Positioning method and device

Abstract

The embodiment of the present application discloses a positioning method and device, the method comprising: a first terminal device acquires first information, the first information is used to assist in calibrating the location information of the first terminal device, the first information includes information of at least one reference terminal device, the reference terminal device is a terminal device that supports the NR‑RAT‑dependent positioning method; the first terminal device sends the first information. The present application assists in calibrating the location information of the terminal device by acquiring the information of the reference terminal device, thereby further improving the positioning accuracy of the terminal device.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of mobile communication technologies, and in particular, to a positioning method and apparatus. Background Art

[0002] In the 5th Generation (5G) cellular mobile communication system (hereinafter referred to as 5G, also known as New Radio, new air interface, or simply NR), requirements for policy regulation and commercial applications are defined. Taking covering 80% of users as the positioning benchmark, the policy regulation has a slightly lower requirement for positioning accuracy, requiring a horizontal position positioning error of less than 50 meters, a vertical positioning error of less than 5 meters, and a positioning delay of less than 30 seconds; commercial applications have higher requirements for positioning accuracy, requiring a horizontal position positioning error of less than 3 meters indoors and less than 10 meters outdoors, a vertical positioning error of less than 3 meters, and a positioning delay of less than 1 second. Based on this requirement, the proposed solutions are roughly divided into the following three categories:

[0003] (1) Positioning technologies based on Radio Access Technology (RAT), specifically including: Enhanced Cell ID (E-CID) positioning method, Observed Time Difference of Arrival (OTDOA) positioning method, Uplink Time Difference of Arrival (UTDOA) positioning method, hybrid positioning method of E-CID and OTDOA, hybrid positioning method of OTDOA and UTDOA, and other methods.

[0004] (2) Standalone RAT positioning technologies, specifically including: Assisted-Global Navigation Satellite System (A-GNSS) positioning method, Bluetooth-based positioning method, WiFi-based positioning method, Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) method based on positioning sensors, hybrid positioning method of A-GNSS and IMU, hybrid positioning method of A-GNSS and WiFi, and other methods.

[0005] (3) Hybrid positioning technologies based on RAT and standalone RAT, specifically including: hybrid positioning of A-GNSS and OTDOA, hybrid positioning of A-GNSS and UTDOA, and other positioning methods.

[0006] At present, the positioning requirements determined in the Release 17 version of 5G are divided into two major scenarios: general commercial scenarios and Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) scenarios. For general commercial scenarios, the required positioning accuracy needs to be less than 1m, and the positioning latency needs to be less than 100ms; while for IIoT scenarios, the positioning accuracy needs to be less than 0.2cm, and the positioning latency requirement needs to be less than 10ms. For subsequent versions of 5G, such as B5G, 6G, and 7G, there will be more and more positioning-based applications, and the system's requirements for positioning accuracy will also become higher and higher, ranging from the current meter level to the centimeter level or even the millimeter level, and can be flexibly selected according to application requirements and scenarios. However, the positioning accuracy of the existing positioning technologies above still cannot meet the application requirements of subsequent versions of 5G. Therefore, improving the positioning accuracy is an urgent problem to be solved. Summary of the Invention

[0007] The embodiments of the present application provide a positioning method and device, which can calibrate the position information of the terminal device according to the first information and improve the positioning accuracy of the terminal device.

[0008] In a first aspect, the embodiments of the present application provide a positioning method, and the method includes:

[0009] A first terminal device obtains first information, where the first information is used to assist in calibrating the position information of the first terminal device, and the first information includes information of at least one reference terminal device, and the reference terminal device is a terminal device that supports the NR-RAT-dependent positioning method;

[0010] The first terminal device sends the first information.

[0011] In a second aspect, the embodiments of the present application provide a positioning device, and the device includes:

[0012] An obtaining unit, configured to obtain first information, where the first information is used to assist in calibrating the position information of the first terminal device, and the first information includes information of at least one reference terminal device, and the reference terminal device is a terminal device that supports the NR-RAT-dependent positioning method;

[0013] A transceiver unit, configured to send the first information.

[0014] In a third aspect, the embodiments of the present application provide a terminal device, which includes a processor, a memory, a communication interface, and one or more programs, where the one or more programs are stored in the memory and are configured to be executed by the processor, and the programs include instructions for executing some or all of the steps described in the method in the first aspect above.

[0015] Fourthly, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program for electronic data exchange, wherein the computer program enables a computer to execute some or all of the steps described in the method according to the first aspect above.

[0016] Fifthly, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer program product, wherein the computer program product includes a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program, and the computer program is operable to enable a computer to execute some or all of the steps described in the method according to the first aspect of the embodiments of the present application. The computer program product may be a software installation package.

[0017] It can be seen that in the embodiment of the present application, a first terminal device obtains first information for assisting in calibrating the location information of the first terminal device. The first information includes information of at least one reference terminal device, and the reference terminal device is a terminal device supporting an NR-RAT-dependent positioning method; the first terminal device sends the first information. The present application further improves the positioning accuracy of the terminal device by obtaining the information of the reference terminal device to assist in calibrating the location information of the terminal device. Description of the Drawings

[0018] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application, the following briefly introduces the drawings required for use in the embodiments. Obviously, the drawings in the following description are some embodiments of the present application. For those of ordinary skill in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative efforts.

