Network-assisted positioning signal processing

Abstract

A UE comprises: a memory; a receiver configured to receive a wireless signal; and a processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the receiver and configured to: receive one or more indications corresponding to one or more failures of a first positioning signal source via the receiver; disable a first positioning signal processing function of the UE for the first positioning signal source based on the one or more indications; and perform a second positioning signal processing function of the UE using a positioning signal from the first positioning signal source when the first positioning signal processing function of the UE is disabled.

Description

[0001] background

[0002] Wireless communication systems have evolved over several generations, including first generation analog wireless telephone service (1G), second generation (2G) digital wireless telephone service (including transitional 2.5G and 2.75G networks), third generation (3G) high-speed data wireless service with Internet capabilities, fourth generation (4G) service (e.g., Long Term Evolution (LTE) or WiMax), fifth generation (5G) service, etc. There are many different types of wireless communication systems in use today, including cellular and personal communications service (PCS) systems. Examples of known cellular systems include the cellular analog Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS), and digital cellular systems based on code division multiple access (CDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), global system for mobile access (GSM) TDMA variants, etc.

[0003] It is generally desirable to know the location of a user equipment (UE) (e.g., a cellular phone), where the terms "location" and "positioning" are synonymous herein and may be used interchangeably. A location service (LCS) client may desire to know the location of the UE and may communicate with a location center or location server to request the location of the UE. The location center / server and the UE may exchange messages as appropriate to obtain a location estimate for the UE. The location center / server may return the location estimate to the LCS client, for example, for use in one or more applications. In general, the location of the UE may be determined by the UE and / or the location center / server based on various factors, including UE capabilities, network capabilities, available positioning data sources, applications and / or services requiring the UE's location, and the like.

[0004] The fifth generation (5G) mobile standard requires higher data transmission speeds, a greater number of connections and better coverage, among other improvements. According to the Next Generation Mobile Network Alliance, the 5G standard is designed to provide tens of megabits per second data rates to each of tens of thousands of users, and 1 gigabit per second data rate to dozens of employees in an office floor. Hundreds of thousands of simultaneous connections should be supported to support large sensor deployments. Therefore, the spectrum efficiency of 5G mobile communications should be significantly improved compared to the current 4G standard. In addition, signaling efficiency should be improved and waiting time should be greatly reduced compared to the current standard.

[0005] Overview

[0006] An example user equipment (UE) comprises: a memory; a receiver configured to receive a wireless signal; and a processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the receiver and configured to: receive, via the receiver, one or more indications corresponding to one or more failures of a first positioning signal source; disable, based on the one or more indications, a first positioning signal processing function of the UE for the first positioning signal source; and perform a second positioning signal processing function of the UE using a positioning signal from the first positioning signal source when the first positioning signal processing function of the UE is disabled.

[0007] An example method for controlling processing of a positioning signal includes: receiving one or more indications corresponding to one or more failures of a first positioning signal source at a UE; disabling a first positioning signal processing function of the UE for the first positioning signal source based on the one or more indications; and performing a second positioning signal processing function of the UE using a positioning signal from the first positioning signal source when the first positioning signal processing function of the UE is disabled.

[0008] Another example UE includes: a device for receiving one or more indications corresponding to one or more failures of a first positioning signal source; a device for disabling a first positioning signal processing function of the UE for the first positioning signal source based on the one or more indications; and a device for performing a second positioning signal processing function of the UE using a positioning signal from the first positioning signal source when the first positioning signal processing function of the UE is disabled.

[0009] An example non-volatile processor-readable storage medium includes processor-readable instructions that are configured to cause one or more processors of a UE to: receive one or more indications corresponding to one or more failures of a first positioning signal source; based on the one or more indications, disable a first positioning signal processing function of the UE for the first positioning signal source; and perform a second positioning signal processing function of the UE using a positioning signal from the first positioning signal source when the first positioning signal processing function of the UE is disabled.

[0010] An example apparatus for controlling processing of a positioning signal includes: a transmitter; and a processor communicatively coupled to the transmitter and configured to: determine one or more failures of a positioning signal source; determine that a first positioning signal processing function of a UE is negatively affected by the one or more failures of the positioning signal source, the UE being configured to perform a first positioning signal processing function and at least a second positioning signal processing function; and send an indication to the UE via the transmitter so that the UE disables only the first positioning signal processing function for the positioning signal source among the first positioning signal processing function and the second positioning signal processing function.

[0011] An example method for controlling the processing of a positioning signal includes: determining one or more failures of a positioning signal source; determining that a first positioning signal processing function of a UE is negatively affected by the one or more failures of the positioning signal source, the UE being configured to perform the first positioning signal processing function and at least a second positioning signal processing function; and sending an indication to the UE so that the UE disables only the first positioning signal processing function for the positioning signal source among the first positioning signal processing function and the second positioning signal processing function.

[0012] An example device for controlling the processing of a positioning signal includes: a device for determining one or more failures of a positioning signal source; a device for determining that a first positioning signal processing function of a UE is negatively affected by the one or more failures of the positioning signal source, the UE being configured to perform the first positioning signal processing function and at least a second positioning signal processing function; and a device for sending an indication to the UE so that the UE disables only the first positioning signal processing function for the positioning signal source among the first positioning signal processing function and the second positioning signal processing function.

[0013] Another example non-volatile processor-readable storage medium includes processor-readable instructions that are configured to cause one or more processors to: determine one or more failures of a positioning signal source; determine that a first positioning signal processing function of a UE is negatively affected by the one or more failures of the positioning signal source, the UE being configured to perform the first positioning signal processing function and at least a second positioning signal processing function; and send an indication to the UE to cause the UE to disable only the first positioning signal processing function for the positioning signal source among the first positioning signal processing function and the second positioning signal processing function. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0015] Figure 1 is a simplified diagram of an example wireless communication system.

[0016] Figure 2 yes Figure 1 0046] A block diagram of components of an example user equipment is shown in FIG.

[0017] Figure 3 yes Figure 1 A block diagram of components of an example transmit / receive point is shown in FIG.

[0018] Figure 4 yes Figure 1 A block diagram of the components of the example server shown in .

[0019] Figure 5 is Figure 1 The process flow of signals exchanged between components of the system shown in and operations performed by these components.

[0020] Figure 6 yes Figure 2 Functional block diagram of the functional components of the user equipment shown in .

[0021] Figure 7 yes Figure 5 An example of faulty communication is shown in .

[0022] Figure 8 The invention is a flow chart of a method for controlling the processing of positioning signals.

[0023] Fig. 9 is a flow chart of another method of controlling the processing of positioning signals.

[0024] Fig.10 is a simplified block diagram of a user equipment.

[0025] Fig.11 is a simplified block diagram of an apparatus for controlling the processing of a positioning signal.

[0026] Detailed Description

[0027] Techniques for coordinating positioning signaling are discussed herein. For example, a device such as a server (or other device, such as a transmission / reception point (TRP)) may determine that one or more positioning signal sources (such as one or more base stations or one or more SVs) in a positioning signal source set (e.g., a positioning signal source constellation, such as a satellite vehicle (SV)) are experiencing a failure, for example, incorrect information is being transmitted, outdated information is being transmitted, (at least some) information is not transmitted, and the like. The server may identify one or more functions performed at a user equipment (UE) that are negatively affected by the failure (s), for example, one or more functions that will produce unreliable results when using the transmitted information or when not receiving the information (or not receiving all the required information). The server may send an indication of the failure (s) to the UE to enable the UE to disable the negatively affected function (s). The indication may take various forms, such as an indication of bad data being transmitted, an indication of insufficient data being transmitted, and / or an instruction (command) to disable the negatively affected function (s). The indication may include multiple sub-indications. The UE may respond to the indication by determining the negatively affected function(s) (e.g., where the indication indicates that bad or insufficient data is being transmitted (or no data is being transmitted)), and disabling the appropriate function(s) for processing incoming positioning signals (e.g., for one or more specific positioning signal sources that are experiencing failure(s)). The UE may disable the negatively affected function(s) while processing the positioning signals to perform other functions. A function may be disabled for processing signals from one signal source while the same function is enabled for processing signals from another signal source. The UE may disable the negatively affected appropriate function(s) for a limited time and enable the function(s) after the limited time has elapsed (e.g., for appropriate signal source(s)). These techniques and configurations are examples, and other techniques and configurations may be used.

[0028] The items and / or techniques described herein may provide one or more of the following capabilities, as well as other capabilities not mentioned. Useful information (e.g., timing information) may be collected from a partially defective (e.g., having some errors and / or stale information) positioning signal. Processing of defective positioning signals and / or defective positioning signal information may be avoided, which may improve positioning accuracy. Finer-grained positioning signal processing than "process" or "do not process" may be achieved. Other capabilities may be provided, and not every implementation according to the present disclosure must provide any of the capabilities discussed, let alone all of the capabilities.

[0029] Obtaining the location of a mobile device accessing a wireless network can be useful for many applications, including, for example, emergency calling, personal navigation, asset tracking, locating friends or family members, etc. Existing positioning methods include methods based on measuring radio signals transmitted from various devices or entities, including satellite vehicles and terrestrial radio sources in wireless networks, such as base stations and access points.

[0030] The description may quote a sequence of actions to be performed by, for example, elements of a computing device. Each action described herein can be performed by a dedicated circuit (e.g., an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC)), by program instructions being executed by one or more processors, or by a combination of the two. The sequence of actions described herein may be implemented in a non-transient computer readable medium having stored thereon a corresponding set of computer instructions that, upon execution, will cause an associated processor to perform the functionality described herein. Thus, the various aspects described herein may be implemented in a number of different forms, all of which fall within the scope of the present disclosure, including the claimed subject matter.

[0031] As used herein, the terms "user equipment" (UE) and "base station" are not dedicated to or otherwise limited to any particular radio access technology (RAT), unless otherwise specified. In general, such UEs may be any wireless communication devices (e.g., mobile phones, routers, tablet computers, laptop computers, consumer asset tracking devices, Internet of Things (IoT) devices, etc.) used by users to communicate on a wireless communication network. UEs may be mobile or may be stationary (e.g., at certain times) and may communicate with a radio access network (RAN). As used herein, the term "UE" may be interchangeably referred to as an "access terminal" or "AT," "client device," "wireless device," "subscriber equipment," "subscriber terminal," "subscriber station," "user terminal" or UT, "mobile terminal," "mobile station," or variations thereof. In general, a UE may communicate with a core network via a RAN, and through the core network, the UE may be connected to external networks (such as the Internet) and to other UEs. Of course, other mechanisms for connecting to a core network and / or the Internet are also possible for a UE, such as through a wired access network, a WiFi network (e.g., based on IEEE 802.11, etc.), and the like.

[0032] A base station may operate according to one of several RATs when in communication with a UE, depending on the network in which the base station is deployed, and may be referred to alternatively as an access point (AP), a network node, a NodeB, an evolved NodeB (eNB), a general NodeB (gNodeB, gNB), etc. In addition, in some systems, a base station may provide pure edge node signaling functions, while in other systems, the base station may provide additional control and / or network management functions.

[0033] The UE may be implemented by any of several types of devices, including but not limited to a printed circuit (PC) card, a compact flash device, an external or internal modem, a wireless or wired phone, a smart phone, a tablet device, a consumer asset tracking device, an asset tag, etc. The communication link by which the UE can send signals to the RAN is referred to as an uplink channel (e.g., a reverse traffic channel, a reverse control channel, an access channel, etc.). The communication link by which the RAN can send signals to the UE is referred to as a downlink 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.

[0034] As used herein, depending on the context, the term "cell" or "sector" may correspond to one of multiple cells of a base station or to the base station itself. The term "cell" may refer to a logical communication entity used to communicate with a base station (e.g., on a carrier) and may be associated with an identifier to distinguish adjacent cells operating via the same or different carriers (e.g., a physical cell identifier (PCID), a virtual cell identifier (VCID)). In some examples, a carrier may support multiple cells, and different cells may be configured according to different protocol types that may provide access to different types of devices (e.g., machine type communication (MTC), narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), or other protocol types). In some examples, the term "cell" may refer to a portion of a geographic coverage area (e.g., a sector) on which the logical entity operates.

[0035] Reference Figure 1, an example of a communication system 100 includes UE 105, UE 106, a radio access network (RAN) 135 (here, a fifth generation (5G) next generation (NG) RAN (NG-RAN)), and a 5G core network (5GC) 140. UE 105 and / or UE 106 may be, for example, an IoT device, a location tracker device, a cellular phone, a vehicle (e.g., a car, truck, bus, ship, etc.), or other device. A 5G network may also be referred to as a new radio (NR) network; NG-RAN 135 may be referred to as a 5G RAN or an NR RAN; and 5GC 140 may be referred to as an NG core network (NGC). Standardization of NG-RAN and 5GC is being conducted in the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). Accordingly, NG-RAN 135 and 5GC 140 may follow current or future standards from 3GPP for 5G support. RAN 135 may be another type of RAN, for example, a 3G RAN, a 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) RAN, etc. UE 106 may be similarly configured and coupled to UE 105 to send and / or receive signals to and / or from similar other entities in system 100, but for simplicity of the drawings, the UE 106 is not shown in FIG. Figure 1 105. Similarly, for simplicity, the discussion focuses on the UE 105. The communication system 100 can utilize information from a constellation 185 of satellite vehicles (SVs) 190, 191, 192, 193 of a satellite positioning system (SPS) (e.g., a global navigation satellite system (GNSS)) such as the Global Positioning System (GPS), the Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS), Galileo, or BeiDou or some other local or regional SPS (such as the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS), the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS), or the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS)). Additional components of the communication system 100 are described below. The communication system 100 may include additional or alternative components.

[0036] like Figure 1As shown in FIG, NG-RAN 135 includes NR B nodes (gNB) 110a, 110b and next generation evolved B nodes (ng-eNB) 114, and 5GC 140 includes access and mobility management function (AMF) 115, session management function (SMF) 117, location management function (LMF) 120 and gateway mobile location center (GMLC) 125. gNB 110a, gNB 110b and ng-eNB 114 are communicatively coupled to each other and are each configured for bidirectional wireless communication with UE 105. gNB 110a, gNB 110b, ng-eNB 114 and / or one or more other base stations may provide positioning signals to UE 105, and UE 105 may process these positioning signals to determine the location of UE 105. Although the discussion herein focuses on SVs 190-193 and positioning signals provided by SVs 190-193, the techniques discussed herein may be applied to other positioning signal sources, for example, ground-based positioning signal sources (such as base stations 110a, 110b, 114 and / or other base stations). gNB 110a, gNB 110b, and ng-eNB 114 are each communicatively coupled to AMF 115 and configured to communicate bidirectionally with AMF 115. gNB 110a, 110b, and ng-eNB 114 may be referred to as base stations (BSs). AMF 115, SMF 117, LMF 120, and GMLC 125 are communicatively coupled to each other, and GMLC is communicatively coupled to external clients 130. SMF 117 may serve as an initial contact point for a service control function (SCF) (not shown) to create, control, and delete media sessions. BSs 110a, 110b, 114 may be macro cells (e.g., high-power cellular base stations), or small cells (e.g., low-power cellular base stations), or access points (e.g., short-range base stations configured to communicate with short-range technologies such as WiFi, WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), - Low Energy (BLE), Zigbee, etc.) for communication). One or more of the BSs 110a, 110b, 114 may be configured to communicate with the UE 105 via multiple carriers. Each of the BSs 110a, 110b, 114 may provide communication coverage for a corresponding geographic area (e.g., a cellular cell). Each cellular cell may be divided into a plurality of sectors according to the base station antenna.

[0037] Figure 1A generalized explanation of the various components is provided, any or all of which may be utilized as appropriate, and each component may be repeated or omitted as desired. Specifically, although only one UE 105 is illustrated, many UEs (e.g., hundreds, thousands, millions, etc.) may be utilized in the communication system 100. Similarly, the communication system 100 may include a larger (or smaller) number of SVs (i.e., more or less than the four SVs 190-193 shown), gNBs 110a, 110b, ng-eNBs 114, AMFs 115, external clients 130, and / or other components. The illustrated connections connecting the various components in the communication system 100 include data and signaling connections, which may include additional (intermediate) components, direct or indirect physical and / or wireless connections, and / or additional networks. In addition, the components may be rearranged, combined, separated, replaced, and / or omitted depending on the desired functionality.

[0038] Although Figure 1 A 5G-based network is illustrated, but similar network implementations and configurations may be used for other communication technologies, such as 3G, Long Term Evolution (LTE), etc. Implementations described herein (which are for 5G technologies and / or for one or more other communication technologies and / or protocols) may be used to transmit (or broadcast) directional synchronization signals, receive and measure directional signals at a UE (e.g., UE 105), and / or provide location assistance to UE 105 (via GMLC 125 or other location server), and / or calculate the location of UE 105 at a device with location capabilities (such as UE 105, gNB 110a, 110b, or LMF 120) based on measurement parameters received at UE 105 for such directional transmitted signals. The gateway mobile location center (GMLC) 125, the location management function (LMF) 120, the access and mobility management function (AMF) 115, the SMF 117, the ng-eNB (eNodeB) 114 and the gNB (gNodeB) 110a, 110b are examples and may be replaced by or include various other location server functionalities and / or base station functionalities, respectively, in various embodiments.

