Method and apparatus for measurement gap activation and deactivation for positioning measurements

Abstract

Methods and apparatuses are disclosed for a UE and its serving base station to coordinate activation and deactivation of measurement gaps for performing positioning measurements by the UE using a target positioning reference signal (PRS) during bandwidth part (BWP) switching. The UE can be configured by the serving base station with a dedicated measurement gap. The UE determines whether a legacy measurement gap for mobility measurements or scheduled data transmission collides with the dedicated measurement gap. If there is a collision, the UE performs the mobility measurements or transmits the scheduled data using the legacy measurement gap. If there is no collision, the UE receives the PRS to perform the positioning measurements during the dedicated measurement gap. In one embodiment, the UE or the base station can activate or deactivate the measurement gap for the positioning measurements based on the status of the active BWP and the target PRS.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This disclosure relates to the field of wireless communication, and more specifically to a method for enabling wireless communication devices to activate and deactivate measurement gaps for positioning measurements. Other aspects are also described. Background Technology

[0002] Wireless communication networks such as 5G New Radio (NR) systems and 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) support the use of Observed Time Difference of Arrival (OTDOA) mechanisms for user equipment (UE) location determination. OTDOA is a multi-point positioning method in which the UE measures the Time of Arrival (TOA) of Positioning Reference Signals (PRS) received from multiple base stations (e.g., eNodeB in LTE or gNodeB in NR). Based on knowledge of the base station locations, the UE's coordinates are determined using the TOA differences among several adjacent, geographically dispersed, and geometrically well-formed base stations. Multiple base stations can operate and transmit their PRS on different frequency bands (also known as frequency layers). When a UE needs to perform TOA measurements on the PRS of neighboring base stations operating on different frequency layers from its serving base station, the UE can request a measurement gap from the serving base station using Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling. The serving base station can configure the measurement gap so that no signal transmission or reception occurs at the UE during the positioning subframe while the UE is receiving PRS from a neighboring base station. The UE can use the transmission gap to switch its radio frequency (RF) receiver to the frequency layer of the neighboring base station to receive PRS to perform TOA measurements, and then switch the RF receiver back to the frequency layer of the serving base station.

[0003] Traditionally, a positioning server can request a UE to perform a TOA (Total Objective of Attribute) measurement, also known as a positioning measurement, by delivering auxiliary data to the UE via higher-layer signaling. When a UE performs a positioning measurement, the serving base station may not know the frequency layer used by neighboring base stations to transmit PRS (Presentation Records). Therefore, the UE can request the serving base station to configure a measurement gap via RRC (Redirect Control Code) based on the serving base station's current frequency layer or Active Bandwidth Part (BWP) and the frequency layer information of neighboring base stations. Sometimes, the serving base station can switch its BWP to a different frequency layer. The serving base station can send a BWP handover signal to the UE using physical (PHY) indications, such as using downlink control information (DCI). However, BWP handover activity may be much faster than the UE can respond by requesting the serving base station to configure a measurement gap via RRC. When the UE does not configure gap measurements as quickly as BWP handover, the UE may not be able to receive PRS from neighboring base stations operating on a different frequency layer than the serving base station's BWP, which could lead to positioning measurement failure. When the serving base station performs a BWP handover, the configuration of the measurement gap used by the UE for positioning measurements needs to be improved. Summary of the Invention

[0004] A method is disclosed for a UE and a serving base station of a wireless communication network to activate and deactivate measurement gaps used by the UE for location measurement using a Probe Reference Signal (PRS). The method includes the UE receiving configuration information from the serving base station for configuring dedicated measurement gaps for the location measurement. The method also includes the UE determining whether a scheduled receive window or a scheduled transmit window conflicts with one of the dedicated measurement gaps. If a conflict exists, the UE skips the location measurement during the dedicated measurement gap. If no conflict exists, the UE receives the PRS during the dedicated measurement gap to perform the location measurement. The scheduled receive window may include measurement gaps for mobility measurements. The scheduled transmit window may include transmitted data or a Probe Reference Signal (SRS).

[0005] A method is disclosed for a UE and a serving base station of a wireless communication network to activate and deactivate a measurement gap used by the UE for positioning measurements using a Positioning Reference Scale (PRS). The method includes the UE transmitting information about the PRS to the base station. The method also includes the UE receiving configuration information from the serving base station for configuring the measurement gap for the positioning measurements. Furthermore, the method includes the UE receiving an activation signal from the serving base station for the measurement gap. In response to the activation signal, the UE receives the PRS during the dedicated measurement gap to perform the positioning measurements. The activation signal indicates that the frequency layer of the base station does not contain the PRS.

[0006] A method is disclosed for a UE and a serving base station of a wireless communication network to activate and deactivate a measurement gap used by the UE for positioning measurements using a PRS. The method includes the UE transmitting a request for the measurement gap to the base station. The method also includes the UE receiving configuration information from the serving base station for configuring the measurement gap for the positioning measurements. Furthermore, the method includes the UE transmitting an activation signal for the measurement gap to the base station. The UE then receives a PRS to perform the positioning measurements during the dedicated measurement gap. The activation signal indicates that the frequency layer of the base station does not contain the PRS.

[0007] The above overview does not constitute an exhaustive list of all aspects of the invention. The invention is envisioned to encompass all systems and methods that can be practiced from all suitable combinations of the aspects outlined above, as well as those disclosed in the detailed embodiments below and specifically pointed out in the claims filed with this patent application. Such combinations have specific advantages not specifically described in the above overview. Attached Figure Description

[0008] The aspects of this disclosure are illustrated by way of example and are not limited to the illustrations in the accompanying drawings, in which similar reference numerals indicate similar elements. It should be noted that references to “a” or “an” aspect in this disclosure do not necessarily refer to the same aspect, and each refers to at least one. Furthermore, for the sake of brevity and to reduce the total number of drawings, a given drawing may be used to illustrate more than one aspect of this disclosure, and for a given aspect, not all elements in that drawing may be necessary.

[0009] Figure 1 An exemplary wireless communication system according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0010] Figure 2 A base station (BS) communicating with a user equipment (UE) device according to some embodiments of this disclosure is shown.

[0011] Figure 3 An exemplary block diagram of a UE according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0012] Figure 4 An exemplary block diagram of a BS according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0013] Figure 5 An exemplary block diagram of a cellular communication circuit according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is shown.

[0014] Figure 6 The following illustrates a BWP handover according to some embodiments of the present disclosure, wherein when the active BWP switches from BWP1 containing PRS to BWP2 without PRS, the measurement gap may not be configured fast enough for the UE to receive PRS for positioning measurements.

[0015] Figure 7 The present disclosure illustrates a method for a UE to request a measurement gap to cover PRS measurements according to some embodiments of the present disclosure, regardless of whether the active BWP contains PRS.

