Transmission reception point (TRP) association for positioning measurements performed on physical downlink channels

By receiving and processing the physical downlink channel in the user equipment (UE) and performing positioning measurements and TRP identifier mapping, the accuracy and efficiency issues of positioning measurements in 5G wireless communication systems are solved, achieving higher positioning accuracy and data transmission efficiency.

CN115552995BActive Publication Date: 2026-04-21QUALCOMM INC
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Patent Information

Authority / Receiving Office
CN · China
Patent Type
Patents(China)
Current Assignee / Owner
QUALCOMM INC
Filing Date
2021-05-13
Publication Date
2026-04-21

AI Technical Summary

Technical Problem

Existing wireless communication systems under the 5G standard struggle to effectively utilize physical downlink channels for positioning measurements, resulting in insufficient positioning accuracy and efficiency.

Method used

By receiving and processing the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) and Shared Channel (PDSCH) through the User Equipment (UE), and performing location measurements and timestamp reporting, and combining the mapping of Quasi-Coexistence (QCL) sources and TRP identifiers, accurate association of multiple Transmitter Receiver Points (TRPs) can be achieved.

Benefits of technology

It improves the positioning accuracy and efficiency of wireless communication systems, supports higher data transmission speeds and better coverage, and meets the requirements of 5G standards for massive connectivity and low latency.

✦ Generated by Eureka AI based on patent content.

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Abstract

Techniques for wireless communications are disclosed. In an aspect, a user equipment (UE) receives one or more physical downlink control channels (PDCCHs), one or more physical downlink shared channels (PDSCHs), or both, from at least a first transmission reception point (TRP), a second TRP, or both, performs one or more positioning measurements of the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both, and reports the one or more positioning measurements, a timestamp associated with the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both, or the one or more positioning measurements, and one or more properties of a quasi co-location (QCL) source associated with the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both, to a network node.
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Description

[0001] Cross-references to related applications

[0002] This patent application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63 / 026,262, filed May 18, 2020, entitled “TRANSMISSION-RECEPTION POINT (TRP) ASSOCIATION FOR POSITIONING MEASUREMENTS PERFORMED ON PHYSICAL DOWNLINK CHANNELS,” and U.S. Non-Provisional Application No. 17 / 318,882, filed May 12, 2021, entitled “TRANSMISSION-RECEPTION POINT (TRP) ASSOCIATION FOR POSITIONING MEASUREMENTS PERFORMED ON PHYSICAL DOWNLINK CHANNELS,” both of which have been assigned to the assignee of this application and are hereby expressly incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

[0003] Public background

[0004] open field

[0005] The various aspects of this disclosure generally relate to wireless communications.

[0006] Related technical descriptions

[0007] Wireless communication systems have undergone several generations of development, including first-generation analog radiotelephone service (1G), second-generation (2G) digital radiotelephone service (including transitional 2.5G and 2.75G networks), third-generation (3G) high-speed data radio service with Internet capabilities, and fourth-generation (4G) service (e.g., Long Term Evolution (LTE) or WiMax). Currently, many different types of wireless communication systems are in use, including cellular and Personal Communication Services (PCS) systems. Known examples of cellular systems include cellular analog Advanced Mobile Phone Systems (AMPS), and digital cellular systems based on Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), etc.

[0008] The fifth-generation (5G) wireless standard (known as New Radio (NR)) demands higher data transmission speeds, a greater number of connections, better coverage, and other improvements. According to the Next Generation Mobile Networks Alliance (NGC), the 5G standard is designed to provide tens of megabits per second (Mbps) of data rate to each of tens of thousands of users, and 1 gigabits per second (Gbps) to dozens of employees on an office floor. It should support hundreds of thousands of simultaneous connections to support large-scale sensor deployments. Therefore, 5G mobile communication should have significantly improved spectral efficiency compared to the current 4G standard. Furthermore, signaling efficiency should be improved and latency significantly reduced compared to the current standard.

[0009] Overview

[0010] The following is a simplified overview relating to one or more aspects disclosed herein. Therefore, this overview should not be considered an exhaustive overview relating to all aspects of the conception, nor should it be considered to identify key or decisive elements relating to all aspects of the conception or to depict the scope associated with any particular aspect. Accordingly, the sole purpose of the following overview is to present, in a simplified form, certain concepts relating to one or more aspects of the mechanism disclosed herein before the detailed description given below.

[0011] In one aspect, a wireless communication method performed by a user equipment (UE) includes receiving one or more physical downlink control channels (PDCCHs), one or more physical downlink shared channels (PDSCHs), or both, from at least a first transmit receiving point (TRP), a second TRP, or both; performing one or more location measurements on the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both; and reporting to a network node the one or more location measurements, a timestamp associated with the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both, or the one or more location measurements, and one or more attributes of a quasi-coexistence (QCL) source associated with the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both.

[0012] In one aspect, a wireless communication method performed by a user equipment (UE) includes receiving one or more physical downlink control channels (PDCCHs), one or more physical downlink shared channels (PDSCHs), or both from at least a first transmit receiving point (TRP), a second TRP, or both; performing one or more location measurements on the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both; receiving a quasi-coexistence (QCL) source associated with the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both, one or more attributes of the QCL source, or both, and a mapping between these and TRP identifiers of at least the first TRP and the second TRP; and reporting the one or more location measurements and the TRP identifier of the TRP that transmits the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both in the first TRP and the second TRP based on the mapping to a location server.

[0013] In one aspect, a wireless communication method performed by a network node includes receiving from a user equipment (UE) one or more location measurements of one or more physical downlink control channels (PDCCHs), one or more physical downlink shared channels (PDSCHs), or both, received at the UE from at least a first transmit receiving point (TRP), a second TRP, or both; a timestamp associated with the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both, or the one or more location measurements; and one or more attributes of a quasi-coexistence (QCL) source associated with the PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both; and determining a TRP identifier for the TRP in the first TRP and the second TRP that transmits the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both, based on at least the timestamps and one or more attributes of the QCL source.

[0014] In one aspect, a user equipment (UE) includes: a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: receive one or more physical downlink control channels (PDCCHs), one or more physical downlink shared channels (PDSCHs), or both, from at least a first transmit receiving point (TRP), a second TRP, or both via the at least one transceiver; perform one or more location measurements on the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both; and report to a network node the one or more location measurements, a timestamp associated with the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both, or the one or more location measurements, and one or more attributes of a quasi-coexistence (QCL) source associated with the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both.

[0015] In one aspect, a user equipment (UE) includes: a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: receive, via the at least one transceiver, one or more physical downlink control channels (PDCCHs), one or more physical downlink shared channels (PDSCHs), or both from at least a first transmit receiving point (TRP), a second TRP, or both; perform one or more location measurements on the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both; receive, via the at least one transceiver, a quasi-coexistence (QCL) source associated with the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both, one or more attributes of the QCL source, or both, and a mapping between these and TRP identifiers of at least a first TRP and a second TRP; and report the one or more location measurements and the TRP identifier of the TRP that transmits the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both in the first TRP and the second TRP based on the mapping to a location server.

[0016] In one aspect, a network node includes: a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: receive, via the at least one transceiver, from a user equipment (UE) one or more location measurements of one or more physical downlink control channels (PDCCHs), one or more physical downlink shared channels (PDSCHs), or both received at the UE from at least a first transmit receiving point (TRP), a second TRP, or both; a timestamp associated with the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both, or the one or more location measurements; and one or more attributes of a quasi-coexistence (QCL) source associated with the PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both; and determine, based on at least the timestamps and one or more attributes of the QCL source, a TRP identifier for the TRP in the first TRP and the second TRP that transmits the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both.

[0017] In one aspect, a user equipment (UE) includes means for receiving one or more physical downlink control channels (PDCCHs), one or more physical downlink shared channels (PDSCHs), or both from at least a first transmit receiving point (TRP), a second TRP, or both; means for performing one or more location measurements on the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both; and means for reporting to a network node the one or more location measurements, a timestamp associated with the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both, or the one or more location measurements, and one or more attributes of a quasi-coexistence (QCL) source associated with the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both.

[0018] In one aspect, a user equipment (UE) includes means for receiving one or more physical downlink control channels (PDCCHs), one or more physical downlink shared channels (PDSCHs), or both from at least a first transmit receiving point (TRP), a second TRP, or both; means for performing one or more location measurements on the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both; means for receiving a quasi-coexistence (QCL) source associated with the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both, one or more attributes of the QCL source, or both, and a mapping between these and TRP identifiers of at least the first TRP and the second TRP; and means for reporting the one or more location measurements and the TRP identifier of the TRP that transmits the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both in the first TRP and the second TRP based on the mapping to a location server.

[0019] In one aspect, a network node includes means for receiving from a user equipment (UE) one or more location measurements of one or more physical downlink control channels (PDCCHs), one or more physical downlink shared channels (PDSCHs), or both, received at the UE from at least a first transmit receive point (TRP), a second TRP, or both; a timestamp associated with the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both, or the one or more location measurements; and one or more attributes of a quasi-coexistence (QCL) source associated with the PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both; and means for determining a TRP identifier for the TRP that transmits the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both, in the first TRP and the second TRP based on at least the timestamp and one or more attributes of the QCL source.

[0020] In one aspect, a non-transient computer-readable storage medium stores computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a user equipment (UE), cause the UE to: receive one or more physical downlink control channels (PDCCHs), one or more physical downlink shared channels (PDSCHs), or both from at least a first transmit receiving point (TRP), a second TRP, or both; perform one or more location measurements on the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both; and report to a network node the one or more location measurements, a timestamp associated with the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both, or the one or more location measurements, and one or more attributes of a quasi-coexistence (QCL) source associated with the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both.

[0021] In one aspect, a non-transient computer-readable storage medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a user equipment (UE), cause the UE to: receive one or more physical downlink control channels (PDCCHs), one or more physical downlink shared channels (PDSCHs), or both from at least a first transmit receiving point (TRP), a second TRP, or both; perform one or more location measurements on the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both; receive a quasi-coexistence (QCL) source associated with the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both, one or more attributes of the QCL source, or a mapping between the two and a TRP identifier of at least a first TRP and a second TRP; and report the one or more location measurements and the TRP identifier of the TRP that transmits the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both in the first TRP and the second TRP based on the mapping to a location server.

[0022] In one aspect, a non-transient computer-readable storage medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a network node, cause the network node to: receive from a user equipment (UE) one or more location measurements of one or more physical downlink control channels (PDCCHs), one or more physical downlink shared channels (PDSCHs), or both, received at the UE from at least a first transmit receive point (TRP), a second TRP, or both; a timestamp associated with the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both, or the one or more location measurements; and one or more attributes of a quasi-coexistence (QCL) source associated with the PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both; and determine, based on at least the timestamps and one or more attributes of the QCL source, a TRP identifier for the TRP in the first TRP and the second TRP that transmitted the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both.

[0023] Other objectives and advantages associated with the aspects disclosed herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art based on the accompanying drawings and detailed description. Brief description of the attached diagram

[0025] The accompanying drawings are provided to help describe various aspects of this disclosure, and the drawings are provided for illustrative purposes only and not for limiting the aspects.

[0026] Figure 1 Example wireless communication systems based on various aspects of this disclosure are explained.

[0027] Figure 2A and 2B Example wireless network architectures based on various aspects of this disclosure are explained.

[0028] Figure 3A , 3B 3C is a simplified block diagram of several sample aspects of components that can be adopted in user equipment (UE), base stations, and network entities and configured to support communications as taught herein.

[0029] Figure 4A and 4B The user plane and control plane protocol stacks according to this disclosure are explained.

[0030] Figures 5A to 5D This is a diagram illustrating example frame structures and channels within these frame structures according to various aspects of this disclosure.

[0031] Figure 6A The present disclosure describes various aspects of a multi-transmitter-receiver point (TRP) architecture based on a single downlink control information (DCI) and a multi-TRP architecture based on multiple DCIs.

[0032] Figure 6B This disclosure explains a portion of the protocol stack in a multi-TRP scenario from the UE's perspective, based on various aspects of this disclosure.

[0033] Figure 7 This is a diagram illustrating an example cluster of control resource sets (CORESET) based on the parameter "CORESETPoolIndex (CORESET pool index)" according to various aspects of this disclosure.

[0034] Figure 8 and 9 The various Media Access Control Element (MAC-CE) for use in conjunction with various aspects of this disclosure are explained.

[0035] Figure 10 This is a diagram illustrating how multiple Transport Configuration Indicator (TCI) status identifiers according to various aspects of this disclosure can be mapped to a single TRP.

[0036] Figure 11 The various Synchronization Signal Block (SSB) Information Elements (IEs) that can be used to determine the Physical Cell Identifier (PCI) are explained.

[0037] Figures 12 to 14 Example wireless communication methods based on various aspects of this disclosure are explained.