[0019] Figure 1A is a schematic diagram of the architecture of a wireless communication system provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0020] Figure 1B is a schematic diagram of the architecture of another wireless communication system provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0021] Figure 2A is a schematic diagram of the principle of an enhanced cell identity positioning method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0022] Figure 2B is a schematic diagram of the principle of an observed time difference of arrival positioning method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0023] Figure 2C is a schematic diagram of the principle of an uplink time difference of arrival positioning method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0024] Figure 2DIt is a schematic diagram of the principle of a method for assisting global navigation satellite system positioning provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0025] Figure 3 It is a schematic flowchart of a positioning method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0026] Figure 4 It is a schematic flowchart of another positioning method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0027] Figure 5 A block diagram of the functional units of a positioning device provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0028] Figure 6 It is a schematic structural diagram of a terminal device provided by an embodiment of the present application. Specific embodiments

[0029] Next, the technical solutions in the present application will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0030] It should be understood that the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can be applied to Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) system, Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) system, Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (Wi-MAX) system, Long Term Evolution (LTE) system, 5G communication system (such as New Radio (NR)), communication systems integrating multiple communication technologies (such as communication systems integrating LTE technology and NR technology), or various future new communication systems, such as 6G communication system, 7G communication system, etc. The embodiments of the present application do not limit this. The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can also be applied to device-to-device (D2D) communication, machine-to-machine (M2M) communication, machine type communication (MTC), and communication in a vehicle network system. Among them, the communication methods in the vehicle network system are collectively referred to as vehicle-to-everything (V2X), where X represents anything. For example, the V2X communication includes: vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication, vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communication, communication between a vehicle and a pedestrian (V2P), or vehicle-to-network (V2N) communication, etc.

[0031] To facilitate the understanding of the embodiments of the present application, first, in combination with Figure 1A and Figure 1B the communication system applicable to the embodiments of the present application will be described in detail.

[0032] Please refer to Figure 1A , Figure 1A which is a schematic diagram of a wireless communication system 100 proposed by the embodiments of the present application. As Figure 1A shown, the wireless communication system 100 may include at least one terminal device, such as Figure 1A the terminal devices 111 to 113 shown. The wireless communication system 100 may also include at least one network device, such asFigure 1A The network device 121 shown. Both the network device and the terminal device can be configured with multiple antennas, and the network device and the terminal device can communicate using multi-antenna technology.

[0033] A network device can manage one or more cells, and there can be an integer number of terminal devices in a cell. Optionally, the network device 121 and the terminal devices 111 to 113 form a single-cell communication system. Without loss of generality, this cell is denoted as cell #1. The network device 121 can serve the terminal devices (such as the terminal device 111) in cell #1.

[0034] It should be noted that a cell can be understood as the serving cell of the network device, that is, the area within the coverage of the wireless network of the network device.

[0035] It should be understood that Figure 1A For ease of understanding only, the network device 121 and the terminal devices 111 to 113 are schematically shown, but this should not constitute any limitation to this application. The wireless communication system may further include a greater number of network devices, or may include a greater or smaller number of terminal devices. The same network device can communicate with different terminal devices, or different network devices can communicate with different terminal devices. This application makes no limitation thereto.

[0036] Please refer to Figure 1B , Figure 1B which is another schematic diagram of another wireless communication system 100 proposed in the embodiments of this application. As Figure 1B shown, the technical solution of the embodiments of this application can also be applied to D2D communication.

[0037] With the development of wireless communication technology, people's demand for high data rate and user experience is increasing day by day. At the same time, people's demand for adjacent services to understand and communicate with people or things around them is gradually increasing. Therefore, D2D technology has emerged as the times require. The application of D2D technology can relieve the burden of the cellular network, reduce the battery power consumption of the terminal device, improve the data rate, and can well meet the demand for adjacent services. D2D technology enables multiple terminal devices supporting D2D functions to send and receive signals with or without network infrastructure. In view of the characteristics and advantages of D2D technology, the vehicle-to-everything (V2X) application scenario based on D2D technology has been proposed. For example, under the network of the LTE technology proposed by the 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP), the V2X vehicle-to-everything technology has been proposed. Among them, V2X communication refers to the communication between a vehicle and anything outside, including vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication, vehicle-to-pedestrian (V2P) communication, vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communication, and vehicle-to-network (V2N) communication.

[0038] As Figure 1B shown, the wireless communication system 100 includes a plurality of terminal devices, such as Figure 1B the terminal devices 114 to 116 in [[ ]]. The terminal devices 114 to 116 can communicate directly with each other. For example, the terminal device 114 and the terminal device 115 can send data to the terminal device 116 individually or simultaneously. The wireless communication device further includes one or more network devices, such as Figure 1B the network device 122 in [[ ]]. The terminal devices 114 to 116 can all communicate with the network device 122. For example, Figure 1B in [[ ]], the network device 122 communicates with the terminal device 116.

[0039] Among them, Figure 1B for ease of understanding only, the terminal devices 114 to 116 and the network device 122 are schematically shown, but this should not constitute any limitation to this application. There may be a greater number of network devices in the wireless communication system, and there may also be a greater or smaller number of terminal devices. This application does not make any limitation thereto.

[0040] In the embodiments of this application, the one-way communication link from the network device to the terminal device is defined as the downlink, the data transmitted on the downlink is downlink data, and the transmission direction of the downlink data is called the downlink direction; while the one-way communication link from the terminal device to the network device is the uplink, the data transmitted on the uplink is uplink data, and the transmission direction of the uplink data is called the uplink direction. The communication link between terminal devices is the sidelink (SL) or the side link.