[0039] The system 100 is capable of wireless communication because the components of the system 100 can communicate with each other (at least sometimes using wireless connections), for example, directly or indirectly, via BSs 110a, 110b, 114 and / or network 140 (and / or one or more other devices not shown, such as one or more other base transceiver stations). For indirect communication, the communication may be changed during transmission from one entity to another, for example, to change the header information of the data packet, change the format, etc. The UE 105 may include multiple UEs and may be a mobile wireless communication device, but may communicate wirelessly and via a wired connection. The UE 105 may be any of a variety of devices, such as a smart phone, a tablet computer, a vehicle-based device, etc., but these are only examples, because the UE 105 does not need to be any of these configurations, and other configurations of the UE may be used. Other UEs may include wearable devices (e.g., smart watches, smart jewelry, smart glasses, or head-mounted devices, etc.). Other UEs may also be used, whether currently existing or developed in the future. In addition, other wireless devices (whether mobile or not) can be implemented within the system 100 and can communicate with each other and / or with the UE 105, the BSs 110a, 110b, 114, the core network 140, and / or external clients 130. For example, such other devices may include Internet of Things (IoT) devices, medical devices, home entertainment and / or automation devices, etc. The core network 140 can communicate with the external client 130 (e.g., a computer system), for example, to allow the external client 130 (e.g., via the GMLC 125) to request and / or receive location information about the UE 105.

[0040] The UE 105 or other device may be configured to communicate in various networks and / or for various purposes and / or using various technologies (e.g., 5G, Wi-Fi communication, multi-frequency Wi-Fi communication, satellite positioning, one or more types of communication (e.g., GSM (Global System for Mobile), CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), LTE (Long Term Evolution), V2X (Vehicle to Vehicle, e.g., V2P (vehicle to pedestrian), V2I (vehicle to infrastructure), V2V (vehicle to vehicle), etc.), IEEE 802.11p, etc.). V2X communications may be cellular (Cellular-V2X (C-V2X)) and / or WiFi (e.g., DSRC (Dedicated Short Range Connection)). System 100 may support operations on multiple carriers (waveform signals of different frequencies). A multi-carrier transmitter may transmit modulated signals on multiple carriers simultaneously. Each modulated signal may be a code division multiple access (CDMA) signal, a time division multiple access (TDMA) signal, an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) signal, a single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) signal, etc. Each modulated signal may be sent on a different carrier and may carry a pilot, overhead information, data, etc. UE 105, 106 may communicate with each other through UE-to-UE sidelink (SL) communication by transmitting on one or more sidelink channels, such as a physical sidelink synchronization channel (PSSCH), a physical sidelink broadcast channel (PSBCH), or a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH).

[0041] UE 105 may include and / or may be referred to as a device, a mobile device, a wireless device, a mobile terminal, a terminal, a mobile station (MS), a terminal (SET) enabled with secure user plane location (SUPL), or some other name. In addition, UE 105 may correspond to a cellular phone, a smart phone, a laptop, a tablet device, a PDA, a consumer asset tracking device, a navigation device, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, a health monitor, a security system, a smart city sensor, a smart meter, a wearable tracker, or some other portable or mobile device. Typically, although not necessarily, UE 105 may support the use of one or more radio access technologies (RATs) (such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Wideband CDMA (WCDMA), LTE, High Rate Packet Data (HRPD), IEEE 802.11 WiFi (also known as Wi-Fi), (BT), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), 5G New Radio (NR) (e.g., using NG-RAN 135 and 5GC 140), etc.) for wireless communication. UE 105 may support wireless communication using a wireless local area network (WLAN), which may use, for example, a digital subscriber line (DSL) or packet cable to connect to other networks (e.g., the Internet). Using one or more of these RATs may allow UE 105 (e.g., via elements ( Figure 1 125), or possibly via GMLC 125) to communicate with external client 130 and / or allow external client 130 to receive location information about UE 105 (eg, via GMLC 125).

[0042] UE 105 may include a single entity or may include multiple entities, such as in a personal area network, where users may employ audio, video, and / or data I / O (input / output) devices, and / or body sensors and separate wired or wireless modems. The estimate of the location of UE 105 may be referred to as a location, location estimate, location fix, fix, position fix, position estimate, or position fix, and may be geographic, providing location coordinates (e.g., latitude and longitude) about UE 105, which may or may not include an altitude component (e.g., height above sea level; height above or depth below ground level, floor level, or basement level). Alternatively, the location of UE 105 may be expressed as a municipal location (e.g., expressed as a postal address or a designation of a point or smaller area in a building, such as a specific room or floor). The location of UE 105 may be expressed as an area or volume (geographically or municipally defined) within which UE 105 is expected to be located with a certain probability or confidence level (e.g., 67%, 95%, etc.). The location of the UE 105 may be expressed as a relative location including, for example, a distance and direction from a known location. The relative location may be expressed as relative coordinates (e.g., X, Y (and Z) coordinates) defined relative to a certain origin at a known location, which may be defined, for example, geographically, in municipal form, or with reference to a point, area, or volume indicated, for example, on a map, floor plan, or building plan. In the description contained herein, the use of the term location may include any of these variants unless otherwise indicated. When calculating the location of the UE, local x, y, and possibly z coordinates are typically solved, and then (if necessary) the local coordinates are converted into absolute coordinates (e.g., with respect to latitude, longitude, and altitude above or below mean sea level).

[0043] UE 105 may be configured to communicate with other entities using one or more of a variety of technologies. UE 105 may be configured to be indirectly connected to one or more communication networks via one or more device-to-device (D2D) peer-to-peer (P2P) links. D2D P2P links may use any appropriate D2D radio access technology (RAT) such as LTE Direct (LTE-D), WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), etc.). One or more UEs in a group of UEs utilizing D2D communication may be within the geographic coverage area of ​​a transmit / receive point (TRP), such as one or more of gNB 110a, 110b and / or ng-eNB 114. Other UEs in the group may be outside such geographic coverage area or may be unable to receive transmissions from the base station for other reasons. A group of UEs communicating via D2D communication may utilize a one-to-many (1:M) system, in which each UE may transmit to other UEs in the group. The TRP may facilitate the scheduling of resources for D2D communication. In other cases, D2D communication may be performed between UEs without involving a TRP. One or more UEs in a group of UEs utilizing D2D communication may be within the geographic coverage area of ​​a TRP. Other UEs in the group may be outside such geographic coverage area or may be unable to receive transmissions from the base station for other reasons. A group of UEs communicating via D2D communication may utilize a one-to-many (1:M) system, in which each UE may transmit to other UEs in the group. The TRP may facilitate the scheduling of resources for D2D communication. In other cases, D2D communication may be performed between UEs without involving a TRP.

[0044] Figure 1 The base stations (BS) in the NG-RAN 135 shown in FIG. 1 include NR B nodes (referred to as gNBs 110a and 110b). Each pair of gNBs 110a, 110b in the NG-RAN 135 may be connected to each other via one or more other gNBs. Access to the 5G network is provided to the UE 105 via wireless communications between the UE 105 and one or more of the gNBs 110a, 110b. The gNBs 110a, 110b may provide wireless communications access to the 5GC 140 on behalf of the UE 105 using 5G. Figure 1 , it is assumed that the serving gNB for UE 105 is gNB 110a, but another gNB (e.g., gNB 110b) may serve as the serving gNB if UE 105 moves to another location, or may serve as a secondary gNB to provide additional throughput and bandwidth to UE 105.

[0045] Figure 1The base stations (BSs) in the NG-RAN 135 shown in FIG. 1 may include an ng-eNB 114 (also referred to as a next generation evolved Node B). The ng-eNB 114 may be connected to one or more of the gNBs 110a, 110b in the NG-RAN 135 (possibly via one or more other gNBs and / or one or more other ng-eNBs). The ng-eNB 114 may provide LTE wireless access and / or evolved LTE (eLTE) wireless access to the UE 105. One or more of the gNBs 110a, 110b and / or ng-eNB 114 may be configured to function as a positioning-only beacon, which may transmit signals to assist in determining the location of the UE 105, but may not be able to receive signals from the UE 105 or other UEs.

[0046] BSs 110a, 110b, 114 may each include one or more TRPs. For example, each sector within a cell of a BS may include a TRP, but multiple TRPs may share one or more components (e.g., a shared processor but with separate antennas). System 100 may include only macro TRPs, or system 100 may have different types of TRPs, such as macro, pico, and / or femto TRPs, etc.

[0047] A macro TRP may cover a relatively large geographic area (e.g., several kilometers in radius) and may allow unrestricted access by terminals with service subscriptions. A pico TRP may cover a relatively small geographic area (e.g., a pico cell) and may allow unrestricted access by terminals with service subscriptions. A femto or home TRP may cover a relatively small geographic area (e.g., a femto cell) and may allow restricted access by terminals associated with the femto cell (e.g., terminals of users in a residence).

[0048] As mentioned, although Figure 1 Nodes configured to communicate according to a 5G communication protocol are depicted, but nodes configured to communicate according to other communication protocols (such as, for example, an LTE protocol or an IEEE 802.11x protocol) may also be used. For example, in an evolved packet system (EPS) that provides LTE wireless access to UE 105, the RAN may include an evolved universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS) terrestrial radio access network (E-UTRAN), which may include base stations including evolved Node Bs (eNBs). The core network for the EPS may include an evolved packet core (EPC). The EPS may include the E-UTRAN plus the EPC, where the E-UTRAN corresponds to the UE 105. Figure 1 NG-RAN 135 in and the EPC corresponds to Figure 1 5GC 140 in.

[0049] The gNBs 110a, 110b and ng-eNB 114 may communicate with the AMF 115; for positioning functionality, the AMF 115 communicates with the LMF 120. The AMF 115 may support mobility of the UE 105, including cell changes and handovers, and may participate in supporting signaling connections to the UE 105 and possibly data and voice bearers for the UE 105. The LMF 120 may communicate directly with the UE 105, or directly with the BSs 110a, 110b, 114, for example, via wireless communications. The LMF 120 may support positioning of the UE 105 when the UE 105 accesses the NG-RAN 135, and may support various positioning procedures / methods, such as Assisted GNSS (A-GNSS), Observed Time Difference of Arrival (OTDOA) (e.g., downlink (DL) OTDOA or uplink (UL) OTDOA), Round Trip Time (RTT), Multi-cell RTT, Real-time Kinematics (RTK), Precise Point Positioning (PPP), Differential GNSS (DGNSS), Enhanced Cell ID (E-CID), Angle of Arrival (AOA), Angle of Departure (AOD), and / or other positioning methods. The LMF 120 may process a location service request for the UE 105 received from, for example, the AMF 115 or the GMLC 125. The LMF 120 may be connected to the AMF 115 and / or the GMLC 125. The LMF 120 may be referred to by other names, such as a Location Manager (LM), a Location Function (LF), a Commercial LMF (CLMF), or a Value-Added LMF (VLMF). A node / system implementing LMF 120 may additionally or alternatively implement other types of location support modules, such as an enhanced serving mobile location center (E-SMLC) or a secure user plane location (SUPL) location platform (SLP). At least a portion of the positioning functionality (including the derivation of the location of UE 105) may be performed at UE 105 (e.g., using signal measurements obtained by UE 105 for signals transmitted by wireless nodes (such as gNB 110a, 110b and / or ng-eNB 114), and / or assistance data provided to UE 105 by LMF 120, for example). AMF 115 may serve as a control node for processing signaling between UE 105 and core network 140, and may provide QoS (quality of service) flow and session management. AMF 115 may support the mobility of UE 105 (including cell changes and handovers), and may participate in supporting signaling connections to UE 105.

[0050] The GMLC 125 may support a location request for the UE 105 received from the external client 130, and may forward the location request to the AMF 115 for forwarding by the AMF 115 to the LMF 120, or may forward the location request directly to the LMF 120. A location response (e.g., containing a location estimate of the UE 105) from the LMF 120 may be returned to the GMLC 125 directly or via the AMF 115, and the GMLC 125 may then return the location response (e.g., containing the location estimate) to the external client 130. The GMLC 125 is shown as being connected to both the AMF 115 and the LMF 120, but in some implementations the 5GC 140 may support only one of these connections.

[0051] like Figure 1 As further explained in , LMF 120 may communicate with gNB 110a, 110b and / or ng-eNB 114 using a new radio positioning protocol A (which may be referred to as NPPa or NRPPa), which may be defined in 3GPP Technical Specification (TS) 38.455. NRPPa may be the same as, similar to, or an extension of LTE Positioning Protocol A (LPPa) defined in 3GPP TS 36.455, wherein NRPPa messages are communicated between gNB 110a (or gNB 110b) and LMF 120, and / or between ng-eNB 114 and LMF 120 via AMF 115. Figure 1As further explained in 3GPP TS 36.355, the LMF 120 and the UE 105 may communicate using the LTE Positioning Protocol (LPP), which may be defined in 3GPP TS 36.355. The LMF 120 and the UE 105 may additionally or alternatively communicate using a new radio positioning protocol (which may be referred to as NPP or NRPP), which may be the same as, similar to, or an extension of the LPP. Here, LPP and / or NPP messages may be communicated between the UE 105 and the LMF 120 via the AMF 115 and the serving gNB 110a, 110b or the serving ng-eNB 114 of the UE 105. For example, the LPP and / or NPP messages may be communicated between the LMF 120 and the AMF 115 using the 5G Location Services Application Protocol (LCS AP), and may be communicated between the AMF 115 and the UE 105 using the 5G Non-Access Stratum (NAS) protocol. The LPP and / or NPP protocols may be used to support positioning of the UE 105 using UE-assisted and / or UE-based positioning methods such as A-GNSS, RTK, OTDOA, and / or E-CID. The NRPPa protocol may be used to support positioning of the UE 105 using a network-based positioning method such as E-CID (e.g., in conjunction with measurements obtained by the gNB 110a, 110b, or ng-eNB 114) and / or may be used by the LMF 120 to obtain location-related information from the gNB 110a, 110b, and / or ng-eNB 114, such as parameters defining directional SS transmissions from the gNB 110a, 110b, and / or ng-eNB 114. The LMF 120 may be co-located or integrated with the gNB or TRP, or may be located remotely from the gNB and / or TRP and configured to communicate directly or indirectly with the gNB and / or TRP.

[0052] Using UE-assisted positioning methods, UE 105 may obtain location measurements and send these measurements to a location server (e.g., LMF 120) for use in calculating a location estimate for UE 105. For example, the location measurements may include one or more of: received signal strength indication (RSSI), round trip signal propagation time (RTT), reference signal time difference (RSTD), reference signal received power (RSRP), and / or reference signal received quality (RSRQ) of gNB 110a, 110b, ng-eNB 114, and / or WLAN AP. The location measurements may additionally or alternatively include measurements of GNSS pseudoranges, code phases, and / or carrier phases of SVs 190-193.

[0053] Using the UE-based positioning method, UE 105 can obtain position measurements (e.g., which can be the same or similar to position measurements for UE-assisted positioning methods) and can calculate the position of UE 105 (e.g., with the aid of auxiliary data received from a location server (such as LMF 120) or broadcast by gNB 110a, 110b, ng-eNB 114 or other base stations or APs).

[0054] Using network-based positioning methods, one or more base stations (e.g., gNBs 110a, 110b and / or ng-eNB 114) or APs may obtain location measurements (e.g., measurements of RSSI, RTT, RSRP, RSRQ, or time of arrival (ToA) of signals transmitted by UE 105) and / or may receive measurements obtained by UE 105. The one or more base stations or APs may send these measurements to a location server (e.g., LMF 120) for use in calculating a location estimate for UE 105.

[0055] The information provided to LMF 120 by gNB 110a, 110b and / or ng-eNB 114 using NRPPa may include timing and configuration information for directional SS transmissions and location coordinates. LMF 120 may provide some or all of this information to UE 105 as assistance data in LPP and / or NPP messages via NG-RAN 135 and 5GC 140.

[0056] The LPP or NPP message sent from LMF 120 to UE 105 may instruct UE 105 to do any of a variety of things, depending on the desired functionality. For example, the LPP or NPP message may include instructions for UE 105 to obtain measurements for GNSS (or A-GNSS), WLAN, E-CID, and / or OTDOA (or some other positioning method). In the case of E-CID, the LPP or NPP message may instruct UE 105 to obtain one or more measurement parameters (e.g., beam ID, beam width, average angle, RSRP, RSRQ measurements) of directional signals transmitted within a particular cell supported by one or more of gNBs 110a, 110b, and / or ng-eNB 114 (or supported by some other type of base station, such as an eNB or WiFi AP). The UE 105 may send these measurement parameters back to the LMF 120 in an LPP or NPP message (e.g., within a 5G NAS message) via the serving gNB 110a (or serving ng-eNB 114) and the AMF 115.

[0057] As mentioned, although the communication system 100 is described with respect to 5G technology, the communication system 100 may be implemented to support other communication technologies (such as GSM, WCDMA, LTE, etc.) that are used to support and interact with mobile devices (such as UE 105) (e.g., to implement voice, data, positioning, and other functionality). In some such embodiments, the 5GC 140 may be configured to control different air interfaces. For example, the non-3GPP interworking function (N3IWF, Figure 1 115) connects the 5GC 140 to the WLAN. For example, the WLAN may support IEEE 802.11 WiFi access for the UE 105 and may include one or more WiFi APs. Here, the N3IWF may be connected to the WLAN and other elements in the 5GC 140, such as the AMF 115. In some embodiments, both the NG-RAN 135 and the 5GC 140 may be replaced by one or more other RANs and one or more other core networks. For example, in the EPS, the NG-RAN 135 may be replaced by an E-UTRAN including an eNB, and the 5GC 140 may be replaced by an EPC including a mobility management entity (MME) replacing the AMF 115, an E-SMLC replacing the LMF 120, and a GMLC that may be similar to the GMLC 125. In such an EPS, the E-SMLC may use LPPa instead of NRPPa to send location information to and receive location information from the eNBs in the E-UTRAN, and may use LPP to support positioning of the UE 105. In these other embodiments, positioning of UE 105 using directional PRS may be supported in a manner similar to that described herein for 5G networks, with the difference that the functions and procedures described herein for gNB 110a, 110b, ng-eNB 114, AMF 115, and LMF 120 may in some cases be applied alternatively to other network elements, such as eNBs, WiFi APs, MMEs, and E-SMLCs.