[0038] Detailed description

[0039] Various aspects of this disclosure are provided below in the description and accompanying drawings of various examples provided for illustrative purposes. Alternative aspects may be designed without departing from the scope of this disclosure. Furthermore, elements well-known in this disclosure will not be described in detail or will be omitted so as not to obscure the relevant details of this disclosure.

[0040] The terms “exemplary” and / or “example” are used herein to mean “serving as an example, instance, or illustration.” Any aspect described herein as “exemplary” and / or “example” is not necessarily to be construed as superior to or better than the others. Similarly, the term “aspects of this disclosure” does not require that all aspects of this disclosure include the features, advantages, or modes of operation discussed.

[0041] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the information and signals described below can be represented using any of a variety of different techniques and arts. For example, the data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referred to throughout the following description may be represented by voltage, current, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or magnetic particles, optical fields or optical particles, or any combination thereof, depending in part on the specific application, in part on the desired design, in part on the corresponding technology, etc.

[0042] Furthermore, many aspects are described in the form of sequences of actions performed by elements of, for example, computing devices. It will be appreciated that the various actions described herein can be performed by special-purpose circuitry (e.g., application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs)), by program instructions being executed by one or more processors, or by a combination of both. Additionally, the sequences of actions described herein can be considered to be fully embodied in any form of non-transient computer-readable storage medium storing a corresponding set of computer instructions that, upon execution, will cause an associated processor of the device to perform the functions described herein. Thus, various aspects of this disclosure can be embodied in several different forms, all of which are contemplated to fall within the scope of the claimed subject matter. Furthermore, for each aspect described herein, a corresponding form of any such aspect may be described herein as, for example, "logic configured to perform the described actions."

[0043] As used herein, the terms “User Equipment” (UE) and “Base Station” are not intended to be specific to or otherwise limited to any particular Radio Access Technology (RAT) unless otherwise stated. Generally, a UE can be any wireless communication device used by a user to communicate over a wireless communication network (e.g., mobile phone, router, tablet computer, laptop computer, consumer asset positioning device, wearable device (e.g., smartwatch, glasses, augmented reality (AR) / virtual reality (VR) headset, etc.), vehicle (e.g., car, motorcycle, bicycle, etc.), Internet of Things (IoT) device, etc.). A UE can be mobile or can (e.g., at certain times) be stationary and can communicate with a Radio Access Network (RAN). As used herein, the term “UE” can be interchangeably referred to as “Access Terminal” or “AT”, “Client Equipment”, “Wireless Equipment”, “Subscriber Equipment”, “Subscriber Terminal”, “Subscriber Station”, “User Terminal” or “UT”, “Mobile Equipment”, “Mobile Terminal”, “Mobile Station”, or variations thereof. Generally, a UE can communicate with the core network via the RAN, and through the core network, the UE can connect to external networks (such as the Internet) and other UEs. Of course, other mechanisms for connecting to the core network and / or the Internet are also possible for the UE, such as through a wired access network, a wireless local area network (WLAN) (e.g., based on the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standard), and so on.

[0044] A base station may operate according to one of several RATs to communicate with a UE, depending on the network in which it is deployed, and may be alternatively referred to as an Access Point (AP), Network Node, B-Node, Evolved B-Node (eNB), Next Generation eNB (ng-eNB), New Radio (NR) B-Node (also referred to as gNB or gNodeB), etc. A base station may primarily be used to support radio access by the UE, including supporting data, voice, and / or signaling connections with the supported UE. In some systems, the base station may provide purely edge node signaling functions, while in others, it may provide additional control and / or network management functions. The communication link through which the UE can signal to the base station is called an uplink (UL) channel (e.g., reverse traffic channel, reverse control channel, access channel, etc.). The communication link through which the base station can signal to the UE is called a downlink (DL) or forward link channel (e.g., paging channel, control channel, broadcast channel, forward traffic channel, etc.). As used herein, the term traffic channel (TCH) may refer to an uplink / reverse traffic channel or a downlink / forward traffic channel.

[0045] The term "base station" can refer to a single physical transmit / receive point (TRP) or multiple physical TRPs that may or may not be located in the same place. For example, when the term "base station" refers to a single physical TRP, the physical TRP may be a base station antenna corresponding to a cell (or several cell sectors) of the base station. When the term "base station" refers to multiple physical TRPs located in the same place, the physical TRP may be an antenna array of the base station (e.g., in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system or in the case of beamforming at the base station). When the term "base station" refers to multiple physical TRPs not located in the same place, the physical TRP may be a distributed antenna system (DAS) (a network of spatially separated antennas connected to a common source via a transmission medium) or a remote radio headend (RRH) (a remote base station connected to a serving base station). Alternatively, physical TRPs not located in the same place may be the serving base station from which the UE receives measurement reports and neighboring base stations from which the UE is measuring its reference radio frequency (RF) signal. Since a TRP is the point from which a base station transmits and receives wireless signals, as used herein, references to transmissions from or receptions at a base station should be understood as references to the specific TRP of that base station.

[0046] In some implementations that support UE positioning, the base station may not support the UE's radio access (e.g., it may not support data, voice, and / or signaling connections regarding the UE), but may instead transmit reference signals to the UE for measurement, and / or receive and measure signals transmitted by the UE. Such a base station may be referred to as a positioning tower (e.g., in the case of transmitting signals to the UE) and / or as a location measurement unit (e.g., in the case of receiving and measuring signals from the UE).

[0047] An “RF signal” refers to an electromagnetic wave of a given frequency that transmits information across the space between a transmitter and a receiver. As used herein, a transmitter may transmit a single “RF signal” or multiple “RF signals” to a receiver. However, due to the propagation characteristics of individual RF signals through a multipath channel, a receiver may receive multiple “RF signals” corresponding to each transmitted RF signal. The same RF signal transmitted on different paths between the transmitter and receiver can be referred to as a “multipath” RF signal. As used herein, an RF signal may also be referred to as a “wireless signal” or simply a “signal,” where the context clearly indicates that the term “signal” refers to a wireless signal or an RF signal.

[0048] Figure 1 An example wireless communication system 100 according to various aspects of this disclosure is described. The wireless communication system 100 (which may also be referred to as a wireless wide area network (WWAN)) may include various base stations 102 (labeled "BS") and various UEs 104. Base station 102 may include macrocell base stations (high-power cellular base stations) and / or small cell base stations (low-power cellular base stations). In one aspect, the macrocell base station may include an eNB and / or an ng-eNB (where the wireless communication system 100 corresponds to an LTE network), or a gNB (where the wireless communication system 100 corresponds to an NR network), or a combination of both, and the small cell base station may include femtocells, picocells, microcells, etc.

[0049] Each base station 102 can collectively form a RAN and interface with the core network 170 (e.g., an evolved packet core (EPC) or a 5G core (5GC)) via a backhaul link 122, and access one or more location servers 172 (e.g., location management function (LMF) or secure user plane positioning (SUPL) location platform (SLP)) via the core network 170. The location server 172 can be part of the core network 170 or located outside the core network 170. Among other functions, the base station 102 can also perform functions related to one or more of the following: transmitting user data, radio channel cryptography and decoding, integrity protection, header compression, mobility control functions (such as handover, dual connectivity), inter-cell interference coordination, connection establishment and release, load balancing, distribution of non-access stratum (NAS) messages, NAS node selection, synchronization, RAN sharing, multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS), subscriber and equipment tracking, RAN information management (RIM), paging, location, and delivery of alarm messages. Base stations 102 can communicate with each other directly or indirectly (e.g., via EPC / 5GC) through backhaul link 134 (which can be wired or wireless).

[0050] Base station 102 can wirelessly communicate with UE 104. Each base station 102 can provide communication coverage for its respective geographical coverage area 110. In one aspect, one or more cells can be supported by base station 102 in each geographical coverage area 110. A “cell” is a logical communication entity used to communicate with a base station (e.g., on a frequency resource, it is referred to as a carrier frequency, component carrier, carrier, frequency band, etc.) and can be associated with identifiers (e.g., Physical Cell Identifier (PCI), Enhanced Cell Identifier (ECI), Virtual Cell Identifier (VCI), Cell Global Identifier (CGI), etc.) to distinguish cells operating via the same or different carrier frequencies. In some cases, different cells can be configured according to different protocol types that can provide access to different types of UEs (e.g., Machine Type Communication (MTC), Narrowband IoT (NB-IoT), Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB), or others). Since cells are supported by specific base stations, the term “cell” can refer to either or both of the logical communication entity and the base station supporting that logical communication entity, depending on the context. Additionally, since the TRP is typically the physical transmission point of a cell, the terms "cell" and "TRP" are used interchangeably. In some cases, the term "cell" can also refer to the geographical coverage area (e.g., sector) of a base station, in the sense that the carrier frequency can be detected and used for communication within a portion of a geographical coverage area 110.

[0051] While the geographic coverage areas 110 of adjacent macrocell base stations 102 may partially overlap (e.g., in handover areas), some geographic coverage areas 110 may substantially overlap with larger geographic coverage areas 110. For example, a small cell base station 102' ("SC" labeled "small cell") may have geographic coverage areas 110' that substantially overlap with the geographic coverage areas 110 of one or more macrocell base stations 102. A network that includes both small cell and macrocell base stations may be referred to as a heterogeneous network. A heterogeneous network may also include home eNBs (HeNBs) that provide service to a restricted group known as a Closed Subscriber Group (CSG).

[0052] The communication link 120 between base station 102 and UE 104 may include uplink (also known as reverse link) transmission from UE 104 to base station 102 and / or downlink (DL) (also known as forward link) transmission from base station 102 to UE 104. The communication link 120 may use MIMO antenna technologies, including spatial multiplexing, beamforming, and / or transmit diversity. The communication link 120 may use one or more carrier frequencies. Carrier allocation may be asymmetric with respect to the downlink and uplink (e.g., more or fewer carriers may be allocated to the downlink compared to the uplink).

[0053] The wireless communication system 100 may further include a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point (AP) 150 communicating with a WLAN station (STA) 152 via a communication link 154 in unlicensed spectrum (e.g., 5 GHz). When communicating in unlicensed spectrum, the WLAN STA 152 and / or WLAN AP 150 may perform a clear channel assessment (CCA) or a listen-before-speak procedure to determine whether the channel is available before communication.

[0054] Small cell base station 102' can operate in licensed and / or unlicensed spectrum. When operating in unlicensed spectrum, small cell base station 102' can employ LTE or NR technology and use the same 5 GHz unlicensed spectrum as used by WLAN AP150. Small cell base station 102' employing LTE / 5G in unlicensed spectrum can enhance access network coverage and / or increase access network capacity. NR in unlicensed spectrum may be referred to as NR-U. LTE in unlicensed spectrum may be referred to as LTE-U, Licensed Assisted Access (LAA), or MulteFire.

[0055] The wireless communication system 100 may further include a millimeter-wave (mmW) base station 180, which can operate in mmW and / or near-mmW frequencies to communicate with the UE 182. Extremely high frequency (EHF) is a portion of the electromagnetic spectrum that contains radio frequency (RF). EHF has a range of 30 GHz to 300 GHz and wavelengths between 1 mm and 10 mm. Radio waves in this band are referred to as millimeter waves. Near-mmW extends down to a 3 GHz frequency with a 100 mm wavelength. Ultra-high frequency (SHF) bands extend between 3 GHz and 30 GHz, and are also referred to as centimeter waves. Communication using mmW / near-mmW RF bands has high path loss and relatively short range. The mmW base station 180 and the UE 182 can utilize beamforming (transmit and / or receive) on the mmW communication link 184 to compensate for the extremely high path loss and short range. Furthermore, it will be appreciated that in alternative configurations, one or more base stations 102 may also use mmW or near-mmW and beamforming for transmission. Accordingly, it will be understood that the foregoing explanations are merely illustrative and should not be construed as limiting the aspects disclosed herein.

[0056] Transmit beamforming is a technique for focusing RF signals in a specific direction. Conventionally, when a network node (e.g., a base station) broadcasts an RF signal, it broadcasts the signal in all directions (omnidirectionally). Using transmit beamforming, the network node determines where a given target device (e.g., a UE) is located (relative to the transmitting network node) and projects a stronger downlink RF signal in that specific direction, thus providing the receiving device with a faster (in terms of data rate) and stronger RF signal. To change the directivity of the RF signal during transmission, the network node can control the phase and relative amplitude of the RF signal at each of one or more transmitters broadcasting the RF signal. For example, the network node can use an antenna array (referred to as a "phased array" or "antenna array") that generates a beam of RF waves, which can be "guided" to different directions without actually moving the antennas. Specifically, RF currents from the transmitters are fed to the individual antennas with the correct phase relationship so that radio waves from the separate antennas add together in the desired direction to increase radiation, while simultaneously canceling each other out in the undesired direction to suppress radiation.

