Positioning method and device

Abstract

The present application provides a positioning method and apparatus, relating to the field of communication technology. In this method, an access network device receives a positioning reference signal from a terminal, determines a positioning measurement result based on the received positioning reference signal, and sends the positioning measurement result and information about the antenna port or time error corresponding to the positioning measurement result to a positioning management function network element. The positioning management function network element can determine the position of the terminal based on this information, thereby eliminating the influence of time errors corresponding to different antenna ports on the positioning result and improving the positioning accuracy of the terminal.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a positioning method and device. Background Art

[0002] High-precision positioning capabilities are one of the future development directions of cellular positioning networks. Currently, some positioning technologies require obtaining the signal transmission time between the terminal and different base stations to determine the terminal's location based on this transmission time. The positioning accuracy of these positioning technologies depends on the accuracy of the obtained transmission time.

[0003] In high-frequency millimeter wave bands, due to the significant spatial loss of transmission channels, terminals and base stations typically use multiple antenna panels facing in different directions to transmit and receive signals. Each antenna panel is equipped with multiple antenna elements, enhancing signal strength through beamforming and achieving resistance to channel fading. The RF links connecting the antenna panels experience a certain processing delay when transmitting and receiving signals. This processing delay can be calibrated to maintain synchronization between the base station and the terminal. However, this processing delay is dependent on various factors (such as hardware parameters, quality, temperature, and noise), making it difficult to accurately estimate and calibrate it. Consequently, residual timing errors may exist after calibration. Because different antenna panels are connected to different RF links and are relatively independently installed and calibrated, different antenna panels (or different RF links) often have different timing errors. This can lead to timing errors in the measurement results during positioning, thereby reducing positioning accuracy. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The present application provides a positioning method and apparatus for solving the problem of reduced positioning accuracy caused by different time errors between different antenna panels (or different radio frequency links / radio frequency channels).

[0005] In a first aspect, a positioning method is provided, including: an access network device receives a positioning reference signal from a terminal and sends positioning measurement information to a positioning management function network element. The positioning measurement information includes a positioning measurement result determined based on the positioning reference signal and information about the antenna port corresponding to the positioning measurement result, where the antenna port is the antenna port of the positioning reference signal on which the positioning measurement result is based, or the positioning measurement information includes a positioning measurement result determined based on the positioning reference signal and information about a time error corresponding to the positioning measurement result, where the time error is the time error corresponding to the antenna port of the positioning reference signal on which the positioning measurement result is based. In the method provided in the first aspect, when the access network device reports the positioning measurement result to the positioning management function network element, it may also report information about the antenna port or time error corresponding to the positioning measurement result. The positioning management function network element may determine the terminal's position based on this information, thereby eliminating the impact of time errors corresponding to different antenna ports on the positioning result and improving the positioning accuracy of the terminal.

[0006] In one possible implementation, the method further includes: the access network device receiving first indication information from a positioning management function network element. In this case, the access network device sending positioning measurement information to the positioning management function network element may include: the access network device sending the positioning measurement information to the positioning management function network element based on the first indication information. The first indication information is used to indicate information about the antenna port corresponding to the reported positioning measurement result, or the first indication information is used to indicate information about the time error corresponding to the reported positioning measurement result. In this possible implementation, the access network device may determine what information to include in the reported positioning measurement information based on the indication of the positioning management function network element.

[0007] In one possible implementation, when the access network device is a serving access network device for a terminal, the method further includes: the access network device receiving a first correspondence from the terminal. The first correspondence includes a correspondence between information about multiple antenna ports and information about multiple time errors, each of the multiple antenna ports being used to transmit a corresponding positioning reference signal. In this possible implementation, the access network device may receive the correspondence between information about the multiple antenna ports of the terminal and information about the multiple time errors, so as to determine the time error information corresponding to the positioning measurement result after obtaining the positioning measurement result.

[0008] In one possible implementation, the method further includes: the access network device sending second indication information to the terminal, the second indication information being used to indicate a correspondence between antenna port information and time error information reported by the terminal. In this possible implementation, the terminal can determine what information needs to be reported based on the indication of the positioning management function network element.

[0009] In one possible implementation, when the positioning measurement information includes a positioning measurement result determined based on a positioning reference signal and information about a time error corresponding to the positioning measurement result, the method further includes: the access network device determining the positioning measurement result based on the positioning reference signal, and determining information about the time error corresponding to the positioning measurement result based on information about the antenna port corresponding to the positioning measurement result and a first correspondence. In this possible implementation, the access network device may determine information about the time error corresponding to the positioning measurement result after obtaining the positioning measurement result based on a correspondence between information about multiple antenna ports of the terminal and information about multiple time errors.

[0010] In one possible implementation, the method further includes: the access network device sending the first correspondence to the positioning management function network element. In this possible implementation, the access network device may send the first correspondence to the positioning management function network element so that the positioning management function network element determines the location of the terminal.

[0011] In one possible implementation, the method further includes: the access network device receiving third indication information from the positioning management function network element, the third indication information being used to indicate a correspondence between information about the terminal's antenna port and time error reported by the access network device; and the access network device sending the first correspondence to the positioning management function network element, including: the access network device sending the first correspondence to the positioning management function network element based on the third indication information. In this possible implementation, the access network device may determine to report the first correspondence based on the indication from the positioning management function network element.

[0012] In a possible implementation, the time error information includes one or more of an index of the time error, a value of the time error, or a value range of the time error.

[0013] A second aspect provides a positioning method, including: a positioning management function network element receives positioning measurement information from multiple access network devices, and determines the location of a terminal based on the positioning measurement information of the multiple access network devices. The positioning measurement information includes a positioning measurement result determined based on a positioning reference signal of the terminal and information about the antenna port corresponding to the positioning measurement result, where the antenna port is the antenna port of the positioning reference signal on which the positioning measurement result is based, or the positioning measurement information includes a positioning measurement result determined based on a positioning reference signal of the terminal and information about a time error corresponding to the positioning measurement result, where the time error is the time error corresponding to the antenna port of the positioning reference signal on which the positioning measurement result is based. In the method provided in the second aspect, the positioning management function network element can receive the positioning measurement result and information about the antenna port or time error corresponding to the positioning measurement result. The positioning management function network element can determine the location of the terminal based on this information, thereby eliminating the impact of time errors corresponding to different antenna ports on the positioning result, thereby improving the positioning accuracy of the terminal.

[0014] In one possible implementation, the method further includes: the positioning management function network element sending first indication information to multiple access network devices, where the first indication information is used to indicate information about the antenna port corresponding to the reported positioning measurement result, or the first indication information is used to indicate information about the time error corresponding to the reported positioning measurement result. This possible implementation facilitates the access network device determining what information to include in the reported positioning measurement information based on the indication from the positioning management function network element.

[0015] In one possible implementation, a positioning management function network element determines the location of a terminal based on positioning measurement information from multiple access network devices, including: the positioning management function network element groups positioning measurement results in the positioning measurement information of the multiple access network devices based on antenna port information or time error information in the positioning measurement information of the multiple access network devices; and the positioning management function network element determines the location of the terminal based on the grouped results. In this possible implementation, the positioning management function network element may group or calibrate the positioning measurement results based on the antenna port information or time error information, perform positioning calculation using the grouped or calibrated positioning measurement results, and determine the terminal's location, thereby eliminating the impact of time errors corresponding to different antenna ports on the positioning results and improving the terminal's positioning accuracy.

[0016] In one possible implementation, the method further includes: a positioning management function network element receiving a first correspondence from a serving access network device of the terminal, the first correspondence including a correspondence between information of multiple antenna ports and information of multiple time errors, each of the multiple antenna ports being used to send a corresponding positioning reference signal. In this possible implementation, the positioning management function network element may calibrate the received positioning measurement results based on the first correspondence, and use the calibrated positioning measurement results to determine the terminal's position, thereby eliminating the impact of time errors corresponding to different antenna ports on the positioning results and improving the positioning accuracy of the terminal. Alternatively, when the access network device reports the positioning measurement results and the antenna ports corresponding to the positioning measurement results, the positioning management function network element may determine information about the time errors corresponding to the positioning measurement results based on the first correspondence, group the positioning measurement results based on the information about the time errors corresponding to the positioning measurement results, and use the grouped results to determine the terminal's position, thereby eliminating the impact of time errors corresponding to different antenna ports on the positioning results and improving the positioning accuracy of the terminal.

[0017] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: the positioning management function network element sends third indication information to the service access network device of the terminal, where the third indication information is used to indicate the correspondence between the information of the antenna port of the reporting terminal and the information of the time error.

[0018] In one possible implementation, the method further includes: a positioning management function network element receiving a first correspondence from the terminal, the first correspondence including a correspondence between information of multiple antenna ports and information of multiple time errors, each of the multiple antenna ports being used to send a corresponding positioning reference signal. In this possible implementation, the positioning management function network element may calibrate the received positioning measurement results based on the first correspondence, and use the calibrated positioning measurement results to determine the terminal's position, thereby eliminating the impact of time errors corresponding to different antenna ports on the positioning results and improving the positioning accuracy of the terminal. Alternatively, when the access network device reports the positioning measurement results and the antenna ports corresponding to the positioning measurement results, the positioning management function network element may determine the time error information corresponding to the positioning measurement results based on the first correspondence, group the positioning measurement results based on the time error information corresponding to the positioning measurement results, and use the grouped results to determine the terminal's position, thereby eliminating the impact of time errors corresponding to different antenna ports on the positioning results and improving the positioning accuracy of the terminal.

[0019] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: the positioning management function network element sending fourth indication information to the terminal, where the fourth indication information is used to indicate a correspondence between information about the antenna port of the reporting terminal and information about the time error.

[0020] In a possible implementation, the positioning management function network element determines the location of the terminal according to the positioning measurement information of multiple access network devices, including: the positioning management function network element determines the location of the terminal according to the first correspondence and the positioning measurement information of multiple access network devices.

[0021] In a possible implementation, the time error information includes one or more of an index of the time error, a value of the time error, or a value range of the time error.

[0022] In a third aspect, a positioning method is provided, including: a terminal sends a first correspondence to a service access network device or a positioning management function network element, the first correspondence including a correspondence between information of multiple antenna ports and information of multiple time errors, each of the multiple antenna ports is used to send a corresponding positioning reference signal, and the first correspondence is used to determine the position of the terminal; the terminal sends the corresponding positioning reference signal through one or more of the multiple antenna ports. In the method provided in the third aspect, the terminal sends the first correspondence to the service access network device, so that the access network device can determine the time error information corresponding to the positioning measurement result after obtaining the positioning measurement result. The terminal sends the first correspondence to the positioning management function network element, so that the positioning management function network element can determine the position of the terminal based on the first correspondence (the specific process can be found above and will not be repeated here), thereby eliminating the influence of the time errors corresponding to different antenna ports on the positioning result and improving the positioning accuracy of the terminal.

[0023] In a possible implementation, the method further includes: the terminal receiving configuration information from a service access network device, the configuration information including configuration information of time-frequency resources of a positioning reference signal and configuration information of an antenna port; the terminal sending a corresponding positioning reference signal through one or more antenna ports among a plurality of antenna ports, including: the terminal sending the corresponding positioning reference signal through one or more antenna ports among the plurality of antenna ports according to the configuration information.

[0024] In one possible implementation, the method further includes: the terminal receiving second indication information from a service access network device or fourth indication information from a positioning management function network element, where both the second indication information and the fourth indication information are used to indicate a correspondence between antenna port information reported by the terminal and time error information; and the terminal sending the first correspondence to the service access network device or the positioning management function network element, including: the terminal sending the first correspondence to the service access network device or the positioning management function network element based on the second indication information or the fourth indication information. In this possible implementation, the terminal can determine what information needs to be reported based on the indication of the service access network device or the positioning management function network element.