[0041] The "connection" that appears in the embodiments of this application refers to various connection methods such as direct connection or indirect connection to achieve communication between devices. This application does not make any limitation thereto.

[0042] It should be understood that the network device in this wireless communication system can be any device with wireless transceiver functions. The network device includes but is not limited to: Base Station (BS), evolved Node B (eNB), Radio Network Controller (RNC), Node B (NB), Base Station Controller (BSC), Base Transceiver Station (BTS), Home Base Station (e.g., home evolved NodeB, or home Node B, HNB), baseband unit (BBU), access point (AP) in a wireless fidelity (WIFI) system, wireless relay node, wireless backhaul node, Transmission Point (TP), or Transmission and Reception Point (TRP), etc. It can also be a gNB in a 5G system such as NR, or a TP or TRP, one or a group of antenna panels (including multiple antenna panels) of a base station in a 5G system, or it can also be a network node constituting a gNB or a TP, such as a Base band Unit (BBU), or a Distributed Unit (DU), etc.

[0043] In some deployments, the gNB may include a Centralized Unit (CU) and a Distributed Unit (DU). The gNB may also include a Radio Unit (RU). The CU implements some functions of the gNB, and the DU implements some functions of the gNB. For example, the CU implements the functions of the Radio Resource Control (RRC) and Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layers, and the DU implements the functions of the Radio Link Control (RLC), Media Access Control (MAC), and Physical (PHY) layers. Since the information of the RRC layer will ultimately become the information of the PHY layer, or is transformed from the information of the PHY layer, therefore, in this architecture, high-layer signaling, such as RRC layer signaling, can also be considered to be sent by the DU, or sent by the DU + CU. It can be understood that the network device may be a CU node, or a DU node, or a device including a CU node and a DU node. In addition, the CU can be classified as a network device in the Radio Access Network (RAN), or the CU can be classified as a network device in the Core Network (CN), and this application does not make any restrictions on this.

[0044] It should also be understood that the terminal device in this wireless communication system includes devices with wireless communication functions, which can be deployed on land, including indoor or outdoor, handheld, wearable or vehicle-mounted; can also be deployed on water (such as ships, etc.); can also be deployed in the air (such as airplanes, balloons, satellites, etc.). The terminal device can be a mobile phone, a tablet computer (pad), a computer with wireless transceiver function, a virtual reality (VR) terminal device, an augmented reality (AR) terminal device, a wireless terminal in industrial control, a wireless terminal in self-driving, a wireless terminal in remote medical, a wireless terminal in smart grid, a wireless terminal in smart home, etc. The terminal device can also be a handheld device, a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, a computer device with wireless communication function, or other processing devices connected to a wireless modem, a terminal device in the future 5G network, or a terminal device in the future evolved public land mobile network (PLMN). In different networks, the terminal device can be called different names. For example: user equipment, access terminal, user unit, user station, mobile station, mobile station (MS), remote station, remote terminal, mobile device, user terminal, terminal, wireless communication device, user agent or user device, cellular phone, cordless phone, session initiation protocol (SIP) phone, wireless local loop (WLL) station, personal digital assistant (PDA), a terminal device in the 5G network or future evolved network, etc. The embodiments of the present application are not limited thereto.

[0045] Hereinafter, some terms in the embodiments of the present application are explained to facilitate the understanding of those skilled in the art.

[0046] 1) SL: SL communication is a wireless communication directly between two or more terminal devices. In SL communication, two or more terminal devices that are geographically close to each other can communicate directly without passing through an eNodeB or BS or the core network. Therefore, data transmission in SL communication is different from typical cellular network communication (e.g., sending data to the BS (i.e., uplink transmission) or receiving data from the BS (i.e., downlink transmission)). In SL communication, data is directly sent from the source terminal device (i.e., the sending terminal device) to the target terminal device (i.e., the receiving terminal device) through a unified air interface such as the PC5 interface without passing through the BS.

[0047] 2) Location server: It is a physical or logical entity (such as, E-SMLC (Enhanced Serving Mobile Location Centre), Location Management Function, SUPL SLP (SUPL (Secure User Plane Location) Location Platform)), manages location-related functions for the target terminal, obtains location measurement results from one or more location units and provides auxiliary information to the location units to obtain the above measurement results, and calculates the final location estimation result or verifies the final location estimation result. In subsequent versions, the name of this network element may be modified to other names, and this embodiment does not limit this.

[0048] 3) Rich solutions have been formed for positioning based on mobile communication systems, which include positioning technologies based on the radio access network such as OTDOA, E-CID, UTDOA, etc., and also include positioning technologies independent of the radio access network such as A-GNSS, Wi-Fi positioning, Bluetooth positioning, barometric sensor positioning, and inertial sensor positioning. Currently, high-precision positioning in the prior art includes the following three positioning methods:

[0049] (1) E-CID positioning method: As Figure 2A shown, the terminal device is on a circle with the base station as the center and the distance between the terminal device and the base station as the radius. The base station can obtain the location information of the terminal device according to the angle information of the Angle of Arrival (AoA). Facing the high-frequency band, the base station can obtain higher positioning accuracy.