[0057] Transmit beams can be quasi-co-located, meaning they appear to the receiver (e.g., the UE) to have the same parameters regardless of whether the transmit antennas of the network node are physically co-located. In NR, there are four types of quasi-co-location (QCL) relationships. Specifically, a given type of QCL relationship means that certain parameters of the second reference RF signal on the second beam can be derived from information about the source reference RF signal on the source beam. Therefore, if the source reference RF signal is QCL type A, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, and delay spread of the second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL type B, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift and Doppler spread of the second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL type C, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift and average delay of the second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is of type QCL D, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the spatial reception parameters of the second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel.

[0058] In receive beamforming, a receiver uses a receive beam to amplify an RF signal detected on a given channel. For example, a receiver may increase the gain setting of an antenna array and / or adjust the phase setting of the antenna array in a specific direction to amplify the RF signal received from that direction (e.g., increase its gain level). Thus, when a receiver is referred to as beamforming in a certain direction, it means that the beam gain in that direction is higher than the beam gain in other directions, or that the beam gain in that direction is the highest compared to the beam gain of all other receive beams available to the receiver in that direction. This results in a stronger received signal strength (e.g., Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP), Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ), Signal-to-Interference-plus-Noise Ratio (SINR), etc.) of the RF signal received from that direction.

[0059] The transmit and receive beams can be spatially correlated. Spatial correlation means that the parameters of the second beam (e.g., the transmit or receive beam) used for the second reference signal can be derived from information about the first beam (e.g., the receive or transmit beam) of the first reference signal. For example, a UE can use a specific receive beam to receive a reference downlink reference signal (e.g., a synchronization signal block (SSB)) from a base station. The UE can then form a transmit beam based on the parameters of the receive beam to transmit an uplink reference signal (e.g., a probe reference signal (SRS)) to that base station.

[0060] Note that, depending on the entity forming the "downlink" beam, the beam can be either a transmit beam or a receive beam. For example, if a base station is forming a downlink beam to transmit a reference signal to a UE, then the downlink beam is a transmit beam. However, if a UE is forming a downlink beam, then the downlink beam is a receive beam for receiving downlink reference signals. Similarly, depending on the entity forming the "uplink" beam, the beam can be either a transmit beam or a receive beam. For example, if a base station is forming an uplink beam, then the uplink beam is an uplink receive beam, while if a UE is forming an uplink beam, then the uplink beam is an uplink transmit beam.

[0061] In 5G, the spectrum in which wireless nodes (e.g., base stations 102 / 180, UEs 104 / 182) operate is divided into several frequency ranges: FR1 (from 450 to 6000 MHz), FR2 (from 24250 to 52600 MHz), FR3 (above 52600 MHz), and FR4 (between FR1 and FR2). The mmW band generally includes the FR2, FR3, and FR4 frequency ranges. Thus, the terms "mmW" and "FR2" or "FR3" or "FR4" are generally used interchangeably.

[0062] In multi-carrier systems (such as 5G), one of the carrier frequencies is referred to as the "primary carrier," "anchor carrier," "primary serving cell," or "PCell," and the remaining carrier frequencies are referred to as "secondary carriers," "secondary serving cells," or "SCell." In carrier aggregation, the anchor carrier is the carrier operating on the primary frequency (e.g., FR1) utilized by UE 104 / 182 and on the cell in which UE 104 / 182 performs an initial radio resource control (RRC) connection establishment procedure or initiates an RRC connection re-establishment procedure. The primary carrier carries all shared control channels as well as control channels that vary from UE to UE, and can be a carrier on a licensed frequency (however, this is not always the case). The secondary carrier is a carrier operating on a second frequency (e.g., FR2), which can be configured once an RRC connection is established between UE 104 and the anchor carrier, and can be used to provide additional radio resources. In some cases, the secondary carrier can be a carrier on an unlicensed frequency. Secondary carriers may contain only the necessary signaling information and signals. For example, signaling information and signals that vary from UE to UE may not be present in the secondary carrier, since both the primary uplink and downlink carriers are typically UE-specific. This means that different UEs 104 / 182 within a cell can have different downlink primary carriers. The same applies to the uplink primary carrier. The network can change the primary carrier of any UE 104 / 182 at any time. For example, this is done to balance the load on different carriers. Since a “serving cell” (whether PCell or SCell) corresponds to the carrier frequency / component carrier that a base station is using for communication, the terms “cell,” “serving cell,” “component carrier,” “carrier frequency,” etc., can be used interchangeably.

[0063] For example, still refer to Figure 1 One of the frequencies utilized by the macrocell base station 102 can be an anchor carrier (or "PCell"), and other frequencies utilized by the macrocell base station 102 and / or mmW base station 180 can be secondary carriers ("SCell"). Simultaneous transmission and / or reception on multiple carriers allows the UE 104 / 182 to significantly increase its data transmission and / or reception rates. For example, two 20MHz aggregated carriers in a multi-carrier system would theoretically result in twice the data rate (i.e., 40MHz) compared to the data rate obtained from a single 20MHz carrier.

[0064] The wireless communication system 100 may further include a UE 164, which can communicate with a macrocell base station 102 on a communication link 120 and / or with an mmW base station 180 on an mmW communication link 184. For example, the macrocell base station 102 may support PCells and one or more SCells for the UE 164, and the mmW base station 180 may support one or more SCells for the UE 164.

[0065] exist Figure 1 In the examples, any of the UEs being explained (for simplicity) Figure 1 A single UE 104 (shown as a single UE) may receive signal 124 from one or more Earth-orbiting spacecraft (SV) 112 (e.g., satellites). In one aspect, SV 112 may be part of a satellite positioning system that allows UE 104 to use as an independent source of location information. Satellite positioning systems typically include transmitter systems (e.g., SV 112) positioned such that a receiver (e.g., UE 104) can determine its location on or above the Earth based at least in part on positioning signals (e.g., signal 124) received from these transmitters. Such transmitters typically transmit signals marked with a set number of repeating pseudo-random noise (PN) codes. While transmitters are typically located in SV 112, they may sometimes be located at ground-based control stations, base stations 102, and / or other UEs 104. UE 104 may include one or more dedicated receivers specifically designed to receive signal 124 from SV 112 to derive geographic location information.

[0066] In satellite positioning systems, the use of signal 124 can be amplified through various satellite-based augmentation systems (SBAS), which may be associated with or otherwise enabled to work with one or more global and / or regional navigation satellite systems. For example, SBAS may include augmentation systems that provide integrity information, differential correction, etc., such as, for example, Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS), European Geostationary Navigation Coverage Service (EGNOS), Multifunctional Satellite Augmentation System (MSAS), GPS-assisted Geographic Augmentation Navigation or GPS and Geographic Augmentation Navigation System (GAGAN), etc. Therefore, as used herein, a satellite positioning system may include any combination of one or more global and / or regional navigation satellites associated with such one or more satellite positioning systems.

[0067] On one hand, SV 112 may additionally or alternatively be part of one or more non-terrestrial networks (NTNs). In the NTN, SV 112 is connected to an earth station (also referred to as a ground station, NTN gateway, or gateway), which in turn is connected to elements in the 5G network, such as the modified base station 102 (without a ground antenna) or network nodes in the 5GC. This element will then provide access to other elements in the 5G network and ultimately to entities outside the 5G network, such as internet web servers and other user equipment. In this way, UE 104 can receive communication signals (e.g., signal 124) from SV 112 as a replacement or supplement to receiving communication signals from ground base station 102.

[0068] The wireless communication system 100 may further include one or more UEs (such as UE 190) that are indirectly connected to one or more communication networks via one or more device-to-device (D2D) peer-to-peer (P2P) links (referred to as "side links"). Figure 1 In the example, UE 190 has a D2D P2P link 192 with a UE 104 connected to a base station 102 (e.g., UE 190 can indirectly obtain cellular connectivity from this link), and a D2D P2P link 194 with a WLAN STA 152 connected to a WLAN AP 150 (UE 190 can indirectly obtain WLAN-based Internet connectivity from this link). In one example, D2D P2P links 192 and 194 can use any known D2D RAT (such as LTE Direct (LTE-D), WiFi Direct (WiFi-D)). (etc.) to support.

[0069] Figure 2AExample wireless network architecture 200 is explained. For example, 5GC 210 (also known as Next Generation Core (NGC)) can be functionally considered as control plane (C-plane) functions 214 (e.g., UE registration, authentication, network access, gateway selection, etc.) and user plane (U-plane) functions 212 (e.g., UE gateway functions, access to data networks, IP routing, etc.), which operate collaboratively to form the core network. User plane interface (NG-U) 213 and control plane interface (NG-C) 215 connect gNB 222 to 5GC 210, specifically to user plane function 212 and control plane function 214, respectively. In an additional configuration, ng-eNB 224 can also connect to 5GC 210 via NG-C 215 to control plane function 214 and NG-U 213 to user plane function 212. Furthermore, ng-eNB 224 can communicate directly with gNB 222 via backhaul connection 223. In some configurations, the next-generation RAN (NG-RAN) 220 may have one or more gNBs 222, while other configurations include one or more ng-eNBs 224 and one or more gNBs 222. The gNB 222 or ng-eNB 224 (or both) may communicate with one or more UEs 204 (e.g., any UE described herein).

[0070] Another optional aspect may include location server 230, which can communicate with 5GC 210 to provide location assistance to UE 204. Location server 230 may be implemented as multiple separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules extending across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternatively, each may correspond to a single server. Location server 230 may be configured to support one or more location services for UE 204, which UE 204 can connect to via the core network, 5GC 210, and / or via the Internet (not explained). Furthermore, location server 230 may be integrated into a component of the core network, or alternatively, it may be external to the core network (e.g., a third-party server, such as an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) server or a business server).

[0071] Figure 2B Another example wireless network architecture, 250.5GC 260, was explained (which can correspond to...). Figure 2AThe 5GC 210 in the document can be functionally viewed as a control plane function (provided by the Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) 264) and a user plane function (provided by the User Plane Function (UPF) 262), which operate collaboratively to form the core network (i.e., 5GC 260). The functions of AMF 264 include registration management, connection management, reachability management, mobility management, lawful interception, session management (SM) message transmission between one or more UEs 204 (e.g., any UE described herein) and session management function (SMF) 266, transparent proxy service for routing SM messages, access authentication and access authorization, short message service (SMS) message transmission between UE 204 and short message service function (SMSF) (not shown), and security anchor functionality (SEAF). AMF 264 also interacts with the authentication server function (AUSF) (not shown) and UE 204, and receives an intermediate key established as a result of the UE 204 authentication process. In cases where authentication is based on the UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) Subscriber Identity Module (USIM), the AMF 264 retrieves security material from the AMF. The AMF 264 also includes Security Context Management (SCM). The SCM receives a key from the SEAF, which it uses to derive a key that varies depending on the access network. The AMF 264's functionality also includes: location service management for regulatory services, location service message transmission between the UE 204 and the Location Management Function (LMF) 270 (which acts as a location server 230), location service message transmission between the NG-RAN 220 and the LMF 270, EPS bearer identifier allocation for interoperability with the Evolved Packet System (EPS), and UE 204 mobility event notification. Additionally, the AMF 264 supports functionality for non-3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) access networks.

[0072] The functions of UPF 262 include: acting as an anchor point for intra / inter-RAT mobility (where applicable), acting as an external Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session point interconnecting to a data network (not shown), providing packet routing and forwarding, packet inspection, user plane policy rule enforcement (e.g., strobing, redirection, traffic steering), lawful interception (user plane collection), traffic usage reporting, quality of service (QoS) handling for the user plane (e.g., uplink / downlink rate enforcement, reflective QoS marking in the downlink), uplink traffic verification (Service Data Flow (SDF) to QoS flow mapping), transport-level packet marking in the uplink and downlink, downlink packet buffering and downlink data notification triggering, and sending and forwarding one or more "end markers" to the source RAN node. UPF 262 may also support the transmission of location service messages between UE 204 and a location server (such as SLP 272) on the user plane.

[0073] The functions of SMF 266 include session management, UE Internet Protocol (IP) address allocation and management, selection and control of user plane functions, traffic bootstrapping configuration at UPF 262 for routing traffic to the correct destination, partial control of policy enforcement and QoS, and downlink data notification. The interface used by SMF 266 to communicate with AMF 264 is called the N11 interface.

[0074] Another optional aspect may include an LMF 270, which can communicate with the 5GC 260 to provide location assistance to the UE 204. The LMF 270 can be implemented as multiple separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules extending across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternatively, each may correspond to a single server. The LMF 270 can be configured to support one or more location services for the UE 204, which can connect to the LMF 270 via the core network, the 5GC 260, and / or via the Internet (not explained). SLP 272 supports similar functionality to LMF 270, but while LMF 270 can communicate with AMF 264, NG-RAN 220, and UE 204 on the control plane (e.g., using interfaces and protocols designed to convey signaling messages but not voice or data), SLP 272 can communicate with UE 204 and external clients on the user plane (e.g., using protocols designed to carry voice and / or data, such as Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and / or IP). Figure 2B (Not shown in the image) Communication.