[0016] Figure 8 The present disclosure illustrates a method for a UE to perform positioning measurements using a dedicated measurement gap according to some embodiments of the present disclosure, and for the UE to skip positioning measurements when scheduled data conflicts with the dedicated measurement gap.

[0017] Figure 9 The present disclosure illustrates a method for a UE to perform positioning measurements using a dedicated measurement gap according to some embodiments of the present disclosure, and for the UE to skip positioning measurements when a conventional measurement gap used for mobility measurements conflicts with the dedicated measurement gap.

[0018] Figure 10The present disclosure illustrates a method by which a UE requests a measurement gap from a serving base station to perform positioning measurements, and a method by which the UE activates and deactivates the measurement gap when the serving base station changes the active BWP.

[0019] Figure 11 The present disclosure illustrates a method by which a UE provides PRS information to a serving base station when the serving base station changes the active BWP, so that the serving base station can activate and deactivate the measurement gap, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0020] Figure 12 This is a flowchart illustrating an example of a method for a UE to perform positioning measurements using a dedicated measurement gap according to some embodiments of this disclosure.

[0021] Figure 13 This is a flowchart illustrating an example of a method by which a UE provides PRS information to a serving base station according to some embodiments of the present disclosure, and how the UE is configured and activated by the serving base station to perform positioning measurements using measurement gaps.

[0022] Figure 14 This is a flowchart illustrating an example of a method by which a UE configures a measurement gap by a serving base station and activates the measurement gap to perform positioning measurements according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. Detailed Implementation

[0023] There is a need to improve the configuration of measurement gaps used by UEs for positioning measurements during BWP handover. For a UE to perform positioning measurements using a target PRS from a target base station (such as a gNodeB or gNB in ​​5G New Radio (5G NR)) operating on a different frequency layer than the active BWP of the serving gNB, the UE can request a measurement gap from the serving gNB. The serving gNB can configure measurement gaps so that no signal transmission or reception occurs during the positioning subframe when the UE receives the target PRS from the target gNB. The UE can use the transmission gap to switch its RF receiver to the frequency layer of the target gNB to receive the target PRS for positioning measurements, and then switch the RF receiver back to the active BWP in the serving gNB. On the other hand, when the target PRS is included in the active BWP, the UE can receive the target PRS without a measurement gap. When the serving gNB switches the active BWP, the serving gNB may not have all the information about whether the target PRS is included in the new active BWP to determine whether a measurement gap is needed. A method is disclosed for the UE and serving gNB to coordinate the activation and deactivation of measurement gaps so as to perform positioning measurements using the target PRSS during BWP handover when the target PRSS may be included within or outside the active BWP. An embodiment of this disclosure is illustrated using a 5G NR gNB as the serving base station. However, features of this disclosure can be implemented by an eNodeB or base station of a 4G LTE system or an access point of other types of wireless networks.

[0024] In one implementation, the UE can request a measurement gap to cover a target PRS measurement, regardless of whether the target PRS is included in the active BWP. The serving gNB can configure the measurement gap regardless of the UE's active BWP state, and may not transmit during the measurement gap, even if the PRS is included in the active BWP.

[0025] In one implementation, a dedicated measurement gap for UE positioning measurements can be configured by the serving gNB. The UE can perform positioning measurements using a target PRS within the dedicated measurement gap. When the dedicated measurement gap conflicts with a conventional measurement gap used for mobility measurements, mobility measurements take priority, and the positioning measurement gap is muted. When the dedicated measurement gap conflicts with scheduled data or sounding reference signal (SRS) transmissions, data or SRS transmissions take priority, and the positioning measurement gap is also muted.

[0026] In one implementation, based on the current state of the active BWP and the target PRS, the UE can request activation or deactivation of a measurement gap from the serving gNB for positioning measurements. The UE can use PHY signaling or Media Access Control Element (MAC CE) signaling to request activation or deactivation of the measurement gap. For example, if the active BWP does not contain the target PRS, the UE can request activation of the measurement gap. If the serving gNB switches the active BWP and the new active BWP contains the target PRS, the UE can request deactivation of the measurement gap.

[0027] In one implementation, the UE can provide PRS information to the serving gNB for the serving gNB to activate or deactivate the UE's measurement gap. The serving gNB can use PHY signaling or MAC CE signaling to indicate the activation or deactivation of the measurement gap to the UE. For example, if the active BWP does not contain a target PRS, the serving gNB can activate the measurement gap. If the serving gNB switches to activate a BWP and the new active BWP contains a target PRS, the serving gNB can deactivate the measurement gap.

[0028] In one implementation, the UE may provide PRS information to the serving gNB via RRC. The serving gNB may perform an initial measurement gap configuration to use the target PRS for positioning measurements, regardless of whether the active BWP contains the target PRS. After the initial configuration, the serving gNB may check whether the active BWP contains the target PRS to determine whether it expects the UE to use the measurement gap for positioning measurements. For example, if the active BWP contains the target PRS, the serving gNB may not expect the UE to use the measurement gap for positioning measurements. On the other hand, if the active BWP does not contain the target PRS, the serving gNB expects the UE to use the measurement gap. The UE may independently evaluate whether the BWP contains the target PRS to determine whether to use the measurement gap for positioning measurements.

[0029] The following description illustrates many specific details. However, it should be understood that aspects of this disclosure can be practiced without requiring these specific details. In other instances, well-known circuits, structures, and techniques have not been shown in detail so as not to obscure the understanding of this description.

[0030] The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular aspects only and is not intended to limit the invention. Spatially related terms, such as “below,” “under,” “down,” “above,” “above,” etc., may be used herein for the convenience of describing the relationship of one element or feature to one or more other elements or features, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. It should be understood that spatially related terms are intended to cover different orientations of the device during use or operation other than those shown in the drawings. For example, if the device in the figures is flipped, an element described as “below” or “under” other elements or features may then be oriented “above” other elements or features. Thus, the exemplary term “below” can cover both the orientations above and below. The device may be oriented in other ways (e.g., rotated 90 degrees or in other orientations), and the spatially related descriptors used herein are interpreted accordingly.

[0031] As used herein, the singular forms “a” (“a”, “an”) and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context otherwise indicates. It should be further understood that the terms “comprising” and “including” define the presence of the said feature, step, operation, element, or component, but do not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, steps, operations, elements, components, or groups thereof.

[0032] The terms “or” and “and / or” as used herein should be interpreted as including or referring to any one or any combination thereof. Therefore, “A, B, or C” or “A, B, and / or C” means “any one of the following: A; B; C; A and B; A and C; B and C; A, B, and C.” Exceptions to this definition will only occur if the combination of elements, functions, steps, or actions is inherently mutually exclusive in some way.

[0033] Figure 1 A simplified exemplary wireless communication system according to some implementation schemes is shown. It should be noted that... Figure 1 The system described herein is merely one example of a possible system, and the features of this disclosure can be implemented in any of a variety of systems as needed.

