Method and apparatus for configuring sounding reference signals for serving cell measurement and neighbor cell measurement

Abstract

The present invention describes a method and apparatus for configuring a downlink (DL) reference signal (RS) for an electronic device (ED). The method includes: receiving, in a first communication from a location management function (LMF) via the LTE positioning protocol (LPP), configuration information associated with the DL RS; receiving, in a communication from a serving cell via radio resource control (RRC), an identifier (ID) of the DL RS and a cell ID of a cell transmitting the DL RS, wherein the configuration information received in the first communication further includes the ID of the DL RS and the cell ID; and transmitting a sounding reference signal (SRS) to the cell identified by the cell ID according to path loss (PL) information or spatial domain transmission filter (TF) information associated with the DL RS.

Description

[0001] This invention claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62 / 886,145, filed on August 13, 2019, with the title "METHODS AND APPARATUSES FOR CONFIGURATION OF SOUNDING REFERENCE SIGNAL FOR SERVING AND NEIGHBORING CELL MEASUREMENTS", and to U.S. Patent Application No. 16 / 989,759, filed on August 10, 2020, with the title "METHODS AND APPARATUSES FOR CONFIGURATION OF SOUNDING REFERENCE SIGNAL FOR SERVING AND NEIGHBORING CELL MEASUREMENTS", the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] This invention generally relates to wireless communication. In various examples, this invention relates to methods and apparatuses for configuring sounding reference signal power. BACKGROUND ART

[0003] In a traditional cellular network, each cell is associated with a coverage area and includes one or more base stations (BSs) (also referred to as transmit-receive points (TRPs)), and each base station has a radio frequency (RF) transceiver for transmitting and receiving wireless signals. Each cell is assigned a physical cell identifier (PCID), and all BSs within the cell can share this PCID. The PCID facilitates control channel and data channel communication between the cell and an electronic device (ED) (such as a user equipment (UE)) to a certain extent. The cell currently serving the ED is called the serving cell corresponding to the ED. Before triggering a handover, the network can maintain the association relationship between the serving cell and the ED through the assigned PCID.

[0004] The network can implement the location management function (LMF), and the LMF provides location services. For example, based on the measurement results received from cells (including serving cells and non-serving cells) and / or other entities such as EDs in the network, the location of the ED (also referred to as the "positioning" of the ED) is determined. The LMF can be implemented in a cell (for example, the LMF service can be provided by the BS in the cell), or can be implemented in the core network, etc.

[0005] The ED sends a sounding reference signal (SRS), and the network-side device can use this SRS to determine the channel characteristics of the channel between the ED and the network device. In the New Radio (NR) of Release 15 (Rel.15), the SRS is used in combination with the network-side device currently serving the ED. That is to say, the SRS is currently only received and measured by the serving cell.

[0006] There is a need to provide technical solutions that enable the ED to send an SRS expected to be received by cells other than the serving cell. These technical solutions can enable the SRS to be used for positioning purposes on the LMF side or for inter-cell or intra-cell mobility purposes. Summary of the Invention

[0007] In various examples disclosed herein, technical solutions for configuring the SRS power are provided, so that the SRS can be sent from the ED to a non-serving cell (such as a neighboring cell).

[0008] The present invention describes examples for configuring a path loss (PL) reference signal (RS), and the PL RS can be sent from the serving cell or the LMF to the ED. The PL RS can be a PL positioning reference signal (PRS), a PL synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel block (SSB), a PL channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), etc.

[0009] The present invention also describes examples for configuring a transmission filter (TF) RS, and the TF RS can be sent from the serving cell or the LMF to the ED. The TF RS can be a TF PRS, a TF SSB, a TF CSI-RS, etc.

[0010] In various examples, the present invention describes possible fallback procedures that can be used when the ED does not receive or detect an expected PL CSI-RS, TF CSI-RS, PL PRS, or TF PRS.

[0011] In various examples, the present invention describes possible procedures that enable the ED to receive a configuration of a PL RS or TF RS from the LMF and enable the LMF to obtain PL RS or TF RS configuration details.

[0012] The present invention also describes examples that enable a serving cell to obtain PL RS or TF RS configuration details from a non-serving cell, from the LMF, or from a non-serving cell via the LMF or the like.

[0013] The various examples described herein can help enable the ED to correctly receive a DL RS from a cell (including a serving cell or a non-serving cell), and help determine a PL and / or a TF for transmitting a sounding reference signal (SRS) to a cell (including a serving cell or a non-serving cell). These examples can enable the SRS to be used for mobility purposes, positioning purposes, or any other application that may require the ED to transmit an SRS to a cell (including a serving cell or a non-serving cell).

[0014] In some exemplary aspects, the present invention describes a method performed on the side of a network entity implementing a location management function (LMF). The method includes: receiving a configuration message from a radio access network (RAN) node, where the configuration message includes configuration information associated with a downlink (DL) reference signal (RS); sending the configuration information to at least one of the following: an electronic device (ED), where the configuration information enables the ED to use the DL RS to obtain path loss (PL) information or spatial domain transmission filter (TF) information, and the PL information or the spatial domain TF information is used for transmitting a sounding reference signal (SRS); or a serving RAN node serving the ED.

[0015] In any example, the method may include: sending a request for the configuration information to the RAN node.

[0016] In any example, the request may be sent to the RAN node via the New Radio Positioning Protocol A (NRPPa).

[0017] In any example, the DL RS may be a DL synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel block (SSB) or a DL positioning reference signal (PRS).

[0018] In any example, the configuration message may be received from a non-serving RAN node via the New Radio Positioning Protocol A (NRPPa), and the configuration information is sent to the serving RAN node via NRPPa.

[0019] In any example, the configuration information may be sent to the ED via the LTE positioning protocol (LPP).

[0020] In any example, the configuration information may include a quasi colocation-Type D (QCL-D) field for providing information about another configuration reference signal having a QCL-D relationship with the DL RS. The ED can detect the DL RS based on the configuration of the other configuration reference signal.

[0021] In some exemplary aspects, the present invention describes a method performed on an electronic device (ED) side. The method includes: receiving, in a first communication via the LTE positioning protocol (LPP) from a location management function (LMF), configuration information associated with a downlink (DL) reference signal (RS); receiving, in a second communication via radio resource control (RRC) from a serving cell corresponding to the ED, an identifier (ID) of the DL RS and a cell ID of a cell that transmits the DL RS, wherein the configuration information received in the first communication further includes the ID of the DL RS and the cell ID; and sending a sounding reference signal (SRS) to the cell identified by the cell ID according to path loss (PL) information or spatial domain transmission filter (TF) information associated with the DL RS.

[0022] In any example, the DL RS may be a DL positioning reference signal (PRS), and the configuration information associated with the DL RS may include one or more of the following: a resource ID of the DL PRS; a cell ID of the cell that transmits the DL PRS; a quasi colocation-Type-D (QCL-D) field for providing information about another configured reference signal having a QCL-D relationship with the DL PRS; a New Radio Absolute Radio-Frequency Channel Number (NRARFCN) for determining a frequency domain position of the DL PRS; a bandwidth of the DL PRS; a slot offset of the DL PRS; a frame offset of the DL PRS; a symbol offset of the DL PRS; a signal suppression configuration of the DL PRS; a period and an offset of the DL PRS; and a scrambling ID of the DL PRS.

[0023] In any example, the DL RS may be a DL synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel block (SSB), and the configuration information associated with the DL RS may include one or more of the following: the SSB index of the DL SSB; the cell ID of the cell transmitting the DL SSB; one or more parameters for determining the position of the DL SSB in the time-frequency domain.

[0024] In any example, the configuration information associated with the DL RS may enable the ED to use the DL RS to obtain information other than the PL information and the spatial domain TF information, and the second communication may enable the ED to use the DL RS to obtain the PL information or the spatial domain TF information.

[0025] In any example, the configuration information associated with the DL RS may enable the ED to use the DL RS to obtain the PL information or the spatial domain TF information.

[0026] In any example, the DL RS may be a DL positioning reference signal (PRS), and the configuration information associated with the DL RS may include one or more of the following: the resource ID of the DL PRS; the cell ID of the cell transmitting the DL PRS; the quasi colocation-Type-D (QCL-D) field for providing information about another configuration reference signal having a QCL-D relationship with the DL PRS; the New Radio Absolute Radio-Frequency Channel Number (NRARFCN) for determining the frequency domain position of the DL PRS; the bandwidth of the DL PRS; the time slot offset of the DL PRS; the frame offset of the DL PRS; the symbol offset of the DL PRS; the signal suppression configuration of the DL PRS; the period and offset of the DL PRS; the scrambling ID of the DL PRS.

[0027] In any example, the DL RS may be a DL synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel block (SSB), and the configuration information may include one or more of the following: the SSB index of the DL SSB; the cell ID of the cell transmitting the DL SSB; one or more parameters for determining the position of the DL SSB in the time-frequency domain.

[0028] In some exemplary aspects, the present invention describes a method performed on the side of an electronic device (ED). The method includes: after a first downlink (DL) reference signal (RS) has not been received within an expected time or time frame, or in the absence of configuration information for receiving the first DL RS, the ED obtains path loss (PL) information based on a second DL RS; and transmits a sounding reference signal (SRS), where the SRS is transmitted based on the PL information.

[0029] In any example, the second DL RS may be a synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel block (SSB) that the ED uses to obtain Master Information Block (MIB) parameters, and may subsequently be used by the ED to obtain the PL information.

[0030] In some exemplary aspects, the present invention describes an apparatus including a processing unit. The processing unit is configured to execute instructions to cause the apparatus to perform any of the above methods.

[0031] In some exemplary aspects, the present invention describes a computer-readable medium storing instructions. When the instructions are executed by a processing unit in a device, the device is caused to perform any of the above methods. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0032] Reference is now made, by way of example, to the accompanying drawings that illustrate exemplary embodiments of the present application, in which:

[0033] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary communication system suitable for implementing the examples described herein;

[0034] Figure 2A and Figure 2BBlock diagrams of an exemplary base station (BS) and an exemplary electronic device (ED) suitable for implementing the examples described herein, respectively;

[0035] Figure 3 Schematic diagrams of two neighboring cells in an exemplary communication system suitable for implementing the examples described herein;

[0036] Figure 4 Exemplary data stream for an example of sounding reference signal (SRS) measurement according to the examples described herein;

[0037] Figure 5 Flowchart of an exemplary method for configuring a downlink (DL) reference signal (RS) and transmitting an SRS to a non-serving cell;

[0038] Figure 6 Flowchart of another exemplary method for configuring a DL RS and transmitting an SRS to a non-serving cell;

[0039] Figure 7 Flowchart of an exemplary method for a fallback procedure when an expected DL RS is not received;

[0040] Figure 8A Flowchart of an exemplary method for a location management function (LMF) to provide configuration information to an ED;

[0041] Figure 8B Signaling diagram of exemplary signaling for an LMF to provide configuration information to an ED;

[0042] Figure 9 Flowchart of an exemplary method for a base station (BS) in a serving cell to provide configuration information to an ED;

[0043] Figures 10A to 10E Signaling diagram of exemplary signaling for a serving cell to provide configuration information to an ED.

[0044] Similar reference numerals may be used in different drawings to represent similar components. Detailed implementation

[0045] In Release 15 (Rel.15) of New Radio (NR), the processes that have been incorporated into the NR standard do not specify that non-serving cells measure the sounding reference signal (SRS). The examples described herein can help enable non-serving cells (e.g., neighboring cells) and serving cells to perform SRS measurements. The technical solutions described herein can help use SRS to locate an electronic device (ED) (e.g., a user equipment (UE)) or enable uplink (UL)-based inter-cell or intra-cell mobility, etc.