[0050] (2) OTDOA positioning method: As Figure 2BAs shown in the figure, the terminal device calculates its location by detecting the time difference of arrival (TDOA) of signals sent by more than three different base stations. For the high-frequency band, the terminal device can obtain higher positioning accuracy by combining angle information.

[0051] (3) UTDOA positioning method: As Figure 2C shown in the figure, the base stations measure the time difference of arrival (TDOA) of signals sent by the terminal device to different base stations to calculate the location of the terminal device. The UTDOA positioning method requires at least three base stations to participate. Each base station adds a Location Measurement Unit (LMU), and the LMU is used to measure the arrival time of the access signal sent by the terminal.

[0052] (4) AGNSS positioning method: As Figure 2D shown in the figure, when the terminal device needs to perform positioning, the network device can estimate the satellite operation conditions (such as ephemeris, almanac, and differential calibration information, etc.) over the location of the terminal device, and provide this auxiliary information to the terminal device through the cellular network. The terminal device sends the measurement information to the location server network element or the positioning service center (Evolved Serving Mobile Location Centre, E-SMLC) in the network, and the E-SMLC calculates the current location of the UE. Among them, the functions implemented by the location server are similar to those of the E-SMLC. Therefore, in 5G, the E-SMLC is replaced by the location server network element.

[0053] Currently, the positioning requirements determined in Release 17 of 5G are divided into two major scenarios: general commercial scenarios and IIoT scenarios. For general commercial scenarios, the required positioning accuracy needs to be less than 1 m, and the positioning latency needs to be less than 100 ms; while for IIoT scenarios, the positioning accuracy needs to be less than 0.2 cm, and the positioning latency requirement needs to be less than 10 ms. For subsequent versions of 5G, such as 6G and 7G, there will be more and more applications based on positioning, and the system's requirements for positioning accuracy will also become higher and higher, from the current meter level to the centimeter level or even the millimeter level, and can be flexibly selected according to application requirements and scenarios. However, the positioning accuracy of existing positioning technologies still cannot meet the application requirements of subsequent versions of 5G.

[0054] To solve the above problems, the present application proposes a positioning method. A first terminal device acquires first information, which is used to assist in calibrating the location information of the first terminal device. The first information includes information of at least one reference terminal device, and the reference terminal device is a terminal device that supports the NR-RAT-dependent positioning method. The first terminal device sends the first information. By acquiring the information of the reference terminal device to assist in calibrating the location information of the terminal device, the positioning accuracy of the terminal device is further improved.

[0055] It should be understood that "at least one" involved in the embodiments of the present application refers to one or more, and "a plurality" refers to two or more. "And / or" describes the association relationship of associated objects and indicates that three relationships may exist. For example, A and / or B may indicate: A exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone, where A and B may be singular or plural. The character " / " generally indicates that the associated objects before and after are in an "or" relationship. "At least one (item)" or similar expressions below refer to any combination of these items, including any combination of single item (item) or plural items (items). For example, at least one (item) of a, b, or c may indicate: a, b, c, a - b, a - c, b - c, or a - b - c, where a, b, and c may be single or multiple.

[0056] Moreover, unless otherwise stated, the ordinal numbers such as "first" and "second" mentioned in the embodiments of the present application are used to distinguish multiple objects and are not used to limit the order, time sequence, priority, or importance of multiple objects. For example, the first information and the second information are only used to distinguish different information, rather than indicating differences in the content, priority, sending order, or importance of these two types of information.

[0057] To enable those skilled in the art to better understand the solution of the present application, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be clearly and completely described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present application. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present application, rather than all the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the present application, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative efforts shall fall within the protection scope of the present application.

[0058] Please refer to Figure 3 , Figure 3 which is a schematic flowchart of a positioning method provided by an embodiment of the present application and is applied to a wireless communication system as shown in Figure 1A or Figure 1B . As shown in Figure 3 , the positioning method includes the following steps.

[0059] S310. The first terminal device obtains first information, which is used to assist in calibrating the location information of the first terminal device. The first information includes information of at least one reference terminal device, and the reference terminal device is a terminal device that supports the NR-RAT-dependent positioning method.

[0060] Since there is a channel multipath effect in the positioning method based on the wireless network, it may cause the problem of low accuracy of the positioning result. Therefore, in the embodiments of the present application, the first terminal device obtains information of other terminal devices (such as Road Side Unit (RSU), TRP, etc.) around it that can provide positioning calibration and reports it to the location server, so that the location server can calculate a positioning calibration value according to the information of other terminal devices, thereby calibrating the calculated location of the first terminal device and improving the positioning accuracy of the first terminal device.

[0061] Optionally, the first information includes at least one of the following: device identification number, location information, and signal measurement result.

[0062] In the embodiments of the present application, the first information may include the device identification number, location information, and signal measurement result corresponding to at least one reference terminal device. Among them, the device identification number may be identification information used to uniquely identify the reference terminal device. For example, the device identifier may be International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI), Globally Unique Temporary UE Identity (GUTI), International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI), Mobile Subscriber Identification Number (MSIN), etc.

[0063] Among them, the location information is the known self-location information of the reference terminal device. For example, if the reference terminal device is a Road Side Unit (RSU), the location information is known. This location information may also be any form of location information in any location coordinate system, such as the longitude and latitude information of the terminal device obtained when the terminal device is deployed; this location information may also be the longitude and latitude information received through GPS. The embodiments of the present application do not make any limitations in this regard.