[0034] As shown in the figure, the exemplary wireless communication system includes a base station 102A, which communicates with one or more user equipments 106A, 106B, etc., through a transmission medium. Each user equipment may be referred to herein as a "user equipment" (UE). Therefore, user equipment 106 is referred to as a UE or UE device.

[0035] Base station (BS) 102A may be a transceiver base station (BTS) or a cell site (“cellular base station”), and may include hardware that enables wireless communication with UEs 106A to 106N.

[0036] The communication area (or coverage area) of a base station can be referred to as a "cell". Base station 102A and UE106 can be configured to communicate using any of a variety of Radio Access Technologies (RATs) via a transmission medium. These RATs are also known as wireless communication technologies or telecommunications standards, such as GSM, UMTS (associated with air interfaces such as WCDMA or TD-SCDMA), LTE, LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), 5G New Radio (5G NR), HSPA, 3GPP2 CDMA2000 (e.g., 1xRTT, 1xEV-DO, HRPD, eHRPD), etc. Note that if base station 102A is implemented in an LTE environment, its alternative location can be referred to as an "eNodeB" or "eNB". Note that if base station 102A is implemented in a 5G NR environment, its alternative location can be referred to as a "gNodeB" or "gNB".

[0037] As shown in the figure, base station 102A can also be configured to communicate with network 100 (e.g., in various possibilities, the core network of a cellular service provider, telecommunications networks such as the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), and / or the Internet). Therefore, base station 102A can facilitate communication between user equipments and / or between user equipments and network 100. Specifically, cellular base station 102A can provide UE 106 with various telecommunications capabilities such as voice, short message service (SMS), and / or data services.

[0038] Base station 102A and other similar base stations (such as base station 102B...102N) operating under the same or different cellular communication standards can thus provide a network as a cell, which can provide continuous or near-continuous overlapping services to UE 106A-N and similar devices over a geographical area via one or more cellular communication standards.

[0039] Therefore, although base station 102A can act as such Figure 1 The diagram shows the "serving cell" of UEs 106A-N, but each UE 106 may also be able to receive signals (and possibly within its communication range) from one or more other cells (which may be provided by base stations 102B-N and / or any other base stations), which may be referred to as "neighboring cells". Such cells may also facilitate communication between user equipments and / or between user equipments and network 100. These cells may include "macro" cells, "micro" cells, "pecimen" cells, and / or any other cells of various other granularities providing service area size. For example, in Figure 1Base stations 102A-B shown can be macro cells, while base station 102N can be micro cells. Other configurations are also possible. UE 106 can measure the time of arrival (TOA) of Position Reference Signals (PRS) transmitted by its serving base station 102A and by base stations 102B-N of neighboring cells to support the location determination of UE 106.

[0040] In some implementations, base station 102A may be a next-generation base station, such as a 5G New Radio (5G-NR) base station, or "gNB". In some implementations, the gNB may be connected to a legacy evolved packet core (EPC) network and / or to an NR core (NRC) network. Furthermore, a gNB cell may include one or more transition and receive points (TRPs). Additionally, a UE capable of operating according to 5G NR may connect to one or more TRPs within one or more gNBs.

[0041] It should be noted that UE 106 can communicate using multiple wireless communication standards. For example, in addition to at least one cellular communication protocol (e.g., GSM, UMTS (associated with, for example, WCDMA or TD-SCDMA air interfaces), LTE, LTE-A, 5G NR, HSPA, 3GPP2CDMA2000 (e.g., 1xRTT, 1xEV-DO, HRPD, eHRPD, etc.)), UE 106 can be configured to communicate using wireless networking (e.g., Wi-Fi) and / or peer-to-peer wireless communication protocols (GSM, for example, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi peer-to-peer, etc.). If desired, UE 106 can also or alternatively be configured to communicate using one or more Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS, such as GPS or GLONASS), one or more mobile television broadcasting standards (e.g., ATSC-M / H or DVB-H), and / or any other wireless communication protocol. Other combinations of wireless communication standards (including more than two wireless communication standards) are also possible.

[0042] Figure 2 The illustration shows a user equipment 106 (e.g., one of devices 106A to 106N) communicating with base station 102 according to some embodiments. UE 106 can be a device with cellular communication capabilities, such as a mobile phone, handheld device, computer, or tablet computer, or virtually any type of wireless device.

[0043] UE 106 may include a processor configured to execute program instructions stored in memory. UE 106 may perform any of the method embodiments of the present invention by executing such stored instructions. Alternatively or additionally, UE 106 may include programmable hardware elements, such as an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) configured to perform any method embodiment of the method embodiments described herein or any portion thereof.

[0044] UE 106 may include one or more antennas for communicating using one or more wireless communication protocols or technologies. In some embodiments, UE 106 may be configured to communicate using, for example, CDMA2000 (1xRTT / 1xEV-DO / HRPD / eHRPD) or LTE or 5G NR using a single shared radio component and / or GSM or LTE or 5G NR using a single shared radio component. The shared radio may be coupled to a single antenna or to multiple antennas (e.g., for MIMO) for performing wireless communication. Typically, the radio component may include any combination of baseband processor, analog radio frequency (RF) signal processing circuitry (e.g., including filters, mixers, oscillators, amplifiers, etc.) or digital processing circuitry (e.g., for digital modulation and other digital processing). Similarly, the radio component may use the aforementioned hardware to implement one or more receive chains and transmit chains. For example, UE 106 may share one or more portions of the receive chain and / or transmit chain among various wireless communication technologies such as those discussed above.

[0045] In some implementations, UE 106 may include separate transmit and / or receive chains (e.g., including separate antennas and other radio components) for each wireless communication protocol configured for communication. As another possibility, UE 106 may include one or more radio components shared among multiple wireless communication protocols, as well as one or more radio components uniquely used by a single wireless communication protocol. For example, UE 106 may include shared radio components for communication using either LTE or 5G NR (or LTE or 1xRTT, or LTE or GSM), and separate radio components for communication using each of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Other configurations are also possible.

[0046] Figure 3 An exemplary simplified block diagram of a communication device 106 according to some embodiments is shown. It should be noted that... Figure 3The block diagram of the communication device is merely one example of possible communication devices. According to the implementation, among other devices, the communication device 106 may be a user equipment (UE) device, a mobile device or mobile station, a wireless device or wireless station, a desktop computer or computing device, a mobile computing device (e.g., a laptop, notebook, or portable computing device), a tablet computer, and / or a combination of devices. As shown, the communication device 106 may include a set of components 300 configured to perform core functions. For example, this set of components may be implemented as a system-on-a-chip (SOC), which may include portions for various purposes. Alternatively, the set of components 300 may be implemented as individual components or groups of components for various purposes. This set of components 300 may be (e.g., communicatively; directly or indirectly) coupled to various other circuitry of the communication device 106.