[0025] In a fourth aspect, a positioning device is provided, including: a receiving unit, a sending unit and a processing unit; the receiving unit is used to receive a positioning reference signal from a terminal; the processing unit is used to obtain positioning measurement information, the positioning measurement information includes a positioning measurement result determined based on the positioning reference signal and information about an antenna port corresponding to the positioning measurement result, where the antenna port is the antenna port of the positioning reference signal on which the positioning measurement result is based, or the positioning measurement information includes a positioning measurement result determined based on the positioning reference signal and information about a time error corresponding to the positioning measurement result, where the time error is the time error corresponding to the antenna port of the positioning reference signal on which the positioning measurement result is based; the sending unit is used to send the positioning measurement information to a positioning management function network element.

[0026] In one possible implementation, the receiving unit is further used to receive a first indication message from a positioning management function network element, where the first indication message is used to indicate information of an antenna port corresponding to the reported positioning measurement result, or the first indication message is used to indicate information of a time error corresponding to the reported positioning measurement result; the sending unit is specifically used to send positioning measurement information to the positioning management function network element under the instruction of the first indication message.

[0027] In one possible implementation, the positioning device is a service positioning device of the terminal, and the receiving unit is further used to receive a first correspondence from the terminal, where the first correspondence includes a correspondence between information of multiple antenna ports and information of multiple time errors, and each of the multiple antenna ports is used to send a corresponding positioning reference signal.

[0028] In a possible implementation, the sending unit is further configured to send second indication information to the terminal, where the second indication information is used to indicate a correspondence between antenna port information reported by the terminal and time error information.

[0029] In one possible implementation, when the positioning measurement information includes a positioning measurement result determined based on a positioning reference signal and information on a time error corresponding to the positioning measurement result, the processing unit is further used to determine the positioning measurement result based on the positioning reference signal; the processing unit is further used to determine information on the time error corresponding to the positioning measurement result based on information on the antenna port corresponding to the positioning measurement result and the first correspondence.

[0030] In a possible implementation manner, the sending unit is further configured to send the first corresponding relationship to the positioning management function network element.

[0031] In one possible implementation, the receiving unit is also used to receive a third indication information from the positioning management function network element, where the third indication information is used to indicate the correspondence between the information of the antenna port of the terminal reported by the positioning device and the information of the time error; the sending unit is specifically used to send the first correspondence to the positioning management function network element under the instruction of the third indication information.

[0032] In a possible implementation, the time error information includes one or more of an index of the time error, a value of the time error, or a value range of the time error.

[0033] In a fifth aspect, a positioning device is provided, including: a receiving unit and a processing unit; the receiving unit is used to receive positioning measurement information from multiple access network devices, the positioning measurement information includes a positioning measurement result determined based on a positioning reference signal of a terminal and information of an antenna port corresponding to the positioning measurement result, and the antenna port is the antenna port of the positioning reference signal on which the positioning measurement result is based, or the positioning measurement information includes a positioning measurement result determined based on a positioning reference signal of the terminal and information of a time error corresponding to the positioning measurement result, and the time error is the time error corresponding to the antenna port of the positioning reference signal on which the positioning measurement result is based; the processing unit is used to determine the position of the terminal according to the positioning measurement information of multiple access network devices.

[0034] In one possible implementation, the positioning device also includes a sending unit; the sending unit is used to send first indication information to multiple access network devices, the first indication information is used to indicate information of the antenna port corresponding to the reported positioning measurement result, or the first indication information is used to indicate information of the time error corresponding to the reported positioning measurement result.

[0035] In one possible implementation, the processing unit is specifically used to: group the positioning measurement results in the positioning measurement information of multiple access network devices according to the antenna port information or time error information in the positioning measurement information of the multiple access network devices; and determine the position of the terminal according to the grouping results.

[0036] In one possible implementation, the receiving unit is also used to receive a service access network device from the terminal or a first correspondence from the terminal, where the first correspondence includes a correspondence between information of multiple antenna ports and information of multiple time errors, and each of the multiple antenna ports is used to send a corresponding positioning reference signal.

[0037] In a possible implementation, the sending unit is further configured to send third indication information to the service access network device of the terminal, where the third indication information is used to indicate a correspondence between the information of the antenna port of the reporting terminal and the information of the time error.

[0038] In one possible implementation, the receiving unit is further used to receive a first correspondence from the terminal, where the first correspondence includes a correspondence between information of multiple antenna ports and information of multiple time errors, and each of the multiple antenna ports is used to send a corresponding positioning reference signal.

[0039] In a possible implementation, the positioning device further includes a sending unit; the sending unit is used to send fourth indication information to the terminal, where the fourth indication information is used to indicate a correspondence between information about the antenna port of the reporting terminal and information about the time error.

[0040] In a possible implementation manner, the processing unit is specifically configured to determine the location of the terminal according to the first corresponding relationship and positioning measurement information of multiple access network devices.

[0041] In a possible implementation, the time error information includes one or more of an index of the time error, a value of the time error, or a value range of the time error.

[0042] In the sixth aspect, a positioning device is provided, including: a sending unit and a processing unit; the processing unit is used to obtain a first correspondence, the first correspondence including the correspondence between information of multiple antenna ports and information of multiple time errors, each of the multiple antenna ports is used to send a corresponding positioning reference signal, and the first correspondence is used to determine the position of the positioning device; the sending unit is used to send the first correspondence to a service access network device or a positioning management function network element; the sending unit is also used to send the corresponding positioning reference signal through one or more antenna ports among the multiple antenna ports.

[0043] In one possible implementation, the positioning device also includes a receiving unit; the receiving unit is used to receive configuration information from a service access network device, the configuration information including configuration information of time-frequency resources of a positioning reference signal and configuration information of an antenna port; and a sending unit is specifically used to send a corresponding positioning reference signal on the time-frequency resources configured by the configuration information through one or more antenna ports configured by the configuration information.

[0044] In one possible implementation, the positioning device also includes a receiving unit; the receiving unit is used to receive second indication information from the service access network device or fourth indication information from the positioning management function network element, and the second indication information and the fourth indication information are both used to indicate the correspondence between the information of the antenna port reported by the positioning device and the information of the time error; the sending unit is specifically used to send the first correspondence to the service access network device or the positioning management function network element under the instruction of the second indication information or the fourth indication information.

[0045] In a seventh aspect, a positioning device is provided, comprising: a processor. The processor is connected to a memory, the memory being configured to store computer-executable instructions. The processor executes the computer-executable instructions stored in the memory, thereby implementing any of the methods provided in any of aspects 1 to 3. For example, the memory and processor may be integrated or separate components. In the latter case, the memory may be located within or outside the positioning device.

[0046] In one possible implementation, the processor includes a logic circuit and an input interface and / or an output interface. Exemplarily, the output interface is used to perform the sending action in the corresponding method, and the input interface is used to perform the receiving action in the corresponding method.

[0047] In one possible implementation, the positioning device further includes a communication interface and a communication bus, with the processor, memory, and communication interface connected via the communication bus. The communication interface is configured to perform the sending and receiving actions in the corresponding method. The communication interface may also be referred to as a transceiver. Optionally, the communication interface includes at least one of a transmitter and a receiver. In this case, the transmitter is configured to perform the sending action in the corresponding method, and the receiver is configured to perform the receiving action in the corresponding method.

[0048] In a possible implementation, the positioning device exists in the form of a chip product.

[0049] In an eighth aspect, a positioning device is provided, comprising a processor, a memory, and a computer program stored in the memory and running on the processor, wherein when the computer program is run, the positioning device executes any one of the methods provided in any one of the first to third aspects.

[0050] In the ninth aspect, a positioning device is provided, comprising: a processor and an interface, wherein the processor is coupled to a memory via the interface, and when the processor executes a computer program or computer execution instruction in the memory, any one of the methods provided in any one of the first to third aspects is executed.

[0051] In a tenth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, comprising computer-executable instructions. When the computer-executable instructions are executed on a computer, the computer executes any one of the methods provided in any one of the first to third aspects.

[0052] In the eleventh aspect, a computer program product is provided, comprising computer execution instructions, which, when executed on a computer, enable the computer to execute any one of the methods provided in any one of the first to third aspects.

[0053] The technical effects brought about by any implementation method in the fourth to eleventh aspects can refer to the technical effects brought about by the corresponding implementation methods in the first to third aspects, and will not be repeated here.

[0054] It should be noted that, provided that the solutions are not contradictory, the solutions in each aspect can be combined. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0055] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of a network architecture provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0056] Figure 2 Schematic diagram of positioning principle based on TOA;

[0057] Figure 3 Schematic diagram of time-frequency resources corresponding to an antenna port;

[0058] Figure 4 A flowchart of a positioning method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0059] Figure 5 A flowchart of another positioning method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0060] Figure 6 A flowchart of another positioning method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0061] Figure 7 A schematic diagram of the composition of a positioning device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0062] Figure 8 A schematic diagram of the hardware structure of a positioning device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0063] Figure 9 A schematic diagram of the hardware structure of another positioning device provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0064] In the description of this application, unless otherwise specified, " / " means "or", for example, A / B can mean A or B. "And / or" in this article is merely a description of the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that three relationships can exist. For example, A and / or B can mean: A exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, and B exists alone. In addition, "at least one" means one or more, and "a plurality" means two or more. Words such as "first" and "second" do not limit the quantity and execution order, and words such as "first" and "second" do not limit them to be necessarily different.

[0065] It should be noted that, in this application, words such as "exemplary" or "for example" are used to indicate examples, illustrations, or descriptions. Any embodiment or design described in this application as "exemplary" or "for example" should not be construed as being preferred or advantageous over other embodiments or designs. Rather, the use of words such as "exemplary" or "for example" is intended to present the relevant concepts in a concrete manner.

[0066] The method provided in the embodiment of the present application can be applied to a long term evolution (LTE) system, a fifth generation (5G) system, a new radio (NR) system, a wireless local area network (WLAN) system, and a future evolution system or a plurality of communication convergence systems. Among them, the 5G system can be a non-standalone (NSA) 5G system or a standalone (SA) 5G system. For the convenience of description, the embodiment of the present application takes the application of the provided method in a 5G system or an NR system as an example to illustrate the method provided in the embodiment of the present application. When the method provided in the embodiment of the present application is applied to other systems, it can be understood by replacing the network element in the embodiment of the present application with a network element with the same or similar functions in the corresponding system.

[0067] The access network of the 5G system or the NR system can be called the next generation (NG)-radio access network (RAN). The NG-RAN may include one or more access network devices. The access network device is an entity on the network side for sending signals, or receiving signals, or sending and receiving signals, and is used to provide wireless communication functions for terminals. The access network devices included in the NG-RAN can be the next generation node base station (gNB) of a 5G site, the next generation evolved NodeB (ng-eNB) of a 4G site connected to the 5G core network, etc. The access network devices included in the NG-RAN can send and / or receive positioning reference signals and obtain related positioning measurement information.

