Two-part uplink control information (UCI) coding for positioning status information (PSI) reporting for low-latency positioning

Abstract

Technologies for wireless communications are disclosed. In one aspect, a user equipment (UE) performs a plurality of positioning measurements of a plurality of positioning reference signals (PRS) transmitted by at least one network node; transmits a first physical layer message having a fixed payload size, wherein the first physical layer message includes at least an indication of a type, a number, or both of a first set of positioning measurements in a plurality of positioning measurements to be included in a second physical layer message having a variable payload size; and transmits a second physical layer message having a variable payload size, wherein the second physical layer message includes at least the first set of positioning measurements, and wherein the variable payload size of the second physical layer message is based at least on the type, the number, or both of the first set of positioning measurements.

Description

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This patent application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 to Greek patent application No. 20200100100, filed on February 24, 2020, entitled “TWO-PART UPLINK CONTROL INFORMATION (UCI) ENCODING FOR POSITIONING STATE INFORMATION (PSI) REPORTS FOR LOW-LATENCY POSITIONING”, which is assigned to the assignee of this application and is hereby expressly incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Technical Field

[0003]

[0013] Generally speaking, aspects of the present disclosure relate to wireless communications. Background Art

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

[0005] The fifth generation (5G) wireless standard, referred to as New Radio (NR), calls for higher data transmission speeds, a greater number of connections, and better coverage, among other improvements. According to the Next Generation Mobile Networks Alliance, the 5G standard is designed to provide data rates of tens of megabits per second to each of tens of thousands of users, with a data rate of 1 gigabit per second provided to dozens of employees on an office floor. To support large sensor deployments, hundreds of thousands of simultaneous connections should be supported. Therefore, the spectral efficiency of 5G mobile communications should be significantly enhanced compared to the current 4G standard. In addition, signaling efficiency should be enhanced and latency should be significantly reduced compared to the current standard. Summary of the invention

[0006] A simplified overview of one or more aspects disclosed herein is provided below. Therefore, the following overview should not be considered an exhaustive review of all expected aspects, and the following overview should neither be considered to identify key or important elements related to all expected aspects, nor should it be considered to depict the scope associated with any particular aspect. Accordingly, the sole purpose of the following overview is to provide certain concepts related to one or more aspects of the mechanisms disclosed herein in a simplified form as a prelude to the detailed description given below.

[0007] In one aspect, a wireless communication method performed by a user equipment (UE) includes: performing multiple positioning measurements on multiple positioning reference signals (PRS) sent by at least one network node; sending a first physical layer message with a fixed payload size, wherein the first physical layer message includes at least an indication of the type, quantity, or both of a first positioning measurement set among the multiple positioning measurements to be included in a second physical layer message with a variable payload size; and sending the second physical layer message with the variable payload size, wherein the second physical layer message includes at least the first positioning measurement set, and wherein the variable payload size of the second physical layer message is based at least on the type, quantity, or both of the first positioning measurement set.

[0008] In one aspect, a method of wireless communication performed by a network node includes: receiving a first physical layer message having a fixed payload size from a UE, wherein the first physical layer message includes at least an indication of a type, a number, or both of a first positioning measurement set to be included in a second physical layer message having a variable payload size; and receiving a second physical layer message having the variable payload size from the UE, wherein the second physical layer message includes at least the first positioning measurement set, and wherein the variable payload size of the second physical layer message is based at least on the type, the number, or both of the first positioning measurement set.

[0009] In one aspect, a UE includes: a memory, at least one transceiver, and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: perform multiple positioning measurements of multiple PRSs sent by at least one network node; cause the at least one transceiver to send a first physical layer message having a fixed payload size, wherein the first physical layer message includes at least an indication of a type, a number, or both of a first positioning measurement set among the multiple positioning measurements to be included in a second physical layer message having a variable payload size; and cause the at least one transceiver to send the second physical layer message having the variable payload size, wherein the second physical layer message includes at least the first positioning measurement set, and wherein the variable payload size of the second physical layer message is based at least on the type, the number, or both of the first positioning measurement set.

[0010] In one aspect, a network node includes: a memory, at least one transceiver, and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: receive a first physical layer message having a fixed payload size from a UE via the at least one transceiver, wherein the first physical layer message includes at least an indication of a type, a number, or both of a first positioning measurement set to be included in a second physical layer message having a variable payload size; and receive a second physical layer message having the variable payload size from the UE via the at least one transceiver, wherein the second physical layer message includes at least the first positioning measurement set, and wherein the variable payload size of the second physical layer message is based at least on the type, the number, or both of the first positioning measurement set.

[0011] In one aspect, a UE includes: a unit for performing multiple positioning measurements of multiple PRSs sent by at least one network node; a unit for sending a first physical layer message with a fixed payload size, wherein the first physical layer message includes at least an indication of a type, a number, or both of a first positioning measurement set among the multiple positioning measurements to be included in a second physical layer message with a variable payload size; and a unit for sending the second physical layer message with the variable payload size, wherein the second physical layer message includes at least the first positioning measurement set, and wherein the variable payload size of the second physical layer message is based at least on the type, the number, or both of the first positioning measurement set.

[0012] In one aspect, a network node includes: a unit for receiving a first physical layer message having a fixed payload size from a UE, wherein the first physical layer message includes at least an indication of a type, a number, or both of a first positioning measurement set to be included in a second physical layer message having a variable payload size; and a unit for receiving the second physical layer message having the variable payload size from the UE, wherein the second physical layer message includes at least the first positioning measurement set, and wherein the variable payload size of the second physical layer message is based at least on the type, the number, or both of the first positioning measurement set.

[0013] In one aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions includes computer-executable instructions, the computer-executable instructions including: at least one instruction for instructing a UE to perform multiple positioning measurements of multiple PRSs sent by at least one network node; at least one instruction for instructing the UE to send a first physical layer message having a fixed payload size, wherein the first physical layer message includes at least an indication of a type, a number, or both of a first positioning measurement set among the multiple positioning measurements to be included in a second physical layer message having a variable payload size; and at least one instruction for instructing the UE to send a second physical layer message having the variable payload size, wherein the second physical layer message includes at least the first positioning measurement set, and wherein the variable payload size of the second physical layer message is based at least on the type, the number, or both of the first positioning measurement set.

[0014] In one aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions includes computer-executable instructions, wherein the computer-executable instructions include: at least one instruction for instructing a network node to receive a first physical layer message having a fixed payload size from a UE, wherein the first physical layer message includes at least an indication of a type, a number, or both of a first positioning measurement set to be included in a second physical layer message having a variable payload size; and at least one instruction for instructing the network node to receive a second physical layer message having the variable payload size from the UE, wherein the second physical layer message includes at least the first positioning measurement set, and wherein the variable payload size of the second physical layer message is based at least on the type, the number, or both of the first positioning measurement set.

[0015] Other objects and advantages associated with the various aspects disclosed herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art based on the accompanying drawings and detailed description. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] The accompanying drawings are presented to aid in describing various aspects of the present disclosure and are provided solely for illustration of the aspects and not limitation thereof.

[0017] Figure 1 An example wireless communication system in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is shown.

[0018] Figure 2A and 2B Example wireless network structures in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure are shown.

[0019] Figures 3A to 3C is a simplified block diagram of several sample aspects of components that may be employed in a user equipment (UE), a base station, and a network entity, respectively, and configured to support communications as taught herein.

[0020] Figure 4A and 4B User plane and control plane protocol stacks in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure are shown.

[0021] Figures 5A to 5D is a diagram illustrating example frame structures and channels within the frame structures in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0022] Figure 6 Example Long Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP) reference sources for positioning are shown.

[0023] Figure 7 and 8

[0013] Example methods of wireless communications in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure are shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0024] Various aspects of the present disclosure are provided in the following description and related drawings relating to various examples provided for illustrative purposes. Alternative aspects may be designed without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. In addition, well-known elements of the present disclosure will not be described in detail or will be omitted to avoid obscuring the relevant details of the present disclosure.

[0025] The words "exemplary" and / or "example" are used herein to mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration." Any aspect described herein as "exemplary" and / or "example" is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects. Likewise, the term "aspects of the disclosure" does not require that all aspects of the disclosure include the discussed feature, advantage, or mode of operation.

[0026] Those skilled in the art will recognize that the information and signals described below may be represented using any of a variety of different techniques and methods. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be mentioned throughout the following description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof, which depends in part on the specific application, in part on the desired design, in part on the corresponding technology, and so on.

[0027] In addition, many aspects are described in terms of a sequence of actions to be performed by, for example, elements of a computing device. It will be appreciated that the various actions described herein may be performed by a specific circuit (e.g., an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC)), by program instructions executed by one or more processors, or by a combination of the two. In addition, the sequence of these actions described herein may be considered to be fully embodied in any form of non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having a set of corresponding computer instructions stored therein, which, when executed, will cause or instruct the associated processor of the device to perform the functions described herein. Therefore, various aspects of the present disclosure may be embodied in a variety of different forms, all of which are contemplated to be within the scope of the claimed subject matter. In addition, for each of the various aspects described herein, the corresponding form of any such aspect may be described herein as, for example, "logic configured to perform the described actions."

[0028] As used herein, unless otherwise noted, the terms "user equipment" (UE) and "base station" are not intended to be specific to or otherwise limited to any particular radio access technology (RAT). In general, a UE may be any wireless communication device (e.g., a mobile phone, a router, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a commercially available tracking device, a wearable device (e.g., a smart watch, glasses, augmented reality (AR) / virtual reality (VR) headsets, etc.), a vehicle (e.g., a car, a motorcycle, a bicycle, etc.), an Internet of Things (IoT) device, etc.) used by a user to communicate on a wireless communication network. A UE may be mobile or (e.g., at certain times) may be fixed and may communicate with a radio access network (RAN). As used herein, the term "UE" may be interchangeably referred to as an "access terminal" or "AT", "client device", "wireless device", "subscriber device", "subscriber terminal", "subscriber station", "user terminal" or UT, "mobile device", "mobile terminal", "mobile station" or variations thereof. In general, a UE is able to communicate with a core network via a RAN, and the core network is able to connect the UE to external networks such as the Internet and to other UEs. Of course, other mechanisms are also possible for the UE to connect to the core network and / or the Internet, such as over a wired access network, a wireless local area network (WLAN) network (e.g., based on the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 specification, etc.), and so on.

[0029] The base station may operate according to one of several RATs in communication with the UE, depending on the network in which the base station is deployed, and the base station may be alternatively referred to as an access point (AP), a network node, a node B, an evolved node B (eNB), a next generation eNB (ng-eNB), a new radio (NR) node B (also referred to as a gNB or gNodeB), etc. The base station may be primarily used to support wireless access for the UE, including supporting data, voice and / or signaling connections for the supported UE. In some systems, the base station may provide pure edge node signaling functions, while in other systems, it may provide additional control and / or network management functions. The communication link through which the UE can send a signal to the base station is called an uplink (UL) channel (e.g., a reverse traffic channel, a reverse control channel, an access channel, etc.). The communication link through which the base station can send a signal to the UE is called a downlink (DL) or forward link channel (e.g., a paging channel, a control channel, a broadcast channel, a forward traffic channel, etc.). As used herein, the term traffic channel (TCH) may refer to an uplink / reverse traffic channel or a downlink / forward traffic channel.

[0030] The term "base station" may refer to a single physical transmit receive point (TRP), or to multiple physical TRPs that may or may not be co-located. For example, where the term "base station" refers to a single physical TRP, the physical TRP may be an antenna of the base station corresponding to a cell (or several cell sectors) of the base station. Where the term "base station" refers to multiple co-located physical TRPs, the physical TRP may be an antenna array of the base station (e.g., as in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system or where the base station employs beamforming). Where the term "base station" refers to multiple non-co-located physical TRPs, the physical TRP may be a distributed antenna system (DAS) (a network of spatially separated antennas connected to a common resource via a transmission medium) or a remote radio head (RRH) (a remote base station connected to a serving base station). Alternatively, the non-co-located physical TRPs may be a serving base station that receives measurement reports from the UE and a neighbor base station whose reference RF signal the UE is measuring. Because as used herein, a TRP is the point from which a base station transmits and receives wireless signals, references to transmissions from a base station or receptions at a base station should be understood to refer to the specific TRP of the base station.

[0031] In some implementations of supporting positioning of a UE, a base station may not support wireless access for the UE (e.g., may not support data, voice, and / or signaling connections for the UE), but may instead send a reference signal to the UE for measurement by the UE, and / or may receive and measure a signal sent by the UE. Such a base station may be referred to as a positioning beacon (e.g., when sending a signal to the UE) and / or a position measurement unit (e.g., when receiving and measuring a signal from the UE).

[0032] An "RF signal" includes an electromagnetic wave of a given frequency that transmits information through the space between a transmitter and a receiver. As used herein, a transmitter may send a single "RF signal" or multiple "RF signals" to a receiver. However, due to the propagation characteristics of RF signals through multipath channels, a receiver may receive multiple "RF signals" corresponding to each transmitted RF signal. The same RF signal transmitted on different paths between a transmitter and a receiver may be referred to as a "multipath" RF signal.

[0033] Figure 1An example wireless communication system 100 is shown. The wireless communication system 100 (which may also be referred to as a wireless wide area network (WWAN)) may include various base stations 102 and various UEs 104. The base stations 102 may include macrocell base stations (high-power cellular base stations) and / or small cell base stations (low-power cellular base stations). In an aspect, the macrocell base stations may include eNBs and / or ng-eNBs (where the wireless communication system 100 corresponds to an LTE network) or gNBs (where the wireless communication system 100 corresponds to an NR network) or a combination of both, and the small cell base stations may include femtocells, picocells, microcells, etc.

[0034] The base stations 102 may collectively form a RAN and interface with a core network 170 (e.g., an evolved packet core (EPC) or a 5G core (5GC)) via a backhaul link 122, and interface with one or more location servers 172 (which may be part of the core network 170 or may be external to the core network 170) via the core network 170. The base stations 102 may perform, among other functions, functions related to one or more of the following: transmission of user data, radio channel encryption and decryption, integrity protection, header compression, mobility control functions (e.g., handover, dual connectivity), inter-cell interference coordination, connection establishment and release, load balancing, distribution of non-access stratum (NAS) messages, NAS node selection, synchronization, RAN sharing, multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS), subscriber and device tracking, RAN information management (RIM), paging, positioning, and transmission of warning messages. The base stations 102 may communicate with each other directly or indirectly (e.g., via EPC / 5GC) via a backhaul link 134 (which may be wired or wireless).

[0035] The base station 102 can communicate with the UE 104 wirelessly. Each of the base stations 102 can provide communication coverage for a respective geographic coverage area 110. In one aspect, the base station 102 can support one or more cells in each coverage area 110. A "cell" is a logical communication entity for communicating with a base station (e.g., on a certain frequency resource (referred to as a carrier frequency, component carrier, carrier, frequency band, etc.)), and can be associated with an identifier (e.g., a physical cell identifier (PCI), a virtual cell identifier (VCI), a cell global identifier (CGI)) for distinguishing cells operating via the same or different carrier frequencies. In some cases, different cells may be configured according to different protocol types (e.g., machine type communication (MTC), narrowband IoT (NB-IoT), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) or other protocol types) that can provide access to different types of UEs. Because a cell is supported by a specific base station, the term "cell" can refer to either or both of the logical communication entity and the base station supporting it, depending on the context. In some cases, the term “cell” may also refer to a geographic coverage area (eg, a sector) of a base station within which a carrier frequency may be detected and used for communications within some portion of the geographic coverage area 110 .

[0036] Although the geographic coverage areas 110 of adjacent macrocell base stations 102 may partially overlap (e.g., in a handoff region), some of the geographic coverage areas 110 may substantially overlap with the larger geographic coverage areas 110. For example, a small cell base station 102' may have a coverage area 110' that substantially overlaps with the coverage area 110 of one or more macrocell base stations 102. A network that includes both small cell base stations and macrocell base stations may be referred to as a heterogeneous network. A heterogeneous network may also include a home eNB (HeNB), which may provide services to a restricted group referred to as a closed subscriber group (CSG).

