Method and system for position determination of mobile devices using portions of RF frequency bands

Abstract

A method and apparatus for position determination at a mobile device is disclosed, the method and apparatus comprising sending positioning capabilities of the mobile device to a location server, wherein the positioning capabilities include an identification of a portion of a radio frequency (RF) band contained within a complete RF band. The positioning capabilities indicate that the mobile device can measure the portion of the RF band, but cannot measure the complete RF band (510). Subsequently, the mobile device may receive position assistance data from the location server, wherein the position assistance data includes configuration information for at least one reference signal (RS) in the portion of the RF band (520). The mobile device may then obtain at least one position measurement from at least one RS based on the configuration information (530), and send position information to the location server, wherein the position information is based on the at least one position measurement (540).

Description

[0001] Priority claim

[0002] This patent application claims priority to U.S. Non-Provisional Application No. 16 / 116,326, filed on August 29, 2018, entitled “METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR LOCATION DETERMINATION OF A MOBILE DEVICE USING PARTIAL RF BANDS,” which is hereby assigned to the present assignee and is hereby expressly incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0003] Generally speaking, aspects of the present disclosure relate to position determination, and more particularly, to position determination using portions of a radio frequency (RF) band. Background Art

[0004] Obtaining the location of a mobile device that is accessing a wireless network may be useful for many applications, including, for example, emergency calls, personal navigation, asset tracking, locating friends or family, etc. The location of the mobile device requires network and / or mobile resources, and auxiliary data may need to be provided to the mobile device to help determine the location. However, as mobile devices evolve from the most dominant smartphones to a large number of new devices, such as Internet of Things (IoT) devices, these devices are becoming more and more specialized, cheaper, and diverse in their RF requirements and needs. For example, a smartphone may be able to support multiple RF bands, but a cheaper IoT device may only be able to communicate or receive data on certain RF bands or certain portions of these RF bands. As a result, there is a need to improve the ability to support the positioning of devices that have various limitations on their RF capabilities. Summary of the invention

[0005] An example method for performing location determination at a mobile device includes sending positioning capabilities of the mobile device to a location server. The positioning capabilities include an identification of at least one partial radio frequency (RF) band. The partial RF band is contained within a complete RF band, and the partial RF band or the complete RF band is sent by multiple wireless nodes. The positioning capabilities indicate that the mobile device is configured to measure at least one partial RF band and is not configured to measure the complete RF band. In addition, the method includes receiving location assistance data from the location server, wherein the location assistance data includes configuration information of at least one reference signal (RS) in at least one partial RF band, wherein at least one RS is sent by at least one wireless node. In addition, the method includes: obtaining at least one location measurement from at least one RS based on the configuration information, and sending the location information to the location server, wherein the location information is based on the at least one location measurement.

[0006] An example of a mobile device includes a memory and one or more transceivers. The one or more transceivers of the mobile device are configured to send the positioning capabilities of the mobile device to a location server. The positioning capabilities include an identification of at least one partial radio frequency (RF) band. The partial RF band is contained within the complete RF band, and the partial RF band or the complete RF band is sent by multiple wireless nodes. The positioning capabilities indicate that the mobile device is configured to measure at least one partial RF band and is not configured to measure the complete RF band. In addition, the one or more transceivers of the mobile device are configured to receive location assistance data from a location server, wherein the location assistance data includes configuration information of at least one reference signal (RS) in at least one partial RF band, wherein at least one RS is sent by at least one wireless node. In addition, the mobile device includes one or more processors coupled to the memory and the one or more transceivers, and the one or more processors are configured to obtain at least one location measurement from at least one RS based on the configuration information, and send location information to the location server, wherein the location information is based on at least one location measurement.

[0007] An example of a mobile device for location determination includes a component for sending positioning capabilities of the mobile device to a location server. The positioning capabilities include an identification of at least one partial radio frequency (RF) band. The partial RF band is contained within the complete RF band, and the partial RF band or the complete RF band is sent by multiple wireless nodes. The positioning capabilities indicate that the mobile device is configured to measure at least one partial RF band and is not configured to measure the complete RF band. In addition, the mobile device includes a component for receiving location assistance data from a location server, wherein the location assistance data includes configuration information of at least one reference signal (RS) in at least one partial RF band, wherein at least one RS is sent by at least one wireless node. In addition, the mobile device includes: a component for obtaining at least one location measurement from at least one RS based on the configuration information, and a component for sending location information to the location server, wherein the location information is based on at least one location measurement.

[0008] An example of a non-transitory computer-readable medium for performing location determination at a mobile device, the example including processor executable program code configured to cause one or more processors to send the location capabilities of the mobile device to a location server. The location capabilities include an identification of at least one partial radio frequency (RF) band. The partial RF band is contained within the complete RF band, and the partial RF band or the complete RF band is sent by multiple wireless nodes. The location capabilities indicate that the mobile device is configured to measure at least one partial RF band and is not configured to measure the complete RF band. In addition, the processor readable instructions are configured to cause the one or more processors to receive location assistance data from the location server, wherein the location assistance data includes configuration information of at least one reference signal (RS) in at least one partial RF band, wherein at least one RS is sent by at least one wireless node. In addition, the processor readable instructions are configured to cause the one or more processors to obtain at least one location measurement from at least one RS based on the configuration information, and send the location information to the location server, wherein the location information is based on the at least one location measurement.

[0009] Other and further objects, features, aspects and advantages of the present disclosure will be better understood from the following detailed description of the accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0010] Figure 1 is a diagram of an example communication system that may utilize a 5G network to determine a location of a mobile device according to an embodiment.

[0011] Figure 2 is a signaling flow diagram illustrating messages sent between components of a communication network during a positioning session in accordance with the techniques and methods described herein.

[0012] Figure 3 is a diagram of the structure of an example LTE subframe sequence with PRS positioning opportunities.

[0013] Figure 4 is a diagram illustrating other aspects of PRS transmission for cells supported by a wireless node.

[0014] Figure 5 is a flow diagram of an example process generally performed at a mobile device to support location of the mobile device in accordance with the techniques and methods described herein.

[0015] Figure 6 is a flow diagram of an example process generally performed at a location server to support location of a mobile device in accordance with the techniques and methods described herein.

[0016] Figure 7 is a block diagram of an example wireless or wired node (eg, a base station, access point, or server).

[0017] Figure 8 is a block diagram of a mobile device.

[0018] According to some example implementations, similar reference symbols in the various drawings indicate similar elements. In addition, multiple instances of an element can be indicated by following a letter or hyphen and a second number after the first number for the element. For example, multiple instances of element 110 can be indicated as 110-1, 110-2, 110-3, etc. or 110a, 110b, 110c, etc. When only the first number is used to refer to such an element, it should be understood that any instance of the element (for example, the element 110 in the previous example will refer to elements 110-1, 110-2 and 110-3 or to elements 110a, 110b and 110c). DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0019] Obtaining the location of a mobile device that is accessing a wireless network may be useful for many applications, including, for example, emergency calling, personal navigation, asset tracking, locating friends or family, etc. However, the location of a mobile device typically requires the mobile device and / or the network to use resources for purposes such as sending uplink (UL) or downlink (DL) signals that can be measured by another device, conveying auxiliary data to the mobile device that can be used to obtain measurements and / or help determine location, and performing processing and communications. When many mobile devices need to be located over a period of time, resource usage (particularly on the network side) may increase significantly, for example, hundreds, thousands, or millions of mobile devices need to be located every hour or day over a large wireless network.

[0020] As an example of wireless network resource usage, a base station in a wireless network may continuously or periodically send a positioning reference signal (PRS) in each cell to support, for example, observed time difference of arrival (OTDOA) location determination (e.g., for LTE or 5G wireless access), which may consume a large amount of operator bandwidth.

[0021] As another example of wireless network resource usage, location assistance data may be broadcast by a base station in a cell to assist a user equipment (UE) in obtaining location-related measurements and / or determining a location from these measurements. In this case, operator bandwidth may be consumed by broadcasting the assistance data, but the broadcast may only be received by the UE during a certain portion of the broadcast time.

[0022] Although the transmission of PRS is described herein to support the location of a mobile device, the transmission of other types of signals (e.g., cell-specific reference signals (CRS) or tracking reference signals (TRS)) may also be used instead for certain wireless technologies (e.g., 5G NR). Therefore, the exemplary methods for supporting increased resource allocation for PRS transmission herein may be equally applicable to the transmission of other signals used for positioning, such as CRS or TRS.

[0023] As mobile devices evolve from primarily handheld phones and smartphones to a host of new devices, such as IOT devices, these devices may become more specialized, generally cheaper, and more diverse in their RF capabilities and requirements. For example, a smartphone may be able to support multiple RF bands, but a cheaper IOT device may only be able to communicate or receive data on certain RF bands or certain portions of an RF band. As a result, it is not possible for some UEs to measure signals such as PRS or CRS across the entire RF band, or to utilize auxiliary data to assist in measurements across the entire RF band or to assist in determining the location of the UE based on measurements across the entire RF band. This means that solutions are needed to support positioning of UEs that only support a portion of the RF bands.

[0024] Figure 1 A diagram of a communication system 100 according to an embodiment is shown. The communication system 100 may be configured to support positioning of UEs that support a portion of the RF band. Here, the communication system 100 includes a UE 105 and components of a fifth generation (5G) network including a next generation (NG) radio access network (RAN) (NG-RAN) 135 and a 5G core network (5GCN) 140. A 5G network may also be referred to as a new radio (NR) network; NG-RAN 135 may be referred to as a 5G RAN or NR RAN; 5GCN 140 may be referred to as an NG core network (NGCN). Standardization of NG-RAN and 5GCN is being conducted in the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). Therefore, NG-RAN 135 and 5GCN 140 may comply with current or future standards for 5G supported by 3GPP. The communication system 100 may further utilize information from a space vehicle (SV) 190 for a global navigation satellite system (GNSS), such as GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, or BeiDou, or some other local or regional satellite positioning system (SPS), such as IRNSS, EGNOS, or WAAS. Additional components of the communication system 100 are described below. The communication system 100 may include additional or alternative components.

[0025] It should be noted that Figure 1Only a generalized illustration of the various components is provided, any or all of which may be utilized as appropriate, and each component may be repeated or omitted as desired. Specifically, although only one UE 105 is shown, it will be understood that many UEs (e.g., hundreds, thousands, millions, etc.) may utilize the communication system 100. Similarly, the communication system 100 may include a greater (or smaller) number of SVs 190, gNBs 110, ng-eNBs 114, AMFs 115, external clients 130, and / or other components. The connections shown connecting the various components in the communication system 100 include data and signaling connections, which may include additional (intermediate) components, direct or indirect physical and / or wireless connections, and / or additional networks. In addition, components may be rearranged, combined, separated, replaced, and / or omitted, depending on the desired functionality.

[0026] although Figure 1 A 5G-based network is illustrated, but similar network implementations and configurations may also be used for other communication technologies, such as 3G, Long Term Evolution (LTE), etc.