[0058] As mentioned, in some embodiments, positioning functionality may be implemented at least in part using directional SS beams transmitted by base stations (such as gNBs 110a, 110b and / or ng-eNB 114) that are located at a UE (e.g., Figure 1 In some instances, the UE may use directional SS beams from multiple base stations (such as gNB 110a, 110b, ng-eNB 114, etc.) to calculate the positioning of the UE.

[0059] Also refer to Figure 2UE 200 is an example of one of UEs 105, 106, and includes a computing platform including a processor 210, a memory 211 including software (SW) 212, one or more sensors 213, a transceiver interface 214 for a transceiver 215 (which includes a wireless transceiver 240 and a wired transceiver 250), a user interface 216, a satellite positioning system (SPS) receiver 217, a camera 218, and a positioning device (PD) 219. The processor 210, the memory 211, the sensor(s) 213, the transceiver interface 214, the user interface 216, the SPS receiver 217, the camera 218, and the positioning device 219 may be communicatively coupled to each other via a bus 220 (which may be configured, for example, for optical communication and / or electrical communication). One or more of the devices shown (e.g., camera 218, positioning device 219, and / or one or more sensors 213, etc.) may be omitted from UE 200. The processor 210 may include one or more intelligent hardware devices, such as a central processing unit (CPU), a microcontroller, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), etc. The processor 210 may include multiple processors, including a general / application processor 230, a digital signal processor (DSP) 231, a modem processor 232, a video processor 233, and / or a sensor processor 234. One or more of the processors 230-234 may include multiple devices (e.g., multiple processors). For example, the sensor processor 234 may include, for example, a processor for RF (radio frequency) sensing (wherein one or more cellular wireless signals and reflections transmitted are used to identify, map and / or track objects), and / or ultrasound, etc. The modem processor 232 may support dual SIM / dual connectivity (or even more SIMs). For example, one SIM (subscriber identity module or subscriber identity module) may be used by an original equipment manufacturer (OEM), and another SIM may be used by an end user of the UE 200 to obtain connectivity. The memory 211 is a non-transitory storage medium, which may include a random access memory (RAM), a flash memory, a disk memory, and / or a read-only memory (ROM), etc. Memory 211 stores software 212, which may be processor-readable, processor-executable software code containing instructions that are configured to cause processor 210 to perform various functions described herein when executed. Alternatively, software 212 may not be directly executable by processor 210, but may be configured (e.g., when compiled and executed) to cause processor 210 to perform functions. The present description may only refer to processor 210 performing functions, but this includes other implementations, such as implementations in which processor 210 executes software and / or firmware. The present description may refer to processor 210 performing functions as shorthand for one or more of processors 230-234 performing the function.The description may refer to UE 200 performing a function as shorthand for one or more appropriate components of UE 200 performing that function. Processor 210 may include a memory with stored instructions in addition to and / or in lieu of memory 211. The functionality of processor 210 is discussed more fully below.

[0060] Figure 2 The configuration of UE 200 shown in is an example and does not limit the present disclosure (including claims), and other configurations may be used. For example, an example configuration of UE includes one or more of processors 230-234 in processor 210, memory 211, and wireless transceiver 240. Other example configurations include one or more of processors 230-234 of processor 210, memory 211, wireless transceiver 240, and one or more of the following: sensor 213, user interface 216, SPS receiver 217, camera 218, PD 219 and / or wired transceiver 250.

[0061] UE 200 may include a modem processor 232 that may be capable of performing baseband processing of signals received and down-converted by transceiver 215 and / or SPS receiver 217. Modem processor 232 may perform baseband processing of signals to be up-converted for transmission by transceiver 215. Additionally or alternatively, baseband processing may be performed by processor 230 and / or DSP 231. However, other configurations may be used to perform baseband processing.

[0062] UE 200 may include sensor(s) 213, which may include, for example, one or more of various types of sensors, such as one or more inertial sensors, one or more magnetometers, one or more environmental sensors, one or more optical sensors, one or more weight sensors, and / or one or more radio frequency (RF) sensors, etc. Sensor(s) 213 may include a radar system, a lidar system, and / or a sonar system, which may include one or more antennas as appropriate. An inertial measurement unit (IMU) may include, for example, one or more accelerometers (e.g., collectively responsive to acceleration of UE 200 in three dimensions) and / or one or more gyroscopes (e.g., three-dimensional gyroscope(s)). Sensor(s) 213 may include one or more magnetometers (e.g., three-dimensional magnetometer(s)) to determine orientation (e.g., relative to magnetic north and / or true north), which may be used for any of a variety of purposes (e.g., to support one or more compass applications). Environmental sensor(s) may include, for example, one or more temperature sensors, one or more air pressure sensors, one or more ambient light sensors, one or more camera imagers, and / or one or more microphones, etc. Sensor(s) 213 may generate analog and / or digital signals, indications of which may be stored in memory 211 and processed by DSP 231 and / or processor 230 to support one or more applications (such as, for example, applications involving positioning and / or navigation operations).

[0063] The sensor(s) 213 may be used for relative position measurement, relative position determination, motion determination, etc. The information detected by the sensor(s) 213 may be used for motion detection, relative displacement, dead reckoning, sensor-based position determination, and / or sensor-assisted position determination. The sensor(s) 213 may be used to determine whether the UE 200 is fixed (stationary) or mobile and / or whether to report certain useful information related to the mobility of the UE 200 to the LMF 120. For example, based on the information obtained / measured by the sensor(s) 213, the UE 200 may notify / report to the LMF 120 that the UE 200 has detected movement or that the UE 200 has moved, and report the relative displacement / distance (e.g., via dead reckoning implemented by the sensor(s) 213, or sensor-based position determination, or sensor-assisted position determination). In another example, for relative positioning information, the sensor / IMU may be used to determine the angle and / or orientation of another device relative to the UE 200, etc.

[0064] IMU 270 may be configured to provide measurements of the direction of motion and / or speed of motion of UE 200, which may be used for relative position determination. For example, one or more accelerometers 273 and / or one or more gyroscopes 274 of IMU 270 may detect the linear acceleration and rotational speed of UE 200, respectively. The linear acceleration measurements and rotational speed measurements of UE 200 may be integrated over time to determine the instantaneous direction of motion and displacement of UE 200. The instantaneous direction of motion and displacement may be integrated to track the position of UE 200. For example, a reference position of UE 200 at a certain moment may be determined, for example, using SPS receiver 217 (and / or by some other means), and measurements obtained from (all) accelerometers 273 and (all) gyroscopes 274 after that moment may be used for dead reckoning to determine the current position of UE 200 based on the movement (direction and distance) of UE 200 relative to the reference position.

[0065] The magnetometer(s) 271 may determine the magnetic field strength in different directions, which may be used to determine the orientation of the UE 200. For example, the orientation may be used to provide a digital compass for the UE 200. The magnetometer(s) 271 may include a two-dimensional magnetometer configured to detect and provide an indication of the magnetic field strength in two orthogonal dimensions. Additionally or alternatively, the magnetometer(s) 271 may include a three-dimensional magnetometer configured to detect and provide an indication of the magnetic field strength in three orthogonal dimensions. The magnetometer(s) 271 may provide a device for sensing a magnetic field and providing a magnetic field indication, for example, to the processor 210.

[0066] The transceiver 215 may include a wireless transceiver 240 and a wired transceiver 250 configured to communicate with other devices via wireless connections and wired connections, respectively. For example, the wireless transceiver 240 may include a wireless transmitter 242 and a wireless receiver 244 coupled to one or more antennas 246 for transmitting (e.g., on one or more uplink channels and / or one or more sidelink channels) and / or receiving (e.g., on one or more downlink channels and / or one or more sidelink channels) wireless signals 248 and converting signals from the wireless signals 248 to wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signals and from wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signals to the wireless signals 248. Thus, the wireless transmitter 242 may include multiple transmitters that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components, and / or the wireless receiver 244 may include multiple receivers that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components. The wireless transceiver 240 may be configured to communicate signals (e.g., with the TRP and / or one or more other devices) according to various radio access technologies (RATs), such as 5G New Radio (NR), GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications), UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System), AMPS (Advanced Mobile Phone System), CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), WCDMA (Wideband CDMA), LTE (Long Term Evolution), LTE Direct (LTE-D), 3GPP LTE-V2X (PC5), IEEE 802.11 (including IEEE802.11p), WiFi, WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), Zigbee, etc. The new radio may use millimeter wave frequencies and / or sub-6 GHz frequencies. The wired transceiver 250 may include a wired transmitter 252 and a wired receiver 254 configured for wired communication (e.g., with the network 135) to, for example, send communications to and receive communications from the gNB 110a. The wired transmitter 252 may include multiple transmitters that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components, and / or the wired receiver 254 may include multiple receivers that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components. The wired transceiver 250 may be configured, for example, for optical communication and / or electrical communication. The transceiver 215 may be communicatively coupled to the transceiver interface 214 (e.g., via an optical connection and / or an electrical connection). The transceiver interface 214 may be at least partially integrated with the transceiver 215.

[0067] The user interface 216 may include one or more devices in a number of devices (such as, for example, a speaker, a microphone, a display device, a vibration device, a keyboard, a touch screen, etc.). The user interface 216 may include any device more than one of these devices. The user interface 216 may be configured to enable a user to interact with one or more applications hosted by the UE 200. For example, the user interface 216 may store an indication of an analog and / or digital signal in the memory 211 in response to an action from the user to be processed by the DSP 231 and / or the general processor 230. Similarly, the application hosted on the UE 200 may store an indication of an analog and / or digital signal in the memory 211 to present an output signal to the user. The user interface 216 may include an audio input / output (I / O) device, which includes, for example, a speaker, a microphone, a digital-to-analog circuit system, an analog-to-digital circuit system, an amplifier and / or a gain control circuit system (including any device more than one of these devices). Other configurations of audio I / O devices may be used. Additionally or alternatively, the user interface 216 may include one or more touch sensors that respond to touch and / or pressure on, for example, a keyboard and / or a touch screen of the user interface 216 .

[0068] The SPS receiver 217 (e.g., a global positioning system (GPS) receiver) may be capable of receiving and acquiring the SPS signal 260 via the SPS antenna 262. The antenna 262 is configured to convert the wireless signal 260 into a wired signal (e.g., an electrical signal or an optical signal) and may be integrated with the antenna 246. The SPS receiver 217 may be configured to process the acquired SPS signal 260 in whole or in part to estimate the position of the UE 200. For example, the SPS receiver 217 may be configured to determine the position of the UE 200 by performing trilateration using the SPS signal 260. The general purpose processor 230, the memory 211, the DSP 231, and / or one or more dedicated processors (not shown) may be utilized in conjunction with the SPS receiver 217 to process the acquired SPS signal in whole or in part, and / or calculate the estimated position of the UE 200. The memory 211 may store indications (e.g., measurements) of the SPS signal 260 and / or other signals (e.g., signals obtained from the wireless transceiver 240) for use in performing positioning operations. The general processor 230, the DSP 231, and / or one or more dedicated processors, and / or the memory 211 may provide or support a location engine for processing measurements to estimate the location of the UE 200.

[0069] UE 200 may include a camera 218 for capturing still or moving images. Camera 218 may include, for example, an imaging sensor (e.g., a charge coupled device or CMOS imager), a lens, analog-to-digital circuitry, a frame buffer, etc. Additional processing, conditioning, encoding, and / or compression of signals representing captured images may be performed by general purpose processor 230 and / or DSP 231. Additionally or alternatively, video processor 233 may perform conditioning, encoding, compression, and / or manipulation of signals representing captured images. Video processor 233 may decode / decompress stored image data for presentation on a display device (not shown) (e.g., of user interface 216).

[0070] Positioning device (PD) 219 may be configured to determine the location of UE 200, the motion of UE 200, and / or the relative location of UE 200, and / or time. For example, PD 219 may communicate with SPS receiver 217, and / or include some or all of SPS receiver 217. PD 219 may work appropriately with processor 210 and memory 211 to perform at least a portion of one or more positioning methods, although the description herein may only refer to PD 219 being configured to perform or performing according to a positioning method. PD 219 may be additionally or alternatively configured to: use ground-based signals (e.g., at least some signals 248) for trilateration, assist in obtaining and use SPS signals 260, or both to determine the position of UE 200. PD219 may be configured to determine the location of UE 200 using one or more other techniques (e.g., relying on the UE's self-reported location (e.g., part of the UE's location beacon)), and may use a combination of techniques (e.g., SPS and ground positioning signals) to determine the location of UE 200. PD 219 may include one or more sensors 213 (e.g., gyroscopes, accelerometers, magnetometers, etc.), which may sense the orientation and / or movement of UE 200 and provide an indication of the orientation and / or movement, and processor 210 (e.g., processor 230 and / or DSP 231) may be configured to use the indication to determine the movement of UE 200 (e.g., velocity vector and / or acceleration vector). PD 219 may be configured to provide an indication of uncertainty and / or error in the determined positioning and / or movement. The functionality of PD 219 may be provided in a variety of ways and / or configurations, such as by general / application processor 230, transceiver 215, SPS receiver 262, and / or another component of UE 200, and may be provided by hardware, software, firmware, or various combinations thereof.

[0071] Also refer to Figure 3, an example of a TRP 300 for BSs 110a, 110b, 114 includes a computing platform including a processor 310, a memory 311 including software (SW) 312, a transceiver 315, and (optionally) an SPS receiver 317. The processor 310, the memory 311, the transceiver 315, and the SPS receiver 317 may be communicatively coupled to each other via a bus 320 (which may be configured, for example, for optical communication and / or electrical communication). One or more of the devices shown (e.g., a wireless interface and / or an SPS receiver 317) may be omitted from the TRP 300. The SPS receiver 317 may be configured similarly to the SPS receiver 217 to be able to receive and acquire an SPS signal 360 via an SPS antenna 362. The processor 310 may include one or more intelligent hardware devices, such as a central processing unit (CPU), a microcontroller, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), etc. The processor 310 may include multiple processors (e.g., including, for example, Figure 2 310 ). The memory 311 is a non-volatile storage medium that may include random access memory (RAM), flash memory, disk storage, and / or read-only memory (ROM), etc. The memory 311 stores software 312, which may be a processor-readable, processor-executable software code containing instructions that are configured to cause the processor 310 to perform the various functions described herein when executed. Alternatively, the software 312 may not be directly executable by the processor 310, but may be configured (for example, when compiled and executed) to cause the processor 310 to perform various functions.

[0072] The present description may refer only to the processor 310 performing a function, but this includes other implementations, such as implementations in which the processor 310 executes software and / or firmware. The present description may refer to the processor 310 performing a function as shorthand for one or more processors included in the processor 310 performing the function. The present description may refer to the TRP 300 performing a function as shorthand for one or more appropriate components (e.g., the processor 310 and the memory 311) of the TRP 300 (and thereby one of the BSs 110a, 110b, 114) performing the function. The processor 310 may include a memory with stored instructions in addition to and / or in lieu of the memory 311. The functionality of the processor 310 is discussed more fully below.

[0073] The transceiver 315 may include a wireless transceiver 340 and / or a wired transceiver 350 configured to communicate with other devices via wireless connections and wired connections, respectively. For example, the wireless transceiver 340 may include a wireless transmitter 342 and a wireless receiver 344 coupled to one or more antennas 346 for transmitting (e.g., on one or more uplink channels and / or one or more downlink channels) and / or receiving (e.g., on one or more downlink channels and / or one or more uplink channels) wireless signals 348 and converting signals from the wireless signals 348 to wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signals and from wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signals to the wireless signals 348. Thus, the wireless transmitter 342 may include multiple transmitters that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components, and / or the wireless receiver 344 may include multiple receivers that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components. The wireless transceiver 340 may be configured to communicate in accordance with various radio access technologies (RATs) such as 5G New Radio (NR), GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications), UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System), AMPS (Advanced Mobile Phone System), CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), WCDMA (Wideband CDMA), LTE (Long Term Evolution), LTE Direct (LTE-D), 3GPP LTE-V2X (PC5), IEEE 802.11 (including IEEE 802.11p), WiFi, WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), Zigbee, etc.) to communicate signals (e.g., with UE 200, one or more other UEs, and / or one or more other devices). The wired transceiver 350 may include a wired transmitter 352 and a wired receiver 354 configured for wired communication, for example, a network interface that can be used to communicate with the network 135 to send communications to the LMF 120 (e.g., and / or one or more other network entities) and receive communications from the LMF 120 (e.g., and / or one or more other network entities). The wired transmitter 352 may include multiple transmitters that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components, and / or the wired receiver 354 may include multiple receivers that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components. The wired transceiver 350 may be configured, for example, for optical communication and / or electrical communication.

[0074] Figure 3 The configuration of TRP 300 shown in is an example and is not intended to limit the present disclosure (including the claims), and other configurations may be used. For example, the description herein discusses that TRP 300 is configured to perform several functions or that TRP 300 performs several functions, but one or more of these functions may be performed by LMF 120 and / or UE 200 (i.e., LMF 120 and / or UE 200 may be configured to perform one or more of these functions).

[0075] Also refer to Figure 4 , the server 400 (which is an example of the LMF 120) includes a computing platform including a processor 410, a memory 411 including software (SW) 412, and a transceiver 415. The processor 410, the memory 411, and the transceiver 415 may be communicatively coupled to each other via a bus 420 (which may be configured, for example, for optical communication and / or electrical communication). One or more of the devices shown (e.g., a wireless interface) may be omitted from the server 400. The processor 410 may include one or more intelligent hardware devices, such as a central processing unit (CPU), a microcontroller, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), etc. The processor 410 may include multiple processors (e.g., including, for example, Figure 2 410 ). The memory 411 is a non-volatile storage medium that may include random access memory (RAM), flash memory, disk storage, and / or read-only memory (ROM), etc. The memory 411 stores software 412, which may be a processor-readable, processor-executable software code containing instructions that are configured to cause the processor 410 to perform various functions described herein when executed. Alternatively, the software 412 may not be directly executable by the processor 410, but may be configured (for example, when compiled and executed) to cause the processor 410 to perform various functions. The present description may only refer to the processor 410 performing a function, but this includes other implementations, such as implementations in which the processor 410 executes software and / or firmware. The present description may refer to the processor 410 performing a function as a shorthand for one or more processors included in the processor 410 performing the function. The present description may refer to the server 400 performing a function as a shorthand for one or more appropriate components of the server 400 performing the function. Processor 410 may include memory with stored instructions in addition to and / or in lieu of memory 411. The functionality of processor 410 is discussed more fully below.