[0068] The positioning architecture of the 5G core network based on NG-RAN can be found in Figure 1. Among them, the location management function (LMF) is the network element, module or component that provides positioning functions in the 5G core network. The access and mobility management function (AMF) is the network element, module or component that provides access management functions in the 5G core network. The enhanced serving mobile location center (E-SMLC) is the network element, module or component that provides positioning functions in the 4G core network. The secure user plane location (SUPL) positioning platform (SLP) is the network element, module or component that processes the user plane security positioning protocol in the 4G core network. ng-eNB is a device or apparatus deployed in a wireless access network that meets the 4G standard and provides wireless communication functions for terminals. ng-eNB can be various forms of base stations, transmission and reception points (TRPs) that send and receive reference signals, access points, reception points (RPs), transmission points (TPs), etc. A gNB is a device or apparatus deployed in a radio access network that meets 5G standards and provides wireless communication capabilities for terminals. A gNB can be various types of base stations, TRPs that transmit and receive reference signals, transmission measurement functions (TMFs), access points, RPs, or TPs. A terminal is an entity on the user side that receives or transmits signals, or both. A terminal provides users with one or more of voice services and data connectivity services. A terminal can be any device capable of wireless communication, including handheld terminals, mobile phones, computers, wearable devices, tablets, in-vehicle terminals, factory machines, factory equipment, and machine-type communication terminals. A terminal can also be referred to as user equipment (UE), terminal device, access terminal, subscriber unit, subscriber station, mobile station, remote station, remote terminal, mobile device, user terminal, wireless communication device, user agent, or user device.

[0069] It should be noted that Figure 1The NG-RAN is illustrated as including one ng-eNB and one gNB. In practice, the NG-RAN may include more ng-eNBs and / or gNBs. The access network devices involved in terminal positioning in the NG-RAN can be all ng-eNBs, all gNBs, or some ng-eNBs and some gNBs.

[0070] based on Figure 1 When the positioning architecture shown in the figure locates the terminal, the AMF receives a positioning request message (also called a positioning service request message) about a terminal initiated by other network elements in the network. The AMF sends the received positioning request message to the positioning management function network element (for example, LMF), which is responsible for processing the received positioning request message and initiating the relevant positioning process.

[0071] In order to make the embodiments of the present application clearer, some concepts involved in the embodiments of the present application are first briefly introduced.

[0072] 1. Time of arrival (TOA)

[0073] In positioning technology, a typical positioning method based on the signal transmission time between the terminal and different access network devices is called the TOA-based positioning method. In this method, the terminal measures the TOA of the positioning reference signals sent by different access network devices, or different access network devices measure the TOA of the positioning reference signals sent by the terminal. This method can determine the distance relationship between the terminal and the access network devices. The terminal's location is then estimated by combining this with information such as the known location coordinates of the access network devices.

[0074] See also Figure 2It can be understood that if the transmission time of the signal between the terminal and different access network devices is determined, the distance between the terminal and each access network device can be obtained by multiplying the transmission time and the speed of light. A circle with each access network device as the center and the distance from the access network device to the terminal as the radius can be drawn to obtain multiple circles, and the intersection of the multiple circles is the location of the terminal. Specifically, taking TOA as the uplink time difference of arrival (UL-TDOA) as an example, different access network devices measure the reference time of arrival (RTOA) (i.e., TOA with a certain time point as the reference) of the uplink positioning reference signal (i.e., sounding reference signal (SRS)) sent by the terminal, and report the measurement information to the positioning management function network element (e.g., LMF). The positioning management function network element performs differential operation on the RTOA of different access network devices, calculates the distance difference between the terminal and different access network devices, and then solves the terminal's location based on the location information of the access network device.

[0075] 2. Time error

[0076] As can be seen from the above, different antenna panels (or different RF links / RF channels) will have different time errors. That is, when different antenna panels (or different RF links / RF channels) are used to transmit and receive signals, different TOA values ​​measured will have different time errors. It is understandable that because processing delay is related to multiple factors (for example, hardware parameters, quality, temperature, noise, etc.), the time error is also related to these multiple factors. The time error of transmitting and receiving signals at different times by the same antenna panel (or the same RF link / RF channel) is not exactly the same, but there is a correlation. In other words, the time error of transmitting and receiving signals at different times by the same antenna panel (or the same RF link / RF channel) can be considered relatively stable (i.e., it does not change much).

[0077] Among them, multiple related time error values ​​of signals sent and received at different times by the same antenna panel (or the same RF link / RF channel) can be considered to belong to a time error group (TEG). TEG can also be called by other names, which is not limited by this application. Based on this, the time error below can also be replaced by TEG, or other descriptions with the same meaning as TEG.

[0078] 3. Antenna port

[0079] Antenna ports represent logical transmit channels, which can be mapped to physical antenna elements. The physical transmit channels (i.e., channels) between different antenna ports can be considered distinct, and therefore the time errors corresponding to different antenna ports can also be considered independent. An antenna panel includes multiple antenna elements, and an antenna port corresponds to one or more antenna elements in the antenna panel.

[0080] In the embodiment of the present application, the positioning reference signals sent on different antenna ports are considered to be different positioning reference signals. For example, if the positioning reference signal is SRS, the SRS resource is the SRS resource of 2 antenna ports, see Figure 3 , a portion of the SRS time-frequency resources in the SRS resource is the time-frequency resources corresponding to antenna port 1, and the other portion is the time-frequency resources corresponding to antenna port 2. The SRS sent on antenna port 1 and antenna port 2 can be considered as different SRS. It should be noted that Figure 3 The description is based on the example of two antenna ports corresponding to different time-frequency resources. In actual implementation, the time-frequency resources corresponding to the two antenna ports can also be the same. In this case, the SRS sent on different antenna ports can be distinguished by code domain resources. The above is a brief introduction to some of the concepts involved in this application.

[0081] Based on this understanding of time errors, when a terminal transmits a positioning reference signal using different antenna ports in a multi-antenna panel scenario, different time errors will exist between the TOAs measured by different access network devices. The positioning accuracy of the terminal based on TOA depends on the estimated accuracy of TOA. Limited TOA estimation accuracy also limits the positioning accuracy of the terminal. For example, if the serving access network device instructs the terminal to transmit a positioning reference signal at t1, the terminal transmits the positioning reference signal via antenna port 1, antenna port 2, and antenna port 3. Among them, the time error of antenna port 1 is 1 nanosecond (ns) to 2ns, the time error of antenna port 2 is 2ns to 3ns, the time error of antenna port 3 is 0 to 1ns, and the time for the positioning reference signal to be transmitted in space is 0.5 milliseconds (ms). Then, the time range for access network device 1 to receive the positioning reference signal sent by the terminal at antenna port 1 is: t1+1ns+0.5ms to t1+2ns+0.5ms, the time range for access network device 2 to receive the positioning reference signal sent by the terminal at antenna port 2 is: t1+2ns+0.5ms to t1+3ns+0.5ms, and the time range for access network device 3 to receive the positioning reference signal sent by the terminal at antenna port 3 is: t1+0.5ms to t1+1ns+0.5ms. At this point, access network device 1 assumes that the positioning reference signal has been transmitted in space for a period of 1ns+0.5ms to 2ns+0.5ms, access network device 2 assumes that the positioning reference signal has been transmitted in space for a period of 2ns+0.5ms to 3ns+0.5ms, and access network device 3 assumes that the positioning reference signal has been transmitted in space for a period of 0.5ms to 1ns+0.5ms. In reality, the positioning reference signal's transmission time in space is 0.5ms for each device. At this point, if the terminal's position is determined based on the transmission times measured by access network devices 1, 2, and 3, the determined terminal position will be inaccurate because the time errors at different antenna ports cannot be offset through calculation.

[0082] In order to improve the positioning accuracy of the terminal, the present application provides a positioning method. In this positioning method, when the access network device reports the positioning measurement results to the positioning management function network element, it can also report the information of the antenna port or time error corresponding to the positioning measurement results. The positioning management function network element can group or calibrate the positioning measurement results based on the antenna port information or time error information, and use the grouped or calibrated positioning measurement results to perform positioning solution to determine the position of the terminal, thereby eliminating the influence of the time error corresponding to different antenna ports on the positioning results. Figure 4 , the positioning method specifically includes:

[0083] 401. A terminal sends a positioning reference signal. Correspondingly, multiple access network devices receive the positioning reference signal from the terminal.

[0084] The actions performed by the terminal in this application may be performed by the terminal or by a module(s) in the terminal, for example, by a chip in the terminal. Multiple access network devices are access network devices that participate in terminal positioning. The multiple access network devices may include or may not include the terminal's serving access network device.

[0085] The positioning reference signal may be an SRS dedicated to positioning, or an SRS in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system.

[0086] In the specific implementation of step 401, the terminal transmits corresponding positioning reference signals on multiple antenna ports. Accordingly, each of the multiple access network devices receives the corresponding positioning reference signals on multiple antenna ports. It should be noted that in this embodiment of the present application, positioning reference signals transmitted on different antenna ports are considered different positioning reference signals.

[0087] For example (recorded as Example 1), the terminal can send positioning reference signal 1 at antenna port 1, send positioning reference signal 2 at antenna port 2, and send positioning reference signal 3 at antenna port 3. Accordingly, each access network device in the multiple access network devices receives positioning reference signal 1 at antenna port 1, receives positioning reference signal 2 at antenna port 2, and receives positioning reference signal 3 at antenna port 3.

[0088] Optionally, the method further includes: the serving access network device sending configuration information to the terminal, and the terminal correspondingly receiving the configuration information from the serving access network device. The configuration information includes configuration information for time-frequency resources of positioning reference signals and configuration information for antenna ports. At this point, the terminal transmits the corresponding positioning reference signal on the antenna port based on the configuration information. Specifically, the terminal may transmit the corresponding positioning reference signal on the time-frequency resources configured in the configuration information through one or more of the multiple antenna ports configured in the configuration information. The configuration information may be carried in a configuration message.

[0089] The antenna port configuration information may include the number and / or port number of the antenna port. If the antenna port configuration information includes the number of antenna ports, the terminal independently determines the antenna port for sending the positioning reference signal based on the number of antenna ports and uses the configured time-frequency resources to send the corresponding positioning reference signal on the determined antenna port. If the antenna port configuration information includes the port number of the antenna port, the terminal uses the configured time-frequency resources to send the corresponding positioning reference signal on the antenna port corresponding to the port number of the antenna port.

[0090] 402. Multiple access network devices send positioning measurement information to the positioning management function network element. Correspondingly, the positioning management function network element receives the positioning measurement information from the multiple access network devices.

[0091] Among them, the positioning management function network element can be LMF, E-SMLC or other functional network elements used for positioning management.

[0092] The positioning measurement information may include the following two situations.

[0093] Case 1: The positioning measurement information includes a positioning measurement result determined based on a positioning reference signal of the terminal and information of an antenna port corresponding to the positioning measurement result. The antenna port is the antenna port of the positioning reference signal on which the positioning measurement result is based.

[0094] In case 1, based on Example 1, each of the multiple access network devices may determine positioning measurement result 1 based on positioning reference signal 1 sent by the terminal at antenna port 1, determine positioning measurement result 2 based on positioning reference signal 2 sent by the terminal at antenna port 2, and determine positioning measurement result 3 based on positioning reference signal 3 sent by the terminal at antenna port 3. Ultimately, positioning measurement result 1 and information about antenna port 1 corresponding to positioning measurement result 1, positioning measurement result 2 and information about antenna port 2 corresponding to positioning measurement result 2, and positioning measurement result 3 and information about antenna port 3 corresponding to positioning measurement result 3 are sent to the positioning management function network element. Exemplarily, the information sent by the access network device to the positioning management function network element may be as shown in Table 1.

[0095] Table 1

[0096] Positioning measurement results Information about the antenna port corresponding to the positioning measurement result Positioning measurement result 1 Antenna port 1 information Positioning measurement result 2 Antenna port 2 information Positioning measurement result 3 Antenna port 3 information

[0097] Case 2: The positioning measurement information includes the positioning measurement result determined based on the terminal's positioning reference signal and information about the time error corresponding to the positioning measurement result. The time error is the time error corresponding to the antenna port of the positioning reference signal on which the positioning measurement result is based.

