Techniques for improving New Radio (NR) positioning performance

Abstract

Disclosed herein are systems, methods, and circuits for determining the location of a wireless device. In one embodiment, an apparatus for a first wireless communication device including a baseband circuit having an RF interface configured to transmit and receive radio frequency (RF) signals is provided. The apparatus includes one or more processors configured to: process a signal received from a second wireless communication device to identify at least a first arrival path and another arrival path between the first wireless communication device and the second wireless communication device; and determine the location of the second wireless communication device based on the first arrival path and the another arrival path.

Description

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62 / 739,028, filed on September 28, 2018, entitled “TECHNIQUES FOR IMPROVING NEWRADIO (NR) POSITIONING PERFORMANCE,” which is incorporated herein by reference for all purposes. Background Art

[0003] Various embodiments may generally relate to the field of wireless communications. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0004] Figure 1 An exemplary wireless communication network is shown in accordance with some embodiments.

[0005] Figure 2 An exemplary channel impulse response is shown.

[0006] Figure 3 An exemplary synchronization technique for a base station in accordance with some embodiments is shown.

[0007] Figure 4 A functional block diagram of an exemplary UE wireless communication device in accordance with some embodiments is shown.

[0008] Figure 5 A functional block diagram of an exemplary eNB wireless communication device according to some embodiments is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0009] The following specific embodiments relate to the accompanying drawings. The same figure numbers may be used to identify the same or similar elements in different drawings. In the following description, specific details, such as specific structures, architectures, interfaces, technologies, etc., are described for the purpose of illustration rather than limitation, so as to provide a thorough understanding of various aspects of various embodiments. However, it is obvious to those skilled in the art who benefit from the present disclosure that various aspects of various embodiments can be practiced in other embodiments that deviate from these specific details. In some cases, descriptions of well-known devices, circuits, and methods are omitted so as not to obscure the descriptions of various embodiments due to unnecessary details. For the purposes of this document, the phrase "A or B" refers to (A), (B), or (A and B).

[0010] The following specific embodiments relate to the accompanying drawings. The same figure numbers may be used to identify the same or similar elements in different drawings. In the following description, specific details, such as specific structures, architectures, interfaces, technologies, etc., are described for the purpose of illustration rather than limitation, so as to provide a thorough understanding of various aspects of various embodiments. However, it is obvious to those skilled in the art who benefit from the present disclosure that various aspects of various embodiments can be practiced in other embodiments that deviate from these specific details. In some cases, descriptions of well-known devices, circuits, and methods are omitted so as not to obscure the description of various embodiments due to unnecessary details. For the purposes of this document, the phrase "A or B" refers to (A), (B), or (A and B).

[0011] Figure 1 is a block diagram of a wireless communication network including three wireless communication devices 100, 120, and 130 separated by a certain distance and several physical obstacles. The wireless communication device can be a UE or a base station / gNB. There are multiple paths or channels between the devices, some of which are Figure 1 . For example, the main or best path between each pair of devices is shown in bold. The direct "line of sight" (LOS) path is shown in solid lines, while the reflected path is shown in dotted lines. Paths that significantly attenuate signals due to physical obstacles are shown in dashed lines. Therefore, it can be seen that there is a LOS path A, an attenuated path B, and a reflected path C between device 100 and device 120, where path A is the best path. There is a reflected path F and an attenuated path G between device 100 and device 130, and reflected path F is the best path. There is a LOS path D and a reflected path E between device 120 and device 130, and LOS path D is the best path. Although some paths between devices are illustrated, in reality there will usually be more paths between devices.

[0012] Each device includes a positioning circuit 110 having one or more processors that analyze received signals to determine the location of another device in the network. The one or more processors also generate signals that transmit information to another device that can use the information to determine the location of the originating device.