[0047] For example, communication device 106 may include various types of memory (e.g., including NAND flash memory 310), input / output interfaces such as connector I / F 320 (e.g., for connection to a computer system; docking station; charging station; input devices such as microphone, camera, keyboard; output devices such as speaker; etc.), a display 360 that may be integrated with or external to communication device 106, and cellular communication circuitry 330 such as for 5G-NR, LTE, GSM, etc., and short- to medium-range wireless communication circuitry 329 (e.g., Bluetooth). TM (and WLAN circuitry). In some embodiments, the communication device 106 may include wired communication circuitry (not shown), such as, for example, a network interface card for Ethernet.

[0048] Cellular communication circuitry 330 may be coupled (e.g., communicatively grounded; directly or indirectly) to one or more antennas, such as antennas 335 and 336 shown. Short-to-medium-range wireless communication circuitry 329 may also be coupled (e.g., communicatively grounded; directly or indirectly) to one or more antennas, such as antennas 337 and 338 shown. Alternatively, short-to-medium-range wireless communication circuitry 329 may be coupled (e.g., communicatively grounded; directly or indirectly) to antennas 337 and 338, or as an alternative, to antennas 335 and 336. Short-to-medium-range wireless communication circuitry 329 and / or cellular communication circuitry 330 may include multiple receive chains and / or multiple transmit chains for receiving and / or transmitting multiple spatial streams, such as in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) configuration.

[0049] In some embodiments, as further described below, the cellular communication circuit system 330 may include dedicated receive chains for multiple RATs (e.g., a first receive chain for LTE and a second receive chain for 5G NR), which include and / or (e.g., communicatively, directly or indirectly) coupled to a dedicated processor and / or radio components. Furthermore, in some embodiments, the cellular communication circuit 330 may include a single transmit chain that can be switched between radio components dedicated to a particular RAT. For example, a first radio component may be dedicated to a first RAT, such as LTE, and may communicate with a dedicated receive chain and a transmit chain shared with additional radio components, such as a second radio component that may be dedicated to a second RAT (e.g., 5G NR) and may communicate with a dedicated receive chain and a shared transmit chain.

[0050] The communication device 106 may also include one or more user interface elements and / or be configured to be used with one or more user interface elements. User interface elements may include a variety of components, such as a display 360 (which may be a touchscreen display), a keyboard (which may be a separate keyboard or may be implemented as part of the touchscreen display), a mouse, a microphone and / or a speaker, one or more cameras, one or more buttons, and / or any of a variety of other components capable of providing information to the user and / or receiving or interpreting user input.

[0051] The communication device 106 may also include one or more smart cards 345 with SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) functionality, such as one or more UICC cards (one or more general purpose integrated circuit cards) 345.

[0052] As shown in the figure, the SOC 300 may include a processor 302 and a display circuit 304. The processor executes program instructions for the communication device 106, and the display circuit performs graphics processing and provides display signals to the display 360. The processor 302 may also be coupled to a memory management unit (MMU) 340 (which may be configured to receive addresses from the processor 302 and translate those addresses into locations in memory (e.g., memory 306, read-only memory (ROM) 350, NAND flash memory 310)) and / or coupled to other circuitry or devices (such as the display circuit 304, short-range wireless communication circuitry 229, cellular communication circuitry 330, connector I / F 320, and / or display 360). The MMU 340 may be configured to perform memory protection and page table translation or setup. In some embodiments, the MMU 340 may be included as part of the processor 302.

[0053] As described above, the communication device 106 can be configured to communicate using wireless and / or wired communication circuitry. The communication device 106 can be configured to transmit a request to attach to a first network node operating under a first RAT, and to transmit an indication that the wireless device is capable of maintaining substantially concurrent connections with the first network node and a second network node operating under a second RAT. The wireless device can also be configured to transmit a request to attach to a second network node. This request may include an indication that the wireless device is capable of maintaining substantially concurrent connections with both the first and second network nodes. Furthermore, the wireless device can be configured to receive an indication that dual connections with the first and second network nodes have been established.

[0054] As described herein, communication device 106 may include hardware and software components for implementing the aforementioned features of UL data for time-division multiplexing NSA (non-standalone) NR operation. For example, by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium), processor 302 of communication device 106 may be configured to implement some or all of the features described herein. Alternatively (or otherwise), processor 302 may be configured as a programmable hardware element such as an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array) or configured as an ASIC (Application-Specific Integrated Circuit). Alternatively (or otherwise), in conjunction with one or more of other components 300, 304, 306, 310, 320, 329, 330, 340, 345, 350, 360, processor 302 of communication device 106 may be configured to implement some or all of the features described herein.

[0055] Furthermore, as described in this invention, processor 302 may include one or more processing elements. Therefore, processor 302 may include one or more integrated circuits (ICs) configured to perform the functions of processor 302. Additionally, each integrated circuit may include circuitry (e.g., a first circuit, a second circuit, etc.) configured to perform the functions of one or more processors 302.

[0056] Furthermore, as described herein, both the cellular communication circuit 330 and the short-range wireless communication circuit 329 may include one or more processing elements. In other words, one or more processing elements may be included in the cellular communication circuit 330, and similarly, one or more processing elements may be included in the short-range wireless communication circuit 329. Therefore, the cellular communication circuit 330 may include one or more integrated circuits (ICs) configured to perform the functions of the cellular communication circuit 330. Furthermore, each integrated circuit may include circuitry (e.g., a first circuit, a second circuit, etc.) configured to perform the functions of the cellular communication circuit 330. Similarly, the short-range wireless communication circuit 329 may include one or more ICs configured to perform the functions of the short-range wireless communication circuit 329. Furthermore, each integrated circuit may include circuitry (e.g., a first circuit, a second circuit, etc.) configured to perform the functions of the short-range wireless communication circuit 329.

[0057] Figure 4 An exemplary block diagram of a base station 102 according to some embodiments is shown. It should be noted that... Figure 4 The base station shown is merely one example of a possible base station. As illustrated, base station 102 may include a processor 404 capable of executing program instructions specific to base station 102. Processor 404 may also be coupled to a memory management unit (MMU) 440 or other circuitry or device, which may be configured to receive addresses from processor 404 and translate those addresses into locations in memory (e.g., memory 460 and read-only memory (ROM) 450).

[0058] Base station 102 may include at least one network port 470. Network port 470 may be configured to be coupled to a telephone network and provide access rights as described above. Figure 1 and Figure 2 The telephone network described herein includes multiple devices such as UE device 106.

[0059] Network port 470 (or an additional network port) may also be configured, or alternatively configured, to be coupled to a cellular network, such as the core network of a cellular service provider. The core network may provide mobility-related services and / or other services to multiple devices, such as UE device 106. In some cases, network port 470 may be coupled to a telephone network via the core network, and / or the core network may provide a telephone network (e.g., in addition to other UE devices served by the cellular service provider).