[0098] In case 2, based on example 1, each of the multiple access network devices may determine positioning measurement result 1 based on positioning reference signal 1 sent by the terminal at antenna port 1, determine positioning measurement result 2 based on positioning reference signal 2 sent by the terminal at antenna port 2, and determine positioning measurement result 3 based on positioning reference signal 3 sent by the terminal at antenna port 3, and ultimately send positioning measurement result 1 and information about the time error corresponding to antenna port 1 corresponding to positioning measurement result 1 (recorded as time error information 1), positioning measurement result 2 and information about the time error corresponding to antenna port 2 corresponding to positioning measurement result 2 (recorded as time error information 2), and positioning measurement result 3 and information about the time error corresponding to antenna port 3 corresponding to positioning measurement result 3 (recorded as time error information 3) to the positioning management function network element. Exemplarily, the information sent by the access network device to the positioning management function network element may be as shown in Table 2.

[0099] Table 2

[0100] Positioning measurement results Information on the time error corresponding to the positioning measurement results Positioning measurement result 1 Time error information 1 Positioning measurement result 2 Time error information 2 Positioning measurement result 3 Time error information 3

[0101] In case 1 and case 2, the positioning measurement result may be TOA (e.g., RTOA, time difference of arrival (TDOA)). The antenna port information may be the port number of the antenna port. The time error information includes one or more of the time error index, the time error value (e.g., mean, variance), the time error value range, or the time error distribution function. The time error information may also be other information that can distinguish different time errors. For example, positioning measurement results corresponding to different time error information may be carried in data packets with different names. In this case, the positioning management function network element may determine which positioning measurement results correspond to the same time error information based on the name of the data packet. Similarly, the antenna port information may also be other information that can distinguish different antenna ports.

[0102] In Case 1 and Case 2, the antenna port refers to the antenna port of the terminal.

[0103] In Case 1 and Case 2, it should be noted that when the terminal transmits positioning reference signals through N (N is an integer greater than 1) antenna ports, the number of positioning measurement results sent by the access network device to the positioning management function network element can be equal to N or less than N. That is, the access network device can determine the positioning measurement results based on the positioning reference signals sent by the terminal on some or all of the N antenna ports, and send these positioning measurement results, as well as the corresponding antenna port information or time error information, to the positioning management function network element. For example, if the terminal transmits three positioning reference signals through three antenna ports, the access network device may only detect the positioning reference signal sent by the terminal on one of the three antenna ports (assuming it is antenna port 1). In this case, the access network device can determine the positioning measurement result based on the positioning reference signal sent by the terminal on antenna port 1, and send the positioning measurement result, as well as the information of antenna port 1 or the time error information corresponding to antenna port 1, to the positioning management function network element. For another example, the terminal sends three positioning reference signals through three antenna ports, and the access network device detects the three positioning reference signals. The access network device can determine the positioning measurement result based on the positioning reference signal with the largest energy among the three positioning reference signals, and send the positioning measurement result, as well as the information of antenna port 2 (that is, the antenna port corresponding to the positioning reference signal with the largest energy) or the time error information corresponding to antenna port 2 to the positioning management function network element.

[0104] Optionally, before step 402, the method further includes: the positioning management function network element sending first indication information to multiple access network devices, where the first indication information is used to indicate information about the antenna port corresponding to the reported positioning measurement result, or the first indication information is used to indicate information about the time error corresponding to the reported positioning measurement result. Accordingly, the multiple access network devices receive the first indication information from the positioning management function network element. In this case, the specific implementation of step 402 may include: the multiple access network devices sending positioning measurement information to the positioning management function network element based on the first indication information.

[0105] It can be understood that if the first indication information is used to indicate information about the antenna port corresponding to the reported positioning measurement result, the positioning measurement information sent by multiple access network devices to the positioning management function network element according to the first indication information is the above-mentioned situation 1. If the first indication information is used to indicate information about the time error corresponding to the reported positioning measurement result, the positioning measurement information sent by multiple access network devices to the positioning management function network element according to the first indication information is the above-mentioned situation 2.

[0106] If the positioning measurement information is the above situation 2, the method further includes:

[0107] 11) Multiple access network devices determine positioning measurement results based on the positioning reference signal.

[0108] 12) The multiple access network devices determine the time error information corresponding to the positioning measurement result based on the information of the antenna port corresponding to the positioning measurement result and the first corresponding relationship.

[0109] The first correspondence includes a correspondence between information of multiple antenna ports of the terminal and information of multiple time errors, and each of the multiple antenna ports is used to send a corresponding positioning reference signal. For example, assuming that the terminal has four antenna ports, the correspondence between the antenna port information and the time error can be found in Table 3. Based on Example 1, after the access network device determines positioning measurement result 1, positioning measurement result 2, and positioning measurement result 3, it determines that the antenna ports corresponding to positioning measurement result 1, positioning measurement result 2, and positioning measurement result 3 are antenna port 1, antenna port 2, and antenna port 3, respectively. Then, based on the first correspondence, it determines that the time error information corresponding to antenna port 1, antenna port 2, and antenna port 3 are time error information 1, time error information 2, and time error information 3, thereby determining that positioning measurement result 1, positioning measurement result 2, and positioning measurement result 3 correspond to time error information 1, time error information 2, and time error information 3, respectively.

[0110] Table 3

[0111] Antenna port Time error information corresponding to the antenna port Antenna port 1 information Time error information 1 Antenna port 2 information Time error information 2 Antenna port 3 information Time error information 3 Antenna port 4 information Time error information 4

[0112] If the multiple access network devices include the service access network device of the terminal, the method for the service access network device to obtain the first corresponding relationship may be the following method (1) or method (2).

[0113] Method (1): The terminal sends a first corresponding relationship to the service access network device. Accordingly, the service access network device receives the first corresponding relationship from the terminal. The first corresponding relationship can be carried in the capability information of the terminal, or can be sent separately to the service access network device. Specifically, the service access network device can send a second indication information to the terminal, and the terminal sends the first corresponding relationship to the service access network device according to the second indication information. The second indication information is used to indicate the corresponding relationship between the information of the antenna port reported by the terminal and the information of the time error. It should be noted that the reporting of the first corresponding relationship by the terminal to the service access network device does not depend on the second indication information, that is, even if there is no second indication information, the terminal can report the first corresponding relationship to the service access network device. For example, if the first corresponding relationship is included in the capability information of the terminal by default or by protocol, the terminal can report the first corresponding relationship to the access network device when reporting the capability information.

[0114] Method (2): The positioning management function network element sends the first corresponding relationship to the service access network device. Correspondingly, the service access network device receives the first corresponding relationship from the positioning management function network element. The manner in which the positioning management function network element obtains the first corresponding relationship can be found below.

[0115] The method for an access network device that is not a service access network device of a terminal among multiple access network devices to obtain a first correspondence includes: a positioning management function network element sends the first correspondence to the access network device. Correspondingly, the access network device receives the first correspondence from the positioning management function network element.

[0116] The positioning management function network element may obtain the first corresponding relationship through the following method 1 or method 2.

[0117] Method 1: The positioning management function network element receives a first correspondence from a service access network device of the terminal. Specifically, the positioning management function network element may send third indication information to the service access network device of the terminal. The third indication information is used to indicate the correspondence between the information of the antenna port of the reported terminal and the time error information. The service access network device receives the third indication information from the positioning management function network element and sends the first correspondence to the positioning management function network element based on the third indication information. The process of the service access network device obtaining the first correspondence can be found above and will not be repeated here.

[0118] It should be noted that the service access network device's reporting of the first correspondence to the positioning management function network element is independent of the third indication information. That is, even without the third indication information, the terminal's service access network device can still report the first correspondence to the positioning management function network element. For example, when the access network device reports the first correspondence corresponding to a terminal to the positioning management function network element by default or by protocol, the access network device can report the first correspondence corresponding to one or more terminals it serves to the positioning management function network element. The first correspondence corresponding to a terminal includes the correspondence between information about multiple antenna ports of the terminal and information about multiple time errors.

[0119] Method 2: The positioning management function network element receives the first correspondence from the terminal. Specifically, the positioning management function network element sends fourth indication information to the terminal, where the fourth indication information is used to indicate the correspondence between the reported antenna port information of the terminal and the time error information. The terminal receives the fourth indication information from the positioning management function network element and sends the first correspondence to the positioning management function network element based on the fourth indication information.

[0120] Among them, the terminal can send the first corresponding relationship to the positioning management function network element through the LTE positioning protocol (LPP) layer between the terminal and the positioning management function network element. The first corresponding relationship can be carried in the capability information of the terminal. It should be noted that the reporting of the first corresponding relationship by the terminal to the positioning management function network element does not depend on the fourth indication information, that is, even without the fourth indication information, the terminal can report the first corresponding relationship to the positioning management function network element. For example, when the positioning management function network element locates the terminal, the terminal can also report capability information, and it can be defaulted or stipulated by the protocol that the capability information includes the first corresponding relationship corresponding to the terminal. At this time, when the terminal reports the capability information, the first corresponding relationship corresponding to the terminal will be reported to the positioning management function network element.

[0121] The information of the time error corresponding to each antenna port of the terminal may be configured in the terminal before leaving the factory, or may be estimated by the terminal during subsequent communication processes.

[0122] It should be noted that the first correspondence in the access network device may not be reported by the terminal to the access network device, but may be measured by the access network device. For example, the access network device may use the same antenna panel to receive the positioning reference signals sent by the terminal through different antenna ports, determine the difference in time error information between the different antenna ports based on the received positioning reference signals, and then determine the time error information corresponding to the different antenna ports. In this case, the time error information corresponding to the different antenna ports may be relative time error information based on a certain antenna port. For example, the access network device uses the same antenna panel to receive the positioning reference signals sent by the terminal through antenna port 1, antenna port 2, and antenna port 3, and determines that the positioning measurement results are 10ns, 12ns, and 12.5ns, respectively. In this case, the time error information corresponding to antenna port 1 may be 0, the time error information corresponding to antenna port 2 may be 12ns-10ns=2ns, and the time error information corresponding to antenna port 3 may be 12.5ns-10ns=2.5ns.

[0123] It should be noted that, after acquiring the first corresponding relationship corresponding to the terminal, the access network device may maintain the first corresponding relationship corresponding to the terminal, for example, storing the first corresponding relationship corresponding to the terminal in the context of the terminal.

[0124] 403. The positioning management function network element determines the location of the terminal according to the positioning measurement information of multiple access network devices.

[0125] When step 403 is specifically implemented, it may include: the positioning management function network element groups the positioning measurement results in the positioning measurement information of multiple access network devices according to the antenna port information or time error information in the positioning measurement information of multiple access network devices, and determines the location of the terminal according to the grouping results.

[0126] It should be noted that if the positioning measurement information falls under situation 1 above, the positioning management function network element may group the positioning measurement results in the positioning measurement information of multiple access network devices based on the antenna port information, or may determine the time error information corresponding to the antenna port based on the first correspondence, and group the positioning measurement results in the positioning measurement information of multiple access network devices based on the time error information. If the positioning measurement information falls under situation 2 above, the positioning management function network element may group the positioning measurement results in the positioning measurement information of multiple access network devices based on the time error information.

[0127] When grouping positioning measurement results in positioning measurement information of multiple access network devices, for antenna ports, positioning measurement results corresponding to the same antenna port number may be grouped together. For time error information, positioning measurement results corresponding to the same time error may be grouped together (for example, positioning measurement results corresponding to the same time error index may be grouped together, positioning measurement results corresponding to the same time error value may be grouped together, or positioning measurement results corresponding to the same time error value range may be grouped together).