[0013] So far, cellular wireless technology has relied on the estimation of signal location parameters to extract information about the propagation distance or relative difference in propagation distance between the transmitter and receiver nodes of the reference signal. Signal location parameters include received reference signal time difference (RSTD), timing advance or round-trip time measurement, angle of arrival or departure, etc. Specifically, in the LTE observed arrival time difference OTDOA technology, base stations (e.g., eNB, gNB) transmit positioning reference signals (PRS) and other reference signals. These signals can be used on the receiver side of the user equipment device (UE) to measure the signal arrival time difference (RSTD) of signals from different cells / base stations relative to the reference cell. The measured RSTD value is reported back to the base station using a higher-layer positioning protocol so that the base station can determine the geographic coordinates of the target UE. In addition to the RSTD report, the UE can also report a measure of uncertainty / standard deviation that characterizes the RSTD measurement or the reference signal received power (RSRP) or quality (RSRQ).

[0014] There are several disadvantages to existing positioning schemes. For example, in many cases, the UE only reports a subset of signal location parameters, such as RSTD, RTT, cell ID, RSRP, RSRQ, etc. This subset of signal location parameters may not be sufficient or may not provide complete information that may be relevant to the UE's location. In addition, the UE does not report to the network much potentially useful information about the various signal location parameters contained in the received signal.

[0015] In addition, UEs often need to perform complex detection and estimation algorithms to measure signal location parameters from multiple cells. These algorithms usually have high computational complexity. In addition, super-resolution algorithms (e.g., MUSIC, etc.) with extremely high computational complexity may not be feasible for most UEs.

[0016] Another difficulty with positioning solutions is that synchronization across base stations may become a bottleneck for accurate positioning.

[0017] This document describes exemplary systems, devices, circuits, and methods related to signaling for enhanced positioning in a cellular wireless communication network for next generation cellular systems, such as, for example, 3GPP LTE R16+ and 3GPP NR R16+. The proposed systems, devices, circuits, and methods are generally applicable to any type of wireless communication system and improve the accuracy of UE positioning.

[0018] For the purposes of this specification, signal position parameters (SLP) are parameters of a signal applicable for user positioning purposes. SLPs include phase difference, time of arrival, time difference of arrival, propagation time / delay, angle of arrival / angle of departure, received reference signal power, and any other information that may be relevant to facilitate UE geographic coordinate estimation.

[0019] For the purpose of this specification, a Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) is a signal sent by a cell / eNB / gNB / TRP / network entity or UE to measure the SLP used to determine the UE location. Depending on the specific implementation and the measurement and reporting type, the PRS can be a specifically designed sequence and signal or any data transmission with good cross-correlation and autocorrelation properties.

[0020] For the purpose of this specification, a reference resource is a resource that transmits a PRS. The reference resource is a stamp / ID that can be configured by higher layer signaling and can be configured to the UE for measurement and reporting.

[0021] Several new techniques for improving the determination of the UE position will now be described. These techniques may be implemented as a positioning circuit 110 or an apparatus including a positioning circuit, or a method performed by a positioning circuit, or a set of functions performed by a positioning circuit, etc.

[0022] Location information for new source types

[0023] In addition to using PRS, the positioning circuitry may be configured to provide or interpret at least one of the following types of location information sources. Any received waveform (not necessarily a PRS) may include raw information that may be processed to extract information about signal location parameters. For example, the UE may simply transmit a signal containing a digitized electromagnetic waveform representing a signal received from a base station to a reference base station without any significant processing. The base station or network operation may use a priori knowledge of the signal compared to a retransmitted version received from the UE for SLP measurement, and therefore for determining the location information of the UE. In another example, the UE may transmit a message containing an estimated channel for each received signal transmitted by the base station to a reference base station. The base station or network may process the retransmitted signal to measure the SLP and determine information about the location of the UE.

[0024] The UE collects information about the first arrival path (FAP) for use in beamforming and other purposes. The FAP information of the signals received by the UE from at least three different base stations can be used to determine the location of the UE. Post-processing of the first arrival path information, including timing, timing difference, path power, angle information, etc., can also be used to determine information about the location of the UE that can be transmitted to the base station.