[0027] UE 105 may include and / or be referred to as a device, a mobile device, a wireless device, a mobile terminal, a terminal, a mobile station (MS), a terminal (SET) enabled with secure user plane location (SUPL), or some other name. In addition, UE 105 may correspond to a mobile phone, a smart phone, a laptop computer, a tablet computer, a PDA, a tracking device, a navigation device, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, or some other portable or portable device. Typically, although not necessarily, UE 105 may use one or more radio access technologies (RATs) to support wireless communications, such as using Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Wideband CDMA (WCDMA), LTE, High Rate Packet Data (HRPD), IEEE 802.11 WiFi (also known as Wi-Fi), (BT), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), 5G New Radio (NR) (e.g., using NG-RAN 135 and 5GCN 140), etc. UE 105 may also support wireless communications using a wireless local area network (WLAN), which may be connected to other networks (e.g., the Internet) using, for example, a digital subscriber line (DSL) or packet cable. The use of one or more of these RATs may allow UE 105 to communicate with external clients 130 (via Figure 1 Elements of the 5GCN 140 not shown in the figure, or possibly via a Gateway Mobile Location Center (GMLC) 125) and / or allowing an external client 130 to receive location information about the UE 105 (e.g., via the GMLC 125).

[0028] UE 105 may include a single entity, or may include multiple entities, such as in a personal area network where a user may use audio, video and / or data I / O devices and / or body sensors and a separate wired or wireless modem. The estimate of the location of UE 105 may be referred to as location, location estimate, location fix, fix, position, position estimate, or position fix, and may be geographic, providing location coordinates (e.g., latitude and longitude) of UE 105, which may or may not include an altitude component (e.g., altitude, height or depth above or below the ground, floor, or basement). Alternatively, the location of UE 105 may be expressed as an urban location (e.g., with a postal address or designation of a point or small area in a building (e.g., a specific room or floor)). The location of UE 105 may also be expressed as an area or volume (defined in geographic or urban form) in which UE 105 is expected to be located with a certain probability or confidence (e.g., 67%, 95%, etc.). The location of the UE 105 may also be a relative location including, for example, distance and direction or relative X, Y (and Z) coordinates defined relative to some origin of a known location, which may be defined geographically in civil terms, or with reference to a point, area, or volume indicated on a map, floor plan, or building plan. In the description contained herein, unless otherwise stated, the use of the term location may include any of these variations. When calculating the location of the UE, the local x, y, and possibly z coordinates are typically solved first, and then the local coordinates are converted to absolute coordinates (e.g., for latitude, longitude, and altitude above or below mean sea level) if necessary.

[0029] Figure 1 The base stations (BSs) in the NG-RAN 135 shown include NR NodeBs, also referred to as gNBs 110-1, 110-2, and 110-3 (generally referred to as gNBs 110 in this document). A pair of gNBs 110 in the NG-RAN 135 can be connected to each other, for example, Figure 1 105, or indirectly via other gNBs 110. Access to the 5G network is provided to the UE 105 via wireless communications between the UE 105 and one or more gNBs 110, which may provide wireless communications access to the 5GCN 140 on behalf of the UE 105 using 5G NR. 5G NR radio access may also be referred to as NR radio access or 5G radio access. Figure 1 , it is assumed that the primary serving gNB for UE 105 is gNB 110-1, but if UE 105 moves to another location or acts as a secondary gNB, other gNBs (e.g., gNB 110-2 and / or gNB 110-3) can act as serving gNBs to provide additional throughput and bandwidth to UE 105.

[0030] Figure 1 The base stations (BSs) in the NG-RAN 135 shown in FIG. 1 may also or instead include a next generation evolved NodeB, also referred to as ng-eNB 114. The ng-eNB 114 may be connected to one or more gNBs 110 in the NG-RAN 135, for example, directly or indirectly via other gNBs 110 and / or other ng-eNBs. The ng-eNB 114 may provide LTE radio access and / or evolved LTE (eLTE) radio access to the UE 105. Figure 1 Some gNBs 110 (e.g., gNB 110-2) and / or ng-eNBs 114 in the FIGURES may be configured to function as positioning-only beacons that may transmit signals (e.g., PRS signals) and / or may broadcast assistance data to assist in positioning of UE 105, but may not receive signals from UE 105 or other UEs. Figure 1 Only one ng-eNB 114 is shown in the figure, but some embodiments may include multiple ng-eNBs 114.

[0031] As pointed out, although Figure 1 Nodes configured to communicate according to 5G NR and LTE communication protocols for NG-RAN 135 are depicted, but nodes configured to communicate according to other communication protocols may be used, such as the LTE protocol for an evolved universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS) terrestrial radio access network (E-UTRAN) or the IEEE 802.11x protocol for a WLAN. For example, in a fourth generation (4G) evolved packet system (EPS) that provides LTE radio access to UE 105, the RAN may include an E-UTRAN, which may include base stations including evolved Node Bs (eNBs) that support LTE radio access. The core network for the EPS may include an evolved packet core (EPC). The EPS may then include an E-UTRAN plus an EPC, where the E-UTRAN corresponds to the NG-RAN 135 and the EPC corresponds to the LTE radio access network. Figure 1 5GCN 140 in. The methods and techniques described herein for supporting positioning of UE 105 supporting partial RF bands may be applicable to such other networks.

[0032] The gNB 110 and ng-eNB 114 may communicate with an access and mobility management function (AMF) 115 and, for positioning functions, with a location management function (LMF) 120. The AMF 115 may support mobility of the UE 105, including cell changes and handovers, and may participate in supporting signaling connections to the UE 105 and possibly data and voice bearers for the UE 105. The LMF 120 may support positioning of the UE 105 when the UE 105 accesses the NG-RAN 135, and may support positioning procedures / methods such as Assisted GNSS (A-GNSS), Observed Time Difference of Arrival (OTDOA), Real-Time Kinematics (RTK), Precise Point Positioning (PPP), Differential GNSS (DGNSS), Enhanced Cell ID (ECID), Angle of Arrival (AOA), Angle of Departure (AOD), and / or other positioning methods. The LMF 120 may also process a location service request for the UE 105 received, for example, from the AMF 115 or from the GMLC 125. The LMF 120 may be connected to the AMF 115 and / or the GMLC 125. The LMF 120 may be referred to by other names such as location manager (LM), location function (LF), commercial LMF (CLMF), or value-added LMF (VLMF). In some embodiments, a node / system implementing the LMF 120 may additionally or alternatively implement other types of location support modules, such as an enhanced serving mobile location center (E-SMLC). Note that in some embodiments, at least a portion of the positioning functions (including the derivation of the position of the UE 105) may be performed at the UE 105 (e.g., using signal measurements obtained by the UE 105 for signals transmitted by wireless nodes such as the gNB 110 and the ng-eNB 114, and assistance data provided to the UE 105, for example, by the LMF 120).

[0033] The Gateway Mobile Location Center (GMLC) 125 may support location requests for the UE 105 received from the external client 130 and may forward the location requests to the AMF 115 for forwarding by the AMF 115 to the LMF 120, or may forward the location requests directly to the LMF 120. A location response (e.g., containing a location estimate for the UE 105) from the LMF 120 may similarly be returned to the GMLC 125 directly or via the AMF 115, and the GMLC 125 may then return a location response (e.g., containing a location estimate) to the external client 130. The GMLC 125 may communicate with the external client 130 at any time. Figure 1 140 is shown as connected to AMF 115 and LMF 120, although in some implementations 5GCN 140 may support only one of these connections.

[0034] like Figure 1As further shown, LMF 120 may communicate with gNB 110 and / or ng-eNB 114 using a new radio position protocol A (which may be referred to as NPPa or NRPPa) which may be defined in 3GPP Technical Specification (TS) 38.455. NRPPa may be the same as, similar to, or an extension of LTE Positioning Protocol A (LPPa) defined in 3GPP TS 36.455, wherein NRPPa messages are transmitted between gNB 110 and LMF 120 and / or between ng-eNB 114 and LMF 120 via AMF 115. Figure 1 As further shown, the LMF 120 and the UE 105 may communicate using the LTE Positioning Protocol (LPP), which may be defined in 3GPP TS 36.355. The LMF 120 and the UE 105 may also or alternatively communicate using a new radio positioning protocol (which may be referred to as NPP or NRPP), which may be the same as, similar to, or an extension of the LPP. Here, LPP and / or NPP messages may be transmitted between the UE 105 and the LMF 120 via the AMF 115 and the serving gNB 110-1 or the serving ng-eNB 114 of the UE 105. For example, the LPP and / or NPP messages may be transmitted between the LMF 120 and the AMF 115 using a service operation based on a transport protocol or a hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP), and may be transmitted between the AMF 115 and the UE 105 using a 5G non-access stratum (NAS) protocol. The LPP and / or NPP protocols may be used to support positioning of UE 105 using UE-assisted and / or UE-based positioning methods (e.g., A-GNSS, RTK, OTDOA, and / or ECID). The NRPPa protocol may be used to support network-based positioning methods such as ECID (e.g., when used with measurements obtained by gNB 110 or ng-eNB 114) and / or may be used by LMF 120 to obtain location information related to information from gNB 110 and / or ng-eNB 114 to support positioning of UE 105. (e.g., defining parameters for PRS transmissions from gNB 110 and / or ng-eNB 114)

[0035] Using UE-assisted positioning methods, UE 105 can obtain location measurements (e.g., measurements of signals sent by gNB 110, ng-eNB 114, and / or SV 190) and send the measurements to a location server (e.g., LMF 120) to calculate a location estimate for UE 105. For example, the location measurements can include one or more of received signal strength indication (RSSI), round-trip signal propagation time (RTT), reference signal time difference (RSTD), reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal received quality, AOA, and / or AOD for gNB 110, ng-eNB 114, and / or WLAN access point (AP). The location measurements can also or instead include measurements of GNSS pseudorange, code phase, and / or carrier phase for SV 190. With a UE-based positioning method, UE 105 may obtain location measurements (e.g., which may be the same or similar to location measurements used for a UE-assisted positioning method) and may calculate the location of UE 105 (e.g., with the help of assistance data received from a location server such as LMF 120 or broadcast by gNB 110, ng-eNB 114, or other base stations or APs). With a network-based positioning method, one or more base stations (e.g., gNB 110 and / or ng-eNB 114) or APs may obtain location measurements for signals sent by UE 105 (e.g., measurements of RSSI, RTT, RSRP, RSRQ, AOA, or time of arrival (TOA)) and / or may receive measurements obtained by UE 105 and may send the measurements to a location server (e.g., LMF 120) for use in calculating a location estimate for UE 105.

[0036] The information provided to LMF 120 by gNB 110 and / or ng-eNB 114 using NRPPa may include timing and configuration information for PRS transmission and location coordinates. LMF 120 may then provide some or all of this information to UE 105 as assistance data in LPP and / or NPP messages via NG-RAN 135 and 5GCN 140.

[0037] The LPP or NPP message sent from the LMF 120 to the UE 105 may instruct the UE 105 to do any of a variety of things, depending on the functionality desired. For example, the LPP or NPP message may contain instructions for the UE 105 to obtain measurements for GNSS (or A-GNSS), WLAN, and / or OTDOA (or some other positioning method). In the case of OTDOA, the LPP or NPP message may instruct the UE 105 to obtain one or more measurements (e.g., RSTD measurements) of PRS signals transmitted within a particular cell supported by a particular gNB 110 and / or ng-eNB 114 (or supported by some other type of base station such as an eNB or WiFi AP). The RSTD measurement may include the time difference between a signal (e.g., a PRS signal) transmitted or broadcast by one gNB 110 and a similar signal transmitted by another gNB 110 arriving at the UE 105. UE 105 may send the measurements back to LMF 120 via serving gNB 110-1 (or serving ng-eNB 114) and AMF 115 in an LPP or NPP message (e.g., within a 5G NAS message).