[0128] It should be noted that in the embodiment of the present application, the time error information corresponding to different antenna ports of the terminal may be the same or different, and this application is not limited thereto. If the time error information corresponding to multiple antenna ports is the same, the positioning measurement results corresponding to the multiple antenna ports can be grouped together and used together to determine the position of the terminal, or they can be divided into multiple groups (one group corresponding to one antenna port).

[0129] Step 403 can be specifically implemented by the following method 3, method 4, or method 5.

[0130] Mode 3: The positioning management function network element determines the terminal's position based on the positioning measurement result corresponding to the information of a certain antenna port or the information of a certain time error.

[0131] Specifically, the positioning management function network element determines the terminal's location based on positioning measurement results corresponding to first antenna port information or first time error information in positioning measurement information of multiple access network devices. The first antenna port is an antenna port from which the terminal transmits a positioning reference signal. The first time error is the time error corresponding to the antenna port from which the terminal transmits the positioning reference signal. Alternatively, if the time error information corresponding to multiple antenna ports is the same, the first time error is the time error corresponding to these multiple antenna ports.

[0132] For example, if a terminal uses antenna port 1 and antenna port 2 to send positioning reference signal 1 and positioning reference signal 2, respectively, and five access network devices participate in terminal positioning, then each of the five access network devices can obtain two positioning measurement results based on the two positioning reference signals sent by the terminal, and the two positioning measurement results correspond to antenna port 1 and antenna port 2, respectively. The positioning management function network element will receive 10 positioning measurement results, of which five positioning measurement results correspond to antenna port 1 and the other five positioning measurement results correspond to antenna port 2. The positioning management function network element can use the five positioning measurement results corresponding to antenna port 1 to determine the terminal's position, and can also use the five positioning measurement results corresponding to antenna port 2 to determine the terminal's position.

[0133] Mode 4: The positioning management function network element determines the position of a terminal according to each group obtained by grouping, and then determines the position of the terminal based on these positions.

[0134] Specifically, the positioning management function network element divides the positioning measurement results in the positioning measurement information of multiple access network devices into M positioning measurement result groups, where the positioning measurement results in each positioning measurement result group correspond to information of the same antenna port or information of the same time error. The positioning management function network element positions the terminal according to the M positioning measurement result groups to obtain M positioning results. The positioning management function network element determines the position of the terminal according to the M positioning results, where M is an integer greater than 0.

[0135] For example, if a terminal uses antenna port 1 and antenna port 2 to send positioning reference signal 1 and positioning reference signal 2, respectively, and five access network devices participate in terminal positioning, each of the five access network devices can obtain two positioning measurement results based on the two positioning reference signals sent by the terminal. The two positioning measurement results correspond to antenna port 1 and antenna port 2, respectively. The positioning management function network element will then receive 10 positioning measurement results, five of which correspond to antenna port 1 and five correspond to antenna port 2. The positioning management function network element can use the five positioning measurement results corresponding to antenna port 1 to determine the position of one terminal, the five positioning measurement results corresponding to antenna port 2 to determine the position of another terminal, and then determine the position of the terminal based on these two positions.

[0136] In Mode 3 and Mode 4, since the time errors corresponding to the same antenna port are correlated, when the terminal position is determined through differential operation based on the positioning measurement results of information corresponding to the same antenna port or the same time error, the influence of the time error on the positioning result can be eliminated, thereby improving the positioning accuracy of the terminal.

[0137] Mode 5: The positioning management function network element calibrates the positioning measurement results in the positioning measurement information of multiple access network devices according to the first corresponding relationship, and the positioning management function network element locates the terminal according to the calibrated positioning measurement results in the positioning measurement information of multiple access network devices.

[0138] If the time error information in the first corresponding relationship includes the value of the time error, the method for the positioning management function network element to calibrate a certain positioning measurement result includes: the positioning management function network element subtracts the value of the time error corresponding to the positioning measurement result from the positioning measurement result to obtain the calibrated positioning measurement result.

[0139] If the information on the time error in the first correspondence includes the value range of the time error, the method for the positioning management function network element to calibrate the positioning measurement result may be the following method 1 or method 2: Method 1, the positioning management function network element subtracts the first value from the positioning measurement result to obtain the calibrated positioning measurement result, and the first value may be the average of the maximum and minimum values ​​in the value range of the time error corresponding to the positioning measurement result; Method 2, treat the time error as an unknown parameter, calculate the unknown parameter, and after obtaining the calculation result, subtract the calculation result from the positioning measurement result to obtain the calibrated positioning measurement result.

[0140] If the information on the time error in the first correspondence includes a distribution function of the time error, the method for the positioning management function network element to calibrate the positioning measurement result includes: the positioning management function network element subtracts a second value from the positioning measurement result to obtain the calibrated positioning measurement result, and the second value may be the variance or mean of the distribution function of the time error corresponding to the positioning measurement result.

[0141] For example, assuming that the time error information in the first correspondence includes a time error value, if a terminal uses antenna port 1 and antenna port 2 to transmit positioning reference signal 1 and positioning reference signal 2, respectively, and five access network devices participate in terminal positioning, then each of the five access network devices can obtain two positioning measurement results based on the two positioning reference signals transmitted by the terminal, and the two positioning measurement results correspond to antenna port 1 and antenna port 2, respectively. The positioning management function network element then receives 10 positioning measurement results, five of which correspond to antenna port 1 and five correspond to antenna port 2. The positioning management function network element calibrates the five positioning measurement results corresponding to antenna port 1, specifically by subtracting the time error value corresponding to antenna port 1 from each positioning measurement result to obtain a calibrated positioning measurement result. The positioning management function network element calibrates the five positioning measurement results corresponding to antenna port 2, specifically by subtracting the time error value corresponding to antenna port 2 from each positioning measurement result to obtain a calibrated positioning measurement result. The positioning management function network element uses these 10 calibrated positioning measurement results to collectively determine the terminal's position.

[0142] The above-mentioned method for calibrating the positioning measurement results is only an example. In actual implementation, there may be other methods, which are not limited in this application.

[0143] In mode 5, by calibrating the positioning measurement results, the positioning measurement results corresponding to different antenna ports can be used together to determine the position of the terminal.

[0144] It is understandable that in addition to the time error of the terminal's antenna port, the antenna panel of the access network device also has a time error. Therefore, to further improve the positioning accuracy of the terminal, the positioning management function network element can calibrate the positioning measurement results based on the time error information corresponding to the antenna panel of the access network device before determining the terminal's position based on the positioning measurement information of multiple access network devices. In this case, for the above-mentioned method 5, the positioning management function network element can perform two calibrations: one calibration based on the time error information corresponding to the antenna panel of the access network device, and another calibration based on the time error information corresponding to the antenna port of the terminal.

[0145] In this case, optionally, before step 403, the method further includes:

[0146] 21) Multiple access network devices transmit information about the antenna panels corresponding to their respective positioning measurement results, or information about the time error corresponding to the antenna panels corresponding to the positioning measurement results, to the positioning management function network element. Accordingly, the positioning management function network element receives information about the antenna panels corresponding to the positioning measurement results, or information about the time error corresponding to the antenna panels corresponding to the positioning measurement results, from each of the multiple access network devices. The antenna panel corresponding to the positioning measurement result refers to the antenna panel used to receive the positioning reference signal corresponding to the positioning measurement result.

[0147] 22) The positioning management function network element calibrates the positioning measurement results according to the information of the antenna panels corresponding to the positioning measurement results sent by multiple access network devices, or the information of the time error corresponding to the antenna panels corresponding to the positioning measurement results.

[0148] The information of the antenna panel may be the panel number of the antenna panel.

[0149] For ease of description, the positioning measurement information before this optional method can be referred to as first positioning measurement information, and the information of the antenna panel corresponding to the positioning measurement result in this optional method, or the information of the time error corresponding to the antenna panel corresponding to the positioning measurement result, can be referred to as second positioning measurement information. It will be understood that each of the multiple access network devices will correspond to a piece of second positioning measurement information.

[0150] In step 22), if the information sent by multiple access network devices is information about antenna panels corresponding to the positioning measurement results, the positioning management function network element may determine time error information corresponding to the antenna panels corresponding to the positioning measurement results based on the second correspondence, and then calibrate the positioning measurement results based on the time error information corresponding to the antenna panels corresponding to the positioning measurement results. The second correspondence includes a correspondence between the antenna panels of the access network devices and the time error information.

[0151] For example, referring to Table 4, if the terminal uses antenna port 1, antenna port 2, antenna port 3 and antenna port 4 to send positioning reference signal 1, positioning reference signal 2, positioning reference signal 3 and positioning reference signal 4 respectively, three access network devices participate in terminal positioning, and the antenna panel 1 of the three access network devices receives the positioning reference signal 1 and positioning reference signal 2 sent on antenna port 1 and antenna port 2, and the antenna panel 2 of the three access network devices receives the positioning reference signal 3 and positioning reference signal 4 sent on antenna port 3 and antenna port 4, then each access network device can obtain 4 positioning measurement results based on the 4 positioning reference signals sent by the terminal, and the positioning management function network element will receive 12 positioning measurement results. The positioning management function network element can calibrate the positioning measurement results determined according to the positioning reference signal 1 and the positioning reference signal 2 received by the antenna panel 1 based on the time error information corresponding to the antenna panel 1 of the access network device 1, and calibrate the positioning measurement results determined according to the positioning reference signal 3 and the positioning reference signal 4 received by the antenna panel 2 based on the time error information corresponding to the antenna panel 2 of the access network device 1. The antenna panels of the remaining access network devices are also calibrated accordingly. The calibration method is similar to the above-mentioned method 5, which can be used as a reference for understanding and will not be repeated here.

[0152] Table 4

[0153]

[0154] It should be noted that, in another case, the positioning measurement information may also include a positioning measurement result determined based on the terminal's positioning reference signal, information about the antenna port corresponding to the positioning measurement result, and information about the time error corresponding to the positioning measurement result. In this case, the first indication information may indicate the antenna port information and time error information corresponding to the reported positioning measurement result. In this case, in the implementation of step 403, the positioning management function network element may group the positioning measurement results in the positioning measurement information of multiple access network devices based on the antenna port information, and may also group the positioning measurement results in the positioning measurement information of multiple access network devices based on the time error information.

[0155] According to the method provided in the embodiment of the present application, the access network device may report the information of the antenna port or the time error corresponding to the positioning measurement result while reporting the positioning measurement result to the positioning management function network element. The positioning management function network element may group or calibrate the positioning measurement result based on the antenna port information or the time error information, and use the grouped or calibrated positioning measurement results to perform positioning solution and determine the position of the terminal, thereby eliminating the influence of the time error corresponding to different antenna ports on the positioning result and improving the positioning accuracy of the terminal.

[0156] In order to make the embodiments of this application clearer, the following Figure 5 and Figure 6 The illustrated embodiment exemplifies the embodiments described above. Figure 5 and Figure 6 In the illustrated embodiment, the location management function network element is taken as an example as LMF. Figure 5 The embodiment shown and Figure 6 The embodiment shown differs in that Figure 5 In the embodiment shown, the first correspondence is sent by the service access network device to the LMF. Figure 6 In the embodiment shown, the first correspondence is sent by the terminal to the LMF.

[0157] See also Figure 5 , the method comprising:

[0158] 501. LMF receives a positioning request message, where the positioning request message is used to request positioning of terminal 1.