[0075] User plane interface 263 and control plane interface 265 connect 5GC 260 (and in particular UPF 262 and AMF 264, respectively) to one or more gNB 222 and / or ng-eNB 224 in NG-RAN 220. The interface between gNB 222 and / or ng-eNB 224 and AMF 264 is referred to as the "N2" interface, while the interface between gNB 222 and / or ng-eNB 224 and UPF 262 is referred to as the "N3" interface. The gNB 222 and / or ng-eNB 224 of NG-RAN 220 can communicate directly with each other via backhaul connection 223, which is referred to as the "Xn-C" interface. One or more of gNB 222 and / or ng-eNB 224 can communicate with one or more UEs 204 on a radio interface, which is referred to as the "Uu" interface.

[0076] The functionality of gNB 222 is divided between gNB Central Unit (gNB-CU) 226 and one or more gNB Distributed Units (gNB-DU) 228. The interface 232 between gNB-CU 226 and one or more gNB-DU 228 is referred to as the "F1" interface. gNB-CU 226 is a logical node that includes base station functions such as transmitting user data, mobility control, radio access network sharing, positioning, and session management, in addition to those functions specifically allocated to gNB-DU 228. More specifically, gNB-CU 226 manages the radio resource control (RRC), serving data adaptation protocol (SDAP), and packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) protocols of gNB 222. gNB-DU 228 is a logical node that manages the radio link control (RLC), media access control (MAC), and physical (PHY) layers of gNB 222. Its operation is controlled by gNB-CU 226. One gNB-DU 228 can support one or more cells, while a cell is supported by only one gNB-DU 228. Therefore, UE 204 communicates with gNB-CU 226 via RRC, SDAP, and PDCP layers, and with gNB-DU 228 via RLC, MAC, and PHY layers.

[0077] Figure 3A , 3B The explanation of 3C includes UE 302 (which may correspond to any UE described herein), base station 304 (which may correspond to any base station described herein), and network entity 306 (which may correspond to or embody any network function described herein, including location server 230 and LMF 270, or alternatively may be independent of UE 302). Figure 2A and 2B Several example components (represented by corresponding boxes) in the NG-RAN 220 and / or 5GC 210 / 260 infrastructure (such as private networks) depicted herein support file transfer operations as taught herein. It will be appreciated that these components can be implemented in different types of devices (e.g., in ASICs, in System-on-Chip (SoCs), etc.) in different implementations. The illustrated components can also be incorporated into other devices in a communication system. For example, other devices in the system may include components similar to those described to provide similar functionality. Furthermore, a given device may include one or more of these components. For example, a device may include multiple transceiver components that enable the device to operate on multiple carriers and / or communicate via different technologies.

[0078] UE 302 and base station 304 each include one or more wireless wide area network (WWAN) transceivers 310 and 350, respectively, to provide means (e.g., means for transmitting, means for receiving, means for measuring, means for tuning, means for suppressing transmission, etc.) for communicating via one or more wireless communication networks (not shown) (such as NR networks, LTE networks, GSM networks, etc.). WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 may each be connected to one or more antennas 316 and 356 for communicating with other network nodes (such as other UEs, access points, base stations (e.g., eNB, gNB)) over a wireless communication medium of interest (e.g., a time / frequency resource set in a specific spectrum) via at least one designated RAT (e.g., NR, LTE, GSM, etc.). WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 can be configured, according to a specified RAT, in various ways to transmit and encode signals 318 and 358 (e.g., messages, indications, information, etc.), and conversely, to receive and decode signals 318 and 358 (e.g., messages, indications, information, pilots, etc.). Specifically, WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 each include one or more transmitters 314 and 354 for transmitting and encoding signals 318 and 358, respectively, and each includes one or more receivers 312 and 352 for receiving and decoding signals 318 and 358, respectively.

[0079] In at least some cases, UE 302 and base station 304 each further include one or more short-range radio transceivers 320 and 360, respectively. The short-range radio transceivers 320 and 360 can be connected to one or more antennas 326 and 366, respectively, and provide access via at least one designated RAT (e.g., WiFi, LTE-D, etc.). A means for communicating with other network nodes (such as other UEs, access points, base stations, etc.) over a wireless communication medium of interest (e.g., means for transmitting, means for receiving, means for measuring, means for tuning, means for suppressing transmission, etc.) such as PC5, Dedicated Short Range Communication (DSRC), Wireless Access in Vehicle Environments (WAVE), Near Field Communication (NFC), etc.). Short-range transceivers 320 and 360 can be configured, according to a specified RAT, in various ways to transmit and encode signals 328 and 368 (e.g., messages, indications, information, etc.), and conversely, to receive and decode signals 328 and 368 (e.g., messages, indications, information, pilots, etc.). Specifically, short-range transceivers 320 and 360 each include one or more transmitters 324 and 364 for transmitting and encoding signals 328 and 368, respectively, and one or more receivers 322 and 362 for receiving and decoding signals 328 and 368, respectively. As specific examples, the short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 can be WiFi transceivers, transceiver and / or Transceivers, NFC transceivers, or vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and / or vehicle-to-everything (V2X) transceivers.

[0080] In at least some cases, UE 302 and base station 304 also include satellite signal receivers 330 and 370. Satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 may be connected to one or more antennas 336 and 376, respectively, and may be provided with means for receiving and / or measuring satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378, respectively. When satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 are satellite positioning system receivers, satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378 may be Global Positioning System (GPS) signals, Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS) signals, Galileo signals, BeiDou signals, Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (NAVIC), Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS), etc. When satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 are non-terrestrial network (NTN) receivers, satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378 may be communication signals originating from a 5G network (e.g., carrying control and / or user data). Satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 may include any suitable hardware and / or software for receiving and processing satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378, respectively. Satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 may request information and operations from other systems as appropriate, and in at least some cases perform calculations to determine the respective locations of UE 302 and base station 304 using measurements obtained by any suitable satellite positioning system algorithm.

[0081] Base station 304 and network entity 306 each include one or more network transceivers 380 and 390, respectively, to provide means (e.g., means for transmitting, means for receiving, etc.) for communicating with other network entities (e.g., other base stations 304, other network entities 306). For example, base station 304 may use one or more network transceivers 380 to communicate with other base stations 304 or network entities 306 on one or more wired or wireless backhaul links. As another example, network entity 306 may use one or more network transceivers 390 to communicate with one or more base stations 304 on one or more wired or wireless backhaul links, or to communicate with other network entities 306 on one or more wired or wireless core network interfaces.

[0082] Transceivers can be configured to communicate over wired or wireless links. A transceiver (whether wired or wireless) includes a transmitter circuitry (e.g., transmitters 314, 324, 354, 364) and a receiver circuitry (e.g., receivers 312, 322, 352, 362). In some implementations, the transceiver may be an integrated device (e.g., implementing the transmitter and receiver circuitry in a single device), in some implementations it may include separate transmitter and receiver circuitry, or in other implementations it may be implemented in a different manner. The transmitter and receiver circuitry of a wired transceiver (e.g., in some implementations, network transceivers 380 and 390) may be coupled to one or more wired network interface ports. Wireless transmitter circuitry (e.g., transmitters 314, 324, 354, 364) may include or be coupled to multiple antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such as antenna arrays, which permit the corresponding device (e.g., UE 302, base station 304) to perform transmit beamforming as described herein. Similarly, wireless receiver circuitry (e.g., receivers 312, 322, 352, 362) may include or be coupled to multiple antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such as antenna arrays, which permit the corresponding device (e.g., UE 302, base station 304) to perform receive beamforming as described herein. In one aspect, the transmitter and receiver circuitry may share the same multiple antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366) so that the corresponding device can only receive or transmit at a given time, rather than both simultaneously. Wireless transceivers (e.g., WWAN transceivers 310 and 350, short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360) may also include network listening modules (NLMs) for performing various measurements.

[0083] As used herein, various wireless transceivers (e.g., transceivers 310, 320, 350, and 360, and network transceivers 380 and 390 in some implementations) and wired transceivers (e.g., network transceivers 380 and 390 in some implementations) can generally be characterized as "transceiver," "at least one transceiver," or "one or more transceivers." Thus, whether a particular transceiver is a wired or wireless transceiver can be inferred from the type of communication performed. For example, backhaul communication between network devices or servers generally involves signaling via a wired transceiver, while wireless communication between a UE (e.g., UE 302) and a base station (e.g., base station 304) generally involves signaling via a wireless transceiver.

[0084] UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 also include other components that can be used in conjunction with operations as disclosed herein. UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 each include one or more processors 332, 384, and 394 for providing functionality related to, for example, wireless communication, and for providing other processing functionality. In one aspect, processors 332, 384, and 394 may include, for example, one or more general-purpose processors, multi-core processors, central processing units (CPUs), ASICs, digital signal processors (DSPs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), other programmable logic devices or processing circuitry systems, or various combinations thereof.

[0085] UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 include memory circuitry that respectively implements memories 340, 386, and 396 (e.g., each including a memory device) for maintaining information (e.g., information indicating reserved resources, thresholds, parameters, etc.). Memories 340, 386, and 396 thus provide means for storage, means for retrieval, means for maintenance, etc. In some cases, UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 may respectively include positioning components 342, 388, and 398. Positioning components 342, 388, and 398 may be hardware circuitry as part of or coupled to processors 332, 384, and 394, which, when executed, cause UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 to perform the functionality described herein. In other aspects, positioning components 342, 388, and 398 may be external to processors 332, 384, and 394 (e.g., part of a modem processing system, integrated with another processing system, etc.). Alternatively, positioning components 342, 388, and 398 may be memory modules stored in memories 340, 386, and 396, respectively, which, when executed by processors 332, 384, and 394 (or modem processing system, another processing system, etc.), enable UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 to perform the functionality described herein. Figure 3A The possible locations of the positioning component 342 are described. The positioning component 342 may be, for example, part of one or more WWAN transceivers 310, memory 332, one or more processors 384, or any combination thereof, or may be a stand-alone component. Figure 3B The possible locations of the positioning component 388 are described. The positioning component 388 may be, for example, part of one or more WWAN transceivers 350, memory 386, one or more processors 384, or any combination thereof, or may be a self-contained component. Figure 3C The possible locations of the positioning component 398 are described. The positioning component 398 may be, for example, part of one or more network transceivers 390, memory 396, one or more processors 394, or any combination thereof, or may be a self-contained component.

[0086] UE 302 may include one or more sensors 344 coupled to one or more processors 332 to provide means for sensing or detecting motion and / or orientation information independent of motion data derived from signals received by one or more WWAN transceivers 310, one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320, and / or satellite receivers 330. As an example, sensors 344 may include accelerometers (e.g., microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) devices), gyroscopes, geomagnetic sensors (e.g., compasses), altimeters (e.g., barometric altimeters), and / or any other type of motion detection sensor. Furthermore, sensors 344 may include multiple different types of devices and combine their outputs to provide motion information. For example, sensor 344 may use a combination of multi-axis accelerometers and orientation sensors to provide the ability to calculate position in two-dimensional (2D) and / or three-dimensional (3D) coordinate systems.

[0087] Additionally, UE 302 includes a user interface 346, which provides means for providing instructions to the user (e.g., audible and / or visual instructions) and / or for receiving user input (e.g., when the user actuates sensing devices such as keypads, touchscreens, microphones, etc.). Although not shown, base station 304 and network entity 306 may also include user interfaces.

[0088] Referring more specifically to one or more processors 384, in the downlink, IP packets from network entity 306 may be provided to processor 384. One or more processors 384 may implement functionality for the RRC layer, Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer, Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, and Media Access Control (MAC) layer. One or more processors 384 may provide RRC layer functionality associated with system information (e.g., Master Information Block (MIB), System Information Block (SIB)) broadcasting, RRC connection control (e.g., RRC connection paging, RRC connection establishment, RRC connection modification, and RRC connection release), inter-RAT mobility, and measurement configuration for UE measurement reporting; PDCP layer functionality associated with header compression / decompression, security (cryptography, cryptographic decoding, integrity protection, integrity verification), and handover support functions; RLC layer functionality associated with upper-layer PDU delivery, error correction via Automatic Repeat Request (ARQ), concatenation, segmentation and reassembly of RLC Service Data Units (SDUs), resegmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functionality associated with mapping between logical channels and transport channels, scheduling information reporting, error correction, priority handling, and logical channel priority ordering.