[0046] In various examples, the present invention describes methods and mechanisms obtained by modifying some known methods. Modifying existing methods can make it easier to implement using existing methods and / or easier to apply across the industry.

[0047] To enable non-serving cells to perform SRS measurements, several problems may need to be solved for traditional SRS measurements that only rely on serving cells.

[0048] One problem involves enabling the ED to send SRS to a transceiver that is not associated with the serving cell. In other words, the ED should be able to send SRS to a non-serving cell. To be able to send SRS to a non-serving cell using beamforming, the ED should be configured with SRS configuration parameters, which include a set of transmission variables that define or control the transmitted SRS signal. These transmission variables include variables related to the spatial domain transmission filter, path loss, transmission power, SRS period, and resource mapping, etc. Specifically, the SRS spatial domain transmission filter (TF) defines the directivity of the signal (e.g., beamforming parameters) and enables the ED to send SRS in a direction where the non-serving cell can receive it.

[0049] In the prior art, the ED can determine the SRS spatial domain TF of the base station (BS) in the serving cell based on the first reference signal (RS) sent by the serving cell. The first RS can inform the ED about the transmission variables related to the spatial domain TF and / or path loss (PL).

[0050] In the prior art, an ED can use a receiving beam to listen for a first RS sent by a BS in a serving cell. According to the configuration information provided to the ED regarding the position of the serving cell transmitting the first RS in time-frequency resources, the ED can determine the position with the strongest signal and associate that direction with the BS in the serving cell. For example, such a configuration may involve using the "SRS-SpatialRelationInfo" field in the "SRS-Resource" field of the "SRS-Config" message. The RS can be one of the following: (1) a synchronization signal (SS) / physical broadcast channel (PBCH) block (synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel block, SSB) resource, (2) a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS) resource, (3) a sounding reference signal (SRS) resource.

[0051] In the case of using "SRS-spatialRelationInfo" in the current 3GPP standard, the content of this field is dedicated to SRS resources and includes the servingCellId and one of the following 3 reference signal indicators: (1) an SSB index, (2) a CSI-RS resource index, or (3) an SRS resource index, and the corresponding uplink bandwidth part (UL BWP).

[0052] According to the current standard, if the configured RS sent by the serving cell is an SSB resource or a CSI-RS resource, the ED shall use the same spatial transmission filter originally used for receiving the SSB or CSI-RS to transmit the target SRS resource. If the RS is another SRS resource, the ED may use the same spatial transmission filter used for transmitting the indicated SRS to transmit the target SRS resource.

[0053] The RS for determining the spatial transmission filter of the SRS according to Rel.15 of the NR 3GPP standard is configured by the serving cell and sent from one or more BSs in the serving cell. Regarding SRS measurements on non-serving cells, one problem in this regard is that when the SRS needs to be received by a BS in a non-serving cell, configuring the SRS transmission based on the RS sent by the serving cell may not be sufficient.

[0054] In the examples described herein, a transmission filter RS ​​(TF RS) is used to determine a spatial transmission filter. TF RS resources are used to determine a spatial transmission filter for a target SRS resource. There are four applicable TF RS resources: SSB resources used as TF RS (referred to herein as TF SSB for brevity), CSI-RS resources used as TF RS (referred to herein as TF CSI-RS for brevity), downlink (DL) positioning reference signal (PRS) (referred to herein as TF PRS for brevity), and SRS resources (referred to herein as TF SRS for brevity). Some configurations of DL TF RS (i.e., TF SSB, TF CSI-RS, and TF PRS) are described in the present invention.

[0055] One problem with existing SRS configuration methods involves determining the transmission power that the ED should use to send the SRS signal. In Rel.15 of the 3GPP standard, the SRS transmission power is determined by the following formula:

[0056]

[0057] in,

[0058] P SRS,b,f,c (i,q s , l) is the SRS resource set q on all ports of the UL bandwidth part (BWP) b of the carrier f of the serving cell c in the SRS transmission opportunity i under the power control (PC) adjustment state indexed as l s The total SRS transmit power on one SRS symbol in dBm. The transmit power in this representation is divided equally among all configured ports.

[0059] P CMAX，f，c (i) is the maximum output power of the ED, which is defined in the specification (RAN4 (TS 38.101-1 / 38.101-2)).

[0060] P o_SRS，b，f，c (q s ) is each SRS resource set q s The corresponding high-level configuration baseline power value.

[0061] M SRS，b，f，c (i) is the SRS bandwidth (BW) corresponding to each SRS resource, in resource blocks (RB).

[0062] α SRS，b，f，c (q s ) is the high-layer configuration ratio factor corresponding to each SRS resource set q s with a default value of 1.

[0063] PL b，f，c (q d ) is the DL PL estimate, in dB, calculated by the ED according to the RS resource index q d . In Rel.15, the RS resource index q d is provided by the high-layer parameter pathlossReferenceRS associated with the SRS resource set q s . The RS used to determine the DL PL can be called the PL RS. In Rel.15, there are 2 applicable PL RS resources: the PL SSB resource and the PL CSI-RS resource. In the current 3GPP standard, if the ED is not configured with a PL RS resource (e.g., the high-layer parameter pathlossReferenceRS in 3GPP TS38.331), or the ED has not been configured with dedicated high-layer parameters, the ED uses the RD resource obtained from the SS / PBCH block to calculate the PL b，f，c (q d ). The ED uses the SS / PBCH block to obtain the high-layer parameter MasterInformationBlock (MIB). It can be observed that the PLRS in the prior art is used to calculate the PL of the serving cell, and the PL is used to determine the SRS transmission power so that the serving cell can receive the SRS signal with sufficient power, so that the SRS can be correctly measured.

[0064] h b，f，c (i, l) is the PC adjustment state with index l in the SRS transmission occasion i.

[0065] According to the power control mechanism in the prior art, the SRS power control is based on the SRS resource set, and all SRS resource sets are configured for the serving cell (expected to be measured on the serving cell side). To enable SRS measurement in non-serving cells, a technical solution capable of configuring different SRS resource sets is required, with each SRS resource set expected to be measured by the serving cell or non-serving cell.

[0066] According to Rel.15 of the 3GPP standard, the PL RS resources are configured and transmitted from the serving cell. Since the PL RS cannot be used to calculate the PL of the SRS resources of non-serving cells, transmitting the PL RS only from the serving cell will cause problems for SRS measurement in non-serving cells. Specifically, compared with the serving cell, non-serving cells are usually farther from the ED, so there is a greater PL. If the UE uses the configured PLRS transmitted from the serving cell to calculate the transmission power of the SRS expected to be sent to a non-serving cell, the transmission power of the SRS may not be sufficient for the non-serving cell to accurately detect and measure the SRS.

[0067] To enable the SRS to be received by non-serving cells (e.g., for positioning or mobility purposes), the DL RS transmitted from non-serving cells should be configured to be used as the DL PL RS to achieve SRS power control. As described above, the DL PL RS can be the CSI-RS, SSB, or DL positioning reference signal (PRS), etc. If the ED cannot obtain the PL RS, a fallback process is still desired.

[0068] To achieve UL beam management / alignment for non-serving cells, the spatial relationship between the target SRS and the reference DLRS transmitted from non-serving cells needs to be configured. The reference DLRS can be the SSB, CSI-RS, or DL-PRS, etc.

[0069] It should be noted that these configurations for transmitting SRS to non-serving cells can be a supplement to the existing Rel.15 specification. That is, these configurations do not necessarily exclude the possibility of the ED transmitting the SRS to be received by the serving cell.

[0070] In the present invention, for the sake of simplicity, the reference DLRS for the spatial relationship between non-serving cells (or serving cells) and SRS can be referred to as TF RS. In addition, TF SSB is used to refer to the SSB used as TF RS; TF CSI-RS is used to refer to the CSI-RS used as TF RS; TF PRS is used to refer to the PRS used as TF RS.

[0071] In the present invention, for the sake of simplicity, the PL reference RS (pathlossReferenceR) can be referred to as PL RS. In addition, PL SSB is used to refer to the SSB used as PL RS; PL CSI-RS is used to refer to the CSI-PS used as PL RS; PL PRS is used to refer to the PRS used as PL RS.

[0072] The present invention provides examples for solving one or more of the above problems. It should be understood that the examples described with reference to the configuration of PL RS can also be applicable to the configuration of TF RS (and vice versa).

[0073] In an embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to support using CSI-RS resources sent by a serving cell and / or neighbor cells as the spatialRelationInfo RS for positioning SRS. The CSI-RS transmission beam is dedicated to the UE and is generally narrower than the SSB transmission beam. Therefore, it is generally a good candidate for the spatialRelationInfo RS. For mobility purposes, the UE can be configured in MeasObjectNR to measure multiple sets of CSI-RS resources. Each set of CSI-RS resources is sent from the serving cell or neighbor cells. If some of these neighbor cells are also target cells in UL-based positioning, the CSI-RS resources configured in them in MeasObjectNR are known to the UE side and can be directly indicated to the UE as the spatialRelationInfo RS for positioning SRS.

[0074] In an embodiment of the present invention, the DL PRS sent by the serving cell and / or neighbor cells can be indicated as the spatialRelationInfo RS for positioning SRS. If the UE is used to measure the DL PRS sent by the serving cell and / or neighbor cells for DL-based positioning or multi-RTT positioning, etc., as long as the configuration is valid, the configured DL PRS can also be indicated to the UE for any other purpose. Other purposes include using the configured DL PRS as the spatialRelationInfo RS for positioning SRS. In a multi-RTT positioning scheme, the RTT is measured between the UE-gNB pair: the gNB that sends the DL PRS for "UE Rx-Tx time difference measurement" is the receiver for receiving the SRS for "gNB Rx-Tx time difference measurement" from the same UE. Therefore, it is logical that there is a spatial relationship between the DL PRS for "UE Rx-Tx time difference measurement" and the corresponding SRS for "gNB Rx-Tx time difference measurement". This can be achieved by indicating the DL PRS as the spatialRelationInfo RS for positioning the corresponding SRS.

[0075] In an embodiment of the present invention, it is supported to configure the CSI-RS and / or DL PRS sent by the serving cell and / or neighbor cells as the spatialRelationInfo RS for positioning SRS. For positioning purposes, in addition to the SSB, it is supported to configure the CSI-RS and DL PRS sent by the serving cell and neighbor cells as the spatialRelationInfo RS.