[0060] In some implementations, base station 102 may be a next-generation base station, such as a 5G New Radio (5G NR) base station, or “gNB”. In such implementations, base station 102 may be connected to a legacy evolved packet core (EPC) network and / or to an NR core (NRC) network. Furthermore, base station 102 may be considered a 5G NR cell and may include one or more transition and receive points (TRPs). Additionally, UEs capable of operating according to 5G NR may connect to one or more TRPs within one or more gNBs.

[0061] Base station 102 may include at least one antenna 434 and possibly multiple antennas. The at least one antenna 434 may be configured to function as a wireless transceiver and may be further configured to communicate with UE device 106 via radio component 430. Antenna 434 communicates with radio component 430 via communication link 432. Communication link 432 may be a receive link, a transmit link, or both. Radio component 430 may be configured to communicate via various wireless communication standards, including but not limited to 5G-NR, LTE, LTE-A, GSM, UMTS, CDMA2000, Wi-Fi, etc.

[0062] Base station 102 may be configured to perform wireless communication using multiple wireless communication standards. In some cases, base station 102 may include multiple radio components that enable base station 102 to communicate according to multiple wireless communication technologies. For example, as one possibility, base station 102 may include LTE radio components for performing communication according to LTE and 5G NR radio components for performing communication according to 5G NR. In this case, base station 102 may be able to operate as both an LTE base station and a 5G NR base station. As another possibility, base station 102 may include multimode radio components capable of performing communication according to any of multiple wireless communication technologies (e.g., 5G-NR and Wi-Fi, LTE and Wi-Fi, LTE and UMTS, LTE and CDMA2000, UMTS and GSM, etc.). As further described herein, BS 102 may include hardware and software components for implementing or supporting embodiments of the features described herein. The processor 404 of base station 102 may be configured to implement or support some or all of the methods described herein, for example, by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium). Alternatively, processor 404 may be configured as a programmable hardware element such as an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array), or as an ASIC (Application-Specific Integrated Circuit), or a combination thereof. Alternatively (or in addition), in conjunction with one or more of other components 430, 432, 434, 440, 450, 460, and 470, processor 404 of BS 102 may be configured to implement or support some or all of the features described herein.

[0063] Furthermore, as described herein, processor 404 may comprise one or more processing elements. In other words, one or more processing elements may be included in processor 404. Therefore, processor 404 may include one or more integrated circuits (ICs) configured to perform the functions of processor 404. Additionally, each integrated circuit may include circuitry (e.g., a first circuit, a second circuit, etc.) configured to perform the functions of one or more processors 404.

[0064] Additionally, as described herein, the radio component 430 may comprise one or more processing elements. In other words, one or more processing elements may be included in the radio component 430. Therefore, the radio component 430 may include one or more integrated circuits (ICs) configured to perform the functions of the radio component 430. Furthermore, each integrated circuit may include circuitry (e.g., a first circuit, a second circuit, etc.) configured to perform the functions of the radio component 430.

[0065] Figure 5An exemplary simplified block diagram of a cellular communication circuit according to some embodiments is shown. It should be noted that... Figure 5 The block diagram of the cellular communication circuit is merely one example of a possible cellular communication circuit. According to the implementation, the cellular communication circuit 330 may be included in a communication device such as the communication device 106 described above. As mentioned above, the communication device 106 may be a user equipment (UE) device, a mobile device or mobile station, a wireless device or wireless station, a desktop computer or computing device, a mobile computing device (e.g., a laptop, notebook, or portable computing device), a tablet computer and / or other devices, as well as other devices.

[0066] Cellular communication circuit 330 may (e.g., communicatively; directly or indirectly) be coupled to one or more antennas, such as ( Figure 3 Antennas 335a-b and 336 are shown in the diagram. In some embodiments, the cellular communication circuit 330 may include dedicated receive chains for multiple RATs (including and / or (e.g., directly or indirectly communicatively coupled to a dedicated processor and / or radio components) (e.g., a first receive chain for LTE and a second receive chain for 5G NR). For example, as... Figure 5 As shown, the cellular communication circuit 330 may include a modem 510 and a modem 520. The modem 510 may be configured for communication according to a first RAT, such as LTE or LTE-A, and the modem 520 may be configured for communication according to a second RAT, such as 5G NR.

[0067] As shown, modem 510 may include one or more processors 512 and memory 516 communicating with processors 512. Modem 510 may communicate with radio frequency (RF) front end 530. RF front end 530 may include circuitry for transmitting and receiving radio signals. For example, RF front end 530 may include receiver circuitry (RX) 532 and transmitter circuitry (TX) 534. In some embodiments, receiver circuitry 532 may communicate with downlink (DL) front end 550, which may include circuitry for receiving radio signals via antenna 335a.

[0068] Similarly, modem 520 may include one or more processors 522 and memory 526 communicating with processor 522. Modem 520 may communicate with RF front end 540. RF front end 540 may include circuitry for transmitting and receiving radio signals. For example, RF front end 540 may include receiving circuitry 542 and transmitting circuitry 544. In some embodiments, receiving circuitry 542 may communicate with DL front end 560, which may include circuitry for receiving radio signals via antenna 335b.

[0069] In some implementations, switch 570 may couple transmitting circuitry 534 to uplink (UL) front-end 572. Additionally, switch 570 may couple transmitting circuitry 544 to UL front-end 572. UL front-end 572 may include circuitry for transmitting radio signals via antenna 336. Therefore, when cellular communication circuitry 330 receives an instruction to transmit according to a first RAT (e.g., supported by modem 510), switch 570 may be switched to a first state allowing modem 510 to transmit signals according to the first RAT (e.g., via a transmission chain including transmitting circuitry 534 and UL front-end 572). Similarly, when cellular communication circuitry 330 receives an instruction to transmit according to a second RAT (e.g., supported by modem 520), switch 570 may be switched to a second state allowing modem 520 to transmit signals according to the second RAT (e.g., via a transmission chain including transmitting circuitry 544 and UL front-end 572).

[0070] As described herein, modem 510 may include hardware and software components for implementing the features described above or for UL data for time-division multiplexing NSA NR operation, as well as various other techniques described herein. Processor 512 may be configured to implement some or all of the features described herein, for example, by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium). Alternatively (or otherwise), processor 512 may be configured as a programmable hardware element such as an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array) or as an ASIC (Application-Specific Integrated Circuit). Alternatively (or otherwise), processor 512 may be configured to implement some or all of the features described herein in conjunction with one or more of other components 530, 532, 534, 550, 570, 572, 335, and 336.

[0071] Furthermore, as described herein, processor 512 may include one or more processing elements. Therefore, processor 512 may include one or more integrated circuits (ICs) configured to perform the functions of processor 512. Additionally, each integrated circuit may include circuitry (e.g., a first circuit, a second circuit, etc.) configured to perform the functions of processor 512.