[0037] The communication link 120 between the base station 102 and the UE 104 may include an uplink (also referred to as a reverse link) transmission from the UE 104 to the base station 102 and / or a downlink (also referred to as a forward link) transmission from the base station 102 to the UE 104. The communication link 120 may use MIMO antenna technology, which includes spatial multiplexing, beamforming, and / or transmit diversity. The communication link 120 may be over one or more carrier frequencies. The allocation of carriers may be asymmetric with respect to the downlink and uplink (e.g., more or fewer carriers may be allocated for the downlink than for the uplink).

[0038] The wireless communication system 100 may also include a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point (AP) 150 that communicates with a WLAN station (STA) 152 in an unlicensed spectrum (e.g., 5 GHz) via a communication link 154. When communicating in the unlicensed spectrum, the WLAN STA 152 and / or the WLAN AP 150 may perform a clear channel assessment (CCA) or a listen before talk (LBT) procedure before communicating to determine whether a channel is available.

[0039] The small cell base station 102' can operate in a licensed and / or unlicensed spectrum. When operating in an unlicensed spectrum, the small cell base station 102' can adopt LTE or NR technology and use the same 5 GHz unlicensed spectrum as the 5 GHz unlicensed spectrum used by the WLAN AP 150. The small cell base station 102' adopting LTE / 5G in the unlicensed spectrum can improve the coverage of the access network and / or increase the capacity of the access network. NR in the unlicensed spectrum can be referred to as NR-U. LTE in the unlicensed spectrum can be referred to as LTE-U, License Assisted Access (LAA) or MulteFire.

[0040] The wireless communication system 100 may also include a millimeter wave (mmW) base station 180 for communicating with the UE 182, which may operate in mmW frequencies and / or near mmW frequencies. Extremely high frequency (EHF) is a portion of RF in the electromagnetic spectrum. EHF has a range of 30 GHz to 300 GHz and has a wavelength between 1 mm and 10 mm. Radio waves in this band may be referred to as millimeter waves. Near mmW can be extended down to a frequency of 3 GHz with a wavelength of 100 mm. The super high frequency (SHF) band extends between 3 GHz and 30 GHz and is also referred to as centimeter waves. Communications using mmW / near mmW radio frequency bands have high path loss and relatively short distances. The mmW base station 180 and the UE 182 may utilize beamforming (sending and / or receiving) on ​​the mmW communication link 184 to compensate for extremely high path loss and short distances. In addition, it will be appreciated that in alternative configurations, one or more base stations 102 may also use mmW or near mmW and beamforming for transmission. Accordingly, it will be appreciated that the foregoing description is merely exemplary and should not be construed as limiting the various aspects disclosed herein.

[0041] Transmit beamforming is a technique for focusing an RF signal in a specific direction. Traditionally, when a network node (e.g., a base station) broadcasts an RF signal, it broadcasts the signal in all directions (omnidirectionally). With transmit beamforming, the network node determines where a given target device (e.g., a UE) is located (relative to the transmitting network node) and projects a stronger downlink RF signal in that specific direction, thereby providing a faster (in terms of data rate) and stronger RF signal to the receiving device. In order to change the direction of the RF signal while transmitting, the network node can transmit at each of the one or more transmitters that broadcast the RF signal (or "antenna array"), which creates a beam of RF waves that can be "guided" to points in different directions without actually moving the antenna. Specifically, the RF current from the transmitter is fed to individual antennas with the correct phase relationship so that the radio waves from the separate antennas are added together to increase radiation in the desired direction, and destructively in undesired directions to suppress radiation.

[0042] The transmit beams can be quasi-colocated, which means that they appear to have the same parameters to the receiver (e.g., UE), regardless of whether the transmit antennas of the network nodes themselves are physically colocated. In NR, there are four types of quasi-colocated (QCL) relationships. Specifically, a given type of QCL relationship means that certain parameters about the target reference RF signal on the target beam can be derived from information about the source reference RF signal on the source beam. If the source reference RF signal is QCL type A, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, and delay spread of the target reference RF signal sent on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL type B, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift and Doppler spread of the target reference RF signal sent on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL type C, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift and average delay of the target reference RF signal sent on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL type D, the receiver may use the source reference RF signal to estimate spatial reception parameters of a target reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel.

[0043] In receive beamforming, a receiver uses a receive beam to amplify an RF signal detected on a given channel. For example, the receiver may increase a gain setting and / or adjust a phase setting of an antenna array in a particular direction to amplify (e.g., to increase the gain level of) an RF signal received from that direction. Thus, when a receiver is said to be beamforming in a certain direction, it means that the beam gain in that direction is high relative to the beam gain along other directions, or that the beam gain in that direction is the highest compared to the beam gain in that direction of all other receive beams available to the receiver. This results in a stronger received signal strength (e.g., reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR), etc.) of the RF signal received from that direction.

[0044] The receive beams may be spatially correlated. Spatial correlation means that the parameters for the transmit beam for the second reference signal may be derived from information about the receive beam for the first reference signal. For example, the UE may use a specific receive beam to receive one or more reference downlink reference signals (e.g., positioning reference signal (PRS), tracking reference signal (TRS), phase tracking reference signal (PTRS), cell-specific reference signal (CRS), channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), primary synchronization signal (PSS), secondary synchronization signal (SSS), synchronization signal block (SSB), etc.) from a base station. The UE may then form a transmit beam for sending one or more uplink reference signals (e.g., uplink positioning reference signal (UL-PRS), sounding reference signal (SRS), demodulation reference signal (DMRS), PTRS, etc.) to the base station based on the parameters of the receive beam.

[0045] It is to be noted that a "downlink" beam can be a transmit beam or a receive beam, depending on the entity that forms it. For example, if the base station is forming a downlink beam for sending a reference signal to the UE, the downlink beam is a transmit beam. However, if the UE is forming a downlink beam, it is a receive beam for receiving a downlink reference signal. Similarly, an "uplink" beam can be a transmit beam or a receive beam, depending on the entity that forms it. For example, if the base station is forming an uplink beam, it is an uplink receive beam, and if the UE is forming an uplink beam, it is an uplink transmit beam.

[0046] In 5G, the spectrum in which wireless nodes (e.g., base stations 102 / 180, UEs 104 / 182) operate is divided into multiple frequency ranges: FR1 (from 450 to 6000 MHz), FR2 (from 24250 to 52600 MHz), FR3 (above 52600 MHz), and FR4 (between FR1 and FR2). In a multi-carrier system (such as 5G), one of the carrier frequencies is called a "primary carrier" or "anchor carrier" or "primary serving cell" or "PCell", and the remaining carrier frequencies are called "secondary carriers" or "secondary serving cells" or "SCells". In carrier aggregation, the anchor carrier is a carrier operating on the primary frequency (e.g., FR1) utilized by the UE 104 / 182 and the cell in which the UE 104 / 182 performs an initial radio resource control (RRC) connection establishment procedure or initiates an RRC connection re-establishment procedure. The primary carrier carries all common and UE-specific control channels and can be a carrier in a licensed frequency (however, this is not always the case). A secondary carrier is a carrier operating on a second frequency (e.g., FR2), wherein the second frequency may be configured once an RRC connection is established between the UE 104 and the anchor carrier, and may be used to provide additional radio resources. In some cases, the secondary carrier may be a carrier in an unlicensed frequency. The secondary carrier may contain only necessary signaling information and signals, for example, there may be no UE-specific signaling information and signals in the secondary carrier, because both the primary uplink carrier and the primary downlink carrier are typically UE-specific. This means that different UEs 104 / 182 in a cell may have different downlink primary carriers. This is also true for the uplink primary carrier. The network is able to change the primary carrier of any UE 104 / 182 at any time. This is done to, for example, balance the load on different carriers. Since a "serving cell" (whether a PCell or an SCell) corresponds to a carrier frequency / component carrier on which a base station is communicating, the terms "cell", "serving cell", "component carrier", "carrier frequency", etc. may be used interchangeably.

[0047] For example, still referring to Figure 1 , one of the frequencies utilized by macrocell base station 102 may be an anchor carrier (or "PCell"), and the other frequencies utilized by macrocell base station 102 and / or mmW base station 180 may be secondary carriers ("SCells"). Simultaneous transmission and / or reception of multiple carriers enables UE 104 / 182 to significantly increase its data transmission and / or reception rate. For example, two 20 MHz aggregated carriers in a multi-carrier system would theoretically result in a two-fold increase in data rate (i.e., 40 MHz) (compared to the data rate achieved with a single 20 MHz carrier).

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

[0049] exist Figure 1 In the example of FIG. 1 , one or more Earth-orbiting satellite positioning system (SPS) spacecraft (SV) 112 (eg, satellites) may be used as any of the illustrated UEs (for simplicity, in FIG. 1 ). Figure 1 104). UE 104 may include one or more dedicated SPS receivers, which are specifically designed to receive SPS signals 124 for deriving geographic location information from SV 112. SPS typically includes a system of transmitters (e.g., SV 112) that are positioned to enable a receiver (e.g., UE 104) to determine its position on or above the earth based at least in part on a signal (e.g., SPS signal 124) received from the transmitter. Such a transmitter typically sends a signal marked with a repetitive pseudo-random noise (PN) code of a set number of chips. Although the transmitter is typically located in SV 112, it may sometimes be located on a ground-based control station, base station 102, and / or other UE 104.

[0050] The use of the SPS signal 124 may be enhanced by various satellite-based augmentation systems (SBAS), which may be associated with or otherwise enabled for use with one or more global and / or regional navigation satellite systems. For example, the SBAS may include augmentation systems that provide integrity information, differential corrections, etc., such as the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS), the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS), the Multifunction Satellite Augmentation System (MSAS), the Global Positioning System (GPS) Assisted Geographic Augmentation Navigation, or the GPS and Geographic Augmentation Navigation System (GAGAN), etc. Thus, as used herein, an SPS may include any combination of one or more global and / or regional navigation satellite systems and / or augmentation systems, and the SPS signal 124 may include an SPS, a quasi-SPS, and / or other signals associated with such one or more SPS.

[0051] The wireless communication system 100 may also include one or more UEs (such as UE 190) indirectly connected to one or more communication networks via one or more device-to-device (D2D) peer-to-peer (P2P) links (referred to as “sidelinks”). Figure 1In the example of FIG. 1 , UE 190 has a D2D P2P link 192 with one of UEs 104 connected to one of base stations 102 (e.g., through D2D P2P link 192, UE 190 can indirectly obtain cellular connectivity) and a D2D P2P link 194 with WLAN STA 152 connected to WLAN AP 150 (through D2D P2P link 194, UE 190 can indirectly obtain WLAN-based Internet connectivity). In an example, any well-known D2D RAT (such as LTE Direct (LTE-D), WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), etc.) to support D2D P2P links 192 and 194.

[0052] Figure 2A An example wireless network architecture 200 is shown. For example, the 5GC 210 (also referred to as the "Next Generation Core (NGC)") can be functionally viewed as a control plane functional unit 214 (e.g., UE registration, authentication, network access, gateway selection, etc.) and a user plane functional unit 212 (e.g., UE gateway function, access to data networks, IP routing, etc.), which operate cooperatively to form a core network. The user plane interface (NG-U) 213 and the control plane interface (NG-C) 215 connect the gNB 222 to the 5GC 210, and specifically, to the control plane functional unit 214 and the user plane functional unit 212. In another configuration, the ng-eNB 224 can also be connected to the 5GC 210 via the NG-C 215 to the control plane functional unit 214 and the NG-U 213 to the user plane functional unit 212. In addition, the ng-eNB 224 can communicate directly with the gNB 222 via the backhaul connection 223. In some configurations, the new RAN 220 can have only one or more gNBs 222, while other configurations include one or more of the ng-eNB 224 and the gNB 222. The gNB 222 or the ng-eNB 224 can communicate with the UE 204 (e.g., Figure 1204). Another optional aspect may include a location server 230 that can communicate with the 5GC 210 to provide location assistance to the UE 204. The location server 230 can be implemented as multiple separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules distributed on multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternatively, each can correspond to a single server. The location server 230 can be configured to support one or more location services for the UE 204 that can be connected to the location server 230 via the core network, the 5GC 210, and / or via the Internet (not shown). In addition, the location server 230 can be integrated into a component of the core network, or alternatively, can be external to the core network.

[0053] Figure 2B Another example wireless network structure 250 is shown. For example, the 5GC 260 can be functionally viewed as a control plane functional unit provided by an access and mobility management functional unit (AMF) 264, and a user plane functional unit provided by a user plane functional unit (UPF) 262, which operate in conjunction to form a core network (i.e., the 5GC 260). The user plane interface 263 and the control plane interface 265 connect the ng-eNB 224 to the 5GC 260, and specifically to the UPF 262 and the AMF 264, respectively. In another configuration, the gNB 222 can also be connected to the 5GC 260 via a control plane interface 265 to the AMF 264 and a user plane interface 263 to the UPF 262. In addition, the ng-eNB 224 can communicate directly with the gNB 222 via the backhaul connection 223, whether or not the gNB has a direct connection to the 5GC 260. In some configurations, the new RAN 220 may have only one or more gNBs 222, while other configurations include one or more of both ng-eNBs 224 and gNBs 222. The gNB 222 or the ng-eNB 224 may communicate with the UE 204 (e.g., Figure 1 The base stations of the new RAN 220 communicate with the AMF 264 over the N2 interface and with the UPF 262 over the N3 interface.

[0054] The functions of AMF 264 include registration management, connection management, reachability management, mobility management, lawful interception, transmission of session management (SM) messages between UE 204 and session management function unit (SMF) 266, transparent proxy service for routing SM messages, access authentication and access authorization, transmission of short message service (SMS) messages between UE 204 and short message service function unit (SMSF) (not shown), and security anchor function (SEAF). AMF 264 also interacts with authentication server function unit (AUSF) (not shown) and UE 204, and receives intermediate keys established as a result of the UE 204 authentication process. In the case of authentication based on UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) Subscriber Identity Module (USIM), AMF 264 obtains security materials from AUSF. The functions of AMF 264 also include security context management (SCM). SCM receives keys from SEAF, where SCM uses the keys to derive keys specific to the access network. The functions of AMF 264 also include location service management for management services, transmission of location service messages between UE 204 and location management function unit (LMF) 270 (which acts as location server 230), transmission of location service messages between new RAN 220 and LMF 270, allocation of EPS bearer identifiers for interworking with Evolved Packet System (EPS), and notification of mobility events of UE 204. In addition, AMF 164 also supports functions for non-3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) access networks.

[0055] The functions of the UPF 262 include: acting as an anchor point for intra-RAT / inter-RAT mobility (when applicable), acting as an external protocol data unit (PDU) session point for interconnection to a data network (not shown), providing packet routing and forwarding, packet inspection, user plane policy rule enforcement (e.g., gating, redirection, traffic steering), lawful interception (user plane collection), traffic utilization reporting, quality of service (QoS) processing for the user plane (e.g., uplink / downlink rate enforcement, reflective QoS marking in downlink), uplink traffic verification (service data flow (SDF) to QoS flow mapping), transmission level packet marking in uplink and downlink, downlink packet buffering and downlink data notification triggering, and sending and forwarding one or more "end flags" to the source RAN node. The UPF 262 can also support the transmission of location service messages on the user plane between the UE 204 and a location server (such as a secure user plane location (SUPL) location platform (SLP) 272).

[0056] The functions of SMF 266 include session management, UE Internet Protocol (IP) address allocation and management, selection and control of user plane functions, configuring traffic steering at UPF 262 to route traffic to the correct destination, control of parts of policy implementation and QoS, and downlink data notification. The interface over which SMF 266 communicates with AMF 264 is called the N11 interface.