[0089] Transmitter 354 and receiver 352 implement Layer 1 (L1) functionality associated with various signal processing functions. Layer-1, including the physical (PHY) layer, may include error detection on the transport channel, forward error correction (FEC) decoding / decoding of the transport channel, interleaving, rate matching, mapping to the physical channel, modulation / demodulation of the physical channel, and MIMO antenna processing. Transmitter 354 processes the mapping to the signal constellation based on various modulation schemes (e.g., binary phase shift keying (BPSK), quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK), M-phase shift keying (M-PSK), M-quadrature amplitude modulation (M-QAM)). The decoded and modulated symbols can then be split into parallel streams. Each stream can then be mapped to an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) subcarrier, multiplexed with a reference signal (e.g., a pilot) in the time and / or frequency domains, and subsequently combined using an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) to produce a physical channel carrying a time-domain OFDM symbol stream. The OFDM symbol stream is spatially precoded to generate multiple spatial streams. Channel estimates from a channel estimator can be used to determine the coding and modulation schemes, as well as for spatial processing. These channel estimates can be derived from reference signals transmitted by UE 302 and / or channel condition feedback. Each spatial stream can then be provided to one or more different antennas 356. Transmitter 354 can use the corresponding spatial stream to modulate an RF carrier for transmission.

[0090] At UE 302, receiver 312 receives signals via its respective antenna(s) 316. Receiver 312 recovers the information modulated onto the RF carrier and provides this information to one or more processors 332. Transmitter 314 and receiver 312 implement Layer 1 functionality associated with various signal processing functions. Receiver 312 can perform spatial processing on this information to recover any spatial stream destined for UE 302. If multiple spatial streams are destined for UE 302, they can be combined by receiver 312 into a single OFDM symbol stream. Receiver 312 then uses a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) to transform the OFDM symbol stream from the time domain to the frequency domain. This frequency domain signal comprises a separate OFDM symbol stream for each subcarrier of the OFDM signal. Symbols on each subcarrier, along with a reference signal, are recovered and demodulated by determining the signal constellation points most likely to be transmitted by base station 304. These soft decisions can be based on a channel estimate calculated by a channel estimator. These soft decisions are then decoded and deinterleaved to recover the original data and control signals transmitted by base station 304 over the physical channel. This data and control signals are then provided to one or more processors 332 that implement Layer 3 (L3) and Layer 2 (L2) functionality.

[0091] In the uplink, one or more processors 332 provide demultiplexing, packet reassembly, cipher decoding, header decompression, and control signal processing between the transport and logical channels to recover IP packets from the core network. One or more processors 332 are also responsible for error detection.

[0092] Similar to the functionality described in conjunction with downlink transmissions performed by base station 304, one or more processors 332 provide RRC layer functionality associated with system information (e.g., MIB, SIB) capture, RRC connectivity, and measurement reporting; PDCP layer functionality associated with header compression / decompression and security (cryptography, cryptographic decoding, integrity protection, integrity verification); RLC layer functionality associated with upper-layer PDU delivery, error correction via ARQ, concatenation, segmentation and reassembly of RLC SDUs, resegmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functionality associated with mapping between logical channels and transport channels, multiplexing MAC SDUs onto transport blocks (TBs), demultiplexing MAC SDUs from TBs, scheduling information reporting, error correction via Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ), priority handling, and logical channel priority ordering.

[0093] The channel estimate derived by the channel estimator from the reference signal or feedback transmitted by the base station 304 can be used by the transmitter 314 to select appropriate coding and modulation schemes, and to facilitate spatial processing. The spatial stream generated by the transmitter 314 can be provided to (a number of) different antennas 316. The transmitter 314 can use the corresponding spatial stream to modulate the RF carrier for transmission.

[0094] Uplink transmissions are handled at base station 304 in a manner similar to that described in conjunction with the receiver function at UE 302. Receiver 352 receives signals via its respective antenna(s) 356. Receiver 352 recovers the information modulated onto the RF carrier and provides that information to one or more processors 384.

[0095] In the uplink, one or more processors 384 provide demultiplexing, packet reassembly, cipher decoding, header decompression, and control signal processing between the transport channel and the logical channel to recover IP packets from UE 302. IP packets from the one or more processors 384 can be provided to the core network. The one or more processors 384 are also responsible for error detection.

[0096] For convenience, UE 302, base station 304 and / or network entity 306 are in Figure 3A , 3BThe components shown in 3C are various and can be configured according to the various examples described herein. However, it will be understood that the components described may have different functionalities in different designs. Specifically, Figures 3A to 3C The various components are optional in the replacement configuration, and various aspects include configurations that can vary due to design choices, cost, equipment usage, or other considerations. For example, in Figure 3A In such cases, a specific implementation of UE 302 may omit (e.g., wearable devices, tablets, PCs, or laptops may have Wi-Fi and / or Bluetooth capabilities but no cellular capabilities), or (e.g., short-range wireless transceivers 320, e.g., cellular only), or (e.g., satellite receiver 330), or (e.g., sensors 344), etc. In another example, in Figure 3B In such cases, a particular implementation of base station 304 may omit WWAN transceiver 350 (e.g., a Wi-Fi "hotspot" access point without cellular capabilities), or short-range wireless transceiver 360 (e.g., cellular only), or satellite receiver 370, etc. For the sake of brevity, explanations of various alternative configurations are not provided herein, but will be readily understood by those skilled in the art.

[0097] Various components of UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 can be communicatively coupled to each other on data buses 334, 382, ​​and 392, respectively. In one aspect, data buses 334, 382, ​​and 392 can form or be part of the communication interfaces of UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306, respectively. For example, when different logical entities are implemented in the same device (e.g., gNB and location server functionality are incorporated into the same base station 304), data buses 334, 382, ​​and 392 can provide communication between them.

[0098] Figure 3A , 3B The various components of 3C can be implemented in various ways. In some implementations, Figure 3A , Figure 3B and Figure 3CThe components can be implemented in one or more circuits, such as, for example, one or more processors and / or one or more ASICs (which may include one or more processors). Here, each circuit may use and / or incorporate at least one memory component for storing information or executable code used by that circuit to provide this functionality. For example, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 310 to 346 may be implemented by the processor and / or memory components of UE 302 (e.g., by executing appropriate code and / or by appropriately configuring the processor components). Similarly, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 350 to 388 may be implemented by the processor and memory components of base station 304 (e.g., by executing appropriate code and / or by appropriately configuring the processor components). Furthermore, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 390 to 398 may be implemented by the processor and / or memory components of network entity 306 (e.g., by executing appropriate code and / or by appropriately configuring the processor components). For simplicity, various operations, actions, and / or functions are described herein as being performed "by the UE," "by the base station," "by the network entity," etc. However, as will be appreciated, such operations, actions, and / or functions may actually be performed by specific components or combinations of components of the UE 302, base station 304, network entity 306, etc., such as processors 332, 384, 394, transceivers 310, 320, 350, and 360, memory components 340, 386, and 396, positioning components 342, 388, and 398, etc.

[0099] In some designs, network entity 306 may be implemented as a core network component. In other designs, network entity 306 may be a network operator or operation different from the cellular network infrastructure (e.g., NG RAN 220 and / or 5GC 210 / 260). For example, network entity 306 may be a component of a private network that may be configured to communicate with UE 302 via base station 304 or independently of base station 304 (e.g., on a non-cellular communication link, such as WiFi).

[0100] Figure 4A The user plane protocol stack according to this disclosure is explained. For example... Figure 4A As explained, UE 404 and base station 402 (which may correspond to any UE and base station described herein, respectively) implement the Serving Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP) layer 410, Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer 415, Radio Link Control (RLC) layer 420, Media Access Control (MAC) layer 425, and Physical (PHY) layer 430 from the highest to the lowest layer. Specific instances of protocol layers are referred to as protocol "entities." Thus, the terms "protocol layer" and "protocol entity" can be used interchangeably.

[0101] As by Figure 4A The double-arrow lines in the diagram illustrate that each layer of the protocol stack implemented by UE 404 communicates with the corresponding layer of base station 402, and vice versa. These two corresponding protocol layers / entities of UE 404 and base station 402 are referred to as "peers," "peer entities," etc. SDAP layer 410, PDCP layer 415, RLC layer 420, and MAC layer 425 are collectively referred to as "Layer 2" or "L2." PHY layer 430 is referred to as "Layer 1" or "L1."

[0102] Figure 4B The control plane protocol stack according to various aspects of this disclosure is explained. In addition to the PDCP layer 415, RLC layer 420, MAC layer 425, and PHY layer 430, UE 404 and base station 402 also implement the Radio Resource Control (RRC) layer 445. Furthermore, UE 404 and AMF 406 implement the Non-Access Stratum (NAS) layer 440.

[0103] RLC layer 420 supports three packet transmission modes: Transparent Mode (TM), Unacknowledged Mode (UM), and Acknowledged Mode (AM). In TM mode, there is no RLC header, segmentation / reassembly, or feedback (i.e., no ACK or NACK). Additionally, buffering exists only at the transmitter. In UM mode, there is an RLC header, buffering at both the transmitter and receiver, and segmentation / reassembly, but no feedback (i.e., data transmission does not require any receive response (e.g., ACK / NACK) from the receiver). In AM mode, there is an RLC header, buffering at both the transmitter and receiver, segmentation / reassembly, and feedback (i.e., data transmission requires a receive response (e.g., ACK / NACK) from the receiver). Each of these modes can be used for both transmitting and receiving data. In TM and UM modes, separate RLC entities are used for transmission and reception, while in AM mode, a single RLC entity performs both. Note that each logical channel uses a specific RLC mode. That is, RLC configuration is per logical channel and does not depend on parameter design or Transmission Time Interval (TTI) duration (i.e., transmission duration on the radio link). Specifically, the Broadcast Control Channel (BCCH), Paging Control Channel (PCCH), and Common Control Channel (CCCH) use only TM mode, the Dedicated Control Channel (DCCH) uses only AM mode, and the Dedicated Traffic Channel (DTCH) uses either UM or AM mode. Whether the DTCH uses UM or AM is determined by the RRC message.

[0104] The main services and functions of RLC layer 420 depend on the transport mode and include: delivery of upper-layer protocol data units (PDUs), sequence numbering independent of the sequence numbering in PDCP layer 415, error correction via Automatic Repeat Request (ARQ), segmentation and resegmentation of service data units (SDUs), RLC SDU discarding, and RLC reconstruction. ARQ functionality provides error correction in AM mode and has the following characteristics: ARQ retransmission of RLC PDUs or RLC PDU segments based on RLC status reports, polling of RLC status reports when needed by the RLC, and triggering of RLC status reports by the RLC receiver after detecting a lost RLC PDU or RLC PDU segment.

[0105] The main services and functions of the user plane PDCP layer 415 include: sequence numbering, header compression and decompression (for robust header compression (ROHC)), delivery of user data, reordering and deduplication detection (where sequential delivery to layers above PDCP layer 415 is required), PDCP PDU routing (in the case of split bearers), PDCP SDU retransmission, cryptography and cryptographic decryption, PDCP SDU discarding, PDCP reconstruction and data recovery for RLC AM, and PDCP PDU duplication. The main services and functions of the control plane PDCP layer 415 include: cryptography, cryptographic decryption, integrity protection, delivery of control plane data, and PDCP PDU duplication.

[0106] SDAP layer 410 is the Access Layer (AS) layer, whose main services and functions include: mapping between Quality of Service (QoS) flows and data radio bearers, and marking QoS flow identifiers in both downlink and uplink packets. A single SDAP protocol entity is configured for each individual PDU session.

[0107] The main services and functions of RRC layer 445 include: broadcasting system information related to AS and NAS; paging initiated by 5GC (e.g., NGC 210 or 260) or RAN (e.g., new RAN 220); establishing, maintaining, and releasing RRC connections between UE and RAN; security functions including key management; establishing, configuring, maintaining, and releasing signaling radio bearers (SRB) and data radio bearers (DRB); mobility functions (including handover, UE cell selection and reselection and control over cell selection and reselection, and context passing during handover); QoS management functions; UE measurement reporting and control over reports; and NAS message passing from UE to NAS / from NAS to UE.

[0108] NAS layer 440 is the highest layer of the control plane at the radio interface between UE 404 and AMF 406. The main functions of the protocols part of NAS layer 440 are: supporting UE 404's mobility and supporting session management procedures to establish and maintain Internet Protocol (IP) connectivity between UE 404 and the Packet Data Network (PDN). NAS layer 440 performs Evolved Packet System (EPS) bearer management, authentication, EPS Connection Management (ECM)-IDLE mobility handling, paging origination in ECM-IDLE, and security control.

[0109] NR supports several cellular network-based positioning technologies, including downlink-based positioning methods, uplink-based positioning methods, and downlink-and-uplink-based positioning methods. Downlink-based positioning methods include: Observed Time Difference of Arrival (OTDOA) in LTE, Downlink Time Difference of Arrival (DL-TDOA) in NR, and Downlink Angle of Departure (DL-AoD) in NR. In an OTDOA or DL-TDOA positioning procedure, the UE measures the difference between the times of arrival (ToA) of reference signals (e.g., positioning reference signals (PRS)) received from paired base stations (referred to as Reference Signal Time Difference (RSTD) or Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA) measurements) and reports these differences to the positioning entity. More specifically, the UE receives identifiers (IDs) of a reference base station (e.g., a serving base station) and multiple non-reference base stations in auxiliary data. The UE then measures the RSTD between the reference base station and each non-reference base station. Based on the known locations of the base stations involved and the RSTD measurements, the positioning entity can estimate the UE's location.