[0072] As described herein, modem 520 may include hardware and software components for implementing the aforementioned features of UL data for time-division multiplexing NSA NR operation, as well as various other techniques described herein. For example, processor 522 may be configured to implement some or all of the features described herein by executing program instructions stored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium). Alternatively (or in addition), processor 522 may be configured as a programmable hardware element such as a FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array) or as an ASIC (Application-Specific Integrated Circuit). Alternatively (or in addition), processor 522 may be configured to implement some or all of the features described herein by combining one or more of other components 540, 542, 544, 550, 570, 572, 335, and 336.

[0073] Furthermore, as described herein, processor 522 may include one or more processing elements. Therefore, processor 522 may include one or more integrated circuits (ICs) configured to perform the functions of processor 522. Additionally, each integrated circuit may include circuitry (e.g., a first circuit, a second circuit, etc.) configured to perform the functions of processor 522.

[0074] Figure 6 The diagram illustrates a BWP handover according to some implementations, where the measurement gap may not be configured fast enough for the UE (such as...) to switch from an active BWP to a BWP1 containing a PRS and a BWP2 not containing a PRS. Figure 1 The UE 106 is unable to receive PRS for location measurements. Serving gNBs (such as...) Figure 1 The serving base station (102A) can switch the active BWP. The serving base station can use PHY indication, such as using DCI, to send a BWP handover signal to the UE. However, BWP handover activity may occur much faster than the UE can request the serving gNB to configure a measurement gap using RRC. As shown, during the first time period 601, the active BWP is BWP1, and BWP1 contains the frequency domain resource element (RE) or resource block of the target PRS. This situation can be referred to as an active BWP containing the target PRS. The UE does not need a measurement gap to perform positioning measurements. However, if the serving gNB changes the UE's active BWP to BWP2 during the second time period 603, BWP2 no longer contains the target PRS for positioning measurements. The UE may need to request a measurement gap. Using RRC signaling, the UE may not be able to request the serving gNB to configure a measurement gap quickly enough, which may result in positioning measurement failure. The following discloses a method for the UE and the serving gNB to coordinate the activation and deactivation of measurement gaps so that the UE can perform positioning measurements using the target PRS during BWP handover when the target PRS may be contained within or outside the active BWP.

[0075] Figure 7 Methods for a UE to request measurement gaps to cover PRS measurements regardless of whether the active BWP contains a PRS, according to some embodiments of this disclosure, are illustrated. The UE may provide PRS time / frequency information, such as the frequency domain RE or resource block of the target PRS, to the serving gNB. In one embodiment, the PRS time / frequency information may be derived from auxiliary data received by the UE from a positioning server.

[0076] The serving gNB can configure measurement gaps regardless of the target UE's active BWP state. For example, the serving gNB can even configure measurement gaps during the first time period 601 when BWP1 contains the target PRS. The UE can perform positioning measurements during all measurement gap times, even if the target PRS is within its active BWP, such as BWP1 during the first time period 601, and data reception or transmission is not allowed during those positioning measurement times. As shown in the figure, the target PRS is covered by the configured measurement gaps, regardless of the active BWP.

[0077] Figure 8 This disclosure illustrates methods for a UE to perform positioning measurements using dedicated measurement gaps according to some embodiments, and for the UE to skip positioning measurements when scheduled data conflicts with a dedicated measurement gap. In one embodiment, mobility measurements may be prioritized if a dedicated measurement gap conflicts with a legacy measurement gap used for mobility measurements, unless mobility and positioning measurements can be performed in parallel based on UE capabilities. In one embodiment, a dedicated measurement gap conflicts with a legacy measurement gap used for measurements when the time-domain and frequency-domain resource elements (REs) or resource blocks of the target PRS conflict with those used for mobility measurements.

[0078] In one implementation, dedicated measurement gaps for positioning measurements can be marked to distinguish them from other conventional measurement gaps for mobility measurements. For example, during measurement gap configuration, a purpose indication can be associated with positioning measurements, mobility measurements, etc. By default, the UE can perform positioning measurements within these dedicated positioning measurement gaps. In one implementation, if the serving gNB schedules data or a sounding reference signal (SRS) within one of these dedicated positioning measurement gaps, the UE can automatically mute the dedicated positioning measurement gap that conflicts with the scheduled data / SRS. Therefore, the UE can prioritize data / SRS over positioning measurements within these dedicated positioning measurement gaps that conflict with the scheduled data / SRS. Scheduling commands from the serving gNB can be sent to the UE before the start of a dedicated measurement gap containing the PRS timing, and the UE can skip positioning measurements in the corresponding dedicated measurement gap for the scheduled date or SRS.

[0079] exist Figure 8In this context, the UE can request a dedicated measurement gap for positioning measurements, and the serving gNB can configure the dedicated measurement gap on the UE with the purpose indicated as "for positioning measurements". The UE can perform positioning measurements within the duration of the dedicated measurement gap, which includes the PRS timing, or within timing 801. The dedicated measurement gap can repeat periodically. If the UE receives a data or SRS scheduling command before the start of the dedicated measurement gap duration 805 (e.g., at timing 803), the UE can skip positioning measurements during that dedicated measurement gap duration 805 and can prioritize the scheduled data / SRS during that dedicated measurement gap duration 805. If the serving gNB sends a data / SRS scheduling command during the dedicated measurement gap duration, such as after the start of the dedicated measurement gap duration, or when the UE does not have sufficient time to prioritize the scheduled data / SRS over positioning measurements, the UE can continue positioning measurements during the dedicated measurement gap duration.

[0080] Figure 9 The present disclosure illustrates a method for a UE to perform positioning measurements using a dedicated measurement gap according to some embodiments of the present disclosure, and for the UE to skip positioning measurements when a conventional measurement gap for mobility measurements conflicts with a dedicated measurement gap. For example, if a dedicated measurement gap for positioning measurements conflicts with a conventional measurement gap for mobility measurements, and if mobility measurements and positioning measurements cannot be performed in parallel based on UE capabilities, the UE may prioritize mobility measurements over positioning measurements.

[0081] exist Figure 9 In this context, the UE can request a dedicated measurement gap for positioning measurements, and the serving gNB can configure the dedicated measurement gap, such as... Figure 8 As shown. The UE can perform positioning measurements within a dedicated measurement gap duration 901. The dedicated measurement gap can be repeated periodically. If a dedicated measurement gap 903 for positioning measurements conflicts with a conventional measurement gap 905 for mobility measurements, the UE can skip the positioning measurement during the dedicated measurement gap duration 903. And if the UE cannot perform mobility and positioning measurements in parallel, the UE can perform mobility measurements during the conflicting conventional measurement gap 905. The conventional measurement gap can be repeated periodically. In one embodiment, the periodicity of the conventional measurement gap can be a multiple of the periodicity of the dedicated measurement gap. Figure 9 This illustrates a second conflict between the dedicated measurement gap 903 and the conventional measurement gap 905, with mobility measurement once again taking precedence over positioning measurement. Figure 9It is also shown that if the UE receives a scheduling command for data or SRS before the start of a dedicated measurement gap duration 909 (such as at time 907), the UE can skip positioning measurements during that dedicated measurement gap duration 909 and can prioritize scheduled data / SRS during that dedicated measurement gap duration 909. In one embodiment, if scheduled data / SRS conflicts with both dedicated and conventional measurement gaps, the UE can prioritize data / SRS over mobility measurements.

