System and method for supporting secure base station database data in a wireless network

Abstract

Reference signals periodically transmitted by base stations in a wireless network may have certain proprietary characteristics to help prevent the signal from being detected and used for unauthorized positioning of mobile devices. More specifically, the network node may obfuscate the mapping between the positioning signal and the corresponding physical base station and introduce time variations therein. The network node may also introduce time variations in fields of a base station database (BSA) provided to a subscribing user equipment (UE). The information sent to the subscribing UE may be encrypted.

Description

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This patent application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62 / 825,725, filed on March 28, 2019, entitled “SECURE BASE STATION ALMANAC,” and U.S. Non-Provisional Application No. 16 / 824,349, filed on March 19, 2020, entitled “SYSTEM AND METHODSFOR SUPPORT OF SECURE BASE STATION ALMANAC DATA IN A WIRELESS NETWORK,” both of which are assigned to the present assignee and are expressly incorporated herein by reference in their entireties. Technical Field

[0003] Various aspects described herein relate generally to wireless communication systems, and more particularly, to secure transmission of base station location information to a UE to assist in positioning of the UE. Background Art

[0004] Wireless communication systems have evolved over many generations, including first generation analog wireless telephone service (1G), second generation (2G) digital wireless telephone service (including temporary 2.5G and 2.75G networks), third generation (3G) high-speed data wireless service supporting the Internet, and fourth generation (4G) service (e.g., Long Term Evolution (LTE) or WiMax). There are many different types of wireless communication systems in use today, including cellular and personal communications service (PCS) systems. Examples of known cellular systems include the cellular analog Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS) and digital cellular systems based on code division multiple access (CDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), and the like.

[0005] The fifth generation (5G) mobile standard, known as New Radio (NR), calls for higher data speeds, a greater number of connections and better coverage, among other improvements. According to the Next Generation Mobile Networks Alliance, the 5G standard is designed to provide data rates of tens of megabits per second to each of tens of thousands of users and one gigabit per second to dozens of employees on an office floor. To support large sensor deployments, hundreds of thousands of simultaneous connections should be supported. As a result, the spectrum efficiency of 5G mobile communications should be significantly improved compared to the current 4G standard. In addition, signaling efficiency should be improved and latency should be significantly reduced compared to the current standard.

[0006] Obtaining the location or orientation 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. Existing positioning methods include methods based on the mobile device measuring radio signals transmitted from various devices, including satellites (SVs) and terrestrial radio sources in wireless networks. It is expected that the standardization of 5G wireless networks will include support for various positioning methods that can utilize reference signals transmitted by base stations in a manner similar to the way LTE wireless networks use positioning reference signals (PRS) and / or cell-specific reference signals (CRS) for position determination. The problem is that the transmission of these signals may make it easier to determine proprietary base station information (e.g., base station identity and location). Summary of the invention

[0007] This summary identifies features of some example aspects and is not an exclusive or exhaustive description of the disclosed subject matter. Whether a feature or aspect is included or omitted from this summary is not intended to indicate the relative importance of such feature. Additional features and aspects are described and will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading the following detailed description and reviewing the accompanying drawings that form a part hereof.

[0008] An exemplary method performed by a user equipment (UE) is disclosed. The method may include receiving a base station database (BSA) from a network node of a wireless communication network. The BSA may include information for multiple base stations (not necessarily all base stations) in the wireless communication network, including the location of each of the multiple base stations. For example, the UE may only receive information about base stations relevant to determining its location, such as base stations that are aware of the PRS configuration or are monitoring the PRS. The method may also include receiving a change notification from the network node and applying the change to the positioning signal parameters of the positioning signal according to the change notification. The change notification may include information about a change in the positioning signal parameters of the positioning signal sent from one or more base stations of the multiple base stations. The method may also include receiving multiple positioning signals from multiple base stations and determining the UE location based on the multiple positioning signals, the positioning signal parameters of the multiple positioning signals, the BSA, and the change notification.

[0009] An exemplary method performed by a network node of a wireless communication network is disclosed. The method may include sending a BSA to a UE. The BSA may include information for a plurality of base stations in the wireless communication network, the information including a location of each of the plurality of base stations. The method may also include changing one or more positioning signal parameters of a positioning signal sent from one or more of the plurality of base stations. The method may also include sending a change notification to the UE. The change notification may include information about the change in the positioning signal parameters.

[0010] An exemplary UE is disclosed. The UE may include a memory, at least one transceiver, and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver. The at least one processor may be configured to receive a BSA from a network node of a wireless communication network. The BSA may include information for a plurality of base stations in the wireless communication network, the information including the location of each of the plurality of base stations. The transceiver, memory, and processor may also be configured to receive a change notification from the network node and apply a change to a positioning signal parameter of a positioning signal according to the change notification. The change notification may include information about a change in a positioning signal parameter of a positioning signal sent from one or more of the plurality of base stations. The transceiver, memory, and processor may also be configured to receive a plurality of positioning signals from a plurality of base stations and determine the UE location based on the plurality of positioning signals, the positioning signal parameters of the plurality of positioning signals, the BSA, and the change notification.

[0011] An exemplary network node of a wireless communication network is disclosed. The network node may include a memory, a communication device, and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the communication device. The at least one processor may be configured to cause the communication device to send a BSA to a UE. The BSA may include information for a plurality of base stations in the wireless communication network, the information including the location of each of the plurality of base stations. The at least one processor may also be configured to change one or more positioning signal parameters of a positioning signal sent from one or more of the plurality of base stations. The at least one processor may also be configured to send a change notification to the UE. The change notification may include information about a change in the positioning signal parameters.

[0012] Another exemplary UE is disclosed. The UE may include a component for receiving a BSA from a network node of a wireless communication network. The BSA may include information for multiple base stations in the wireless communication network, the information including the location of each of the multiple base stations. The UE may also include a component for receiving a change notification from the network node, and a component for applying a change to a positioning signal parameter of a positioning signal according to the change notification. The change notification may include information about a change in a positioning signal parameter of a positioning signal sent from one or more of the multiple base stations. The UE may also include a component for receiving multiple positioning signals from multiple base stations, and a component for determining the UE position based on the multiple positioning signals, the positioning signal parameters of the multiple positioning signals, the BSA, and the change notification.

[0013] Another exemplary network node of a wireless communication network is disclosed. The network node may include a component for sending a BSA to a UE. The BSA may include information for multiple base stations in the wireless communication network, the information including the location of each of the multiple base stations. The network node may also include a component for changing one or more positioning signal parameters of a positioning signal sent from one or more base stations in the multiple base stations. The network node may also include a component for sending a change notification to the UE. The change notification may include information about the change of the positioning signal parameters.

[0014] An exemplary non-transitory computer-readable medium may store computer-executable instructions for guiding a UE. The computer-executable instructions may include at least one instruction to instruct the UE to receive a BSA from a network node of a wireless communication network, the BSA including information for a plurality of base stations in the wireless communication network, the information including the location of each of the plurality of base stations. The computer-executable instructions may also include at least one instruction to instruct the UE to receive a change notification from a network node, the change notification including information about a change in a positioning signal parameter of a positioning signal sent from one or more of the plurality of base stations. The computer-executable instructions may also include at least one instruction to instruct the UE to apply the change to the positioning signal parameter of the positioning signal according to the change notification. The computer-executable instructions may also include at least one instruction to instruct the UE to receive a plurality of positioning signals from a plurality of base stations. The computer-executable instructions may also include at least one instruction to instruct the UE to determine the UE position based on the plurality of positioning signals, the positioning signal parameters of the plurality of positioning signals, the BSA, and the change notification.

[0015] Another exemplary non-transitory computer-readable medium may store computer-executable instructions for directing a network node. The computer-executable instructions may include at least one instruction to instruct the network node to send a BSA to a UE, the BSA including information for a plurality of base stations in a wireless communication network, the information including the location of each of the plurality of base stations. The computer-executable instructions may also include at least one instruction to instruct the network node to change one or more positioning signal parameters of a positioning signal sent from one or more base stations of the plurality of base stations. The computer-executable instructions may also include at least one instruction to instruct the network node to send a change notification to the UE, the change notification including information about a change in the positioning signal parameters.

[0016] Other objects and advantages associated with the aspects disclosed herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art based on the accompanying drawings and detailed description. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017] The accompanying drawings are presented to aid in describing examples of one or more aspects of the disclosed subject matter and are provided solely for purposes of illustration and not limitation of the examples:

[0018] Figure 1 An exemplary wireless communication system according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure is shown;

[0019] Figure 2A and 2B An example wireless network structure according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure is shown;

[0020] Figures 3A to 3C is a simplified block diagram of several example aspects of components that may be used in a UE, a base station, and a network entity, respectively, and configured to support communications as taught herein;

[0021] Figure 4 An exemplary method performed by a UE and a network node to implement UE-based location determination according to one or more aspects of the present disclosure is shown;

[0022] Figure 5 and 6 Exemplary methods according to various aspects of the present disclosure are shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0023] Various aspects of the present disclosure are provided in the following description and in the related drawings for various examples provided for illustrative purposes. Alternative aspects may be designed without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. In addition, well-known elements of the present disclosure will not be described in detail or will be omitted to avoid confusing the relevant details of the present disclosure.

[0024] As used herein, the words "exemplary" and / or "example" mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration." Any aspect described herein as "exemplary" and / or "example" is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects. Likewise, the term "aspects of the disclosure" does not require that all aspects of the disclosure include the discussed feature, advantage, or mode of operation.

[0025] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the information and signals described below may be represented using any of a variety of different techniques and technologies. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referenced in the following description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or magnetic particles, optical fields or optical particles, or any combination thereof, depending in part on the specific application, in part on the desired design, in part on the corresponding technology, etc.

[0026] In addition, various aspects can be described according to a sequence of actions to be performed by, for example, an element of a computing device. Those skilled in the art will recognize that the various actions described herein may be performed by a specific circuit (e.g., an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC)), by a program instruction executed by one or more processors, or by a combination of the two. In addition, these action sequences described herein may be considered to be fully embodied in any form of non-transient computer-readable medium having a corresponding set of computer instructions stored thereon, which, when executed, will cause or instruct the processor of the associated device to perform the functions described herein. Therefore, the various aspects described herein may be embodied in several different forms, all of which are contemplated to be within the scope of the claimed subject matter. In addition, for each aspect described herein, the corresponding form of any such aspect may be described herein as, for example, "logically configured to" perform the described actions.