[0057] Another optional aspect may include an LMF 270 that can communicate with the 5GC 260 to provide location assistance to the UE 204. The LMF 270 can be implemented as multiple separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules distributed across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternatively, can each correspond to a single server. The LMF 270 can be configured to support one or more location services for the UE 204, which can be connected to the LMF 270 via the core network, the 5GC 260, and / or via the Internet (not shown). The SLP 270 can support similar functionality to the LMF 270, but the LMF 270 can communicate with the AMF 264, the new RAN 220, and the UE 204 on the control plane (e.g., using interfaces and protocols intended to transmit signaling messages rather than voice or data), and the SLP 272 can communicate with the UE 204 and external clients ( Figure 2B ) to communicate (e.g., using protocols intended to carry voice and / or data, such as the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and / or IP).

[0058] Figure 3A , 3B 3C show several example components (represented by corresponding blocks) that may be incorporated into UE 302 (which may correspond to any UE described herein), base station 304 (which may correspond to any base station described herein), and network entity 306 (which may correspond to or embody any network functional unit described herein, including location server 230 and LMF 270) to support file transfer operations as taught herein. It should be understood that these components may be implemented in different types of devices in different implementations (e.g., in an ASIC, in a system on a chip (SoC), etc.). The components shown may also be incorporated into other devices in the communication system. For example, other devices in the system may include components similar to those described to provide similar functionality. In addition, a given device may include one or more of the components. For example, a device may include multiple transceiver components that enable the device to operate on multiple carriers and / or communicate via different technologies.

[0059] UE 302 and base station 304 each include a wireless wide area network (WWAN) transceiver 310 and 350, respectively, which provides means for communicating (e.g., means for transmitting, means for receiving, means for measuring, means for tuning, means for avoiding transmitting, etc.) via one or more wireless communication networks (not shown) (such as NR network, LTE network, GSM network, etc.). WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 can be connected to one or more antennas 316 and 356, respectively, to communicate with other network nodes (such as other UEs, access points, base stations (e.g., eNB, gNB), etc.) via at least one designated RAT (e.g., NR, LTE, GSM, etc.) on a wireless communication medium of interest (e.g., a certain set of time / frequency resources in a specific spectrum). The WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 may be configured differently to transmit and encode signals 318 and 358 (e.g., messages, indications, information, etc.) and conversely receive and decode signals 318 and 358 (e.g., messages, indications, information, pilots, etc.) according to a specified RAT. Specifically, the WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 include one or more transmitters 314 and 354, respectively, for transmitting and encoding signals 318 and 358, respectively, and one or more receivers 312 and 352, respectively, for receiving and decoding signals 318 and 358, respectively.

[0060] At least in some cases, the UE 302 and the base station 304 also include wireless local area network (WLAN) transceivers 320 and 360, respectively. The WLAN transceivers 320 and 360 can be connected to one or more antennas 326 and 366, respectively, and provide for communicating over the wireless communication medium of interest via at least one designated RAT (e.g., WiFi, LTE-D, The WLAN transceivers 320 and 360 are units (e.g., units for sending, units for receiving, units for measuring, units for tuning, units for avoiding sending, etc.) for communicating with other network nodes (such as other UEs, access points, base stations, etc.). The WLAN transceivers 320 and 360 can be configured differently to send and encode signals 328 and 368 (e.g., messages, indications, information, etc.) according to the specified RAT, and conversely receive and decode signals 328 and 368 (e.g., messages, indications, information, pilots, etc.), respectively. Specifically, the WLAN transceivers 320 and 360 include one or more transmitters 324 and 364, respectively, which are used to send and encode signals 328 and 368, respectively, and include one or more receivers 322 and 362, respectively, which are used to receive and decode signals 328 and 368, respectively.

[0061] The transceiver circuitry including at least one transmitter and at least one receiver may comprise an integrated device (e.g., transmitter circuitry and receiver circuitry embodied as a single communication device) in some implementations, may comprise separate transmitter devices and separate receiver devices in some implementations, or may be embodied in other ways in other implementations. In one aspect, the transmitter may comprise or be coupled to multiple antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366) (such as an antenna array), which allows the corresponding device to perform transmit "beamforming" as described herein. Similarly, the receiver may comprise or be coupled to multiple antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366) (such as an antenna array), which allows the corresponding device to perform receive beamforming as described herein. In one aspect, the transmitter and receiver may share the same multiple antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366) so that the corresponding device can only receive or transmit at a given time, rather than simultaneously. The wireless communication devices of the UE 302 and / or the base station 304 (eg, one or both of the transceivers 310 and 320 and / or 350 and 360) may also include a network listening module (NLM) or the like for performing various measurements.

[0062] At least in some cases, UE 302 and base station 304 also include satellite positioning system (SPS) receivers 330 and 370. SPS receivers 330 and 370 can be connected to one or more antennas 336 and 376, respectively, and can provide units for receiving and / or measuring SPS signals 338 and 378, respectively, such as global positioning system (GPS) signals, global navigation satellite system (GLONASS) signals, Galileo signals, Beidou signals, Indian regional navigation satellite system (NAVIC), Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS), etc. SPS receivers 330 and 370 can include any suitable hardware and / or software for receiving and processing SPS signals 338 and 378, respectively. SPS receivers 330 and 370 request information and operations from other systems as needed, and use measurements obtained by any suitable SPS algorithm to perform calculations required to determine the location of UE 302 and base station 304.

[0063] The base station 304 and the network entity 306 each include at least one network interface 380 and 390, respectively, which provide a unit for communicating with other network entities (e.g., a unit for sending, a unit for receiving, etc.). For example, the network interfaces 380 and 390 (e.g., one or more network access ports) can be configured to communicate with one or more network entities via a wired backhaul connection or a wireless backhaul connection. In some aspects, the network interfaces 380 and 390 can be implemented as transceivers, which are configured to support wired signal communication or wireless signal communication. The communication may involve, for example, sending and receiving messages, parameters, and / or other types of information.

[0064] UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 also include other components that can be used in conjunction with the operations disclosed herein. UE 302 includes processor circuitry that implements processing system 332, which is used to provide functions related to, for example, wireless positioning, and to provide other processing functions. Base station 304 includes processing system 384, which is used to provide functions related to, for example, wireless positioning disclosed herein, and to provide other processing functions. Network entity 306 includes processing system 394, which is used to provide functions related to, for example, wireless positioning disclosed herein, and to provide other processing functions. Therefore, processing systems 332, 384, and 394 can provide units for processing, such as units for determining, units for calculating, units for receiving, units for sending, units for indicating, etc. In one aspect, processing systems 332, 384, and 394 can include, for example, one or more general-purpose processors, multi-core processors, ASICs, digital signal processors (DSPs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), or other programmable logic devices or processing circuits.

[0065] UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306, respectively, include memory circuitry implementing memory components 340, 386, and 396 (e.g., each including a memory device) for maintaining information (e.g., information indicating reserved resources, thresholds, parameters, etc.). Thus, memory components 340, 386, and 396 may provide means for storing, means for retrieving, means for maintaining, etc. In some cases, UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 may include positioning components 342, 388, and 398, respectively. Positioning components 342, 388, and 398 may be hardware circuitry that is part of or coupled to processing systems 332, 384, and 394, respectively, which, when executed, causes UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 to perform the functions described herein. In other aspects, the positioning components 342, 388, and 398 can be external to the processing systems 332, 384, and 394 (e.g., can be part of a modem processing system, integrated with another processing system, etc.). Alternatively, the positioning components 342, 388, and 398 can be memory modules stored in the memory components 340, 386, and 396, respectively, which when executed by the processing systems 332, 384, and 394 (or a modem processing system, another processing system, etc.), cause the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 to perform the functions described herein. Figure 3A Possible locations are shown for positioning component 342, which may be part of WWAN transceiver 310, memory component 340, processing system 332, or any combination thereof, or may be a stand-alone component. Figure 3B Possible locations are shown for positioning component 388, which may be part of WWAN transceiver 350, memory component 386, processing system 384, or any combination thereof, or may be a stand-alone component. Figure 3C Possible locations are shown for location component 398, which may be part of network interface 390, memory component 396, processing system 394, or any combination thereof, or may be a stand-alone component.

[0066] UE 302 may include one or more sensors 344 coupled to processing system 332 to provide a means for sensing or detecting motion and / or directional information that is independent of motion data derived from signals received by WWAN transceiver 310, WLAN transceiver 320, and / or SPS receiver 330. By way of example, sensor 344 may include an accelerometer (e.g., a micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) device), a gyroscope, a geomagnetic sensor (e.g., a compass), an altimeter (e.g., a barometric altimeter), and / or any other type of motion detection sensor. In addition, sensor 344 may include multiple different types of devices and combine their outputs to provide motion information. For example, sensor 344 may use a combination of a multi-axis accelerometer and an orientation sensor to provide the ability to calculate position in a 2D and / or 3D coordinate system.

[0067] In addition, the UE 302 includes a user interface 346, which provides a means for providing indications to the user (e.g., auditory and / or visual indications) and / or for receiving user input (e.g., when the user activates a sensing device such as a keyboard, touch screen, microphone, etc.). Although not shown, the base station 304 and the network entity 306 may also include a user interface.

[0068] Referring to the processing system 384 in more detail, in the downlink, IP packets from the network entity 306 may be provided to the processing system 384. The processing system 384 may implement functions for the RRC layer, the Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer, the Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, and the Medium Access Control (MAC) layer. The processing system 384 may provide: RRC layer functions associated with: broadcasting of system information (e.g., master information block (MIB), system information block (SIB)), RRC connection control (e.g., RRC connection paging, RRC connection establishment, RRC connection modification, and RRC connection release), inter-RAT mobility, and measurement configuration for UE measurement reporting; PDCP layer functions associated with: header compression / decompression, security (encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification), and switching support functions; RLC layer functions associated with: transmission of upper layer PDUs, error correction through automatic repeat request (ARQ), concatenation, segmentation and reassembly of RLC service data units (SDUs), re-segmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functions associated with: mapping between logical channels and transport channels, scheduling information reporting, error correction, priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.

[0069] The transmitter 354 and the receiver 352 may implement layer 1 (L1) functions associated with various signal processing functions. Layer 1 (which includes the physical (PHY) layer) may include error detection on the transport channel, forward error correction (FEC) encoding / decoding of the transport channel, interleaving, rate matching, mapping to the physical channel, modulation / demodulation of the physical channel, and MIMO antenna processing. The transmitter 354 processes the mapping to the signal constellation diagram based on various modulation schemes (e.g., binary phase shift keying (BPSK), quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK), M-phase shift keying (M-PSK), M-quadrature amplitude modulation (M-QAM)). The coded and modulated symbols may then be split into parallel streams. Each stream may then be mapped to an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) subcarrier, multiplexed with a reference signal (e.g., pilot) in the time domain and / or frequency domain, and then combined together using an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) to produce a physical channel for carrying a time domain OFDM symbol stream. The OFDM symbol stream is spatially precoded to produce multiple spatial streams. Channel estimates from a channel estimator may be used to determine coding and modulation schemes, as well as for spatial processing. Channel estimates may be derived based on reference signals and / or channel condition feedback sent by the UE 302. Each spatial stream may then be provided to one or more different antennas 356. The transmitter 354 may modulate an RF carrier for transmission using a respective spatial stream.

[0070] At UE 302, receiver 312 receives the signal through its respective antenna 316. Receiver 312 recovers the information modulated onto the RF carrier and provides the information to processing system 332. Transmitter 314 and receiver 312 implement layer 1 functions associated with various signal processing functions. Receiver 312 can perform spatial processing on the information to recover any spatial stream destined for UE 302. If multiple spatial streams are destined for UE 302, they can be combined into a single OFDM symbol stream by receiver 312. Receiver 312 then transforms the OFDM symbol stream from the time domain to the frequency domain using a fast Fourier transform (FFT). The frequency domain signal includes a separate OFDM symbol stream for each subcarrier of the OFDM signal. The symbols and reference signals on each subcarrier are recovered and demodulated by determining the most likely signal constellation point sent by base station 304. These soft decisions can be based on channel estimates calculated by a channel estimator. The soft decisions are then decoded and deinterleaved to recover the data and control signals originally sent on the physical channel by the base station 304. The data and control signals are then provided to the processing system 332, which implements layer 3 (L3) and layer 2 (L2) functions.

[0071] In the uplink, the processing system 332 provides demultiplexing between transport channels and logical channels, packet reassembly, decryption, header decompression, and control signal processing to recover IP packets from the core network. The processing system 332 is also responsible for error detection.

[0072] Similar to the functions described in conjunction with downlink transmissions performed by the base station 304, the processing system 332 provides: RRC layer functions associated with: system information (e.g., MIB, SIB) capture, RRC connection, and measurement reporting; PDCP layer functions associated with: header compression / decompression, and security (encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification); RLC layer functions associated with: transmission of upper layer PDUs, error correction through ARQ, concatenation, segmentation and reassembly of RLC SDUs, re-segmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functions associated with: mapping between logical channels and transport channels, multiplexing of MAC SDUs onto transport blocks (TBs), demultiplexing of MAC SDUs from TBs, scheduling information reporting, error correction through hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ), priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.

[0073] The transmitter 314 may select an appropriate coding and modulation scheme and facilitate spatial processing using channel estimates derived by a channel estimator based on a reference signal or feedback sent by the base station 304. The spatial streams generated by the transmitter 314 may be provided to different antennas 316. The transmitter 314 may modulate an RF carrier with the respective spatial streams for transmission.

[0074] At the base station 304, the uplink transmission is processed in a manner similar to that described in conjunction with the receiver functionality at the UE 302. The receiver 352 receives the signal through its respective antenna 356. The receiver 352 recovers the information modulated onto the RF carrier and provides the information to the processing system 384.

[0075] In the uplink, the processing system 384 provides demultiplexing between transport channels and logical channels, packet reassembly, decryption, header decompression, control signal processing to recover IP packets from the UE 302. The IP packets from the processing system 384 may be provided to the core network. The processing system 384 is also responsible for error detection.

[0076] For convenience, in Figure 3A-C shows UE 302, base station 304 and / or network entity 306 as including various components that can be configured according to various examples described herein. However, it will be appreciated that the blocks shown may have different functions in different designs.

[0077] The various components of the UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 may communicate with one another over data buses 334, 382, ​​and 392, respectively. Figure 3A -C components can be implemented in various ways. In some implementations, Figure 3A -C components may be implemented in one or more circuits, such as one or more processors and / or one or more ASICs (which may include one or more processors). Here, each circuit may use and / or incorporate at least one memory component for storing information or executable code used by the circuit to provide such functionality. For example, some or all of the functions represented by blocks 310 to 346 may be implemented by the processor and memory components of UE 302 (e.g., by executing appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of the processor components). Similarly, some or all of the functions represented by blocks 350 to 388 may be implemented by the processor and memory components of base station 304 (e.g., by executing appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of the processor components). In addition, some or all of the functions represented by blocks 390 to 398 may be implemented by the processor and memory components of network entity 306 (e.g., by executing appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of the processor components). For simplicity, various operations, actions and / or functions are described herein as being performed by "UE", "by base station", "by network entity", etc. However, it will be appreciated that such operations, actions and / or functions may actually be performed by specific components or combinations of components of the UE 302, base station 304, network entity 306, etc., such as processing systems 332, 384, 394, transceivers 310, 320, 350 and 360, memory components 340, 386 and 396, positioning components 342, 388 and 398, etc.

[0078] Figure 4A FIG. 2 shows a user plane protocol stack according to various aspects of the present disclosure. Figure 4A As shown, UE 404 and base station 402 (which may correspond to any of the UE and base station described herein, respectively) implement, from the highest layer to the lowest layer, a service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) layer 410, a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer 415, a radio link control (RLC) layer 420, a medium access control (MAC) layer 425, and a physical (PHY) layer 430. Specific instances of protocol layers are referred to as protocol "entities". Therefore, the terms "protocol layer" and "protocol entity" may be used interchangeably.