[0076] The transceiver 415 may include a wireless transceiver 440 and / or a wired transceiver 450 configured to communicate with other devices via wireless connections and wired connections, respectively. For example, the wireless transceiver 440 may include a wireless transmitter 442 and a wireless receiver 444 coupled to one or more antennas 446 for transmitting (e.g., on one or more downlink channels) and / or receiving (e.g., on one or more uplink channels) wireless signals 448 and converting signals from the wireless signals 448 to wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signals and from wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signals to the wireless signals 448. Thus, the wireless transmitter 442 may include multiple transmitters that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components, and / or the wireless receiver 444 may include multiple receivers that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components. The wireless transceiver 440 may be configured to communicate in accordance with various radio access technologies (RATs) such as 5G New Radio (NR), GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications), UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System), AMPS (Advanced Mobile Phone System), CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), WCDMA (Wideband CDMA), LTE (Long Term Evolution), LTE Direct (LTE-D), 3GPP LTE-V2X (PC5), IEEE 802.11 (including IEEE 802.11p), WiFi, WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), Zigbee, etc.) to communicate signals (e.g., with UE 200, one or more other UEs, and / or one or more other devices). The wired transceiver 450 may include a wired transmitter 452 and a wired receiver 454 configured for wired communication, for example, a network interface that can be used to communicate with the network 135 to send communications to the TRP 300 (e.g., and / or one or more other entities) and receive communications from the TRP 300 (e.g., and / or one or more other entities). The wired transmitter 452 may include multiple transmitters that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components, and / or the wired receiver 454 may include multiple receivers that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components. The wired transceiver 450 may be configured, for example, for optical communication and / or electrical communication.

[0077] Figure 4 The configuration of the server 400 shown in is an example and is not intended to limit the present disclosure (including the claims), and other configurations may be used. For example, the wireless transceiver 440 may be omitted. Additionally or alternatively, the description herein discusses that the server 400 is configured to perform several functions or that the server 400 performs several functions, but one or more of these functions may be performed by the TRP 300 and / or the UE 200 (i.e., the TRP 300 and / or the UE 200 may be configured to perform one or more of these functions).

[0078] Positioning Technology

[0079] For terrestrial positioning of UEs in cellular networks, techniques such as Advanced Forward Link Trilateration (AFLT) and Observed Time Difference of Arrival (OTDOA) typically operate in a "UE-assisted" mode, where measurements of reference signals (e.g., PRS, CRS, etc.) transmitted by base stations are acquired by the UE and then provided to a location server. The location server then calculates the position of the UE based on these measurements and the known positions of the base stations. Because these techniques use a location server (rather than the UE itself) to calculate the position of the UE, these positioning techniques are not frequently used in applications such as automotive or cell phone navigation, which instead typically rely on satellite-based positioning.

[0080] UEs can use a satellite positioning system (SPS) (Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)) to use precise point positioning (PPP) or real-time kinematic (RTK) techniques for high-precision positioning. These techniques use assistance data, such as measurements from ground-based stations. LTE Release 15 allows data to be encrypted so that only UEs subscribed to the service can read the information. Such assistance data changes over time. As a result, a UE subscribed to the service may not be able to easily "crack the encryption" for other UEs by passing the data to other UEs that have not paid for the subscription. This transfer needs to be repeated every time the assistance data changes.

[0081] In UE-assisted positioning, the UE sends measurements (e.g., TDOA, Angle of Arrival (AoA), etc.) to a positioning server (e.g., LMF / eSMLC). The positioning server has a base station almanac (BSA) that contains multiple "entries" or "records", one record per cell, where each record contains a geographic cell location, but may also include other data. An identifier of a "record" among multiple "records" in the BSA may be referenced. The BSA and the measurements from the UE may be used to calculate the positioning of the UE.

[0082] In conventional UE-based positioning, the UE calculates its own position, avoiding sending measurements to the network (e.g., a location server), which in turn improves latency and scalability. The UE uses the relevant BSA record information from the network (e.g., the location of the gNB (more broadly, the base station)). The BSA information can be encrypted. However, since the BSA information changes much less frequently than, for example, the PPP or RTK assistance data described previously, it may be easier (compared to PPP or RTK information) to make the BSA information available to UEs that are not subscribed and pay for decryption keys. The transmission of reference signals by the gNB makes the BSA information potentially accessible to crowdsourcing or driving attacks, essentially enabling the BSA information to be generated based on in-the-field and / or over-the-top observations.

[0083] Positioning techniques may be characterized and / or evaluated based on one or more criteria, such as positioning determination accuracy and / or latency. The latency is the time elapsed between an event that triggers the determination of positioning-related data and the availability of the data at a positioning system interface (e.g., an interface of LMF120). When the positioning system is initialized, the latency for the availability of positioning-related data is called the first lock time (TTFF) and is greater than the latency after the TTFF. The inverse of the time elapsed between the availability of two consecutive positioning-related data is called the update rate, i.e., the rate at which positioning-related data is generated after the first lock. The latency may depend on the processing capability (e.g., of the UE). For example, assuming a 272 PRB (physical resource block) allocation, the UE may report the processing capability of the UE as the duration (in time units (e.g., milliseconds)) of the DL PRS symbols that the UE can process per T amount of time (e.g., T ms). Other examples of capabilities that may affect latency are the number of TRPs of its PRSs that the UE can process, the number of PRSs that the UE can process, and the bandwidth of the UE.

[0084] One or more of many different positioning techniques (also referred to as positioning methods) may be used to determine the location of an entity (such as one of the UEs 105, 106). For example, known positioning determination techniques include RTT, multi-RTT, OTDOA (also referred to as TDOA, and including UL-TDOA and DL-TDOA), enhanced cell identification (E-CID), DL-AoD, UL-AoA, etc. RTT uses the time it takes for a signal to travel from one entity to another and back to determine the range between the two entities. The range plus the known position of the first of the entities and the angle (e.g., azimuth) between the two entities may be used to determine the position of the second of the entities. In multi-RTT (also referred to as multi-cell RTT), multiple ranges from one entity (e.g., UE) to other entities (e.g., TRP) and the known positions of the other entities may be used to determine the position of the one entity. In TDOA techniques, the travel time differences between one entity and the other entities may be used to determine the relative ranges to the other entities, and those relative ranges combined with the known positions of the other entities may be used to determine the position of the one entity. The angle of arrival and / or angle of departure can be used to help determine the location of an entity. For example, the angle of arrival or angle of departure of a signal combined with the range between devices (range determined using the signal (e.g., the travel time of the signal, the received power of the signal, etc.)) and the known position of one of these devices can be used to determine the location of another device. The angle of arrival or angle of departure can be an azimuth relative to a reference direction (such as true north). The angle of arrival or angle of departure can be a zenith angle relative to directly upward from the entity (i.e., relative to radially outward from the center of the earth). E-CID uses the identity of the serving cell, the timing advance (i.e., the difference between the reception and transmission time at the UE), the estimated timing and power of the detected neighbor cell signal, and the possible angle of arrival (e.g., the angle of arrival of the signal from the base station at the UE, or vice versa) to determine the location of the UE. In TDOA, the arrival time difference of signals from different sources at the receiving device together with the known positions of these sources and the known offsets of the transmission time from these sources are used to determine the location of the receiving device.

[0085] In network-centric RTT estimation, a serving base station instructs a UE to scan / receive RTT measurement signals (e.g., PRS) on serving cells of two or more neighboring base stations (and typically a serving base station, since at least three base stations are required). The one or more base stations transmit RTT measurement signals on low reuse resources (e.g., resources used by the base station to transmit system information) allocated by the network (e.g., a location server, such as LMF 120). The UE records the arrival time (also referred to as reception time, received time, received time, or arrival time (ToA)) of each RTT measurement signal relative to the current downlink timing of the UE (e.g., as derived by the UE from a DL signal received from its serving base station), and (e.g., when instructed by its serving base station) transmits a common or individual RTT response message (e.g., an SRS (sounding reference signal) for positioning, i.e., UL-PRS) to the one or more base stations, and may calculate the time difference T between the ToA of the RTT measurement signal and the transmission time of the RTT response message. Rx→Tx (i.e., UE T Rx-Tx or UE Rx-Tx ) is included in the payload of each RTT response message. The RTT response message will include a reference signal from which the base station can infer the ToA of the RTT response. The difference T between the transmission time of the RTT measurement signal from the base station and the ToA of the RTT response at the base station is calculated by Tx→Rx The time difference T reported by the UE Rx→Tx By comparison, the base station can infer the propagation time between the base station and the UE, from which the base station can determine the distance between the UE and the base station by assuming the speed of light during the propagation time.

[0086] UE-centric RTT estimation is similar to the network-based approach, except that the UE transmits uplink RTT measurement signal(s) (e.g., when instructed by the serving base station), which are received by multiple base stations in the vicinity of the UE. Each involved base station responds with a downlink RTT response message, which may include in the RTT response message payload the time difference between the ToA of the RTT measurement signal at the base station and the transmission time of the RTT response message from the base station.

[0087] For both network-centric and UE-centric procedures, the side performing the RTT calculation (the network or the UE) typically (but not always) transmits first message(s) or signal(s) (e.g., RTT measurement signal(s), and the other side responds with one or more RTT response messages or signals, which may include the difference between the ToA of the first message(s) or signal(s) and the transmission time of the RTT response message(s) or signal(s).

[0088] Multi-RTT techniques may be used to determine positioning. For example, a first entity (e.g., a UE) may send one or more signals (e.g., unicast, multicast, or broadcast from a base station), and a plurality of second entities (e.g., other TSPs, such as (base stations) and / or (UEs)) may receive signals from the first entity and respond to the received signals. The first entity receives responses from the plurality of second entities. The first entity (or another entity, such as an LMF) may use the responses from the second entity to determine the range to the second entity, and may use the plurality of ranges and the known positions of the second entities to determine the position of the first entity by trilateration.

[0089] In some instances, additional information may be obtained in the form of an angle of arrival (AoA) or angle of departure (AoD), which defines a straight line direction (e.g., which may be in the horizontal plane, or in three dimensions) or a range of possible directions (e.g., of the UE as seen from the location of a base station). The intersection of the two directions may provide another estimate of the UE's position.

[0090] For positioning techniques (e.g., TDOA and RTT) that use PRS (positioning reference signal) signals, PRS signals sent by multiple TRPs are measured, and the arrival times of these signals, the known transmission times, and the known locations of the TRPs are used to determine the range from the UE to the TRPs. For example, RSTD (reference signal time difference) can be determined for PRS signals received from multiple TRPs, and these RSTDs are used in TDOA techniques to determine the location (position) of the UE. Positioning reference signals may be referred to as PRS or PRS signals. PRS signals are typically transmitted using the same power, and PRS signals with the same signal characteristics (e.g., the same frequency shift) may interfere with each other, so that PRS signals from farther TRPs may be drowned out by PRS signals from closer TRPs, so that signals from farther TRPs may not be detected. PRS muting can be used to help reduce interference by muting some PRS signals (reducing the power of the PRS signal, for example, to zero and thereby not transmitting the PRS signal). In this way, the UE may more easily detect (at the UE) a weaker PRS signal without a stronger PRS signal interfering with the weaker PRS signal.The term RS and its variants (eg, PRS, SRS) may refer to one reference signal or more than one reference signal.

[0091] Positioning Reference Signals (PRS) include downlink PRS (DL PRS) and uplink PRS (UL PRS) (which may be referred to as SRS (Sounding Reference Signal) for positioning). PRS may include PRS resources or PRS resource sets of frequency layers. A DL PRS positioning frequency layer (or simply frequency layer) is a collection of DL PRS resource sets from one or more TRPs, which has common parameters configured by higher layer parameters DL-PRS-PositioningFrequencyLayer (DL-PRS-positioning frequency layer), DL-PRS-ResourceSet (DL-PRS-resource set) and DL-PRS-Resource (DL-PRS-resource). Each frequency layer has a DL PRS subcarrier spacing (SCS) for the DL PRS resource set and DL PRS resources in the frequency layer. Each frequency layer has a DL PRS cyclic prefix (CP) for the DL PRS resource set and DL PRS resources in the frequency layer. In 5G, a resource block occupies 12 consecutive subcarriers and a specified number of symbols. Moreover, the DL PRS point A parameter defines the frequency of the reference resource block (and the lowest subcarrier of the resource block), where DL PRS resources belonging to the same DL PRS resource set have the same point A, and all DL PRS resource sets belonging to the same frequency layer have the same point A. The frequency layer also has the same DL PRS bandwidth, the same starting PRB (and center frequency), and the same comb size value (i.e., the frequency of PRS resource elements per symbol, so that for comb N, every Nth resource element is a PRS resource element). The PRS resource set is identified by a PRS resource set ID and can be associated with a specific TRP (identified by a cell ID) transmitted by the antenna panel of the base station. The PRS resource ID in the PRS resource set can be associated with an omni-directional signal and / or with a single beam (and / or beam ID) transmitted from a single base station (where a base station can transmit one or more beams). Each PRS resource in a PRS resource set can be transmitted on a different beam, and as such, the PRS resource (or simply resource) can also be referred to as a beam. This does not imply at all whether the UE knows the base station and beam transmitting the PRS.

[0092] The TRP may be configured, for example, by instructions received from a server and / or by software in the TRP to send DL PRS on a schedule. According to the schedule, the TRP may intermittently (e.g., periodically at consistent intervals from the initial transmission) send DL PRS. The TRP may be configured to send one or more PRS resource sets. A resource set is a collection of PRS resources across a TRP, where these resources have the same periodicity, a common muting mode configuration (if any), and the same cross-slot repetition factor. Each PRS resource set includes a plurality of PRS resources, where each PRS resource includes a plurality of resource elements (REs), which may be in a plurality of resource blocks (RBs) within N (one or more) consecutive symbols within a slot. An RB is a set of REs that spans one or more consecutive symbol numbers in the time domain and a consecutive subcarrier number (12 for 5G RBs) in the frequency domain. Each PRS resource is configured with an RE offset, a slot offset, a symbol offset within a slot, and the number of consecutive symbols that a PRS resource may occupy within a slot. The RE offset defines the starting RE offset in frequency for the first symbol within the DL PRS resource. The relative RE offsets of the remaining symbols within the DL PRS resource are defined based on the initial offset. The slot offset is the starting slot of the DL PRS resource relative to the corresponding resource set slot offset. The symbol offset determines the starting symbol of the DL PRS resource within the starting slot. The transmitted REs may be repeated across slots, where each transmission is referred to as a repetition, so that there may be multiple repetitions in the PRS resource. The DL PRS resources in a DL PRS resource set are associated with the same TRP, and each DL PRS resource has a DL PRS resource ID. The DL PRS resource ID in a DL PRS resource set is associated with a single beam transmitted from a single TRP (although a TRP may transmit one or more beams).

[0093] PRS resources may also be defined by quasi co-location and starting PRB parameters. The quasi co-location (QCL) parameter may define any quasi co-location information of the DLPRS resources with other reference signals. The DL PRS may be configured to be QCL type D with a DL PRS or SS / PBCH (synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel) block from a serving cell or a non-serving cell. The DL PRS may be configured to be QCL type C with a SS / PBCH block from a serving cell or a non-serving cell. The starting PRB parameter defines the starting PRB index of the DLPRS resource relative to reference point A. The granularity of the starting PRB index is one PRB, and the minimum value may be 0 and the maximum value may be 2176 PRBs.

[0094] A PRS resource set is a collection of PRS resources with the same periodicity, the same muting pattern configuration (if any), and the same repetition factor across time slots. Each time all repetitions of all PRS resources in a PRS resource set are configured to be transmitted is referred to as an "instance". Thus, an "instance" of a PRS resource set is a specified number of repetitions for each PRS resource and a specified number of PRS resources within a PRS resource set, such that once the specified number of repetitions is transmitted for each of the specified number of PRS resources, the instance is complete. An instance may also be referred to as an "opportunity". A DL PRS configuration including a DL PRS transmission schedule may be provided to a UE to facilitate the UE to measure a DL PRS (or even enable the UE to measure a DL PRS).

[0095] Multiple frequency layers of PRS can be aggregated to provide an effective bandwidth greater than any bandwidth of each layer alone. Multiple frequency layers belonging to component carriers (which can be coherent and / or separate) and satisfying criteria such as quasi co-location (QCL) and having the same antenna port can be spliced ​​to provide a larger effective PRS bandwidth (for DL ​​PRS and UL PRS), thereby improving the accuracy of arrival time measurement. In the case of QCL, different frequency layers behave similarly, so that the splicing of PRS produces a larger effective bandwidth. The larger effective bandwidth (which may be referred to as the bandwidth of the aggregated PRS or the frequency bandwidth of the aggregated PRS) provides better time domain resolution (e.g., the resolution of TDOA). The aggregated PRS includes a collection of PRS resources, and each PRS resource in the aggregated PRS may be referred to as a PRS component, and each PRS component may be transmitted on different component carriers, frequency bands or frequency layers, or on different parts of the same frequency band.