[0064] Among them, the signal measurement result is obtained by the first terminal device measuring the reference signal sent by the reference terminal device. The reference signal may include a sounding reference signal (SRS) and a positioning reference signal (PRS). Further, the signal measurement result may include at least one of the following: reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), and signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR).

[0065] S320. The first terminal device sends the first information.

[0066] Among them, after obtaining the first information, the first terminal device may report the first information to the location server. The location server may calculate a positioning calibration value of the terminal device according to the first information, and calibrate the positioning result or location information calculated by the first terminal device according to the positioning calibration value.

[0067] Among them, the first information may be carried in the existing provide location information of the LTE positioning protocol (LPP) message; the first information may also be carried in the measurement report message of the newly established measurement reporting process in the LPP. The embodiments of the present application do not make any limitations in this regard.

[0068] Optionally, the method further includes: the first terminal device sends a positioning measurement result, and the positioning measurement result is measured by the first terminal device based on the supported positioning method.

[0069] Among them, according to the different positions of the final calculated positioning result, the positioning method can be divided into two types: UE-assisted positioning method and UE-based method. The UE-assisted positioning method is for the terminal device to provide the positioning measurement result to the location server. For example, the positioning measurement result using the OTDOA positioning method is the RSTD measurement result. The location server may calculate the location information of the terminal device according to the positioning measurement result. The UE-based positioning method is for the terminal device to be responsible for the measurement related to positioning and the calculation of the positioning result. The UE-assisted positioning method is adopted in the embodiments of the present application.

[0070] Specifically, when the terminal device uses the UE-assisted positioning method, the terminal device also needs to report the positioning measurement results obtained by the positioning method to the location server. Different positioning methods are used by the first terminal device, and the uploaded positioning measurement results are also different. For example, when the first terminal device uses the OTDOA positioning method, the first terminal device will report the measured RSTD and the RSRP obtained by measuring the DL-PRS to the location server; when the first terminal device uses DL-A0D, the first terminal device will report the RSRP obtained by measuring the DL-PRS reference signal to the location server.

[0071] Based on the positioning measurement results reported by the first terminal device, the location server calculates the location of the first terminal device, and then, according to the first information reported by the first terminal device, searches in the first information for a reference terminal device that uses the same positioning method and the same configuration as the first terminal device. Since the first information includes the location information of the reference terminal device and the reference terminal device supports positioning based on the wireless network, the location server can calculate the location information of the reference terminal device through the wireless positioning method and compare the calculated location information with the location information in the first information to obtain a positioning calibration value. The location server uses this positioning calibration value to calibrate the calculated positioning result of the first terminal device to obtain calibrated location information, thereby improving the positioning accuracy of the first terminal device.

[0072] Furthermore, the location server can find from the first information the indication of at least one reference terminal device. The location server can select the reference terminal device corresponding to the highest signal measurement result from the at least one reference terminal device to calculate the positioning calibration value; the location server can also sort the at least one reference terminal device in descending order according to the signal measurement results of the reference terminal device and select the top N reference terminal devices from them to calculate the positioning calibration value, where the value of N can be selected by the UE itself, or configured by the location server or the base station, and N is a positive integer greater than 1; the location server can also calculate the positioning calibration value according to at least one terminal device, and the embodiments of the present application do not limit this.

[0073] It should be noted that when multiple reference terminal devices are selected to calculate the positioning calibration value, the location server can use the average value of the differences between the calculated location information of the multiple reference terminal devices and the location information in the first information as the positioning calibration value, or the location server can also use the median value of the differences between the calculated location information of the multiple reference terminal devices and the location information in the first information as the positioning calibration value, and the embodiments of the present application do not limit this.

[0074] It can be seen that in the embodiment of the present application, the first terminal device acquires first information, where the first information is used to assist in calibrating the location information of the first terminal device. The first information includes information of at least one reference terminal device, and the reference terminal device is a terminal device supporting the NR-RAT-dependent positioning method; the first terminal device sends the first information. In the present application, the location information of the terminal device is assisted and calibrated by acquiring the information of the reference terminal device, further improving the positioning accuracy of the terminal device.

[0075] Please refer to Figure 4 , Figure 4 which is a schematic flowchart of another positioning method provided by the embodiment of the present application. This positioning method is applied to a wireless communication system as shown in Figure 1A or Figure 1B . As shown in Figure 4 , this positioning method includes the following steps.

[0076] S410. The first terminal device receives second information from at least one second terminal device.

[0077] In the embodiment of the present application, a network device can be associated with multiple terminal devices. The second terminal device with the ability to perform wireless network-based positioning can periodically broadcast the second information to indicate its ability to support wireless network-based positioning. The first terminal device with a positioning requirement receives the second information broadcast by at least one second terminal device in the current cell or adjacent cells.

[0078] Wherein, the second information includes at least one of the following: device identification number, location information, positioning ability indication information; the positioning ability indication information is used to indicate the positioning method supported by the second terminal device; the location information is determined based on the NR-RAT-dependent positioning method.