[0038] As noted, although the communication system 100 is described with respect to 5G technology, the communication system 100 may be implemented to support other communication technologies for supporting mobile devices (e.g., UE 105) and interacting with the mobile devices (e.g., to implement voice, data, positioning, and other functions), such as GSM, WCDMA, LTE, etc. In some such embodiments, the 5GCN 140 may be configured to control different air interfaces. For example, in some embodiments, the 5GCN 140 may control the non-3GPP interworking function (N3IWF, in the 5GCN 140) directly or using the non-3GPP interworking function (N3IWF, in the 5GCN 140) in the 5GCN 140. Figure 1115). For example, the WLAN may support IEEE 802.11 WiFi access for the UE 105 and may include one or more WiFi APs. Here, the N3IWF may be connected to the WLAN and other elements in the 5GCN 140, such as the AMF 115. In some other embodiments, both the NG-RAN 135 and the 5GCN 140 may be replaced by other RANs and other core networks. For example, in the EPS, the NG-RAN 135 may be replaced by an E-UTRAN including an eNB, the 5GCN 140 may be replaced by an EPC including a mobility management entity (MME), the MME replaces the AMF 115, the E-SMLC replaces the LMF 120, and the GMLC may be similar to the GMLC 125. In such an EPS, the E-SMLC may use LPPa instead of NRPPa to send location information to and receive location information from the eNB in ​​the E-UTRAN, and may use LPP to support positioning of the UE 105. In these other embodiments, support for positioning of UE 105 supporting partial RF bands may be supported in a manner similar to that described herein for 5G, except that the functions and processes described herein for gNB 110, ng-eNB 114, AMF 115, and LMF 120 may, in some cases, be applied alternatively to other network elements, such as eNB, WiFi AP, MME, and E-SMLC.

[0039] To support certain positioning methods, such as OTDOA and the transmission of PRS or other signals used in positioning of UE 105, the base stations may be synchronized. In a synchronized network, the transmission timing of the gNBs 110 may be synchronized so that each gNB 110 has the same transmission timing as every other gNB 110, thereby achieving a very high accuracy, e.g., 50 nanoseconds or less. Alternatively, the gNBs 110 may be synchronized at the radio frame or subframe level so that each gNB 110 transmits a radio frame or subframe during the same duration as every other gNB 110 (e.g., so that each gNB 110 starts and ends transmitting a radio frame or subframe at almost exactly the same time as every other gNB 110), but without necessarily maintaining the same counter or numbering for the radio frames or subframes. For example, while one gNB 110 is sending a subframe or radio frame with a counter or number of zero (which may be the first radio frame or subframe in some periodically repeating sequence of radio frames or subframes), another gNB 110 may be sending a radio frame or subframe with a different number or counter (e.g., one, ten, one hundred, etc.).

[0040] Synchronization of the transmission timing of the ng-eNB 114 in the NG-RAN 135 may be supported in a manner similar to the synchronization of the gNB 110, although since the ng-eNB 114 may typically use a different frequency than the gNB 110 (to avoid interference), the ng-eNB 114 may not always be synchronized to the gNB 110. Synchronization of the gNB 110 and ng-eNB 114 may be achieved using a GPS receiver or a GNSS receiver in each of the gNB 110 and ng-eNB 114, or by other means (e.g., using the IEEE 1588 Precision Time Protocol).

[0041] To support positioning methods such as OTDOA in which UE 105 measures PRS, CRS, TRS, or other signals transmitted by gNB 110 and / or ng-eNB 114, UE 105 may indicate to LMF 120 the RF bands supported by UE 105. LMF 120 may then request measurements (e.g., RSTD measurements) of signals in one or more supported RF bands from UE 105, and may provide assistance data to UE 105 to assist in making these measurements. For example, the assistance data may indicate carrier frequency, bandwidth, PRS positioning occasions, PRS code sequence, PRS muting mode, and other configuration parameters for the PRS signal for which measurements are requested, as described later in detail in detail in FIG. Figure 3 and Figure 4 Described in more detail. However, an important consideration that may not be supported is that due to various limitations such as RF front-end limitations, cost constraints, filter limitations on the entire band, etc., the UE 105 may not support the entire band of PRS (or other signals), but only support part of the band. This limitation is particularly likely for higher frequency RF bands that may have wider bandwidths. Examples of such RF bands include 27.5-28.35 GHz and 37-40 GHz in the United States, 26.5-29.5 GHz in South Korea, 27.5-28.28 GHz in Japan, 24.25-27.5 GHz and 37-43.5 GHz in China, 26.5-27.5 GHz in Sweden, and 24.25-27.5 GHz in the European Union, which can be allocated for 5G trials and evaluations and then allocated for commercial operations. For these RF bands (and / or other RF bands), the UE 105 may support only a portion of the overall frequency range, for example, may support 200 MHz of frequencies at the top, bottom, or somewhere in the middle of the frequency range.

[0042] In the absence of the ability to indicate partial band support, the UE 105 may determine not to indicate support for the RF band to the LMF 120, which may result in the LMF 120 not requesting measurements for the RF band, which may reduce positioning accuracy or prevent positioning of the UE 105. Alternatively, when the UE 105 only partially supports the RF band, the UE 105 may indicate support for the entire band to the LMF 120, which may result in requesting measurements by the LMF 120 that the UE 105 cannot perform or can only perform with compromised accuracy and reliability, which may again reduce positioning accuracy or prevent positioning of the UE 105.

[0043] To overcome such limitations, the UE 105 may indicate to the LMF 120 whether the UE 105 supports only a portion of the RF band, and may include information about which portions of the RF band are supported. As an example, this information may be included as part of the UE 105 positioning capabilities transmitted to the LMF 120 using LPP or NPP.

[0044] UE 105 may indicate partial support for an RF band in different ways. In one embodiment, UE 105 may indicate supported resource blocks (RBs) (or subcarriers) within the RF band. For example, UE 105 may provide LMF 120 with a set of integers I1, I2, I3, ..., where I1 indicates the number of consecutive supported RBs starting from the lowest frequency of the RF band, I2 indicates the number of consecutive unsupported RBs immediately following the supported RBs indicated by I1, and I3 indicates the number of consecutive supported RBs immediately following the unsupported RBs indicated by I2, etc.

[0045] In another embodiment, the UE 105 may indicate partial support for an RF band by indicating supported frequency regions within the RF band. For example, the UE 105 may indicate one or more supported frequency regions by providing a frequency range for each supported region (e.g., 50 MHz, 100 MHz, etc.), and may indicate where each supported frequency range appears in the RF band by indicating whether it is at the top, bottom, or somewhere in the middle of the band (and then possibly also providing an offset to the supported frequency range relative to the top or bottom of the range).

[0046] Other embodiments may include the UE 105 providing a bitmap to the LMF 120, where the bitmap refers to a specific set of consecutive RBs (or subcarriers) and indicates whether each RB or subcarrier is supported (e.g., by a bit with a value of one) or not supported (e.g., by a bit with a value of zero). In another embodiment, the UE 105 may provide a set of integer or enumeration values ​​to the LMF 120 to indicate a specific set of RBs (or subcarriers) that are supported or not supported.

[0047] Based on the indication of partial RF band support received from UE 105, LMF 120 can request measurements (e.g., RSRD measurements) from UE 105 and / or provide auxiliary data to UE 105 only for PRS, CRS, TRS, or other signals that are completely contained within (or otherwise completely supported by) a portion of any RF band indicated as supported by UE 105.

[0048] Figure 2 1 shows that during a positioning session between UE 105 and LMF 120, Figure 1 200 of various messages sent between components of the communication system 100. Although the flowchart 200 is discussed for ease of illustration, it is related to 5G NR wireless access using gNB 110. Figure 2 Similar signaling flows involving ng-eNB 114 or eNB instead of gNB 110 will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art. In addition, in some embodiments, UE 105 itself may be configured to determine its position using, for example, assistance data provided to it. In signaling flow 200, it is assumed that UE 105 and LMF 120 communicate using the previously mentioned LPP and / or NPP positioning protocols. Therefore, messages used for signaling flow 200 are referred to as LPP / NPP messages, which may include LPP messages (without using NPP), NPP messages (without using LPP), or LPP messages combined with NPP messages (e.g., where the NPP message is encapsulated within an LPP message). However, messages for other positioning protocols may also be used in other signaling flows similar to signaling flow 200.

[0049] In some embodiments, at action 201, when LMF 120 receives a positioning request, a positioning session for UE 105 may be triggered. Depending on the scenario, the positioning request may arrive at LMF 120 (e.g., via serving gNB 110-1 and AMF 115) from AMF 115, from GMLC 125, or from UE 105 (e.g., via serving gNB 110-1 and AMF 115). Figure 1 In some implementations, LMF 120 may then query AMF 115 for information about UE 105, and AMF 115 may then send the information about UE 105 to LMF 120 ( Figure 2 This information may indicate that the UE has 5G NR radio access (for Figure 2105) and may provide an identification (ID) of the current NR serving cell of UE 105 (e.g., a cell supported by gNB 110-1, which may be the serving gNB of UE 105) and / or may indicate that UE 105 supports positioning using LPP / NPP. For example, when UE 105 obtains a signaling link to AMF 115 and / or registers with AMF 115, AMF 115 may have obtained some or all of this information from UE 105 and / or from gNB 110-1. In some other implementations, at action 201, the same or similar information may be included in the positioning request sent by AMF 115 to LMF 120.

[0050] To start a positioning session (e.g., and based on an indication that the UE has 5G NR radio access that supports LPP / NPP), at action 202, the LMF 120 sends an LPP / NPP request capability message to the AMF 115 serving the UE 105 (e.g., using a service operation based on a transport protocol or HTTP). At action 203, the AMF 115 may include the LPP / NPP request capability message in a 5G NAS transport message that is sent to the UE 105 (e.g., such as Figure 1 As shown, via serving gNB 110-1). At action 204, UE 105 responds to AMF 115 with an LPP / NPP provision capability message, which is also sent within a 5G NAS transport message. At action 205, AMF 115 extracts the LPP / NPP provision capability message from the 5G NAS transport message and relays the LPP / NPP provision capability message to LMF 120 (e.g., using a service operation based on a transport protocol or HTTP). Here, the LPP / NPP provision capability message sent at actions 204 and 205 may indicate the positioning capabilities of UE 105 with respect to LPP / NPP, for example, LPP and / or NPP positioning methods supported by UE 105 when accessing a 5G NR network and associated LPP and / or NPP assistance data (e.g., A-GNSS positioning, OTDOA positioning, ECID positioning, WLAN positioning, etc.).

[0051] The positioning capabilities provided by UE 105 at actions 204 and 205 may indicate the positioning capabilities supported by UE 105 with respect to the RF bands, as described above. For example, the positioning capabilities may include an identification of at least one partial RF band, wherein the partial RF band is contained within the complete RF band. The identification of at least one partial RF band may indicate that UE 105 is configured to measure at least one partial RF band and is not configured to measure the complete RF band. In another example, if the complete RF band is listed without excluding any frequency, frequency range, resource block, reference signal, etc., this may indicate to LMF 120 that UE 105 is configured to measure the complete RF band. These positioning capabilities may help LMF 120 determine the appropriate one or more positioning methods, appropriate signal measurement requests, and / or appropriate assistance data for UE 120.