[0076] In an embodiment of the present invention, some parameters are required to uniquely identify the spatialRelationInfo RS. Generally speaking, considering the fact that the spatialRelationInfo RS can be sent from neighboring cells, the spatialRelationInfoRS configuration can indicate all the parameters required for detecting the DL RS. According to the type of DL RS (SSB, CSI-RS or DL PRS), these parameters include the reference time and frequency points, time-domain and frequency-domain resource mapping parameters, period and offset, PCID, resource ID, scrambling ID, and possibly the QCL-D attribute. The spatialRelationInfo RS can be configured according to the set of DLRSs that have been detected by the UE and / or configured for the UE for other possible purposes. Other possible purposes include detecting the SSB sent by the serving cell or neighboring cells during the initial access process, etc., configuring the CSI-RS resources sent by the serving cell, configuring the SSB resources or CSI-RS resources sent by the serving cell or neighboring cells in the MeasObjectNR, or configuring the DL PRS resources for RSTD or UE Rx-Tx time difference measurement. In this case, in order to uniquely identify the spatialRelationInfo RS, the UE needs to be indicated the DL RS resource ID and PCID of the corresponding serving cell or neighboring cell. It should be noted that, for example, in the case of CSI-RS, (non-zero power) CSI-RS resources are configured at two different positions in Rel.15: the CSI-RS resources for mobility purposes sent by the serving cell and neighboring cells are configured in CSI-RS-ResourceConfigMobility and indexed by CSI-RS-Index; only the CSI-RS resources for various intra-cell measurement purposes sent by the serving cell are configured in NZP-CSI-RS-Resource and indexed by NZP-CSI-RS-ResourceId. If the spatialRelationInfo CSI-RS is indicated according to the set of DL RSs known to the UE (configured for the UE), then at least in the case where the target cell is a neighboring cell, the CSI-RS resource ID should refer to the CSI-RS-Index used in CSI-RS-ResourceConfigMobility.

[0077] In one embodiment, parameters can be added in the spatialRelationInfo field to be able to additionally indicate the SSB or CSI-RS sent by a neighbor cell or the DL PRS sent by the serving cell or a neighbor cell. The LMF can send the configuration of the DL PRS resources of the serving cell and neighbor cells to the UE via LPP. The serving cell does not know or detect the DL PRS configuration of the neighbor cell. If the DL PRS used as the spatialRelationInfo RS has been configured by the LMF for the UE for RSTD measurement or UE Rx-Tx time difference measurement, etc., the serving cell only needs to indicate the DL PRS resource ID and PCID of the corresponding cell to configure the DL PRS as the spatialRelationInfo RS in the SRS-Config IE in RRC. The DL PRS resource ID and PCID of the neighbor cell can be provided to the serving cell by the LMF via NRPPa. The spatialRelationInfo RS is configured in RRC, and the configuration of the spatialRelationInfo RS includes at least the DL reference signal (SSB, CSI-RS or DL PRS) resource ID and cell ID of the sending serving cell / neighbor cell.

[0078] In some embodiments of the present invention, considering the fact that the spatialRelationInfo RS can be sent from a neighbor cell, some UE fallback behaviors in the case where the spatialRelationInfo RS is configured but not detected are supported. If a cell sends the spatialRelationInfo RS but the UE does not detect the spatialRelationInfo RS, a reasonable method is to use the detected DL RS sent by the same cell as the fallback spatialRelationInfo RS. If the cell is the serving cell, the fallback spatialRelationInfo RS can be the SSB used to obtain the MIB; if the cell is a neighbor cell, the fallback spatialRelationInfo RS can be the detected SSB sent by the cell with the highest RSRP. Therefore, if the spatialRelationInfo RS is configured but not detected, the UE uses the following as the alternative spatialRelationInfo RS: if the cell sending the spatialRelationInfo RS is the serving cell, the alternative spatialRelationInfo RS is the SSB used to obtain the MIB; or if the cell sending the spatialRelationInfo RS is a neighbor cell, the alternative spatialRelationInfo RS is the detected SSB sent by the cell with the highest RSRP.

[0079] If the spatialRelationInfo RS is not configured, how to form the SRS transmission beam depends on the UE. For example, if none of the SRS resources in the SRS resource set are configured with spatialRelationInfo RS, the UE can transmit the SRS resources by scanning all transmission beams.

[0080] In the embodiments of the present invention, the SSB and / or CSI-RS sent by the serving cell and / or neighbor cell can be configured as pathlossReferenceRS. The UE can be configured in MeasObjectNR to measure the SSB sent by the serving cell and / or neighbor cell and / or measure the CSI-RS resources sent by the serving cell and neighbor cell within the periodic SMTC window. The measurements performed include SS-RSRP and CSI-RSRP (RSRP measurement on CSI-RS). In one example, once the RSRP is calculated, since the path loss is obtained by subtracting the RSRP from the transmit power, it is simple to obtain the path loss. For positioning purposes, it is supported to configure the SSB and CSI-RS sent by the serving cell and neighbor cell as pathlossReferenceRS.

[0081] The above indication of spatialRelationInfo RS also applies to indicating pathlossReferenceRS to the UE: The pathlossReferenceRS sent by the serving cell or neighbor cell can be indicated in the RRC signaling or message, and at least the reference signal resource ID and cell ID of the sending serving cell or neighbor cell are required to enable the UE to uniquely identify the pathlossReferenceRS. The pathlossReferenceRS is configured in the RRC, and the configuration of the pathlossReferenceRS includes at least the DL reference signal (SSB or CSI-RS) resource ID and cell ID of the sending serving cell / neighbor cell.

[0082] When performing positioning, the SRS target cell can be a neighbor cell. In this case, different fallback behaviors can be defined when pathlossReferenceRS is not configured or is configured but not detected. If pathlossReferenceRS is not configured or is configured but not detected, the UE can use the following detected SSB sent by the target cell as pathlossReferenceRS: If the target cell is the serving cell, the replacement pathlossReferenceRS is the SSB used to obtain the MIB; or if the target cell is a neighbor cell, the replacement pathlossReferenceRS is the SSB with the highest RSRP. Optionally, if pathlossReferenceRS is configured but not detected, or if pathlossReferenceRS is configured but not detected and the SSB sent by the corresponding target cell is also not detected, the UE transmits the SRS with the maximum power.

[0083] To help understand the present invention, first describe Figures 1 to 3 . Figures 1 to 3 Examples of networks, systems, and devices that can be used to implement the examples described in the present invention are provided.

[0084] Figure 1 FIG. shows an exemplary wireless communication system 100 (also referred to as wireless system 100) in which embodiments of the present invention can be implemented. Generally speaking, wireless system 100 enables multiple wireless elements or multiple wired elements to transmit data and other content. Wireless system 100 can enable content (such as voice, data, video, text, etc.) to be transmitted between entities in system 100 (for example, through broadcasting, narrowcasting, user equipment to user equipment, etc.). Wireless system 100 can operate by sharing resources such as bandwidth. Wireless system 100 can be suitable for wireless communication using 5G technology and / or next-generation wireless technology. In some examples, wireless system 100 can also be compatible with some traditional wireless technologies (such as 3G or 4G wireless technologies).

[0085] In the example shown, wireless system 100 includes ED 110, radio access network (RAN) 120, core network 130, public switched telephone network (PSTN) 140, Internet 150, and other networks 160. In some examples, one or more of these networks can be omitted or replaced with different types of networks. Other networks can be included in wireless system 100. Although Figure 1 a certain number of these components or elements are shown, any suitable number of these components or elements can be included in wireless system 100.

[0086] The ED 110 is used for operation and / or communication in the wireless system 100. For example, the ED 110 can be used for transmitting and / or receiving via a wireless communication channel or a wired communication channel. Each ED 110 represents any end-user device suitable for wireless operation and can include the following devices (or can be referred to as): user equipment (UE), wireless transmit / receive unit (WTRU), mobile station, fixed or mobile subscriber unit, cellular phone, station (STA), machine type communication (MTC) device, personal digital assistant (PDA), smartphone, laptop computer, computer, tablet, wireless sensor, internet of things (IoT) device, or consumer electronic device, and so on. The next-generation ED 110 may be referred to using other terms.

[0087] Figure 1 The RAN 120 therein includes the BS 170. Although Figure 1It is shown that each RAN 120 includes a corresponding BS 170. However, it should be understood that any given RAN 120 may include more than one BS 170, and any given RAN 120 may also include one or more base station controllers (BSCs), one or more radio network controllers (RNCs), relay nodes, elements, and / or devices. Each BS 170 is used to make a wireless connection with one or more EDs 110 so as to be able to access any other BS 170, core network 130, PSTN 140, Internet 150, and / or other networks 160. For example, the BS 170 may also be referred to as (or include) a base transceiver station (BTS), radio base station, Node-B (NodeB), evolved NodeB (eNodeB or eNB), Home eNodeB, gNodeB (gNB) (sometimes referred to as the next-generation NodeB), transmission point (TP), transmission / reception point (TRP), site controller, access point (AP), or wireless router, etc. In some examples, the RAN 120 may be a Next Generation (NG) RAN, and the BS 170 may be referred to as an NG-RAN node. In this case, the BS 170 may be a gNB or an NG-eNB (an NG-eNB is an eNB connected to the NG core network through the NG interface). The next-generation BS 170 may be referred to using other terms. Any ED 110 may optionally or additionally be used to connect to, access, or communicate with any other BS 170, Internet 150, core network 130, PSTN 140, other networks 160, or any combination of the above. In some examples, the BS 170 may access the core network 130 through the Internet 150.

[0088] ED 110 and BS 170 are examples of communication devices that can be used to implement some or all of the functions and / or embodiments described herein. Any BS 170 can be a single element as shown, or multiple elements distributed in the corresponding RAN 120, etc. Each BS 170 transmits and / or receives wireless signals within a specific geographical region (sometimes referred to as a "cell" or "coverage area"). A cell can be further divided into cell sectors, and a BS 170 can serve multiple sectors using multiple transceivers, etc. In some embodiments, there may be established pico cells or femto cells supported by a wireless access technology. A macrocell can include one or more smaller cells. In some embodiments, multiple transceivers can be used for each cell, such as using multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) technology. The number of RANs 120 shown is merely exemplary. Any number of RANs 120 can be considered when designing the wireless system 100.

[0089] The BS 170 communicates with one or more ED 110s via one or more Uu radio interfaces 190 (e.g., via radio frequency (RF), microwave, infrared (IR), etc.). The Uu interface 190 can also be referred to as a Uu link, Uu connection, ED-BS link / connection / interface, or ED-network link / connection / interface, etc. The ED 110s can also communicate directly with each other (i.e., without involving the BS 170) via one or more sidelink (SL) radio interfaces 195. The SL interface can also be referred to as an SL connection, ED-ED link / connection / interface, device-to-device (D2D) link / connection / interface, or simply SL, etc. The radio interfaces 190 and 195 can use any suitable wireless access technology. For example, the wireless system 100 can implement one or more channel access methods, such as code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA), or single-carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA), for wireless communication.

[0090] RAN 120 communicates with the core network 130 to provide various services to the ED 110, such as voice, data, and other services. The RAN 120 and / or the core network 130 may communicate directly or indirectly with one or more other RANs (not shown), which may or may not be directly served by the core network 130 and may or may not use the same radio access technology. The core network 130 may also be used as a gateway access between (i) the RANs 120 and / or the EDs 110 and (ii) other networks (such as the PSTN 140, the Internet 150, and other networks 160). The core network 130 may also provide services. For example, in Figure 1 In an example, the LMF 135 is implemented in the core network 130 (e.g., on the back-end server side or on the dedicated location management unit side). In other examples, the LMF 135 may be implemented outside the core network 130 (e.g., on the BS 170 side). In the present invention, the LMF 135 may be referred to as a shorthand for the network entity in which the LMF 135 is implemented. For example, the present invention may describe messages traveling to and from the LMF 135; in this case, it should be understood that this means messages traveling to and from the network entity in which the LMF 135 is implemented (e.g., in the core network 130 or the BS 170).