[0096] RTT positioning is an active positioning technique because RTT uses positioning signals sent by the TRP to the UE and by the UE (participating in RTT positioning) to the TRP. The TRP can send a DL-PRS signal received by the UE, and the UE can send an SRS (sounding reference signal) signal received by multiple TRPs. The sounding reference signal may be referred to as an SRS or an SRS signal. In 5G multi-RTT, coordinated positioning can be used, in which the UE sends a single UL-SRS for positioning received by multiple TRPs, instead of sending a separate UL-SRS for positioning for each TRP. A TRP participating in multi-RTT will typically search for UEs currently residing on the TRP (served UEs, where the TRP is the serving TRP) and also search for UEs residing on adjacent TRPs (neighbor UEs). A neighbor TRP may be a TRP of a single BTS (e.g., a gNB), or may be a TRP of one BTS and a TRP of a separate BTS. For RTT positioning (including multi-RTT positioning), the DL-PRS signal and the UL-SRS positioning signal in a PRS / SRS positioning signal pair used to determine the RTT (and thereby the range between the UE and the TRP) may occur close in time to each other so that errors due to UE motion and / or UE clock drift and / or TRP clock drift are within acceptable limits. For example, the signals in the PRS / SRS positioning signal pair may be transmitted from the TRP and the UE, respectively, within approximately 10 ms of each other. In the case where the SRS positioning signal is being sent by the UE and the PRS and SRS positioning signals are communicated close in time to each other, it has been found that radio frequency (RF) signal congestion may result (which may result in excessive noise, etc.) (especially if many UEs are attempting to locate concurrently), and / or computational congestion may result at the TRP where many UEs are attempting to be measured concurrently.

[0097] RTT positioning can be UE-based or UE-assisted. In UE-based RTT, UE 200 determines the RTT and corresponding range to each of TRPs 300, and determines the positioning of UE 200 based on the range to TRP 300 and the known position of TRP 300. In UE-assisted RTT, UE 200 measures the positioning signal and provides the measurement information to TRP 300, and TRP 300 determines RTT and range. TRP 300 provides the range to a location server (e.g., server 400), and the server determines the position of UE 200 based on the range to different TRPs 300, for example. The RTT and / or range may be determined by the TRP 300 receiving the signal(s) from the UE 200, by the TRP 300 in combination with one or more other devices (e.g., one or more other TRPs 300 and / or a server 400), or by one or more devices other than the TRP 300 receiving the signal(s) from the UE 200.

[0098] Various positioning technologies are supported in 5G NR. The NR native positioning methods supported in 5G NR include DL-only positioning methods, UL-only positioning methods, and DL+UL positioning methods. Downlink-based positioning methods include DL-TDOA and DL-AoD. Uplink-based positioning methods include UL-TDOA and UL-AoA. Combined DL+UL-based positioning methods include RTT with one base station and RTT with multiple base stations (multi-RTT).

[0099] A positioning estimate (e.g., for a UE) may be referred to by other names, such as a position estimate, a position, a fix, a position fix, a fix, etc. The positioning estimate may be geodetic and include coordinates (e.g., latitude, longitude, and possibly altitude), or may be municipal and include a street address, a postal address, or some other verbal description of the location. The positioning estimate may be further defined relative to some other known location or in absolute terms (e.g., using latitude, longitude, and possibly altitude). The positioning estimate may include an expected error or uncertainty (e.g., by including an area or volume within which the location is expected to be contained with some specified or default confidence level).

[0100] Selective localization signal processing

[0101] Also refer to Fig.10 , and further refer to Figure 1-4 UE 1000 includes a processor 1010, a receiver 1020, and a memory 1030 that are communicatively coupled to each other via a bus 1040. UE 1000 may include Fig.11 , and may include one or more other components, such as Figure 21000 may include any of those components shown in 1010, so that UE 200 may be an example of UE 1000. For example, processor 1010 may include one or more of the components of processor 210. Receiver 1020 is configured to receive communication signals from network entities (such as TRP 300 and / or server 400) and receive positioning signals (e.g., PRS from one or more network entities and / or one or more satellite signals from one or more SVs). For example, receiver 1020 may include one or more of wireless receiver 244 (and antenna 246) and / or wired receiver 254 and / or SPS receiver 217 and antenna 262. UE 1000 may include a wireless transmitter (e.g., wireless transmitter 242) and / or a wired transmitter (such as wired transmitter 252). Memory 1030 may be configured similarly to memory 211, for example, including software having processor-readable instructions configured to cause processor 1010 to perform functions.

[0102] The description herein may only refer to the processor 1010 performing a function, but this includes other implementations, such as an implementation in which the processor 1010 executes software and / or firmware (stored in the memory 1030). The description herein may refer to the UE 1000 performing a function as shorthand for one or more appropriate components of the UE 1000 (e.g., the processor 1010 and the memory 1030) performing the function. The processor 1010 (possibly in combination with the memory 1030 and, where appropriate, the receiver 1020) includes a positioning function enabling / disabling unit 1050 and a positioning function unit 1060. The positioning function enabling / disabling unit 1050 is configured to determine one or more positioning functions (if any) to be disabled based on one or more received signals indicating one or more failures of the positioning signal source, and to disable the determined positioning function(s) (if any). The positioning function unit 1060 is configured to perform one or more positioning functions to determine positioning information (e.g., one or more measurements for UE 1000, one or more distances (e.g., pseudoranges), one or more positioning estimates, etc.) based on one or more positioning signals received by the receiver 1020. The positioning function enabling / disabling unit 1050 and the positioning function unit 1060 are further discussed below, and the description may generally refer to the processor 1010 or the UE 1000 performing any functions of the positioning function enabling / disabling unit 1050 and / or the positioning function unit 1060.

[0103] Also refer to Fig.11 , and further refer to Figure 1-4 , the device 1100 includes a processor 1110, a transmitter 1120, and a memory 1130 that are communicatively coupled to each other via a bus 1140. The device 1100 may include Fig.11The components shown in and may include one or more other components, such as Figure 3 and / or Figure 4 100 ). The apparatus 1100 may include any of those components shown in , so that the TRP 300 and / or the server 400 may be an example of the apparatus 1100. The transmitter 1120 may include one or more of the wireless transmitter 342 (and antenna 346) and / or the wired transmitter 352 and / or the wireless transmitter 442 (and antenna 446) and / or the wired transmitter 452. The transmitter 1120 is configured to transmit communication signals to a network entity (such as the TRP 300 and / or the server 400) and / or the UE (such as the UE 1000). The apparatus 1100 may include a receiver configured to receive positioning signals (e.g., PRS from one or more network entities and / or one or more satellite signals from one or more SVs). For example, the receiver may include one or more of the wireless receiver 344 and antenna 346 and / or the wireless receiver 444 and antenna 446 and / or the SPS receiver and the corresponding antenna (e.g., the SPS receiver 317 and antenna 362). The memory 1130 may be configured similarly to the memory 311 or the memory 411 , for example, including software having processor-readable instructions configured to cause the processor 1110 to perform functions.

[0104] The description herein may only refer to the processor 1110 performing a function, but this includes other implementations, such as an implementation in which the processor 1110 executes software and / or firmware (stored in the memory 1130). The description herein may refer to the device 1100 performing a function as shorthand for one or more appropriate components of the device 1100 (e.g., the processor 1110 and the memory 1130) performing the function. The processor 1110 (possibly in combination with the memory 1130 and, where appropriate, the transmitter 1120) includes a positioning signal failure determination unit 1150 and a positioning signal failure indication unit 1160. The positioning signal failure determination unit 1150 is configured to determine whether a positioning signal source has one or more failures, and to determine one or more positioning signal functions that are negatively affected by the failure(s). In order to determine whether a positioning signal source has a failure, the positioning signal failure determination unit 1150 may receive one or more positioning signals from the positioning signal source via a receiver of the device 1100 and analyze the one or more positioning signals. Additionally or alternatively, the positioning signal failure determination unit 1150 may receive one or more indications of a positioning signal source failure, for example, via one or more communication signals received by a receiver of the device 1100. The positioning signal failure indication unit 1160 is configured to send one or more indications of the failure(s) to the UE 1000 via the transmitter 1120, for example, to cause the UE 1000 to disable one or more appropriate positioning signal processing functions. The positioning signal failure detection unit 1150 and the positioning signal failure indication unit 1160 are further discussed below, and the description may generally refer to the processor 1110 or the device 1100 performing any functions of the positioning signal failure detection unit 1150 and / or the positioning signal failure indication unit 1160.

[0105] Also refer to Figure 5, process flow 500 is an example of signals sent between one or more of SVs 190-193, UE 1000 (e.g., UE 200), TRP 300, and server 400, and processing these signals to affect positioning signal processing performed by UE 1000. Apparatus 1100 may include TRP 300 and / or server 400, or at least components of TRP 300 and / or server 400 (e.g., SPS receiver 317), although the following discussion discusses the functionality of TRP 300 and server 400 separately. SVs 190-193 are sources of positioning signals (i.e., signals that can be used to determine a position (e.g., the position of UE 1000)). As an alternative or in addition to SVs 190-193, other positioning signal sources may be used, such as ground base stations that transmit positioning signals (e.g., DL-PRS (downlink positioning reference signals)). The TRP 300 may be used as a reference receiver to receive positioning signals and report information about these positioning signals (e.g., quality, lack of signal(s) received, information in the received signals, etc.) to the server 400. As discussed further below, the server 400 (or the TRP 300 or another device, alone or in combination with the server 400) (e.g., the positioning signal failure indication unit 1160) may provide information about one or more of the positioning signal sources (here, SVs 190-193) to the UE 1000 to influence the processing of the positioning signals by the UE 1000. The UE 1000 (e.g., the positioning function enabling / disabling unit 1050 and / or the positioning function unit 1060) may selectively process positioning signals, e.g., not process signals from a particular signal source, not process signals for particular information but process the signals for other information, and so on.

[0106] Positioning signals may be transmitted by a positioning signal source and received by UE 1000 and TRP 300. Here, SVs 190-193 may transmit SPS signals 510, 511 that UE 1000 and TRP 300 may receive (e.g., using SPS receivers 217, 317). SPS receivers 217, 317 may provide information about the received SPS signals to processors 210, 310, respectively.

[0107] The SPS receiver 217, 317 and / or the processor 210, 310 and / or the positioning signal failure determination unit 1150 may be configured to detect a failure of the SV 190-193 based on one or more received SPS signals and / or based on the absence of received SPS signals. For example, the UE 1000 and / or the TRP 300 and / or the unit 1150 (e.g., based on information provided by the TRP 300 (e.g., measurement(s) and / or failure indication(s)) may determine that data sent from one or more of the SVs 190-193 is incorrect and / or stale and / or has poor quality of service (QoS). Stale SPS signal data is data that is older than a threshold amount of time, after which the data is considered unreliable (because use of the data may result in an unacceptably inaccurate position determination). The SV signal data analyzed for SV failures may include time information (e.g., time of week and / or week number (e.g., in GPS systems) and / or day number (e.g., in GLO systems)), ephemeris information, almanac information, and / or satellite clock offset / drift information. Ephemeris information includes global parameters used to determine satellite position, and almanac information includes a reduced set of global orbit parameters (compared to ephemeris) for determining a coarse estimate of satellite position. UE 1000 and / or TRP 300 may employ receiver automatic integrity monitoring (RAIM) techniques to detect failures. For example, UE 1000 and / or TRP 300 may determine whether a small set of SPS signal measurements are erroneous.

[0108] Various types of faults can be detected. For example, the SPS receiver 217, 317 and / or the processor 210, 310 and / or the positioning signal fault determination unit 1150 can be configured to detect satellite clock errors, ephemeris errors, continuous parity errors, obsolete / incorrect data, and / or user ranging accuracy faults. Satellite clock errors can be detected using RAIM / decoding of recent data (if available) to obtain recent clock information. Ephemeris errors (e.g., unacceptable orbit prediction accuracy) can be detected by decoding recent data / health information (if available). Continuous parity faults can be detected by using a parity check algorithm. Consistency / comparison checks can be used to detect obsolete and / or incorrect data (e.g., SV is in automatic navigation mode due to interruption of communication between SV and ground station). Unacceptable user ranging accuracy can be detected by decoding current user ranging accuracy / RAIM.

[0109] UE 1000 and / or TRP 300 may send report communications 512, 513, respectively, to server 400. Report communications 512, 513 may indicate failure(s) of corresponding SVs 190-193. Additionally or alternatively, report communications 512, 513 may provide information (e.g., decoded data) from which server 400 may determine failure(s).

[0110] In block 514, the server 400 (e.g., the positioning signal failure determination unit 1150) may process information from one or more of the report communications 512, 513 to determine one or more UE functions for processing positioning signals that are negatively affected. The server 400 may determine one or more SV failures if the UE 1000 and / or TRP 300 have not yet determined one or more SV failures (or may do so as a double check of the determinations made by the UE 1000 and / or TRP 300). The server 400 may use knowledge of the failures (e.g., what data is incorrect, stale, and / or otherwise of poor quality (e.g., user ranging accuracy exceeds acceptable limits)) to determine which UE function(s) will be negatively affected, particularly the UE functions that will be negatively affected enough that they should not be performed by the UE 1000, for example, because doing so would waste energy and / or result in erroneous results (e.g., determining an unacceptably inaccurate position estimate).

[0111] Also refer to Figure 6 UE 1000 may be configured to perform various operations on the positioning signal. Figure 6The discussion may refer to SV signals and operations for SV signals, but the discussion is applicable to other types of positioning signals. Receiver 1020 and / or processor 1010 (possibly in combination with memory 1030) (e.g., SPS receiver 217 or processor 210 (e.g., general / application processor 230, DSP 231, and / or modem processor 232) and software 212 of memory 211) (in combination with SPS receiver 217) may implement signal acquisition function 610 for acquiring positioning signals (e.g., SV signals). Processor 1110 (e.g., general / application processor 230, DSP 231, and / or modem processor 232) (possibly in combination with software 212 of memory 211) may implement signal tracking function 611, bit edge detection function 612, positioning signal data demodulation function 613, frame synchronization function 614, decoding time function 615, and data demodulation function 616. Data demodulation function 616 may include one or more functions, such as decode ephemeris function 617, decode almanac function 618, and possibly one or more other functions (not shown). As shown, functions 610-618 may be hierarchical (i.e., part of hierarchy 600) such that a particular function lower on hierarchy 600 is dependent on the execution of any function higher on hierarchy 600 and in the same path in hierarchy 600 as the particular function. Thus, if a selected function is disabled, any function lower on hierarchy 600 and in a downstream path of the selected function may also be disabled (e.g., to save power). For example, if function 612 is disabled, functions 613-618 may be disabled. Conversely, if functions 610-613 are enabled, decode time function 615 may be disabled, but frame synchronization function 614, data demodulation function 616, decode ephemeris function 617, and decode almanac function 618 may be enabled. The processor 1010, the receiver 1020 and the memory 1030 (e.g., the processor 210, the memory 211, the transceiver 215 (e.g., the wireless receiver 244) and the transceiver interface 214 (and the SPS receiver 217 for SV signals)) may include means for acquiring a positioning signal, means for tracking a signal, means for bit edge detection, means for positioning signal data demodulation, means for frame synchronization, means for data demodulation (e.g., means for decoding ephemeris data, means for decoding almanac data) and / or means for decoding time.

[0112] The device 1100 (e.g., the server 400) may determine whether any UE function is negatively affected by the failure of the positioning signal source(s) (e.g., SV), and accordingly generate and send a failure communication 515 to the UE 1000. Although the discussion herein focuses on UE functions, similar functions may be performed by the TRP 300, and the server 400 may send a failure communication to the TRP 300. The failure communication 515 corresponds to the SV failure(s), and may include one or more indications to enable the UE 1000 to take appropriate action (e.g., disable one or more of the UE functions). For example, the failure communication 515 may indicate a data problem (e.g., stale timing data, or incorrect ephemeris data, etc.), which the UE 1000 may interpret to take appropriate action (e.g., to disable one or more functions). As another example, the failure communication 515 may include one or more instructions (i.e., commands) to disable one or more of the UE functions, respectively. The fault communication 515 may indicate which SV(s) the particular indication corresponds to, and may indicate an amount of time that the UE 1000 should take appropriate action (eg, an amount of time that the UE 1000 should disable a function).

[0113] like Figure 7As shown in FIG. 5 , an example fault communication 715 for a satellite positioning signal (which is an example of a fault communication 515) includes a satellite ID field 720, a constellation ID field 721, a signal acquisition field 722, a signal tracking field 723, a bit edge detection field 724, a positioning signal data demodulation field 725, a frame synchronization field 726, a decoding time field 727, a demodulation data field 728, a decoding ephemeris field 729, a decoding almanac field 730, and a disable time field 731. Numerous other examples of fault communications are possible, for example, where one or more fields (such as one or more of fields 729, 730) are omitted and / or include one or more other fields for one or more functions downstream of the data demodulation function 616. The satellite ID field 720 indicates which SV(s) the instructions in fields 722-730 are to be applied to. The constellation ID field 721 indicates which positioning signal constellation the instructions apply to. The constellation may have one or more SVs and / or one or more ground-based signal sources. Fields 722-730 contain instructions. Each of these instructions is a bit that indicates whether the UE 1000 should disable or enable the corresponding function (here, signal acquisition, signal tracking, bit edge detection, positioning signal data demodulation, frame synchronization, decoding time from (all) signals, demodulating data from (all) signals, decoding ephemeris, and decoding almanac). As shown, the fault communication 715 may provide an indication (e.g., command) corresponding to the faults of more than one SV and / or more than one SV constellation. The fault communication 715 may indicate a subset of one or more SVs in the constellation to which the corresponding instructions are to be applied, or may indicate that the instructions are to be applied to the entire constellation. The disable time field 725 indicates one or more durations for which the functions corresponding to these instructions are to be disabled. Field 725 may indicate an individual time for each instruction in fields 722-724, or may indicate a time to be applied to multiple instructions (e.g., all instructions). In the example shown, where the disable time field indicates a single time value of 5 minutes, this will apply to all disable instructions, thereby instructing the UE 1000 to disable both decoding time and demodulating data for 5 minutes. In the case of providing multiple disable times, the corresponding time is mapped to the corresponding function. The time shown is only an example, and many other time values ​​(e.g., seconds, hours, days, or even longer) can be used. The disable time value 0 can be used for the enable instruction, or the disable time value can not be provided for the enable instruction. The disable time value can take various forms, for example, indicating one or more time lengths to instruct the UE 1000 to immediately disable (all) corresponding functions up to the (all) time lengths, and / or indicating one or more time windows indicating the start time and end time or the start time and time length. The disable time value (or even the disable time field 725) can be omitted, and the fault communication 515 with the enable indication is used to enable the UE 1000 to enable the previously disabled function.