[0052] At actions 204 and 205, the identification of at least one portion of the RF band by the UE 105 may include an identification of at least one resource block (RB), an identification of at least one subcarrier (SC), an identification of at least one frequency range, an identification of a minimum frequency, an identification of a maximum frequency, an identification of an offset from a minimum frequency, an identification of an offset from a maximum frequency, or any combination thereof. In the example of LTE Band 41, which may span the frequency range 2496 MHz-2690 MHz, the UE 105 may indicate in the positioning capabilities sent at actions 204 and 205 that the UE is configured to measure a subrange of 2496 MHz to 2516 MHz. As a result, the UE 105 indicates that it is configured to measure the subrange and that it is not configured to measure the entirety of LTE Band 41.

[0053] In another example, the UE 105 may indicate support for at least one partial RF band by indicating support for a frequency range and an offset from a minimum frequency at actions 204 and 205, such as by indicating support for a 100 MHz frequency range for LTE Band 41 offset by 20 MHz from a minimum frequency of 2496 MHz. In this example, the UE 105 may indicate the RF band (LTE Band 41), the supported frequency range (100 MHz), the offset (20 MHz), and the minimum frequency (e.g., which may be referred to using a marker or may be assumed by default by the LMF 120).

[0054] According to one aspect of the present disclosure, the UE 105 may indicate at least one partial RF band in actions 204 and 205 by indicating the RF band and an offset, wherein the offset applies to a minimum or maximum frequency of the RF band (e.g., wherein the indication of the minimum or maximum frequency may be preconfigured, standardized, or may be explicitly provided using a tag or other parameter). In this regard, there may be a convention that the UE 105 is able to (i) support all frequencies between the minimum frequency of the RF band and the minimum frequency plus the offset when the minimum frequency is indicated, or (ii) support all frequencies starting from the maximum frequency minus the offset to the maximum frequency when the maximum frequency is indicated. For example, the UE 105 may indicate LTE Band 41, an offset of 20 MHz, and a maximum frequency of LTE Band 41. As a result, the LMF 102 may infer that the UE 105 is configured to measure a frequency range of 2670 MHz to 2690 MHz.

[0055] On the other hand, in actions 204 and 205, UE 105 may indicate at least one partial RF band by indicating a start frequency and an end frequency. For example, UE 105 may indicate a start frequency of 2659 MHz and an end frequency of 2679 MHz for LTE Band 41, which may indicate that UE 105 is not configured to measure the entirety of LTE Band 41, but is only configured to measure the frequency range of 2659 MHz to 2679 MHz.

[0056] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, at actions 204 and 205, the UE 105 may provide a plurality of partial RF bands, wherein the plurality of partial RF bands have non-overlapping RF frequencies. For example, the UE may specify that the UE 105 is configured to measure frequency ranges 2496 MHz to 2596 MHz, 2610 MHz to 2630 MHz, and 2650 MHz to 2670 MHz in one of the various ways described throughout this specification. This may indicate to the LMF 120 that the UE 105 cannot measure LTE Band 41 as a whole, but may measure three RF frequency ranges within the indicated LTE Band 41.

[0057] In another aspect, the at least one portion of the RF frequency band indicated by the UE 105 at actions 204 and 205 may include a plurality of one or more resource blocks (RBs), a plurality of one or more subcarriers (SCs), a plurality of one or more frequency ranges, or any combination thereof. An RB may include a plurality of contiguous subcarriers (e.g., for 5G NR or LTE), such as in combination with Figure 3 and Figure 4 Describe in more detail.

[0058] The identification of at least one partial RF band provided by the UE 105 at actions 204 and 205 may include a bit string, a set of integers, a set of identifiers, or any combination thereof. In one implementation, the UE 105 may specify a frequency or frequency range via a bit string, the frequency or frequency range including at least one partial RF band supported within the full RF band, wherein the bit string may have a bit for each frequency within the band. For example, in LTE band 38 spanning a band range of 2570 MHz to 2620 MHz with a bandwidth of 50 MHz, if the first 10 MHz includes a partial band supported by the UE 105, the UE may provide a bit string comprising 50 bits, the first 10 bits are each set to 1 to indicate support for the first 10 MHz, and the remaining 40 bits are each set to 0 to indicate that the remaining 40 MHz are not supported.

[0059] In another aspect, at least one portion of the RF band may be indicated by the UE 105 at stages 204 and 205 by providing an integer or a set of integers. For example, integers at odd positions within the set of integers (e.g., the first, third, fifth integers, etc.) may indicate the number of consecutive RBs supported by the UE 105, while integers at even positions within the set of integers (e.g., the second, fourth integers, etc.) may indicate the number of consecutive RBs not supported by the UE 105. Thus, for an RF band including 10 consecutive RBs, the UE 105 may provide a set of integers including (2, 1, 3, 4) to indicate that the first 2 consecutive RBs in the RF band are supported, the next RB is not supported, the next 3 RBs are supported, and the next and last 4 RBs are not supported. In a variation of this aspect, the indication of support and non-support may be reversed such that the first integer in the set of integers indicates the number of RBs that are not supported starting from the first RB of the RF band. Integer sets may be used in a similar manner to indicate support and non-support of SCs and / or frequency ranges by the UE 105.

[0060] Based on the positioning capabilities received by LMF 120 from UE 105 at action 205, LMF 120 may determine one or more positioning methods for the position of UE 105 at block 206. For example, LMF 120 may determine at block 206 a positioning method that does not rely on the portion of RF bands supported by UE 105 or that can be reliably and accurately supported by UE 105 using the portion of RF bands supported by UE 105, and may not determine at block 206 a positioning method that requires UE 105 to support one or more RF bands but cannot be reliably and accurately supported using the portion of RF bands supported by UE 105.

[0061] The LMF 120 may then send an NRPPa Information Request message to the AMF 115 at action 207, which may be relayed by the AMF 115 to the serving node gNB 110-1 at action 208. The NRPPa Information Request may request location-related information from the gNB 110-1 to enable support of one or more positioning methods determined at block 206. For example, in the case of the OTDOA positioning method, the requested location information may include the location of the gNB 110-1 and the PRS configuration parameters of the gNB 110-1. The serving gNB 110-1 responds at action 209 with an NRPPa Information Response message, which may be relayed to the LMF 120 via the AMF 115 at action 210. The NRPPa Information Response may provide some or all of the requested location-related information, such as the PRS configuration parameters of the gNB 110-1. LMF 120 may repeat actions 207-210 to obtain the following information from other gNBs 110 (e.g., gNBs 110-2 and 110-3) near UE 105: Figure 2 (not shown)) obtains similar location information (e.g., PRS configuration parameters).

[0062] Based on the positioning capabilities received by the LMF 120 from the UE 105 at action 205 and / or the location-related information obtained for the gNB 110 at actions 207-210, the LMF 120 may determine, at block 211, one or more location measurements or location measurement types for one or more location methods determined at block 206, and / or may determine assistance data to be sent to the UE 105 to assist the UE 105 in determining the positioning method determined, the determined location measurement, and / or the determined location estimate of the UE 105. As part of the determination at block 211, the LMF 105 may utilize any indication of support for partial RB bands provided by the UE 105 at actions 204 and 205, as previously described. For example, the LMF 120 may determine, at block 211, location measurements that the UE 105 may support using the partial RF bands supported by the UE 105, and may not determine, at block 206, location measurements that the UE 105 may not support using the partial RF bands supported by the UE 105. Similarly, at box 211, LMF 120 can determine auxiliary data, which may include location-related information received at action 210 and / or can assist UE 105 in obtaining a determined location measurement at box 211 given an indication of UE 105 support for a portion of the RF band.

[0063] As an example of the determination at block 211, LMF 120 may determine to request OTDOARSTD measurements from UE 105 for a neighboring cell supported by gNB 110-2, where the neighboring cell supports multiple PRS configurations with different bandwidths, different frequencies (e.g., using different RBs), and in some cases, frequency hopping. LMF 120 may then include assistance data for only those PRS configurations that use one or more of the portions of the RF bands supported by UE 105 for those bandwidths, frequencies, and any frequency hopping, and do not use RF bands and portions of RF bands that are not supported by UE 105. In an aspect, where a PRS configuration for a neighboring cell uses frequency hopping across the entire RF band and where the UE 105 supports only a portion of the entire RF band, the LMF 120 may (i) determine assistance data identifying PRS positioning opportunities for a PRS configuration whose bandwidth is completely contained within a portion of the RF band supported by the UE 105, and (ii) may omit assistance data identifying PRS positioning opportunities for a PRS configuration whose bandwidth is partially or completely outside a portion of the RF band supported by the UE 105. This aspect may enable the UE 105 to measure all PRS positioning opportunities for the PRS configuration for the neighboring cell included in the assistance data by the LMF 120. In one example, the PRS positioning opportunities for the PRS configuration for the neighboring cell may have a period of 160 ms and may use frequency hopping in a cyclic manner over four separate frequency ranges, only one of which is completely contained in the portion of the RF band supported by the UE 105. In this example, LMF 120 can indicate to UE 105 that the periodicity of the PRS configuration is 640 ms (i.e., four times of 160 ms) instead of 160 ms, so that UE 105 only measures every fourth PRS positioning opportunity, and LMF 120 can be aligned with a specific positioning opportunity using a frequency range supported by UE 105 (e.g., via other PRS configuration parameters, such as the starting subframe number).

[0064] In one implementation, the LMF 120 determines assistance data at block 211 based on at least one partial RF band indicated in the positioning capabilities received at action 205. For example, if the at least one partial RF band is designated as 2500 MHz to 2600 MHz, the assistance data may be limited to the partial RF band (e.g., may include configuration parameters for PRS signals transmitted by one or more gNBs 110 within the partial RF band) and may not include assistance data for an associated full RF band (e.g., LTE Band 41) (e.g., may not include configuration parameters for PRS signals transmitted by one or more gNBs 110 using the entire RF band). The assistance data determined at block 211 may include location-related information received by the LMF 120 at actions 207-210 and / or other assistance data known to the LMF 120 or obtained from other sources (e.g., GNSS or RTK reference stations or reference networks).

[0065] The LMF 120 then sends the assistance data determined at block 211 to the UE 105. At action 212, the assistance data is sent in an LPP / NPP Provide Assistance Data message sent to the AMF 115, and at action 213, the assistance data is relayed to the UE 105 in a 5G NAS Transport message. In the case of OTDOA positioning, the assistance data may include identification of reference cells and neighboring cells supported by the gNB 110, and may include information for each cell, such as the cell carrier frequency, the reference signal (RS) used for the cell, or PRS configuration parameters (e.g., including PRS bandwidth, periodicity and duration of PRS positioning occasions, PRS code sequence, PRS muting, etc.).

[0066] In one implementation, the LMF 120 may indicate which portions of the assistance data sent at actions 212 and 213 are relevant to the UE 105 based on at least one partial RF band in the positioning capabilities received at action 205. For example, the LMF 120 may send complete assistance data at actions 212 and 213 for positioning methods determined at block 206 for various complete RF bands that may be sent (e.g., as PRS signals) by one or more wireless nodes (e.g., gNB 110, ng-eNB 114, etc.). In this case, given that the UE 105 supports at least one partial RF band, the LMF 120 may also indicate to the UE 105 in the LPP / NPP Provide Assistance Data messages sent at actions 212 and 213 which portions of the assistance may be relevant to the UE 105.