[0025] The UE also collects information about other paths or channels between the UE and another device. This post-processing multipath information, including timing, timing difference, path power, angle information, etc., can be used to determine information about the UE's location that can be transmitted to the base station. Figure 2The estimated channel impulse response (CIR) determined by the UE based on the signals received from the base stations is shown. It can be seen that there are six different paths in the CIR indicated by peaks at six different times (on a sample basis). Using additional paths from the base stations allows the UE's position to be determined based on signals from fewer than three base stations.

[0026] Fraud Protection

[0027] Spoofing may result in inaccurate positioning. In spoofing, a fake device transmits a positioning signal to reduce the accuracy of the UE's determined position. To prevent spoofing, the UE may retransmit a predetermined waveform received from the base station as described above. One benefit of this approach is that the waveform is only known to the gNB / location server and its transmission resources are exchanged only between the UE and the gNB / location server in a UE-specific manner. Therefore, retransmission of a predetermined received waveform can be used as a reliable method to prevent spoofing.

[0028] Another method to prevent spoofing is to use UE-specific configuration of PRS transmission parameters. In this technology, the PRS or ranging signal depends on parameters that only the UE and possible positioning server know. Therefore, PRS sequence generation and PRS transmission depend on UE-specific parameters. To achieve this, the UE can be configured with UE-specific parameters for PRS sequence generation and PRS transmission. The UE can reproduce these signals for reception and estimation of SLP. Such parameters may include a UE-specific PRSID for PRS sequence initialization or a UE-specific rule for generating PRS signals so that only the target UE can reproduce these signals.

[0029] Over-the-air synchronization across gNBs / TRPs

[0030] The positioning accuracy of timing-based techniques depends on the synchronization accuracy of the gNBs involved in the positioning process. When the coordinates of a base station are unknown, a base station (e.g., gNB / TRP) can perform a ranging process to estimate the round-trip time or flight time. The distance between nodes can be estimated based on these estimates to improve the accuracy of synchronization. The DL PRS transmission transmitted by the gNB / TRP can be reused for this purpose.

[0031] When the coordinates of the base station are known, this information can be used for over-the-air synchronization. Figure 3 As shown, the "known" RTT (round trip time) and ToF (time of flight) between base stations can be determined based on the coordinates of the base stations. This known distance can be compared with the estimated distance derived from the measured RTT / ToF and used to estimate the synchronization error or offset between the base stations.

[0032] exist Figure 3In the example shown, D12 is the known distance between gNB1 and gNB2, and RTT12 is the measured distance between gNB1 and gNB2. D13 is the known distance between gNB1 and gNB3, and RTT13 is the measured distance between gNB1 and gNB3. D23 is the known distance between gNB2 and gNB3, and RTT23 is the measured distance between gNB2 and gNB3. In addition, it is known that PRS1 is transmitted by gNB1 and received by gNB2 and gNB3, PRS2 is transmitted by gNB2 and received by gNB1 and gNB3, and PRS3 is transmitted by gNB3 and received by gNB1 and gNB2. The synchronization error or offset (Δ12) between gNB1 and gNB2 can be estimated based on the measured distance RTT12 and the known distance D12 (i.e., Δ12 = D12-RTT12). The synchronization error or offset (Δ13) between gNB1 and gNB3 may be estimated based on the measured distance RTT13 and the known distance D13 (i.e., Δ13 = D13 - RTT13). The estimated synchronization offset may be signaled to the UE or location server and taken into account and compensated from the UE measurements of the SLP.

[0033] Classification, detection and reporting of LOS / NLOS conditions

[0034] The UE or base station may classify, detect and / or report the LOS state or non-LOS (NLOS) state for different channels / links between wireless devices. Figure 1 , link A is LOS, and link B is NLOS. The wireless communication device 120 or the wireless communication device 100 may determine and report that link A between the two physical locations is LOS. If obstacle B "moves down" and blocks link A, one or both of the device 100, the device 120 may determine and report that link A between the two physical locations is NLOS, and may also determine and report that link B between the two physical locations is now LOS. A confidence level may be associated with a link classification. To determine the LOS / NLOS classification, the UE or gNB may perform an estimate of the first arrival path timing, and further perform a classification, whether the detected first arrival path component is a LOS or NLOS component. Classification may be performed by analyzing signals transmitted with different polarizations. Another method is to analyze frequency flatness characteristics or apply beamforming to measure the power of the first arrival path.