[0114] Example fault communication 715 illustrates hierarchical function disabling. In communication 715, for satellites 1, 3 of the GPS constellation, signal tracking field 723 indicates that signal tracking function 611 is to be disabled. Therefore, fields 724-730 also indicate that corresponding functions 612-618 are to be disabled, because functions 612-618 are all downstream of function 611. For all satellites of the GLONASS constellation, only decoded almanac field 730 indicates that the corresponding decoded almanac function 618 is to be disabled, and thus decoded ephemeris field 729 (as in this example) may indicate that decoded ephemeris function 617 is to be enabled, because decoded ephemeris function 617 is not downstream of decoded almanac function 618.

[0115] The device 1100 (e.g., the server 400) may be configured to securely send the failure communication 515. For example, the server 400 may sign the failure communication 515 with a digital signature so that only an authorized user (e.g., the UE 1000) can access the content of the failure communication 515. For example, the server 400 may send the failure communication 515 as part of one or more extended receiver assisted (XTRA) communications (e.g., gpsOneXTRA, also known as IZat XTRA).

[0116] At block 516, the UE 1000 responds to the fault communication 515 by disabling the appropriate function(s). For example, the UE 1000 (e.g., the location function enable / disable unit 1050, such as the processor 210 and the memory 211) implements an enable / disable function 625 that analyzes the fault communication 515 and responds to the fault communication 515 by sending an enable / disable (en / dis) signal with a disable value to each of the functions 610-618 that should be disabled in view of the fault communication 515. The UE 1000 may send a respective enable / disable signal for each of the functions 610-618, or may send one or more enable / disable signals, wherein at least one of such signals is for more than one of the functions 610-618. The UE 1000 may determine which function(s) to disable, for example, by interpreting an indication of a data problem in the fault communication 515 or by reading instructions in fields 722-730. The enable / disable function 625 may disable the SV acquisition function 610 implemented by the SPS receiver 217 to acquire SV signals. The enable / disable function 625 may disable the data demodulation function 615 that demodulates data (e.g., ephemeris information, almanac information, satellite clock offset / drift information) from the SV signals. Even further data demodulation disabling granularity may be provided, such as to disable decoding of one type of data (e.g., ephemeris) but not another type of data (e.g., almanac, satellite clock offset / drift). The enable / disable function 625 may disable the decode time function 615 that decodes time information in the SV signals. The enable / disable function 625 may disable any appropriate functionality for any appropriate SV (or other signal source) (e.g., all SVs indicated corresponding to the disable instruction). The enable / disable function 625 may disable functionality for more SVs than indicated in the fault communication 515. For example, if a threshold number (e.g., raw number, percentage, etc.) of SVs of a constellation are indicated to disable one or more functions, the enable / disable function 625 may disable the indicated function(s) for all SVs in the constellation of the indicated SVs. The enable / disable function 625 may enable any of the functions 610-618 by sending an en / dis signal with an enable value, for example, in response to a fault communication 515 or in response to expiration of a disable time (e.g., a time length elapses, or an end time occurs / elapses).

[0117] The enable / disable function 625 provides granularity for function disabling at the UE 1000. Instead of disabling all signal processing functionality for SV signals from an SV in response to an indication of the health and / or integrity of the SV (e.g., where QoS is not being met), the enable / disable function 625 may disable one or more of the functions 610-618 while enabling (or at least not disabling) one or more other functions of the functions 610-618 (properly following the hierarchical disabling). Thus, for example, time data may be decoded from a signal from SV 190 while ephemeris data from the same signal is not demodulated. Furthermore, the enable / disable function 625 may disable one or more of the functions 610-618 for one or more of the SVs 190-193 without disabling the same function(s) for other SV(s) in SV(s) 190-193. For example, the decode time function 615 may be disabled for SVs 190, 191 and enabled for SVs 192, 193 (and other SVs if the constellation has more than four SVs).

[0118] Refer again Figure 5 , at block 517, the positioning function unit 1060 of the UE 1000 processes the SV signal according to the enabled functions. The UE 1000 is configured to process the incoming SV signal using any of the functions 610-618 that are enabled for a particular SV signal (e.g., from a satellite for which one or more functions are enabled). Thus, the UE 1000 may process the SV signal according to at least one of the functions 610-618 without processing the SV signal according to any of the functions 610-618 that are disabled.

[0119] operate

[0120] Reference Figure 8 , and further refer to Figure 1-7 , 10 and 11, the method 810 for controlling the processing of positioning signals (e.g., satellite vehicle signals) includes the stages shown. However, the method 810 is only an example and is not limiting. The method 810 can be modified, for example, by adding, removing, rearranging, combining, performing concurrently, and / or splitting a single stage into multiple stages. For example, one or more stages may occur in Figure 8 Prior to the stages shown in , and / or one or more stages may occur Figure 8. For example, before the stages shown, a positioning signal may be received and errors in the positioning signal source may be reported, and a determination may be made as to what UE functionality to disable (e.g., based on the reported errors). As another example, one or more disabled UE functionality may be enabled, for example, after the stages shown.

[0121] At stage 811, method 810 includes receiving one or more indications corresponding to one or more failures of a first positioning signal source at the UE. For example, UE 1000 receives a failure communication 515, which may indicate one or more failures (e.g., ephemeris data failures) of a particular SV or set of SVs (e.g., some or all SVs in an SV constellation), and / or may provide instructions to disable one or more UE functions. The indication(s) may indicate that the information sent by the particular SV is unreliable. The indication of unreliable data may be a direct indication (e.g., the ephemeris data is invalid, or the almanac data is stale) or an indirect indication (e.g., the timing function of the particular SV is failing). Receiver 1020 (e.g., receiver 244 and antenna 246 of wireless transceiver 240) may include means for receiving the one or more indications.

[0122] At stage 812, method 810 includes disabling a first positioning signal processing function for a first positioning signal source. For example, UE 1000 may respond to the fault communication by disabling one or more of functions 610-618. For hierarchical functions, UE 1000 may disable a function and, in conjunction with disabling the function, disable other (e.g., all other) functions downstream of the disabled function (lower in the hierarchy (e.g., hierarchy 600) and in a path that includes the disabled function). For the example of fault communication 715, UE 1000 may respond to receiving fault communication 715 by disabling signal tracking functions 611 for GPS satellites 1 and 3 for 1 minute and 5 minutes, respectively, and thus disable functions 612-618 for these satellites because functions 612-618 are downstream of signal tracking function 611. As another example, based on the fault communication 715, the UE 1000 may disable the decode time function 615 and the decode almanac function 618 for all satellites of the GLONASS constellation for 5 minutes without disabling any of the functions 610-614, 616, or 617. The UE 1000 may disable the appropriate function(s) for a limited amount of time (e.g., stored in the memory 211 or indicated in the fault communication). For example, the UE 1000 may disable the appropriate function(s) for a fixed amount of time from the start time and enable the disabled function(s) after the fixed amount of time from the start time has elapsed. The processor 1010 (e.g., the processor 210 (e.g., the general / application processor 230, the DSP 231, and / or the modem processor 232)) (possibly in combination with the memory 1030 (e.g., the memory 211 (e.g., the software 212))) may include means for disabling the first SV signal processing function.

[0123] At stage 813, method 810 includes performing a second positioning signal processing function of the UE using a positioning signal from a first positioning signal source while the first positioning signal processing function is disabled. For example, UE 1000 may perform one or more of functions 610-618 while one or more of functions 610-618 that are equal or lower in hierarchy 600 are disabled (e.g., prohibited from processing positioning signals). Continuing with the example of failed communication 715, UE 1000 may acquire satellite vehicle signals from satellites 1 and 3 in the GPS constellation, but may not perform any of functions 611-618 on the acquired satellite vehicle signals, and may perform all of functions 610-618 on satellite vehicle signals from the GLONASS constellation except decode time function 615 and decode almanac function 618 for 5 minutes each. As another example, if the fault communication indicates a subset of positioning signal sources, the UE 1000 may disable one or more positioning signal processing functions for the indicated subset, and thus not perform the disabled (s) function for the positioning signal from the subset, while performing one or more enabled positioning signal processing functions for the positioning signal from the subset. As another example, in the case where the first and second positioning signal processing functions are part of a functional hierarchy, the UE 1000 may disable the positioning signal processing functions of the hierarchy that are lower in the hierarchy and in a common path of the first positioning signal processing function in conjunction with disabling the first positioning signal processing function. As another example, the method 810 may include prohibiting the indicated function from processing positioning signals from a first positioning signal source subset of the constellation according to the fault communication, and processing positioning signals from a second positioning signal source subset of the constellation according to the indicated function, wherein the first and second subsets are mutually exclusive (i.e., the positioning signal source in the first subset is not in the second subset, and vice versa). The UE may disable one or more functions for a (corresponding) fixed amount of time, and enable the (s) function after the (corresponding) amount of time has elapsed. Processor 1010 (e.g., processor 210 (e.g., general / application processor 230, DSP 231 and / or modem processor 232)), possibly in combination with memory 1030 (e.g., memory 211 (e.g., software 212)) may include means for processing SV signals.

[0124] Implementations of method 810 may include one or more of the following features. In an example implementation, the one or more indications include an instruction to disable the first positioning signal processing function for the first positioning signal source. In another example implementation, the one or more indications include an indication that information sent by the first positioning signal source is unreliable for use in the first positioning signal processing function. In another example implementation, the first positioning signal processing function of the UE and the second positioning signal processing function of the UE are part of a hierarchy of positioning signal processing functions, and the method includes disabling positioning signal processing functions of the hierarchy that are lower in the hierarchy and in a common path of the first positioning signal processing function in conjunction with disabling the first positioning signal processing function. The processor 1010 (e.g., processor 210 (e.g., general / application processor 230, DSP 231, and / or modem processor 232)) (possibly in conjunction with memory 1030 (e.g., memory 211 (e.g., software 212))) may include means for disabling such positioning signal processing functions. In another example implementation, the one or more indications correspond to one or more failures of multiple positioning signal sources in a positioning signal source constellation, and disabling the first positioning signal processing function of the UE includes disabling the first positioning signal processing function of the UE for all of the multiple positioning signal sources in the positioning signal source constellation.

[0125] Additionally or alternatively, an implementation of method 810 may include one or more of the following features. In an example implementation, the one or more indications correspond to one or more failures of a first plurality of positioning signal sources in a positioning signal source constellation, disabling the first positioning signal processing function of the UE for the first positioning signal source includes disabling the first positioning signal processing function of the UE for the first plurality of positioning signal sources in the positioning signal source constellation, and the method includes using positioning signals from a second plurality of positioning signal sources in the positioning signal source constellation to perform the first positioning signal processing function of the UE, the first plurality of positioning signal sources and the second plurality of positioning signal sources being mutually exclusive. For example, processing of signals from some satellites that are failing may be disabled, but the same processing may be enabled for other satellites in the same constellation whose signals are not failing. In another example implementation, disabling the first positioning signal processing function of the UE for the first positioning signal source includes disabling the first positioning signal processing function of the UE for the first positioning signal source for a fixed amount of time from a start time, and the method further includes enabling the first positioning signal processing function of the UE for the first positioning signal source after the fixed amount of time from the start time has elapsed. Processor 1110 (possibly in combination with memory 1130) may include means for enabling a first positioning signal processing function.

[0126] Reference Fig. 9 , and further refer to Figure 1-8, a method 910 for controlling the processing of positioning signals (e.g., satellite vehicle signals) includes the stages shown. However, the method 910 is merely an example and is not limiting. The method 910 may be modified, for example, by adding, removing, rearranging, combining, performing concurrently, and / or splitting a single stage into multiple stages. For example, one or more stages may occur during Fig. 9 Prior to the stages shown in , and / or one or more stages may occur Fig. 9 For example, the stages of method 810 may be performed after method 910.

[0127] At stage 911, method 910 includes determining one or more faults of a positioning signal source. For example, server 400 (or TRP 300) may receive an indication of an SV signal problem (e.g., invalid or stale data) from one or more UEs, for example in report communications 512, 513. As another example, server 400 (or TRP 300) may receive information from one or more UEs (or other sources), and server 400 (or TRP 300) may analyze the information to determine one or more SV faults (e.g., invalid or stale data is being sent, the QoS of the received signal(s) is poor, etc.). As another example, TRP 300 may receive one or more SV signals and analyze the received SV signal(s) to determine the fault(s). Method 910 (including stage 911) may be applied to positioning signals and positioning signal sources other than SV signals and SVs.

[0128] At stage 912, method 910 includes determining a first positioning signal processing function of the UE that is negatively affected by the fault(s) of the positioning signal source. For example, server 400 (or TRP 300) may determine the functions of UE 1000 that will be negatively affected by the fault(s), wherein UE 1000 is configured to perform the first positioning signal processing function and the second positioning signal processing function. Server 400 (or TRP 300) may analyze what the fault(s) are and use a lookup table or other mapping of faults to positioning signal processing functions (e.g., functions 610-618) to determine which function(s) will be negatively affected by the fault(s). Some faults may have a negative impact on functions, but will not rise to the extent that server 400 (or TRP 300) affects the operation of the UE (e.g., if the ephemeris data is not recent (resulting in less than possible but acceptable position determination accuracy), but not old enough to be considered stale (resulting in unacceptable position determination accuracy)).

[0129] At stage 913, method 910 includes sending an indication to the UE so that the UE disables only the first positioning signal processing function for the positioning signal source among the first positioning signal processing function and the second positioning signal processing function. For example, the server 400 may send a fault communication 515 corresponding to the fault(s) to the UE 1000, and the UE 1000 may use the fault communication 515 to disable one or more appropriate functions (e.g., only the functions(s) that are negatively affected). The indication may not involve the second positioning signal processing function. The indication may provide information (e.g., instructions) to enable the UE 1000 to enable the second positioning signal processing function. The indication may indicate that the information for the first positioning signal processing function in the positioning signal (e.g., SV signal) is invalid, stale, or both. The indication may include an instruction to cause the UE 1000 to disable the first positioning signal processing function for the positioning signal source (e.g., SV). The instruction may instruct the UE to disable more than one positioning signal processing function. For example, the first positioning signal processing function of the UE and the second positioning signal processing function of the UE are part of a hierarchy of positioning signal processing functions, and the instruction may instruct the UE to disable, in conjunction with disabling the first positioning signal processing function, positioning signal processing functions that are lower in the hierarchy and are in a common path of the first positioning signal processing function. The instruction may instruct the UE to disable the positioning signal processing function for a subset of positioning signal sources in a constellation (where the subset has fewer positioning signal sources than all positioning signal sources in the constellation) or to disable the positioning signal processing function for all positioning signal sources in the constellation. The instruction may instruct the UE to disable the first positioning signal processing function for a fixed amount of time from a start time (which the instruction may also indicate).

[0130] Implementation Example

[0131] Various implementation examples are described in the following numbered clauses.

[0132] 1. A user equipment (UE), comprising:

[0133] Memory;

[0134] a receiver configured to receive a wireless signal; and

[0135] a processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the receiver and configured to:

[0136] receiving, via the receiver, one or more indications corresponding to one or more failures of a first positioning signal source;

[0137] Based on the one or more indications, disabling a first positioning signal processing function of the UE for the first positioning signal source; and

[0138] A second positioning signal processing function of the UE is performed using the positioning signal from the first positioning signal source when the first positioning signal processing function of the UE is disabled.

[0139] 2. A UE as described in clause 1, wherein the processor is configured to: disable the first positioning signal processing function of the UE for the first positioning signal source in response to the one or more indications indicating that information used for the first positioning signal processing function in the positioning signal is invalid or stale, or both.

[0140] 3. A UE as in clause 1, wherein the first positioning signal processing function of the UE and the second positioning signal processing function of the UE are part of a hierarchy of positioning signal processing functions, and wherein the processor is configured to: disable, in combination with disabling the first positioning signal processing function, a positioning signal processing function of the hierarchy that is lower in the hierarchy and is in a common path with the first positioning signal processing function.

[0141] 4. A UE as described in clause 1, wherein the processor is configured to: in response to the one or more indications corresponding to one or more failures of multiple positioning signal sources in the positioning signal source constellation, disable the first positioning signal processing function of the UE for all of the multiple positioning signal sources in the positioning signal source constellation.

[0142] 5. The UE of clause 1, wherein the processor is configured to: in response to the one or more indications corresponding to one or more failures of the first plurality of positioning signal sources in the positioning signal source constellation, perform the following operations:

[0143] disabling a first positioning signal processing function of the UE for a first plurality of positioning signal sources in the positioning signal source constellation; and

[0144] The first positioning signal processing function of the UE is performed using positioning signals from a second plurality of positioning signal sources in the positioning signal source constellation, the first plurality of positioning signal sources and the second plurality of positioning signal sources being mutually exclusive.

[0145] 6. A UE as in clause 1, wherein the processor is configured to: disable the first positioning signal processing function of the UE for a first positioning signal source for a fixed amount of time from a start time, and enable the first positioning signal processing function of the UE for the first positioning signal source after the fixed amount of time from the start time has elapsed.