[0067] The LPP / NPP Provide Assistance Data messages sent at actions 212 and 213 may be followed by an LPP / NPP Request Location Information message, again sent from the LMF 120 to the AMF 115 at action 214, which is relayed by the AMF in a 5G NAS Transport message to the UE 105 at action 214. The LPP / NPP Request Location Information message may request one or more location measurements and / or location estimates determined at block 211 from the UE 105. The location measurements may include, for example, Reference Signal Time Difference (RSTD) measurements for OTDOA and / or pseudorange (or code phase) measurements for A-GNSS.

[0068] At block 216, the UE 105 may then obtain some or all of the location measurements (and other information, such as a location estimate) requested at actions 214 and 215. The location measurements may be obtained based at least in part on PRS signals transmitted by various cells detected by the UE 105. The location measurements may be obtained by the UE 105 using one or more partial RF bands supported by the UE 105, which may be assisted by the assistance data received at action 213. In one implementation, the UE 105 may obtain some or all of the location measurements independently of a request from the LMF (e.g., actions 214 and 215 do not occur). For example, if the UE 105 has assistance data to perform the measurements, the UE 105 may perform UE-based OTDOA without network involvement.

[0069] In some embodiments, at least some of the location measurements and / or other location information (e.g., location estimate) obtained by the UE 105 at block 216 are provided in an LPP / NPP Provide Location Information message, which is sent from the UE 105 to the AMF 115 in a 5G NAS transport message at action 217. The AMF 115 extracts the LPP / NPP Provide Location Information message from the 5G NAS transport message and relays it to the LMF 120 at action 218. Using this information, the LMF 120 may determine the UE location (or determine an approximate location) at block 219 and provide a location response containing the determined location to the requesting entity at action 220. As noted, in some embodiments, at least some location determination operations may be performed at the UE 105.

[0070] exist Figure 2, LMF 120 may request UE 105 to obtain OTDOA RSTD measurements at actions 214 and 215, and the OTDOA RSTD measurements obtained at block 216 may be obtained by UE 105 by measuring PRS signals transmitted from gNB 110 (e.g., gNB 110-1, 110-2, and 110-3). Since LMF 120 ensures at block 211 that the requested location measurements can be supported by these partial RF bands, UE 105 may obtain OTDOA RSTD measurements at block 216 only for PRS and other RS ​​signals included in the partial RF bands supported by UE 105.

[0071] Figure 3 The structure of an example LTE subframe sequence 300 with PRS positioning opportunities is shown. Figure 3 An example of a subframe sequence for LTE associated with EPS is provided, but similar or identical subframe sequence implementations may be implemented for other communication technologies / protocols such as 5G NR. For example, support for PRS transmission by a gNB 110 or ng-eNB 114 in the communication system 100 may be similar to that described in reference Figure 3 and Figure 4 Similar or identical to that described for LTE in EPS. Figure 3 In FIG. 1 , time is represented horizontally (e.g., on the X-axis) with time increasing from left to right, while frequency is represented vertically (e.g., on the Y-axis) with frequency increasing (or decreasing) from bottom to top. Figure 3 As shown, the downlink and uplink LTE radio frames 310 may each have a duration of 10 milliseconds (ms). For the downlink frequency division duplex (FDD) mode, in the illustrated embodiment, the radio frame 310 is organized into ten subframes 312 each having a duration of 1 ms. Each subframe 312 includes two time slots 314, each of which has a duration of, for example, 0.5 ms.

[0072] In the frequency domain, the available bandwidth can be divided into evenly spaced orthogonal subcarriers 316. For example, for a normal length cyclic prefix using, for example, 15 kHz spacing, the subcarriers 316 can be grouped into groups of twelve (12) subcarriers. Each grouping of 12 subcarriers 316 is called a resource block (RB), and in the above example, the number of subcarriers in a resource block can be written as For a given channel bandwidth, the number of available resource blocks on each channel 322 (also referred to as the transmit bandwidth configuration 322) is expressed as For example, for the 3 MHz channel bandwidth in the above example, the number of available resource blocks on each channel 322 is given by Given.

[0073] exist Figure 1 In the communication system 100 shown, a gNB 110 or ng-eNB 114, such as any of gNBs 110-1, 110-2, or 110-3, may transmit frames or other physical layer signaling sequences according to a method similar to or the same as Figure 3 and (as described later) Figure 4 The frame configuration shown supports PRS signals (i.e., downlink (DL) PRS) that can be measured and used for UE (e.g., UE 105) positioning determination. As noted, other types of wireless nodes and base stations can also be configured to transmit similar Figure 3 and Figure 4 Since the PRS transmission of a wireless node or base station is directed to all UEs within the radio range, it can also be considered that the wireless node or base station transmits (or broadcasts) the PRS.

[0074] After appropriate configuration (e.g., by an operations and maintenance (O&M) server), the PRS, which has been defined in 3GPP LTE Release 9 and higher, may be sent by a wireless node (e.g., an eNB). The PRS may be sent in special positioning subframes (also referred to as PRS subframes) grouped into positioning opportunities (also referred to as PRS positioning opportunities). For example, in LTE, a PRS positioning opportunity may include a number N of consecutive positioning subframes. PRS , where the number N PRS can be between 1 and 160 (e.g., can include values ​​1, 2, 4, and 6, among other values). The PRS positioning opportunities for cells supported by the wireless node may be spaced in milliseconds (or subframes) (denoted by the number T PRS represents) occurs periodically, where T PRS Might be equal to 5, 10, 20, 40, 80, 160, 320, 640, or 1280 (or any other suitable value). As an example, Figure 3 shows the period of positioning opportunity, where N PRS 318 is equal to 4 and T PRS 320 is greater than or equal to 20. In some embodiments, T may be measured based on the number of subframes between the start of consecutive positioning opportunities. PRS .

[0075] Within each positioning occasion, the PRS may be sent at constant power. The PRS may also be sent at zero power (i.e., muted). Turning off muting of regularly scheduled PRS transmissions may be useful when PRS signals between different cells overlap because they occur at the same or nearly the same time. In this case, PRS signals from some cells may be muted while PRS signals from other cells are sent (e.g., at constant power). A UE (e.g., Figure 1105) can help signal acquisition and RSTD measurement of PRS signals that are not muted (by avoiding interference from PRS signals that have been muted). Muting can be considered as not sending PRS for a given positioning opportunity for a particular cell. A muting pattern can be signaled to the UE 105 using a bit string (e.g., using LPP or NPP). For example, in the bit string that signals the muting pattern, if the bit at position j is set to "0", the UE 105 can infer that the PRS is muted at the jth positioning opportunity.

[0076] To further improve the audibility of the PRS, the positioning subframe can be a low-interference subframe transmitted without a user data channel. As a result, in an ideally synchronized network, the PRS can receive interference from other cell PRSs with the same PRS pattern index (i.e., with the same frequency shift), but not from data transmissions. For example, the frequency shift in LTE is defined as the PRS ID of the cell or transmission point (TP) (denoted as ), or if no PRS ID is assigned, it is defined as the physical cell identifier (PCI) (denoted as ), which results in an effective frequency reuse factor of 6, as described in 3GPP TS 36.211.

[0077] To also improve the audibility of the PRS (e.g., when the PRS bandwidth is limited, such as using only 6 resource blocks corresponding to a 1.4 MHz bandwidth), consecutive PRS positioning opportunities (or consecutive PRS subframes) may be altered in a known and predictable manner by frequency modulation. In addition, a cell supported by a wireless node may support more than one PRS configuration, wherein each PRS configuration includes a different sequence of PRS positioning opportunities, each positioning opportunity having a specific number of subframes (N PRS ) and a specific period (T PRS ). The wireless node may also support further enhancements of PRS.

[0078] As discussed herein, in some embodiments, OTDOA assistance data may be provided by a location server (e.g., Figure 1 The assistance data may be provided to the UE 105 for a "reference cell" and one or more "neighboring cells" or "adjacent cells" relative to the "reference cell" by the LMF 120, E-SMLC, etc. For example, the assistance data may provide the center channel frequency of each cell, various PRS configuration parameters (e.g., N PRS 、T PRS , mute mode, frequency hopping sequence, code sequence, PRS ID, PRS bandwidth), cell global ID and / or other cell-related parameters applicable to OTDOA or some other positioning procedures.

[0079] By indicating the serving cell of UE 105 in the OTDOA assistance data (e.g., the reference cell is indicated as the serving cell), PRS-based positioning of UE 105 can be facilitated. In the case where UE 105 has 5G NR radio access, LMF 120 can select the reference cell as certain LTE cells with good coverage at the expected approximate location of UE 105 (e.g., as indicated by a known 5G NR serving cell of UE 105).

[0080] In some embodiments, the OTDOA assistance data may also include an "expected RSTD" parameter that provides the UE 105 with information about the RSTD value that the UE 105 is expected to measure at its current location between the reference cell and each neighboring cell, as well as the uncertainty of the expected RSTD parameter. The expected RSTD and the associated uncertainty define a search window for the UE 105 within which the UE 105 is expected to measure RSTD values. The OTDOA assistance information may also include a PRS configuration information parameter that allows the UE 105 to determine when a PRS positioning opportunity occurs on a signal received from each neighboring cell relative to the PRS positioning opportunity of the reference cell, and to determine a PRS sequence sent from each cell in order to measure signal arrival time (TOA) or RSTD.

[0081] Using RSTD measurements, known absolute or relative transmit timing for each cell, and known locations of physical transmit antennas of wireless nodes of the reference cell and neighboring cells, the location of UE 105 can be calculated (e.g., by UE 105, LMF 120, or some other node). More specifically, the RSTD of cell "k" relative to reference cell "Ref" can be given as (TOA k –TOA Ref ). The UE 105 can then convert the TOA measurements for different cells into RSTD measurements (e.g., as defined in 3GPP TS 36.214 entitled "Physical Layer; Measurements") and send to a location server (e.g., LMF 120 or E-SMLC). Using (i) RSTD measurements, (ii) known absolute or relative transmit timing for each cell, and (iii) known locations of physical transmit antennas for the reference cell and neighboring cells, the location of the UE 105 can be determined.

[0082] Figure 4 Other aspects of PRS transmission for a cell supported by a wireless node such as an eNB, gNB 110, or ng-eNB 114 are shown. Again, in Figure 4 The PRS transmission of LTE in EPS is assumed in Figure 4The same or similar aspects of the transmission of PRS shown and described may apply to 5G NR supported by gNB 110, LTE supported by ng-eNB 114, and / or other wireless technologies. Figure 4 shows how to use the system frame number (SFN), cell-specific subframe offset (Δ PRS ) and PRS period (T PRS )420 to determine the PRS positioning timing. Typically, the cell-specific PRS subframe configuration is determined by the "PRS configuration index" included in the OTDOA assistance data. PRS Definition. PRS period (T PRS )420 and cell-specific subframe offset (Δ PRS ) is based on the PRS configuration index I in 3GPP TS 36.211 titled "Physical Channels and Modulation" PRS As shown in Table 1 below.