[0079] Further, the device identification number may be identification information used to uniquely identify the second terminal device. The device identification may be IMSI, GUTI, IMEI, MSIN, etc. The location information is the known location information of the second terminal device. The second terminal device may be, for example, a Road Side Unit (RSU), and the location information is known. The location information may also be any form of location information in any location coordinate system, such as the longitude and latitude information of the terminal device obtained when the terminal device is deployed; the location information may also be the longitude and latitude information received through GPS. The present application embodiment does not limit this. The positioning capability indication information may use an enumeration method to indicate the positioning methods supported by the second terminal device. For example, if the second terminal device supports the NR-RAT-dependent positioning method, the positioning capability indication information includes NR-RAT-dependent; if the second terminal device does not support the NR-RAT-dependent positioning method, the positioning capability indication information does not include NR-RAT-dependent. Further, if the second terminal device does not support the NR-RAT-dependent positioning method, the second terminal will not send the second message either.

[0080] Optionally, the second information may be carried in a discovery message of the sidelink.

[0081] In a possible example, the method further includes: the first terminal device broadcasts third information through the sidelink, and the third information includes the device identification number of the first terminal device and positioning capability request information, where the positioning capability request information is used to instruct the second terminal device to report the supported positioning methods.

[0082] Specifically, the first terminal device with a positioning requirement may broadcast a third message through the sidelink. This third message is used to query the positioning capabilities of surrounding terminal devices. After the second terminal device in the same cell or adjacent cells receives the broadcast third message, it reads and identifies the positioning methods supported by the positioning capability request information in the third message. If the positioning method supported by the second terminal device is the same as the positioning method indicated by the positioning capability request information, the second terminal device responds, that is, the second terminal device sends the second information to the first terminal device. For example, when the positioning capability request information indicates that the reported supported positioning method is NR-RAT-dependent, when the second terminal device supporting the NR-RAT-dependent positioning method receives the third message, it sends the second information to the first terminal device, and the second information carries the NR-RAT-dependent indication.

[0083] Furthermore, the positioning capability request information can be used to indicate NR-RAT-dependent positioning methods and NR-RAT-Independent positioning methods. The positioning capability request can use an enumeration method to indicate whether to report the supported NR-RAT-dependent or NR-RAT-independent positioning methods.

[0084] Among them, the device identification number of the first terminal device is used to uniquely indicate the identification information of the first terminal device. The device identification number of the first terminal device can be a local ID (Identity), for example, a complete Layer-2 ID. The device identification number of the first terminal device can also be a part of the Layer-2 ID, for example, the 16-bit most significant bit (MSB) or the 16-bit least significant bit (LSB) or the 8-bit most significant bit (MSB) or the 8-bit least significant bit (LSB). The embodiments of the present application do not make any limitations in this regard.

[0085] S420. The first terminal device obtains the first information based on the second information. The first information is used to assist in calibrating the location information of the first terminal device. The first information includes information of at least one reference terminal device, and the reference terminal device is a terminal device that supports the NR-RAT-dependent positioning method.

[0086] Optionally, the first terminal device obtaining the first information based on the second information includes:

[0087] The first terminal device measures the signal quality of the signal carrying the second information to obtain a signal measurement result of the second information; the first terminal device determines a second terminal device corresponding to the signal measurement result greater than or equal to a preset threshold as the reference terminal device; the first terminal device obtains the information corresponding to the reference terminal device from the second information.

[0088] Specifically, the first terminal device receives second information sent by at least one second terminal device, measures the signal quality of each second information, and obtains a signal measurement result for each second information. The signal measurement result may include at least one of the following: RSRP, RSRQ, SINR. Then, the first terminal device compares the signal measurement result of each second information with a preset threshold, determines the second terminal device corresponding to the signal measurement result greater than or equal to the preset threshold as the reference terminal device, that is, the signal measurement result of the second information sent by the reference terminal device is greater than or equal to the preset threshold, and determines the device identification number, location information, and the measured signal measurement result corresponding to each reference terminal device in the second information as the information included in the first information.

[0089] In a possible example, the second information may include a reference signal, and the reference signal may be a PRS or an SRS. The first terminal device may use the signal measurement result obtained by measuring the signal quality of the reference signal as the signal measurement result of the second information.

[0090] S430. The first terminal device sends the first information.

[0091] Among them, the specific implementation method of the steps S420 - S430 may refer to the specific implementation manner of S310 - S320 above, and this application will not elaborate on it here. Figure 3 The specific implementation manner of S310 - S320 in the above is not repeated in this application.

[0092] It can be seen that in the embodiment of this application, the first terminal device receives second information from at least one second terminal device. The first terminal device obtains first information based on the second information, and the first information is used to assist in calibrating the location information of the first terminal device. The first information includes information of at least one reference terminal device, and the reference terminal device is a terminal device that supports the NR - RAT - dependent positioning method; the first terminal device sends the first information. This application obtains information of the reference terminal device based on the second information sent by the second terminal device to assist in calibrating the location information of the terminal device, thereby further improving the positioning accuracy of the terminal device.

[0093] The above mainly introduces the solution of the embodiment of the present application from the perspective of the execution process on the method side. It can be understood that in order for an electronic device to implement the above functions, it includes the corresponding hardware structure and / or software module for executing each function. Those skilled in the art should easily realize that, in combination with the units and algorithm steps of each example described in the embodiments provided herein, the present application can be implemented in the form of hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a certain function is executed in the way of hardware or computer software driving hardware depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional technicians can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered to exceed the scope of the present application.

[0094] Embodiments of the present application can divide the functional units of an electronic device according to the above method examples. For example, each functional unit can be divided corresponding to each function, or two or more functions can be integrated into one processing unit. The above integrated unit can be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of a software functional unit. It should be noted that the division of units in the embodiments of the present application is illustrative, only a logical function division, and there may be other division methods in actual implementation.