[0027] As used herein, unless otherwise noted, the terms "user equipment" (UE) and "base station" are not intended to be specific or otherwise limited to any particular radio access technology (RAT). In general, a UE may be any wireless communication device (e.g., a mobile phone, a router, a tablet, a laptop, a tracking device, a wearable device (e.g., a smart watch, glasses, augmented reality (AR) / virtual reality (VR) headsets, etc.), a vehicle (e.g., a car, a motorcycle, a bicycle, etc.), an Internet of Things (IoT) device, etc.) used by a user to communicate via a wireless communication network. A UE may be mobile or may be (e.g., at certain times) stationary and may communicate with a radio access network (RAN). As used herein, the term "UE" may be interchangeably referred to as an "access terminal" or "AT", "client device", "wireless device", "subscriber equipment", "subscriber terminal", "subscriber station", "user terminal" or UT, "mobile terminal", "mobile station" or variants thereof. In general, a UE may communicate with a core network via a RAN, and through the core network, the UE may connect to external networks such as the Internet and to other UEs. Of course, other mechanisms are also possible for the UE to connect to the core network and / or the Internet, such as through a wired access network, a wireless local area network (WLAN) (eg, based on IEEE 802.11, etc.), and so on.

[0028] A base station may operate according to one of several RATs for communicating with a UE, depending on the network in which it is deployed, and may alternatively be referred to as an access point (AP), a network node, a Node B, an evolved Node B (eNB), a next generation eNB (ng-eNB), a new radio (NR) Node B (also referred to as a gNB or gNodeB), etc. A base station is primarily used to support wireless access for UEs, including supporting data, voice, and / or signaling connections for supported UEs. In addition, in some systems, a base station may only provide edge node signaling functions, while in other systems it may provide additional control and / or network management functions. The communication link through which a UE may send a signal to a base station is referred to as an uplink (UL) channel (e.g., a reverse traffic channel, a reverse control channel, an access channel, etc.). The communication link through which a base station may send a signal to a UE is referred to as a downlink (DL) or forward link channel (e.g., a paging channel, a control channel, a broadcast channel, a forward traffic channel, etc.). As used herein, the term traffic channel (TCH) may refer to a UL / reverse or DL / forward traffic channel.

[0029] The term "base station" may refer to a single physical transmit-receive point (TRP) or multiple physical TRPs that may or may not be co-located. For example, where the term "base station" refers to a single physical TRP, the physical TRP may be an antenna of the base station corresponding to a cell (or several cell sectors) of the base station. Where the term "base station" refers to multiple co-located physical TRPs, the physical TRP may be an antenna array of the base station (e.g., in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system or where the base station employs beamforming). Where the term "base station" refers to multiple non-co-located physical TRPs, the physical TRP may be a distributed antenna system (DAS) (a network of spatially separated antennas connected to a common source via a transmission medium) or a remote radio head (RRH) (a remote base station connected to a serving base station). Alternatively, the non-co-located physical TRPs may be a serving base station that receives measurement reports from a UE and an adjacent base station whose reference RF signal the UE is measuring. As used herein, since a TRP is a point at which a base station transmits and receives wireless signals, transmission from a base station or reception at a base station should be understood to refer to a specific TRP of the base station.

[0030] In some implementations of supporting UE positioning, the base station may not support wireless access for the UE (e.g., may not support data, voice, and / or signaling connections for the UE), but may send reference signals to the UE for measurement by the UE, and / or may receive and measure signals sent by the UE. Such a base station may be referred to as a positioning beacon (e.g., when sending a signal to the UE) and / or a position measurement unit (e.g., when receiving and measuring a signal from the UE).

[0031] An "RF signal" includes an electromagnetic wave of a given frequency that transmits information through the space between a transmitter and a receiver. As used herein, a transmitter may transmit a single "RF signal" or multiple "RF signals" to a receiver. However, due to the propagation characteristics of RF signals through multipath channels, a receiver may receive multiple "RF signals" corresponding to each transmitted RF signal. The same transmitted RF signal on different paths between a transmitter and a receiver may be referred to as a "multipath" RF signal.

[0032] According to various aspects, Figure 1 An exemplary wireless communication system 100 is shown. The wireless communication system 100 (which may also be referred to as a wireless wide area network (WWAN)) may include various base stations 102 and various UEs 104. The base stations 102 may include macro cell base stations (high power cellular base stations) and / or small cell base stations (low power cellular base stations). In one aspect, the macro cell base stations may include eNBs and / or ng-eNBs where the wireless communication system 100 corresponds to an LTE network, or gNBs where the wireless communication system 100 corresponds to an NR network, or a combination of both, and the small cell base stations may include femto cells, pico cells, micro cells, etc.

[0033] The base stations 102 may collectively form a RAN and interface with a core network 170 (e.g., an evolved packet core (EPC) or a 5G core (5GC)) via a backhaul link 122 and through the core network 170 to reach one or more location servers 172 (which may be part of the core network 170 or may be external to the core network 170). The base stations 102 may perform, among other functions, functions related to one or more of: sending user data, radio channel encryption and decryption, integrity protection, header compression, mobility control functions (e.g., handover, dual connectivity), inter-cell interference coordination, connection establishment and release, load balancing, distribution of non-access stratum (NAS) messages, NAS node selection, synchronization, RAN sharing, multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS), user and device tracking, RAN information management (RIM), paging, positioning, and delivery of warning messages. The base stations 102 may communicate with each other directly or indirectly (e.g., via EPC / 5GC) via a backhaul link 134, which may be wired or wireless.

[0034] Base station 102 can communicate wirelessly with UE 104. Each of base stations 102 can provide communication coverage for a corresponding geographic coverage area 110. In one aspect, one or more cells can be supported by base station 102 in each coverage area 110. A "cell" is a logical communication entity used to communicate with a base station (e.g., through some frequency resources, called carrier frequency, component carrier, carrier, frequency band, etc.), and can be associated with an identifier (e.g., physical cell identifier (PCID)), virtual cell identifier (VCID), cell global identifier (CGI)) used to distinguish cells operating through the same or different carrier frequencies. In some cases, different cells can be configured according to different protocol types (e.g., machine type communication (MTC), narrowband IoT (NB-IoT), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) or others) that can provide access to different types of UEs. Since a cell is supported by a specific base station, the term "cell" can refer to either or both of the logical communication entity and the base station supporting it, depending on the context. In some cases, the term "cell" may also refer to a geographic coverage area (eg, a sector) of a base station, so long as a carrier frequency can be detected and used for communication within certain portions of the geographic coverage area 110.

[0035] Although the geographic coverage areas 110 of adjacent macrocell base stations 102 may partially overlap (e.g., within a handoff region), some of the geographic coverage areas 110 may be substantially overlapped by a larger geographic coverage area 110. For example, a small cell base station 102' may have a coverage area 110' that substantially overlaps with the coverage area 110 of one or more macrocell base stations 102. A network that includes both small cells and macrocells may be referred to as a heterogeneous network. A heterogeneous network may also include a home eNB (HeNB), which may provide services to a restricted group referred to as a closed subscriber group (CSG).

[0036] The communication link 120 between the base station 102 and the UE 104 may include UL (also referred to as a reverse link) transmissions from the UE 104 to the base station 102 and / or downlink (DL) (also referred to as a forward link) transmissions from the base station 102 to the UE 104. The communication link 120 may use MIMO antenna techniques including spatial multiplexing, beamforming, and / or transmit diversity. The communication link 120 may be over one or more carrier frequencies. The allocation of carriers may be asymmetric for DL ​​and UL (e.g., more or fewer carriers may be allocated to DL than to UL).

[0037] The wireless communication system 100 may also include a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point (AP) 150 that communicates with a WLAN station (STA) 152 via a communication link 154 in an unlicensed spectrum (e.g., 5 GHz). When communicating in the unlicensed spectrum, the WLAN STA 152 and / or the WLAN AP 150 may perform a clear channel assessment (CCA) or listen before talk (LBT) procedure prior to communication to determine whether a channel is available.

[0038] The small cell base station 102' can operate in a licensed spectrum and / or an unlicensed spectrum. When operating in an unlicensed spectrum, the small cell base station 102' can adopt LTE or NR technology and use the same 5GHz unlicensed spectrum used by the WLAN AP 150. The small cell base station 102' using LTE / 5G in the unlicensed spectrum can improve the coverage of the access network and / or increase the capacity of the access network. NR in the unlicensed spectrum can be referred to as NR-U. LTE in the unlicensed spectrum can be referred to as LTE-U, License Assisted Access (LAA) or MulteFire.

[0039] The wireless communication system 100 may also include a millimeter wave (mmW) base station 180, which may operate at mmW frequencies and / or near mmW frequencies to communicate with UE 182. Extremely high frequency (EHF) is a portion of RF in the electromagnetic spectrum. The range of EHF is 30 GHz to 300 GHz, with a wavelength between 1 mm and 10 mm. The radio waves in this band may be referred to as millimeter waves. Near mmW may extend down to a frequency of 3 GHz, with a wavelength of 100 mm. The super high frequency (SHF) band extends between 3 GHz and 30 GHz, also referred to as centimeter waves. Communications using mmW / near mmW radio frequency bands have high path loss and relatively short distances. The mmW base station 180 and UE 182 may utilize beamforming (transmitting and / or receiving) through the mmW communication link 184 to compensate for extremely high path loss and short distances. In addition, it should be understood that in an alternative configuration, one or more base stations 102 may also transmit using mmW or near mmW and beamforming. Therefore, it should be understood that the foregoing description is only exemplary, and should not be construed as limiting the various aspects disclosed herein.