[0146] 7. The UE of clause 1 further comprises: a transmitter communicatively coupled to the processor and configured to transmit a wireless signal, wherein the processor is configured to: determine a failure of the second positioning signal source based on a second satellite signal from the second positioning signal source or a failure to receive the second satellite signal, and send an indication of the failure of the second positioning signal source to the base station or the location server or a combination thereof via the transmitter.

[0147] 8. A UE as in clause 1, wherein:

[0148] The first positioning signal processing function includes positioning signal data demodulation and the second positioning signal processing function includes signal acquisition; or

[0149] The first positioning signal processing function includes positioning signal data demodulation and the second positioning signal processing function includes signal tracking; or

[0150] The first positioning signal processing function includes decoding time and the second positioning signal processing function includes data demodulation.

[0151] 9. A method for controlling processing of a positioning signal, the method comprising:

[0152] receiving, at a user equipment (UE), one or more indications corresponding to one or more failures of a first positioning signal source;

[0153] Based on the one or more indications, disabling a first positioning signal processing function of the UE for the first positioning signal source; and

[0154] A second positioning signal processing function of the UE is performed using the positioning signal from the first positioning signal source when the first positioning signal processing function of the UE is disabled.

[0155] 10. The method of clause 9, wherein the one or more instructions include an instruction to disable the first positioning signal processing function for the first positioning signal source.

[0156] 11. The method of clause 9, wherein the one or more indications include an indication that information sent by the first positioning signal source is unreliable for use in the first positioning signal processing function.

[0157] 12. A method as described in clause 9, wherein the first positioning signal processing function of the UE and the second positioning signal processing function of the UE are part of a hierarchy of positioning signal processing functions, the method further comprising: disabling a positioning signal processing function of the hierarchy that is lower in the hierarchy and is in a common path with the first positioning signal processing function in combination with disabling the first positioning signal processing function.

[0158] 13. A method as described in clause 9, wherein the one or more indications correspond to one or more failures of multiple positioning signal sources in a positioning signal source constellation, and disabling the first positioning signal processing function of the UE includes disabling the first positioning signal processing function of the UE for all of the multiple positioning signal sources in the positioning signal source constellation.

[0159] 14. The method of clause 9, wherein:

[0160] The one or more indications correspond to one or more failures of a first plurality of positioning signal sources in the positioning signal source constellation;

[0161] Disabling the first positioning signal processing function of the UE for the first positioning signal source includes disabling the first positioning signal processing function of the UE for the first plurality of positioning signal sources in the positioning signal source constellation; and

[0162] The method further includes: using positioning signals from a second plurality of positioning signal sources in the positioning signal source constellation to perform a first positioning signal processing function of the UE, the first plurality of positioning signal sources and the second plurality of positioning signal sources being mutually exclusive.

[0163] 15. A method as described in clause 9, wherein disabling the first positioning signal processing function of the UE for the first positioning signal source includes disabling the first positioning signal processing function of the UE for the first positioning signal source for a fixed amount of time from a start time, and the method further includes: enabling the first positioning signal processing function of the UE for the first positioning signal source after the fixed amount of time from the start time has elapsed.

[0164] 16. A user equipment (UE), comprising:

[0165] means for receiving one or more indications corresponding to one or more failures of a first positioning signal source;

[0166] means for disabling a first positioning signal processing function of the UE for a first positioning signal source based on the one or more indications; and

[0167] means for performing a second positioning signal processing function of the UE using a positioning signal from a first positioning signal source when the first positioning signal processing function of the UE is disabled.

[0168] 17. A UE as described in clause 16, wherein the means for disabling is used to disable the first positioning signal processing function of the UE for the first positioning signal source in response to the one or more indications indicating that information used for the first positioning signal processing function in the positioning signal is invalid or stale, or both.

[0169] 18. A UE as in clause 16, wherein the first positioning signal processing function of the UE and the second positioning signal processing function of the UE are part of a hierarchy of positioning signal processing functions, and wherein the UE further comprises: a device for disabling, in combination with disabling the first positioning signal processing function, a positioning signal processing function of the hierarchy that is lower in the hierarchy and is in a common path with the first positioning signal processing function.

[0170] 19. A UE as described in clause 16, wherein the device for disabling is used to respond to the one or more indications corresponding to one or more failures of multiple positioning signal sources in the positioning signal source constellation by performing the following operations: disabling the first positioning signal processing function of the UE for all of the multiple positioning signal sources in the positioning signal source constellation.

[0171] 20. A UE according to clause 16, wherein:

[0172] The means for disabling is configured to respond to the one or more indications corresponding to one or more failures of a first plurality of positioning signal sources in the positioning signal source constellation by disabling a first positioning signal processing function of the UE for the first plurality of positioning signal sources in the positioning signal source constellation; and

[0173] The UE further includes: a device for responding to the one or more indications corresponding to one or more failures of a first plurality of positioning signal sources in the positioning signal source constellation by performing a first positioning signal processing function using positioning signals from a second plurality of positioning signal sources in the positioning signal source constellation, the first plurality of positioning signal sources and the second plurality of positioning signal sources being mutually exclusive.

[0174] 21. A UE as in clause 16, wherein the means for disabling is used to disable the first positioning signal processing function of the UE for a first positioning signal source for a fixed amount of time from a start time, and wherein the UE further includes: means for enabling the first positioning signal processing function of the UE for the first positioning signal source after the fixed amount of time from the start time has elapsed.

[0175] 22. The UE according to clause 16, further comprising:

[0176] means for determining a failure of a second positioning signal source based on a second satellite signal from the second positioning signal source or a lack of receipt of the second satellite signal; and

[0177] Means for sending an indication of a failure of a second positioning signal source to a base station or a location server or a combination thereof.

[0178] 23. A UE according to clause 16, wherein:

[0179] The first positioning signal processing function includes positioning signal data demodulation and the second positioning signal processing function includes signal acquisition; or

[0180] The first positioning signal processing function includes positioning signal data demodulation and the second positioning signal processing function includes signal tracking; or

[0181] The first positioning signal processing function includes decoding time and the second positioning signal processing function includes data demodulation.

[0182] 24. A non-transitory processor-readable storage medium comprising processor-readable instructions configured to cause one or more processors of a user equipment (UE) to:

[0183] receiving one or more indications corresponding to one or more failures of a first positioning signal source;

[0184] Based on the one or more indications, disabling a first positioning signal processing function of the UE for the first positioning signal source; and

[0185] A second positioning signal processing function of the UE is performed using the positioning signal from the first positioning signal source when the first positioning signal processing function of the UE is disabled.

[0186] 25. A storage medium as in clause 24, wherein the instructions include instructions configured to cause the one or more processors to perform the following operations: disabling the first positioning signal processing function of the UE for the first positioning signal source in response to the one or more indications that information used for the first positioning signal processing function in the positioning signal is invalid, or stale, or both.

[0187] 26. A storage medium as in clause 24, wherein the first positioning signal processing function of the UE and the second positioning signal processing function of the UE are part of a hierarchy of positioning signal processing functions, and wherein the instructions include instructions configured to cause the one or more processors to perform the following operations: disabling a positioning signal processing function of the hierarchy that is lower in the hierarchy and is in a common path with the first positioning signal processing function in combination with disabling the first positioning signal processing function.

[0188] 27. A storage medium as in clause 24, wherein the instructions include instructions configured to cause the one or more processors to perform the following operations: in response to the one or more indications corresponding to one or more failures of multiple positioning signal sources in the positioning signal source constellation, disabling the first positioning signal processing function of the UE for all of the multiple positioning signal sources in the positioning signal source constellation.

[0189] 28. The storage medium of clause 24, wherein the instructions include instructions configured to cause the one or more processors to: in response to the one or more indications corresponding to one or more failures of a first plurality of positioning signal sources in the positioning signal source constellation, perform the following operations:

[0190] disabling a first positioning signal processing function of the UE for a first plurality of positioning signal sources in the positioning signal source constellation; and

[0191] The first positioning signal processing function of the UE is performed using positioning signals from a second plurality of positioning signal sources in the positioning signal source constellation, the first plurality of positioning signal sources and the second plurality of positioning signal sources being mutually exclusive.

[0192] 29. A storage medium as in clause 24, wherein the instructions include instructions configured to cause the one or more processors to perform the following operations: disabling the first positioning signal processing function of the UE for the first positioning signal source for a fixed amount of time from a start time, and enabling the first positioning signal processing function of the UE for the first positioning signal source after the fixed amount of time from the start time has elapsed.

[0193] 30. The storage medium of clause 24, wherein the instructions include instructions configured to cause the one or more processors to:

[0194] determining a failure of the second positioning signal source based on a second satellite signal from the second positioning signal source or a lack of receipt of the second satellite signal; and

[0195] An indication of a failure of the second positioning signal source is sent to the base station or the location server or a combination thereof.

[0196] 31. A device for controlling processing of a positioning signal, the device comprising:

[0197] transmitter; and

[0198] a processor communicatively coupled to the transmitter and configured to:

[0199] determining one or more failures of the location signal source;

[0200] determining that a first positioning signal processing function of a user equipment (UE) is negatively affected by the one or more failures of the positioning signal source, the UE being configured to perform the first positioning signal processing function and at least a second positioning signal processing function; and

[0201] An indication is sent to the UE via the transmitter so that the UE disables only the first positioning signal processing function for the positioning signal source among the first positioning signal processing function and the second positioning signal processing function.

[0202] 32. The apparatus of clause 31, wherein the indication indicates that information in the positioning signal for use by the first positioning signal processing function is invalid, or stale, or both.

[0203] 33. The device of clause 31, wherein the indication comprises an instruction for causing the UE to disable the first positioning signal processing function for the positioning signal source.

[0204] 34. An apparatus as in clause 33, wherein the first positioning signal processing function of the UE and the second positioning signal processing function of the UE are part of a hierarchy of positioning signal processing functions, and wherein the instruction instructs the UE to disable, in combination with disabling the first positioning signal processing function, a positioning signal processing function of the hierarchy that is lower in the hierarchy and is in a common path with the first positioning signal processing function.

[0205] 35. The apparatus of clause 33, wherein the instruction directs the UE to disable the first positioning signal processing function of the UE for a subset of positioning signal sources in a positioning signal source constellation, the subset of positioning signal sources comprising fewer than all positioning signal sources in the positioning signal source constellation.

[0206] 36. The apparatus of clause 33, wherein the instructions direct the UE to disable the first positioning signal processing function of the UE for all positioning signal sources in a positioning signal source constellation.

[0207] 37. The apparatus of clause 33, wherein the instructions direct the UE to disable the first positioning signal processing function for the positioning signal source for a fixed amount of time from a start time.

[0208] 38. The apparatus of clause 31, wherein

[0209] The first positioning signal processing function includes positioning signal data demodulation and the second positioning signal processing function includes signal acquisition; or

[0210] The first positioning signal processing function includes positioning signal data demodulation and the second positioning signal processing function includes signal tracking; or

[0211] The first positioning signal processing function includes decoding time and the second positioning signal processing function includes data demodulation.

[0212] 39. A method of controlling processing of a positioning signal, the method comprising:

[0213] determining one or more failures of the location signal source;

[0214] determining that a first positioning signal processing function of a user equipment (UE) is negatively affected by the one or more failures of the positioning signal source, the UE being configured to perform the first positioning signal processing function and at least a second positioning signal processing function; and

[0215] An indication is sent to the UE to enable the UE to disable only the first positioning signal processing function for the positioning signal source among the first positioning signal processing function and the second positioning signal processing function.

[0216] 40. The method of clause 39, wherein the indication indicates that information in the positioning signal for use by the first positioning signal processing function is invalid, or stale, or both.

[0217] 41. The method of clause 39, wherein the indication comprises an instruction for the UE to disable a first positioning signal processing function for the positioning signal source.

[0218] 42. A method as described in clause 41, wherein the first positioning signal processing function of the UE and the second positioning signal processing function of the UE are part of a hierarchy of positioning signal processing functions, and wherein the instruction instructs the UE to disable, in combination with disabling the first positioning signal processing function, a positioning signal processing function of the hierarchy that is lower in the hierarchy and is in a common path with the first positioning signal processing function.

[0219] 43. The method of clause 41, wherein the instruction directs the UE to disable the first positioning signal processing function of the UE for a subset of positioning signal sources in a positioning signal source constellation, the subset of positioning signal sources comprising fewer than all positioning signal sources in the positioning signal source constellation.

[0220] 44. The method of clause 41, wherein the instruction directs the UE to disable the first positioning signal processing function of the UE for all positioning signal sources in the positioning signal source constellation.

[0221] 45. The method of clause 41, wherein the instructions direct the UE to disable the first positioning signal processing function for the positioning signal source for a fixed amount of time from a start time.

[0222] 46. ​​A device for controlling processing of a positioning signal, the device comprising:

[0223] means for determining one or more failures of a source of a positioning signal;

[0224] means for determining that a first positioning signal processing function of a user equipment (UE) is negatively affected by the one or more failures of the positioning signal source, the UE being configured to perform the first positioning signal processing function and at least a second positioning signal processing function; and

[0225] A device is used to send an instruction to the UE so that the UE disables only the first positioning signal processing function for the positioning signal source among the first positioning signal processing function and the second positioning signal processing function.

[0226] 47. The apparatus of clause 46, wherein the indication indicates that information in the positioning signal for the first positioning signal processing function is invalid, or stale, or both.

[0227] 48. The device of clause 46, wherein the indication comprises an instruction for causing the UE to disable the first positioning signal processing function for the positioning signal source.

[0228] 49. An apparatus as in clause 48, wherein the first positioning signal processing function of the UE and the second positioning signal processing function of the UE are part of a hierarchy of positioning signal processing functions, and wherein the instruction instructs the UE to disable, in combination with disabling the first positioning signal processing function, a positioning signal processing function of the hierarchy that is lower in the hierarchy and is in a common path with the first positioning signal processing function.

[0229] 50. The apparatus of clause 48, wherein the instruction directs the UE to disable the first positioning signal processing function of the UE for a subset of positioning signal sources in a positioning signal source constellation, the subset of positioning signal sources comprising fewer than all positioning signal sources in the positioning signal source constellation.

[0230] 51. The apparatus of clause 48, wherein the instructions direct the UE to disable the first positioning signal processing function of the UE for all positioning signal sources in a positioning signal source constellation.

[0231] 52. The apparatus of clause 48, wherein the instructions direct the UE to disable the first positioning signal processing function for the positioning signal source for a fixed amount of time from a start time.

[0232] 53. The device of clause 46, wherein

[0233] The first positioning signal processing function includes positioning signal data demodulation and the second positioning signal processing function includes signal acquisition; or

[0234] The first positioning signal processing function includes positioning signal data demodulation and the second positioning signal processing function includes signal tracking; or

[0235] The first positioning signal processing function includes decoding time and the second positioning signal processing function includes data demodulation.

[0236] 54. A non-transitory processor-readable storage medium comprising processor-readable instructions configured to cause one or more processors to:

[0237] determining one or more failures of the location signal source;

[0238] determining that a first positioning signal processing function of a user equipment (UE) is negatively affected by the one or more failures of the positioning signal source, the UE being configured to perform the first positioning signal processing function and at least a second positioning signal processing function; and

[0239] An indication is sent to the UE to enable the UE to disable only the first positioning signal processing function for the positioning signal source among the first positioning signal processing function and the second positioning signal processing function.

[0240] 55. The storage medium of clause 54, wherein the indication indicates that information in the positioning signal for use by the first positioning signal processing function is invalid, or stale, or both.

[0241] 56. The storage medium of clause 54, wherein the indication comprises instructions for causing the UE to disable a first positioning signal processing function for the positioning signal source.

[0242] 57. A storage medium as in clause 56, wherein the first positioning signal processing function of the UE and the second positioning signal processing function of the UE are part of a hierarchy of positioning signal processing functions, and wherein the instruction instructs the UE to disable, in combination with disabling the first positioning signal processing function, a positioning signal processing function of the hierarchy that is lower in the hierarchy and is in a common path with the first positioning signal processing function.

[0243] 58. The storage medium of clause 56, wherein the instruction directs the UE to disable the first positioning signal processing function of the UE for a subset of positioning signal sources in a positioning signal source constellation, the subset of positioning signal sources comprising fewer than all positioning signal sources in the positioning signal source constellation.

[0244] 59. The storage medium of clause 56, wherein the instruction directs the UE to disable the first positioning signal processing function of the UE for all positioning signal sources in the positioning signal source constellation.

[0245] 60. The storage medium of clause 56, wherein the instructions direct the UE to disable the first positioning signal processing function for the positioning signal source for a fixed amount of time from a start time.

[0246] Other considerations

[0247] Other examples and implementations fall within the scope of this disclosure and the appended claims. For example, due to the nature of software and computers, the functions described above may be implemented using software, hardware, firmware, hardwiring, or any combination thereof executed by a processor. Features that implement the functions may also be physically located in a variety of locations, including being distributed so that portions of the functions are implemented at different physical locations. For example, one or more functions or one or more portions thereof that occur in server 120 discussed above may be performed external to server 120 (such as by TRP 300).

[0248] As used herein, the singular forms "a", "an", and "the" also include the plural forms, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. As used herein, the terms "comprises", "has", "includes", and / or "contains" indicate the presence of the described features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and / or components, but do not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and / or groups thereof.

[0249] As used herein, the term RS (reference signal) may refer to one or more reference signals and may be appropriately applied to any form of the term RS, for example, PRS, SRS, CSI-RS, etc.

[0250] As used herein, unless otherwise stated, a recitation that a function or operation is “based on” an item or condition means that the function or operation is based on the recited item or condition, and may be based on one or more items and / or conditions other than the recited item or condition.