[0095] Please refer to Figure 5 , Figure 5 is a block diagram of the functional unit composition of a positioning device 500 provided by an embodiment of the present application. The positioning device 500 is applied to a terminal device. The device 500 includes: an acquisition unit 510 and a transceiver unit 520, where,

[0096] The acquisition unit 510 is used to acquire first information, and the first information is used to assist in calibrating the position information of the first terminal device. The first information includes information of at least one reference terminal device, and the reference terminal device is a terminal device that supports the NR-RAT-dependent positioning method;

[0097] The transceiver unit 520 is used to send the first information.

[0098] In a possible embodiment of the present application, the transceiver unit 520 is further used for:

[0099] Receiving second information from at least one second terminal device, the second information includes at least one of the following: device identification number, position information, positioning capability indication information; the positioning capability indication information is used to indicate the positioning method supported by the second terminal device.

[0100] In a possible embodiment of the present application, the acquisition unit 510 is specifically used for: acquiring the first information from the second information.

[0101] In a possible embodiment of the present application, the obtaining unit 510 is specifically configured to: measure the signal quality of the signal carrying the second information to obtain a signal measurement result of the second information; determine the second terminal device corresponding to the signal measurement result greater than or equal to a preset threshold as the reference terminal device; and obtain the information corresponding to the reference terminal device from the second information.

[0102] In a possible embodiment of the present application, the first information includes at least one of the following: the reference terminal device identification number, the location information, and the signal measurement result.

[0103] In a possible embodiment of the present application, the transceiver unit 520 is further configured to: broadcast third information through a sidelink, where the third information includes the device identification number of the first terminal device and a positioning capability request message, and the positioning capability request message is used to instruct the second terminal device to report the supported positioning methods.

[0104] In a possible embodiment of the present application, the transceiver unit 520 is further configured to: send a positioning measurement result, where the positioning measurement result is measured by the first terminal device based on the supported positioning method.

[0105] In a possible embodiment of the present application, the second information is carried in a discovery message.

[0106] It can be seen that the positioning device proposed in the embodiment of the present application includes an obtaining unit 510 and a transceiver unit 520. The obtaining unit 510 is configured to obtain first information, where the first information is used to assist in calibrating the location information of the first terminal device, and the first information includes information of at least one reference terminal device, and the reference terminal device is a terminal device that supports NR-RAT-dependent positioning methods; the transceiver unit 520 is configured to send the first information. By obtaining the information of the reference terminal device to assist in calibrating the location information of the terminal device, the positioning accuracy of the terminal device is further improved.

[0107] It can be understood that the functions of the respective program modules of the positioning device in the embodiment of the present application can be specifically implemented according to the method in the above method embodiment, and the specific implementation process can refer to the relevant description of the above method embodiment, which will not be elaborated here.

[0108] Please refer to Figure 6 , Figure 6 which is a terminal device provided by an embodiment of the present application. The terminal device includes: one or more processors, one or more memories, one or more communication interfaces, and one or more programs;

[0109] The one or more programs are stored in the memory and are configured to be executed by the one or more processors;

[0110] The program includes instructions for performing the following steps:

[0111] Obtain first information for assisting in calibrating the location information of the first terminal device, where the first information includes information of at least one reference terminal device, and the reference terminal device is a terminal device supporting an NR-RAT-dependent positioning method;

[0112] Send the first information.

[0113] In a possible embodiment of the present application, the program further includes instructions for performing the following steps: Receive second information from at least one second terminal device, where the second information includes at least one of the following: device identification number, location information, positioning capability indication information; the positioning capability indication information is used to indicate the positioning methods supported by the second terminal device.

[0114] In a possible embodiment of the present application, in terms of obtaining the first information, the program further includes instructions for performing the following steps: Obtain the first information based on the second information.

[0115] In a possible embodiment of the present application, in terms of obtaining the first information based on the second information, the program further includes instructions for performing the following steps: Measure the signal quality of the signal carrying the second information to obtain a signal measurement result of the second information; Determine the second terminal device corresponding to the signal measurement result greater than or equal to a preset threshold as the reference terminal device; Obtain the information corresponding to the reference terminal device from the second information.

[0116] In a possible embodiment of the present application, the first information includes at least one of the following: the reference terminal device identification number, the location information, the signal measurement result.

[0117] In a possible embodiment of the present application, the program further includes instructions for performing the following steps: Broadcast third information through a sidelink, where the third information includes the device identification number of the first terminal device and positioning capability request information, and the positioning capability request information is used to indicate the second terminal device to report the supported positioning methods.

[0118] In a possible embodiment of the present application, the program further includes instructions for performing the following steps: Send a positioning measurement result, which is measured by the first terminal device based on the supported positioning method.

[0119] In a possible embodiment of the present application, the second information is carried in a discovery message.

[0120] It should be noted that for the specific implementation process of the embodiments of the present application, reference may be made to the specific implementation process described in the above method embodiments, which will not be elaborated herein.

[0121] The embodiments of the present application further provide a computer storage medium, wherein the computer storage medium stores a computer program for electronic data exchange, and the computer program enables a computer to execute part or all of the steps of any of the methods described in the above method embodiments.

[0122] The embodiments of the present application further provide a computer program product. The above computer program product includes a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program, and the above computer program is operable to enable a computer to execute part or all of the steps of any of the methods described in the above method embodiments. The computer program product can be a software installation package.