[0040] Transmit beamforming is a technique for focusing an RF signal in a specific direction. Traditionally, when a network node (e.g., a base station) broadcasts an RF signal, it broadcasts the signal in all directions (omnidirectionally). With transmit beamforming, the network node determines the location of a given target device (e.g., UE) (relative to the transmitting network node) and projects a stronger downlink RF signal in that specific direction, thereby providing a faster (in terms of data rate) and stronger RF signal to the receiving device. In order to change the direction of the RF signal when transmitting, the network node can control the phase and relative amplitude of the RF signal at each of the one or more transmitters that are broadcasting the RF signal. For example, a network node can use an antenna array (called a "phased array" or "antenna array") to create an RF beam that can be "guided" to point in different directions without actually moving the antenna. Specifically, the RF current from the transmitter is fed to each antenna in the correct phase relationship so that the radio waves from the individual antennas can be added together to increase the radiation in the desired direction while canceling to suppress the radiation in the undesired direction.

[0041] The transmit beams can be quasi-collocated, which means that the transmit beams appear to have the same parameters to the receiver (e.g., UE) regardless of whether the transmit antennas of the network node itself are physically co-located. In NR, there are four types of quasi-collocated (QCL) relationships. Specifically, a given type of QCL relationship means that certain parameters about the second reference RF signal on the second beam can be derived from information about the source reference RF signal on the source beam. Therefore, if the source reference RF signal is QCL type A, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, and delay spread of the second reference RF signal sent on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL type B, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift and Doppler spread of the second reference RF signal sent on the same channel. Therefore, if the source reference RF signal is QCL type C, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift and average delay of the second reference RF signal sent on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL type D, the receiver may use the source reference RF signal to estimate spatial reception parameters of a second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel.

[0042] In receive beamforming, a receiver uses a receive beam to amplify an RF signal detected on a given channel. For example, a receiver may increase a gain setting and / or adjust a phase setting of an antenna array in a particular direction to amplify RF signals received from that direction (e.g., increase the gain level of the RF signal). Thus, when a receiver is referred to as beamforming in a certain direction, it means that the beam gain in that direction is higher relative to beam gains along other directions, or the beam gain in that direction is highest compared to the beam gains in that direction of all other receive beams available to the receiver. This results in a stronger received signal strength (e.g., reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR), etc.) of the RF signal received from that direction.

[0043] The receive beams may be spatially correlated. The spatial relationship means that the parameters of the transmit beam for the second reference signal may be derived from the information about the receive beam for the first reference signal. For example, the UE may receive a reference downlink reference signal (e.g., a synchronization signal block (SSB)) from a base station using a specific receive beam. The UE may then form a transmit beam for transmitting an uplink reference signal (e.g., a sounding reference signal (SRS)) to the base station based on the parameters of the receive beam.

[0044] It should be noted that a "downlink" beam can be a transmit beam or a receive beam, depending on the entity that forms it. For example, if a base station is forming a downlink beam to send a reference signal to a UE, the downlink beam is a transmit beam. However, if a UE is forming a downlink beam, the downlink beam is a receive beam used to receive a downlink reference signal. Similarly, an "uplink" beam can be a transmit beam or a receive beam, depending on the entity that forms it. For example, if a base station is forming an uplink beam, the uplink beam is an uplink receive beam, and if a UE is forming an uplink beam, the uplink beam is an uplink transmit beam.

[0045] In 5G, the spectrum in which wireless nodes (e.g., base stations 102 / 180, UEs 104 / 182) operate is divided into multiple frequency ranges: FR1 (from 450 to 6000 MHz), FR2 (from 24250 to 52600 MHz), FR3 (above 52600 MHz), and FR4 (between FR1 and FR2). In a multi-carrier system such as 5G, one of the carrier frequencies is called the "primary carrier" or "anchor carrier" or "primary serving cell" or "PCell", and the remaining carrier frequencies are called "secondary carriers" or "secondary serving cells" or "SCells". In carrier aggregation, the anchor carrier is a carrier operating on the primary frequency (e.g., FR1) used by the UE 104 / 182, and is the cell in which the UE 104 / 182 performs an initial radio resource control (RRC) connection establishment procedure or initiates an RRC connection reestablishment procedure. The primary carrier carries all common control channels and UE-specific control channels, and can be a carrier in a licensed frequency (but this is not always the case). A secondary carrier is a carrier operating on a second frequency (e.g., FR2), which can be configured once an RRC connection is established between the UE 104 and the anchor carrier, and can be used to provide additional radio resources. In some cases, the secondary carrier may be a carrier in an unlicensed frequency. The secondary carrier may contain only necessary signaling information and signals, such as those UE-specific signaling information and signals that may not be present in the secondary carrier, because both the primary uplink carrier and the primary downlink carrier are typically UE-specific. This means that different UEs 104 / 182 in a cell may have different downlink primary carriers. The same applies to the uplink primary carrier. The network is able to change the primary carrier of any UE 104 / 182 at any time. For example, this is done to balance the load on different carriers. Since a "serving cell" (whether PCell or SCell) corresponds to a carrier frequency / component carrier (some base stations are communicating through it), the terms "cell", "serving cell", "component carrier", "carrier frequency", etc. are used interchangeably.

[0046] For example, still referring to Figure 1 , one of the frequencies used by macrocell base station 102 may be an anchor carrier (or "PCell"), and the other frequencies used by macrocell base station 102 and / or mmW base station 180 may be secondary carriers ("SCells"). Simultaneous transmission and / or reception of multiple carriers enables UE 104 / 182 to significantly increase its data transmission and / or reception rate. For example, two 20 MHz aggregated carriers in a multi-carrier system would theoretically result in a two-fold increase in data rate (i.e., 40 MHz) compared to the data rate obtained with a single 20 MHz carrier.

[0047] The wireless communication system 100 may also include one or more UEs (e.g., UE 190) that are indirectly connected to one or more communication networks via one or more device-to-device (D2D) or peer-to-peer (P2P) links. Figure 1 In the example of FIG. 1 , UE 190 has: a D2D P2P link 192 with one of UEs 104 connected to one of base stations 102 (e.g., UE 190 can indirectly obtain cellular connectivity through the link); and a D2D P2P link 194 with a WLAN STA 152 connected to a WLAN AP 150 (UE 190 can indirectly obtain WLAN-based Internet connectivity through the link). In one example, D2D P2P links 192 and 194 can be provided by any well-known D2D RAT (e.g., LTE Direct (LTE-D), WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), etc.) support.

[0048] The wireless communication system 100 may also include a UE 164, which may communicate with the macrocell base station 102 via a communication link 120 and / or communicate with the mmW base station 180 via a mmW communication link 184. For example, the macrocell base station 102 may support a PCell and one or more SCells for the UE 164, and the mmW base station 180 may support one or more SCells for the UE 164.

[0049] According to various aspects, Figure 2A An example wireless network architecture 200 is shown. For example, the 5GC 210 (also referred to as the Next Generation Core (NGC)) can be functionally viewed as a control plane function 214 (e.g., UE registration, authentication, network access, gateway selection, etc.) and a user plane function 212 (e.g., UE gateway function, access to data networks, IP routing, etc.), which operate in conjunction to form a core network. A user plane interface (NG-U) 213 and a control plane interface (NG-C) 215 connect the gNB 222 to the 5GC 210, in particular to the control plane function 214 and the user plane function 212. In additional configurations, the ng-eNB 224 can also be connected to the 5GC 210 via the NG-C 215 to the control plane function 214 and the NG-U 213 to the user plane function 212. In addition, the ng-eNB 224 can communicate directly with the gNB 222 via the backhaul connection 223. In some configurations, the new RAN 220 may have only one or more gNBs 222, while other configurations include one or more of both ng-eNBs 224 and gNBs 222. The gNB 222 or the ng-eNB 224 may communicate with the UE 204 (e.g., Figure 1204). Another optional aspect may include a location server 230 that can communicate with the 5GC 210 to provide location assistance to the UE 204. The location server 230 may be implemented as multiple independent servers (e.g., physically independent servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules distributed on multiple physical servers, etc.), or each may correspond to a single server. The location server 230 may be configured to support one or more location services for the UE 204, and the UE 204 may be connected to the location server 230 via the core network, the 5GC 210, and / or via the Internet (not shown). In addition, the location server 230 may be integrated into a component of the core network, or alternatively may be external to the core network.

[0050] According to various aspects, Figure 2B Another example wireless network structure 250 is shown. For example, the 5GC 260 can be functionally viewed as a control plane function provided by an access and mobility management function (AMF) 264, and a user plane function provided by a user plane function (UPF) 262, which operate in conjunction to form a core network (i.e., the 5GC 260). The user plane interface 263 and the control plane interface 265 connect the ng-eNB 224 to the 5GC 260, and specifically to the UPF 262 and the AMF 264, respectively. In additional configurations, the gNB 222 can also be connected to the 5GC 260 via the control plane interface 265 to the AMF 264 and the user plane interface 263 to the UPF 262. In addition, the ng-eNB 224 can communicate directly with the gNB 222 via the backhaul connection 223, regardless of whether the gNB is directly connected to the 5GC 260. In some configurations, the new RAN 220 may have only one or more gNBs 222, while other configurations include one or more of both ng-eNB 224 and gNB 222. The gNB 222 or the ng-eNB 224 may communicate with the UE 204 (e.g., Figure 1 The base stations of the new RAN 220 communicate with the AMF 264 via the N2 interface and communicate with the UPF 262 via the N3 interface.

[0051] The functions of AMF 264 include registration management, connection management, reachability management, mobility management, lawful interception, transmission of session management (SM) messages between UE 204 and session management function (SMF) 266, transparent proxy service for routing SM messages, access authentication and access authorization, transmission of short message service (SMS) messages between UE 204 and short message service function (SMSF) (not shown), and security anchor function (SEAF). AMF 264 also interacts with authentication server function (AUSF) (not shown) and UE 204, and receives intermediate keys established as a result of the UE 204 authentication process. In the case of authentication based on UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) User Identity Module (USIM), AMF 264 retrieves security materials from AUSF. The functions of AMF 264 also include security environment management (SCM). SCM receives keys from SEAF, which are used to derive access network specific keys. The functions of AMF 264 also include location service management for management services, transmission of location service messages between UE 204 and location management function (LMF) 270 (which acts as location server 230), transmission of location service messages between new RAN 220 and LMF 270, allocation of evolved packet system (EPS) bearer identifiers for interaction with EPS, and notification of mobility events of UE 20. In addition, AMF 264 also supports the functions of non-3GPP access networks.