[0110] For DL-AoD positioning, the positioning entity uses beam reports from the UE regarding received signal strength measurements of multiple downlink transmitted beams to determine the angle between the UE and the transmitting base stations(s). The positioning entity can then estimate the UE's location based on the determined angle and the known location of the transmitting base stations.

[0111] Uplink-based positioning methods include uplink time difference of arrival (UL-TDOA) and uplink angle of arrival (UL-AoA). UL-TDOA is similar to DL-TDOA, but it is based on uplink reference signals (e.g., detection reference signals (SRS)) transmitted by the UE. For UL-AoA positioning, one or more base stations measure the received signal strength of one or more uplink reference signals (e.g., SRS) received from the UE on one or more uplink receive beams. The positioning entity uses the signal strength measurement and the angle of the receive beam to determine the angle between the UE and (the) base stations. Based on the determined angle and the known location of the base stations, the positioning entity can then estimate the location of the UE.

[0112] Downlink and uplink-based positioning methods include Enhanced Cellular ID (E-CID) positioning and Multiple Round Trip (RTT) positioning (also known as "Multi-Cell RTT"). In an RTT procedure, the initiator (base station or UE) transmits an RTT measurement signal (e.g., PRS or SRS) to the responder (UE or base station), which then transmits an RTT response signal (e.g., SRS or PRS) back to the initiator. The RTT response signal includes the difference between the ToA of the RTT measurement signal and the transmission time of the RTT response signal (referred to as the receive-transmit (Rx-Tx) time difference). The initiator calculates the difference between the transmission time of the RTT measurement signal and the ToA of the RTT response signal (referred to as the transmit-receive (Tx-Rx) time difference). The propagation time (also known as "time of flight") between the initiator and the responder can be calculated from the Tx-Rx and Rx-Tx time differences. Based on the propagation time and the known speed of light, the distance between the initiator and the responder can be determined. For multi-RTT positioning, the UE executes RTT procedures with multiple base stations so that the UE's location can be determined based on the known locations of each base station (e.g., using multilateral positioning). RTT and multi-RTT methods can be combined with other positioning technologies (such as UL-AoA and DL-AoD) to improve location accuracy.

[0113] The E-CID positioning method is based on Radio Resource Management (RRM) measurements. In E-CID, the UE reports the serving cell ID, timing advance (TA), and the identifiers, estimated timings, and signal strengths of detected neighboring base stations. The UE's location is then estimated based on this information and the known locations of the base stations.

[0114] To assist in the positioning operation, a location server (e.g., location server 230, LMF 270, SLP 272) may provide auxiliary data to the UE. For example, auxiliary data may include: the identifier of the base station (or the cell / TRP of the base station) from which the reference signal is measured, reference signal configuration parameters (e.g., the number of consecutive positioning subframes, the periodicity of the positioning subframes, the silence sequence, the frequency hopping sequence, the reference signal identifier, the reference signal bandwidth, etc.), and / or other parameters applicable to a particular positioning method. Alternatively, auxiliary data may be derived directly from the base station itself (e.g., in periodically broadcast overhead messages, etc.). In some cases, the UE may be able to detect neighboring network nodes without using auxiliary data.

[0115] In the case of OTDOA or DL-TDOA positioning procedures, auxiliary data may further include the expected RSTD value and associated uncertainty, or a search window around the expected RSTD. In some cases, the expected RSTD value may range from + / - 500 microseconds (μs). In some cases, when any resources used for positioning measurements are in FR1, the expected RSTD uncertainty may range from + / - 32 μs. In other cases, when all resources used for positioning measurements are in FR2, the expected RSTD uncertainty may range from + / - 8 μs.

[0116] Location estimation can be referred to by other names, such as location estimation, location, positioning, location locking, locking, etc. Location estimation can be geodetic and include coordinates (e.g., latitude, longitude, and possible elevation), or it can be municipal and include street addresses, postal addresses, or some other verbal description of location. Location estimation can be further defined relative to some other known location or in absolute terms (e.g., using latitude, longitude, and possible elevation). Location estimation can include expected errors or uncertainties (e.g., by including the area or volume that the location is expected to be included with a specified or default confidence level).

[0117] Various frame structures can be used to support downlink and uplink transmissions between network nodes (e.g., base stations and UEs). Figure 5A Figure 500 illustrates an example of a downlink frame structure according to various aspects of this disclosure. Figure 5B Figure 530 illustrates an example of a channel within a downlink frame structure according to various aspects of this disclosure. Figure 5C Figure 550 is an example illustrating an uplink frame structure according to various aspects of this disclosure. Figure 5D Figure 580 illustrates an example of a channel within an uplink frame structure according to various aspects of this disclosure. Other wireless communication technologies may have different frame structures and / or different channels.

[0118] LTE, and in some cases NR, utilizes OFDM on the downlink and single-carrier frequency division multiplexing (SC-FDM) on the uplink. However, unlike LTE, NR also has the option to use OFDM on the uplink. OFDM and SC-FDM divide the system bandwidth into multiple (K) orthogonal subcarriers, which are often referred to as frequency modulation, frequency slots, etc. Each subcarrier can be modulated with data. Generally, modulation symbols are transmitted in the frequency domain for OFDM and in the time domain for SC-FDM. The spacing between adjacent subcarriers can be fixed, and the total number of subcarriers (K) can depend on the system bandwidth. For example, the subcarrier spacing can be 15 kHz, and the minimum resource allocation (resource block) can be 12 subcarriers (or 180 kHz). Therefore, for system bandwidths of 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10, or 20 MHz, the nominal FFT size can be equal to 128, 256, 512, 1024, or 2048, respectively. The system bandwidth can also be divided into subbands. For example, a subband can cover 1.08MHz (i.e., 6 resource blocks), and for system bandwidths of 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10, or 20MHz, there can be 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16 subbands, respectively.

[0119] LTE supports single-parameter design (subcarrier spacing (SCS), symbol length, etc.). In contrast, NR supports multiple parameter designs (μ), for example, subcarrier spacings of 15kHz (μ=0), 30kHz (μ=1), 60kHz (μ=2), 120kHz (μ=3), and 240kHz (μ=4) or larger can be available. Within each subcarrier spacing, there are 14 symbols per time slot. For a 15kHz SCS (μ=0), there is one time slot per subframe, 10 time slots per frame, a time slot duration of 1 millisecond (ms), a symbol duration of 66.7 microseconds (μs), and a maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) of 4K FFT size is 50. For a 30kHz SCS (μ=1), there are two time slots per subframe, 20 time slots per frame, a time slot duration of 0.5ms, a symbol duration of 33.3μs, and a maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) of 4K FFT size of 100. For a 60kHz SCS (μ=2), there are four time slots per subframe, 40 time slots per frame, a time slot duration of 0.25ms, a symbol duration of 16.7μs, and a maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) of 4K FFT size of 200. For a 120kHz SCS (μ=3), there are eight time slots per subframe, 80 time slots per frame, a time slot duration of 0.125ms, a symbol duration of 8.33μs, and a maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) of 4K FFT size of 400. For a 240kHz SCS (μ=4), there are 16 time slots per subframe and 160 time slots per frame. The time slot duration is 0.0625ms, the symbol duration is 4.17μs, and the maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) with a 4K FFT size is 800.

[0120] exist Figures 5A to 5D In the example, a 15kHz parameter design is used. Therefore, in the time domain, a 10ms frame is divided into 10 equal-sized subframes, each 1ms in size, and each subframe includes one time slot. Figures 5A to 5D In the diagram, time is represented horizontally (on the X-axis), where time increases from left to right, while frequency is represented vertically (on the Y-axis), where frequency increases (or decreases) from bottom to top.

[0121] A resource grid can be used to represent time slots, each time slot comprising one or more concurrent resource blocks (RBs) (also known as physical RBs (PRBs)) in the frequency domain. The resource grid is further divided into multiple resource elements (REs). An RE corresponds to one symbol length in the time domain and one subcarrier in the frequency domain. Figures 5A to 5DIn the parameter design, for a normal cyclic prefix, the RB can contain 12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain and 7 consecutive symbols in the time domain, for a total of 84 REs. For an extended cyclic prefix, the RB can contain 12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain and 6 consecutive symbols in the time domain, for a total of 72 REs. The number of bits carried by each RE depends on the modulation scheme.

[0122] Some REs carry downlink reference (pilot) signals (DL-RS). DL-RS may include positioning reference signals (PRS), tracking reference signals (TRS), phase tracking reference signals (PTRS), cell-specific reference signals (CRS), channel state information reference signals (CSI-RS), demodulation reference signals (DMRS), primary synchronization signals (PSS), secondary synchronization signals (SSS), synchronization signal blocks (SSB), etc. Figure 5A Example locations of REs carrying PRS (labeled "R") are explained.

[0123] The set of resource elements (REs) used for PRS transmission is called a "PRS resource". The resource element set can span multiple PRBs in the frequency domain and 'N' (such as one or more) consecutive symbols within a time slot in the time domain. In a given OFDM symbol in the time domain, the PRS resource occupies a consecutive PRB in the frequency domain.

[0124] The transmission of PRS resources within a given PRB has a specific comb tooth size (also known as "comb tooth density"). The comb tooth size 'N' represents the subcarrier spacing (or frequency / frequency modulation spacing) within each symbol of the PRS resource configuration. Specifically, for a comb tooth size 'N', the PRS is transmitted in every Nth subcarrier of a symbol in the PRB. For example, for comb tooth-4, for each symbol of the PRS resource configuration, the RE corresponding to every fourth subcarrier (such as subcarriers 0, 4, 8) is used to transmit the PRS resource. Currently, comb tooth sizes of comb tooth-2, comb tooth-4, comb tooth-6, and comb tooth-12 are supported by DL-PRS. Figure 5A An example PRS resource configuration for Comb-6 (which spans 6 symbols) is explained. That is, the location of the shaded RE (marked as "R") indicates the PRS resource configuration for Comb-6.

[0125] Currently, DL-PRS resources can span 2, 4, 6, or 12 consecutive symbols within a single time slot using a full-frequency-domain interleaving mode. DL-PRS resources can be configured in any downlink or flexible (FL) symbol configured by higher layers within a time slot. For all REs of a given DL-PRS resource, there may be a constant energy per resource element (EPRE). The following are the symbol-by-symbol frequency offsets for comb sizes 2, 4, 6, and 12 on 2, 4, 6, and 12 symbols. 2-bit comb-2: {0,1}; 4-bit comb-2: {0,1,0,1}; 6-bit comb-2: {0,1,0,1,0,1}; 12-bit comb-2: {0,1,0,1,0,1,0,1,0,1,0,1}; 4-bit comb-4: {0,2,1,3}; 12-bit comb-4: {0,2,1,3,0,2,1,3,0,2,1,3}; 6-bit comb-6: {0,3,1,4,2,5}; 12-bit comb-6: {0,3,1,4,2,5,0,3,1,4,2,5}; and 12-bit comb-12: {0,6,3,9,1,7,4,10,2,8,5,11}.

[0126] A “PRS resource set” is a group of PRS resources used for the transmission of PRS signals, where each PRS resource has a PRS resource ID. Furthermore, PRS resources in a PRS resource set are associated with the same TRP. A PRS resource set is identified by a PRS resource set ID and associated with a specific TRP (identified by the TRP ID). Additionally, PRS resources in a PRS resource set share the same periodicity, a common silent mode configuration, and the same repetition factor (such as “PRS-ResourceRepetitionFactor”) across time slots. Periodicity is the time from the first repetition of the first PRS resource in the first PRS instance to the same first repetition of the same first PRS resource in the next PRS instance. The periodicity can have a length chosen from the following: 2^μ*{4,5,8,10,16,20,32,40,64,80,160,320,640,1280,2560,5120,10240} time slots, where μ=0,1,2,3. The repetition factor can have a length chosen from {1,2,4,6,8,16,32} time slots.

[0127] In a PRS resource set, a PRS resource ID is associated with a single beam (or beam ID) transmitted from a single TRP (where a TRP can transmit one or more beams). That is, each PRS resource in a PRS resource set can be transmitted on a different beam, and thus, a "PRS resource" (or simply "resource") can also be referred to as a "beam". Note that this does not imply whether the UE is aware of the TRP and the beam transmitted on it by the PRS.

[0128] A “PRS instance” or “PRS timing” is an instance of a periodically repeating time window (such as a group of one or more consecutive time slots) in which a PRS is expected to be transmitted. A PRS timing may also be referred to as a “PRS positioning timing,” “PRS positioning instance,” “positioning timing,” “positioning instance,” “positioning repetition,” or simply “timing,” “instance,” or “repetition.”