[0083]

[0084] Table 1

[0085] The PRS configuration is defined with reference to the system frame number (SFN) of the cell in which the PRS is transmitted. PRS In the first subframe of a downlink subframe, the PRS instance may satisfy:

[0086]

[0087] where n f is 0≤n f SFN ≤ 1023, n s Yes f Defined in 0≤n s ≤19 Timeslot number within a radio frame, T PRS is the PRS period, Δ PRS is the cell-specific subframe offset.

[0088] like Figure 4 As shown, the cell-specific subframe offset Δ PRS 452 may be defined based on the number of subframes transmitted starting from system frame number 0 (time slot "number 0", labeled as time slot 450) to the start of the first PRS positioning opportunity (subsequent). Figure 4 In the continuous positioning subframe 418 (N PRS ) is equal to 4.

[0089] In some embodiments, when UE 105 receives the PRS configuration index I in the OTDOA assistance data for a particular cell, PRS When UE 105 can use Table 1 to determine the PRS period TPRS and PRS subframe offset Δ PRS . UE 105 may then determine the radio frame, subframe, and time slot when scheduling PRS in the cell (e.g., using equation (1)). The OTDOA assistance data may be determined by, for example, LMF 120 or E-SMLC, and include assistance data for a reference cell and the number of neighboring cells supported by various wireless nodes (e.g., eNB, gNB 110, or ng-eNB 114).

[0090] Typically, the PRS opportunities from all cells in the network using the same frequency are aligned in time, and the PRS opportunities may have a fixed known time offset relative to other cells in the network using different frequencies. In a SFN synchronous network, all wireless nodes (gNB 110, ng-eNB 114, eNB, etc.) may be aligned on frame boundaries and system frame numbers. Therefore, in a SFN synchronous network, all cells supported by various wireless nodes may use the same PRS configuration index for any particular frequency of PRS transmission. On the other hand, in a SFN asynchronous network, the various wireless nodes may be aligned on frame boundaries but not on system frame numbers. Therefore, in a SFN asynchronous network, the PRS configuration index for each cell may be individually configured by the network to align the PRS opportunities in time.

[0091] If UE 105 can obtain cell timing (e.g., SFN or frame number) of at least one of the cells such as the reference cell or the serving cell, UE 105 can determine the timing of PRS opportunities of the reference cell and the neighboring cells (e.g., in an LTE network or a 5G NR network such as in communication system 100) for OTDOA positioning (which can be performed in Figure 2 The timing of other cells may then be derived by the UE 105, for example, based on the assumption that PRS opportunities from different cells overlap.

[0092] As defined by 3GPP (e.g., in 3GPP TS 36.211), for an LTE system, a subframe sequence for transmitting a PRS (e.g., for OTDOA positioning) may be characterized and defined by a plurality of parameters, as described above, including: (i) a reserved bandwidth (BW); (ii) a configuration index I PRS (iii) Duration N PRS ; (iv) optional silent mode; (v) when (iv) exists, a silent sequence period TREP, which may implicitly include T REP As part of the silent mode. In some cases, the PRS duty cycle is very low, N PRS =1,T PRS= 160 subframes (equivalent to 160ms, BW = 1.4, 3, 5, 10, 15 or 20MHz. In order to increase the PRS duty cycle, N PRS The value increases to 6 (i.e. N PRS =6), and the bandwidth (BW) value can be increased to the system bandwidth (ie, in the case of LTE, BW = LTE system bandwidth). PRS (e.g., greater than six) and / or shorter T PRS (e.g., less than 160 ms) of the extended PRS until the full duty cycle (i.e., N PRS =T PRS ), can also be used for higher versions of LPP according to 3GPP TS 36.355.

[0093] Figure 5 A flow chart of an example process 500 for locating a mobile device, typically performed at a mobile device such as UE 105, is shown.

[0094] At box 510, process 500 includes sending positioning capabilities of the mobile device to a location server (e.g., LMF120, E-SMLC, or SUPL Positioning Platform (SLP)), wherein the positioning capabilities include an identification of at least one partial RF frequency band, wherein the partial RF frequency band is contained within a complete RF frequency band, and wherein the partial RF frequency band or the complete RF frequency band is sent by multiple wireless nodes. In addition, the positioning capabilities indicate that the mobile device is configured to measure at least one partial RF frequency band and is not configured to measure the complete RF frequency band. In one implementation, the mobile device may be able to measure the complete RF frequency band; however, it may be configured via a carrier, an OEM, and / or a user to measure only a portion of the RF frequency band within the complete RF frequency band. In one aspect, the complete RF frequency band may include an RF frequency range, and the partial RF frequency band may include multiple one or more non-overlapping RF frequency sub-ranges, wherein each RF frequency sub-range is contained within the RF frequency range. Box 510 may correspond to Figure 2 Actions 204 and 205 in .

[0095] At block 520, the mobile device receives location assistance data from a location server, wherein the location assistance data includes configuration information for at least one reference signal (RS) in at least one portion of the RF frequency band, and wherein the at least one RS is transmitted by at least one wireless node (e.g., gNB 110, ng-eNB 114, or eNB). In one aspect, the at least one RS may be a PRS, a CRS, or a TRS. In one aspect, a bandwidth of the at least one RS is contained within the portion of the RF frequency band. In one aspect, the at least one RS uses frequency hopping over the full RF frequency band, and the configuration information includes positioning occasions for the at least one RS, wherein a bandwidth of each positioning occasion is contained within the portion of the RF frequency band. Block 520 may correspond to Figure 2 Actions 212 and 213 in .

[0096] At block 530, the mobile device obtains at least one location measurement from at least one RS based on the configuration information. In one aspect, the at least one location measurement includes a reference signal time difference (RSTD), a reference signal received power (RSRP), a reference signal received quality (RSRQ), a round trip signal propagation time (RTT), an angle of arrival (AOA), a time of arrival (TOA), an angle of departure (AOD), or any combination thereof. Block 530 may correspond to Figure 2 Frame 216 in.

[0097] At block 540, the mobile device sends location information to a location server, wherein the location information is based on at least one location measurement. For example, the location information may include at least one location measurement. The location server may use the location information to determine the location of the mobile device (e.g., Figure 2 In one implementation, the mobile device may determine its location based on at least one location measurement, and the location information provided to the location server is the location of the mobile device. Block 540 may correspond to Figure 2 Actions 217 and 218 in .

[0098] In one aspect of the example process 500, the portion of the RF frequency band includes one or more non-overlapping RF frequency sub-ranges, wherein each RF frequency sub-range includes a plurality of one or more resource blocks (RBs), a plurality of one or more subcarriers (SCs), a plurality of one or more frequency ranges, or any combination thereof. In this aspect, the identification of at least one portion of the RF frequency band may include at least one of a bit string, a set of integers, a set of identifiers, or any combination thereof. In this aspect, the identification of at least one portion of the RF frequency band may include an identification of at least one resource block (RB), an identification of at least one subcarrier (SC), an identification of at least one frequency range, an identification of a minimum frequency, an identification of a maximum frequency, an identification of an offset from a minimum frequency, an identification of an offset from a maximum frequency, or any combination thereof.

[0099] In another aspect, the example process 500 further includes receiving a request for positioning capabilities of the mobile device from a location server, wherein, at block 510, the positioning capabilities are sent to the location server in response to the request.

[0100] Figure 6 A flow chart of an example process 600 for locating a mobile device, typically performed at a location server such as LMF 120, E-SMLC, or SLP, is shown. Non-limiting examples of wireless access types that may be used in the implementations described herein may include fifth generation (5G) wireless access, new radio (NR) wireless access, long term evolution (LTE) wireless access, wireless local area network connection (WLAN) (e.g., IEEE 802.11), and the like.

[0101] At block 610, a location server receives positioning capabilities for a mobile device, wherein the positioning capabilities include an identification of at least one partial RF frequency band, wherein the partial RF frequency band is contained within a full RF frequency band, and wherein the partial RF frequency band or the full RF frequency band is transmitted by each of a plurality of wireless nodes (e.g., gNB 110, ng-eNB 114, eNB), and wherein the positioning capabilities indicate that the mobile device is configured to measure the at least one partial RF frequency band and is not configured to measure the full RF frequency band. Block 610 may correspond to Figure 2 Actions 204 and 205 in .

[0102] In one implementation, as in Figure 2 At acts 202 and 203 in , the location server may initially request positioning capabilities of the mobile device (prior to block 610 ), and may perform block 610 in response to the request for positioning capabilities.

[0103] At block 620, the location server determines location assistance data based at least in part on an identification of at least one partial RF frequency band, wherein the location assistance data includes configuration information for at least one reference signal (RS) in the at least one partial RF frequency band, and wherein the at least one RS is transmitted by at least one wireless node. The at least one RS may be a PRS, a CRS, or a TRS. In one aspect, a bandwidth of the at least one RS is contained within the partial RF frequency band. In one aspect, the at least one RS uses frequency hopping over the full RF frequency band, and the configuration information includes positioning opportunities for the at least one RS, wherein a bandwidth for each positioning opportunity is contained within the partial RF frequency band. Block 620 may correspond to Figure 2 Frame 211 in.

[0104] At block 630, the location server provides or sends the location assistance data to the mobile device. Block 630 may correspond to Figure 2 Actions 212 and 213 in .

[0105] In one aspect, example process 600 may further include receiving location information from a mobile device (e.g., as in Figure 2 ), wherein the location information is based at least in part on measurements of at least one RS by the mobile device. In this aspect, the location information may include location measurements from at least one RS, wherein the location measurements include reference signal time difference (RSTD), reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), round trip signal propagation time (RTT), angle of arrival (AOA), time of arrival (TOA), angle of departure (AOD), or any combination thereof.

[0106] In one aspect of the example process 600, the portion of the RF frequency band includes one or more non-overlapping RF frequency sub-ranges, wherein each RF frequency sub-range includes a plurality of one or more resource blocks (RBs), a plurality of one or more subcarriers (SCs), a plurality of one or more frequency ranges, or any combination thereof. In this aspect, the identification of at least one portion of the RF frequency band may include at least one of a bit string, a set of integers, a set of identifiers, or any combination thereof. In this aspect, the identification of at least one portion of the RF frequency band may include an identification of at least one RB, an identification of at least one SC, an identification of at least one frequency range, an identification of a minimum frequency, an identification of a maximum frequency, an identification of an offset from a minimum frequency, an identification of an offset from a maximum frequency, or any combination thereof.

[0107] According to one aspect of the present disclosure, Figure 2 At actions 207-210 in , the location server may coordinate with one or more wireless nodes (e.g., gNB 110, ng-eNB 114, eNB) to obtain information related to the location. The information related to the location may be used to determine assistance data to support multiple devices in the area and may not be applicable to every device in the area. At box 630, the location server may send the determined assistance data to the mobile device and may provide an indication or identifier to the mobile device indicating which portions of the provided assistance data may be relevant to the mobile device. For example, if the mobile device indicates that it is configured to use or measure 2600 MHz to 2620 MHz, the location server may indicate that only certain RS or PRS configurations in the assistance data within that frequency range are applicable to the mobile device.