[0052] The functions of UPF 262 include acting as an anchor point for intra-RAT / inter-RAT mobility (when applicable), acting as an external protocol data unit (PDU) session point for interconnecting with a data network (not shown), providing packet routing and forwarding, packet inspection, user plane policy rule enforcement (e.g., gating, redirection, traffic steering), lawful interception (user plane collection), traffic usage reporting, user plane quality of service (QoS) processing (e.g., UL / DL rate enforcement, reflective QoS marking in DL), UL traffic verification (service data flow (SDF) to QoS flow mapping), transport level packet marking in UL and DL, DL packet buffering and DL data notification triggering, and sending and forwarding one or more "end markers" to the source RAN node. UPF 262 can also support the transmission of location service messages over the user plane between UE 204 and a location server, such as a secure user plane location (SUPL) location platform (SLP) 272.

[0053] The functions of SMF 266 include session management, UE Internet Protocol (IP) address allocation and management, selection and control of user plane functions, traffic steering configuration at UPF 262 to route traffic to the appropriate destination, control part policy enforcement and QoS, and downlink data notification. The interface between SMF 266 and AMF 264 is called the N11 interface.

[0054] Another optional aspect may include an LMF 270 that can communicate with the 5GC 260 to provide location assistance to the UE 204. The LMF 270 can be implemented as multiple independent servers (e.g., physically independent servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules distributed on multiple physical servers, etc.), or each corresponds to a single server. The LMF 270 can be configured to support one or more location services for the UE 204, and the UE 204 can be connected to the LMF 270 via the core network, the 5GC 260, and / or via the Internet (not shown). The SLP 272 can support similar functionality to the LMF 270, but the LMF 270 can communicate with the AMF 264, the new RAN 220, and the UE 204 via the control plane (e.g., using interfaces and protocols intended to transmit signaling messages rather than voice or data), and the SLP 270 can communicate with the UE 204 and external clients ( Figure 2B ) communications (e.g., using protocols designed to carry voice and / or data, such as the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and / or IP).

[0055] Figure 3A , Figure 3B and Figure 3C Several example components (represented by corresponding boxes) are shown, which can be incorporated into UE 302 (which can correspond to any UE described herein), base station 304 (which can correspond to any base station described herein), and network entity 306 (which can correspond to or embody any network function described herein, including location server 230, LMF 270 and SLP 272) to support file transfer operations as taught herein. It should be understood that these components can be implemented in different types of devices in different implementations (e.g., in an ASIC, in a system on a chip (SoC), etc.). The components shown can also be incorporated into other devices in the communication system. For example, other devices in the system may include components similar to the components described to provide similar functions. In addition, a given device may include one or more of these components. For example, a device may include multiple transceiver components so that the device can operate on multiple carriers and / or communicate via different technologies.

[0056] UE 302 and base station 304 include wireless wide area network (WWAN) transceivers 310 and 350, respectively, which are configured to communicate via one or more wireless communication networks (e.g., NR network, LTE network, GSM network, etc., not shown). WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 can be connected to one or more antennas 316 and 356, respectively, for communicating with other network nodes (e.g., other UEs, access points, base stations (e.g., ng-eNB, gNB), etc.) via at least one designated RAT (e.g., NR, LTE, GSM, etc.) over a wireless communication medium of interest (e.g., a set of time / frequency resources in a specific spectrum). WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 can be configured differently to send and encode signals 318 and 358 (e.g., messages, indications, information, etc.) according to the designated RAT, and conversely, to receive and decode signals 318 and 358 (e.g., messages, indications, information, pilots, etc.), respectively. Specifically, transceivers 310 and 350 include one or more transmitters 314 and 354 for transmitting and encoding signals 318 and 358, respectively, and one or more receivers 312 and 352 for receiving and decoding signals 318 and 358, respectively.

[0057] At least in some cases, UE 302 and base station 304 also include wireless local area network (WLAN) transceivers 320 and 360, respectively. WLAN transceivers 320 and 360 can be connected to one or more antennas 326 and 366, respectively, for communicating via at least one designated RAT (e.g., WiFi, LTE-D, The WWAN transceivers 320 and 360 may be configured differently to transmit and encode signals 328 and 368 (e.g., messages, indications, information, etc.) according to a specified RAT, and conversely, to receive and decode signals 328 and 368 (e.g., messages, indications, information, pilots, etc.), respectively. Specifically, the transceivers 320 and 360 include one or more transmitters 324 and 364 for transmitting and encoding signals 328 and 368, respectively, and one or more receivers 322 and 362 for receiving and decoding signals 328 and 368, respectively.

[0058] In some embodiments, the transceiver circuit including the transmitter and the receiver may include an integrated device (e.g., a transmitter circuit and a receiver circuit implemented as a single communication device), may include a separate transmitter device and a separate receiver device in some embodiments, or may be implemented in other ways in other embodiments. In one aspect, as described herein, the transmitter may include or be coupled to multiple antennas such as an antenna array (e.g., antennas 316, 336, and 376), which allows each device to perform transmit "beamforming". Similarly, as described herein, the receiver may include or be coupled to multiple antennas such as an antenna array (e.g., antennas 316, 336, and 376), which allows each device to perform receive beamforming. In one aspect, the transmitter and receiver may share the same multiple antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 336, and 376) so that each device can only receive or transmit at a given time, but not simultaneously. The wireless communication device of apparatus 302 and / or 304 (eg, one or both of transceivers 310 and 320 and / or 350 and 360 ) may also include a network listening module (NLM) or the like for performing various measurements.

[0059] At least in some cases, devices 302 and 304 also include satellite positioning system (SPS) receivers 330 and 370. SPS receivers 330 and 370 may be connected to one or more antennas 336 and 376, respectively, for receiving SPS signals 338 and 378, respectively, such as global positioning system (GPS) signals, global navigation satellite system (GLONASS) signals, Galileo signals, BeiDou signals, Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (NAVIC), Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS), etc. SPS receivers 330 and 370 may include any suitable hardware and / or software for receiving and processing SPS signals 338 and 378, respectively. SPS receivers 330 and 370 request appropriate information and operations from other systems and use measurements obtained by any suitable SPS algorithm to perform calculations required to determine the location of devices 302 and 304.

[0060] The base station 304 and the network entity 306 each include at least one network interface 380 and 390 for communicating with other network entities. For example, the network interfaces 380 and 390 (e.g., one or more network access ports) may be configured to communicate with one or more network entities via a wired or wireless backhaul connection. In some aspects, the network interfaces 380 and 390 may be implemented as transceivers configured to support wired or wireless signal communication. Such communication may involve, for example, sending and receiving information, parameters, or other types of information.

[0061] Apparatuses 302, 304, and 306 also include other components that may be used in conjunction with the operations disclosed herein. UE 302 includes processor circuitry implementing a processing system 332 for providing functionality associated with, for example, receiving base station database (BSA) information disclosed herein, and for providing other processing functionality. Base station 304 includes a processing system 384 for providing functionality associated with, for example, transmitting BSA information disclosed herein, and for providing other processing functionality. Network entity 306 includes a processing system 394 for providing functionality associated with, for example, transmitting BSA information disclosed herein, and for providing other processing functionality. In one aspect, processing systems 332, 384, and 394 may include, for example, one or more general purpose processors, multi-core processors, ASICs, digital signal processors (DSPs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), or other programmable logic devices or processing circuits.

[0062] The apparatuses 302, 304, and 306 include memory circuitry that implements memory components 340, 386, and 396, respectively (e.g., each including a memory device), for maintaining information (e.g., information indicating reserved resources, thresholds, parameters, etc.). In some cases, the apparatuses 302, 304, and 306 may include location components 342, 388, and 398, respectively. The location components 342, 388, and 398 may be hardware circuitry that is part of or coupled to the processing systems 332, 384, and 394, respectively, and that, when executed, causes the apparatuses 302, 304, and 306 to perform the functions described herein. In other aspects, the location components 342, 388, and 398 may be external to the processing systems 332, 384, and 394 (e.g., part of a modem processing system, integrated with another processing system, etc.). Alternatively, the positioning components 342, 388 and 398 may be memory modules (such as memory modules) stored in the memory components 340, 386 and 396, respectively. FIG. 3A to FIG. 3C ), which, when executed by processing systems 332, 384, and 394 (a modem processing system, another processing system, etc.), causes devices 302, 304, and 306 to perform the functions described herein.

[0063] UE 302 may include one or more sensors 344 coupled to processing system 332 to provide motion and / or orientation information that is independent of motion data derived from signals received by WWAN transceiver 310, WLAN transceiver 320, and / or SPS receiver 330. For example, sensor 344 may include an accelerometer (e.g., a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) device), a gyroscope, a geomagnetic sensor (e.g., a compass), an altimeter (e.g., a barometric altimeter), and / or any other type of motion detection sensor. In addition, sensor 344 may include multiple different types of devices and combine their outputs to provide motion information. For example, sensor 344 may use a combination of a multi-axis accelerometer and an orientation sensor to provide the ability to calculate position in a 2D and / or 3D coordinate system.

[0064] In addition, UE 302 includes a user interface 346 for providing indications to the user (e.g., auditory and / or visual indications) and / or for receiving user input (e.g., when the user activates a sensing device such as a keyboard, touch screen, microphone, etc.). Although not shown, apparatuses 304 and 306 may also include a user interface.

[0065] Referring to the processing system 384 in more detail, in the downlink, IP packets from the network entity 306 may be provided to the processing system 384. The processing system 384 may implement the functions of the RRC layer, the Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer, the Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, and the Medium Access Control (MAC) layer. The processing system 384 can provide RRC layer functions associated with broadcasting of system information (e.g., master information block (MIB), system information block (SIB)), RRC connection control (e.g., RRC connection paging, RRC connection establishment, RRC connection modification, and RRC connection release), inter-RAT mobility, and measurement configuration for UE measurement reporting; PDCP layer functions associated with header compression / decompression, security (encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification), and handover support functions; RLC layer functions associated with transmission of upper layer packet data units (PDUs), error correction through ARQ, concatenation, segmentation and reassembly of RLC service data units (SDUs), re-segmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functions associated with mapping between logical channels and transport channels, scheduling information reporting, error correction, priority handling, and logical channel priority.