[0035] If such measurements are performed on the UE or gNB side, a new report may be introduced (or information may be added to any existing report) for each radio link between a specific transmitter and receiver (e.g., TRP / gNB and UE) to indicate additional information about the LOS state and information about the confidence level of the LOS state.

[0036] From a location perspective, it is important to have information about the estimated channel first arrival path (FAP) for time delay, angle measurement, etc. The UE sending the positioning report can add this information whenever a LOS or NLOS path is used for estimation measurement. Different techniques can be used to estimate the degree of LOS for a channel component. Techniques based on TX polarization and / or based on channel transfer function (CTF) can be used to determine the LOS state. For example, the correspondence between CTF flatness and a single phase offset with frequency can be used to determine whether the channel is LOS.

[0037] Estimate SLP using information from both FR1 and FR2 bands

[0038] For NR positioning, measurements of signal location parameters may be made using physical layer transmissions in FR1 (e.g., below 6 GHz with bandwidth up to 100 MHz) and / or FR2 (e.g., 24.25-52.6 GHz with bandwidth up to 400 MHz) bands. The gNB or UE may use measurements in one band to assist or refine measurements in another band, depending on channel correlation across the bands.

[0039] For example, relatively coarse measurements made in FR1 (such as RTT or RSTD) can be refined by transmissions and measurements in FR2 (fine measurements). One example is that coarse timing can be measured in FR1 and then the measurement window can be shared and used for measurements in FR2.

[0040] The gNB or UE may use estimates of the SLP from one frequency band (e.g., FR1), such as propagation delay, angle of arrival, coordinates, etc., for estimation of the SLP or its subsequent refinement by estimation in another frequency band (e.g., FR2).

[0041] The UE can perform coarse / fine SLP measurements by processing the PRS received in the low (FR1) or high (FR2) frequency band, and then processing any other reference signals such as CSI-RS, PT-RS (phase tracking RS), T-RS (tracking RS), etc.

[0042] The UE may utilize the obtained SLP measurements using one or a combination of the following techniques: The UE may use knowledge of the angle of arrival of the first arrival path used for beamforming (eg, the arrival path that maximizes the power of the LOS channel component) to improve timing estimation performance.

[0043] In another example, assuming there is a known propagation delay between the UE and the gNB, the UE can use the knowledge of the round trip time (propagation delay) to estimate the angle of arrival. The gNB transmits the PRS using different beamforming or so-called precoder switching / beam scanning. The UE receives the PRS signals transmitted with different beamforming and measures the power of the paths corresponding to the channel impulse response for the known propagation delay. The beamforming with the maximum power on the path is used for the LOS angle estimation. The rough estimate of the propagation delay (time delay) / angle obtained in FR1 is used for the fine estimate of the time delay / angle during the PRS processing from FR2. The synchronization window for timing estimation can be set using the rough knowledge of the UE coordinates as well as the gNB coordinates. A beam matching process is performed where the beams measured in one band (information about the transmit precoder) are used to select a subset of beams (transmit precoders) in another band.

[0044] Path power measurement

[0045] For the location algorithm, it is important to know the path power used to estimate the signal location parameter. To measure the power of a specific path of the channel impulse response, the UE can use a reference signal and estimate the RX power carried by each detected multipath component of the CIR (see Figure 2 ). Therefore, in NR systems, new measurements can be introduced to measure the power of a specific path within the CIR.

[0046] For example, RSRP / RSRQ measurements may be made for the first arrival path or any nth path component. Path power may be measured in absolute terms or relative to the peak of the channel impulse response. Per-path measurements may be made separately for each TX and / or RX beam (TX and / or RX antenna port). In the case of multiple RX antenna ports, path power measurements may be made for each RX port. In one example, the power of FAP P0 may be used to determine whether a multipath channel has been correctly detected before using associated measurements for a location.