[0079] like Figure 4A As shown by the double-arrow lines in , each layer of the protocol stack implemented by UE 404 communicates with the same layer of base station 402, and vice versa. The two corresponding protocol layers / entities of UE 404 and base station 402 are referred to as "peer", "peer entity", etc. SDAP layer 410, PDCP layer 415, RLC layer 420 and MAC layer 425 are collectively referred to as "layer 2" or "L2". PHY layer 430 is referred to as "layer 1" or "L1".

[0080] Figure 4B A control plane protocol stack according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown. In addition to the PDCP layer 415, the RLC layer 420, the MAC layer 425, and the PHY layer 430, the UE 404 and the base station 402 also implement a radio resource control (RRC) layer 445. In addition, the UE 404 and the AMF 406 implement a non-access stratum (NAS) layer 440.

[0081] The RLC layer 420 supports three transmission modes for packets: transparent mode (TM), unacknowledged mode (UM), and acknowledged mode (AM). In TM mode, there is no RLC header, there is no segmentation / reassembly, and there is no feedback (i.e., there is no acknowledgement (ACK) or negative acknowledgement (NACK)). In addition, there is buffering only at the transmitter. In UM mode, there is an RLC header, there is buffering at both the transmitter and the receiver, and there is segmentation / reassembly, but there is no feedback (i.e., data transmission does not require any reception response (e.g., ACK / NACK) from the receiver). In AM mode, there is an RLC header, there is buffering at both the transmitter and the receiver, there is segmentation / reassembly, and there is feedback (i.e., data transmission requires a reception response (e.g., ACK / NACK) from the receiver). Each of these modes can be used to send and receive data. In TM and UM modes, separate RLC entities are used for sending and receiving, while in AM mode, A single RLC entity performs both transmission and reception. Note that each logical channel uses a specific RLC mode. That is, the RLC configuration is for each logical channel and is independent of the digital scheme and / or the transmission time interval (TTI) duration (i.e., the duration of the transmission on the radio link). Specifically, the broadcast control channel (BCCH), the paging control channel (PCCH), and the common control channel (CCCH) use only the TM mode, the dedicated control channel (DCCH) uses only the AM mode, and the dedicated traffic channel (DTCH) uses either the UM or AM mode. Whether the DTCH uses UM or AM is determined by RRC messaging.

[0082] The main services and functions of the RLC layer 420 depend on the transmission mode and include transmission of upper layer protocol data units (PDUs), sequence numbering independent of sequence numbering in the PDCP layer 415, error correction through automatic repeat request (ARQ), segmentation and resegmentation, reassembly of service data units (SDUs), RLC SDU discard, and RLC re-establishment. The ARQ function provides error correction in AM mode and has the following features: ARQ retransmission of RLC PDUs or RLC PDU segments based on RLC status reports, polling of RLC status reports when required by RLC, and triggering of RLC status reports by the RLC receiver after detecting a lost RLC PDU or RLC PDU segment.

[0083] The main services and functions of the PDCP layer 415 for the user plane include sequence numbering, header compression and decompression (for robust header compression (ROHC)), transmission of user data, reordering and duplicate detection (if in-order delivery to layers above the PDCP layer 415 is required), PDCP PDU routing (in the case of split bearers), retransmission of PDCP SDUs, ciphering and deciphering, PDCP SDU discarding, PDCP re-establishment and data recovery for RLC AM, and duplication of PDCP PDUs. The main services and functions of the PDCP layer 415 for the control plane include ciphering, deciphering and integrity protection, transmission of control plane data, and duplication of PDCP PDUs.

[0084] The SDAP layer 410 is an access stratum (AS) layer whose main services and functions include mapping between Quality of Service (QoS) flows and data radio bearers and marking QoS flow identifiers in downlink and uplink packets. A single protocol entity of SDAP is configured for each individual PDU session.

[0085] The main services and functions of the RRC layer 445 include broadcasting of system information related to AS and NAS, paging initiated by 5GC (e.g., NGC 210 or 260) or RAN (e.g., new RAN 220), establishment, maintenance and release of RRC connection between UE and RAN, security functions (including key management), establishment, configuration, maintenance and release of signaling radio bearers (SRBs) and data radio bearers (DRBs), mobility functions (including handover, UE cell selection and reselection and control of cell selection and reselection, context transfer during handover), QoS management functions, UE measurement reporting and control of reporting, and NAS message transmission from NAS to UE / from UE to NAS.

[0086] The NAS layer 440 is the highest layer of the control plane between the UE 404 and the AMF 406 at the radio interface. The main functions of the protocols that are part of the NAS layer 440 are to support the mobility of the UE 404 and to support session management procedures to establish and maintain an Internet Protocol (IP) connection between the UE 404 and a packet data network (PDN). The NAS layer 440 performs Evolved Packet System (EPS) bearer management, authentication, EPS Connection Management (ECM)-Idle mobility processing, paging initiation in ECM-IDLE, and security control.

[0087] Various frame structures may be used to support downlink and uplink transmissions between network nodes (eg, base stations and UEs). Figure 5A is a diagram 500 illustrating an example of a downlink frame structure in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. Figure 5B is a diagram 530 illustrating an example of channels within a downlink frame structure in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. Figure 5C is a diagram 550 illustrating an example of an uplink frame structure in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. Figure 5D is a diagram 580 illustrating an example of channels within an uplink frame structure in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. Other wireless communication technologies may have different frame structures and / or different channels.

[0088] LTE (and in some cases, NR) utilizes OFDM on the downlink and single carrier frequency division multiplexing (SC-FDM) on the uplink. However, unlike LTE, NR can also choose to use OFDM on the uplink. OFDM and SC-FDM divide the system bandwidth into multiple (K each) orthogonal subcarriers, which are also commonly referred to as tones, frequency bins, etc. Each subcarrier can be modulated with data. In general, modulation symbols are sent in the frequency domain using OFDM and in the time domain using SC-FDM. The spacing between adjacent subcarriers can be fixed, and the total number of subcarriers (K) can depend on the system bandwidth. For example, the spacing of the subcarriers can be 15 kilohertz (kHz) and the minimum resource allocation (resource block) can be 12 subcarriers (or 180kHz). Therefore, for system bandwidths of 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10, or 20 megahertz (MHz), the nominal FFT size can be equal to 128, 256, 512, 1024, or 2048, respectively. The system bandwidth may also be partitioned into subbands. For example, a subband may cover 1.08 MHz (ie, 6 resource blocks), and there may be 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16 subbands for system bandwidths of 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10, or 20 MHz, respectively.

[0089] LTE supports a single digital scheme (subcarrier spacing (SCS), symbol length, etc.). In contrast, NR can support multiple digital schemes (μ), for example, 15KHz (μ=0), 30KHz (μ=1), 60KHz (μ=2), 120KHz (μ=3) and 240KHz (μ=4) or larger subcarrier spacing may be available. In each subcarrier spacing, there are 14 symbols per time slot. For 15kHz SCS (μ=0), there is one time slot per subframe, 10 time slots per frame, the time slot duration is 1 millisecond (ms), the symbol duration is 66.7 microseconds (μs), and the maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) for a 4K FFT size is 50. For 30kHz SCS (μ=1), there are two slots per subframe, 20 slots per frame, the slot duration is 0.5ms, the symbol duration is 33.3μs, and the maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) for a 4K FFT size is 100. For 60kHz SCS (μ=2), there are four slots per subframe, 40 slots per frame, the slot duration is 0.25ms, the symbol duration is 16.7μs, and the maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) for a 4K FFT size is 200. For 120kHz SCS (μ=3), there are 8 slots per subframe, 80 slots per frame, the slot duration is 0.125ms, the symbol duration is 8.33μs, and the maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) for a 4K FFT size is 400. For 240kHz SCS (μ=4), there are 16 slots per subframe, 160 slots per frame, the slot duration is 0.0625ms, the symbol duration is 4.17μs, and the maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) for 4K FFT size is 800.

[0090] exist Figures 5A to 5D In the example of , a 15kHz digital scheme is used. Therefore, in the time domain, the 10ms frame is divided into 10 equally sized subframes, each subframe is 1ms, and each subframe includes one time slot. Figures 5A to 5D , time is represented horizontally (on the X-axis) with time increasing from left to right, and frequency is represented vertically (on the Y-axis) with frequency increasing (or decreasing) from bottom to top.

[0091] A resource grid may be used to represent a time slot, each of which includes one or more time-concurrent resource blocks (RBs) (also referred to as physical RBs (PRBs)) in the frequency domain. A resource grid is further divided into a plurality of resource elements (REs). An RE may correspond to one symbol length in the time domain and one subcarrier in the frequency domain. Figures 5A to 5DIn the digital scheme of , for a normal cyclic prefix, an RB can contain 12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain and 7 consecutive symbols in the time domain, for a total of 84 REs. For an extended cyclic prefix, an RB can contain 12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain and 6 consecutive symbols in the time domain, for a total of 72 REs. The number of bits carried by each RE depends on the modulation scheme.

[0092] Some of the REs carry downlink reference (pilot) signals (DL-RS). DL-RS may include PRS, TRS, PTRS, CRS, CSI-RS, DMRS, PSS, SSS, SSB, etc. Figure 5A Example locations of REs carrying PRS are shown (labeled "R").

[0093] A set of resource elements (REs) used for transmission of PRS is referred to as a "PRS resource". A set of resource elements may span multiple PRBs in the frequency domain and "N" (such as 1 or more) consecutive symbols within a slot in the time domain. In a given OFDM symbol in the time domain, a PRS resource occupies consecutive PRBs in the frequency domain.

[0094] The transmission of PRS resources within a given PRB has a specific comb size (also referred to as "comb density"). The comb size "N" represents the subcarrier spacing (or frequency / tone spacing) within each symbol of the PRS resource configuration. Specifically, for comb size "N", the PRS is transmitted in every Nth subcarrier of the symbol of the PRB. For example, for comb 4, for each symbol of the PRS resource configuration, the REs corresponding to every fourth subcarrier (such as subcarriers 0, 4, 8) are used to transmit the PRS of the PRS resource. Currently, comb sizes of comb 2, comb 4, comb 6, and comb 12 are supported for DL-PRS. Figure 5A An example PRS resource configuration for comb 6 (which spans six symbols) is shown. That is, the positions of the shaded REs (labeled "R") indicate a comb 6 PRS resource configuration.

[0095] Currently, DL-PRS resources can span 2, 4, 6, or 12 consecutive symbols within a slot with a full frequency domain staggered pattern. DL-PRS resources can be configured in any higher layer configured downlink or flexible (FL) symbol of a slot. For all REs of a given DL-PRS resource, there can be a constant energy per resource element (EPRE). The following are the frequency offsets between symbols for comb sizes 2, 4, 6, and 12 over 2, 4, 6, and 12 symbols. 2-symbol comb 2: {0,1}; 4-symbol comb 2: {0,1,0,1}; 6-symbol comb 2: {0,1,0,1,0,1}; 12-symbol comb 2: {0,1,0,1,0,1,0,1,0,1,0,1}; 4-symbol comb 4: {0,2,1,3}; 12-symbol comb 4: {0,2,1,3,0,2,1,3,0,2,1,3}; 6-symbol comb 6: {0,3,1,4,2,5}; 12-symbol comb 6: {0,3,1,4,2,5,0,3,1,4,2,5}; and 12-symbol comb 12: {0,6,3,9,1,7,4,10,2,8,5,11}.

[0096] A "PRS resource set" is a set of PRS resources used for transmission of a PRS signal, wherein each PRS resource has a PRS resource ID, and in addition, the PRS resources in the PRS resource set are associated with the same TRP. A PRS resource set is identified by a PRS resource set ID and is associated with a specific TRP (identified by a TRP ID). In addition, the PRS resources in the PRS resource set have the same period, common muting pattern configuration, and the same repetition factor (such as "PRS-ResourceRepetitionFactor") across time slots. A period is the time from the first repetition of the first PRS resource of the first PRS instance to the same first repetition of the same first PRS resource of the next PRS instance. The period may have a length selected from 2^μ*{4,5,8,10,16,20,32,40,64,80,160,320,640,1280,2560,5120,10240} time slots, where μ=0, 1, 2, 3. The repetition factor can have a length selected from {1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 16, 32} time slots.

[0097] A PRS resource ID in a PRS resource set is associated with a single beam (or beam ID) transmitted from a single TRP (where a TRP can transmit one or more beams). That is, each PRS resource in a PRS resource set can be transmitted on a different beam, and therefore, a "PRS resource" or simply "resource" may also be referred to as a "beam". Note that this does not have any implication as to whether the UE is aware of the TRP and the beam on which the PRS is transmitted.

[0098] A "PRS instance" or "PRS opportunity" is an instance of a periodically repeating time window (such as a group of one or more consecutive time slots) in which a PRS is expected to be sent. A PRS opportunity may also be referred to as a "PRS positioning opportunity", "PRS positioning instance", "positioning opportunity", "positioning instance", "positioning repetition", or simply "opportunity", "instance" or "repetition".

[0099] A "positioning frequency layer" (also referred to simply as a "frequency layer") is a set of one or more PRS resource sets spanning one or more TRPs that have the same values ​​of certain parameters. Specifically, the set of PRS resource sets has the same subcarrier spacing and cyclic prefix (CP) type (meaning that all digital schemes supported for PDSCH are also supported for PRS), the same point A, the same value of the downlink PRS bandwidth, the same starting PRB (and center frequency), and the same comb size. The point A parameter takes the value of the parameter "ARFCN-ValueNR" (where "ARFCN" stands for "absolute radio frequency channel number") and is an identifier / code that specifies a pair of physical radio channels for transmission and reception. The downlink PRS bandwidth can have a granularity of four PRBs, with a minimum of 24 PRBs and a maximum of 272 PRBs. Currently, up to four frequency layers have been defined, and up to two PRS resource sets can be configured per TRP per frequency layer.

[0100] The concept of frequency layer is a bit like the concept of component carrier and bandwidth part (BWP), but the difference is that component carrier and BWP are used by one base station (or macro cell base station and small cell base station) to send data channels, while frequency layer is used by several (usually three or more) base stations to send PRS. When the UE sends its positioning capabilities to the network (such as during an LTE Positioning Protocol (LPP) session), the UE can indicate the number of frequency layers it can support. For example, the UE can indicate whether it can support one or four positioning frequency layers.

[0101] Figure 5BAn example of various channels within a downlink timeslot of a radio frame is shown. In NR, the channel bandwidth or system bandwidth is divided into multiple BWPs. A BWP is a contiguous set of PRBs selected from a contiguous subset of common RBs for a given digital scheme on a given carrier. Typically, up to four BWPs can be specified in the downlink and uplink. That is, a UE can be configured with up to four BWPs on the downlink and up to four BWPs on the uplink. At a given time, only one BWP (uplink or downlink) can be active, which means that the UE can only receive or transmit on one BWP at a time. On the downlink, the bandwidth of each BWP should be equal to or greater than the bandwidth of the SSB, but it may or may not contain an SSB.

[0102] Reference Figure 5B , the UE uses the primary synchronization signal (PSS) to determine the subframe / symbol timing and the physical layer identity. The UE uses the secondary synchronization signal (SSS) to determine the physical layer cell identity group number and the radio frame timing. Based on the physical layer identity and the physical layer cell identity group number, the UE can determine the PCI. Based on the PCI, the UE can determine the location of the aforementioned DL-RS. The physical broadcast channel (PBCH) carrying the MIB can be logically grouped with the PSS and SSS to form an SSB (also referred to as SS / PBCH). The MIB provides the number of RBs in the downlink system bandwidth and the system frame number (SFN). The physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) carries user data, broadcast system information not sent via the PBCH (such as system information blocks (SIBs)), and paging messages.