[0066] The transmitter 354 and the receiver 352 may implement layer-1 functions associated with various signal processing functions. Layer-1, including the physical (PHY) layer, may include error detection on the transmission channel, forward error correction (FEC) encoding / decoding of the transmission channel, interleaving, rate matching, mapping to the physical channel, modulation / demodulation of the physical channel, and MIMO antenna processing. The transmitter 354 processes the mapping to the signal constellation based on various modulation schemes (e.g., binary phase shift keying (BPSK), quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK), M-phase shift keying (M-PSK), M-quadrature amplitude modulation (M-QAM)). The coded and modulated symbols may then be divided into parallel streams. Each stream may be mapped to an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) subcarrier, multiplexed with a reference signal (e.g., a pilot) in the time domain and / or frequency domain, and then combined together using an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) to produce a physical channel carrying a time domain OFDM symbol stream. The OFDM stream is spatially precoded to produce multiple spatial streams. The channel estimate from the channel estimator may be used to determine the coding and modulation schemes and for spatial processing. The channel estimate may be derived from a reference signal and / or channel condition feedback sent by the UE 302. Each spatial stream may then be provided to one or more different antennas 356. The transmitter 354 may modulate an RF carrier with a corresponding spatial stream for transmission.

[0067] At the UE 302, the receiver 312 receives the signal through its corresponding antenna 316. The receiver 312 recovers the information modulated onto the RF carrier and provides the information to the processing system 332. The transmitter 314 and the receiver 312 implement layer-1 functions associated with various signal processing functions. The receiver 312 can perform spatial processing on the information to recover any spatial streams destined for the UE 302. If multiple spatial streams are destined for the UE 302, they can be combined into a single OFDM symbol stream by the receiver 312. The receiver 312 then converts the OFDM symbol stream from the time domain to the frequency domain using a fast Fourier transform (FFT). The frequency domain signal includes a separate OFDM symbol stream for each subcarrier of the OFDM signal. The symbols and reference signals on each subcarrier are recovered and demodulated by determining the most likely signal profile point sent by the base station 304. These soft decisions can be based on channel estimates calculated by the channel estimator. The soft decisions are then decoded and deinterleaved to recover the data and control signals originally sent by the base station 304 on the physical channel. The data and control signals are then provided to a processing system 332 that implements layer-3 and layer-2 functions.

[0068] In the UL, the processing system 332 provides demultiplexing between transport and logical channels, packet reassembly, decryption, header decompression, and control signal processing to recover IP packets from the core network. The processing system 332 is also responsible for error detection.

[0069] Similar to the functions described in conjunction with DL transmissions performed by the base station 304, the processing system 332 provides RRC layer functions associated with system information (e.g., MIB, SIB) acquisition, RRC connection, and measurement reporting; PDCP layer functions associated with header compression / decompression and security (encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification); RLC layer functions associated with transmission of upper layer PDUs, error correction through ARQ, concatenation, segmentation and reassembly of RLC SDUs, resegmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functions associated with mapping between logical channels and transport channels, multiplexing of MAC SDUs onto transport blocks (TBs), demultiplexing of MAC SDUs from TBs, scheduling information reporting, error correction through HARQ, priority handling, and logical channel priority.

[0070] The transmitter 314 may select an appropriate coding and modulation scheme and facilitate spatial processing using channel estimates derived by a channel estimator from a reference signal or feedback sent by the base station 304. The spatial streams generated by the transmitter 314 may be provided to different antennas 316. The transmitter 314 may modulate an RF carrier with a corresponding spatial stream for transmission.

[0071] At base station 304, UL transmissions are processed in a manner similar to that described in conjunction with the receiver functionality at UE 302. Receiver 352 receives the signal through its respective antenna 356. Receiver 352 recovers the information modulated onto the RF carrier and provides the information to processing system 384.

[0072] In the UL, the processing system 384 provides demultiplexing between transport and logical channels, packet reassembly, decryption, header decompression, control signal processing to recover IP packets from the UE 302. The IP packets from the processing system 384 may be provided to the core network. The processing system 384 is also responsible for error detection.

[0073] For convenience, devices 302, 304 and / or 306 are FIG. 3A to FIG. 3C 1 and 2. The schematic diagram of the embodiment of the present invention is shown as including various components that can be configured according to various examples described herein. However, it should be understood that the blocks shown may have different functions in different designs.

[0074] The various components of devices 302, 304, and 306 may communicate with each other via data buses 334, 382, ​​and 392, respectively. FIG. 3A to FIG. 3C The components of can be implemented in various ways. In some implementations, FIG. 3A to FIG. 3CThe components may be implemented in one or more circuits, such as one or more processors and / or one or more ASICs (which may include one or more processors). Here, each circuit may use and / or combine at least one memory component for storing information or executable code used by the circuit to provide this functionality. For example, some or all of the functions represented by blocks 310 to 346 may be implemented by the processor and memory components of UE302 (e.g., by executing appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of the processor components). Similarly, some or all of the functions represented by blocks 350 to 388 may be implemented by the processor and memory components of the base station 304 (e.g., by executing appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of the processor components). In addition, some or all of the functions represented by blocks 390 to 398 may be implemented by the processor and memory components of the network entity 306 (e.g., by executing appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of the processor components). For simplicity, various operations, actions and / or functions are described herein as being performed "by the UE", "by the base station", "by the positioning entity", etc. However, it will be appreciated that such operations, actions and / or functions may actually be performed by specific components or combinations of components of the UE, base station, positioning entity, etc., such as processing systems 332, 384, 394; transceivers 310, 320, 350 and 360; memory components 340, 386 and 396; positioning components 342, 388 and 398, etc.

[0075] A position estimate (e.g., for a UE 104) may be referred to by other names, such as a location estimate, a position, a position, a position fix, a fix, etc. The position estimate may be geodetic and include coordinates (e.g., latitude, longitude, and possibly altitude), or may be urban and include a street address, a postal address, or some other verbal description of the location. The position estimate may also be defined relative to some other known location, or in absolute terms (e.g., using latitude, longitude, and possibly altitude). The position estimate may include an expected error or uncertainty (e.g., by including an area or volume where the location is expected to be included with some specified or default confidence level).

[0076] For terrestrial positioning of UEs in cellular networks, techniques such as Advanced Forward Link Trilateration (AFLT) and Observed Time Difference of Arrival (OTDOA) are typically operated in a "UE-assisted" mode, where measurements of reference signals (e.g., PRS, CRS, etc.) transmitted by a base station are obtained by the UE and then provided to a location server (e.g., LMF 270 or SLP 272). The location server then calculates the position of the UE based on the measurements and the known positions of the base stations. Because these techniques require the location server to calculate the position of the UE, rather than the UE itself, these positioning techniques are not often used in applications such as vehicle or cell phone navigation, which typically rely on satellite-based positioning.

[0077] UEs can use Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) positioning techniques for high-precision positioning using Precise Point Positioning (PPP) or Real-Time Kinematic (RTK) techniques. These positioning techniques use assistance data from ground stations, such as measurements. In LTE, this data can be encrypted so that only UEs that have subscribed to the service can read the information. This assistance data changes over time. Therefore, UEs that have subscribed to the service cannot easily "break the encryption" for other UEs by passing the data to other UEs that have not paid for the subscription. The delivery needs to be repeated every time the assistance data changes.

[0078] In UE assisted positioning, the UE sends measurement results (e.g., OTDOA, angle of arrival (AoA), round trip time (RTT), etc.) to a location server (e.g., location server 230, LMF 270, SLP 272). The location server stores a BSA containing multiple "entries" or "records", one record for each cell / TRP, where each record contains the geographic location of the base station supporting the cell / TRP, but may also include other data. An identifier of a "record" among multiple "records" in the BSA can be referenced. Information from the BSA and the measurement results from the UE can be used to calculate the UE's position. Note that the BSA information can also be referred to as auxiliary data or auxiliary information.

[0079] In traditional UE-based positioning, the UE obtains a position measurement and then uses the position measurement to calculate its own position, thereby avoiding the need to send the position measurement to the network (e.g., a location server), which in turn improves latency and scalability. However, when using a terrestrial positioning method (e.g., OTDOA) in which the UE obtains the position measurement of a downlink signal sent by a base station, the UE needs to obtain the relevant BSA record information (e.g., the location of the base station) from the network. The BSA information can be sent to the UE in an encrypted form from the network (e.g., from a gNB or location server) (e.g., via broadcast or unicast). However, because some parts of the BSA information (e.g., the location of the base station) often change very little, for example, compared to the PPP or RTK assistance data described previously, it is easier to provide to UEs that do not subscribe and do not pay for decryption keys. In addition, the transmission of reference signals by the base station can make this information potentially accessible to crowdsourcing, thereby enabling the generation of BSA based on field and / or overhead observations.

[0080] As an example, the transmission of a reference signal by a base station (where the coding of the reference signal does not change or can be easily determined by the UE, and includes an implicit or explicit identifier of the base station or associated cell) can enable a UE or other party to easily identify the base station or cell by receiving the reference signal, and "reverse locate" the base station or cell antenna and / or use the reference signal to support UE-based positioning without the consent or knowledge of the associated network. Information obtained from the reverse position and information for the reference signal that is easily identifiable to its associated base station and / or cell can also be used to support commercial positioning services for which the network operator does not derive direct benefits and which may compete with the positioning services provided by the network operator.

[0081] To address such issues associated with traditional UE-based positioning, this disclosure describes the following techniques:

[0082] 1) Blurring the mapping between positioning signals (e.g., PRS, CRS, etc.) and their corresponding physical base stations and introducing time variations therein (i.e., entries in the BSA);

[0083] 2) Introducing time variations in the BSA information field (e.g., synchronization errors);

[0084] 3) Encrypted positioning signal configuration (unicast and broadcast).