[0047] As can be seen from the foregoing description, the accuracy with which a UE's location can be determined may be enhanced by using any or all of the described techniques.

[0048] Figure 4A device 400 according to one aspect is shown. In some aspects, the user device 400 may be a mobile device or UE. The device 400 includes an application processor 405, a baseband processor 410 (also referred to as a baseband module), a radio front end module (RFEM) 415 (also referred to as a radio interface), a memory 420, a connectivity module 425, a near field communication (NFC) controller 430, an audio driver 435, a camera driver 440, a touch screen 445, a display driver 450, a sensor 455, a removable memory 460, a power management integrated circuit (PMIC) 465, and a smart battery 470.

[0049] In some aspects, the application processor 405 may include, for example, one or more CPU cores and one or more of the following: cache memory, a low dropout regulator (LDO), an interrupt controller, a serial interface such as a serial peripheral interface (SPI), an inter-integrated circuit (I2C), or a general-purpose programmable serial interface module, a real-time clock (RTC), a timer-counter including an interval timer and a watchdog timer, a general-purpose input / output (I / O), a memory card controller such as a secure digital / multimedia card (SD / MMC) or the like, a universal serial bus (USB) interface, a mobile industry processor interface (MIPI) interface, and a joint test access group (JTAG) test access port.

[0050] In some aspects, baseband module 410 may be implemented as, for example, a solder-in substrate including one or more integrated circuits, a single packaged integrated circuit soldered to a main circuit board, and / or a multi-chip module containing two or more integrated circuits.

[0051] Figure 5 An exemplary base station or gNB / TRP / eNB 500 is shown according to one aspect. The eNB 500 may include one or more of the following: an application processor 505, a baseband module 510 (also referred to as a baseband processor), one or more radio front-end modules 515 (also referred to as a radio interface), a memory 520, a power management circuit 525, a power tee circuit 530, a network controller 535, a network interface connector 540, a satellite navigation receiver module 545, and a user interface 550.

[0052] In some aspects, the application processor 505 may include one or more CPU cores and one or more of the following: cache memory, a low dropout regulator (LDO), an interrupt controller, a serial interface such as SPI, I2C or a general programmable serial interface module, a real-time clock (RTC), a timer-counter including an interval timer and a watchdog timer, general purpose IO, a memory card controller such as SD / MMC or similar products, a USB interface, a MIPI interface, and a Joint Test Access Group (JTAG) test access port.

[0053] In some aspects, baseband processor 510 may be implemented, for example, as a solder-in substrate including one or more integrated circuits, a single packaged integrated circuit soldered to a main circuit board, or a multi-chip module containing two or more integrated circuits.

[0054] In some aspects, memory 520 may include one or more of the following: volatile memory, including dynamic random access memory (DRAM) and / or synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM); and non-volatile memory (NVM), including high-speed electrically erasable memory (commonly referred to as "flash memory"), phase change random access memory (PRAM), magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM), and / or three-dimensional cross-point memory. Memory 520 may be implemented as one or more of the following: a solder-in packaged integrated circuit, a socketed memory module, and a plug-in memory card.

[0055] In some aspects, the power management integrated circuit 525 may include one or more of the following: a voltage regulator, a surge protector, a power alarm detection circuit, and one or more backup power sources, such as a battery or capacitor. The power alarm detection circuit may detect one or more of a brownout (undervoltage) and a surge (overvoltage) condition.

[0056] In some aspects, the power tee circuit 530 can provide power drawn from the network cable to provide both power and data connectivity to the base station radio head 500 using a single cable.

[0057] In some aspects, the network controller 535 may provide network connectivity using a standard network interface protocol such as Ethernet. Network connectivity may be provided through a physical connection, which is one of an electrical connection (commonly referred to as a copper interconnect), an optical connection, or a wireless connection.