[0091] In addition, some or all of the EDs 110 may include the function of communicating with different wireless networks through different wireless links using different radio technologies and / or protocols. The ED 110 may communicate with a service provider or a switch (not shown) and with the Internet 150 through a wired communication channel without performing wireless communication (or also performing wireless communication). The PSTN 140 may include a circuit-switched telephone network for providing plain old telephone service (POTS). The Internet 150 may include computer networks and / or subnets (intranets) and includes protocols such as the Internet Protocol (IP), the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), and the User Datagram Protocol (UDP). The ED 110 may be a multi-mode device capable of operating according to multiple radio access technologies and includes multiple transceivers required to support these technologies.

[0092] Figure 2A and Figure 2B shows an exemplary apparatus in which the various methods and teachings provided by the present invention may be implemented. Figure 2A shows an exemplary BS 170, Figure 2BAn exemplary ED 110 is shown. These components may be used in wireless system 100 or any other suitable system.

[0093] As Figure 2A shown, BS 170 includes at least one processing unit 201. The processing unit 201 implements various processing operations of BS 170. For example, the processing unit 201 may perform signal encoding, data processing, power control, input / output processing, or any other function of BS 170. The processing unit 201 may also be used to implement some or all of the functions and / or embodiments detailed herein. Each processing unit 201 includes any suitable processing device or computing device for performing one or more operations. Each processing unit 201 may include a microprocessor, a microcontroller, a digital signal processor, a field programmable gate array, or an application specific integrated circuit, etc.

[0094] BS 170 also includes at least one communication interface 202 for wired communication and / or wireless communication. Each communication interface 202 includes any suitable structure for generating signals for wireless transmission or wired transmission and / or for processing signals received wirelessly or wiredly. BS 170 in this example includes at least one antenna 204 (in other examples, antenna 204 may be omitted). Each antenna 204 includes any suitable structure for transmitting and / or receiving wireless signals or wired signals. One or more communication interfaces 202 may be used in BS 170. One or more antennas 204 may be used in BS 170. In some examples, one or more antennas 204 may be an antenna array 204, and the antenna array 204 may be used to perform beamforming and beam control operations. Although BS 170 is shown as a separate functional unit, BS 170 may also be implemented using at least one transmitter interface and at least one separate receiver interface.

[0095] BS 170 also includes one or more input / output devices 206 or input / output interfaces (such as a wired interface connected to the Internet 150). One or more input / output devices 206 may interact with users or other devices in the network. Each input / output device 206 includes any suitable structure for providing information to the user or receiving information from the user, such as a speaker, a microphone, a keypad, a keyboard, a display, or a touch screen, including network interface communication.

[0096] In addition, BS 170 includes at least one memory 208. The memory 208 stores instructions and data used, generated, or collected by BS 170. For example, the memory 208 may store software instructions or modules for implementing some or all of the functions and / or embodiments described herein and executed by one or more processing units 201. Each memory 208 includes any suitable one or more volatile and / or non-volatile storage and retrieval devices. Any suitable type of memory may be used, such as random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), hard disk, optical disk, subscriber identity module (SIM) card, memory stick, secure digital (SD) memory card, and the like.

[0097] As Figure 2B shown, ED 110 includes at least one processing unit 250, at least one transmitter 252, at least one receiver 254, one or more antennas 256, at least one memory 258, and one or more input / output devices or interfaces 266. The processing unit 250 implements various processing operations of ED 110, such as signal encoding, data processing, power control, input / output processing, or any other function. The processing unit 250 may also be used to implement some or all of the functions and / or embodiments described herein. Each processing unit 250 includes any suitable processing device or computing device for performing one or more operations. Each processing unit 250 may include a microprocessor, a microcontroller, a digital signal processor, a field programmable gate array, or an application specific integrated circuit, and so on.

[0098] Each transmitter 252 includes any suitable structure for generating signals for wireless or wired transmission. Each receiver 254 includes any suitable structure for processing signals received wirelessly or wiredly. Although at least one transmitter 252 and at least one receiver 254 are shown as separate components, they may be combined into a transceiver. Each antenna 256 includes any suitable structure for transmitting and / or receiving wireless or wired signals. Although a common antenna 256 is shown coupled to the transmitter 252 and the receiver 254 simultaneously here, one or more antennas 256 may be coupled to one or more transmitters 252, and one or more separate antennas 256 may be coupled to one or more receivers 254. In some examples, one or more antennas 256 may be an antenna array, which may be used for beamforming and beam control operations. Each memory 258 includes any suitable one or more volatile and / or non-volatile storage and retrieval devices, such as those described above in connection with Figure 2AThe devices described. The memory 258 stores instructions and data used, generated, or collected by the ED 110. For example, the memory 258 may store software instructions or modules for implementing some or all of the functions and / or embodiments described herein and executed by one or more processing units 250.

[0099] Each input / output device / interface 266 may interact with users or other devices in the network. Each input / output device / interface 266 includes any suitable structure for providing information to the user or receiving / providing information from the user, including network interface communication.

[0100] It is contemplated that Figure 1 The illustrated communication system 100 may support a New Radio (NR) cell, which may also be referred to as a hyper cell. Each NR cell includes one or more BSs 170 using the same NR cell ID. The NR cell ID is a logical assignment for all physical BSs 170 in the NR cell and may be carried in the broadcast synchronization signal. The NR cell may be dynamically configured. The boundary of the NR cell may be flexible, and the system may dynamically add or remove BSs 170 from the NR cell. Any number of NR cells may be implemented in the communication system 100.

[0101] For example, Figure 3 Two adjacent NR cells in an exemplary communication system in which the examples described in the present invention may be implemented are shown. It should be noted that although referred to as an NR cell (or simply a cell for short), in some examples, a cell may be understood as an NG-RAN node (e.g., a gNB or an eNB connected to the NG network). Therefore, any reference to a cell in the present invention should also be understood to include a reference to an NG-RAN node. Figure 3Two adjacent NR cells 382 and 384 are shown, but it should be understood that there may be more than two NR cells, and the NR cells may not be directly adjacent to each other. In the example shown, each of the NR cells 382 and 384 includes a plurality of BSs 170. For example, the first NR cell 382 includes BSs 170a to 170f, all of which are assigned the same first NR cell ID identifying the first NR cell 382. Similarly, the second NR cell 384 includes BSs 170g to 170l, all of which are assigned the same second NR cell ID identifying the second NR cell 384. In this example, the first NR cell 382 is the serving cell of the ED 110. Specifically, two BSs 170a and 170b are shown communicating with the ED 110. It should be understood that other BSs 170 in the first NR cell 382 may communicate with the ED 110. In this example, the second NR cell 384 is the non-serving cell (or neighbor cell) corresponding to the ED 110.

[0102] Two NR cells 382 and 384 may share a BS 170m. For example, the BS 170m is assigned to one of the two NR cells 382 and 384 at different times, frequencies, or spatial directions. The system (e.g., on the core network side) may assign the BS 170m to one of the two NR cells 382 and 384 by switching the NR cell ID assigned to the BS 170m between the NR cell IDs associated with the corresponding NR cells 382 and 384. In some examples, the shared BS 170m may help reduce interference to any ED located at the boundary between the two NR cells 382 and 384. Since the shared BS 170m is associated with the NR cell 382 or 384 at different times, frequencies, or spatial positions, the EDs located near the boundary of the two NR cells 382 and 384 do not switch frequently. In addition, when the ED moves between the NR cells 382 and 384, the transition is relatively smooth for the user. For example, the network may change the NR cell ID assigned to the shared BS 170m to switch the ED moving between the NR cells 382 and 384. Any number (including 0) of shared BSs may be included in the system.

[0103] The NR cell topology can be updated by the system (e.g., on the core network side), for example, to adapt to changes in network topology, load distribution, and / or ED distribution. For example, if the density of EDs increases in an area, the system can dynamically expand the NR cell to include more BSs near the EDs. For example, if the density of EDs located at the edge of the NR cell increases above a certain threshold, the system can expand the NR cell to include other BSs. As another example, the system can expand the NR cell to include more EDs located between two NR units. In some examples, if the traffic load significantly increases in an area, the system can also expand the NR cell associated with that area to include the BSs with increased traffic load. For example, if the traffic load of a part of the network exceeds a predetermined threshold, the system can change the NR cell ID assigned to one or more BSs transmitting to the affected network part.

[0104] In some examples, the system can change the association of BSs with different NR cells periodically (e.g., every 1 millisecond). This flexible NR cell formation mechanism can enable EDs to be better served by BSs and can help reduce or remove cell-edge EDs.

[0105] The system can use BS selection techniques to minimize intra-NR-cell interference and inter-NR-cell interference. In one example, the BS transmits downlink CSI-RS. Some pilot (also called reference signal) ports can be defined so that EDs can measure the channel state information and report it back to the network. The CSI-RS port is a pilot port defined as a set of known symbols in a sequence transmitted on known resource units (e.g., OFDM resource units) so that EDs can measure the channel state. The EDs assigned to measure a specific CSI-RS port can measure the transmitted CSI-RS sequence, measure the associated channel state, and report it back to the network. The network (e.g., the controller) can select one or more best BSs for all served EDs based on the downlink measurement results. In another example, the BS detects the uplink SRS sequence sent by the EDs in the configured time-frequency resources. For example, Constant Amplitude Zero Auto Correlation (CAZAC) sequences (e.g., Zadoff-Chu (ZC) sequences) can be used as the base sequence of SRS. The BS reports the measurement results of the detected uplink SRS sequence to the network (e.g., the controller). Then, the network controller selects one or more best BSs for all served EDs based on the measurement results.

[0106] Figure 4 Exemplary signal flow diagram for the exemplary SRS measurement provided for the examples described herein.

[0107] Figure 4Shows the signaling performed by the ED 110, the BS in the serving cell 382 (only one serving cell is shown in the figure, but it should be understood that multiple serving cells may be involved in this process), the BSs in M non-serving cells (only non-serving cell 1 384a and non-serving cell M 384m are shown, generally referred to as non-serving cells 384), and the LMF 135. For simplicity, the present invention relates to signals traveling to and from the serving cell or non-serving cell; however, it should be understood that the signaling to and from the cell is handled by one or more BSs in that cell.

[0108] In step 410, the serving cell 382 may configure one TF RS for each SRS resource and / or one PL RS for each SRS resource set. It should be noted that each SRS resource set includes at least one SRS resource. In addition, at least one of the M non-serving cells 384 may configure one TF RS for each SRS resource and / or one PL RS for each SRS resource set, either incoordinated or coordinated with the serving cell. In some examples, the non-serving cell 384 may use the backhaul channel between the serving cell 382 and the non-serving cell 384 to send the SRS resource set configuration including the configuration of the TF RS and / or PL RS to the serving cell 382 that communicates with the ED 110.

[0109] In step 420, the serving cell 382 sends the configuration of the SRS resource set of the serving cell 382 and any configuration of the SRS resource set received from the non-serving cell 384 to the ED 110. It should be noted that in some examples, the configuration of the PL RS and / or TFRS may optionally be sent from the LMF 135 to the ED 110. This process is not shown in Figure 4 Shown. Some examples of the LMF 135 sending the configuration of the PL RS and / or TF RS to the ED 110 are discussed later in the present invention.

[0110] In step 430, serving cell 382 and non-serving cell 384 send the configured TF RS and / or PLRS to ED 110. The BS in serving cell 382 and / or non-serving cell 384 may send TF RS in multiple beam directions. Since ED110 has previously received the configuration of TF RS or PL RS (in step 420), ED 110 is able to detect at least one of the one or more DL PL RS beams and DL TF RS beams sent by serving cell 382 and / or non-serving cell 384. To detect each DL TF RS and / or DL PL RS, ED 110 typically uses spatial domain receive beam scanning and determines the optimal spatial domain receive beam to receive DL TF RS from serving cell 382 or non-serving cell 384. Then, ED 110 uses the same "optimal" spatial domain receive beam as the spatial domain transmission beam for sending SRS, which is expected to be received on the corresponding serving cell 402 or non-serving cell 384 side. ED 110 may use UL / DL channel reciprocity when determining the spatial domain transmission filter.