[0085] In one aspect, some or all of the time changes may be deterministic, for example, based on a pseudo-random generator key. In addition, the key may be changed periodically and encryption may be provided only to subscribed UEs. The period of change may be based on security requirements, for example, every PRS moment, every N frames / every N hours / every N days, etc. The changes may not be strictly periodic. For example, a change may occur every 100 radio frames, but the exact frame in which the change occurs may itself vary based on another pseudo-random sequence generator, where the sequence key itself is provided only to subscribed UEs. In other words, the network may adjust the mapping of reference signals to base stations (e.g., gNBs), and / or adjust the transmission characteristics of positioning signals from base stations. These adjustments may be based on equations or algorithms, which may be shared with authorized UEs as needed. Thus, the equations or algorithms may be encrypted and shared with authorized UEs along with the BSA, and it may become more difficult to derive the BSA from field or overhead observations. In addition, the equations or algorithms may be updated as needed or necessary to help ensure that the BSA information remains protected. It should be noted that, as used herein, reference to "periodic" variation includes strictly periodic (ie, at fixed intervals) as well as this more general periodicity (ie, recurring but not necessarily at fixed intervals).

[0086] The BSA may include various parameters for each cell / TRP, such as:

[0087] Base station and / or cell / TRP identifier or identification (ID);

[0088] Configuration information of one or more reference signals (e.g., PRS or CRS) transmitted by the base station or cell / TRP (e.g., carrier frequency, bandwidth, frequency hopping scheme, coding, muting pattern, timing and occurrence of transmissions, transmission direction, horizontal and / or vertical beamwidth);

[0089] Base station location (e.g., X, Y (and Z) coordinates);

[0090] Antenna panel orientation;

[0091] Antenna elements and beam patterns;

[0092] Group delay between the digital domain and the RF / antenna;

[0093] • Synchronization errors between different base stations (eg, between neighboring base stations).

[0094] The above list is not necessarily exhaustive.In addition, all parameters may be per base station, per sector (eg, for a three-sector base station), per panel, or per antenna.

[0095] In one aspect, to obfuscate the mapping between positioning signals and gNBs (or more broadly, base stations), some or all gNBs may periodically change their respective cell IDs and / or base station IDs. When a gNB includes multiple sectors, the cell IDs of one or more sectors may change periodically. The change of one cell ID may be independent of the change of another cell ID.

[0096] The mapping of cell IDs and corresponding entries in the BSA may be known to subscribed UEs. Typically, a UE reporting its cell ID and UE location to a third party (e.g., a map application) may allow such a third party to discover the geographic location corresponding to each cell ID (e.g., by reverse locating the gNB using measurements of signals transmitted by the gNB obtained by one or more UEs at different known locations (e.g., independently determined using GNSS)). However, periodic cell ID (or base station ID) changes may make it more difficult for third parties to maintain up-to-date base station and / or cell information without subscribing to the service.

[0097] It is recognized that periodic changes in the cell ID have some impact, and that the impact may not only be for positioning. For example, a cell ID change can also change the scrambling of the physical layer channels. To address this issue, already connected UEs can be notified in advance (e.g., via an encrypted message or previously provided equation, algorithm, etc.) so that they do not experience any interruption. This will apply regardless of whether the connected UE is subscribed to enhanced positioning services, and means that the UE should be able to handle frequent changes in the cell ID. (Note that this is to ensure connectivity to the cell when the cell ID changes, which applies regardless of subscription; the difference between subscribed and unsubscribed UEs is that only subscribed UEs can translate a cell ID that changes over time into an entry in the BSA.) However, idle "cold start" unsubscribed UEs may experience longer access times if they access the gNB shortly before the cell ID change, because these UEs first acquire a synchronization channel (e.g., SSB), and the structure of this channel (e.g., the sequences used for PSS and SSS) depends on the cell ID, so the acquisition process may be disturbed by the cell ID change.

[0098] On the one hand, the network can notify subscribed UEs through encrypted SIBs and / or through encrypted unicast messages (e.g., RRC messages or MAC control elements (CE) or DCI). On the one hand, the use of broadcast or on-demand SIBs can help subscribed but idle UEs reduce the disruption of the synchronization channel acquisition process caused by cell ID changes by notifying them of the upcoming changes. On the one hand, if the SIB cannot carry the complete information required for this, the idle UEs can switch to connected mode, or through existing or newly defined idle UE short data transfer mechanisms (e.g., paging or four-step RACH or two-step RACH procedures). The idle UE described here may refer to a UE in RRC idle mode, a UE in RRC inactive mode, or both types of UEs.

[0099] Alternatively or in addition, the gNB may periodically change the PRS-ID and / or other PRS configuration parameters (e.g., PRS coding, frequency, timing, beam shape, beam ID, etc.) to obscure the mapping between the positioning signal and the gNB. If there are multiple sectors for the gNB, the changes may be applied to each sector, and the changes to one sector may be independent of the changes to another sector. Periodically changing the PRS-ID and / or other PRS configuration parameters of the gNB / sector may be viewed as conceptually similar to the changes to the cell ID discussed above, but with a more limited impact. That is, the impact may be limited to the positioning function, and thus the complexity of the implementation and the impact on subscribed UEs may be reduced.

[0100] If periodic configuration changes as described above are limited to configuration related to positioning signals such as PRS (as opposed to cell ID changes, which also affect other signals), it may still be possible for unauthorized third parties to determine the location of the gNB via field and / or overhead observations (e.g., using location measurements of the gNB obtained by multiple UEs at multiple different known locations). However, the accuracy will be limited to the accuracy allowed by the observations reported by [cell ID, UE location]. The additional accuracy that can be obtained by using known PRS configuration data can be denied by changing the PRS ID.

[0101] As described above, alternatively or in addition to obfuscating the mapping between positioning signals and gNBs, fields of the BSA may vary. Some BSA fields may naturally vary over time. For example, gNB timing or synchronization with other gNBs may vary. As another example, RF chain group delay may also vary. Such variation may be due to clock drift, temperature variation, etc.

[0102] However, there are also some BSA fields that may be intentionally changed to help hide the gNB location from unsubscribed UEs. For example, the timing delay may vary for the entire frame transmission or just the PRS transmission. If the varied timing delay applies to the entire frame transmission, the connected subscribed UEs may be separately informed, for example, via encrypted unicast and / or multicast and / or broadcast messages. Alternatively or additionally, the variation in timing delay may be addressed by gNB Timing Advance (TA) correction.

[0103] In another example, the mapping between the index of the SSB and / or PRS and its corresponding beam shape can be changed. This can deny non-subscribers any additional accuracy from the beam shape information in the BSA. As another example, the antenna panel direction can be changed. For example, changes can be made based on peak / off-peak times to modify coverage. The panel can be tilted, and the degree of tilt can be changed (e.g., using a motor or actually by changing the beam boresight direction in elevation and / or azimuth). On the one hand, if the BSA information includes the panel direction, this means a change in the BSA.

[0104] The changes made may be signaled to the subscribing UEs individually or jointly by the network (e.g., by the location server and / or serving gNB). In separate signaling, each specific change (e.g., group delay change, beam shape change, etc.) may be indicated individually in a BSA update message or indicated in a separate BSA update message. In joint signaling, a set of possible configurations of all parameters that may be changed may be preconfigured, and the BSA update message may simply indicate an index to that subset. It is easy to see that a hybrid scheme is also possible, where parameters are grouped and changes to all parameters within a group are indicated jointly, while changes to a separate group are indicated individually. It is also important to note that multiple PRSs may be configured. In addition, changes related to PRSs (e.g., changes to beam shapes) may apply to all PRS configurations or to an indicated subset of PRS configurations. For example, a high-precision PRS (e.g., a wide bandwidth signal) may have more frequent configuration changes relative to a low-precision PRS (e.g., a narrow bandwidth signal). Changes to different PRS configurations may also be indicated individually or jointly, with the definitions of "individual" and "joint" being as described above. In all the above descriptions, the change notification from the network to the UE may originate from different types of network nodes, e.g., the core network or a central node such as a location server, or a gNB.

[0105] Figure 4 An exemplary method 400 performed by a UE and a network node to enable UE-based position determination is shown. The UE may correspond to any UE described herein. At block 405, the network node (e.g., a serving gNB, a location server) may send a BSA to the UE, which may be received by the UE at block 410. Figure 4In the example, it is assumed that the UE is a subscribed UE, that is, the UE is an authorized UE.

[0106] The BSA may include information for multiple base stations in the communication network to enable the location of the UE to be determined. Thus, the BSA may include the location (e.g., X, Y (and Z) coordinates) of each of the multiple base stations in the BSA. For protection, the BSA may be encrypted before being sent to the UE at block 405, and the UE may decrypt the BSA after receiving the encrypted BSA at block 410. It should be understood that the BSA does not necessarily include information for every base station in the network. For example, the UE may only receive information about base stations that are relevant to determining its position, such as base stations that are aware of the PRS configuration or are monitoring the PRS (referred to as "involved" base stations).

[0107] At block 415, the network node may change positioning signal parameters of one or more positioning signals of one or more base stations. At block 425, the network node may send a change notification, which may be received by the UE at block 420. The change notification may reflect the changes to the positioning signal parameters made at block 415. The network node may cycle between blocks 415 and 425 as needed to prevent unsubscribed UEs from gaining access.

[0108] The network node may encrypt the change notification before sending it to the UE, and the UE may decrypt the received change notification. In one aspect, the change notification may include one or more changes to positioning signal parameters of positioning signals sent from one or more base stations in the plurality of base stations. For example, the change notification may notify the UE about:

[0109] Changes in the cell ID of one or more base stations;

[0110] Changes in the PRS-ID and / or PRS configuration (e.g., beam shape) of one or more base stations;

[0111] Variations in the time delay of transmissions from one or more base stations, either the entire frame or just the PRS;

[0112] Changes in the mapping of SSB and / or PRS indices to their corresponding beam shapes for one or more base stations; and / or

[0113] • Changes in the orientation of the antenna panels of one or more base stations.

[0114] At block 430, the UE may apply a change to a positioning signal parameter of the positioning signal according to the change notification. At block 440, the UE may receive multiple positioning signals (e.g., PRS) from multiple base stations. At block 450, the UE may determine its position, i.e., the UE position, based on the received multiple positioning signals and the positioning signal parameters based on the multiple positioning signals.

[0115] For example, the UE may determine its distance from each of the plurality of base stations based on the received positioning signal. To do so, the UE may determine the cell ID and / or PRS-ID of the received PRS for a particular received PRS. Based on the cell ID and / or PRS-ID, the UE may determine the location of the corresponding base station from the BSA, thereby determining its distance from each base station based on the received PRS (e.g., using an RTT procedure). The UE will have the correct mapping because any changes to such mapping information will be applied at block 430.