[0082] In one implementation, based on the current state of the active BWP and the target PRS, the UE can request activation or deactivation of a measurement gap from the serving gNB for positioning measurements. The UE can request a measurement gap for positioning measurements, where the status of the measurement gap is indicated as "activated" or "deactivated". In one implementation, the UE can request activation or deactivation of the measurement gap using PHY signaling or MAC CE signaling. For example, if the active BWP does not contain the target PRS, the UE can request activation of the measurement gap. The UE can use the measurement gap to measure the target PRS. If the serving gNB switches the active BWP and the new active BWP contains the target PRS, the UE can request deactivation of the measurement gap. Measurement gaps configured for the UE can be muted, and the UE can measure the target PRS without using the measurement gap.

[0083] Figure 10 This illustration shows a method by which a UE requests measurement gaps from a serving base station for positioning measurements, according to some embodiments of this disclosure, and how the UE activates and deactivates measurement gaps when the serving base station changes the active BWP. At time 1001, the UE may request measurement gaps for positioning measurements and may indicate that the state of the measurement gap is activated, for example, because the UE's active BWP does not contain a target PRS. At time 1003, the serving gNB may configure the corresponding measurement gaps to the UE, and it is expected that the UE will use the measurement gaps to perform positioning measurements. The serving gNB may not schedule any data during the duration 1005 of these measurement gaps.

[0084] At time 1007, if the serving gNB changes the UE's active BWP and the new active BWP includes the target PRS, the UE can deactivate the measurement gap at time 1009, and the subsequent measurement gap 1011 will be muted so that the UE can receive the target PRS for positioning measurements until the UE reactivates the measurement gap. At time 1013, if the serving gNB changes the UE's active BWP and the new active BYP no longer includes the target PRS, the UE can activate the measurement gap at time 1015, and the subsequent measurement gap will again be available for the UE to receive the target PRS for positioning measurements until the UE deactivates the measurement gap.

[0085] In one implementation, the UE may provide PRS information to the serving gNB for the serving gNB to activate or deactivate the UE's measurement gap. In one implementation, the PRS information may include PRS time / frequency information to the serving gNB, such as the frequency domain RE or resource block of the target PRS. In one implementation, the PRS time / frequency information may be derived from auxiliary data received by the UE from the positioning server. The serving gNB may activate or deactivate the UE's measurement gap. In one implementation, the serving gNB may indicate the measurement gap status to the UE using the RRC configuration of the measurement gap mode network. In one implementation, the serving gNB may indicate the activation or deactivation of the measurement gap to the UE using PHY signaling or MAC CE signaling.

[0086] After configuring the measurement gap on the UE, the serving gNB can decide whether to activate or deactivate the measurement gap based on the state of the active BWP. If the active BWP does not contain the target PRS, the serving gNB can activate the measurement gap. The UE can use the measurement gap to receive the target PRS. If the serving gNB switches to activate a BWP and the new active BWP contains the target PRS, the serving gNB can deactivate the measurement gap. The measurement gap configured for the UE can be muted, and the UE can receive the target PRS without a measurement gap.

[0087] In one implementation, the serving gNB can activate or deactivate the measurement gap using one of the following signaling methods:

[0088] Option 1:

[0089]

[0090] Option 2:

[0091] Option 3:

[0092]

[0093] Option 4:

[0094]

[0095]

[0096] Figure 11This document illustrates a method, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure, for a UE to provide PRS information to a serving base station (gNB) when the serving base station changes the active BWP, so that the serving base station can activate and deactivate measurement gaps. At time 1101, the UE may provide PRS information to the serving gNB for positioning measurements. At time 1103, based on the current BWP and PRS information, the serving gNB may configure the corresponding measurement gap for the UE and may also indicate whether the measurement gap is activated or deactivated. At time 1105, if the serving gNB changes the UE's active BWP, and the new active BWP contains the target PRS, the serving gNB may deactivate the measurement gap at time 1107, and subsequent measurement gaps 1109 will be muted until the serving gNB reactivates the measurement gap. At time 1111, if the serving gNB changes the UE's active BWP, and the new active BWP again does not contain the target PRS, the serving gNB may activate the measurement gap at time 1113, and subsequent measurement gaps 1115 will be available to the UE again until the serving gNB deactivates the measurement gap.

[0097] In one implementation, the UE may provide PRS information to the serving gNB via RRC. The serving gNB may exchange internal information between the PHY / MAC and RRC to determine whether the target UE's current active BWP can contain a PRS for its positioning measurements. The serving gNB may perform an initial measurement gap configuration to use the target PRS for positioning measurements, regardless of whether the active BWP contains the target PRS. After the initial configuration, the serving gNB may check whether the active BWP contains the target PRS to determine whether it expects the UE to use the measurement gap for positioning measurements. For example, if the active BWP contains the target PRS, the serving gNB may not expect the UE to use the measurement gap for positioning measurements. If the active BWP does not contain the target PRS, the serving gNB may expect the UE to use the measurement gap to receive the target PRS.

[0098] The UE can independently assess whether the BWP contains the target PRS to determine whether to use the measurement gap for positioning measurements. For example, if the active BWP contains the target PRS, the UE may not use the measurement gap for positioning measurements. If the active BWP does not contain the target PRS, the UE can use the measurement gap to receive the target PRS.

[0099] Figure 12 This is a flowchart illustrating an example of a method 1200 for a UE to perform positioning measurements using a dedicated measurement gap according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. Method 1200 may be executed by processing logic that may include software, hardware, or a combination thereof. For example, method 1200 may be executed by a processor 302 or cellular communication circuitry 330 of UE 106, such as in combination with… Figure 1 , Figure 2 , Figure 3 and Figure 5 As described.

[0100] At operation 1201, the UE receives configuration information from the serving base station (such as the serving gNB) to configure measurement gaps dedicated to positioning measurements. Dedicated positioning measurements can be tagged to distinguish them from other conventional measurement gaps used for mobility measurements. Dedicated positioning measurement gaps can be repeated periodically.

[0101] At operation 1203, the UE determines whether the scheduled receive window or the scheduled transmit window conflicts with a dedicated measurement gap within a dedicated measurement gap. The scheduled receive window can be a conventional measurement gap used for mobility measurements. The scheduled transmit window can be data scheduled by the serving base station or a transmission of SRS.