[0111] In step 440, ED 110 uses the received TF RS to obtain the spatial domain transmission filter for the corresponding SRS resource set and / or obtain PL RS to determine the transmit power for the corresponding SRS resource set, and sends the SRS resource set using the obtained transmission filter and transmit power.

[0112] In step 450, the BS in serving cell 382 and non-serving cell 384 may send the measurement results obtained from the received SRS back to LMF 135 for processing. For example, LMF 135 may use the received information to determine the location of ED 110.

[0113] Each corresponding step may occur within a corresponding time frame, which is a time period allocated within the communication network during which the indicated signals can be sent and received. The signals described for the corresponding steps (which may occur within the corresponding time frames) may be sent simultaneously or sequentially to the serving cell and various non-serving cells.

[0114] In one example, the present invention describes some exemplary configuration details of PL PRS or TF PRS. The configuration information of PL PRS or TF PRS in these examples is sent from the serving cell or LMF to ED.

[0115] In the examples described herein, the PRS can be configured to be used as a TFRS or PL RS sent from a non-serving cell or a serving cell to the ED. The configuration of the PL PRS or TF PRS is used to provide information to the ED so that the ED can correctly receive the PL PRS or TF PRS from the non-serving cell or the serving cell. The prior art has not used the PRS to determine the PL and / or TF.

[0116] The configuration of the PL PRS or TF PRS can be sent to the ED by the serving cell (e.g., via RRC signaling) or the LMF (e.g., via the LTE positioning protocol (LPP)). For example, the serving cell or the LMF can receive the configuration information from the non-serving cell (e.g., the non-serving cell can send the configuration information to the serving cell via the Xn Application Protocol (XnAP) or the F1 Application Protocol (F1AP); or, the non-serving cell can send the configuration information to the LMF via the New Radio Positioning Protocol A (NRPPa); or, the non-serving cell can send the configuration information to the LMF via the NRPPa, and then the LMF can send the configuration information to the serving cell via the NRPPa). Generally, it should be understood that when the LMF and the cell (serving or non-serving cell) communicate via the NRPPa, the term "cell" can be more specifically understood as an NG-RAN node (e.g., a gNB or an NG-eNB). Example 5 below further describes some details of how the non-serving cell sends the configuration information.

[0117] The configuration of the sent PL PRS or TF PRS includes at least the PRS ID (or the PRS configuration index). The PRS ID can be used to identify the PRS for determining the PL or TF sent from the non-serving cell or the serving cell. For example, the ED can use the PRS ID #7 to identify the PL PRS. It should be noted that the prior art has not used RRC signaling to send the PRS ID. In addition, Rel.15 of NR does not support the PL PRS and the TF PRS.

[0118] In some examples, the configuration information of the PL PRS or TF PRS further includes one or more of the following fields. The configuration information may include a field indicating the physical cell ID (PCID) of the cell (e.g., non-serving cell) where the PL PRS or TF PRS is to be sent. The configuration information may include a field indicating the configuration of the SSB, CSI-RS, or PRS that has a quasi colocation-Type D (QCL-D) (discussed further below) relationship with the PL PRS or TF PRS. Two signals having a QCL-D relationship (defined according to 3GPP standards) indicate that the two signals share common spatial domain receiver parameters. The configuration information may include a field indicating the New Radio Absolute Radio-Frequency Channel Number (NR ARFCN) value to determine the position of the PL PRS or TF PRS in the frequency domain. The configuration information may include one or more fields indicating the bandwidth, time slot offset, frame offset, and / or symbol offset of the PL PRS or TF PRS. The configuration information may include a field indicating the number of antenna ports of the PL PRS or TF PRS. The configuration information may include a field indicating the number of DL frames for which the PL PRS or TF PRS is to be sent. The configuration information may include one or more fields indicating the signal suppression configuration and / or hopping configuration of the PL PRS or TF PRS. The configuration information may include a field indicating the number of available narrowbands of the PL PRS or TF PRS. The configuration information may further include one or more fields indicating the period and offset of the PL PRS or TF PRS. The configuration information may further include one or more fields indicating the scrambling ID and offset of the PL PRS or TF PRS.

[0119] As described above, the configuration information of the PL PRS or TF PRS may include a field indicating the configuration of the SSB, CSI-RS, or PRS that has a QCL-D relationship with the PL PRS or TF PRS. It is necessary to notify the ED that the PL PRS or TF PRS is transmitted using a specific transmission beamformer so that the ED can correctly detect the PL PRS or TF PRS. The SSB, CSI-RS, or PRS (already configured for the ED) that has a QCL-D relationship with the PL PRS or TF PRS can be used as an alternative resource for locating the PL PRS or TF PRS. The ED can use the same receive beamformer configuration known for the SSB, CSI-RS, or PRS to detect the PL PRS or TF PRS. In other words, the configuration of the SSB, CSI-RS, or PRS that has a QCL-D relationship with the PL PRS or TF PRS can be indicated to the ED so that the ED can use this configuration to detect the PL PRS or TF PRS.

[0120] The configuration of the SSB, CSI-RS, or PRS that has a QCL-D relationship with the PL PRS or TF PRS can be indicated using at least the SSB index, CSI-RS index, or PRS index, respectively. The configuration of the SSB, CSI-RS, or PRS may include one or more of the following fields. For example, the configuration may include a field indicating the PCID of the cell associated with the SSB, CSI-RS, or PRS having QCL-D; may include a field indicating the NR ARFCN value to determine the position of the SSB, CSI-RS, or PRS having QCL-D in the frequency domain; and / or may include a field indicating one or more time domain references to determine the position of the SSB, CSI-RS, or PRS having QCL-D in the time domain.

[0121] The above example provides the configuration details that enable the ED to detect the PRS sent by a non-serving cell in order to determine the PL and / or TF, so as to be able to send the SRS to the non-serving cell.

[0122] Figure 5 FIG. 500 is a flowchart of an exemplary method 500 that can be performed according to the above example. Method 500 can be implemented in the ED (e.g., by using a processing unit in the ED to execute instructions stored in the memory of the ED).

[0123] At 505, the ED receives the configuration information of the PL PRS or TF PRS from the serving cell or the LMF. The configuration information may include the above fields, etc.

[0124] At 510, using the configuration information, the ED can receive the PL PRS or TF PRS from the serving cell or a non-serving cell. In an example where the configuration information includes information about another configured reference signal having a QCL-D relationship with the PRS (e.g., another configured SSB, CSI-RS, or PRS), the ED can receive the PL PRS or TF PRS according to the configuration of the configured reference signal.

[0125] At 515, the ED sends the SRS to the serving cell or a non-serving cell according to the PL and / or TF determined from the received PL PRS or TF PRS.

[0126] In another example, the present invention describes some exemplary configuration details of the PL SSB, TF SSB, PL CSI-RS, or TF CSI-RS. In these examples, the configurations of the PL SSB, TF SSB, PL CSI-RS, or TF CSI-RS are sent from the serving cell or the LMF to the ED.

[0127] In the examples described herein, the SSB or CSI-RS can be configured to be used as the TF RS or PL RS sent from the non-serving cell to the ED. The configurations of the PL SSB, TF SSB, PL CSI-RS, or TF CSI-RS are used to provide information to the ED so that the ED can correctly receive the PL SSB, TF SSB, PL CSI-RS, or TF CSI-RS from the non-serving cell. Then, the ED can use the received PL SSB, TF SSB, PL CSI-RS, or TF CSI-RS to determine the PL and / or TF to send the SRS to the non-serving cell.

[0128] The configuration information can be sent by the serving cell or the LMF to the ED using any suitable method (e.g., via RRC signaling sent by the serving cell or via LPP sent by the LMF). For example, the serving cell or the LMF can receive the configuration information from a non-serving cell (e.g., the non-serving cell can send the configuration information to the serving cell via the Xn Application Protocol (XnAP) or F1AP; or, the non-serving cell can send the configuration information to the LMF via the New Radio Positioning Protocol A (NRPPa); or, the non-serving cell can send the configuration information to the LMF via NRPPa, and then the LMF can send the configuration information to the serving cell via NRPPa). As described above, it should be understood that when the LMF and the cell (serving or non-serving cell) communicate via NRPPa, the term "cell" can be more specifically understood as an NG-RAN node (e.g., gNB or NG-eNB). The following examples further describe some details of how the non-serving cell sends the configuration information.

[0129] First, the configuration information of the PL SSB or TF SSB is described.

[0130] In some examples, the configuration of the PL SSB or TF SSB can include the SSB ID and PCID of the cell (e.g., non-serving cell) that sends the PL SSB or TF SSB. In some examples, the configuration of the PL SSB or TF SSB can also include the configuration of the PRS, SSB, or CSI-RS that has a QCL-D relationship with the PL SSB or TF SSB. As described above, the PRS, SSB, or CSI-RS that has a QCL-D relationship with the PL SSB or TF SSB can be used as an alternative resource for locating the PL SSB or TF SSB. The configuration of the RS (e.g., PRS, SSB, or CSI-RS) that has a QCL-D relationship with the PL SSB or TF SSB can include at least the index of the QCL-D RS. In some examples, the configuration of the QCL-D RS can also include one or more of the following fields. The configuration of the QCL-D RS can include a field indicating the PCID of the cell associated with the QCL-D RS, a field indicating the NR ARFCN value to determine the position of the QCL-D RS in the frequency domain, and / or a field indicating one or more time domain references to determine the position of the QCL-D RS in the time domain.

[0131] For example, the spatial relation information (spatialRelationInfo) RS can be configured based on the DL RS set that has been detected by the ED and / or configured for other possible purposes by the ED. Other possible purposes include detecting the SSB sent by the serving cell or neighboring cell during the initial access process, etc., configuring the CSI-RS resources sent by the serving cell, configuring the SSB resources or CSI-RS resources sent by the serving cell or neighboring cell in the measurement object NR (MeasObjectNR), or configuring the DL PRS resources for reference signal time difference (RSTD) measurement or ED "receiver-transmitter" time difference measurement. Generally speaking, taking into account that the spatialRelationInfo RS can be received by the ED from a non-serving cell, the configuration of the spatialRelationInfo RS can indicate all the parameters that enable the ED to detect the DL RS. According to the DL RS type (e.g., SSB, CSI-RS, or DL PRS), this information can include the reference time and frequency points, time-domain and frequency-domain resource mapping parameters, period and offset, PCID, resource ID, scrambling ID, and possibly the QCL-D attribute.

[0132] To uniquely identify the spatialRelationInfo RS, it is only necessary to indicate to the ED the DL RS resource ID and PCID of the corresponding serving cell or neighboring cell. For example, when the spatialRelationInfo SSB (used as TF SSB) or pathlossReference SSB (used as PL SSB) has been configured for other purposes, the SSB can be indicated in the RRC using the SSB index and the PCID of the serving cell or non-serving cell that sends the SSB. The spatialRelationInfo RS can be configured in the RRC, and the configuration of the spatialRelationInfo RS can include the DL RS (e.g., SSB, CSI-RS, or DL-PRS) resource ID and cell ID of the sending serving cell or non-serving cell.