[0116] In one aspect, some changes in positioning signal parameters can be deterministic. For example, the cell ID changes of the gNB can be made at predetermined intervals by a pseudo-random generator. The predetermined interval for one base station can be independent of another base station. In addition, the key or seed of the pseudo-random generator can be personalized for each base station.

[0117] In fact, any positioning signal parameter, such as PRS-ID, PRS configuration, timing delay, SSB and / or PRS index mapping, antenna panel direction, etc., can be changed in a deterministic manner. The information required by the UE to change the positioning signal parameter can be provided by the network node at box 415 and received by the UE at box 420. That is, the change notification may include information such as the change time interval (i.e., the frequency at which the change should be made, such as daily, every N hours, etc.). The notification may also include the change increment. For example, the cell ID may be changed by cell ID increment, the PRS-ID may be changed by PRS-ID increment, the timing delay may be changed by timing delay increment, and so on. When the incremental change causes the parameter value to exceed a certain acceptable range (for example, the cell ID may be limited to a range between 0 and 1007, for example), the value may "wrap around". These changes may be performed by a pseudo-random generator. In these cases, a key or seed may also be provided to the generator. For the positioning signal parameters that are exactly changed, the UE may proceed from box 450 to box 430.

[0118] However, on the other hand, the UE may receive change notifications periodically (i.e., block 420 may occur periodically). Upon receiving a change notification, the UE may proceed from block 450 to block 420 and apply the specified changes to the positioning signal parameters accordingly at block 430. Of course, it is contemplated that both cases may occur, where, for example, applying a change based on a received change notification takes precedence over a deterministic change.

[0119] Figure 5 An exemplary method 500 of operating a UE (eg, any UE described herein) in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is shown.

[0120] At 510, the UE receives a BSA from a network node (e.g., a location server or a serving base station) of the wireless communication network. In one aspect, the BSA includes information for a plurality of base stations in the wireless communication network, the information including a location of each of the plurality of base stations. In one aspect, operation 510 may be performed by receiver 312, WWAN transceiver 310, processing system 332, memory 340, and / or positioning component 342, any or all of which may be considered as means for performing this operation.

[0121] At 520, the UE receives a change notification from the network node. In one aspect, the change notification includes information about a change in positioning signal parameters of positioning signals sent from one or more of the plurality of base stations. In one aspect, operation 520 may be performed by receiver 312, WWAN transceiver 310, processing system 332, memory 340, and / or positioning component 342, any or all of which may be considered as means for performing this operation.

[0122] At 530, the UE applies the change to the positioning signal parameters of the positioning signal according to the change notification. In one aspect, operation 530 may be performed by the receiver 312, the WWAN transceiver 310, the processing system 332, the memory 340, and / or the positioning component 342, any or all of which may be considered as means for performing this operation.

[0123] At 540, the UE receives multiple positioning signals from multiple base stations. In an aspect, operation 540 may be performed by receiver 312, WWAN transceiver 310, processing system 332, memory 340, and / or positioning component 342, any or all of which may be considered means for performing such operation.

[0124] At 550, the UE determines the UE position based on the plurality of positioning signals, the positioning signal parameters of the plurality of positioning signals, the BSA, and the change notification. In an aspect, operation 550 may be performed by the WWAN transceiver 310, the processing system 332, the memory 340, and / or the positioning component 342, any or all of which may be considered as means for performing such operation.

[0125] Figure 6 An exemplary method 600 of operating a network node (eg, a location server or a serving base station) of a wireless communication network according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown.

[0126] At 610, the network node sends a BSA to a UE (e.g., any UE described herein). In one aspect, the BSA includes information for a plurality of base stations in the wireless communication network, the information including the location of each of the plurality of base stations. In one aspect, where the network node is a base station, operation 610 may be performed by transmitter 354, WWAN transceiver 350, processing system 384, memory 386, and / or positioning component 388, any or all of which may be considered as methods for performing this operation. In one aspect, where the network node is a location server, operation 610 may be performed by network interface 390, processing system 394, memory 396, and / or positioning component 398, any or all of which may be considered as components for performing this operation.

[0127] At 620, the network node changes one or more positioning signal parameters of the positioning signal sent from one or more base stations of the plurality of base stations. For example, where the network node is a location server, the network node may instruct one or more base stations to change one or more positioning signal parameters. In one aspect, where the network node is a base station, operation 620 may be performed by transmitter 354, WWAN transceiver 350, processing system 384, memory 386, and / or positioning component 388, any one or all of which may be considered as components for performing this operation. In one aspect, where the network node is a location server, operation 620 may be performed by network interface 390, processing system 394, memory 396, and / or positioning component 398, any one or all of which may be considered as components for performing this operation.

[0128] At 630, the network node sends a change notification to the UE. In one aspect, the change notification includes information about the change in the positioning signal parameters. In one aspect, where the network node is a base station, operation 630 may be performed by transmitter 354, WWAN transceiver 350, processing system 384, memory 386, and / or positioning component 388, any or all of which may be considered as components for performing this operation. In one aspect, where the network node is a location server, operation 630 may be performed by network interface 390, processing system 394, memory 396, and / or positioning component 398, any or all of which may be considered as components for performing this operation.

[0129] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that information and signals may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips referenced throughout the above description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

[0130] In addition, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the various schematic logic blocks, modules, circuits and algorithm steps described in conjunction with the various aspects disclosed herein can be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software or a combination of the two. In order to clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various schematic components, blocks, modules, circuits and steps have been described above generally according to their functions. Whether this function is implemented as hardware or software depends on specific applications and the design constraints imposed on the entire system. The technician can implement the described functions in different ways for each specific application, but this implementation decision should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0131] The various illustrative logic blocks, modules, and circuits described in conjunction with various aspects of the present disclosure may be implemented or executed with a general purpose processor, a DSP, an ASIC, an FPGA, or other programmable logic devices designed to perform the functions described herein, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but alternatively, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. The processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, for example, a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

[0132] The methods, sequences and / or algorithms described in conjunction with the various aspects disclosed herein may be directly embodied in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. The software module may reside in a random access memory (RAM), a flash memory, a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), a register, a hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to a processor so that the processor can read information from the storage medium and write information to the storage medium. Alternatively, the storage medium may be integrated with the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in an ASIC. The ASIC may reside in a user terminal (e.g., UE). Alternatively, the processor and the storage medium may reside in a user terminal as discrete components.

[0133] In one or more exemplary aspects, the functions described can be implemented with hardware, software, firmware or any combination thereof. If implemented with software, these functions can be stored on a computer-readable medium or sent via a computer-readable medium as one or more instructions or codes. Computer-readable media include computer storage media and communication media, and the communication media include any medium that is convenient for transferring a computer program from one place to another. The storage medium can be any available medium that a computer can access. By way of example and not limitation, such a computer-readable medium may include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, disk storage or other magnetic storage device, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store the desired program code in the form of an instruction or data structure and can be accessed by a computer. Moreover, any connection is properly referred to as a computer-readable medium. For example, if software is sent from a website, server or other remote source using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL) or wireless technology (such as infrared, radio and microwave), the definition of the medium includes coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL or wireless technology (such as infrared, radio and microwave). Disk and disc, as used herein, includes compact discs (CDs), laser discs, optical discs, digital versatile discs (DVDs), floppy disks and Blu-ray discs, wherein disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers. Combinations of the above are also included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0134] Although the foregoing disclosure presents illustrative aspects of the present disclosure, it should be noted that various changes and modifications may be made herein without departing from the scope of the present disclosure as defined by the appended claims. The functions, steps, and / or actions of the method claims according to the various aspects of the present disclosure described herein do not need to be performed in any particular order. In addition, although the elements of the present disclosure may be described or claimed in the singular, the plural form is encompassed unless explicitly stated to be limited to the singular.

Claims

1. A method performed by a subscribing user equipment UE, the method comprising: receiving a base station database BSA from a network node of a wireless communication network, the BSA comprising information for a plurality of base stations in the wireless communication network, the information comprising a geographical location of each of the plurality of base stations; receiving a change notification from the network node, the change notification comprising information about a change in a positioning signal parameter of a positioning signal sent from one or more base stations of the plurality of base stations, wherein the change notification comprises information about a change in a cell ID corresponding to the one or more base stations; applying a change to the positioning signal parameters of the positioning signals transmitted from the one or more base stations according to the change notification and changing a mapping of the cell IDs to the locations of the one or more base stations in the BSA, wherein the mapping of the cell IDs to the locations of the one or more base stations in the BSA is unknown to unsubscribed UEs; receiving a plurality of positioning signals from the plurality of base stations, the plurality of positioning signals comprising positioning signals transmitted from one or more base stations among the plurality of base stations; and A position of the subscribing UE is determined based on the plurality of positioning signals, the positioning signal parameters of the positioning signals, and the BSA.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The change notification includes information on a change of a positioning reference signal PRS ID corresponding to the one or more base stations to change a mapping of the PRS ID to the locations of the one or more base stations in the BSA.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The change notification includes information on a change of a PRS configuration corresponding to the one or more base stations to change a mapping of the PRS configuration to the one or more base stations in the BSA.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein: The change of the PRS configuration includes a change of a beam shape defined by the PRS configuration.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The change notification includes information about a change in mapping of synchronization signal block SSB indexes to corresponding beam shapes of the one or more base stations.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The change notification includes information about a change in a timing delay of the positioning signal sent by the one or more base stations.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The change notification includes information about a change in the antenna panel directions of the one or more base stations.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein: Applying the change to the positioning signal parameters of the positioning signal includes explicitly changing one or more positioning signal parameters of the one or more base stations.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein: The change notification includes information on the one or more positioning signal parameters of the one or more base stations to be determined exactly.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The BSA and / or the change notification received from the network node is encrypted, and the method further comprises: The BSA and / or the change notification are decrypted.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The changes in the positioning signal parameters are applied at one or more predetermined times.