[0058] In some aspects, the satellite navigation receiver module 545 may include circuitry for receiving and decoding signals transmitted by one or more navigation satellite constellations, such as the Global Positioning System (GPS), the Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS), Galileo, and / or BeiDou. The receiver 545 may provide data to the application processor 505, which may include one or more of position data or time data. The application processor 505 may use the time data to synchronize operations with other radio base stations.

[0059] In some aspects, user interface 550 may include one or more of: a physical or virtual button, such as a reset button; one or more indicators, such as a light emitting diode (LED); and a display screen.

[0060] Although the present invention has been shown and described with respect to one or more specific embodiments, changes and / or modifications may be made to the illustrated examples without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims. In particular, with respect to the various functions performed by the above-mentioned components or structures (assemblies, devices, circuits, circuit systems, systems, etc.), unless otherwise specified, the terms used to describe such components (including references to "means") are intended to correspond to any component or structure that performs the specified function of the component (e.g., functionally equivalent), even if not structurally equivalent to the disclosed structure that performs that function in the exemplary implementation of the invention shown herein.

[0061] The various illustrative logics, logic blocks, modules, circuit systems, and circuits described in conjunction with the aspects disclosed herein may be implemented or performed using a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. The general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but as an alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine.

[0062] The above description of the exemplary embodiments of the disclosed subject matter, including the contents described in the abstract, is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosed embodiments to the precise forms disclosed. Although specific embodiments and examples are described herein for illustrative purposes, various modifications can be considered within the scope of such embodiments and examples as can be appreciated by those skilled in the relevant art.

[0063] In this regard, although the subject matter disclosed in the present invention has been described in conjunction with various embodiments and corresponding drawings, it should be understood that other similar embodiments may be used or modifications and additions may be made to the described embodiments to perform the same, similar, alternative or alternative functions of the disclosed subject matter without departing from the described embodiments. Therefore, the disclosed subject matter should not be limited to any single embodiment described herein, but should be interpreted according to the breadth and scope of the following claims.

[0064] In this disclosure, similar reference numerals are used to refer to similar elements throughout the text, and the structures and devices shown therein are not necessarily drawn to scale. As used herein, the terms "module", "component", "system", "circuit", "circuitry", "element", "chip", etc. are intended to refer to entities, hardware, software (e.g., in execution) and / or firmware related to a computer. For example, a circuit or similar term can be a processor, a process running on a processor, a controller, an object, an executable program, a storage device, and / or a computer with a processing device. By way of example, an application program and a server running on a server can also be a circuit system. One or more circuits can reside in a process, and the circuit can be located on a computer and / or distributed between two or more computers. This article can describe a set of elements or other circuit sets, where the term "set" can be interpreted as "one or more".

[0065] As another example, a circuit or similar term may be a device having a specific function, the specific function being provided by mechanical components operating through electrical or electronic circuits, where the electrical or electronic circuits may be operated by software applications or firmware applications executed by one or more processors. The one or more processors may be internal or external to the device and may execute at least a portion of the software or firmware application. As another example, a circuit system may be a device that provides a specific function through electronic components without mechanical components; the electronic components may include field gates, logic components, hard-coded logic, register transfer logic, one or more processors to execute software and / or firmware that at least partially gives the electronic components their functions.

[0066] It should be understood that when an element is referred to as being "electrically connected" or "electrically coupled" to another element, it may be physically connected or coupled to the other element so that electric current and / or electromagnetic radiation may flow along a conductive path formed by the element. When elements are described as being electrically coupled or connected to each other, intervening conductive, inductive, or capacitive elements may be present between the element and the other element. In addition, when electrically coupled or connected to each other, one element may be able to induce the propagation of a voltage or current or electromagnetic waves in another element without physical contact or intervening components. In addition, when a voltage, current, or signal is referred to as being "applied" to an element, the voltage, current, or signal may be conducted to the element by a physical connection or by capacitive, electromagnetic, or inductive coupling that does not involve a physical connection.

[0067] The use of the word "exemplary" is intended to present concepts in a concrete manner. The terms used herein are intended only to describe specific examples and are not intended to limit the examples. As used herein, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context indicates otherwise. It will also be understood that the terms "comprises," "comprising," "includes" and / or "including" when used herein specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements and / or parts, but do not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, parts and / or groups thereof.