[0133] In some examples, the LMF may send the configuration of DL PRS resources of serving cells and / or non-serving cells to the ED via LPP. The serving cell may not know or detect the configuration of the DL PRS of the non-serving cell. If the DL PRS used as the spatialRelationInfo RS has been configured by the LMF for the ED (e.g., for RSTD measurement or ED "receiver-transmitter" time difference measurement), the serving cell may need to indicate the DL PRS resource ID and PCID of the corresponding cell to configure the DL PRS as the spatialRelationInfo RS in the SRS-Config information element (IE) in RRC. The DL PRS resource ID and PCID of the non-serving cell may be provided to the serving cell by the LMF via NRPPa (especially when the serving cell is an NG-RAN node).

[0134] The configuration information of the PL CSI-RS or TF CSI-RS is described below.

[0135] In some examples, the configuration of the PL CSI-RS or TF CSI-RS may only include the CSI-RS ID and PCID of the cell (e.g., non-serving cell) that transmits the PL CSI-RS or TF CSI-RS. In some examples, the configuration of the PL CSI-RS or TF CSI-RS may also include the configuration of the PRS, SSB, or CSI-RS that has a QCL-D relationship with the PL CSI-RS or TF CSI-RS. As described above, the PRS, SSB, or CSI-RS that has a QCL-D relationship with the PL SSB or TF SSB can be used as an alternative resource for locating the PL CSI-RS or TF CSI-RS. The configuration of the RS (e.g., PRS, SSB, or CSI-RS) that has a QCL-D relationship with the PL CSI-RS or TF CSI-RS may at least include the index of the QCL-D RS. In some examples, the configuration of the QCL-D RS may also include one or more of the following fields. The configuration of the QCL-D RS may include a field indicating the PCID of the cell associated with the QCL-D RS, a field indicating the NR ARFCN value to determine the position of the QCL-D RS in the frequency domain, and / or a field indicating one or more time domain references to determine the position of the QCL-D RS in the time domain.

[0136] Similar to the discussion above in the context of the spatialRelationInfo RS, the pathlossReferenceRS can be configured based on a set of DL RSs that have been detected by the ED and / or configured for the ED for other possible purposes. The pathlossReferenceRS sent from the serving cell or a non-serving cell can be indicated to the ED as the pathlossReferenceRS in the RRC. The indication in the RRC can include the DL RS (SSB or CSI-RS) resource ID and the PCID of the sending serving cell or non-serving cell, so that the ED can uniquely identify the pathlossReferenceRS.

[0137] As described above, in some examples, the ED can be configured to detect a DL PL RS or a DL TF RS, where the complete configuration information of the DL RS has been provided to the ED for other purposes. For example, in the case where the DL RS is a PRS, the previously provided complete configuration information can include the resource ID of the PRS, the cell ID of the sending serving cell or non-serving cell, a field indicating the configuration of another reference signal (e.g., SSB or PRS) that has a QCL-D relationship with the PRS, a field indicating the NR ARFCN value to determine the position of the PRS in the frequency domain, and fields indicating the bandwidth, time slot offset, frame offset, symbol offset, signal suppression configuration, period and offset, and scrambling ID. In an example where the DL RS is an SSB, the complete configuration information can be a set of parameters that provide information sufficient to determine the position of the SSB in the time-frequency domain, the SSB index, and the associated cell ID of the sending serving cell or non-serving cell.

[0138] In the context of the current method, the above examples may be relatively easy to implement. For example, if the DL RS (e.g., SSB or CSI-RS) has been configured for the ED for other purposes and / or has been detected by the ED, then only a small number of fields (e.g., only two fields for indicating the ID of the SSB or CSI-RS and for indicating the PCID of the sending cell) need to be indicated to the ED so that the ED can identify which configured or detected DL RS should be used as the PL SSB, TF SSB, PL CSI-RS, or TF CSI-RS.

[0139] Figure 6 FIG. 600 is a flowchart of an exemplary method 600 that can be performed according to the above examples. The method 600 can be implemented in the ED (e.g., by using a processing unit in the ED to execute instructions stored in the memory of the ED).

[0140] At 605, the ED receives configuration information of the PL SSB, TF SSB, PL CSI-RS, or TF CSI-RS from the serving cell or the LMF. The configuration information may include the above fields (e.g., including the SSB ID or CSI-RS ID and the PCID), and so on.

[0141] At 610, using the configuration information, the ED is able to receive the PL SSB, TF SSB, PL CSI-RS, or TF CSI-RS from a non-serving cell. In an example where the configuration information includes information about another configured reference signal having a QCL-D relationship with the PL SSB, TF SSB, PL CSI-RS, or TF CSI-RS (e.g., another configured SSB, CSI-RS, or PRS), the ED is able to receive the PL SSB, TF SSB, PL CSI-RS, or TF CSI-RS according to the configuration of the configured reference signal.

[0142] At 615, the ED transmits the SRS to the non-serving cell according to the PL and / or TF determined from the received PL SSB, TF SSB, PL CSI-RS, or TF CSI-RS.

[0143] In another example, the present invention describes an exemplary fallback procedure that the ED can use when the PL CSI-RS, TF CSI-RS, PL PRS, or TF PRS is not acquired / detected by the ED or the PL CSI-RS, TF CSI-RS, PL PRS, or TF PRS is not configured for the ED. After the ED has received the configuration information of the PL CSI-RS, TF CSI-RS, PL PRS, or TF PRS (e.g., as described above), the ED may expect to receive the corresponding PL CSI-RS, TF CSI-RS, PL PRS, or TF PRS to determine the PL or TF of the SRS to be transmitted to the non-serving cell or the serving cell. However, the ED may fail to acquire or detect the expected PL CSI-RS, TF CSI-RS, PL PRS, or TF PRS (e.g., due to channel condition changes, ED receiver circuit failures, unexpected interference, or other reasons). In such cases, and in the case where the PL CSI-RS, TF CSI-RS, PL PRS, or TF PRS is not configured for the ED, it is desirable to provide a fallback procedure that enables the ED to continue transmitting the SRS to the non-serving cell even when the PL CSI-RS, TF CSI-RS, PL PRS, or TF PRS is not detected or not configured.

[0144] In some examples, the ED may determine to use a fallback procedure after determining that the expected PL CSI-RS, TF CSI-RS, PL PRS, or TF PRS has not been received at the configured time and frequency positions, or that the PL CSI-RS, TF CSI-RS, PL PRS, or TF PRS has not been configured for the ED.

[0145] In some examples, if the PL PRS or TF PRS has been configured, but the fallback procedure has been triggered (e.g., the ED has not detected the PL PRS or TF PRS within the expected time or time frame), or the PL PRS or TF PRS has not been configured for the ED, the ED may use the detected SSB or the detected CSI-RS as an alternative to the PL RS or TF RS.

[0146] In some examples, the ED may use the detected SSB transmitted by a cell (e.g., a non-serving cell) configured for the expected PL PRS or TF PRS (e.g., indicated by the PCID included in the configuration information as described above) as an alternative to the PL RS or TF RS. In the case where the ED detects multiple SSBs transmitted by the configured cell, the ED may select one of the multiple SSBs as the alternative PL RS or TF RS according to any suitable criterion. For example, the ED may select the SSB with the highest reference signal received power (RSRP) as the alternative PL RS or TF RS. In some examples, in the case where the ED detects multiple SSBs transmitted by the configured cell, the ED may use any suitable technique to calculate the PL based on the received power of the detected SSBs transmitted by the configured cell, or the ED may use any suitable selection criterion to determine which detected SSB should be used as the alternative TF RS.

[0147] In some examples, when the SRS is configured to be received on the non-serving cell side (e.g., the PCID included in the configuration information is the PCID of the non-serving cell), the ED may use any of the above methods; when the SRS is configured to be received on the serving cell side (e.g., the PCID included in the configuration information is the PCID of the serving cell), the ED may use the SSB originally used to obtain system information (e.g., the MIB and / or System Information Block Type 1 (SIB1)) as an alternative to the PL RS or TF RS.

[0148] In some examples, the ED may use the detected CSI-RS originally configured for the expected PLPRS or TF PRS (e.g., indicated by the PCID included in the configuration information as described above) sent by a cell (e.g., a non-serving cell) as an alternative PL RS or TF RS. In the case where the ED detects multiple CSI-RSs sent by the configured cell, the ED may select one of the multiple CSI-RSs as the alternative PL RS or TF RS according to any suitable criterion. For example, the ED may select the CSI-RS with the highest RSRP as the alternative PL RS or TF RS. In some examples, in the case where the ED detects multiple CSI-RSs sent by the configured cell, the ED may use any suitable technique to calculate the PL based on the received power of the detected CSI-RSs sent by the configured cell, or the ED may use any suitable selection criterion to determine which detected CSI-RS should be used as the alternative TF RS.

[0149] In some examples, if the PL CSI-RS or TF CSI-RS has been configured, but the fallback process has been triggered (e.g., the ED has not detected the PL CSI-RS or TF CSI-RS within the expected time or time frame), or the PL CSI-RS or TF CSI-RS has not been configured, the ED may use the detected SSB or the detected PRS as the alternative PL RS or TF RS.

[0150] In some examples, the ED may use the detected SSB originally configured for the expected PLCSI-RS or TF CSI-RS (e.g., indicated by the PCID included in the configuration information as described above) sent by a cell (e.g., a non-serving cell) as an alternative PL RS or TF RS. In the case where the ED detects multiple SSBs sent by the configured cell, the ED may select one of the multiple SSBs as the alternative PL RS or TF RS according to any suitable criterion. For example, the ED may select the SSB with the highest reference signal received power (RSRP) as the alternative PL RS or TF RS. In some examples, in the case where the ED detects multiple SSBs sent by the configured cell, the ED may use any suitable technique to calculate the PL based on the received power of the detected SSBs sent by the configured cell, or the ED may use any suitable selection criterion to determine which detected SSB should be used as the alternative TF RS.

[0151] In some examples, when the SRS is configured to be received on the non-serving cell side (e.g., the PCID included in the configuration information is the PCID of the non-serving cell), the ED can use any of the above methods; when the SRS is configured to be received on the serving cell side (e.g., the PCID included in the configuration information is the PCID of the serving cell), the ED can use the SSB originally used to obtain system information (e.g., MIB and / or System Information Block Type 1 (SIB1)) as an alternative to the PL RS or TF RS.

[0152] In some examples, the ED can use the detected PRS originally configured for the expected PL CSI-RS or TF CSI-RS of a cell (e.g., a non-serving cell) (indicated by the PCID included in the configuration information, as described above) as an alternative to the PL RS or TF RS. In the case where the ED detects multiple PRSs sent by the configured cell, the ED can select one of the multiple PRSs as an alternative to the PL RS or TF RS according to any suitable criterion. For example, the ED can select the PRS with the highest RSRP as an alternative to the PL RS or TF RS. In some examples, in the case where the ED detects multiple PRSs sent by the configured cell, the ED can use any suitable technique to calculate the PL based on the received power of the detected PRSs sent by the configured cell, or the ED can use any suitable selection criterion to determine which detected PRS should be used as an alternative TF RS.

[0153] In some examples, if the ED does not detect the expected PL PRS, TF PRS, PL CSI-RS, or TF CSI-RS, or the PL PRS, TF PRS, PL CSI-RS, or TF CSI-RS is not configured for the ED, the ED can use the SSB originally used to obtain system information (e.g., MIB and / or System Information Block Type 1 (SIB1)) as an alternative to the PL RS or TF RS. In other examples, the ED can use the PL SSB in the SRS resource set configured for the serving cell (e.g., the PL SSB in the SRS resource set including the PCID of serving cell t) as an alternative resource to the PL RS in the SRS resource set for sending SRS to the non-serving cell.