12. A method performed by a network node of a wireless communication network, the method comprising: sending a base station database BSA to a subscribing user equipment UE, the BSA comprising information for a plurality of base stations in the wireless communication network, the information comprising a geographical location of each of the plurality of base stations; changing positioning signal parameters of positioning signals sent from one or more base stations among the plurality of base stations; as well as Sending a change notification to the subscribed UE, the change notification including information about the change of the positioning signal parameter, wherein the change notification includes information about the change of the cell ID corresponding to the one or more base stations to change the mapping of the cell ID to the one or more base stations in the BSA, and the mapping of the cell ID to the location of the one or more base stations in the BSA is unknown to unsubscribed UEs.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein: The change notification includes information on a change of a positioning reference signal PRS ID corresponding to the one or more base stations to change a mapping of the PRS ID to the locations of the one or more base stations in the BSA.

14. The method according to claim 12, wherein: The change notification includes information on a change of a PRS configuration corresponding to the one or more base stations to change a mapping of the PRS configuration to the one or more base stations in the BSA.

15. The method according to claim 14, wherein: The change of the PRS configuration includes a change of a beam shape defined by the PRS configuration.

16. The method according to claim 12, wherein: The change notification includes information about a change in mapping of synchronization signal block SSB indexes to corresponding beam shapes of the one or more base stations.

17. The method according to claim 12, wherein: The change notification includes information about a change in a timing delay of the positioning signal sent by the one or more base stations.

18. The method according to claim 12, wherein: The change notification includes information about a change in the antenna panel directions of the one or more base stations.

19. The method according to claim 12, wherein: Changing the positioning signal parameters of the positioning signal includes specifically changing one or more positioning signal parameters of the one or more base stations.

20. The method according to claim 19, wherein: The change notification includes information on one or more positioning signal parameters of one or more base stations to be determined exactly.

21. The method according to claim 12, wherein: The BSA and the change notification are encrypted before being sent.

22. A subscription user equipment UE, comprising: Memory; at least one transceiver; as well as at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor configured to: receiving, via the at least one transceiver, a base station database BSA from a network node of a wireless communication network, the BSA comprising information for a plurality of base stations in the wireless communication network, the information comprising a geographical location of each of the plurality of base stations; receiving, via the at least one transceiver, from the network node a change notification, the change notification comprising information about a change in positioning signal parameters of positioning signals sent from one or more base stations of the plurality of base stations, wherein the change notification comprises information about a change in cell IDs corresponding to the one or more base stations; applying a change to the positioning signal parameters of positioning signals transmitted from one or more base stations according to the change notification and changing a mapping of the cell ID to the locations of the one or more base stations in the BSA, wherein the mapping of the cell ID to the locations of the one or more base stations in the BSA is unknown to unsubscribed UEs; receiving, via at least one transceiver, a plurality of positioning signals from the plurality of base stations, the plurality of positioning signals comprising positioning signals transmitted from one or more base stations of the plurality of base stations; and A position of a subscribing UE is determined based on the plurality of positioning signals, the positioning signal parameters of the positioning signals, and the BSA.

23. The UE according to claim 22, wherein: The change notification includes information on a change of a positioning reference signal PRS ID corresponding to the one or more base stations to change a mapping of the PRS ID to the locations of the one or more base stations in the BSA.

24. The UE according to claim 22, wherein: The change notification includes information on a change of a PRS configuration corresponding to the one or more base stations to change a mapping of the PRS configuration to the one or more base stations in the BSA.

25. The UE according to claim 24, wherein: The change of the PRS configuration includes a change of a beam shape defined by the PRS configuration.

26. The UE according to claim 22, wherein: The change notification includes information about a change in mapping of synchronization signal block SSB indexes to corresponding beam shapes of the one or more base stations.

27. The UE according to claim 22, wherein: The change notification includes information about a change in a timing delay of the positioning signal sent by the one or more base stations.

28. The UE according to claim 22, wherein: The change notification includes information about a change in the antenna panel directions of the one or more base stations.

29. The UE according to claim 22, wherein: The at least one processor being configured to apply the change to the positioning signal parameter of the positioning signal includes the at least one processor being configured to specifically change one or more positioning signal parameters of the one or more base stations.

30. The UE according to claim 29, wherein: The change notification includes information on the one or more positioning signal parameters of the one or more base stations that are accurately determined.

31. The UE of claim 22, wherein: The BSA and / or the change notification received from the network node is encrypted, and The at least one processor is further configured to decrypt the BSA and / or the change notification.

32. The UE of claim 22, wherein the change in the positioning signal parameter is applied at one or more predetermined times.

33. A network node of a wireless communication network, comprising: Memory; Communications equipment; as well as at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the communication device, the at least one processor configured to: causing the communication device to send a base station database BSA to a subscribing user equipment UE, the BSA comprising information for a plurality of base stations in the wireless communication network, the information comprising a geographical location of each of the plurality of base stations; changing positioning signal parameters of positioning signals sent from one or more base stations among the plurality of base stations; as well as The communication device is caused to send a change notification to the subscribed UE, the change notification including information about the change of the positioning signal parameter, wherein the change notification includes information about the change of the cell ID corresponding to the one or more base stations to change the mapping of the cell ID to the location of the one or more base stations in the BSA, and the mapping of the cell ID to the location of the one or more base stations in the BSA is unknown to the unsubscribed UE.

34. The network node according to claim 33, wherein: The change notification includes information on a change of a positioning reference signal PRS ID corresponding to the one or more base stations to change a mapping of the PRS ID to the locations of the one or more base stations in the BSA.

35. The network node according to claim 33, wherein: The change notification includes information on a change of a PRS configuration corresponding to the one or more base stations to change a mapping of the PRS configuration to the one or more base stations in the BSA.

36. The network node according to claim 35, wherein: The change of the PRS configuration includes a change of a beam shape defined by the PRS configuration.

37. The network node according to claim 33, wherein: The change notification includes information about a change in mapping of synchronization signal block SSB indexes to corresponding beam shapes of the one or more base stations.

38. The network node according to claim 33, wherein: The change notification includes information about a change in a timing delay of the positioning signal sent by the one or more base stations.

39. The network node according to claim 33, wherein: The change notification includes information about a change in the antenna panel directions of the one or more base stations.

40. The network node of claim 33, wherein: The at least one processor being configured to apply the change to the positioning signal parameter of the positioning signal includes the at least one processor being configured to specifically change one or more positioning signal parameters of the one or more base stations.

41. The network node according to claim 40, wherein: The change notification includes information on one or more positioning signal parameters of one or more base stations to be determined exactly.

42. The network node of claim 33, wherein: The BSA and the change notification are encrypted before being sent.

43. The network node of claim 33, wherein: The network node is a serving base station, and wherein the communication device comprises at least one transceiver.

44. The network node of claim 33, wherein: The network node is a location server, and wherein the communication device comprises at least one network interface.

45. A subscription user equipment UE, comprising: means for receiving, from a network node of a wireless communication network, a base station database BSA, said BSA comprising information for a plurality of base stations in said wireless communication network, said information comprising a geographical location of each of said plurality of base stations; means for receiving a change notification from the network node, the change notification comprising information about a change in positioning signal parameters of positioning signals transmitted from one or more of the plurality of base stations, wherein the change notification comprises information about a change in cell IDs corresponding to the one or more base stations; means for applying a change to the positioning signal parameters of positioning signals transmitted from one or more base stations and changing a mapping of the cell IDs to the locations of the one or more base stations in the BSA according to the change notification, wherein the mapping of the cell IDs to the locations of the one or more base stations in the BSA is unknown to unsubscribed UEs; means for receiving a plurality of positioning signals from the plurality of base stations, the plurality of positioning signals comprising positioning signals transmitted from one or more base stations of the plurality of base stations; and Means for determining a position of a subscribing UE based on the positioning signal, the positioning signal parameters of the positioning signal, and the BSA.

46. ​​A network node of a wireless communication network, comprising: means for sending a base station database BSA to a subscribing user equipment UE, the BSA comprising information for a plurality of base stations in the wireless communication network, the information comprising a geographical location of each of the plurality of base stations; means for changing positioning signal parameters of positioning signals transmitted from one or more base stations of the plurality of base stations; as well as A component for sending a change notification to the subscribed UE, the change notification including information about the change of the positioning signal parameter, wherein the change notification includes information about the change of the cell ID corresponding to the one or more base stations to change the mapping of the cell ID to the location of the one or more base stations in the BSA, and the mapping of the cell ID to the location of the one or more base stations in the BSA is unknown to unsubscribed UEs.

47. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions, the computer-executable instructions comprising: instructing a subscribing user equipment UE to receive at least one instruction of a base station database BSA from a network node of a wireless communication network, the BSA comprising information for a plurality of base stations in the wireless communication network, the information comprising a geographical location of each of the plurality of base stations; at least one instruction instructing the UE to receive a change notification from the network node, the change notification comprising information about a change in a positioning signal parameter of a positioning signal sent from one or more base stations of the plurality of base stations, wherein the change notification comprises information about a change in a cell ID corresponding to the one or more base stations; at least one instruction instructing the UE to apply a change to the positioning signal parameters of the positioning signals sent from the one or more base stations according to the change notification and to change a mapping of the cell ID to the locations of the one or more base stations in the BSA, wherein the mapping of the cell ID to the locations of the one or more base stations in the BSA is unknown to unsubscribed UEs; at least one instruction instructing the subscribing UE to receive a plurality of positioning signals from the plurality of base stations, the plurality of positioning signals comprising positioning signals transmitted from one or more base stations of the plurality of base stations; and At least one instruction instructing the subscribing UE to determine a position of the subscribing UE based on the positioning signal, the positioning signal parameters of the positioning signal, and the BSA.

48. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions, the computer-executable instructions comprising: instructing the network node to send at least one instruction of a base station database BSA to a subscribing user equipment UE, the BSA comprising information for a plurality of base stations in the wireless communication network, the information comprising a geographical location of each of the plurality of base stations; at least one instruction instructing the network node to change a positioning signal parameter of a positioning signal sent from one or more base stations of the plurality of base stations; as well as at least one instruction instructing the network node to send a change notification to the UE, the change notification comprising information about the change of the positioning signal parameter, wherein the change notification comprises information about the change of the cell ID corresponding to the one or more base stations to change the mapping of the cell ID to the location of the one or more base stations in the BSA, wherein the mapping of the cell ID to the location of the one or more base stations in the BSA is unknown to unsubscribed UEs.

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