more processors and one or more computer-readable media, wherein the one or more computer-readable media include instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform a method, technique, or process, or portion thereof, as described or related to any one of Embodiments 1 to 20.

[0226] Embodiment 26 may include a method of communicating in a wireless network as shown and described herein.

[0227] Embodiment 27 may include a system for providing wireless communications as shown and described herein.

[0228] Embodiment 28 may include an apparatus for providing wireless communications as shown and described herein.

[0229] The description of the specific implementations shown herein, including the specific implementations described in the Abstract, is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosure to the precise form disclosed. Although specific implementations and examples are described herein for illustrative purposes, various alternative or equivalent embodiments or implementations calculated to achieve the same purpose can be made based on the above detailed description without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

Claims

1. An apparatus for providing wireless communication, the apparatus comprising: A memory, the memory being used to store configuration information to be used by a user equipment UE to perform multipath channel component measurements; and A processing circuit, the processing circuit is coupled to the memory, and the processing circuit is configured to: retrieving the configuration information from the memory; generating a message including the configuration information; encoding the message for transmission to the UE; receiving the multipath channel component measurements from the UE, wherein the multipath channel component measurements include a first signal positioning parameter SLP of a first signal received by the UE directly from the apparatus and a second SLP of a second signal received by the UE from the apparatus after reflection from an object, The first SLP includes at least one of the following associated with the first signal: a first time of arrival (TOA) parameter, a first time difference of arrival (TDOA) parameter, a first propagation time, a first angle of arrival, a first angle of departure, or a first reference signal power level; and The second SLP includes at least one of the following associated with the second signal: a second TOA parameter, a second TDOA parameter, a second propagation time, a second angle of arrival, a second angle of departure, or a second reference signal power level; determining a position of a virtual reference source based on the multipath channel component measurements, wherein determining the position of the virtual reference source comprises determining absolute coordinates of the virtual reference source based on the position of the device and the reflective surface geometry of the object; and A position of the UE is determined based on the position of the virtual reference source.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the message is to be transmitted via Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling, Long Term Evolution (LPP) signaling, LPP Annex (LPPa) signaling, or New Radio Positioning Protocol (NRPP) signaling.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the configuration information is used to enable the UE to determine: a first detected arrival path, a strongest multipath component, or a path having a power level above a predetermined threshold. 4 . The apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the configuration information is used to enable the UE to determine an angle of arrival (AoA) of each path of a multipath channel.

5. The apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the configuration information is used to enable the UE to determine a phase offset of each path of a multipath channel.

6. The apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the configuration information is used to identify a reference cell and a reference beam for transmission TX beam scanning, or a reference beam for transmission reception TX-RX beam scanning.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the position of the virtual reference source is determined based on a measurement of the reflected signal.

8. One or more computer-readable media storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause a user equipment (UE) to: receiving a configuration message, the configuration message comprising configuration information for performing multipath channel component measurement; performing the multipath channel component measurement based on the configuration information, wherein the multipath channel component measurement includes a first measurement of a first signal received by the UE directly from a device and a second measurement of a second signal received by the UE from the device after reflection from an object; and encoding a message for transmission, the message comprising information about the multipath channel component measurement, the information comprising at least a first signal location parameter SLP associated with the first measurement and a second SLP associated with the second measurement, wherein the first SLP and the second SLP comprise: Time of arrival TOA parameter, time difference of arrival TDOA parameter, propagation time, angle of arrival, angle of departure or reference signal power level, Wherein the multipath channel component measurements are used to determine the absolute coordinates of a virtual reference source based on the position of the device and the reflecting surface geometry of the object.

9. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 8, wherein the configuration message is received via Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling, Long Term Evolution (LPP) signaling, LPP Annex (LPPa) signaling, or New Radio Positioning Protocol (NRPP) signaling.

10. One or more computer-readable media according to claim 8 or 9, wherein the configuration information is used to cause the UE to determine: a first detected arrival path, a strongest multipath component, or a path having a power level above a predetermined threshold.

11. One or more computer-readable media according to claim 8 or 9, wherein the configuration information is used to enable the UE to determine an angle of arrival (AoA) of each path of a multipath channel.

12. One or more computer-readable media according to claim 8 or 9, wherein the configuration information is used to cause the UE to determine a phase offset for each path of a multipath channel.

13. One or more computer-readable media according to claim 8 or 9, wherein the configuration information is used to identify a reference cell and a reference beam for transmission TX beam scanning, or a reference beam for transmission reception TX-RX beam scanning.

14. One or more computer-readable media storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause a base station to: generating a configuration message, the configuration message comprising configuration information to be used by a user equipment UE to perform multipath channel component measurements; encoding the configuration message for transmission to the UE; receiving the multipath channel component measurement message from the UE, wherein the multipath channel component measurement includes a first signal positioning parameter SLP of a first signal received by the UE directly from the base station and a second SLP of a second signal received by the UE from the base station after reflection from an object, The first SLP includes at least one of the following associated with the first signal: a first time of arrival (TOA) parameter, a first time difference of arrival (TDOA) parameter, a first propagation time, a first angle of arrival, a first angle of departure, or a first reference signal power level; and The second SLP includes at least one of the following associated with the second signal: a second TOA parameter, a second TDOA parameter, a second propagation time, a second angle of arrival, a second angle of departure, or a second reference signal power level; determining a position of a virtual reference source based on information in the multipath channel component measurement message, wherein determining the position of the virtual reference source comprises determining absolute coordinates of the virtual reference source based on a position of the base station and a reflective surface geometry of the object; and A position of the UE is determined based on the position of the virtual reference source.

15. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 14, wherein the message is to be transmitted via Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling, Long Term Evolution (LPP) positioning protocol signaling, LPP Annex (LPPa) signaling, or New Radio Positioning Protocol (NRPP) signaling.

16. One or more computer-readable media according to claim 14 or 15, wherein the configuration information is used to enable the UE to determine: the first detected arrival path, the strongest multipath component, the path with a power level above a predetermined threshold, the arrival angle AoA of each path of the multipath channel, the phase offset of each path of the multipath channel, the reference cell and reference beam for transmission TX beam scanning, or the reference beam for transmission reception TX-RX beam scanning.

17. The one or more computer-readable media of claim 14 or 15, wherein the position of the virtual reference source is determined based on a measurement of the reflected signal.

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