[0154] In some examples, if the ED does not detect the expected PL PRS, TF PRS, PL CSI-RS, or TF CSI-RS, or if the PL PRS, TF PRS, PL CSI-RS, or TF CSI-RS is not configured for the ED, the ED can use any suitable technique to calculate the PL. In some examples, if the ED does not detect the expected PL PRS, TF PRS, PL CSI-RS, or TF CSI-RS, the ED can also use any suitable technique to perform beamforming for transmitting the SRS to a non-serving cell. For example, the ED can simply assume that the PL or TF is the same as that of the current serving cell.

[0155] In some examples, if the ED does not detect the expected PL PRS, TF PRS, PL CSI-RS, or TF CSI-RS, or if the PL PRS, TF PRS, PL CSI-RS, or TF CSI-RS is not configured for the ED, the ED may not transmit the corresponding SRS resource(s).

[0156] The above examples address the case where the ED does not obtain or detect the originally configured PL CSI-RS, TF CSI-RS, PL PRS, or TF PRS, or where the PL PRS, TF PRS, PL CSI-RS, or TF CSI-RS is not configured for the ED. The examples provide various fallback procedures that the ED can use as an alternative way to calculate the DL path loss and / or the SRS spatial filter.

[0157] Figure 7 FIG. 700 is a flowchart of an exemplary method that can be performed according to the above examples. The method 700 can be implemented in the ED (e.g., by using a processing unit in the ED to execute instructions stored in the memory of the ED).

[0158] Optionally, at 705, the ED receives configuration information of the expected PL PRS, TF PRS, PL CSI-RS, or TF CSI-RS from the serving cell or the LMF. The configuration information can include the above fields (e.g., referring to the above examples), and so on.

[0159] At 710, when the expected PL PRS, TF PRS, PL CSI-RS, or TF CSI-RS has not been detected (e.g., the expected PL PRS, TF PRS, PL CSI-RS, or TF CSI-RS has not been detected within a configured time or time frame), or if the PL PRS, TF PRS, PL CSI-RS, or TF CSI-RS has not been configured for the ED, the ED uses another detected RS (e.g., as described above) as an alternative PL RS or TF RS. The ED uses the alternative PL RS or TF RS to determine the PL and / or TF.

[0160] At 715, the ED transmits an SRS to a non-serving cell based on the PL and / or TF determined using the alternative PL RS or TF RS.

[0161] In another example, the present invention describes an example enabling the ED to receive a configuration of the PL RS or TF RS from the LMF. This example also includes an example enabling the LMF to obtain configuration details of the PL RS or TF RS from one or more serving cells and / or non-serving cells. These examples enable the ED to receive configuration information sent by the cell via the LMF.

[0162] In some examples, the ED can receive a PL RS (e.g., PL SSB, PL CSI-RS, or PL PRS) and / or a TF RS (e.g., TF SSB, TF CSI-RS, or TF PRS) from the LMF via LPP or the like.

[0163] In some examples, the LMF can request configuration information of the PL RS and / or TF RS from each cell (e.g., each cell that transmits the PL RS and / or TF RS) via NRPPa (e.g., each cell is an NG-RAN node) or the like. The request sent by the LMF can include one or more proposed values of one or more configuration fields of the PL RS and / or TF RS (e.g., can include proposed values of QCL-D information or bandwidth). One or more cells to which the LMF sends the request can include one or more serving cells and / or non-serving cells of the ED. One or more proposed values included by the LMF in the sent request may or may not be rewritten by the corresponding cell.

[0164] In some examples, the corresponding one or more cells can send the requested configuration information of the PL RS and / or TF RS to the LMF in response to the request of the LMF via NRPPa (e.g., each cell is an NG-RAN node) or the like.

[0165] In some examples, a cell (e.g., a serving cell or a non-serving cell) may send configuration information of the PL RS and / or TF RS to the LMF without an explicit request from the LMF, as part of the cell startup process.

[0166] This example provides various mechanisms for transmitting the configuration information of the PL RS and / or TF RS between the cell and the LMF. Then, the ED can receive the configuration information sent by the cell through the LMF.

[0167] Figure 8A FIG. 800 is a flowchart of an exemplary method 800 that can be performed according to the above examples. The method 800 can be implemented in the LMF (e.g., on the network entity side of the LMF implemented in the core network or elsewhere in the system).

[0168] Figure 8B FIG. 801 is an exemplary signal flow diagram of signaling between network entities that can be used to implement the above examples. Figure 8B FIG. 802 shows instructions executed by the ED 110, the first BS 170a in the serving cell (also referred to as the serving cell BS 170a), the second BS 170b in the non-serving cell (also referred to as the non-serving cell BS 170b), and the LMF 135. For simplicity, the present invention may relate to signaling to and from the serving cell or the non-serving cell; however, it should be understood that the signaling to and from the cell is processed by the corresponding BS in the cell. For simplicity, only one serving cell and one non-serving cell are shown. However, it should be understood that there may be multiple serving cells and / or multiple non-serving cells.

[0169] For ease of understanding, Figure 8A and Figure 8B are discussed together.

[0170] At 805, optionally, the LMF sends a request 855 for configuration information of the requested PL RS and / or TF RS (commonly also referred to as DL RS) to one or more cells (e.g., the serving cell BS 170a and / or one or more non-serving cell BS 170b). The request 855 can be sent via NRPPa (e.g., each cell is an NG-RAN node). In some examples, one or more cells may send the configuration information without a request from the LMF (e.g., at cell startup). The request may include a suggested value for the configuration field.

[0171] At 810, the LMF receives a message 860 from the BSs 170a and 170b in each cell, where the message includes the configuration information of the PLRS and / or TF RS to enable the ED to detect the DL RS sent by the corresponding cell. The message 860 can be sent using NRPPa (e.g., each cell is an NG-RAN node).

[0172] In 815, the LMF sends configuration information 865 to the ED. For example, the configuration information 865 can be sent to the ED 110 using LPP.

[0173] In one example, the present invention describes examples that enable configuration details of the PL RS and / or TF RS to be sent from a non-serving cell to a serving cell. Then, the ED can receive the configuration information sent by the non-serving cell through the serving cell.

[0174] In some examples, the serving cell can receive the configuration information of the PL RS and / or TF RS of the non-serving cell from the LMF (e.g., via NRPPa, where the serving cell is an NG-RAN node). In some examples, the serving cell can directly receive the configuration information from the non-serving cell (e.g., using XnAP or F1 AP). The configuration information can be received in response to a request from the serving cell to the non-serving cell (e.g., sent via the LMF via NRPPa when the serving cell is an NG-RAN node, or directly sent from the serving cell to the non-serving cell via XnAP).

[0175] Then, the ED can receive the configuration information of the PL RS and / or TF RS from the serving cell (e.g., via RRC signaling). It should be noted that the configuration information can be received by the ED from the serving cell, while the PL RS and / or TF RS are received by the ED from the non-serving cell.

[0176] This example provides various mechanisms for transmitting the configuration information of the PL RS and / or TF RS between one or more non-serving cells and the serving cell. In some examples, the LMF can be used as an intermediate node for transmitting this configuration information between one or more non-serving cells and the serving cell.

[0177] Figure 9 FIG. 900 is a flowchart of an exemplary method 900 that can be executed according to the above examples. The method 900 can be implemented in the BS of the serving cell (e.g., by using a processing unit in the BS to execute instructions stored in the memory of the BS).

[0178] Figures 10A to 10E FIG. is an exemplary signal flow diagram of signaling between network entities that can be used to implement the above examples. Figures 10A to 10EShows instructions executed by ED 110, the first BS 170a in the serving cell (also referred to as serving cell BS170a), the second BS 170b in the non-serving cell (also referred to as non-serving cell BS 170b), and LMF 135. For simplicity, the present invention may relate to signals traveling to and from the serving cell or the non-serving cell; however, it should be understood that signaling to and from the cell is handled by the corresponding BS in that cell. For simplicity, only one serving cell and one non-serving cell are shown. However, it should be understood that there may be multiple serving cells and / or non-serving cells.

[0179] For ease of understanding, Figure 9 and Figures 10A to 10E are discussed together.

[0180] In 905, optionally, the BS sends a request for configuration information requesting PL RS and / or TF RS (commonly referred to as DL RS) from the non-serving cell. This request can be sent directly to the non-serving cell ( Figure 10A , Figure 10B and Figure 10E at 1005), or the request can be sent to the LMF ( Figure 10C and Figure 10D at 1040), which then forwards it to the non-serving cell.

[0181] In Figure 10A 's example, in 1015, the non-serving cell sends the DL RS configuration information 1010 to the LMF 135, which then forwards the configuration information to the serving cell.

[0182] In Figure 10B 's example, in 1025, the non-serving cell requests authorization to send configuration information to the serving cell, or requests configuration information from the LMF 135. The LMF 135 provides the requested authorization or configuration information 1030. Then, the non-serving cell sends the configuration information 1035 to the serving cell.

[0183] In Figure 10C 's example, the LMF 135 sends a request for configuration information 1045 to the non-serving cell. The non-serving cell sends the configuration information 1050 to the LMF 135, and then the LMF 135 forwards the configuration information to the serving cell at 1060.

[0184] In Figure 10D 's example, the LMF 135 sends a request for configuration information 1065 to the non-serving cell. Then, the non-serving cell sends the configuration information 1070 directly to the serving cell.

[0185] In Figure 10EIn the example, the non-serving cell sends configuration information 1075 to the serving cell. The LMF 135 may not participate in this process.

[0186] In 910, the BS receives, from the non-serving cell ( Figure 10B 1035 in Figure 10D 1070 in Figure 10E or 1075 in Figure 10A or 1015 in Figure 10C or 1060 in

[0187] a message including configuration information enabling the ED to receive DL RS from the non-serving cell. In some examples, if the request (in 905) is sent directly to the non-serving cell, the configuration information can be received directly from the non-serving cell. If the request (in 905) is sent via the LMF, the configuration information can be received via the LMF. In other examples, regardless of how the request is sent (or if no request is sent), the configuration information can be received directly from the non-serving cell or via the LMF. Figures 10A to 10E

[0188] In 915, the BS sends the configuration information (1020 in

[0189] to the ED.

[0190] In some examples, the configuration information may be received via a radio resource control (RRC) signal sent by the serving cell or via an LTE positioning protocol (LPP) message sent by the LMF.

[0191] In some examples, the configuration information may include a positioning reference signal (PRS) identifier (ID) field that includes a PRS ID for identifying the PRS sent by the serving cell or the non-serving cell.

[0192] In some examples, the configuration information may include an identifier (ID) field indicating the physical cell ID (PCID) of the serving cell or the non-serving cell or an ID of the network entity that sends the PRS.

[0193] In some examples, the configuration information may include a quasi colocation Type-D (QCL-D) field for providing information about another configured reference signal that has a QCL-D relationship with the PRS; the ED can receive the PRS according to the configuration of the configured reference signal.

[0194] In some examples, the QCL-D field may include an index of the another configured reference signal.