[0103] The physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) carries downlink control information (DCI) within one or more control channel elements (CCEs), each CCE includes one or more RE group (REG) bundles (which can span multiple symbols in the time domain), each REG bundle includes one or more REGs, each REG corresponds to 12 resource elements (one resource block) in the frequency domain and one OFDM symbol in the time domain. The set of physical resources used to carry PDCCH / DCI is called the control resource set (CORESET) in NR. In NR, PDCCH is restricted to a single CORESET and is transmitted with its own DMRS. This enables UE-specific beamforming for PDCCH.

[0104] exist Figure 5BIn the example of , there is one CORESET per BWP, and the CORESET spans three symbols in the time domain (but may span only one or two symbols). Unlike LTE control channels that occupy the entire system bandwidth, in NR, the PDCCH channel is confined to a specific area in the frequency domain (i.e., the CORESET). Therefore, Figure 5B The frequency components of the PDCCH shown are shown as being less than a single BWP in the frequency domain. Note that although the CORESET shown is contiguous in the frequency domain, it does not need to be contiguous. Furthermore, a CORESET may span less than three symbols in the time domain.

[0105] The DCI within the PDCCH carries information about uplink resource allocations (persistent and non-persistent) and a description of downlink data sent to the UE (referred to as uplink and downlink grants, respectively). More specifically, the DCI indicates resources scheduled for downlink data channels (e.g., PDSCH) and uplink data channels (e.g., PUSCH). Multiple (e.g., up to eight) DCIs can be configured in the PDCCH, and these DCIs can have one of a variety of formats. For example, there are different DCI formats for uplink scheduling, for downlink scheduling, for uplink transmit power control (TPC), etc. The PDCCH can be transmitted by 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16 CCEs to accommodate different DCI payload sizes or coding rates.

[0106] like Figure 5C As shown, some of the REs (labeled "R") carry DMRS for channel estimation at a receiver (e.g., a base station, another UE, etc.). In addition, the UE may send an SRS, for example, in the last symbol of a slot. The SRS may have a comb structure, and the UE may send the SRS on one of the combs. Figure 5C In the example shown, the SRS is shown on a comb-2 on one symbol. The base station can use SRS to obtain channel state information (CSI) for each UE. CSI describes how the RF signal propagates from the UE to the base station and represents the combined effects of scattering, fading, and power loss with distance. The system uses SRS for resource scheduling, link adaptation, massive MIMO, beam management, etc.

[0107] Currently, the SRS resource can span 1, 2, 4, 8, or 12 consecutive symbols within a slot for comb sizes of Comb-2, Comb-4, or Comb-8. The following are the frequency offsets from symbol to symbol for the currently supported SRS comb modes. 1-symbol comb-2: {0}; 2-symbol comb-2: {0,1}; 4-symbol comb-2: {0,1,0,1}; 4-symbol comb-4: {0,2,1,3}; 8-symbol comb-4: {0,2,1,3,0,2,1,3}; 12-symbol comb-4: {0,2,1,3,0,2,1,3,0,2,1,3}; 4-symbol comb-8: {0,4,2,6}; 8-symbol comb-8: {0,4,2,6,1,5,3,7}; and 12-symbol comb-8: {0,4,2,6,1,5,3,7,0,4,2,6}.

[0108] The set of resource elements used for the transmission of SRS is called "SRS resources" and can be identified by the parameter "SRS-ResourceId". The set of resource elements can span multiple PRBs in the frequency domain and N (e.g., one or more) consecutive symbols within a time slot in the time domain. In a given OFDM symbol, the SRS resources occupy consecutive PRBs. An "SRS resource set" is a set of SRS resources used for the transmission of SRS signals and is identified by an SRS resource set ID ("SRS-ResourceSetId").

[0109] Typically, the UE sends SRS to enable the receiving base station (serving base station or neighboring base station) to measure the channel quality between the UE and the base station. However, SRS can also be used as an uplink positioning reference signal for uplink positioning procedures such as UL-TDOA, multi-RTT, DL-AoA, etc.

[0110] Several enhancements to the previous definition of SRS have been proposed for SRS for positioning (also known as "UL-PRS"), such as new interleaving patterns within SRS resources (in addition to single symbol / comb-2), new comb types for SRS, new sequences for SRS, a higher number of SRS resource sets per component carrier, and a higher number of SRS resources per component carrier. In addition, the parameters "SpatialRelationInfo" and "PathLossReference" will be configured based on the downlink reference signal or SSB from the adjacent TRP. Further, one SRS resource can be sent outside the active BWP, and one SRS resource can span multiple component carriers. In addition, the SRS can be configured in the RRC connected state and sent only within the active BWP. In addition, there may be no frequency hopping, no repetition factor, a single antenna port, and new lengths for SRS (e.g., 8 and 12 symbols). There may also be open-loop power control instead of closed-loop power control, and comb-8 (i.e., SRS sent on every eighth subcarrier in the same symbol) can be used. Finally, a UE may transmit through the same transmit beam from multiple SRS resources for UL AoA. All of these are additional features of the current SRS framework, which is configured through RRC higher layer signaling (and potentially triggered or activated through MAC Control Element (CE) or DCI).

[0111] Figure 5D Examples of various channels within an uplink time slot of a frame according to various aspects of the present disclosure are shown. A random access channel (RACH), also known as a physical random access channel (PRACH), may be within one or more time slots within a frame based on a PRACH configuration. A PRACH may include six consecutive RB pairs within a time slot. The PRACH allows a UE to perform initial system access and achieve uplink synchronization. A physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) may be located at the edge of the uplink system bandwidth. The PUCCH carries uplink control information (UCI), such as scheduling requests, CSI reports, channel quality indicators (CQI), precoding matrix indicators (PMI), rank indicators (RI), and HARQ ACK / NACK feedback. A physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) carries data and may additionally be used to carry a buffer status report (BSR), a power headroom report (PHR), and / or UCI.

[0112] Note that the terms "positioning reference signal" and "PRS" generally refer to specific reference signals used for positioning in NR and LTE systems. However, as used herein, the terms "positioning reference signal" and "PRS" may also refer to any type of reference signal that may be used for positioning, such as, but not limited to, PRS, TRS, PTRS, CRS, CSI-RS, DMRS, PSS, SSS, SSB, SRS, UL-PRS, etc., as defined in LTE and NR. In addition, unless the context indicates otherwise, the terms "positioning reference signal" and "PRS" may refer to downlink or uplink positioning reference signals. If further distinction is needed between the types of PRS, the downlink positioning reference signal may be referred to as "DL-PRS", and the uplink positioning reference signal (e.g., SRS, PTRS used for positioning) may be referred to as "UL-PRS". In addition, for signals that may be sent in both uplink and downlink (e.g., DMRS, PTRS), "UL" or "DL" may be prefixed to the signal to distinguish the direction. For example, "UL-DMRS" may be distinguished from "DL-DMRS".

[0113] NR supports several cellular network-based positioning technologies, including downlink-based, uplink-based, and downlink- and uplink-based positioning methods. Downlink-based positioning methods include observed time difference of arrival (OTDOA) in LTE, downlink time difference of arrival (DL-TDOA) in NR, and downlink transmission angle (DL-AoD) in NR. In the OTDOA or DL-TDOA positioning process, the UE measures the difference between the arrival time (ToA) of the reference signals (e.g., PRS, TRS, CSI-RS, SSB, etc.) received from the base station (referred to as reference signal time difference (RSTD) or arrival time difference (TDOA) measurement) and reports them to the positioning entity. More specifically, the UE receives identifiers (IDs) of a reference base station (e.g., a serving base station) and multiple non-reference base stations in the auxiliary data. The UE then measures the RSTD between the reference base station and each non-reference base station. Based on the known positions of the base stations involved and the RSTD measurements, the positioning entity can estimate the position of the UE. For DL-AoD positioning, a base station measures the angle of a downlink transmit beam used to communicate with a UE and other channel characteristics (eg, signal strength) to estimate the position of the UE.

[0114] Uplink-based positioning methods include uplink time difference of arrival (UL-TDOA) and uplink angle of arrival (UL-AoA). UL-TDOA is similar to DL-TDOA, but is based on uplink reference signals (e.g., SRS) sent by the UE. For UL-AoA positioning, the base station measures the angle of the uplink receive beam used to communicate with the UE and other channel characteristics (e.g., gain level) to estimate the UE's position.

[0115] Downlink and uplink-based positioning methods include enhanced cell ID (E-CID) positioning and multi-round trip time (RTT) positioning (also referred to as "multi-cell RTT"). In the RTT process, the initiator (base station or UE) sends an RTT measurement signal (e.g., PRS or SRS) to the responder (UE or base station), and the responder sends an RTT response signal (e.g., SRS or PRS) back to the initiator. The RTT response signal includes the difference between the ToA of the RTT measurement signal and the transmission time of the RTT response signal, which is called the received to send (Rx-Tx) measurement. The initiator calculates the difference between the transmission time of the RTT measurement signal and the ToA of the RTT response signal, which is called the Tx-Rx measurement. The propagation time (also referred to as "flight time") between the initiator and the responder can be calculated based on the Tx-Rx and Rx-Tx measurements. Based on the propagation time and the known speed of light, the distance between the initiator and the responder can be determined. For multi-RTT positioning, the UE performs an RTT process with multiple base stations to triangulate its position based on the known position of the base station. RTT and multi-RTT methods can be combined with other positioning techniques such as UL-AoA and DL-AoD to improve location accuracy.

[0116] The E-CID positioning method is based on radio resource management (RRM) measurements. In E-CID, the UE reports the serving cell ID, timing advance (TA), and the identifiers of detected neighboring base stations, estimated timing and signal strength. The UE's position is then estimated based on this information and the known locations of the base stations.

[0117] To assist the positioning operation, a location server (e.g., location server 230, LMF 270, SLP 272) may provide assistance data to the UE. For example, the assistance data may include an identifier of the base station (or cell / TRP of the base station) from which the reference signal is measured, reference signal configuration parameters (e.g., the number of consecutive positioning subframes, the period of the positioning subframe, the mute sequence, the frequency hopping sequence, the reference signal identifier, the reference signal bandwidth, etc.), and / or other parameters applicable to a particular positioning method. Alternatively, the assistance data may be directly derived from the base station itself (e.g., in a periodically broadcast overhead message, etc.). In some cases, the UE is able to detect neighboring network nodes on its own without using assistance data.

[0118] In the case of OTDOA or DL-TDOA positioning process, the auxiliary data may also include the expected RSTD value and the associated uncertainty or search window around the expected RSTD. In some cases, the value range of the expected RSTD may be + / -500 microseconds (μs). In some cases, when any resource used for positioning measurement is in FR1, the value range for the expected RSTD uncertainty may be + / -32μs. In other cases, when all resources used for positioning measurement are in FR2, the value range of the uncertainty of the expected RSTD may be + / -8μs.

[0119] The position estimate may be referred to by other names, such as position estimate, location, position, position fix, fix, etc. The position estimate may be geodetic and include coordinates (e.g., latitude, longitude, and possibly altitude), or may be civil and include a street address, postal address, or some other verbal description of the location. The position estimate may also be defined relative to some other known location or in absolute terms (e.g., using latitude, longitude, and possibly altitude). The position estimate may include an expected error or uncertainty (e.g., by including an area or volume within which the position is expected to be included with some specified or default confidence level).

[0120] In LTE, at least in some cases, NR positioning measurements are reported via higher layer signaling, specifically, the LTE Positioning Protocol (LPP) and / or RRC. LPP is used point-to-point between a location server (e.g., location server 230, LMF 270, SLP 272) and a UE (e.g., any UE described herein) to position the UE using location-related measurements obtained from one or more reference sources. Figure 6 600 is a diagram illustrating an example LPP reference source for positioning. Figure 6 In the example of FIG. 5 , a target device (specifically, UE 604 (eg, any UE described herein)) communicates with a location server 630 (in Figure 6 UE 604 also receives / measures data from a first reference source (specifically, one or more base stations 602 (which may correspond to any base station described herein, and Figure 6 and a second reference source (specifically, one or more SPS satellites 620 (which may correspond to Figure 1 The wireless positioning signal of SV 112)) in.

[0121] An LPP session is used between the location server 630 and the UE 604 to obtain location-related measurements or location estimates or to transmit assistance data. A single LPP session is used to support a single location request (e.g., for a single mobile station called location request (MT-LR), mobile station originating location request (MO-LR), or network induced location request (NI-LR)). Multiple LPP sessions can be used between the same endpoints to support multiple different location requests. Each LPP session includes one or more LPP transactions, where each LPP transaction performs a single operation (e.g., capability exchange, auxiliary data transmission, location information transmission). LPP transactions are referred to as LPP procedures. The investigator of the LPP session investigates the first LPP transaction, but subsequent transactions can be investigated by either endpoint. LPP transactions within a session can occur serially or in parallel. Transaction identifiers are used at the LPP protocol level to indicate LPP transactions so that messages (e.g., requests and responses) are associated with each other. Messages within a transaction are linked by a common transaction identifier.

[0122] The LPP positioning method and associated signaling content are defined in the 3GPP LPP standard (3GPP Technical Specification (TS) 36.355, which is publicly available and incorporated herein by reference in its entirety). LPP signaling can be used to request and report measurements related to the following positioning methods: Observed Time Difference of Arrival (OTDOA), Downlink Time Difference of Arrival (DL-TDOA), Assisted Global Navigation Satellite System (A-GNSS), LTE Enhanced Cell Identity (E-CID), NR E-CID, Sensors, Terrestrial Beacon System (TBS), WLAN, Bluetooth, Downlink Angle of Transmission (DL-AoD), Uplink Angle of Arrival (UL-AoA), and Multiple Round Trip Time (RTT). Currently, an LPP measurement report may include the following measurements: (1) one or more time of arrival (ToA), time difference of arrival (TDOA), reference signal time difference (RSTD), or received to transmitted (Rx-Tx) measurements, (2) one or more AoA and / or AoD measurements (currently only used for base stations to report UL-AoA and DL-AoD to location server 630), (3) one or more multipath measurements (per-path ToA, reference signal received power (RSRP), AoA / AoD), (4) one or more motion states (e.g., walking, driving, etc.) and trajectories (currently only used for UE 604), and (5) one or more report quality indicators. In the present disclosure, positioning measurements (such as the example measurements just listed, and regardless of the positioning technology) may be collectively referred to as positioning state information (PSI).

[0123] UE 604 and / or location server 630 may obtain information from one or more reference sources (in Figure 6In the example shown in FIG. 6 , SPS satellites 620 and base stations 602 are used to derive location information. Each reference source can be used to calculate an independent estimate of the location of UE 604 using an associated positioning technique. Figure 6 In the example of , UE 604 is measuring characteristics (e.g., ToA, RSRP, RSTD, etc.) of positioning signals received from base station 602 to calculate or assist location server 630 in calculating an estimate of the position of UE 604 using one or more cellular network-based positioning methods (e.g., multi-RTT, OTDOA, DL-TDOA, DL-AoD, E-CID, etc.). Similarly, UE 604 is measuring characteristics (e.g., ToA) of GNSS signals received from SPS satellites 620 to triangulate its position in two or three dimensions based on the number of SPS satellites measured. In some cases, UE 604 or location server 630 can combine the position solutions derived from each of the different positioning technologies to improve the accuracy of the final position estimate.

[0124] As described above, the UE 604 uses LPP to report location-related measurements obtained from different reference sources (e.g., base stations 602, Bluetooth beacons, SPS satellites 620, WLAN access points, motion sensors, etc.). As an example, for GNSS-based positioning, the UE 604 uses the LPP information element (IE) "A-GNSS-ProvideLocationInformation" to provide location measurements (e.g., pseudoranges, location estimates, velocity, etc.) together with time information to the location server 630. It can also be used to provide error reasons specific to GNSS positioning. The "A-GNSS-ProvideLocationInformation" IE includes IEs such as "GNSS-SignalMeasurementInformation", "GNSS-LocationInformation", "GNSS-MeasurementList", and "GNSS-Error", etc. When the UE 604 provides the location server 630 with location and optional velocity information derived using GNSS or hybrid GNSS and other measurements, the UE 604 includes the "GNSS-LocationInformation" IE. The UE 604 uses the "GNSS-SignalMeasurementInformation" IE to provide the location server 630 with GNSS signal measurement information and GNSS network time association (if requested by the location server 630). This information includes measurements of code phase, Doppler, C / No, and optional accumulated carrier phase (also known as accumulated delta distance (ADR)), which implements the UE-assisted GNSS method, in which the position is calculated in the location server 630. The UE 604 uses the "GNSS-MeasurementList" IE to provide measurements of code phase, Doppler, C / No and / or optional accumulated carrier phase (or ADR).