[0108] Figure 7 A block diagram of an example wireless node 700 (eg, a base station, access point, or server) is shown, which may be used with, for example, reference Figure 1The wireless node 700 may be similar to or configured to have similar functionality to any of the various nodes depicted or described herein (e.g., gNB 110-1, 110-2, 110-3, ng-eNB 114, eNB, LMF 120, other components of 5GCN 140). The wireless node 700 may include one or more antennas 716a-n electrically coupled to communicate with a wireless device such as a wireless network. Figure 1 One or more communication modules 710a-n for communicating with a wireless device of a UE 105. Each communication module 710a-710n may include a respective transmitter 712a-n for transmitting signals (e.g., downlink messages and signals, which may be arranged in frames and may include positioning reference signals and / or assistance data as described herein), and optionally (e.g., for a node configured to receive and process uplink communications) may include a respective receiver 714a-n. In embodiments in which an implemented node includes both a transmitter and a receiver, a communication module including a transmitter and a receiver may be referred to as a transceiver. The node 700 may also include a network interface 720 to communicate with other network nodes (e.g., to send and receive queries and responses). For example, each network element may be configured to communicate with a gateway or other suitable device of the network (e.g., via wired or wireless backhaul communications) to facilitate communication with one or more core network nodes (e.g., Figure 1 Additionally and / or alternatively, communications with other network nodes may also be performed using the communication modules 710a-n and / or respective antennas 716a-n.

[0109] The node 700 may also include other components that may be used with the embodiments described herein. For example, in some embodiments, the node 700 may include a processor (also referred to as a controller) 730 to manage communications with other nodes (e.g., sending and receiving messages), to generate communication signals (including generating communication frames, signals and / or messages, such as PRS transmissions and auxiliary data transmissions), and to provide other related functions, including functions that implement the various processes and methods described herein.

[0110] The processor 730 may be coupled to (or may otherwise communicate with) the memory 740, which may include one or more modules (implemented in hardware of software) to facilitate controlling the operation of the node 700. For example, the memory 740 may include an application module 746 having computer code for executing various applications required for the operation of the node 700. For example, the processor 730 may be configured (e.g., using code provided via the application module 746 or some other module in the memory 740) to control the operation of the antennas 716a-n, thereby adjustably controlling the transmit power of the antennas and the phase, gain mode, antenna direction (e.g., the direction in which the resulting radiation beam from the antennas 716a-n propagates), antenna diversity, and other adjustable antenna parameters of the antennas 716a-n of the node 700. In some embodiments, the configuration of the antennas may be controlled based on pre-stored configuration data provided at the time of manufacture or deployment of the node 700, or based on data obtained from a remote device (e.g., a central server that sends data representing the antenna configuration, as well as other operating parameters to be used for the node 700). In some implementations, the wireless node 700 may also be configured to perform location data services or other types of services for multiple wireless devices (clients) communicating with the wireless node 700 (or communicating with a server coupled to the wireless node 700), and provide location data and / or assistance data to such multiple wireless devices. The means for performing the functions at blocks 610, 620, and / or 630 may include, for example, a processor 730, a network interface 720, one or more communication modules 710a-n, a memory 740, a neighbor relation controller 742, and / or a neighbor list 744.

[0111] In addition, in some embodiments, the memory 740 may also include a neighbor relationship controller (e.g., a neighbor discovery module) 742 to manage neighbor relationships (e.g., maintain a neighbor list 744) and provide other related functions. In some embodiments, the node 700 may also include one or more sensors ( Figure 7 Not shown) and other devices (e.g., cameras).

[0112] Figure 8 A user equipment (UE) 800 is shown for which various processes and techniques described herein may be used. UE 800 may be similar or identical in implementation and / or functionality to any other UE described herein, including in Figure 1 The UE 105 depicted in FIG. Figure 6 and Figure 7 In addition, Figure 8The illustrated implementation may also be used to at least partially implement certain nodes and devices shown throughout the present disclosure, including such nodes and devices and base stations (e.g., gNB110, ng-eNB 114, etc.), location servers, and Figure 1 and Figure 7 Other components and equipment as shown.

[0113] UE 800 includes a processor 811 (or a processor core) and a memory 840. UE 800 may optionally include a trusted environment operably connected to the memory 840 via a public bus 801 or a private bus (not shown). UE 800 may also include a communication interface 820 and a wireless transceiver 821, which is configured to communicate with the user via a wireless network (e.g., Figure 1 The communication system 100 of the present invention sends and receives wireless signals 823 (which may include LTE, NR, 5G or WiFi wireless signals) via a wireless antenna 822. The wireless transceiver 821 is connected to the bus 801 via a communication interface 820. Here, the UE 800 is shown as having a single wireless transceiver 821. However, the UE 800 may alternatively have multiple wireless transceivers 821 and / or multiple wireless antennas 822 to support multiple communication standards, such as WiFi, CDMA, Wideband CDMA (WCDMA), Long Term Evolution (LTE), 5G, NR, Short-range wireless communication technology, etc. As previously described herein, the wireless transceiver 821 may support (e.g., may be configured to support) one or more partial RF bands, and may not support one or more associated complete RF bands. In this case, the UE 800 may use one or more of the embodiments described herein (e.g., the example process 500) to enable the location of the UE 800 to be determined by the UE 800 or by a location server (e.g., Figure 1 The LMF 120 in was obtained.

[0114] Means for performing functions at block 510 and / or block 540 may include, for example, a processor 811 , a memory 840 , a wireless transceiver 821 , a communication interface 820 , and / or a wireless antenna 822 .

[0115] The communication interface 820 and / or the wireless transceiver 821 may support operation on multiple carriers (waveform signals of different frequencies). A multi-carrier transmitter may simultaneously transmit modulated signals on multiple carriers. Each modulated signal may be a code division multiple access (CDMA) signal, a time division multiple access (TDMA) signal, an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) signal, a single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) signal, etc. Each modulated signal may be transmitted on a different carrier and may carry pilots, control information, overhead information, data, etc.

[0116] UE 800 may also include a user interface 850 (e.g., a display, a graphical user interface (GUI), a touch screen, a keyboard, a microphone, a speaker) and a satellite positioning system (SPS) receiver 855, which receives SPS signals 859 (e.g., from SPS satellites) via an SPS antenna 858 (which may be the same antenna as the wireless antenna 822, or may be a different antenna). The SPS receiver 855 may communicate with a single global navigation satellite system (GNSS) or multiple such systems. GNSS may include, but is not limited to, a global positioning system (GPS), Galileo, GLONASS, BeiDou (compass), etc. SPS satellites are also referred to as satellites, space vehicles (SV), etc. The SPS receiver 855 measures the SPS signals 859 and may use the measurements of the SPS signals 859 to determine the location of the UE 800. The processor 811, the memory 840, the digital signal processor (DSP) 812 and / or a dedicated processor (not shown) may also be used in conjunction with the SPS receiver 855 to process the SPS signal 859 in whole or in part, and / or to calculate (approximately or more accurately) the position of the UE 800. Alternatively, the UE 800 may support sending the SPS measurement results to a location server (e.g., E-SMLC, LMF, such as Figure 1 The storage of information from the SPS signal 859 or other position signals is performed using memory 840 or registers (not shown). Figure 8 Only one processor 811, one DSP 812, and one memory 840 are shown in the figure, but the UE 800 may use any one, a pair, or more than one of all of these components. The processor 811 and the DSP 812 associated with the UE 800 are connected to the bus 801. The components for performing functions at the box 520 and / or the box 530 may include, for example, the processor 811, the memory 840, the wireless transceiver 821, the communication interface 820, the wireless antenna 822, the DSP 812, the SPS receiver 855, and / or the SPS antenna 858.

[0117] The memory 840 may include a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium (or media) whose storage function is one or more instructions or codes. The media that may constitute the memory 840 include, but are not limited to, RAM, ROM, FLASH, disk drives, etc. Typically, the functions stored by the memory 840 are performed by a general-purpose processor, such as the processor 811, a special-purpose processor, such as the DSP 812, etc. Therefore, the memory 840 is a processor-readable memory and / or a computer-readable memory, which stores data configured to cause the processor 811 and / or the DSP 812 to perform the functions described (e.g., previously described for Figure 5500) of the exemplary process 500). Alternatively, one or more functions of the UE 800 may be performed in whole or in part in hardware.

[0118] UE 800 may use various techniques to estimate its current location within an associated system based on other communicating entities within radio range and / or information available to UE 800. For example, UE 800 may estimate its location using information obtained from base stations and access points (APs) associated with one or more wireless wide area networks (WWANs), wireless local area networks (WLANs), and information such as wireless cellular networks. Wireless technology or , etc.; Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) or other Satellite Positioning System (SPS) satellites; and / or map data obtained from a map server or other server (e.g., LMF, E-SMLC or SLP). In some cases, the location server may be an E-SMLC, SLP, an independent service mobile location center (SAS), LMF, etc., which may provide assistance data to the UE 800 to allow or assist the UE 800 to acquire signals (e.g., signals from WWAN base stations, signals from WLAN APs, signals from cellular base stations, GNSS satellites, etc.) and use these signals to perform measurements related to the location. The UE 800 may then provide the measurements to the location server to calculate a location estimate (which may be referred to as "UE-assisted" positioning), or may calculate its own location estimate based on the measurements and possibly other assistance data provided by the location server (e.g., such as orbit and timing data of GNSS satellites, configuration parameters of PRS signals, precise location coordinates of WLAN APs and / or cellular base stations, etc.) (which may be referred to as "UE-based" positioning).

[0119] In some embodiments, the UE 800 may include a camera 830 (e.g., front and / or back), such as a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor with an appropriate lens configuration. Other imaging technologies may be used, such as a charge coupled device (CCD) and back-illuminated CMOS. The camera 830 may be configured to obtain and provide image information to assist in the positioning of the UE 800. In one example, one or more external image processing servers (e.g., remote servers) may be used to perform image recognition and provide a position estimation process. The UE 800 may include other sensors 835, which may also be used to calculate or assist in calculating the position of the UE 800. The sensor 835 may include an inertial sensor (e.g., an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a magnetometer, a compass, any of which may be implemented based on a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) or based on some other technology), as well as a barometer, a thermometer, a hygrometer, and other sensors.

[0120] Substantial changes can be made depending on specific expectations. For example, customized hardware can also be used, and / or specific elements can be implemented in hardware, software (including portable software, such as applets, etc.), or both. In addition, connections to other computing devices such as network input / output devices can be employed.

[0121] Configurations may be described as processes, and processes may be described as flow charts or block diagrams. Although each operation may describe the operation as a sequential process, many operations may be performed in parallel or simultaneously. In addition, the order of the operations may be rearranged. A process may have other steps not included in the diagram. In addition, examples of methods may be implemented by hardware, software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, firmware, middleware, or microcode, program code or code segments for performing the necessary tasks may be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium such as a storage medium. A processor may perform the described tasks.

[0122] Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly or conventionally understood. As used herein, the articles "one" and "an" refer to one or more (i.e., at least one) of the grammatical objects of the article. For example, "an element" refers to one element or more than one element. When it comes to measurable values ​​such as the duration of an amount, time, etc., "approximately" and / or "approximately" as used herein encompass changes of ±20% or ±10%, ±5% or +0.1% from the specified value, because such changes are appropriate in the context of the systems, devices, circuits, methods, and other implementations described herein. When it comes to measurable values ​​such as the duration of an amount, time, physical properties (e.g., frequency), etc., "substantially" as used herein also encompasses changes of ±20% or ±10%, ±5% or +0.1% from the specified value, because such changes are appropriate in the context of the systems, devices, circuits, methods, and other implementations described herein.