[0195] In some examples, the configuration information may include information indicating at least one of the following: New Radio Absolute Radio-Frequency Channel Number (NR ARFCN) for determining the frequency-domain position of the PRS; the bandwidth of the PRS; the slot offset of the PRS; the frame offset of the PRS; the symbol offset of the PRS; the number of antenna ports of the PRS; the frame number for sending the PRS; the signal suppression configuration of the PRS; the frequency hopping configuration of the PRS; or the number of available narrowbands of the PRS.

[0196] In some examples, the present invention describes a method performed on an electronic device (ED) side. The method includes: receiving configuration information from a location management function (LMF) or a network entity in a serving cell, where the configuration information includes one or more pieces of information associated with a synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel block (SSB) or a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), and the configuration information at least includes an identifier (ID) field containing an identifier of the SSB or the CSI-RS and a cell ID field containing a physical cell ID (PCID) of a non-serving cell; detecting the SSB or the CSI-RS received from the non-serving cell; sending a sounding reference signal (SRS) to the non-serving cell according to at least one of path loss (PL) information and spatial domain transmission filter (TF) information, where at least one of the PL information and the spatial domain TF information is associated with the SSB or the CSI-RS.

[0197] In some examples, the configuration information may only include the ID field and the cell ID field.

[0198] In some examples, the configuration information may include a quasi colocation Type D (QCL-D) field for providing information about another configuration reference signal having a QCL-D relationship with the SSB or the CSI-RS, and the ED can receive the SSB or the CSI-RS according to the configuration of the configuration reference signal.

[0199] In some examples, the QCL-D field may include an index of the another configuration reference signal.

[0200] In some examples, the configuration information may include at least one of the following: the PCID of the cell associated with the other configuration reference signal; a New Radio Absolute Radio-Frequency Channel Number (NR ARFCN) for determining the frequency-domain position of the other configuration reference signal; or a time-domain reference for determining the time-domain position of the other configuration reference signal.

[0201] In some examples, the configuration information may be sent from the non-serving cell.

[0202] In some examples, the present invention describes a method performed on the side of an electronic device (ED). The method includes: after not receiving a first downlink (DL) reference signal (RS) within an expected time or time frame, or in the absence of configuration information for receiving the first DL RS, the ED obtains path loss (PL) information or spatial domain transmission filter (TF) information based on a second DL RS; and transmits a sounding reference signal (SRS), where the SRS is transmitted based on the PL information or the TF information.

[0203] In some examples, the first DL RS may be a positioning reference signal (PRS) or a channel state information-reference signal (CSI-RS).

[0204] In some examples, the first DL RS may be a PRS, and the second DL RS may be one of a detected synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel block (SSB) or a detected CSI-RS.

[0205] In some examples, the first DL RS may be a CSI-RS, and the second DL RS may be one of a detected synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel block (SSB) or a detected PRS.

[0206] In some examples, the second DL RS can be detected from non-serving cells indicated by the configuration information of the first DL RL.

[0207] In some examples, one of the multiple detected RSs can be selected as the second DL RS according to the highest reference signal received power (RSRP).

[0208] In some examples, the second DL RS can be the detected SSB for obtaining system information.

[0209] In some examples, the second DL RS can be the detected SSB configured for the serving cell.

[0210] In some examples, the method may include: receiving configuration information from a location management function (LMF) or a network entity in the serving cell, where the configuration information includes one or more information associated with the DL RS.

[0211] In some examples, the present invention describes a method performed on the location management function (LMF) side. The method includes: receiving a configuration message from a network entity in a cell, where the configuration message includes one or more information associated with a positioning reference signal (PRS), or the configuration message includes one or more information associated with a downlink (DL) reference signal (RS); sending the information to an electronic device (ED).

[0212] In some examples, the configuration message can be received from the cell without the LMF requesting it.

[0213] In some examples, the method may include: sending a request to the cell to request the information.

[0214] In some examples, the request may include a suggested value of a configuration field.

[0215] In some examples, the communication between the LMF and the cell can be performed through the New Radio Positioning Protocol A (NRPPa).

[0216] In some examples, the information may be sent to the ED via the LTE positioning protocol.

[0217] In some examples, the present invention describes a method performed on the base station (BS) side in a serving cell. The method includes: receiving a configuration message from a non-serving cell or a location management function (LMF), where the configuration message includes one or more information associated with a positioning reference signal (PRS), or the configuration message includes one or more information associated with a downlink (DL) reference signal (RS); sending the information to an electronic device (ED).

[0218] In some examples, the method may include: sending a request for the information.

[0219] In some examples, the request may be sent to the LMF.

[0220] In some examples, the request may be sent directly to the non-serving cell.

[0221] In some examples, the communication between the serving cell and the non-serving cell may be performed via the Xn Application Protocol (XnAP) or the F1 Application Protocol (F1 AP).

[0222] In some examples, the communication between the serving cell and the LMF may be performed via the New Radio Positioning Protocol A (NRPPa).

[0223] In some examples, the present invention describes an apparatus. The apparatus includes: a processing unit configured to execute instructions to cause the apparatus to perform any of the methods described herein.

[0224] In some examples, the present invention describes a network entity. The network entity includes: a processing unit configured to execute instructions to implement a location management function (LMF) to perform any of the methods described herein.

[0225] In some examples, the present invention describes a base station. The base station includes: a processing unit configured to execute instructions to cause the base station to perform any of the methods described herein.

[0226] Although the present invention describes methods and processes in terms of steps presented in a certain order, one or more steps of the methods and processes may be omitted or changed as appropriate. One or more steps may be performed in an order other than the described order as appropriate.

[0227] Although the present invention is described at least in part in terms of methods, those of ordinary skill in the art will understand that the present invention also relates to various components for performing at least some aspects and features of the described methods, whether hardware components, software, or any combination of the two. Accordingly, the technical solution of the present invention may be embodied in the form of a software product. A suitable software product may be stored in a pre-recorded storage device or other similar non-volatile or non-transitory computer-readable medium, including DVD, CD-ROM, USB flash drive, external hard drive, or other storage media, etc. The software product includes instructions tangibly stored thereon that enable a processing device (e.g., a personal computer, server, or network device) to execute the method examples disclosed herein. The machine-executable instructions may be in the form of a code sequence, configuration information, or other data, which when executed, cause a machine (e.g., a processor or other processing device) to perform the steps in the method provided by the examples of the present invention.

[0228] The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the subject matter of the claims. The described exemplary embodiments are to be considered in all respects only illustrative and not restrictive. Selected features from one or more of the above embodiments may be combined to create alternative embodiments not explicitly described, and features suitable for such combination are understood to fall within the scope of the present invention.

[0229] All values and subranges within the disclosed range are also disclosed. In addition, although the systems, devices, and processes disclosed and illustrated herein may include a specific number of elements / components, these systems, devices, and components may be modified to include more or fewer such elements / components. For example, although any disclosed element / component may be a single quantity, the embodiments disclosed herein may be modified to include multiple such elements / components. The subject matter described herein is intended to cover and include all suitable changes in technology.

Claims

1. A method performed on an electronic device (ED) side, characterized in that, the method comprises: receiving, in a first communication via the LTE positioning protocol (LPP) from a location management function (LMF), configuration information associated with a downlink (DL) reference signal (RS) of a non-serving cell, the configuration information including a quasi-co-location type QCL-D field, the QCL-D field being used to provide information on another configured reference signal having a QCL-D relationship with the DL RS; receiving, in a second communication via radio resource control (RRC) from a serving cell corresponding to the ED, an identifier (ID) of the DL RS of the non-serving cell and a cell ID of the non-serving cell, wherein the configuration information received in the first communication further includes the ID of the DL RS of the non-serving cell and the cell ID of the non-serving cell; sending a sounding reference signal (SRS) to the non-serving cell identified by the cell ID according to spatial domain transmission filter (TF) information associated with the DL RS of the non-serving cell.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, the DL RS is a DL positioning reference signal (PRS), and the configuration information associated with the DL RS includes one or more of the following: a resource ID of the DL PRS; a cell ID of the non-serving cell that transmits the DL PRS; the QCL-D field, the QCL-D field being used to provide information on another configured reference signal having a QCL-D relationship with the DL PRS; a new radio absolute radio frequency channel number (NR ARFCN) for determining a frequency domain position of the DL PRS; a bandwidth of the DL PRS; a time slot offset of the DL PRS; a frame offset of the DL PRS; a symbol offset of the DL PRS; a signal suppression configuration of the DL PRS; a period and an offset of the DL PRS; a scrambling ID of the DL PRS.

3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, the DL RS is a DL synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel block (SSB), and the configuration information associated with the DL RS includes one or more of the following: an SSB index of the DL SSB; a cell ID of the non-serving cell that transmits the DL SSB; one or more parameters for determining a position of the DL SSB in the time-frequency domain.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that, the configuration information is used for the ED to obtain information other than PL information and the spatial domain TF information using TF RS, and the second communication enables the ED to obtain the PL information or the spatial domain TF information using the DL RS.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that, the configuration information associated with the DL RS is received so that the ED can obtain the spatial domain TF information using the DL RS.

6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that, The DL RS is a DL positioning reference signal PRS, and the configuration information associated with the DL RS includes one or more of the following: the resource ID of the DL PRS; the cell ID of the non-serving cell that transmits the DL PRS; the QCL-D field, which is used to provide information about another configured reference signal that has a QCL-D relationship with the DL PRS; the New Radio absolute radio frequency channel number NR ARFCN, which is used to determine the frequency-domain position of the DL PRS; the bandwidth of the DL PRS; the slot offset of the DL PRS; the frame offset of the DL PRS; the symbol offset of the DL PRS; the signal suppression configuration of the DL PRS; the period and offset of the DL PRS; the scrambling ID of the DL PRS.

7. The method according to claim 5, wherein, the DL RS is a DL synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel block SSB, and the configuration information includes one or more of the following: the SSB index of the DL SSB; the cell ID of the non-serving cell that transmits the DL SSB; one or more parameters for determining the position of the DL SSB in the time-frequency domain.

8. A method performed on the network entity side that implements a location management function LMF, wherein, the method includes: receiving a configuration message from a non-serving radio access network RAN node that does not serve an electronic device ED, where the configuration message includes configuration information associated with a downlink DL reference signal RS of the non-serving RAN node; the configuration information includes a quasi-co-location type QCL-D field, which is used to provide information about another configured reference signal that has a QCL-D relationship with the DL RS; sending the configuration information to at least one of the following: the ED, where the configuration information enables the ED to use the DL RS of the non-serving RAN node to obtain spatial domain transmission filter TF information, and the spatial domain TF information is used to send a sounding reference signal SRS to the non-serving RAN node; or a serving RAN node that serves the ED.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein, the method further includes: sending a request for the configuration information to the non-serving RAN node.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein, the request is sent to the non-serving RAN node through the New Radio positioning protocol ANRPPa.

11. The method according to any one of claims 8 to 10, wherein, the DL RS is a DL synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel block SSB or a DL positioning reference signal PRS.

12. The method according to any one of claims 8 to 10, wherein, the configuration message is received from the non-serving RAN node through the New Radio positioning protocol ANRPPa, and the configuration information is sent to the serving RAN node through NRPPa.

13. The method according to any one of claims 8 to 10, wherein, the configuration information is sent to the ED through the LTE positioning protocol LPP.

14. The method according to any one of claims 8 to 10, wherein, the ED can detect the DL RS according to the configuration of the other configuration reference signal.

15. An apparatus, wherein, the apparatus comprises: a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a program including instructions; a processor for executing the instructions to cause the apparatus to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 14.

16. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions, wherein, when the instructions are executed by a processor, the processor is caused to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 14.

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