[0125] As another example, for motion sensor-based positioning, currently supported positioning methods use air pressure sensors and motion sensors, as described in 3GPP TS 36.305 (which is publicly available and incorporated herein by reference in its entirety). UE 604 uses LPP IE "Sensor-ProvideLocationInformation" to provide location information for sensor-based methods to location server 630. It can also be used to provide sensor-specific error reasons. UE 604 uses "Sensor-MeasurementInformation" IE to provide sensor measurements (e.g., air pressure readings) to location server 630. UE 604 uses "Sensor-MotionInformation" to provide motion information to location server 630. Motion information may include a series of ordered points. UE 604 may obtain this information using one or more motion sensors (e.g., accelerometers, barometers, magnetometers, etc.).

[0126] As yet another example, for Bluetooth based positioning, the UE 604 uses the "BT-ProvideLocationInformation" IE to provide measurements of one or more Bluetooth beacons to the location server 630. This IE can also be used to provide error reasons specific to Bluetooth positioning.

[0127] Commercial positioning use cases (specifically including general commercial use cases as well as IoT and Industrial IoT (IIOT) use cases) require high accuracy (horizontal and vertical), low latency, network efficiency (e.g., scalability, reference signal overhead, etc.), and device efficiency (e.g., power consumption, complexity, etc.). It would be beneficial if existing positioning technologies could be used to meet the more stringent requirements of commercial use cases, especially for low latency.

[0128] NR positioning technology achieves high-precision positioning by using, for example, large-bandwidth positioning signals, beam scanning in the mmW frequency range, AoA and / or AoD measurements and reporting, and multi-cell RTT. However, NR positioning technology does not specifically address the low latency requirements of commercial use cases.

[0129] Some NR positioning technologies can provide lower latency than other NR positioning technologies. For example, UE-based positioning technologies (currently only implemented on the downlink) and positioning LMF in the RAN (for UE-assisted positioning technologies) provide lower latency. However, all measurement reports are still performed via LPP and / or RRC (e.g., RRC layer 445) using mechanisms similar to those in LTE; there is no low-latency reporting mechanism. Therefore, it would be beneficial to provide a (lower) latency reporting mechanism for existing positioning technologies. For example, in some IIoT situations, it would be beneficial to provide a latency of less than 100ms or even less than 10ms.

[0130] To achieve such latency targets, it would be beneficial to report positioning measurements at L1 (e.g., PHY layer 430) and / or L2 (e.g., SDAP layer 410, PDCP layer 415, RLC layer 420, and MAC layer 425). Note that L1 / L2 reporting reduces latency between the UE and the base station; latency between the base station and the location server can be addressed by positioning the location server in the RAN (e.g., as a component of the serving base station).

[0131] As described above, positioning measurements are currently reported via higher layer signaling (e.g., LPP, RRC). This includes measurement reports containing the following measurements: (1) one or more ToA, TDOA, RSTD, or Rx-Tx measurements, (2) one or more AoA and / or AoD measurements (currently only used for base stations to report downlink AoA and uplink AoD to location servers), (3) one or more multipath measurements (ToA, RSRP, AoA / AoD per path), (4) one or more motion states (e.g., walking, driving, etc.) and trajectories (currently only for UEs), and (5) one or more report quality indicators. As described above, in the present disclosure, such positioning measurements may be collectively referred to as PSIs.

[0132] The present disclosure describes PHY layer aspects that would be needed if PSI is reported at the PHY layer, e.g., PHY layer 430. More specifically, the present disclosure describes which reported quantities / parameters / measurements should be reported in the first part ("Part 1") of a two-part CSI report, which has a fixed length (or payload size), and which reported quantities / parameters / measurements should be reported in the second part ("Part 2"), which has a variable length (or payload size).

[0133] The UE is configured to send CSI reports at a certain period or when triggered by the network (e.g., serving base station, location server). The CSI report includes information indicating the quality of a given channel at a specific time. As described in 3GPP Technical Specification (TS) 38.212 (which is publicly available and incorporated herein by reference in its entirety), the CSI report includes a set of fields in a pre-specified order. Specifically, the CSI report may include the following parameters: channel quality indicator (CQI), precoding matrix indicator (PMI), CSI-RS resource indicator (CRI), SS / PBCH resource block indicator (SSBRI), rank indicator (RI) and / or layer 1 reference signal received power (L1-RSRP) and layer indicator (LI). For CSI acquisition and beam management, the UE may be configured with a CSI reporting setting in RRC signaling, where the CSI reporting setting may contain a parameter (e.g., "ReportQuantity") to indicate in which component carrier one or more CSI-related quantities (e.g., CRI, RI, PMI, CQI, L1-RSRP, etc.) are to be reported, and which uplink channel should be used to carry the reported CSI-related quantities (e.g., PUSCH or PUCCH).

[0134] The interpretation of some fields in the CSI report may depend on the values ​​of other fields. A single uplink transmission (on PUSCH or PUCCH) may contain multiple CSI reports, which are arranged according to the priorities defined in 3GPP TS 38.214, Section 5.2.5 (which is publicly available and incorporated herein by reference in its entirety). The priority depends on the reporting period (which may be aperiodic (A), semi-persistent (SP), or periodic (P) on PUSCH or PUCCH), the type (whether L1-RSRP), the serving cell index (in case of carrier aggregation), and the reporting configuration identifier (ID).

[0135] With a two-part CSI report, the first part of all reports is collected together, the second part of all reports is collected separately, and each collection is encoded separately. The number of coded bits / symbols to be output after coding and rate matching is calculated based on the number of input bits and the beta factor defined in 3GPP TS 38.212 (which is publicly available and incorporated herein by reference in its entirety).

[0136] Note that the fixed length of the payload of the first part of the CSI report is based on configuration parameters, while the variable length of the payload of the second part depends on the configuration and the content of the first part. In addition, a link is defined between the instance of the reference signal being measured and the corresponding CSI report.

[0137] The parameters reported in the CSI report are encoded in the UCI and mapped to the PUSCH or PUCCH, and the coding format used varies depending on both the physical channel used and the frequency granularity of the CSI report. The reason for the different coding schemes is that the payload size (length) of the CSI report typically varies with the UE's selection of CRI and RI. That is, the codebook size used for PMI reporting is different for different ranks, in particular typically for type IICSI reports and subband PMI reports, where the codebook size may vary significantly. Similarly, since one codeword is used up to rank-4 and two codewords are used for higher ranks, the number of CQI parameters included in the CSI report (which is given per codeword) will vary depending on the selection of rank.

[0138] For PUCCH-based CSI reporting with wideband frequency granularity, the variation in PMI / CQI payload (which depends on the selected rank) is not too large, and therefore, a single packet encoding all CSI parameters in the UCI is used. Since the base station needs to know the UCI payload size (length) in order to decode the transmission, the UCI can be padded with a number of dummy bits (e.g., "0") corresponding to the difference between the maximum UCI payload size (i.e., corresponding to the RI that causes the maximum PMI / CQI overhead) and the actual payload size of the CSI report. This ensures that the payload size is fixed regardless of the UE's RI selection. If this measure is not taken, the base station will have to blindly detect the UCI payload size and try to decode all possible UCI payload sizes, which is not practical.

[0139] However, for PUCCH-based CSI with subband frequency granularity and PUSCH-based CSI reporting, always padding the CSI report to the worst-case UCI payload size would result in too much overhead. For these cases, the CSI content / report is instead divided into two CSI parts: part 1 and part 2. CSI part 1 has a fixed payload size (and can therefore be decoded by the base station without a priori information), and CSI part 2 has a variable payload size. Information about the payload size of CSI part 2 can be derived from the CSI parameters in CSI part 1. That is, the base station first decodes the CSI part to obtain a subset of the CSI parameters, and then based on these CSI parameters, the base station can infer the payload size of CSI part 2. The base station can then decode CSI part 2 to obtain the remainder of the CSI parameters.

[0140] The present disclosure proposes reporting positioning quantities / measurements (i.e., PSI) in CSI Part 1 and Part 2 reports. It is expected that some reported quantities / measurements result in changes in the size of the UCI. It is up to the UE to choose which type of measurement to report and the size of each measurement vector (e.g., RSTD, RSRP, Rx-Tx, etc.). This is because the number of TRPs that can be detected / reported depends on the UE's choice, the availability of PRSs to measure from the TRPs, etc. Note that a measurement vector may include up to 256 measurements, as currently, the UE may be configured to measure up to 256 TRPs. Therefore, in Part 1 of the CSI report, the UE may report the size of each measurement vector (i.e., the number of measurements) and may also report the type of measurement vector. For example, the UE may report the type of measurement vector using a bit string of "X" bits, where each bit corresponds to a specific type of measurement to be reported (e.g., RSTD, RSRP, Rx-Tx, etc.). Then, "X" numbers are reported in Part 1, where each number indicates the size of one of the "X" measurement vectors reported in Part 2.

[0141] For example, if the UE is to report three measurement vectors for three different types of measurements (X=3), the bit string will have a length of three bits. The first bit may indicate a first type of measurement (e.g., RSTD), the second bit may indicate a second type of measurement (e.g., ToA), and the third bit may indicate a third type of measurement (e.g., RSRP). CSI Part 1 will then include three additional digits, one for each measurement vector, and representing the number of measurements in the measurement vector. The first digit indicates the size of the measurement vector for the first type of measurement, the second digit indicates the size of the measurement vector for the second type of measurement, and the third digit indicates the size of the measurement vector for the third type of measurement.

[0142] The types of positioning measurement vectors may include, but are not limited to: RSTD vector and timestamp, UE Rx-Tx vector and timestamp, RSRP vector and timestamp, quality metric vector and timestamp, speed vector timestamp, ToA vector and timestamp, multi-radial quantity and timestamp, line of sight (LOS) / non-line of sight (NLOS) metric (used to indicate the possibility / confidence that the measurement has a LOS or NLOS path) and timestamp, and SINR vector and timestamp. Note that the RSRP measurement for positioning purposes may be an RSRP metric for a PRS and may also be referred to as PRS RSRP.

[0143] The timestamp associated with each vector is an additional value that indicates the time period during which the measurement was made or the time period during which the measurement is valid. More specifically, currently, for downlink RSTD, downlink PRS RSRP and UE Rx-Tx measurements, the UE may report the associated higher layer (e.g., LPP, RRC) parameter "timestamp". This timestamp may include the SFN and slot number for a particular subcarrier spacing. These values ​​correspond to the reference provided by the parameter "DL-PRS-RSTDReferenceInfo".

[0144] According to the techniques of the present disclosure, the UE may select whether the timestamp type is SFN or SFN plus slot offset (or another type of timestamp). Part 1 of the CSI report may then include one (or more) bits indicating the timestamp type (e.g., SFN or SFN plus slot offset) of the timestamp to be reported in the CSI Part 2 report (as opposed to higher layer signaling). The bits may be reported for each measurement type / vector. For example, for RSTD measurements, the timestamp type may be SFN only, while for Rx Tx measurements, the timestamp type may be SFN plus slot offset.

[0145] In some cases, as long as the downlink PRS resources used belong to a single downlink PRS resource set, the UE may use different downlink PRS resources or different downlink PRS resource sets or even different TRPs to determine the reference time for RSTD measurement. If the UE chooses to use a reference time different from the reference time indicated by the network (e.g., serving base station or location server) in the positioning assistance data, the UE is expected to report the downlink PRS resource ID, downlink PRS resource set ID and / or TRP ID used to determine the reference time. In order to identify a specific PRS resource, the UE needs to identify the PRS resource, the PRS resource set to which the PRS resource belongs, and the TRP to which the PRS resource set belongs. In order to identify a specific PRS resource set, the UE needs to identify the TRP to which the PRS resource set belongs. Therefore, in this case, the CSI Part 1 report may include an indication of whether the UE has selected its own reference PRS resource, PRS resource set and / or TRP so that the receiver knows whether the UE has added a certain reference PRS source, PRS source set and / or TRP in the CSI report.

[0146] In some cases, when the UE reports downlink PRS RSRP measurements from one downlink PRS resource set, the UE may indicate which downlink PRS RSRP measurements have been performed using the same spatial domain filter (i.e., the same downlink receive beam) for reception. For example, for each TRP, the UE may report up to eight RSRPs. One or more of these eight RSRPs may be received / measured using the same downlink receive beam as one or more other of the eight RSRPs. Therefore, the UE will need to label each RSRP associated with a given TRP with a group ID from "1" to "8". The two extreme cases are: all (up to eight) RSRPs are the same, which means that all RSRPs associated with the TRP have the same group ID; or all RSRPs are different, which means that each RSRP has its own group ID.

[0147] According to the techniques of the present disclosure, in these cases, the UE can determine the number of groups (one group per beam) of RSRPs associated with a given TRP that can be received / measured using the same downlink receive beam. Therefore, the UE can report in CSI Part 1 how many groups of "same-beam-RSRPs" it plans to report in CSI Part 2, as well as the length of each group (i.e., the number of RSRPs). This information (i.e., the number of groups and the length of each group) can be jointly encoded into a bit string. Then, in CSI Part 2, the UE can simply sort the RSRPs according to the reported group numbers. For example, the UE can list the RSRPs consecutively, starting with the first group, then the second group, and so on. Since the receiver knows the number of RSRPs in each group from CSI Part 1, the receiver knows where each group starts and ends by simply counting the number of RSRPs from beginning to end.

[0148] In some cases, the UE may be configured to report up to four downlink RSTD measurements per cell pair (reference cell and non-reference cell), depending on the capabilities of the UE, where each measurement is between different downlink PRS resources or downlink PRS resource set pairs within the downlink PRS configured for the cell pair. Currently, up to four measurements performed on the same cell pair and all downlink RSTD measurements in the same report use a single reference timing.

[0149] According to the techniques of the present disclosure, in these cases, the UE may report in CSI Part 1 how many RSTD, RSRP, and / or Rx-Tx measurements it plans to report for each TRP in CSI Part 2. Then, in CSI Part 2, the UE reports the specified measurements.

[0150] In some cases, for downlink UE positioning measurement reports in higher layer parameters "DL-PRS-RstdMeasurementInfo" or "DL-PRS-UE-Rx-Tx-MeasurementInfo", the UE may be configured to report a downlink PRS resource ID or downlink PRS resource set ID associated with a downlink PRS resource or downlink PRS resource set used in determining downlink RSTD, UE Tx-Rx, and / or downlink PRS RSRP measurements. In accordance with the techniques of the present disclosure, in these cases, the UE may report in CSI Part 1 whether it will report a downlink PRS resource ID or downlink PRS resource set ID used to determine the measurements. Then, in CSI Part 2, the UE reports the corresponding downlink PRS resource ID or downlink PRS resource set ID.

[0151] Although it has been described above that the UE reports the type, number, or both of the positioning measurement sets in the CSI Part 1 report and reports the actual positioning measurements in the CSI Part 2 report, in some cases, the UE may instead report the actual positioning measurements in the CSI Part 1 report, for example, where the measurements are of a fixed size and / or short length (i.e., the number of bits required to report the measurements is below a certain threshold).

[0152] Note that in some cases, the UE may send a first physical layer message (similar to the CSI part 1 report) and a second physical layer message (similar to the CSI part 2 report) as device-to-device messages on the physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) instead of sending the CSI part 1 report and the CSI part 2 report to the base station on the PUCCH.