[0068] For one or more embodiments, at least one of the components shown in one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to perform one or more operations, techniques, processes and / or methods described in the following embodiments section. For example, the baseband circuit described above in conjunction with one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to operate according to one or more of the embodiments described below. For another example, the circuits associated with the UE, base station, network element, etc. described above in conjunction with one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to operate according to one or more of the embodiments shown in the embodiments section below.

[0069] Example

[0070] Embodiment 1 is an apparatus for a first wireless communication device including a baseband circuit having an RF interface configured to transmit and receive RF signals. The apparatus includes one or more processors configured to: process a signal received from a second wireless communication device to identify at least a first arrival path and another arrival path between the first wireless communication device and the second wireless communication device; and determine a location of the second wireless communication device based on the first arrival path and the another arrival path.

[0071] Embodiment 2 includes the subject matter of embodiment 1, including or omitting optional elements, wherein the one or more processors are configured to identify the first arrival path and the another arrival path based on a channel impulse response of the signal.

[0072] Embodiment 3 includes the subject matter of any one of embodiments 1 to 2, including or omitting optional elements, wherein the one or more processors are configured to determine the position based on one or more of timing, timing difference, path power, or angle information of the first arrival path and the other arrival path.

[0073] Embodiment 4 includes the subject matter of any of Embodiments 1 to 2, including or omitting optional elements, wherein the one or more processors are configured to determine the location based on one or more signal location parameters of a second signal received from the second wireless communication device.

[0074] Embodiment 5 is an apparatus for a user equipment (UE) wireless communication device including a baseband circuit having an RF interface configured to transmit and receive a radio frequency (RF) signal. The apparatus includes one or more processors configured to generate a positioning signal based on parameters received from a second wireless communication device; and transmit the positioning signal to the second wireless communication device.

[0075] Embodiment 6 includes the subject matter of embodiment 5, including or omitting optional elements, wherein the parameter comprises a waveform received from the second wireless communication device, and the positioning signal comprises the waveform.

[0076] Embodiment 7 includes the subject matter of Embodiment 5, including or omitting optional elements, wherein the parameter comprises a UE-specific identifier, and the positioning signal comprises a positioning reference signal having a parameter selected based on the UE-specific identifier.

[0077] Embodiment 8 includes the subject matter of Embodiment 5, including or omitting optional elements, wherein the one or more processors are configured to generate the positioning signal based on rules received from the second wireless communication device.

[0078] Embodiment 9 is an apparatus for a first global Node B (gNB) wireless communication device including baseband circuitry having a radio frequency (RF) interface configured to transmit and receive RF signals. The apparatus includes one or more processors configured to determine a synchronization error between signals transmitted by the first gNB and a second gNB; and transmit a signal indicating the synchronization error to a third wireless communication device, wherein the third wireless communication device compensates for the synchronization error to determine a location of the first gNB.

[0079] Embodiment 10 includes the subject matter of embodiment 9, including or omitting optional elements, wherein the one or more processors are configured to measure the distance between the first gNB and the second gNB based on a round trip time of a signal transmitted between the first gNB and the second gNB; and determine the synchronization error based on a difference between the measured distance and a known distance between the first gNB and the second gNB.

[0080] Embodiment 11 includes the subject matter of embodiment 9, including or omitting optional elements, wherein the one or more processors are configured to estimate the position of the second gNB based on a downlink positioning reference signal (PRS) transmitted by the second gNB; measure the distance between the first gNB and the second gNB based on a round-trip time of signals transmitted between the first gNB and the second gNB; and determine the synchronization error based on a difference between the measured distance and the estimated distance between the first gNB and the second gNB.