[0102] At operation 1205, if there is a conflict between the scheduled receive window or the scheduled transmit window and a dedicated measurement gap, the UE skips the positioning measurement during one of the dedicated measurement gaps. If a conflict exists, the scheduled receive or scheduled transmit takes precedence over the positioning measurement during the dedicated measurement gap.

[0103] At operation 1207, if there is no conflict between the scheduled receive window and the scheduled transmit window and the dedicated measurement gap, the UE receives the target PRS during one of the dedicated measurement gaps to perform positioning measurements.

[0104] Figure 13 This is a flowchart illustrating an example of a method 1300 in which a UE provides PRS information to a serving base station according to some embodiments of the present disclosure, and the UE is configured and activated by the serving base station to perform positioning measurements using a measurement gap. Method 1300 may be executed by processing logic that may include software, hardware, or a combination thereof. For example, method 1300 may be executed by a processor 302 or cellular communication circuitry 330 of UE 106, such as in combination with… Figure 1 , Figure 2 , Figure 3 and Figure 5 As described.

[0105] At operation 1301, the UE transmits information about the target PRS to the serving base station (such as the serving gNB). In one implementation, the information about the target PRS may include PRS time / frequency information, such as the frequency domain RE or resource block of the target PRS.

[0106] At operation 1303, the UE receives configuration information from the serving base station to configure the measurement gap for positioning measurements. The serving base station may not schedule any data during the measurement gap.

[0107] At operation 1305, the UE receives an activation signal from the serving base station for measuring the gap. The UE may receive the activation signal when the serving base station determines, based on the PRS information received from the UE, that the active BWP does not contain the target PRS. In one implementation, the UE may receive a deactivation signal for measuring the gap when the serving base station determines that the active BWP contains the target PRS.

[0108] At operation 1307, in response to receiving an activation signal, the UE receives the target PRS to perform positioning measurements during the measurement interval.

[0109] Figure 14 This is a flowchart illustrating an example of a method 1400 in which a UE configures a measurement gap by a serving base station and activates the measurement gap to perform a positioning measurement according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. Method 1400 may be executed by processing logic that may include software, hardware, or a combination thereof. For example, method 1400 may be executed by a processor 302 or cellular communication circuitry 330 of UE 106, such as in combination with… Figure 1 , Figure 2 , Figure 3 and Figure 5 As described.

[0110] At operation 1401, the UE transmits a request for a measurement gap to the serving base station (such as the serving gNB).

[0111] At operation 1403, the UE receives configuration information from the serving base station to configure the measurement gap for positioning measurements. The serving base station may not schedule any data during the measurement gap.

[0112] At operation 1405, the UE transmits an activation signal for measuring the gap to the serving base station. The UE may transmit the activation signal when the active BWP does not contain the target PRS. In one implementation, when the active BWP contains the target PRS, the UE may transmit a deactivation signal for measuring the gap to the base station. Then, when the positioning measurement is deactivated, the UE can use the measurement gap for positioning measurement to mute.

[0113] At operation 1407, after the UE transmits an activation signal for the measurement gap, the UE receives the target PRS during the measurement gap to perform positioning measurements.

[0114] Implementations of the methods and apparatus described herein for supporting devices with reduced capabilities in wireless networks can be implemented, for example, in a data processing system via a network computer, network server, tablet computer, smartphone, laptop computer, desktop computer, other consumer electronic device, or other data processing system. Specifically, the operations are digital signal processing operations performed by a processor that executes instructions stored in one or more memories. The processor can read stored instructions from the memory and execute the instructions to perform the operations. These memories represent examples of machine-readable, non-transitory storage media that can store or contain computer program instructions that, when executed, cause the data processing system to perform one or more methods described herein. The processor can be a processor in a local device such as a smartphone, a processor in a remote server, or a distributed processing system of multiple processors in a local device and a remote server, wherein their respective memories contain portions of the instructions required to perform the operations.

[0115] While certain exemplary examples are described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, it should be understood that these examples are merely illustrative and not limiting to the invention in a broader sense, and the invention is not limited to the specific constructions and arrangements shown and described, as various other modifications can be made by those skilled in the art. Therefore, the description should be regarded as exemplary and not limiting.

[0116] As is widely recognized, the use of personally identifiable information should comply with privacy policies and practices that are generally accepted to meet or exceed industry or governmental requirements for protecting user privacy. Specifically, personally identifiable information data should be managed and processed to minimize the risk of unintentional or unauthorized access or use, and the nature of authorized use should be clearly explained to users.

Claims

1. A method for performing positioning measurements by a wireless device, the method comprising: The wireless device transmits a request for multiple measurement gaps for the positioning measurement to the serving base station of the wireless communication network; The wireless device receives configuration information from the serving base station, the configuration information being used to configure the plurality of measurement gaps for the positioning measurement; When it is determined that the frequency layer used for communication between the wireless device and the serving base station does not contain frequency resources for positioning reference signals, the wireless device transmits an activation signal for the plurality of measurement gaps to the serving base station. as well as The wireless device receives a positioning reference signal from a neighboring base station operating on a frequency layer different from that of the serving base station to perform the positioning measurement during the plurality of measurement intervals.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: The wireless device transmits a deactivation signal for the plurality of measurement gaps to the serving base station; To silence the multiple measuring gaps; as well as The positioning reference signal is received by the wireless device to perform the positioning measurement without using the plurality of measurement gaps.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein transmitting the deactivation signal from the wireless device to the serving base station comprises: The frequency layer used for communication between the wireless device and the serving base station is determined to include frequency resources for the positioning reference signal.

4. A wireless device, comprising: At least one antenna; At least one radio component, wherein the at least one radio component is configured to communicate with a serving base station of a wireless communication network using the at least one antenna; as well as At least one processor, coupled to the at least one radio component, wherein the at least one processor is configured to perform operations including: The service base station is transmitted with a request for multiple measurement gaps for positioning measurements; Receive configuration information from the serving base station, the configuration information being used to configure the plurality of measurement gaps for positioning measurements; When it is determined that the frequency layer used for communication between the wireless device and the serving base station does not contain frequency resources for the positioning reference signal, an activation signal for the plurality of measurement gaps is transmitted to the serving base station; and Positioning reference signals are received from adjacent base stations operating on a frequency layer different from that of the serving base station to perform the positioning measurements during the plurality of measurement intervals.

5. The wireless device of claim 4, wherein the at least one processor is configured to further perform operations including: Transmit deactivation signals for the plurality of measurement gaps to the serving base station; To silence the plurality of measuring gaps; and The positioning reference signal is received to perform the positioning measurement without using the plurality of measurement gaps.

6. The wireless device of claim 5, wherein the operation of transmitting the deactivation signal to the serving base station includes determining that the frequency layer for communication between the wireless device and the serving base station contains frequency resources for the positioning reference signal.

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