[0153] Figure 7 An exemplary method 700 of wireless communication in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is shown. In one aspect, the method 700 may be performed by a UE (eg, any UE described herein).

[0154] At 710, the UE performs a plurality of positioning measurements on a plurality of PRSs transmitted by at least one network node (e.g., the UE or a TRP). In one aspect, operation 710 may be performed by the WWAN transceiver 310, the processing system 332, the memory component 340, and / or the positioning component 342, any or all of which may be considered as a means for performing the operation.

[0155] At 720, the UE sends a first physical layer message (e.g., a CSI part 1 report) having a fixed payload size, wherein the first physical layer message includes at least an indication of a type, a number, or both of a first set of positioning measurements of a plurality of positioning measurements to be included in a second physical layer message (e.g., a CSI part 2 report) having a variable payload size. In one aspect, operation 720 may be performed by the WWAN transceiver 310, the processing system 332, the memory component 340, and / or the positioning component 342, any or all of which may be considered as a means for performing the operation.

[0156] At 730, the UE sends a second physical layer message having a variable payload size, wherein the second physical layer message includes at least the first positioning measurement set, and wherein the variable payload size of the second physical layer message is based on at least the type, quantity, or both of the first positioning measurement set. In one aspect, operation 730 may be performed by WWAN transceiver 310, processing system 332, memory component 340, and / or positioning component 342, any or all of which may be considered as a means for performing the operation.

[0157] Figure 8 An exemplary method 800 of wireless communication in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is shown. In one aspect, the method 800 may be performed by a network node (eg, any base station described herein, a location server integrated into any base station described herein, or any UE described herein).

[0158] At 810, the network node receives a first physical layer message having a fixed payload size (e.g., a CSI part 1 report or a sidelink physical layer message carrying similar information) from a UE (e.g., any UE described herein), wherein the first physical layer message includes at least an indication of the type, quantity, or both of a first positioning measurement set to be included in a second physical layer message having a variable payload size (e.g., a CSI part 2 report or a sidelink physical layer message carrying similar information). In one aspect, where the network node is a UE, operation 810 may be performed by the WWAN transceiver 310, the processing system 332, the memory component 340, and / or the positioning component 342, any one or all of which may be considered as a unit for performing the operation. Note that if the network node is a UE, the UE may receive the first physical layer message on a sidelink. In one aspect, where the network node is a base station, operation 810 may be performed by the WWAN transceiver 350, the processing system 384, the memory component 386, and / or the positioning component 388, any one or all of which may be considered as a unit for performing the operation. In the case where the network node is a location server integrated into a base station, operation 810 may be performed by WWAN transceiver 390, processing system 394, memory component 396, and / or positioning component 398, any or all of which may be considered as a means for performing the operation.

[0159] At 820, the network node receives a second physical layer message having a variable payload size from the UE, wherein the second physical layer message includes at least a first positioning measurement set, and wherein the variable payload size of the second physical layer message is based at least on the type, quantity, or both of the first positioning measurement set. In one aspect, where the network node is a UE, operation 820 may be performed by the WWAN transceiver 310, the processing system 332, the memory component 340, and / or the positioning component 342, any one or all of which may be considered as a unit for performing the operation. Note that if the network node is a UE, the UE may receive the second physical layer message on a sidelink. In one aspect, where the network node is a base station, operation 820 may be performed by the WWAN transceiver 350, the processing system 384, the memory component 386, and / or the positioning component 388, any one or all of which may be considered as a unit for performing the operation. In the case where the network node is a location server integrated into a base station, operation 820 may be performed by WWAN transceiver 390, processing system 394, memory component 396, and / or positioning component 398, any or all of which may be considered as a means for performing the operation.

[0160] As will be appreciated, a technical advantage of methods 700 and 800 is (much) lower latency reporting (eg, measurements, position estimates) for existing positioning techniques.

[0161] Implementation examples are described in the following numbered clauses:

[0162] Clause 1. A method of wireless communication performed by a user equipment (UE), comprising: performing multiple positioning measurements on multiple positioning reference signals (PRS) sent by at least one network node; sending a first physical layer message having a fixed payload size, wherein the first physical layer message includes at least an indication of the type, quantity, or both of a first positioning measurement set among the multiple positioning measurements to be included in a second physical layer message having a variable payload size; and sending the second physical layer message having the variable payload size, wherein the second physical layer message includes at least the first positioning measurement set, and wherein the variable payload size of the second physical layer message is based at least on the type, quantity, or both of the first positioning measurement set.

[0163] Clause 2. The method of clause 1, wherein the first physical layer message and the second physical layer message are a first part and a second part of a channel state information (CSI) report.

[0164] Clause 3. A method as described in clause 2, wherein the CSI report is sent on a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) or a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH).

[0165] Clause 4. The method of clause 1, wherein the first physical layer message and the second physical layer message are device-to-device messages sent on a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH).

[0166] Clause 5. A method as described in any of clauses 1-4, wherein the first positioning measurement set is a first positioning measurement vector.

[0167] Clause 6. A method according to any one of clauses 1-5, wherein: the first physical layer message includes an indication of the type, quantity, or both of a second positioning measurement set of the multiple positioning measurements to be included in the second physical layer message, and at least the type of the second positioning measurement set is different from the type of the first positioning measurement set.

[0168] Clause 7. A method according to Clause 6, wherein: the indication of the type of the first positioning measurement set and the indication of the type of the second positioning measurement set are each bits in a bit string in the first physical layer message, and each bit in the bit string represents a different type of positioning measurement.

[0169] Clause 8. A method as described in any of clauses 1-7, wherein the first positioning measurement set is associated with a timestamp included in the second physical layer message.

[0170] Clause 9. A method according to clause 8, wherein the type of the timestamp is a system frame number during which the first positioning measurement set is valid, or a system frame number and a time slot offset during which the first positioning measurement set is valid.

[0171] Clause 10. The method of clause 9, wherein at least one bit in the first physical layer message indicates the type of the timestamp.

[0172] Clause 11. A method according to any one of clauses 1-10, wherein: the type of the first positioning measurement set is a reference signal time difference (RSTD) measurement, the UE selects a different TRP, a PRS resource set or one or more PRS resources than those provided to the UE in the positioning assistance data as a reference time for each positioning measurement in the first positioning measurement set, the first physical layer message includes an indication of the different TRP, the PRS resource set or the one or more PRS resources, and the second physical layer message includes an identifier of the different TRP, the PRS resource set or the one or more PRS resources.

[0173] Clause 12. A method according to any one of clauses 1-10, wherein: the type of the first positioning measurement set is reference signal received power (RSRP) measurement, the UE assigns a group identifier to each positioning measurement in the first positioning measurement set performed using the same downlink receive beam, the first physical layer message includes the number of group identifiers and the number of the first positioning measurement sets in each group, and the second physical layer message includes the first positioning measurement set in the order in which the group identifiers are reported in the first physical layer message.

[0174] Clause 13. A method according to any one of clauses 1-12, wherein the indication of the number of the first positioning measurement sets indicates that the first positioning measurement sets are performed on positioning reference signals sent by the same TRP.

[0175] Clause 14. A method according to any one of clauses 1-13, wherein: the first physical layer message includes an indication of whether the second physical layer message includes a PRS resource identifier or a PRS resource set identifier for determining the first positioning measurement set, and the second physical layer message includes the PRS resource identifier or the PRS resource set identifier for determining the first positioning measurement set.

[0176] Clause 15. A method according to any one of clauses 1-14, wherein the first positioning measurement set includes one or more RSTD measurements, one or more UE received-transmit (Rx-Tx) measurements, one or more RSRP measurements, one or more quality metric measurements, one or more speed measurements, one or more arrival time measurements, one or more multipath measurements, one or more line-of-sight (LOS) and / or non-line-of-sight (NLOS) measurements, or one or more signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) measurements.

[0177] Clause 16. A method as described in any of clauses 1-15, wherein the UE sends the first physical layer message and the second physical layer message to a positioning entity.

[0178] Clause 17. A method as described in Clause 16, wherein the positioning entity is a serving base station of the UE.

[0179] Clause 18. The method of clause 16, wherein the positioning entity is a location server.

[0180] Clause 19. A method of wireless communication performed by a network node, comprising: receiving a first physical layer message having a fixed payload size from a user equipment (UE), wherein the first physical layer message includes at least an indication of a type, a number, or both of a first positioning measurement set to be included in a second physical layer message having a variable payload size; and receiving a second physical layer message having the variable payload size from the UE, wherein the second physical layer message includes at least the first positioning measurement set, and wherein the variable payload size of the second physical layer message is based at least on the type, the number, or both of the first positioning measurement set.

[0181] Clause 20. The method of clause 19, wherein the first physical layer message and the second physical layer message are a first part and a second part of a channel state information (CSI) report.

[0182] Clause 21. A method as described in clause 20, wherein the CSI report is received on a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) or a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH).

[0183] Clause 22. A method as defined in any of clauses 19-21, wherein the first positioning measurement set is a first positioning measurement vector.

[0184] Clause 23. A method according to any one of clauses 19-22, wherein: the first physical layer message includes an indication of the type, quantity, or both of a second positioning measurement set to be included in the second physical layer message, and at least the type of the second positioning measurement set is different from the type of the first positioning measurement set.

[0185] Clause 24. A method according to clause 23, wherein: the indication of the type of the first positioning measurement set and the indication of the type of the second positioning measurement set are each bits in a bit string in the first physical layer message, and each bit in the bit string represents a different type of positioning measurement.

[0186] Clause 25. A method as described in any of clauses 19-24, wherein the first positioning measurement set is associated with a timestamp included in the second physical layer message.

[0187] Clause 26. A method according to clause 25, wherein the type of the timestamp is a system frame number during which the first positioning measurement set is valid, or a system frame number and a time slot offset during which the first positioning measurement set is valid.

[0188] Clause 27. The method of clause 26, wherein at least one bit in the first physical layer message indicates the type of the timestamp.

[0189] Clause 28. A method according to any one of clauses 19-27, wherein: the type of the first positioning measurement set is a reference signal time difference (RSTD) measurement, the UE selects a different transmit receive point (TRP), positioning reference signal (PRS) resource set or one or more PRS resources than those provided to the UE in the positioning assistance data as a reference time for each positioning measurement in the first positioning measurement set, the first physical layer message includes an indication of the different TRP, the PRS resource set or the one or more PRS resources, and the second physical layer message includes an identifier of the different TRP, the PRS resource set or the one or more PRS resources.

[0190] Clause 29. A method according to any one of clauses 19-27, wherein: the type of the first positioning measurement set is reference signal received power (RSRP) measurement, the UE assigns a group identifier to each positioning measurement in the first positioning measurement set performed using the same downlink receive beam, the first physical layer message includes the number of group identifiers and the number of the first positioning measurement sets in each group, and the second physical layer message includes the first positioning measurement set in the order in which the group identifiers are reported in the first physical layer message.

[0191] Clause 30. A method according to any of clauses 19-29, wherein the indication of the number of the first positioning measurement sets indicates that the first positioning measurement sets are performed on positioning reference signals sent by the same TRP.

[0192] Clause 31. A method according to any one of clauses 19-30, wherein: the first physical layer message includes an indication of whether the second physical layer message includes a PRS resource identifier or a PRS resource set identifier for determining the first positioning measurement set, and the second physical layer message includes the PRS resource identifier or the PRS resource set identifier for determining the first positioning measurement set.

[0193] Clause 32. A method according to any one of clauses 19-31, wherein the first positioning measurement set includes one or more RSTD measurements, one or more UE received-transmit (Rx-Tx) measurements, one or more RSRP measurements, one or more quality metric measurements, one or more speed measurements, one or more arrival time measurements, one or more multipath measurements, one or more line-of-sight (LOS) and / or non-line-of-sight (NLOS) measurements, or one or more signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) measurements.

[0194] Clause 33. A method according to any of clauses 19-32, wherein: the network node is a serving base station of the UE, or the network node is a location server integrated into the serving base station of the UE.

[0195] Clause 34. A method as described in any of clauses 19-32, wherein the network node is a second UE connected to the UE via a sidelink.

[0196] Clause 35. An apparatus comprising a memory and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory, the memory and the at least one processor configured to perform the method of any of clauses 1 to 34.

[0197] Clause 36. An apparatus comprising means for performing the method according to any one of clauses 1 to 34.

[0198] Clause 37. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions, the computer-executable instructions comprising at least one instruction for causing an apparatus to perform the method of any one of clauses 1 to 34.

[0199] It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that information and signals may be represented using any of a variety of different techniques and methods. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be mentioned throughout the above description may be represented by voltage, current, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

[0200] In addition, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the various illustrative logic blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described in conjunction with the aspects disclosed herein can be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or a combination of the two. In order to clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, the above has been generally described around the functions of various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps. Whether such functions are implemented as hardware or software depends on the specific application and the design constraints imposed on the entire system. A skilled person can implement the described functions in an alternative manner for each specific application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as resulting in a departure from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0201] The various illustrative logic blocks, modules, and circuits described in conjunction with the various aspects disclosed herein may be implemented or performed using a general purpose processor, a DSP, an ASIC, an FPGA, or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in an alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. The processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices (e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration).

[0202] The methods, sequences and / or algorithms described in conjunction with the various aspects disclosed herein may be directly embodied in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. The software module may be located in a random access memory (RAM), a flash memory, a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), a register, a hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An example storage medium may be coupled to a processor so that the processor can read information from the storage medium and write information to the storage medium. In an alternative manner, the storage medium may be an integral part of the processor. The processor and the storage medium may be located in an ASIC. The ASIC may be located in a user terminal (e.g., UE). In an alternative manner, the processor and the storage medium may be discrete components in a user device.

[0203] In one or more example aspects, the described functions can be implemented with hardware, software, firmware or any combination thereof. If implemented with software, the functions can be stored on a computer-readable medium or transmitted by it as one or more instructions or codes. Computer-readable media can include both computer storage media and communication media, and the communication media includes any medium that promotes the transmission of computer programs from one place to another. Storage media can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example and not limitation, such computer-readable media can include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or can be used to carry or store desired program codes and any other medium that can be accessed by a computer in the form of instructions or data structures. In addition, any connection is appropriately referred to as a computer-readable medium. For example, if software is sent from a website, server or other remote source using coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL) or wireless technology (such as infrared, radio and microwave), coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL or wireless technology (such as infrared, radio and microwave) are included in the definition of medium. As used herein, disk and disc include compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk and Blu-ray disc, wherein disk usually reproduces data magnetically, while disc utilizes laser to reproduce data optically. Combinations of the above should also be included in the scope of computer readable media.

[0204] Although the foregoing disclosure shows the illustrative aspects of the disclosure, it should be noted that various changes and modifications may be made herein without departing from the scope of the disclosure as defined by the appended claims. The steps and / or actions of the method claims according to the various aspects of the disclosure described herein do not need to be performed in any particular order. In addition, although the elements of the disclosure may be described or claimed in the singular, the plural form is contemplated unless expressly stated to be limited to the singular form.

Claims

1. A method of wireless communication performed by a user equipment (UE), comprising: performing a plurality of positioning measurements on a plurality of positioning reference signals (PRS) transmitted by at least one network node; sending a first physical layer message having a fixed payload size, wherein the first physical layer message includes at least an indication of a type, a number, or both of a first set of positioning measurements of the plurality of positioning measurements to be included in a second physical layer message having a variable payload size; and Sending the second physical layer message having the variable payload size, wherein the second physical layer message includes at least the first positioning measurement set, and wherein the variable payload size of the second physical layer message is based on at least the type, the number, or both of the first positioning measurement set.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The first physical layer message and the second physical layer message are a first part and a second part of a channel state information (CSI) report.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein: The CSI report is sent on the Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) or the Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH).

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The first physical layer message and the second physical layer message are device-to-device messages sent on a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH).