[0081] Embodiment 12 is an apparatus for a first wireless communication device including a baseband circuit having an RF interface configured to transmit and receive radio frequency (RF) signals. The apparatus includes one or more processors configured to: estimate a channel impulse response (CIR) of a signal received from a second wireless communication device; identify multiple arrival paths based on peaks in the CIR; estimate the power or quality of each of the multiple arrival paths based on the magnitude of the corresponding peak; and determine the location of the second wireless communication device based on the estimated power or quality of the multiple arrival paths.

[0082] Embodiment 13 includes the subject matter of embodiment 12, including or omitting the optional elements, wherein the signal comprises a position reference signal (PRS).

[0083] Embodiment 14 includes the subject matter of embodiment 12, including or omitting optional elements, wherein the one or more processors are configured to estimate separate CIRs based on signals received on different antennas of the first wireless communication device, and determine the location based on the separate CIRs.

[0084] Embodiment 14 is an apparatus for a first wireless communication device including a baseband circuit having an RF interface configured to transmit and receive radio frequency (RF) signals. The apparatus includes one or more processors configured to classify a first radio link between the first wireless communication device and a second wireless communication device as line of sight (LOS) or non-line of sight (NLOS); and transmit a first signal indicating the first radio link classification to a third wireless device.

[0085] Embodiment 16 includes the subject matter of embodiment 15, including or omitting optional elements, wherein the one or more processors are configured to receive a second signal indicating a second radio link classification for a second radio link between the first wireless communication device and the second wireless communication device; and estimate the position of the second wireless communication device based on the second radio link classification.

[0086] Embodiment 17 includes the subject matter of Embodiment 16, including or omitting optional elements, wherein the one or more processors are configured to estimate the location of the second wireless communication device based on a confidence level associated with the second radio link classification.

[0087] Embodiment 18 includes the subject matter of Embodiment 15, including or omitting the optional elements, wherein the one or more processors are configured to classify the first radio link based on polarization of the received signal.

[0088] Embodiment 19 includes the subject matter of Embodiment 15, including or omitting optional elements, wherein the one or more processors are configured to classify the first radio link based on a channel transfer function of the first radio link.

[0089] Embodiment 20 is an apparatus for a user equipment (UE) wireless communication device including a baseband circuit having an RF interface configured to transmit and receive radio frequency (RF) signals. The apparatus includes one or more processors configured to process a first signal received from a second wireless communication device in a first frequency band to determine a rough location of the second wireless communication device; and to process a second signal received from the second wireless communication device in a second frequency band to determine an improved location of the second wireless communication device.

[0090] Embodiment 21 includes the subject matter of Embodiment 20, including or omitting optional elements, wherein the one or more processors are configured to identify a portion of the second signal that is associated with the coarse position; and process the identified portion to determine the refined position.

[0091] Embodiment 22 includes the subject matter of embodiment 20, including or omitting optional elements, wherein the one or more processors are configured to process the first signal to identify a first arrival path; and adjust one or more device parameters to maximize reception of the second signal in the first arrival path.

[0092] Embodiment 23 includes the subject matter of embodiment 20, including or omitting optional elements, wherein the one or more processors are configured to process the first signal to estimate the angle of arrival; identify a beam in the second signal having the estimated angle of arrival; and determine the improved position based on the identified beam.

[0093] Unless explicitly stated otherwise, any of the above embodiments may be combined with any other embodiment (or combination of embodiments). The foregoing description of one or more specific implementations provides illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the scope of the embodiments to the precise form disclosed. In view of the above teachings, modifications and variations are possible or can be obtained from the practice of the various embodiments.

Claims

1. A device for communication, comprising: an RF interface configured to transmit and receive radio frequency (RF) signals; Memory for storing information; as well as A processing circuit, the processing circuit is coupled to the memory, and the processing circuit is configured to: receiving a UE-specific positioning signal identifier from a base station; as well as A positioning reference signal is received from the base station based on the UE-specific positioning signal identifier. 2 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the positioning reference signal has parameters selected based on the UE-specific positioning signal identifier. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the UE-specific positioning signal identifier is unique to the UE.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the UE-specific positioning signal identifier comprises a sequence initialization parameter indicating a value used by the base station to initialize a sequence encoded in the positioning reference signal.

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