[0159] 502. The LMF sends a positioning information request message to the service access network device of terminal 1. The positioning information request message is used to request configuration information of a positioning reference signal. Correspondingly, the service access network device receives the positioning information request message from the LMF.

[0160] Optionally, the positioning information request message is further used to request the correspondence between the information of the antenna port of terminal 1 and the time error information. For example, the positioning information request message may include third indication information, and the third indication information is used to indicate the correspondence between the information of the antenna port of terminal 1 and the time error information. The positioning information request message requests the correspondence between the information of the antenna port of terminal 1 and the time error information through the third indication information.

[0161] Exemplarily, the positioning information request message may be an NR positioning protocol a (NR positioning protocol a, NRPPa) positioning information request (NRPPa Positioning Information Request) message.

[0162] 503. The service access network device sends a configuration message to Terminal 1. The configuration message includes configuration information of the time-frequency resources of the positioning reference signal (eg, SRS resources) and configuration information of the antenna port. Accordingly, Terminal 1 receives the configuration message from the service access network device.

[0163] Optionally, the configuration message further includes second indication information, where the second indication information is used to indicate the correspondence between the antenna port information reported by terminal 1 and the time error information.

[0164] Exemplarily, the configuration message may be an RRC reconfiguration message.

[0165] 504. Terminal 1 sends a configuration completion message to the service access network device.

[0166] Optionally, the configuration completion message includes a first correspondence relationship, wherein the first correspondence relationship includes a correspondence relationship between information of multiple antenna ports and information of multiple time errors. It should be noted that even if the configuration message does not include the second indication information, the configuration completion message may also include the first correspondence relationship.

[0167] Exemplarily, the configuration completion message may be an RRC reconfiguration complete (RRC Reconfiguration Complete) message.

[0168] It should be noted that the first correspondence may also be carried in the capability information of the terminal. In this case, the configuration message in step 503 may not include the second indication information, and the configuration completion message in step 504 may not include the first correspondence.

[0169] 505. The service access network device sends a positioning information response message to the LMF. The positioning information response message includes configuration information of the time-frequency resources and antenna port configuration information of the positioning reference signal of Terminal 1. The positioning information response message also includes the first correspondence. Accordingly, the LMF receives the positioning information response message from the service access network device.

[0170] It should be noted that, even if the positioning information request message does not include the third indication information, the positioning information response message may also include the first corresponding relationship.

[0171] In subsequent processes, the LMF may send the configuration information of the time-frequency resources and antenna port configuration information of the positioning reference signal of terminal 1 to multiple access network devices, so that the multiple access network devices can obtain positioning measurement results based on the positioning reference signal sent by terminal 1. The multiple access network devices are access network devices participating in the positioning of terminal 1. It should be noted that if the multiple access network devices include a serving access network device, the LMF does not need to send the configuration information of the time-frequency resources and antenna port configuration information of the positioning reference signal to the serving access network device.

[0172] If multiple access network devices subsequently report positioning measurement results and information about the time error corresponding to the positioning measurement results, the LMF may further send the first correspondence to the multiple access network devices, so that the multiple access network devices can determine the time error information corresponding to the positioning measurement results based on the first correspondence. It should be noted that if the multiple access network devices include a serving access network device, the LMF does not need to send the first correspondence to the serving access network device.

[0173] Exemplarily, the positioning information response message may be an NRPPa positioning information response (NRPPa PositioningInfomation Response) message.

[0174] 506. The LMF sends a measurement request message to multiple access network devices, where the measurement request message is used to request reporting of positioning measurement results and information about the antenna port or time error corresponding to the positioning measurement results. Accordingly, the multiple access network devices receive the measurement request message from the LMF.

[0175] The measurement request message may include first indication information, and the first indication information is used to indicate information of the antenna port corresponding to the reported positioning measurement result, or the first indication information is used to indicate information of the time error corresponding to the reported positioning measurement result. The measurement request message requests information of the antenna port or time error corresponding to the positioning measurement result through the first indication information.

[0176] Exemplarily, the measurement request message may be an NRPPa measurement request (NRPPa Measurement request) message.

[0177] 507. Terminal 1 sends a positioning reference signal based on the configuration information of the time-frequency resources of the positioning reference signal and the configuration information of the antenna port. Correspondingly, multiple access network devices receive the positioning reference signal from Terminal 1 based on the configuration information of the time-frequency resources of the positioning reference signal and the configuration information of the antenna port.

[0178] 508. The multiple access network devices obtain positioning measurement results according to the received positioning reference signals, and determine antenna port information or time error information corresponding to the positioning measurement results.

[0179] 509. Multiple access network devices send measurement response messages to the LMF, where the measurement response messages include positioning measurement results and information about the antenna port or time error corresponding to the positioning measurement results. Accordingly, the LMF receives measurement response messages from the multiple access network devices.

[0180] Exemplarily, the measurement response message may be an NRPPa measurement response (NRPPa Measurement response) message.

[0181] Optionally, multiple access network devices also send the above-mentioned second positioning measurement information to the LMF.

[0182] 510. The LMF groups the positioning measurement results obtained from multiple access network devices according to the information of the antenna port or the time error corresponding to the positioning measurement results, and determines the position of the terminal 1 according to the grouping results.

[0183] If multiple access network devices also send the above-mentioned second positioning measurement information to LMF, then before step 510, LMF can also calibrate the positioning measurement results obtained from the multiple access network devices according to the above-mentioned second positioning measurement information.

[0184] It can be understood that if in step 510, the LMF does not need to calibrate the positioning measurement results obtained from multiple access network devices based on the time error information corresponding to the positioning measurement results, nor does it need to determine the time error information corresponding to the positioning measurement results based on the first correspondence (at this time, the access network device reports the positioning measurement results and the information of the antenna port corresponding to the positioning measurement results), then the LMF does not need to obtain the first correspondence. At this time, the third indication information may not be included in step 502, and the first correspondence may not be included in step 505.

[0185] It should be noted that Figure 5 In the embodiment shown, the access network device may also send the positioning measurement results, the information of the antenna port corresponding to the positioning measurement results, and the information of the time error corresponding to the positioning measurement results to the LMF. The LMF may decide on its own or determine based on the configuration whether to use the antenna port information or the time error information to group the positioning measurement results.

[0186] See also Figure 6 , the method comprising:

[0187] 601. LMF receives a positioning request message, where the positioning request message is used to request positioning of terminal 1.

[0188] 602. The LMF sends a positioning information request message to the service access network device of terminal 1. The positioning information request message is used to request configuration information of a positioning reference signal. Correspondingly, the service access network device receives the positioning information request message from the LMF.

[0189] Exemplarily, the positioning information request message may be an NRPPa positioning information request message.

[0190] 603. The service access network device sends a configuration message to Terminal 1. The configuration message includes configuration information of the time-frequency resources of the positioning reference signal (eg, SRS resources) and configuration information of the antenna port. Accordingly, Terminal 1 receives the configuration message from the service access network device.

[0191] Exemplarily, the configuration message may be an RRC reconfiguration message.

[0192] 604. Terminal 1 sends a configuration completion message to the service access network device.

[0193] Exemplarily, the configuration completion message may be an RRC reconfiguration completion message.

[0194] 605. The service access network device sends a positioning information response message to the LMF. The positioning information response message includes the configuration information of the time-frequency resources of the positioning reference signal of terminal 1 and the configuration information of the antenna port.

[0195] In subsequent processes, the LMF may send the configuration information of the time-frequency resources and antenna port configuration information of the positioning reference signal of terminal 1 to multiple access network devices, so that the multiple access network devices can obtain positioning measurement results based on the positioning reference signal sent by terminal 1. The multiple access network devices are access network devices participating in the positioning of terminal 1. It should be noted that if the multiple access network devices include a serving access network device, the LMF does not need to send the configuration information of the time-frequency resources and antenna port configuration information of the positioning reference signal to the serving access network device.

[0196] Exemplarily, the positioning information response message may be an NRPPa positioning information response message.

[0197] 606. The LMF determines that terminal 1 sends the positioning reference signal through multiple antenna ports according to the configuration information of the antenna port of the positioning reference signal.

[0198] Specifically, if the configuration information of the antenna port of the positioning reference signal is the port number of the antenna port, and the port number is greater than 1, the LMF determines that terminal 1 sends the positioning reference signal through multiple antenna ports. If the configuration information of the antenna port of the positioning reference signal is the port number of the antenna port, and the number of port numbers is greater than 1, the LMF determines that terminal 1 sends the positioning reference signal through multiple antenna ports.

[0199] 607. The LMF sends fourth indication information to Terminal 1, where the fourth indication information is used to indicate the correspondence between the reported antenna port information and the time error information. Correspondingly, Terminal 1 receives the fourth indication information from the LMF.

[0200] It should be noted that if the terminal 1 sends a positioning reference signal through a single antenna port, there will be no problem of reduced terminal positioning accuracy due to different time error information corresponding to different antenna ports. In this case, the terminal 1 does not need to report the correspondence between the antenna port information and the time error information to the LMF. When the terminal sends a positioning reference signal through multiple antenna ports, there will be a problem of reduced terminal positioning accuracy due to different time error information corresponding to different antenna ports. At this time, the terminal 1 needs to report the correspondence between the antenna port information and the time error information to the LMF. Therefore, the LMF can send the fourth indication information to the terminal 1 when it is determined that the terminal 1 sends the positioning reference signal through multiple antenna ports.

[0201] 608. Terminal 1 sends a first correspondence to the LMF according to the fourth indication information. The first correspondence includes a correspondence between information of multiple antenna ports of terminal 1 and information of multiple time errors.

[0202] The terminal 1 may send the first correspondence relationship to the positioning management function network element via the LPP layer between the terminal 1 and the positioning management function network element.

[0203] 609. The LMF sends a measurement request message to multiple access network devices, where the measurement request message is used to request reporting of positioning measurement results and information about antenna ports corresponding to the positioning measurement results. Correspondingly, the multiple access network devices receive the measurement request message from the LMF.

[0204] The measurement request message may include first indication information, where the first indication information is used to indicate information of the antenna port corresponding to the reported positioning measurement result. The measurement request message requests information of the antenna port corresponding to the positioning measurement result through the first indication information.

[0205] Exemplarily, the measurement request message may be an NRPPa measurement request message.

[0206] 610. Terminal 1 sends a positioning reference signal based on the configuration information of the time-frequency resources of the positioning reference signal and the configuration information of the antenna port. Correspondingly, multiple access network devices receive the positioning reference signal from Terminal 1 based on the configuration information of the time-frequency resources of the positioning reference signal and the configuration information of the antenna port.

[0207] 611. Multiple access network devices obtain positioning measurement results according to received positioning reference signals, and determine information of antenna ports corresponding to the positioning measurement results.

[0208] 612. Multiple access network devices send measurement response messages to the LMF, where the measurement response messages include positioning measurement results and information about antenna ports corresponding to the positioning measurement results. Correspondingly, the LMF receives measurement response messages from the multiple access network devices.

[0209] Exemplarily, the measurement response message may be an NRPPa measurement response message.

[0210] Optionally, multiple access network devices also send the above-mentioned second positioning measurement information to the LMF.

[0211] 613. The LMF groups the positioning measurement results obtained from multiple access network devices according to the information of the antenna port corresponding to the positioning measurement results, and determines the position of the terminal 1 according to the grouping result; or, the LMF determines the time error information corresponding to the positioning measurement result according to the information of the antenna port corresponding to the positioning measurement result and the first correspondence, groups the positioning measurement results obtained from multiple access network devices according to the information of the time error corresponding to the positioning measurement result, and determines the position of the terminal 1 according to the grouping result.