[0251] Likewise, as used herein, "or" used in a list of items (possibly followed by "at least one of" or followed by "one or more of") indicates a disjunctive list, so that, for example, a list of "at least one of A, B, or C," or a list of "one or more of A, B, or C," or a list of "A or B or C" means A or B or C, or AB (A and B), or AC (A and C), or BC (B and C), or ABC (i.e., A and B and C), or a combination having more than one feature (e.g., AA, AAB, ABBC, etc.). Thus, a statement that an item (e.g., a processor) is configured to perform a function with respect to at least one of A or B, or a statement that an item is configured to perform function A or function B means that the item can be configured to perform a function with respect to A, or can be configured to perform a function with respect to B, or can be configured to perform functions with respect to both A and B. For example, the phrase "the processor is configured to measure at least one of A or B" or "the processor is configured to measure A or measure B" means that the processor may be configured to measure A (and may or may not be configured to measure B), or may be configured to measure B (and may or may not be configured to measure A), or may be configured to measure A and measure B (and may be configured to select which or both of A and B to measure). Similarly, the statement of a device for measuring at least one of A or B includes: a device for measuring A (which may or may not be able to measure B), or a device for measuring B (and may or may not be configured to measure A), or a device for measuring A and B (which may be able to select which or both of A and B to measure). As another example, the statement that an item (e.g., a processor) is configured to perform at least one of function X or perform function Y means that the item may be configured to perform function X, or may be configured to perform function Y, or may be configured to perform function X and perform function Y. For example, the phrase "the processor is configured to measure at least one of X or Y" means that the processor may be configured to measure X (and may or may not be configured to measure Y), or may be configured to measure Y (and may or may not be configured to measure X), or may be configured to measure X and measure Y (and may be configured to select which or both of X and Y to measure).

[0252] Substantial variations may be made as required. For example, customized hardware may also be used, and / or specific elements may be implemented in hardware, in software executed by a processor (including portable software, such as applets, etc.), or in both. Further, connections to other computing devices (such as network input / output devices) may be employed. Unless otherwise indicated, components (functional or otherwise) shown in the figures and / or discussed herein as interconnected or communicating are communicatively coupled. That is, they may be connected directly or indirectly to enable communication therebetween.

[0253] The systems and devices discussed above are examples. Various configurations may appropriately omit, replace, or add various procedures or components. For example, features described with reference to certain configurations may be combined in various other configurations. Different aspects and elements of a configuration may be combined in a similar manner. In addition, technology may evolve, and thus, many elements are examples, without limiting the scope of the present disclosure or claims.

[0254] A wireless communication system is a system in which communications are transmitted wirelessly, i.e., by electromagnetic waves and / or sound waves propagating through atmospheric space rather than by wires or other physical connections. A wireless communication network may not enable all communications to be transmitted wirelessly, but may be configured to enable at least some communications to be transmitted wirelessly. In addition, the term "wireless communication device" or similar terms does not require that the functionality of the device is exclusively or uniformly primarily used for communication, or that the device is a mobile device, but rather indicates that the device includes wireless communication capabilities (unidirectional or bidirectional), for example, including at least one radio (each radio is part of a transmitter, receiver or transceiver) for wireless communication.

[0255] Specific details are given in this description to provide a thorough understanding of example configurations (including implementations). However, these configurations can be practiced without these specific details. For example, well-known circuits, processes, algorithms, structures, and techniques have been shown without unnecessary details to avoid confusing these configurations. This description only provides example configurations and does not limit the scope, applicability, or configuration of the claims. On the contrary, the previous description of the configuration provides a description for implementing the technology. Various changes can be made to the functions and arrangements of the elements.

[0256] As used herein, the terms "processor-readable medium," "machine-readable medium," and "computer-readable medium" refer to any medium that participates in providing data that causes a machine to operate in a particular manner. Using a computing platform, various processor-readable media may involve providing instructions / codes for execution to the processor(s), and / or may be used to store and / or carry such instructions / codes (e.g., as signals). In many implementations, processor-readable media are physical and / or tangible storage media. Such media may take many forms, including, but not limited to, non-volatile media and volatile media. Non-volatile media include, for example, optical disks and / or magnetic disks. Volatile media include, but are not limited to, dynamic memory.

[0257] After describing several example configurations, various modifications, alternative configurations, and equivalents may be used. For example, the above elements may be components of a larger system, wherein other rules may take precedence over the application of the present invention or otherwise modify the application of the present invention. In addition, several operations may be taken before, during, or after considering the above elements. Accordingly, the above description does not limit the scope of the claims.

[0258] A statement that a value exceeds (or is greater than or higher than) a first threshold is equivalent to a statement that a value meets or exceeds a second threshold that is slightly greater than the first threshold, e.g., the second threshold is one value higher than the first threshold in the resolution of the computing system. A statement that a value is less than (or within or below) a first threshold is equivalent to a statement that a value is less than or equal to a second threshold that is slightly lower than the first threshold, e.g., the second threshold is one value lower than the first threshold in the resolution of the computing system.

Claims

1. A user equipment (UE), comprising: Memory; a receiver configured to receive a wireless signal; as well as a processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the receiver and configured to: receiving, via the receiver, one or more indications corresponding to one or more failures of a first positioning signal source; Based on the one or more indications, disabling a first positioning signal processing function of the UE for the first positioning signal source; as well as A second positioning signal processing function of the UE is performed using the positioning signal from the first positioning signal source when the first positioning signal processing function of the UE is disabled.

2. The UE according to claim 1, wherein: The processor is configured to disable the first positioning signal processing function of the UE for the first positioning signal source in response to the one or more indications indicating that information in the positioning signal for the first positioning signal processing function is invalid, or stale, or both.

3. The UE according to claim 1, wherein: The first positioning signal processing function of the UE and the second positioning signal processing function of the UE are part of a hierarchy of positioning signal processing functions, and wherein the processor is configured to: in combination with disabling the first positioning signal processing function, disable a positioning signal processing function of the hierarchy that is lower in the hierarchy and is in a common path with the first positioning signal processing function.

4. The UE according to claim 1, wherein: The processor is configured to, in response to the one or more indications corresponding to one or more failures of multiple positioning signal sources in a positioning signal source constellation, disable the first positioning signal processing function of the UE for all of the multiple positioning signal sources in the positioning signal source constellation.

5. The UE according to claim 1, wherein: The processor is configured to, in response to the one or more indications corresponding to one or more failures of a first plurality of positioning signal sources in the positioning signal source constellation, perform the following operations: disabling the first positioning signal processing function of the UE for the first plurality of positioning signal sources in the positioning signal source constellation; as well as The first positioning signal processing function of the UE is performed using positioning signals from a second plurality of positioning signal sources in the positioning signal source constellation, the first plurality of positioning signal sources and the second plurality of positioning signal sources being mutually exclusive.

6. The UE according to claim 1, wherein: The processor is configured to disable the first positioning signal processing function of the UE for the first positioning signal source for a fixed amount of time from a start time, and enable the first positioning signal processing function of the UE for the first positioning signal source after the fixed amount of time from the start time has elapsed.

7. The UE according to claim 1, further comprising: a transmitter communicatively coupled to the processor and configured to transmit a wireless signal, wherein the processor is configured to determine a failure of a second positioning signal source based on a second satellite signal from the second positioning signal source or a lack of receipt of the second satellite signal, and to send an indication of the failure of the second positioning signal source to a base station or a location server or a combination thereof via the transmitter.

8. The UE of claim 1, wherein: The first positioning signal processing function includes positioning signal data demodulation and the second positioning signal processing function includes signal acquisition; or The first positioning signal processing function comprises positioning signal data demodulation and the second positioning signal processing function comprises signal tracking; or The first positioning signal processing function includes decoding time and the second positioning signal processing function includes data demodulation.

9. A method of controlling processing of a positioning signal, the method comprising: receiving, at a user equipment (UE), one or more indications corresponding to one or more failures of a first positioning signal source; Based on the one or more indications, disabling a first positioning signal processing function of the UE for the first positioning signal source; as well as A second positioning signal processing function of the UE is performed using the positioning signal from the first positioning signal source when the first positioning signal processing function of the UE is disabled.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein: The one or more instructions include an instruction to disable the first positioning signal processing function for the first positioning signal source.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein: The one or more indications include an indication that information sent by the first positioning signal source is unreliable for use in the first positioning signal processing function.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein: The first positioning signal processing function of the UE and the second positioning signal processing function of the UE are part of a hierarchy of positioning signal processing functions, and the method further includes: disabling a positioning signal processing function of the hierarchy that is lower in the hierarchy and is in a common path with the first positioning signal processing function in combination with disabling the first positioning signal processing function.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein: The one or more indications correspond to one or more failures of multiple positioning signal sources in the positioning signal source constellation, and disabling the first positioning signal processing function of the UE includes disabling the first positioning signal processing function of the UE for all of the multiple positioning signal sources in the positioning signal source constellation.

14. The method of claim 9, wherein: The one or more indications correspond to one or more failures of a first plurality of positioning signal sources in the positioning signal source constellation; Disabling the first positioning signal processing function of the UE for the first positioning signal source includes disabling the first positioning signal processing function of the UE for the first plurality of positioning signal sources in the positioning signal source constellation; and The method further includes: using positioning signals from a second plurality of positioning signal sources in the positioning signal source constellation to perform the first positioning signal processing function of the UE, the first plurality of positioning signal sources and the second plurality of positioning signal sources being mutually exclusive.

15. The method of claim 9, wherein: Disabling the first positioning signal processing function of the UE for the first positioning signal source includes disabling the first positioning signal processing function of the UE for the first positioning signal source for a fixed amount of time from a start time, and the method further includes: enabling the first positioning signal processing function of the UE for the first positioning signal source after the fixed amount of time from the start time has passed.

16. A user equipment (UE), comprising: means for receiving one or more indications corresponding to one or more failures of a first positioning signal source; means for disabling a first positioning signal processing function of the UE for the first positioning signal source based on the one or more indications; as well as means for performing a second positioning signal processing function of the UE using the positioning signal from the first positioning signal source when the first positioning signal processing function of the UE is disabled.

17. The UE according to claim 16, wherein: The means for disabling is configured to disable the first positioning signal processing function of the UE for the first positioning signal source in response to the one or more indications indicating that information for the first positioning signal processing function in the positioning signal is invalid, or stale, or both.

18. The UE according to claim 16, wherein: The first positioning signal processing function of the UE and the second positioning signal processing function of the UE are part of a hierarchy of positioning signal processing functions, and wherein the UE further includes: a device for disabling, in combination with disabling the first positioning signal processing function, a positioning signal processing function that is lower in the hierarchy and is in a common path with the first positioning signal processing function.

19. The UE according to claim 16, wherein: The device for disabling is used to respond to the one or more indications corresponding to one or more failures of multiple positioning signal sources in the positioning signal source constellation by the following operation: disabling the first positioning signal processing function of the UE for all of the multiple positioning signal sources in the positioning signal source constellation.

20. The UE of claim 16, wherein: The means for disabling is configured to respond to the one or more indications corresponding to one or more failures of a first plurality of positioning signal sources in a positioning signal source constellation by: disabling the first positioning signal processing function of the UE for the first plurality of positioning signal sources in the positioning signal source constellation; and The UE further includes a device for responding to the one or more indications corresponding to one or more failures of the first plurality of positioning signal sources in the positioning signal source constellation by performing the first positioning signal processing function using positioning signals from a second plurality of positioning signal sources in the positioning signal source constellation, the first plurality of positioning signal sources and the second plurality of positioning signal sources being mutually exclusive.

21. The UE according to claim 16, wherein: The means for disabling is used to disable the first positioning signal processing function of the UE for the first positioning signal source for a fixed amount of time from a start time, and wherein the UE further includes: means for enabling the first positioning signal processing function of the UE for the first positioning signal source after the fixed amount of time from the start time has passed.

22. The UE of claim 16, further comprising: means for determining a failure of a second positioning signal source based on a second satellite signal from the second positioning signal source or a lack of receipt of the second satellite signal; as well as Means for sending an indication of a failure of the second positioning signal source to a base station or a location server or a combination thereof.

23. The UE of claim 16, wherein: The first positioning signal processing function includes positioning signal data demodulation and the second positioning signal processing function includes signal acquisition; or The first positioning signal processing function comprises positioning signal data demodulation and the second positioning signal processing function comprises signal tracking; or The first positioning signal processing function includes decoding time and the second positioning signal processing function includes data demodulation.

24. An apparatus for controlling processing of a positioning signal, the apparatus comprising: transmitter; as well as a processor communicatively coupled to the transmitter and configured to: determining one or more failures of the location signal source; determining that a first positioning signal processing function of a user equipment (UE) is negatively affected by the one or more failures of the positioning signal source, the UE being configured to perform the first positioning signal processing function and at least a second positioning signal processing function; as well as An indication is sent to the UE via the transmitter to enable the UE to disable only the first positioning signal processing function for the positioning signal source among the first positioning signal processing function and the second positioning signal processing function.

25. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein the indication indicates that information in a positioning signal for use by the first positioning signal processing function is invalid, or stale, or both.

26. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein: The indication includes an instruction for the UE to disable the first positioning signal processing function for the positioning signal source.

27. The device of claim 26, wherein: The first positioning signal processing function of the UE and the second positioning signal processing function of the UE are part of a hierarchy of positioning signal processing functions, and wherein the instruction directs the UE to disable, in combination with disabling the first positioning signal processing function, a positioning signal processing function of the hierarchy that is lower in the hierarchy and is in a common path with the first positioning signal processing function.

28. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein: The instruction directs the UE to disable the first positioning signal processing function of the UE for a subset of positioning signal sources in a positioning signal source constellation, wherein the subset of positioning signal sources includes fewer than all positioning signal sources in the positioning signal source constellation.

29. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein: The instruction instructs the UE to disable the first positioning signal processing function of the UE for all positioning signal sources in a positioning signal source constellation.

30. The apparatus of claim 26, wherein: The instructions direct the UE to disable the first positioning signal processing function for the positioning signal source for a fixed amount of time from a start time.

31. The apparatus of claim 24, wherein: The first positioning signal processing function includes positioning signal data demodulation and the second positioning signal processing function includes signal acquisition; or The first positioning signal processing function comprises positioning signal data demodulation and the second positioning signal processing function comprises signal tracking; or The first positioning signal processing function includes decoding time and the second positioning signal processing function includes data demodulation.

32. A method of controlling processing of a positioning signal, the method comprising: determining one or more failures of the location signal source; determining that a first positioning signal processing function of a user equipment (UE) is negatively affected by the one or more failures of the positioning signal source, the UE being configured to perform the first positioning signal processing function and at least a second positioning signal processing function; as well as An indication is sent to the UE so that the UE disables only the first positioning signal processing function for the positioning signal source among the first positioning signal processing function and the second positioning signal processing function.

33. The method of claim 32, wherein the indication indicates that information in a positioning signal for use by the first positioning signal processing function is invalid, or stale, or both.

34. The method of claim 32, wherein: The indication includes an instruction for the UE to disable the first positioning signal processing function for the positioning signal source.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein: The first positioning signal processing function of the UE and the second positioning signal processing function of the UE are part of a hierarchy of positioning signal processing functions, and wherein the instruction directs the UE to disable, in combination with disabling the first positioning signal processing function, a positioning signal processing function of the hierarchy that is lower in the hierarchy and is in a common path with the first positioning signal processing function.

36. The method of claim 34, wherein: The instruction directs the UE to disable the first positioning signal processing function of the UE for a subset of positioning signal sources in a positioning signal source constellation, wherein the subset of positioning signal sources includes fewer than all positioning signal sources in the positioning signal source constellation.

37. The method of claim 34, wherein: The instruction instructs the UE to disable the first positioning signal processing function of the UE for all positioning signal sources in a positioning signal source constellation.

38. The method of claim 34, wherein: The instructions direct the UE to disable the first positioning signal processing function for the positioning signal source for a fixed amount of time from a start time.

39. A device for controlling processing of a positioning signal, the device comprising: means for determining one or more failures of a source of a positioning signal; means for determining that a first positioning signal processing function of a user equipment (UE) is negatively affected by the one or more failures of the positioning signal source, the UE being configured to perform the first positioning signal processing function and at least a second positioning signal processing function; as well as A device for sending an instruction to the UE to enable the UE to disable only the first positioning signal processing function for the positioning signal source among the first positioning signal processing function and the second positioning signal processing function.

40. The apparatus of claim 39, wherein the indication indicates that information in a positioning signal for use by the first positioning signal processing function is invalid, or stale, or both.

41. The apparatus of claim 39, wherein: The indication includes an instruction for the UE to disable the first positioning signal processing function for the positioning signal source.

42. The apparatus of claim 41, wherein: The first positioning signal processing function of the UE and the second positioning signal processing function of the UE are part of a hierarchy of positioning signal processing functions, and wherein the instruction directs the UE to disable, in combination with disabling the first positioning signal processing function, a positioning signal processing function of the hierarchy that is lower in the hierarchy and is in a common path with the first positioning signal processing function.

43. The apparatus of claim 41, wherein: The instruction directs the UE to disable the first positioning signal processing function of the UE for a subset of positioning signal sources in a positioning signal source constellation, wherein the subset of positioning signal sources includes fewer than all positioning signal sources in the positioning signal source constellation.

44. The apparatus of claim 41, wherein: The instruction instructs the UE to disable the first positioning signal processing function of the UE for all positioning signal sources in a positioning signal source constellation.

45. The apparatus of claim 41, wherein: The instructions direct the UE to disable the first positioning signal processing function for the positioning signal source for a fixed amount of time from a start time.

46. ​​The apparatus of claim 39, wherein: The first positioning signal processing function includes positioning signal data demodulation and the second positioning signal processing function includes signal acquisition; or The first positioning signal processing function comprises positioning signal data demodulation and the second positioning signal processing function comprises signal tracking; or The first positioning signal processing function includes decoding time and the second positioning signal processing function includes data demodulation.

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