[0123] It should be noted that for the foregoing method embodiments, for the sake of simple description, they are all expressed as a series of action combinations. However, those skilled in the art should know that the present application is not limited by the described action sequence, because according to the present application, certain steps can be performed in other sequences or simultaneously. Secondly, those skilled in the art should also know that the embodiments described in the specification are all preferred embodiments, and the actions and modules involved are not necessarily essential to the present application.

[0124] In the above embodiments, the descriptions of the respective embodiments have their own focuses. For the parts not detailed in a certain embodiment, reference can be made to the relevant descriptions of other embodiments.

[0125] In several embodiments provided by the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed device can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are only illustrative. For example, the above unit division is only a logical function division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods. For example, multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. Another point is that the displayed or discussed coupling or direct coupling or communication connection to each other can be through some interfaces. The indirect coupling or communication connection of the device or unit can be in an electrical or other form.

[0126] The units described above as separate components may or may not be physically separated. The components displayed as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they can be located in one place, or distributed to multiple network units. Some or all of the units can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of the embodiments of the present application.

[0127] In addition, in each embodiment of the present application, each functional unit may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist physically alone, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit. The above-mentioned integrated unit may be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of a software functional unit.

[0128] If the above-mentioned integrated unit is implemented in the form of a software functional unit and sold or used as an independent product, it can be stored in a computer-readable memory. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present application, in essence, or the part that contributes to the prior art, or all or part of the technical solution, can be embodied in the form of a software product. This computer software product is stored in a memory and includes several instructions for causing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the methods in each embodiment of the present application. The aforementioned memory includes: USB flash drives, read-only memories (ROMs), random access memories (RAMs), mobile hard disks, magnetic disks, or optical discs and other media that can store program codes.

[0129] Those of ordinary skill in the art can understand that all or part of the steps in the various methods of the above embodiments can be completed by instructing relevant hardware through a program. This program can be stored in a computer-readable memory, and the memory can include: flash drives, ROMs, RAMs, magnetic disks, or optical discs, etc.

[0130] The above has introduced the embodiments of the present application in detail. Specific examples are used in this article to elaborate on the principle and implementation manner of the present application. The description of the above embodiments is only used to help understand the method and its core idea of the present application; at the same time, for those of ordinary skill in the art, according to the idea of the present application, there will be changes in the specific implementation manner and application scope. In summary, the content of this specification should not be construed as a limitation to the present application.

Claims

1. A positioning method, characterized in that, the method includes: The first terminal device obtains first information, which is used to assist in calibrating the position information of the first terminal device. The first information includes information of at least one reference terminal device, and the reference terminal device is a terminal device that supports the NR-RAT-dependent positioning method; The first terminal device sends the first information, which is used to instruct the server to find, from the first information, a reference terminal device that uses the same positioning method and has the same configuration as the first terminal device, and calculate a positioning calibration value of the first terminal device based on the information of the reference terminal device that uses the same positioning method and has the same configuration as the first terminal device. The positioning calibration value is used to calibrate the positioning result or position information calculated for the first terminal device.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, the method further includes: The first terminal device receives second information from at least one second terminal device. The second information includes at least one of the following: device identification number, position information, positioning capability indication information; The positioning capability indication information is used to indicate the positioning method supported by the second terminal device.

3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that, the first terminal device obtaining the first information includes: The first terminal device obtains the first information based on the second information.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that, the first terminal device obtaining the first information based on the second information includes: The first terminal device measures the signal quality carrying the second information to obtain a signal measurement result of the second information; The first terminal device determines, as the reference terminal device, the second terminal device corresponding to the signal measurement result that is greater than or equal to a preset threshold; The first terminal device obtains the information corresponding to the reference terminal device from the second information.

5. The method according to any one of claims 2-4, characterized in that, the first information includes at least one of the following: device identification number, position information, signal measurement result.

6. The method according to any one of claims 2-4, characterized in that, the method further includes: The first terminal device broadcasts third information through a sidelink. The third information includes the device identification number of the first terminal device and / or positioning capability request information, and the positioning capability request information is used to instruct the second terminal device to report the supported positioning method.

7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that, the method further includes: The first terminal device sends a positioning measurement result, which is measured by the first terminal device based on the supported positioning method.

8. The method according to any one of claims 2-4, characterized in that, the second information is carried in a discovery message.

9. A positioning device, characterized in that, the device includes: An acquisition unit, configured to acquire first information, where the first information is used to assist in calibrating the location information of a first terminal device, and the first information includes information of at least one reference terminal device, and the reference terminal device is a terminal device that supports the NR-RAT-dependent positioning method; A transceiver unit, configured to send the first information, where the first information is used to instruct a server to find, from the first information, a reference terminal device that uses the same positioning method and has the same configuration as the first terminal device, and calculate a positioning calibration value of the first terminal device based on the information of the reference terminal device that uses the same positioning method and has the same configuration as the first terminal device, and the positioning calibration value is used to calibrate the positioning result or location information calculated for the first terminal device.

10. A terminal device, characterized in that, the terminal device includes a processor, a memory, a communication interface, and one or more programs, the one or more programs are stored in the memory and are configured to be executed by the processor, and the programs include instructions for performing the steps in the method according to any one of claims 1-8.

11. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, the computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program for electronic data exchange, where the computer program causes a computer to execute the method according to any one of claims 1-8.

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