[0129] A “positioning frequency layer” (also simply “frequency layer”) is a collection of one or more PRS resource sets with identical values ​​for certain parameters across one or more TRPs. Specifically, the collection of PRS resource sets has the same subcarrier spacing and cyclic prefix (CP) type (meaning all parameter designs supported by PDSCH are also supported by PRS), the same point A, the same downlink PRS bandwidth, the same starting PRB (and center frequency), and the same comb size. The point A parameter uses the value of the parameter “ARFCN-ValueNR” (where “ARFCN” stands for “Absolute Radio Channel Number”) and is an identifier / code specifying the pair of physical radio channels used for transmission and reception. The downlink PRS bandwidth can have a granularity of 4 PRBs, with a minimum of 24 PRBs and a maximum of 272 PRBs. Currently, up to four frequency layers have been defined, and up to two PRS resource sets can be configured per frequency layer per TRP.

[0130] The concept of a frequency layer is somewhat similar to that of component carriers and bandwidth portions (BWPs), but the difference is that component carriers and BWPs are used by a single base station (or macrocell base station and small cell base station) to transmit data channels, while a frequency layer is used by several (often three or more) base stations to transmit PRS (Positioning Signals). A UE can indicate the number of frequency layers it can support when sending its positioning capabilities to the network (such as during an LTE Positioning Protocol (LPP) session). For example, a UE can indicate whether it can support one or four positioning frequency layers.

[0131] Figure 5BExamples of various channels within the downlink time slot of a radio frame are explained. In NR, the channel bandwidth, or system bandwidth, is divided into multiple BWPs. A BWP is a set of adjacent PRBs selected from a subset of shared RBs designed for a given carrier with given parameters. Generally, a maximum of four BWPs can be specified in both the downlink and uplink. That is, a UE can be configured to have up to four BWPs in the downlink and up to four BWPs in the uplink. Only one BWP (uplink or downlink) can be active at a given time, meaning that the UE can only receive or transmit on one BWP at a time. In the downlink, the bandwidth of each BWP should be equal to or greater than the bandwidth of the SSB, but it may or may not contain an SSB.

[0132] Reference Figure 5B The Primary Synchronization Signal (PSS) is used by the UE to determine subframe / symbol timing and physical layer identity. The Secondary Synchronization Signal (SSS) is used by the UE to determine the physical layer cell identity group number and radio frame timing. Based on the physical layer identity and physical layer cell identity group number, the UE can determine the PCI. Based on the PCI, the UE can determine the location of the aforementioned DL-RS. The Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH) carrying the MIB can be logically grouped with the PSS and SSS to form the SSB (also known as SS / PBCH). The MIB provides the number of RBs in the downlink system bandwidth and the System Frame Number (SFN). The Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) carries user data, broadcast system information (such as System Information Blocks (SIBs)) not transmitted through the PBCH, and paging messages.

[0133] The Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) carries downlink control information (DCI) within one or more Control Channel Elements (CCEs). Each CCE includes one or more RE Group (REG) bundles (which can span multiple symbols in the time domain). Each REG bundle includes one or more REGs, and each REG corresponds to 12 resource elements (one resource block) in the frequency domain and one OFDM symbol in the time domain. The physical resource set used to carry the PDCCH / DCI is called the Control Resource Set (CORESET) in NR. In NR, the PDCCH is confined to a single CORESET and transmitted along with its own DMRS. This enables UE-specific beamforming for the PDCCH.

[0134] exist Figure 5BIn the example, each BWP has one CORESET, and this CORESET spans three symbols in the time domain (although it can be only one or two symbols). Unlike the LTE control channel, which occupies the entire system bandwidth, in NR, the PDCCH channel is localized to a specific region in the frequency domain (i.e., the CORESET). Therefore, Figure 5B The frequency components of the PDCCH shown are interpreted in the frequency domain as fewer than a single BWP. Note that although the interpreted CORESETs are contiguous in the frequency domain, they do not need to be contiguous. Additionally, a CORESET can span fewer than three symbols in the time domain.

[0135] The DCI within the PDCCH carries information about uplink resource allocation (persistent and non-persistent) and a description of the downlink data transmitted to the UE (referred to as uplink grant and downlink grant, respectively). More specifically, the DCI indicates the resources scheduled for downlink data channels (e.g., PDSCH) and uplink data channels (e.g., PUSCH). Multiple (e.g., up to eight) DCIs can be configured in the PDCCH, and these DCIs can have one of several formats. For example, different DCI formats exist for uplink scheduling, downlink scheduling, uplink transmit power control (TPC), etc. The PDCCH can be transmitted by 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16 CCEs to accommodate different DCI payload sizes or coding rates.

[0136] The following are the currently supported DCI formats. Format 0-0: Backoff for PUSCH scheduling; Format 0-1: No backoff for PUSCH scheduling; Format 1-0: Backoff for PDSCH scheduling; Format 1-1: No backoff for PDSCH scheduling; Format 2-0: Notify the UE group of the slot format; Format 2-1: Notify the UE group of (PRB) and (OFDM) symbols where the UE can assume there are no transmissions for that UE; Format 2-2: Transmit TPC commands for PUCCH and PUSCH; and Format 2-3: Transmit SRS request groups and TPC commands for SRS transmissions. Note that the backoff format is the default scheduling option, has non-configurable fields, and supports basic NR operations. In contrast, the non-backoff format is flexible and adaptable to NR features.

[0137] As will be understood, the UE needs to be able to demodulate (also known as "decode") the PDCCH in order to read the DCI and thereby obtain the scheduling of resources allocated to the UE on the PDSCH and PUSCH. If the UE fails to demodulate the PDCCH, the UE will not know the location of the PDSCH resources, and it will continue to try to demodulate the PDCCH using different sets of PDCCH candidates during subsequent PDCCH monitoring. If the UE fails to demodulate the PDCCH after a certain number of attempts, the UE declares a radio link failure (RLF). To overcome the PDCCH demodulation problem, a search space is configured for efficient PDCCH detection and demodulation.

[0138] Typically, the UE will not attempt to demodulate every PDCCH candidate that might be scheduled in a time slot. To reduce the constraints on the PDCCH scheduler and to minimize the number of blind demodulation attempts made by the UE, a search space is configured. The search space is indicated by a set of adjacent CCEs that the UE intends to monitor in order to find scheduling assignments / grants associated with a particular component carrier. There are two types of search spaces used for PDCCH to control each component carrier: the shared search space (CSS) and the UE-specific search space (USS).

[0139] The shared search space is shared across all UEs, while the UE-specific search space is used per UE (i.e., the UE-specific search space is specific to the particular UE). For the shared search space, DCI Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) is scrambled using the System Information Radio Network Temporary Identifier (SI-RNTI), Random Access RNTI (RA-RNTI), Temporary Cell RNTI (TC-RNTI), Paging RNTI (P-RNTI), Interruption RNTI (INT-RNTI), Slot Format Indication RNTI (SFI-RNTI), TPC-PUCCH-RNTI, TPC-PUSCH-RNTI, TPC-SRS-RNTI, Cell RNTI (C-RNTI), or Configured Scheduling RNTI (CS-RNTI) for all shared protocols. For the UE-specific search space, DCICRC is scrambled using C-RNTI or CS-RNTI, as these are specific to the individual UE.

[0140] The UE uses four UE-specific search space clustering levels (1, 2, 4, and 8) and two shared search space clustering levels (4 and 8) to demodulate the PDCCH. Specifically, for the UE-specific search space, clustering level '1' has a size of six PDCCH candidates and six CCEs per time slot. Clustering level '2' has a size of six PDCCH candidates and 12 CCEs per time slot. Clustering level '4' has a size of two PDCCH candidates and 8 CCEs per time slot. Clustering level '8' has a size of two PDCCH candidates and 16 CCEs per time slot. For the shared search space, clustering level '4' has a size of four PDCCH candidates and 16 CCEs per time slot. Clustering level '8' has a size of two PDCCH candidates and 16 CCEs per time slot.

[0141] Each search space comprises a coherent set of CCEs that can be assigned to a PDCCH (referred to as PDCCH candidates). The UE demodulates all PDCCH candidates in both search spaces (USS and CSS) to discover a DCI for that UE. For example, the UE can demodulate a DCI to obtain scheduled uplink grant information on the PUSCH and downlink resources on the PDSCH. Note that the clustering level is the number of REs carrying PDCCH DCI messages in the CORESET, expressed in the form of CCEs. There is a one-to-one mapping between the clustering level and the number of CCEs per clustering level. That is, for clustering level '4', there are four CCEs. Thus, as shown above, if the clustering level is '4' and the number of PDCCH candidates in a time slot is '2', the size of the search space is '8' (i.e., 4 x 2 = 8).

[0142] like Figure 5C As explained, some REs (denoted as "R") carry DMRS for channel estimation at the receiver (e.g., a base station, another UE, etc.). The UE may, for example, additionally transmit SRS in the last symbol of the time slot. The SRS may have a comb structure, and the UE may transmit the SRS on one of the comb teeth. Figure 5C In the example, the SRS described is a comb tooth-2 on a symbol. The SRS can be used by the base station to obtain Channel State Information (CSI) for each UE. CSI describes how the RF signal propagates from the UE to the base station and represents the combined effects of scattering, fading, and power attenuation over distance. The system uses SRS for resource scheduling, link adaptation, massive MIMO, beam management, etc.

[0143] Currently, SRS resources with comb tooth sizes of 2, 4, or 8 can span 1, 2, 4, 8, or 12 consecutive symbols within a time slot. The following are the symbol-by-symbol frequency offsets for the currently supported SRS comb tooth patterns. 1-bit comb tooth-2: {0}; 2-bit comb tooth-2: {0,1}; 4-bit comb tooth-2: {0,1,0,1}; 4-bit comb tooth-4: {0,2,1,3}; 8-bit comb tooth-4: {0,2,1,3,0,2,1,3}; 12-bit comb tooth-4: {0,2,1,3,0,2,1,3,0,2,1,3}; 4-bit comb tooth-8: {0,4,2,6}; 8-bit comb tooth-8: {0,4,2,6,1,5,3,7}; and 12-bit comb tooth-8: {0,4,2,6,1,5,3,7,0,4,2,6}.

[0144] The set of resource elements used for SRS transmission is called an "SRS resource" and is identified by the parameter "SRS-ResourceId (SRS-ResourceId)". The resource element set can span multiple PRBs in the frequency domain and N (e.g., one or more) consecutive symbols within a time slot in the time domain. In a given OFDM symbol, an SRS resource occupies a consecutive PRB. An "SRS resource set" is a group of SRS resources used for SRS signal transmission and is identified by the SRS resource set ID ("SRS-ResourceSetId").

[0145] Generally, the UE transmits a SRS so that the receiving base station (serving base station or neighboring base station) can measure the channel quality between the UE and the base station. However, the SRS can also be specifically configured as an uplink positioning reference signal for use in uplink-based positioning procedures, such as uplink time difference of arrival (UL-TDOA), round-trip time (RTT), uplink angle of arrival (UL-AoA), etc. As used herein, the term "SRS" can refer to an SRS configured for channel quality measurement or an SRS configured for positioning purposes. When it is necessary to distinguish between the two types of SRS, the former may be referred to herein as "SRS-for-communication" and / or the latter as "SRS-for-positioning".

[0146] Several enhancements to the previously defined SRS have been proposed for “SRS-for-positioning” (also known as “UL-PRS”), such as new interleaving patterns within SRS resources (other than a single symbol / comb tooth - 2), new comb tooth types for SRS, new sequences of SRS, larger sets of SRS resources per component carrier, and larger numbers of SRS resources per component carrier. Additionally, the parameters “SpatialRelationInfo” and “PathLossReference” are configured based on downlink reference signals or SSBs from adjacent TRPs. Furthermore, an SRS resource can be transmitted outside the active BWP, and an SRS resource can span multiple component carriers. Moreover, SRS can be configured in RRC connected states and transmitted only within the active BWP. Furthermore, frequency hopping, repetition factors, single antenna ports, and new SRS lengths (e.g., 8 and 12 symbols) may not be present. It is also possible to have open-loop power control but no closed-loop power control, and to use comb-8 (i.e., SRS transmitted every eighth subcarrier in the same symbol). Finally, the UE can transmit via the same transmit beam from multiple SRS resources for UL-AoA. All of these are features outside the current SRS framework, which is configured via higher-layer RRC signaling (and potentially triggered or activated via MAC control elements (CE) or DCI).

[0147] Figure 5D Examples of various channels within uplink slots of a frame according to various aspects of this disclosure are described. A Random Access Channel (RACH) (also referred to as a Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH)) may be configured based on the PRACH within one or more slots of the frame. A PRACH may include six consecutive RB pairs within a slot. The PRACH allows the UE to perform initial system access and achieve uplink synchronization. A Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) may be located at the edge of the uplink system bandwidth. The PUCCH carries uplink control information (UCI), such as scheduling requests, CSI reports, channel quality indicators (CQI), precoding matrix indicators (PMI), rank indicators (RI), and HARQ ACK / NACK feedback. A Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) carries data and may additionally be used to carry buffer status reports (BSR), power clearance reports (PHR), and / or UCI.