[0212] If multiple access network devices also send the above-mentioned second positioning measurement information to LMF, then before step 613, LMF can also calibrate the positioning measurement results obtained from multiple access network devices according to the above-mentioned second positioning measurement information.

[0213] It can be understood that if in step 613, the LMF groups the positioning measurement results obtained from multiple access network devices according to the information of the antenna port corresponding to the positioning measurement results, and does not group the positioning measurement results obtained from multiple access network devices according to the information of the time error corresponding to the positioning measurement results, then the LMF does not need to receive the first corresponding relationship from terminal 1. At this time, steps 607 and 608 can be not executed.

[0214] in, Figure 5 and Figure 6 The specific implementation of the steps in the embodiment shown can be referred to based on Figure 4 The relevant descriptions in the illustrated embodiments are omitted for brevity. Figure 5 and Figure 6 The drawings are all drawn using multiple access network devices including service access network devices as an example.

[0215] It should be noted that the execution order between the steps in the above embodiments of the present application is merely an example. In actual implementation, there may be other execution orders, and there may be other existing steps between two steps, which is not limited by the present application.

[0216] The system architecture and business scenarios described in the embodiments of this application are intended to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of this application and do not constitute a limitation on the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of this application. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that with the evolution of network architecture and the emergence of new business scenarios, the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of this application are equally applicable to similar technical problems.

[0217] The above mainly introduces the scheme of the embodiment of the present application from the perspective of the method. It can be understood that, in order to realize the above functions, each network element, such as the positioning management function network element, the access network device and the terminal includes at least one of the hardware structure and software modules corresponding to the execution of each function. It should be easy for those skilled in the art to realize that, in combination with the units and algorithm steps of each example described in the embodiments disclosed in this document, the present application can be implemented in the form of hardware or a combination of hardware and computer software. Whether a function is executed in a hardware or computer software driven hardware manner depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professional and technical personnel can use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered to be beyond the scope of this application.

[0218] The embodiment of the present application can divide the positioning management function network element, access network equipment and terminal into functional units according to the above method example. For example, each functional unit can be divided according to each function, or two or more functions can be integrated into one processing unit. The above-mentioned integrated unit can be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of software functional units. It should be noted that the division of units in the embodiment of the present application is schematic and is only a logical functional division. There may be other division methods in actual implementation.

[0219] For example, Figure 7 A schematic diagram of a possible structure of a positioning device (denoted as positioning device 70) involved in the above embodiment is shown. Positioning device 70 includes a processing unit 701, a sending unit 702, and a receiving unit 703. Optionally, it also includes a storage unit 704. Positioning device 70 can be used to illustrate the structure of the positioning management function network element, access network device, and terminal in the above embodiment.

[0220] when Figure 7 The structural diagram shown is used to illustrate the structure of the positioning management function network element involved in the above embodiment, and the processing unit 701 is used to execute Figure 4 403 in the Figure 5 510 in (at this time, the location management function network element is LMF), Figure 6 606 and 613 in (in this case, the location management function network element is LMF). The processing unit 701 is also used to obtain the information that the sending unit 702 needs to send, for example, Figure 4 、 Figure 5 and Figure 6 The positioning information request message, measurement request message, fourth indication information, etc. in the positioning management function network element are transmitted by the sending unit 702 to other network elements or devices. The receiving unit 703 is used to receive information from other network elements or devices, such as positioning measurement information, positioning information response message, measurement response message, first correspondence, etc., and submit it to the processing unit 701 for processing. The storage unit 704 is used to store program code and data of the positioning management function network element. Each unit in the positioning management function network element is also used to execute the actions performed by the positioning management function network element in other processes described in the embodiments of the present application.

[0221] when Figure 7 The structural diagram shown is used to illustrate the structure of the access network device involved in the above embodiment, and the processing unit 701 is used to execute Figure 5 508 of them, Figure 6 611 in. The processing unit 701 is further configured to obtain information that the sending unit 702 needs to send, for example, Figure 4 、 Figure 5 and Figure 6 The positioning measurement information, configuration message (in this case, the access network device is a serving access network device), positioning information response message (in this case, the access network device is a serving access network device), positioning response message, etc. are sent by the sending unit 702 to other network elements or devices. The receiving unit 703 is used to receive information from other network elements or devices, such as positioning reference signals, positioning information request messages, configuration completion messages, and measurement request messages, and submit them to the processing unit 701 for processing. The storage unit 704 is used to store program codes and data of the access network device. Each unit in the access network device is also used to execute the actions performed by the access network device in other processes described in the embodiments of the present application.

[0222] when Figure 7 The structural diagram shown is used to illustrate the structure of the terminal involved in the above embodiment. The processing unit 701 is used to obtain the information that the sending unit 702 needs to send, for example, Figure 4 、 Figure 5 and Figure 6 The positioning reference signal, configuration completion message, first correspondence, etc. in the terminal are transmitted by the transmitting unit 702 to other network elements or devices. The receiving unit 703 is configured to receive information from other network elements or devices, such as configuration messages and fourth indication information, and submit it to the processing unit 701 for processing. The storage unit 704 is configured to store program code and data of the terminal. Each unit in the terminal is also configured to execute the actions performed by the terminal in other processes described in the embodiments of the present application.

[0223] Exemplarily, the positioning device 70 may be a device or a chip or a chip system.

[0224] When the positioning device 70 is a device, the processing unit 701 can be a processor. The sending unit 702 can be a communication interface, a transmitter, or an output interface. The receiving unit 703 can be a communication interface, a receiver, or an input interface. Alternatively, the transmitter and receiver can form a transceiver. Alternatively, the input interface can be an input circuit, and the output interface can be an output circuit.

[0225] When the positioning device 70 is a chip or a chip system, the sending unit 702 may be a communication interface, output interface, interface circuit, output circuit, pin, or related circuit on the chip or chip system. The receiving unit 703 may be a communication interface, input interface, interface circuit, input circuit, pin, or related circuit on the chip or chip system. The processing unit 701 may be a processor, processing circuit, or logic circuit.

[0226] The sending unit 702 and the receiving unit 703 may also be collectively referred to as a communication unit or a transceiver unit.

[0227] Figure 7 If the integrated units in the embodiment of the present application are implemented in the form of software function modules and sold or used as independent products, they can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the embodiment of the present application is essentially or the part that contributes to the prior art or all or part of the technical solution can be embodied in the form of a software product, and the computer software product is stored in a storage medium, including a number of instructions for enabling a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) or a processor (processor) to execute all or part of the steps of the method described in each embodiment of the present application. The storage medium for storing computer software products includes: various media that can store program codes, such as USB flash drives, mobile hard drives, read-only memories (ROM), random access memories (RAM), magnetic disks or optical disks.

[0228] The present application also provides a hardware structure diagram of a positioning device, see Figure 8 or Figure 9 The positioning device includes a processor 801 and, optionally, a memory 802 connected to the processor 801 .

[0229] The processor 801 may be a general-purpose central processing unit (CPU), a microprocessor, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or one or more integrated circuits for controlling the execution of the program of the present application. The processor 801 may also include multiple CPUs, and the processor 801 may be a single-core (single-CPU) processor or a multi-core (multi-CPU) processor. The processor here may refer to one or more devices, circuits, or processing cores for processing data (such as computer program instructions).

[0230] The memory 802 can be a ROM or other type of static storage device that can store static information and instructions, a RAM or other type of dynamic storage device that can store information and instructions, or an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) or other optical disc storage, optical disc storage (including compressed optical disc, laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc, Blu-ray disc, etc.), a magnetic disk storage medium or other magnetic storage device, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store the desired program code in the form of an instruction or data structure and can be accessed by a computer, and the embodiments of the present application do not impose any restrictions on this. The memory 802 can be independent (in this case, the memory 802 can be located outside the positioning device or inside the positioning device), or it can be integrated with the processor 801. Among them, the memory 802 can contain computer program code. The processor 801 is used to execute the computer program code stored in the memory 802, thereby implementing the method provided in the embodiments of the present application.

[0231] In the first possible implementation, see Figure 8, the positioning device also includes a transceiver 803. The processor 801, the memory 802 and the transceiver 803 are connected via a bus. The transceiver 803 is used to communicate with other devices or a communication network. Optionally, the transceiver 803 may include a transmitter and a receiver. The device used to implement the receiving function in the transceiver 803 can be regarded as a receiver, and the receiver is used to perform the receiving step in the embodiment of the present application. The device used to implement the sending function in the transceiver 803 can be regarded as a transmitter, and the transmitter is used to perform the sending step in the embodiment of the present application. Exemplarily, the processor 801 can perform the actions of the above-mentioned processing unit 701, the transmitter in the transceiver 803 can perform the actions of the above-mentioned sending unit 702, and the receiver in the transceiver 803 can perform the actions of the above-mentioned receiving unit 703. For details, please refer to the relevant description above and will not be repeated here.

[0232] In a second possible implementation, processor 801 includes logic circuitry, and an input interface and / or an output interface. Exemplarily, the output interface is used to perform the sending action in the corresponding method, and the input interface is used to perform the receiving action in the corresponding method. Exemplarily, processor 801 can perform the actions of processing unit 701, the output interface can perform the actions of sending unit 702, and the input interface can perform the actions of receiving unit 703. For details, please refer to the relevant description above and will not be repeated here.

[0233] During implementation, each step of the method provided in this embodiment can be completed by hardware integrated logic circuits in a processor or by software instructions. The steps of the method disclosed in the embodiments of this application can be directly implemented as execution by a hardware processor, or as a combination of hardware and software modules in a processor.

[0234] An embodiment of the present application further provides a computer-readable storage medium, comprising computer-executable instructions, which, when executed on a computer, enable the computer to execute any of the above methods.

[0235] An embodiment of the present application also provides a computer program product, which includes computer-executable instructions, and when the computer-executable instructions are executed on the computer, the computer is caused to execute any of the above methods.

[0236] An embodiment of the present application also provides a communication system, including: a positioning management function network element, any one or more of the above-mentioned multiple access network devices and terminals.

[0237] An embodiment of the present application further provides a positioning device, including: a processor and an interface, wherein the processor is coupled to a memory via the interface, and when the processor executes a computer program or computer execution instruction in the memory, any one of the methods provided in the above embodiments is executed.

[0238] In the above embodiments, it can be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof. When implemented using a software program, it can be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the process or function described in the embodiment of the present application is generated in whole or in part. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium. For example, the computer instructions can be transmitted from one website, computer, server or data center to another website, computer, server or data center via a wired (e.g., coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) method. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device such as a server or data center that contains one or more media that can be integrated. The available medium may be a magnetic medium (eg, a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape), an optical medium (eg, a DVD), or a semiconductor medium (eg, a solid state disk (SSD)).

[0239] Although the present application is described herein in conjunction with various embodiments, in the process of implementing the claimed application, those skilled in the art may understand and implement other variations of the disclosed embodiments by reviewing the drawings, the disclosure, and the appended claims. In the claims, the word "comprising" does not exclude other components or steps, and "a" or "an" does not exclude multiple situations. A single processor or other unit may implement several functions listed in the claims. Certain measures are recorded in different dependent claims, but this does not mean that these measures cannot be combined to produce good results.