[0123] As used herein, including in the claims, "or" used in a list of items beginning with "at least one" or "one or more" means a disjunctive list, so that, for example, a list of "at least one of A, B, or C" means A or B or C or AB or AC or BC or ABC (i.e., A and B and C), or a combination of multiple features (e.g., AA, AAB, ABBC, etc.). In addition, as used herein, unless otherwise specified, a statement that a function or operation is "based on" an item or condition means that the function or operation is based on the stated item or condition, and may be based on one or more items and / or conditions in addition to the stated item or condition.

[0124] As used herein, mobile device, user equipment (UE) or mobile station (MS) refers to devices such as cellular or other wireless communication devices, smart phones, tablet computers, personal communication systems (PCS) devices, personal navigation devices (PND), personal information managers (PIM), personal digital assistants (PDA), laptop computers or other suitable mobile devices capable of receiving wireless communication and / or navigation signals (e.g., navigation positioning signals). The term "mobile station" (or "mobile device", "wireless device" or "user equipment") is also intended to include devices that communicate with personal navigation devices (PNDs), such as communicating via short-range wireless, infrared, wired connections or other connections, whether satellite signal reception, auxiliary data reception and / or location-related processing occurring at a device or PND. In addition, "mobile station" or "user equipment" is intended to include all devices capable of communicating with a server, such as via the Internet, WiFi or other networks, including wireless communication devices, computers, laptop computers, tablet devices, etc., and communicating with one or more types of nodes, whether satellite signal reception, auxiliary data reception and / or location-related processing occurring at a device, a server or another device or node associated with a network. Any operable combination above is also considered a "mobile station" or "user equipment". A mobile device or user equipment (UE) may also be called a mobile terminal, terminal, device, secure user plane location enabled terminal (SET), target device, target or some other name.

[0125] Although certain techniques, processes, and / or implementations described herein may conform to all or part of one or more standards, in certain embodiments, such techniques, processes, and / or implementations may not conform to some or all of such one or more standards.

[0126] Although specific embodiments have been disclosed in detail herein, this is done by way of example only for the purpose of illustration and is not intended to limit the scope of the following claims. In particular, it is contemplated that various substitutions, changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the claims. Other aspects, advantages and modifications are considered to be within the scope of the appended claims. The claims presented represent the embodiments and features disclosed herein. Other embodiments and features that are not claimed for protection may also be considered. Therefore, other embodiments are within the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A method for position determination at a mobile device, the method comprising: Sending the positioning capability of the mobile device to a location server, the positioning capability comprising an identification of at least one partial radio frequency (RF) band, wherein the partial RF band is contained within a complete RF band, the partial RF band or the complete RF band is sent by a plurality of wireless nodes, wherein the positioning capability indicates that the mobile device is configured to measure the at least one partial RF band and is not configured to measure the complete RF band; receiving location assistance data from the location server, wherein the location assistance data comprises configuration information for at least one reference signal (RS) in the at least one portion of the RF frequency band, wherein the at least one RS is transmitted by at least one wireless node; Based on the configuration information, obtaining at least one location measurement from the at least one RS; and sending location information to the location server, wherein the location information is based on the at least one location measurement; wherein the portion of the RF frequency band includes one or more non-overlapping RF frequency sub-ranges, wherein each of the non-overlapping RF frequency sub-ranges includes a plurality of one or more resource blocks RB, a plurality of one or more subcarriers SC, one or more frequency ranges or any combination thereof; and The identifier of the at least one partial RF frequency band is in the form of a set of integers, wherein the integers in the set of integers alternately indicate the number of consecutive RBs or SCs supported by the mobile device and the number of consecutive RBs or SCs not supported by the mobile device.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The at least one position measurement comprises measurement of reference signal time difference RSTD, reference signal received power RSRP, reference signal received quality RSRQ, round trip signal propagation time RTT, angle of arrival AOA, time of arrival TOA, angle of departure AOD or any combination thereof.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The at least one RS is a Positioning Reference Signal PRS.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein: A bandwidth for the at least one RS is contained within the portion of the RF frequency band.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The at least one RS uses frequency hopping on the full RF frequency band, and the configuration information includes positioning opportunities for the at least one RS, wherein a bandwidth for each of the positioning opportunities is included in the partial RF frequency band.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The identifier of at least one partial RF frequency band includes an identifier of at least one resource block RB, an identifier of at least one subcarrier SC, an identifier of at least one frequency range, an identifier of a minimum frequency, an identifier of a maximum frequency, an identifier of an offset from a minimum frequency, an identifier of an offset from a maximum frequency, or any combination thereof.

7. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: A request is received from the location server for the positioning capabilities of the mobile device, wherein the positioning capabilities are sent to the location server in response to the request.

8. A mobile device, comprising: Memory; One or more transceivers, the one or more transceivers being configured to: Sending the positioning capability of the mobile device to a location server, the positioning capability comprising an identification of at least one partial radio frequency (RF) band, wherein the partial RF band is contained within a complete RF band, the partial RF band or the complete RF band is sent by a plurality of wireless nodes, wherein the positioning capability indicates that the mobile device is configured to measure the at least one partial RF band and is not configured to measure the complete RF band; receiving location assistance data from the location server, wherein the location assistance data comprises configuration information for at least one reference signal (RS) in the at least one portion of the RF frequency band, wherein the at least one RS is transmitted by at least one wireless node; One or more processors, coupled to the memory and the one or more transceivers, the one or more processors configured to: Based on the configuration information, obtaining at least one location measurement from the at least one RS; and sending location information to the location server via the one or more transceivers, wherein the location information is based on the at least one location measurement; wherein the portion of the RF frequency band includes one or more non-overlapping RF frequency sub-ranges, wherein the RF frequency sub-range includes a plurality of one or more resource blocks RB, a plurality of one or more subcarriers SC, one or more frequency ranges or any combination thereof; and The identifier of the at least one partial RF frequency band is in the form of a set of integers, wherein the integers in the set of integers alternately indicate the number of consecutive RBs or SCs supported by the mobile device and the number of consecutive RBs or SCs not supported by the mobile device.

9. The mobile device according to claim 8, wherein: The at least one position measurement comprises measurement of reference signal time difference RSTD, reference signal received power RSRP, reference signal received quality RSRQ, round trip signal propagation time RTT, angle of arrival AOA, time of arrival TOA, angle of departure AOD or any combination thereof.

10. The mobile device according to claim 8, wherein: The at least one RS is a Positioning Reference Signal PRS.

11. The mobile device according to claim 8, wherein: A bandwidth for the at least one RS is contained within the portion of the RF frequency band.

12. The mobile device according to claim 8, wherein: The at least one RS uses frequency hopping on the full RF frequency band, and the configuration information includes positioning opportunities for the at least one RS, wherein a bandwidth for each of the positioning opportunities is included in the partial RF frequency band.

13. The mobile device according to claim 8, wherein: The identifier of at least one partial RF frequency band includes an identifier of at least one resource block RB, an identifier of at least one subcarrier SC, an identifier of at least one frequency range, an identifier of a minimum frequency, an identifier of a maximum frequency, an identifier of an offset from a minimum frequency, an identifier of an offset from a maximum frequency, or any combination thereof.

14. The mobile device of claim 8, the one or more transceivers being further configured to receive a request for the positioning capability of the mobile device from the location server, wherein: In response to the request, the positioning capabilities are sent to the location server.

15. A mobile device for position determination, the mobile device comprising: means for sending positioning capabilities of the mobile device to a location server, the positioning capabilities comprising an identification of at least one partial radio frequency (RF) band, wherein the partial RF band is contained within a complete RF band, the partial RF band or the complete RF band being sent by a plurality of wireless nodes, wherein the positioning capabilities indicate that the mobile device is configured to measure the at least one partial RF band and is not configured to measure the complete RF band; means for receiving location assistance data from the location server, wherein the location assistance data comprises configuration information of at least one reference signal RS in the at least one portion of the RF frequency band, wherein the at least one RS is transmitted by at least one wireless node; means for acquiring at least one location measurement from said at least one RS based on said configuration information; and means for sending location information to the location server, wherein the location information is based on the at least one location measurement; wherein the portion of the RF frequency band includes one or more non-overlapping RF frequency sub-ranges, wherein the RF frequency sub-range includes a plurality of one or more resource blocks RB, a plurality of one or more subcarriers SC, one or more frequency ranges or any combination thereof; and The identifier of the at least one partial RF frequency band is in the form of a set of integers, wherein the integers in the set of integers alternately indicate the number of consecutive RBs or SCs supported by the mobile device and the number of consecutive RBs or SCs not supported by the mobile device.

16. The mobile device according to claim 15, wherein: The at least one position measurement comprises measurement of reference signal time difference RSTD, reference signal received power RSRP, reference signal received quality RSRQ, round trip signal propagation time RTT, angle of arrival AOA, time of arrival TOA, angle of departure AOD or any combination thereof.

17. The mobile device according to claim 15, wherein: The at least one RS is a Positioning Reference Signal PRS.

18. The mobile device according to claim 15, wherein: A bandwidth for the at least one RS is contained within the portion of the RF frequency band.

19. The mobile device according to claim 15, wherein: The at least one RS uses frequency hopping on the full RF frequency band, and the configuration information includes positioning opportunities for the at least one RS, wherein a bandwidth for each of the positioning opportunities is included in the partial RF frequency band.

20. The mobile device of claim 15, wherein: The identifier of at least one partial RF frequency band includes an identifier of at least one resource block RB, an identifier of at least one subcarrier SC, an identifier of at least one frequency range, an identifier of a minimum frequency, an identifier of a maximum frequency, an identifier of an offset from a minimum frequency, an identifier of an offset from a maximum frequency, or any combination thereof.

21. The mobile device of claim 15, further comprising: Means for receiving a request for the positioning capabilities of the mobile device from the location server, wherein the positioning capabilities are sent to the location server in response to the request.

22. A non-transitory computer-readable medium for location determination at a mobile device, comprising processor-executable program code configured to cause one or more processors to: Sending the positioning capability of the mobile device to a location server, wherein the positioning capability includes an identifier of at least one partial radio frequency (RF) band, The partial RF frequency band is contained within a complete RF frequency band, the partial RF frequency band or the complete RF frequency band being transmitted by a plurality of wireless nodes, wherein the positioning capability indicates that the mobile device is configured to measure the at least one partial RF frequency band and is not configured to measure the complete RF frequency band; receiving location assistance data from the location server, wherein the location assistance data comprises configuration information for at least one reference signal (RS) in the at least one portion of the RF frequency band, wherein the at least one RS is transmitted by at least one wireless node; Based on the configuration information, obtaining at least one location measurement from the at least one RS; and sending location information to the location server, wherein the location information is based on the at least one location measurement; wherein the portion of the RF frequency band includes one or more non-overlapping RF frequency sub-ranges, wherein the non-overlapping RF frequency sub-ranges include measurements of a plurality of one or more resource blocks RBs, a plurality of one or more subcarriers SCs, one or more frequency ranges, or any combination thereof; and The identifier of the at least one partial RF frequency band is in the form of a set of integers, wherein the integers in the set of integers alternately indicate the number of consecutive RBs or SCs supported by the mobile device and the number of consecutive RBs or SCs not supported by the mobile device.

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