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The first positioning measurement set is a first positioning measurement vector.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The first physical layer message includes an indication of a type, a number, or both, of a second set of positioning measurements in the plurality of positioning measurements to be included in the second physical layer message, and At least a type of the second positioning measurement set is different from a type of the first positioning measurement set.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein: The indication of the type of the first positioning measurement set and the indication of the type of the second positioning measurement set are each bits in a bit string in the first physical layer message, Each bit in the bit string represents a different type of positioning measurement.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The first positioning measurement set is associated with a timestamp included in the second physical layer message.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein: The type of the timestamp is a system frame number during which the first positioning measurement set is valid, or a system frame number and a time slot offset during which the first positioning measurement set is valid.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein: At least one bit in the first physical layer message indicates the type of the timestamp.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The type of the first positioning measurement set is a reference signal time difference (RSTD) measurement, The UE selects, as a reference time for each positioning measurement in the first positioning measurement set, a different TRP, a PRS resource set, or one or more PRS resources than those provided to the UE in positioning assistance data, The first physical layer message includes an indication of the different TRP, the PRS resource set or the one or more PRS resources, and The second physical layer message includes the different TRP, the PRS resource set or an identifier of the one or more PRS resources.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein: The type of the first positioning measurement set is a reference signal received power (RSRP) measurement, The UE assigns a group identifier to each positioning measurement in the first positioning measurement set performed using the same downlink receive beam, The first physical layer message includes the number of group identifiers and the number of the first positioning measurement sets in each group, and The second physical layer message includes the first positioning measurement set in an order in which the group identifiers are reported in the first physical layer message.

13. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The indication of the number of the first positioning measurement sets indicates that the first positioning measurement sets are performed on positioning reference signals sent by the same TRP.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein: The first physical layer message includes an indication of whether the second physical layer message includes a PRS resource identifier or a PRS resource set identifier used to determine the first positioning measurement set, and The second physical layer message includes the PRS resource identifier or the PRS resource set identifier used to determine the first positioning measurement set.

15. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The first positioning measurement set includes one or more RSTD measurements, one or more UE received to transmit (Rx-Tx) measurements, one or more RSRP measurements, one or more quality metric measurements, one or more speed measurements, one or more arrival time measurements, one or more multipath measurements, one or more line-of-sight (LOS) and / or non-line-of-sight (NLOS) measurements, or one or more signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) measurements.

16. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The UE sends the first physical layer message and the second physical layer message to a positioning entity.

17. The method according to claim 16, wherein: The positioning entity is a serving base station of the UE.

18. The method according to claim 16, wherein: The positioning entity is a location server.

19. A method of wireless communication performed by a network node, comprising: receiving, from a user equipment (UE), a first physical layer message having a fixed payload size, wherein the first physical layer message includes at least an indication of a type, a number, or both of a first positioning measurement set to be included in a second physical layer message having a variable payload size; and The second physical layer message having the variable payload size is received from the UE, wherein the second physical layer message includes at least the first positioning measurement set, and wherein the variable payload size of the second physical layer message is based on at least the type, the number, or both of the first positioning measurement set.

20. The method according to claim 19, wherein: The first physical layer message and the second physical layer message are a first part and a second part of a channel state information (CSI) report.

21. The method according to claim 20, wherein: The CSI report is received on a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) or a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH).

22. The method according to claim 19, wherein: The first positioning measurement set is a first positioning measurement vector.

23. The method of claim 19, wherein: The first physical layer message includes an indication of a type, a quantity, or both, of a second positioning measurement set to be included in the second physical layer message, and At least a type of the second positioning measurement set is different from a type of the first positioning measurement set.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein: The indication of the type of the first positioning measurement set and the indication of the type of the second positioning measurement set are each bits in a bit string in the first physical layer message, Each bit in the bit string represents a different type of positioning measurement.

25. The method of claim 19, wherein: The first positioning measurement set is associated with a timestamp included in the second physical layer message.

26. The method according to claim 25, wherein: The type of the timestamp is a system frame number during which the first positioning measurement set is valid, or a system frame number and a time slot offset during which the first positioning measurement set is valid.

27. The method according to claim 26, wherein: At least one bit in the first physical layer message indicates the type of the timestamp.

28. The method of claim 19, wherein: The type of the first positioning measurement set is a reference signal time difference (RSTD) measurement, The UE selects, as a reference time for each positioning measurement in the first positioning measurement set, a different transmit reception point (TRP), a positioning reference signal (PRS) resource set, or one or more PRS resources than those provided to the UE in positioning assistance data, The first physical layer message includes an indication of the different TRP, the PRS resource set or the one or more PRS resources, and The second physical layer message includes the different TRP, the PRS resource set or an identifier of the one or more PRS resources.

29. The method of claim 19, wherein: The type of the first positioning measurement set is a reference signal received power (RSRP) measurement, The UE assigns a group identifier to each positioning measurement in the first positioning measurement set performed using the same downlink receive beam, The first physical layer message includes the number of group identifiers and the number of the first positioning measurement sets in each group, and The second physical layer message includes the first positioning measurement set in an order in which the group identifiers are reported in the first physical layer message.

30. The method of claim 19, wherein: The indication of the number of the first positioning measurement sets indicates that the first positioning measurement sets are performed on positioning reference signals sent by the same TRP.

31. The method of claim 19, wherein: The first physical layer message includes an indication of whether the second physical layer message includes a PRS resource identifier or a PRS resource set identifier used to determine the first positioning measurement set, and The second physical layer message includes the PRS resource identifier or the PRS resource set identifier used to determine the first positioning measurement set.

32. The method of claim 19, wherein: The first positioning measurement set includes one or more RSTD measurements, one or more UE received to transmit (Rx-Tx) measurements, one or more RSRP measurements, one or more quality metric measurements, one or more speed measurements, one or more arrival time measurements, one or more multipath measurements, one or more line-of-sight (LOS) and / or non-line-of-sight (NLOS) measurements, or one or more signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) measurements.

33. The method of claim 19, wherein: The network node is a serving base station of the UE, or The network node is a location server integrated into the serving base station of the UE.

34. The method of claim 19, wherein: The network node is a second UE connected to the UE via a sidelink.

35. A user equipment (UE), comprising: Memory; at least one transceiver; as well as at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor configured to: performing a plurality of positioning measurements on a plurality of positioning reference signals (PRS) transmitted by at least one network node; causing the at least one transceiver to transmit a first physical layer message having a fixed payload size, wherein the first physical layer message includes at least an indication of a type, a number, or both of a first set of positioning measurements of the plurality of positioning measurements to be included in a second physical layer message having a variable payload size; and Causes the at least one transceiver to send the second physical layer message having the variable payload size, wherein the second physical layer message includes at least the first positioning measurement set, and wherein the variable payload size of the second physical layer message is based on at least the type, the number, or both of the first positioning measurement set.

36. The UE according to claim 35, wherein: The first physical layer message and the second physical layer message are a first part and a second part of a channel state information (CSI) report.

37. The UE according to claim 36, wherein: The CSI report is sent on the Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) or the Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH).

38. The UE according to claim 35, wherein: The first physical layer message and the second physical layer message are device-to-device messages sent on a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH).

39. The UE according to claim 35, wherein: The first positioning measurement set is a first positioning measurement vector.

40. The UE of claim 35, wherein: The first physical layer message includes an indication of a type, a number, or both, of a second set of positioning measurements in the plurality of positioning measurements to be included in the second physical layer message, and At least a type of the second positioning measurement set is different from a type of the first positioning measurement set.

41. The UE according to claim 40, wherein: The indication of the type of the first positioning measurement set and the indication of the type of the second positioning measurement set are each bits in a bit string in the first physical layer message, Each bit in the bit string represents a different type of positioning measurement.

42. The UE according to claim 35, wherein: The first positioning measurement set is associated with a timestamp included in the second physical layer message.

43. The UE according to claim 42, wherein: The type of the timestamp is a system frame number during which the first positioning measurement set is valid, or a system frame number and a time slot offset during which the first positioning measurement set is valid.

44. The UE according to claim 43, wherein: At least one bit in the first physical layer message indicates the type of the timestamp.

45. The UE of claim 35, wherein: The type of the first positioning measurement set is a reference signal time difference (RSTD) measurement, The at least one processor selects a different TRP, a different set of PRS resources, or one or more PRS resources than provided to the UE in positioning assistance data as a reference time for each positioning measurement in the first positioning measurement set, The first physical layer message includes an indication of the different TRP, the PRS resource set or the one or more PRS resources, and The second physical layer message includes the different TRP, the PRS resource set or an identifier of the one or more PRS resources.

46. ​​The UE of claim 35, wherein: The type of the first positioning measurement set is a reference signal received power (RSRP) measurement, the at least one processor assigning a group identifier to each positioning measurement in the first set of positioning measurements performed using the same downlink receive beam, The first physical layer message includes the number of group identifiers and the number of the first positioning measurement sets in each group, and The second physical layer message includes the first positioning measurement set in an order in which the group identifiers are reported in the first physical layer message.

47. The UE according to claim 35, wherein: The indication of the number of the first positioning measurement sets indicates that the first positioning measurement sets are performed on positioning reference signals sent by the same TRP.

48. The UE of claim 35, wherein: The first physical layer message includes an indication of whether the second physical layer message includes a PRS resource identifier or a PRS resource set identifier used to determine the first positioning measurement set, and The second physical layer message includes the PRS resource identifier or the PRS resource set identifier used to determine the first positioning measurement set.

49. The UE according to claim 35, wherein: The first positioning measurement set includes one or more RSTD measurements, one or more UE received to transmit (Rx-Tx) measurements, one or more RSRP measurements, one or more quality metric measurements, one or more speed measurements, one or more arrival time measurements, one or more multipath measurements, one or more line-of-sight (LOS) and / or non-line-of-sight (NLOS) measurements, or one or more signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) measurements.

50. The UE according to claim 35, wherein: The at least one processor causes the at least one transceiver to send the first physical layer message and the second physical layer message to a positioning entity.

51. The UE according to claim 50, wherein: The positioning entity is a serving base station of the UE.

52. The UE according to claim 50, wherein: The positioning entity is a location server.

53. A network node, comprising: Memory; at least one transceiver; as well as at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor configured to: receiving, via the at least one transceiver, from a user equipment (UE), a first physical layer message having a fixed payload size, wherein the first physical layer message includes at least an indication of a type, a number, or both of a first positioning measurement set to be included in a second physical layer message having a variable payload size; and The second physical layer message having the variable payload size is received from the UE via the at least one transceiver, wherein the second physical layer message includes at least the first positioning measurement set, and wherein the variable payload size of the second physical layer message is based on at least the type, the number, or both of the first positioning measurement set.

54. The network node of claim 53, wherein: The first physical layer message and the second physical layer message are a first part and a second part of a channel state information (CSI) report.

55. The network node of claim 54, wherein: The CSI report is received on a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) or a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH).

56. The network node of claim 53, wherein: The first positioning measurement set is a first positioning measurement vector.

57. The network node of claim 53, wherein: The first physical layer message includes an indication of a type, a quantity, or both, of a second positioning measurement set to be included in the second physical layer message, and At least a type of the second positioning measurement set is different from a type of the first positioning measurement set.

58. The network node of claim 57, wherein: The indication of the type of the first positioning measurement set and the indication of the type of the second positioning measurement set are each bits in a bit string in the first physical layer message, Each bit in the bit string represents a different type of positioning measurement.

59. The network node of claim 53, wherein: The first positioning measurement set is associated with a timestamp included in the second physical layer message.

60. The network node of claim 59, wherein: The type of the timestamp is a system frame number during which the first positioning measurement set is valid, or a system frame number and a time slot offset during which the first positioning measurement set is valid.

61. The network node of claim 60, wherein: At least one bit in the first physical layer message indicates the type of the timestamp.

62. The network node of claim 53, wherein: The type of the first positioning measurement set is a reference signal time difference (RSTD) measurement, The UE selects, as a reference time for each positioning measurement in the first positioning measurement set, a different transmit reception point (TRP), a positioning reference signal (PRS) resource set, or one or more PRS resources than those provided to the UE in positioning assistance data, The first physical layer message includes an indication of the different TRP, the PRS resource set or the one or more PRS resources, and The second physical layer message includes the different TRP, the PRS resource set or an identifier of the one or more PRS resources.

63. The network node of claim 53, wherein: The type of the first positioning measurement set is a reference signal received power (RSRP) measurement, The UE assigns a group identifier to each positioning measurement in the first positioning measurement set performed using the same downlink receive beam, The first physical layer message includes the number of group identifiers and the number of the first positioning measurement sets in each group, and The second physical layer message includes the first positioning measurement set in an order in which the group identifiers are reported in the first physical layer message.

64. The network node of claim 53, wherein: The indication of the number of the first positioning measurement sets indicates that the first positioning measurement sets are performed on positioning reference signals sent by the same TRP.

65. The network node of claim 53, wherein: The first physical layer message includes an indication of whether the second physical layer message includes a PRS resource identifier or a PRS resource set identifier used to determine the first positioning measurement set, and The second physical layer message includes the PRS resource identifier or the PRS resource set identifier used to determine the first positioning measurement set.

66. The network node of claim 53, wherein: The first positioning measurement set includes one or more RSTD measurements, one or more UE received to transmit (Rx-Tx) measurements, one or more RSRP measurements, one or more quality metric measurements, one or more speed measurements, one or more arrival time measurements, one or more multipath measurements, one or more line-of-sight (LOS) and / or non-line-of-sight (NLOS) measurements, or one or more signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) measurements.

67. The network node of claim 53, wherein: The network node is a serving base station of the UE, or The network node is a location server integrated into the serving base station of the UE.

68. The network node of claim 53, wherein: The network node is a second UE connected to the UE via a sidelink.

69. A user equipment (UE), comprising: means for performing a plurality of positioning measurements on a plurality of positioning reference signals (PRS) transmitted by at least one network node; means for sending a first physical layer message having a fixed payload size, wherein the first physical layer message includes at least an indication of a type, a number, or both of a first set of positioning measurements of the plurality of positioning measurements to be included in a second physical layer message having a variable payload size; and A unit for sending the second physical layer message having the variable payload size, wherein the second physical layer message includes at least the first positioning measurement set, and wherein the variable payload size of the second physical layer message is based on at least the type, the number, or both of the first positioning measurement set.

70. A network node, comprising: means for receiving, from a user equipment (UE), a first physical layer message having a fixed payload size, wherein the first physical layer message comprises at least an indication of a type, a number, or both of a first positioning measurement set to be included in a second physical layer message having a variable payload size; and A unit for receiving, from the UE, the second physical layer message having the variable payload size, wherein the second physical layer message includes at least the first positioning measurement set, and wherein the variable payload size of the second physical layer message is based on at least the type, the number, or both of the first positioning measurement set.

71. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions, the computer-executable instructions comprising: at least one instruction for instructing a user equipment (UE) to perform a plurality of positioning measurements on a plurality of positioning reference signals (PRS) transmitted by at least one network node; at least one instruction for instructing the UE to send a first physical layer message having a fixed payload size, wherein the first physical layer message includes at least an indication of a type, a number, or both of a first positioning measurement set of the plurality of positioning measurements to be included in a second physical layer message having a variable payload size; and At least one instruction for instructing the UE to send the second physical layer message with the variable payload size, wherein the second physical layer message includes at least the first positioning measurement set, and wherein the variable payload size of the second physical layer message is based on at least the type, the number, or both of the first positioning measurement set.

72. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions, the computer-executable instructions comprising: at least one instruction for instructing a network node to receive, from a user equipment (UE), a first physical layer message having a fixed payload size, wherein the first physical layer message includes at least an indication of a type, a number, or both of a first positioning measurement set to be included in a second physical layer message having a variable payload size; and At least one instruction for instructing the network node to receive, from the UE, a second physical layer message having the variable payload size, wherein the second physical layer message includes at least the first positioning measurement set, and wherein the variable payload size of the second physical layer message is based at least on the type, the number, or both of the first positioning measurement set.

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