[0240] Although the present application has been described with reference to specific features and embodiments thereof, it is obvious that various modifications and combinations may be made thereto without departing from the scope of protection of the present application. Accordingly, this specification and the drawings are merely illustrative of the present application as defined by the appended claims and are deemed to cover any and all modifications, variations, combinations or equivalents within the scope of the present application. Obviously, those skilled in the art may make various modifications and variations to the present application without departing from the scope of protection of the present application. Thus, the present application is intended to include such modifications and variations if they fall within the scope of the claims of the present application and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A positioning method, characterized in that: include: The access network device receives the positioning reference signal from the terminal; The access network device sends positioning measurement information to the positioning management function network element, where the positioning measurement information includes a positioning measurement result determined based on the positioning reference signal and information about an antenna port corresponding to the positioning measurement result, where the information about the antenna port is used to determine information about a time error corresponding to the positioning measurement result, and the antenna port is the antenna port of the positioning reference signal on which the positioning measurement result is based, or the positioning measurement information includes information about a positioning measurement result determined based on the positioning reference signal and information about a time error corresponding to the positioning measurement result, where the time error is the time error corresponding to the antenna port of the positioning reference signal on which the positioning measurement result is based, and the information about the antenna port is used to group or calibrate the positioning measurement result.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The method further comprises: The access network device receives first indication information from the positioning management function network element, where the first indication information is used to indicate information of an antenna port corresponding to a reported positioning measurement result, or the first indication information is used to indicate information of a time error corresponding to a reported positioning measurement result; The access network device sends the positioning measurement information to the positioning management function network element, including: the access network device sends the positioning measurement information to the positioning management function network element according to the first indication information.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that The access network device is a service access network device of the terminal, and the method further includes: The access network device receives a first correspondence from the terminal, where the first correspondence includes a correspondence between information of multiple antenna ports and information of multiple time errors, and each of the multiple antenna ports is used to send a corresponding positioning reference signal.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that The method further comprises: The access network device sends second indication information to the terminal, where the second indication information is used to indicate a correspondence between antenna port information reported by the terminal and time error information.

5. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that In a case where the positioning measurement information includes a positioning measurement result determined based on the positioning reference signal and information about a time error corresponding to the positioning measurement result, the method further includes: The access network device determines the positioning measurement result according to the positioning reference signal; The access network device determines information about the time error corresponding to the positioning measurement result according to information about the antenna port corresponding to the positioning measurement result and the first corresponding relationship.

6. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that The method further comprises: The access network device sends the first corresponding relationship to the positioning management function network element.

7. A positioning method, characterized in that: include: The positioning management function network element receives positioning measurement information from multiple access network devices, where the positioning measurement information includes a positioning measurement result determined based on a positioning reference signal of a terminal and information about an antenna port corresponding to the positioning measurement result, where the antenna port information is used to determine information about a time error corresponding to the positioning measurement result, and the antenna port is the antenna port of the positioning reference signal on which the positioning measurement result is based. Alternatively, the positioning measurement information includes a positioning measurement result determined based on a positioning reference signal of the terminal and information about a time error corresponding to the positioning measurement result, where the time error is the time error corresponding to the antenna port of the positioning reference signal on which the positioning measurement result is based, and the antenna port information is used to group or calibrate the positioning measurement result. The positioning management function network element determines the location of the terminal according to the positioning measurement information of the multiple access network devices.

8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that The method further comprises: The positioning management function network element sends first indication information to the multiple access network devices, where the first indication information is used to indicate information of the antenna port corresponding to the reported positioning measurement result, or the first indication information is used to indicate information of the time error corresponding to the reported positioning measurement result.

9. The method according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that The positioning management function network element determines the location of the terminal according to the positioning measurement information of the multiple access network devices, including: The positioning management function network element groups the positioning measurement results in the positioning measurement information of the multiple access network devices according to the information of the antenna ports or the information of the time error in the positioning measurement information of the multiple access network devices; The positioning management function network element determines the location of the terminal according to the grouping result.

10. The method according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that The method further comprises: The positioning management function network element receives a first correspondence from a service access network device of the terminal or from the terminal, where the first correspondence includes a correspondence between information of multiple antenna ports and information of multiple time errors, and each of the multiple antenna ports is used to send a corresponding positioning reference signal.

11. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that The method further comprises: The positioning management function network element sends fourth indication information to the terminal, where the fourth indication information is used to indicate a correspondence between information about the antenna port of the terminal and information about the time error reported.

12. A positioning method, characterized in that: include: The terminal sends a first correspondence to a service access network device or a positioning management function network element, where the first correspondence includes a correspondence between information of multiple antenna ports and information of multiple time errors, where each antenna port in the multiple antenna ports is used to send a corresponding positioning reference signal; The terminal sends a corresponding positioning reference signal through one or more antenna ports of the multiple antenna ports, and the first corresponding relationship is used to group or calibrate the positioning measurement results corresponding to the positioning reference signal, and the positioning measurement results are used to determine the position of the terminal.

13. The method according to claim 12, characterized in that The method further comprises: The terminal receives configuration information from the service access network device, where the configuration information includes configuration information of time-frequency resources of the positioning reference signal and configuration information of the antenna port; The terminal sends the corresponding positioning reference signal through one or more antenna ports among the multiple antenna ports, including: the terminal sends the corresponding positioning reference signal through one or more antenna ports among the multiple antenna ports according to the configuration information.

14. The method according to claim 12 or 13, characterized in that The method further comprises: The terminal receives second indication information from the service access network device or fourth indication information from the positioning management function network element, where the second indication information and the fourth indication information are both used to indicate a correspondence between information about the antenna port reported by the terminal and information about the time error; The terminal sends the first corresponding relationship to the service access network device or the positioning management function network element, including: the terminal sends the first corresponding relationship to the service access network device or the positioning management function network element according to the second indication information or the fourth indication information.

15. A positioning device, characterized in that: include: Receiving unit, sending unit and processing unit; The receiving unit is configured to receive a positioning reference signal from a terminal; The processing unit is configured to obtain positioning measurement information, where the positioning measurement information includes a positioning measurement result determined based on the positioning reference signal and information about an antenna port corresponding to the positioning measurement result, where the antenna port information is used to determine information about a time error corresponding to the positioning measurement result, where the antenna port is the antenna port of the positioning reference signal on which the positioning measurement result is based; or the positioning measurement information includes a positioning measurement result determined based on the positioning reference signal and information about a time error corresponding to the positioning measurement result, where the time error is the time error corresponding to the antenna port of the positioning reference signal on which the positioning measurement result is based, where the antenna port information is used to group or calibrate the positioning measurement result; The sending unit is used to send positioning measurement information to the positioning management function network element.

16. The positioning device according to claim 15, characterized in that The receiving unit is further configured to receive first indication information from the positioning management function network element, where the first indication information is used to indicate information of an antenna port corresponding to the reported positioning measurement result, or the first indication information is used to indicate information of a time error corresponding to the reported positioning measurement result; The sending unit is specifically configured to send the positioning measurement information to the positioning management function network element under the instruction of the first indication information.

17. The positioning device according to claim 15 or 16, characterized in that: The positioning device is a service positioning device of the terminal, The receiving unit is also used to receive a first correspondence from the terminal, where the first correspondence includes a correspondence between information of multiple antenna ports and information of multiple time errors, and each of the multiple antenna ports is used to send a corresponding positioning reference signal.

18. The positioning device according to claim 17, characterized in that The sending unit is further used to send second indication information to the terminal, where the second indication information is used to indicate the correspondence between the antenna port information reported by the terminal and the time error information.

19. The positioning device according to claim 17, characterized in that In a case where the positioning measurement information includes a positioning measurement result determined based on the positioning reference signal and information about a time error corresponding to the positioning measurement result, The processing unit is further configured to determine the positioning measurement result according to the positioning reference signal; The processing unit is further configured to determine information about a time error corresponding to the positioning measurement result based on information about the antenna port corresponding to the positioning measurement result and the first corresponding relationship.

20. The positioning device according to claim 17, characterized in that The sending unit is further configured to send the first corresponding relationship to the positioning management function network element.

21. A positioning device, characterized in that: include: Receiving unit and processing unit; The receiving unit is configured to receive positioning measurement information from multiple access network devices, where the positioning measurement information includes a positioning measurement result determined based on a positioning reference signal of a terminal and information about an antenna port corresponding to the positioning measurement result, where the antenna port information is used to determine information about a time error corresponding to the positioning measurement result, and the antenna port is the antenna port of the positioning reference signal on which the positioning measurement result is based; or the positioning measurement information includes a positioning measurement result determined based on a positioning reference signal of the terminal and information about a time error corresponding to the positioning measurement result, where the time error is the time error corresponding to the antenna port of the positioning reference signal on which the positioning measurement result is based, and the antenna port information is used to group or calibrate the positioning measurement results; The processing unit is configured to determine the location of the terminal according to the positioning measurement information of the multiple access network devices.

22. The positioning device according to claim 21, characterized in that The positioning device further includes a sending unit; The sending unit is used to send first indication information to the multiple access network devices, where the first indication information is used to indicate information of the antenna port corresponding to the reported positioning measurement result, or the first indication information is used to indicate information of the time error corresponding to the reported positioning measurement result.

23. The positioning device according to claim 21 or 22, characterized in that: The processing unit is specifically configured to: Grouping the positioning measurement results in the positioning measurement information of the multiple access network devices according to the antenna port information or the time error information in the positioning measurement information of the multiple access network devices; The location of the terminal is determined according to the grouping result.

24. The positioning device according to claim 21 or 22, characterized in that: The receiving unit is also used to receive a first correspondence from a service access network device of the terminal or from the terminal, wherein the first correspondence includes a correspondence between information of multiple antenna ports and information of multiple time errors, and each of the multiple antenna ports is used to send a corresponding positioning reference signal.

25. The positioning device according to claim 24, characterized in that The positioning device further includes a sending unit; The sending unit is configured to send fourth indication information to the terminal, where the fourth indication information is used to indicate a correspondence between information reporting the antenna port of the terminal and information reporting the time error.

26. A positioning device, characterized in that: include: a sending unit and a processing unit; The processing unit is configured to obtain a first correspondence, where the first correspondence includes a correspondence between information of a plurality of antenna ports and information of a plurality of time errors, each of the plurality of antenna ports being configured to send a corresponding positioning reference signal; The sending unit is configured to send the first correspondence to a service access network device or a positioning management function network element; The sending unit is further used to send a corresponding positioning reference signal through one or more antenna ports of the multiple antenna ports, and the first corresponding relationship is used to group or calibrate the positioning measurement results corresponding to the positioning reference signal, and the positioning measurement results are used to determine the position of the terminal.

27. The positioning device according to claim 26, characterized in that The positioning device further includes a receiving unit; The receiving unit is configured to receive configuration information from the service access network device, where the configuration information includes configuration information of the time-frequency resources of the positioning reference signal and configuration information of the antenna port; The sending unit is specifically configured to send a corresponding positioning reference signal on the time-frequency resources configured by the configuration information through one or more antenna ports of the multiple antenna ports configured by the configuration information.

28. The positioning device according to claim 26 or 27, characterized in that The positioning device further includes a receiving unit; The receiving unit is configured to receive second indication information from the service access network device or fourth indication information from the positioning management function network element, where the second indication information and the fourth indication information are both used to indicate a correspondence between information about the antenna port reported by the positioning device and information about the time error; The sending unit is specifically configured to send the first corresponding relationship to the service access network device or the positioning management function network element under the instruction of the second indication information or the fourth indication information.

29. A positioning device, characterized in that: include: processor; The processor is connected to a memory, the memory is used to store computer-executable instructions, and the processor executes the computer-executable instructions stored in the memory to enable the positioning device to implement the method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, or any one of claims 7 to 11, or any one of claims 12 to 14.

30. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that The method comprises computer-executable instructions, which, when executed on a computer, enable the computer to execute the method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, or any one of claims 7 to 11, or any one of claims 12 to 14.

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