[0148] Note that the terms "location reference signal" and "PRS" generally refer to specific reference signals used for positioning in NR and LTE systems. However, as used herein, the terms "location reference signal" and "PRS" can also refer to any type of reference signal that can be used for positioning, such as, but not limited to, PRS, TRS, PTRS, CRS, CSI-RS, DMRS, PSS, SSS, SSB, SRS, UL-PRS, etc., as defined in LTE and NR. Additionally, the terms "location reference signal" and "PRS" can refer to downlink or uplink positioning reference signals, unless otherwise indicated by the context. If further distinction is needed regarding the type of PRS, downlink positioning reference signals may be referred to as "DL-PRS," while uplink positioning reference signals (e.g., positioning SRS, PTRS) may be referred to as "UL-PRS." Furthermore, for signals that can be transmitted in both uplink and downlink (e.g., DMRS, PTRS), these signals may be prefixed with "UL" or "DL" to distinguish direction. For example, "UL-DMRS" can be distinguished from "DL-DMRS."

[0149] In some scenarios, the UE can use the DMRS of the PDCCH and / or PDSCH to derive positioning measurements (e.g., ToA, RSTD, Rx-Tx time difference, etc.). That is, the UE can use the DMRS of the PDCCH and / or PDSCH as the PRS. In these scenarios, the UE needs advance indication of which PDCCH and / or PDSCH will be used as the PRS. Advance indication is necessary because PRS processing may include steps not required by conventional processing, such as time-domain channel estimation or noise tap removal, first path of arrival determination, AoA or AoD estimation, etc.

[0150] Various techniques exist to reduce the number of indications required to tell the UE whether to use PDCCH and / or PDSCH and which PDCCH and / or PDSCH to be used as PRS. For example, the serving base station can use RRC, MAC control element (MAC-CE), and / or DCI signaling to activate or deactivate a mode in which all PDCCH and / or PDSCH are considered as PRS. As another example, the PDCCH and / or PDSCH considered as PRS can be limited to certain time slots.

[0151] Various techniques exist to increase the number of indications used to tell the UE whether to use a PDCCH and / or PDSCH and which PDCCH and / or PDSCH to use as a PRS. For example, the DCI for scheduling PDSCH may include a "use as PRS" indication. For multi-layer PDSCH, this "use as PRS" indication may be per-positional frequency layer, which can be advantageous when different frequency layers have different spatial QCLs. Additionally, the presence of the "use as PRS" indication may be RRC-configurable and may be limited to non-back-off DCIs.

[0152] Because the UE's location is calculated relative to the known location of the TRP transmitting the PRS measured by the UE, the PRS (and other downlink signals used as the PRS) needs to be associated with a specific TRP. However, in a multi-TRP scenario, the UE may not know which of the multiple TRPs it is receiving a specific PRS from. In a multi-TRP scenario, two or more TRPs provide joint scheduling, transmission, and reception for the UE. From the UE's perspective, multi-TRP operation is confined to a given serving cell (or component carrier). Therefore, different TRPs can share the same PCI, and thus, this PCI is not differentiated between TRPs. Therefore, a method is needed for the UE to distinguish between TRPs in a multi-TRP scenario.

[0153] Two modes have been defined for multi-TRP operation: single-DCI and multi-DCI. Single-DCI-based multi-TRP operation is suitable for situations where ideal backhaul exists between the involved TRPs. Ideal backhaul requires highly detailed feedback (e.g., CSI) and tight coordination between the involved TRPs. Single-DCI can employ different PDSCH schemes to achieve robustness, such as spatial multiplexing (SDM), frequency division multiplexing (FDM), and / or time division multiplexing (TDM).

[0154] Multi-DCI-based multi-TRP operation is applicable to both ideal and non-ideal backhaul scenarios. In non-ideal backhaul scenarios, joint scheduling between the involved TRPs may be infeasible due to delays in the coordination of control signals and / or data packets between different TRPs. Alternatively or additionally, backhaul capacity between TRPs may be limited, leading to poor link adaptation (or performance loss). In multi-DCI-based multi-TRP operation, from the perspective of UE capabilities, a carrier aggregation framework can be used to treat different TRPs as different virtual component carriers.

[0155] Figure 6A The single-DCI-based multi-TRP architecture 610 and the multi-DCI-based multi-TRP architecture 620 according to various aspects of this disclosure are explained. For example... Figure 6AAs shown, the UE communicates with two TRPs labeled "TRP A" and "TRP B". In the single-DCI-based multi-TRP architecture 610, the UE receives the PDCCH (which carries the DCI) from only one TRP ("TRP A"), but receives the PDSCH from both TRPs ("TRP A" and "TRP B"). In contrast, in the multi-DCI-based multi-TRP architecture 620, the UE receives both the PDCCH and PDSCH from two TRPs. More specifically, the first PDSCH (labeled "PDSCH 1") is scheduled by the DCI transmitted by the first TRP ("TRP A") in the first PDCCH (labeled "PDCCH1"), and the second PDSCH (labeled "PDSCH 2") is scheduled by the DCI transmitted by the second TRP ("TRP B") in the second PDCCH (labeled "PDCCH 2").

[0156] Figure 6B This disclosure explains a portion of the protocol stack 650 in a multi-TRP scenario from the UE's perspective. For example... Figure 6B As shown, multiple TRPs form a single serving cell (i.e., component carrier) for the UE. The UE perceives these multiple TRPs as having a single PDCP layer (e.g., PDCP layer 415), RLC layer (e.g., RLC layer 420), and MAC layer (e.g., MAC layer 425), but with separate physical layers (e.g., PHY layer 430). The separate physical layers may have separate QCL sources (labeled "QCL1" and "QCL2"). The UE can treat the different physical layers (i.e., physical transmissions from different TRPs) as different component carriers and use carrier aggregation to combine them, as referenced above. Figure 1 Described.

[0157] Specifically, referring to multi-DCI-based multi-TRP transmission, the TRP differentiation on the UE side is based on the parameter "CORESETPoolIndex". Each CORESET (currently, a maximum of five CORESETs exist) can be configured with a value for "CORESETPoolIndex". The value of "CORESETPoolIndex" can be '0' or '1', and this value groups these five possible CORESETs into two groups. This is in Figure 7 The explanation is as follows. Specifically, Figure 7 This is a diagram 700 illustrating an example group of CORESETs based on the parameter "CORESETPoolIndex" according to various aspects of this disclosure. Figure 7As shown, CORESETs with identifiers '1' and '2' are grouped together by "CORESETPoolIndex" '0', and CORESETs with identifiers '3' and '4' are grouped together by "CORESETPoolIndex" '1'.

[0158] If a UE is configured by a higher-layer parameter "PDCCH-Config" containing two different "CORESETPoolIndex" values ​​in the CORESET used for the serving cell, this means that the UE is configured for multi-TRP operation based on multiple DCIs. The existence of different TRPs is transparent to the UE, except for this "CORESETPoolIndex" distinction between TRPs. The "CORESETPoolIndex" of the CORESET in which the DCI is received can be used for various purposes, such as HARQ-ACK codebook construction and transmission, PDSCH scrambling, rate matching, etc.

[0159] For multi-TRP operations based on a single DCI, various Transport Configuration Indicator (TCI) state enhancements exist. The TCI state is dynamically sent to the UE in the DCI, which includes the configuration of the QCL relationship between the downlink reference signal and the PDSCH DMRS port in a CSI-RS set. The UE can be configured to decode the PDSCH based on the detected PDSCH having a DCI intended for the UE and a given serving cell, using a list of TCI state configurations within the higher-layer (RRC) parameter “PDSCH-Config”. Each TCI state contains parameters for configuring the QCL relationship between one or two downlink reference signals and the DMRS ports of the PDSCH, the DMRS ports of the PDCCH, or the CSI-RS ports of the CSI-RS resources. This QCL relationship is configured by the higher-layer (RRC) parameters “qcl-Type1” (for the first downlink reference signal) and “qcl-Type2” (for the second downlink reference signal), where up to two QCL types can be configured for each TCI state.

[0160] The TCI field in DCI can point to one or two TCI states. There is a MAC-CE enhancement for mapping active TCI states to TCI code points. Specifically, MAC-CE can activate TCI states and map one or two TCI states to TCI code points. Thus, a TCI code point represents one or two TCI states. The number of bits used for the TCI field in DCI can be up to three bits. This is used in all SDM, FDM, and / or TDM schemes.

[0161] Figure 8 This document describes example TCI status activation / deactivation for the UE-specific PDSCH MAC-CE 800 according to various aspects of this disclosure. The MAC-CE 800 is identified by a MAC subheader with a Logical Channel Identifier (LCID). It has a variable size and consists of the following fields: Serving Cell ID, BWP ID, T... i And the CORESET pool ID.

[0162] The Serving Cell ID field indicates the identity of the serving cell to which MAC-CE 800 is applied. This field is five bits long. If the indicated serving cell is configured as part of a component carrier list, MAC-CE 800 is applied to all component carriers in that list.

[0163] The BWP ID field indicates the code point of the DCI bandwidth portion indicator field for the downlink BWP applied by MAC-CE 800. The BWP ID field is two bits long. This field is ignored when MAC-CE 800 is applied to the component carrier list.

[0164] If there exists a TCI state with “TCI-StateId”i, then T i This field indicates the active / deactivated state of the TCI state with "TCI-StateId" i. Otherwise, the MAC entity ignores this TCI state. i Field. T i The field is set to '1' to indicate that the TCI state with 'TCI-StateId' i will be activated and mapped to the code point in the DCI transport configuration indication field. i The field is set to '0' to indicate that the TCI state with 'TCI-StateId' i will be disabled and will not be mapped to the code point in the DCI transport configuration indication field. The code point to which the TCI state is mapped is determined by its value in the TCI transport configuration indication field. i The ordinal position of all TCI states where the field is set to '1' is used to determine the position; that is, the T with a field set to '1'. i The first TCI state of the field will be mapped to the code point value '0', with T set to '1'. i The second TCI state of a field will be mapped to the code point value '1', and so on. Currently, the maximum number of active TCI states is eight.

[0165] The CORESET pool ID field indicates the activated TCI status, as indicated by the T field. iThe mapping between code points indicated by the DCI transport configuration settings varies depending on the "ControlResourceSetId" configured with the CORESET pool ID. This field is set to '1' to indicate that MAC-CE 800 will be applied to downlink transports scheduled by a CORESET pool ID equal to '1'. Otherwise, MAC-CE 800 will be applied to downlink transports scheduled by a CORESET pool ID equal to '0'.

[0166] Figure 9 This section explains an example TCI status indication for the UE-specific PDCCH MAC-CE 900. The MAC-CE 900 is identified by a MAC subheader with an LCID. It has a fixed size of 16 bits and includes the following fields: Serving Cell ID, CORESET ID, and TCI Status ID.

[0167] The Serving Cell ID field indicates the identity of the serving cell to which MAC-CE 900 is applied. This field is five bits long. If the indicated serving cell is configured as part of a component carrier list, MAC-CE 900 is applied to all component carriers in that list.

[0168] The CORESET ID field indicates the CORESET identified by "ControlResourceSetId" for which the positive indicator TCI status is specified. In the case of a value of '0', this field refers to the CORESET configured by "controlResourceSetZero". This field is 4 bits long.

[0169] The TCI State ID field indicates the TCI state identified by "TCI-StateId" for the CORESET identified by the CORESET ID field. If the CORESET ID field is set to '0', this field indicates the "TCI-StateId" of one of the first 64 TCI states configured by "tci-States-ToAddModList" and "tci-States-ToReleaseList" in the active BWP's PDSCH-Config. If the CORESET ID field is set to a value other than '0', this field indicates the "TCI-StateId" configured by "tci-StatesPDCCH-ToAddList" and "tci-StatesPDCCH-ToReleaseList" in the controlResourceSet identified by the indicated CORESET ID. This field is 7 bits long.

[0170] This disclosure provides techniques for associating a PRS (and other downlink signals used as PRS) with a specific TRP in a multi-TRP scenario. For single-DCI multi-TRP operation (with PCI that is transparent to the UE), the TCI status ID and / or TCI code point can be used to identify a specific TRP.

[0171] First, the UE can be configured with multiple TCI codepoints, each containing a TCI state for a different CORESET pool ID (see, for example, TCI state activation / deactivation for UE-specific PDSCH MAC-CE 800). For example, “TCI-Codepoint-0” can be assigned the value {"TCI-0" for CORESET pool ID = 0; "TCI-1" for CORESET pool ID = 1; "TCI-2" for CORESET pool ID = 2...}, and “TCI-Codepoint-1” can be assigned the value {"TCI-3" for CORESET pool ID = 0; "TCI-4" for CORESET pool ID = 1; "TCI-5" for CORESET pool ID = 2...}. As will be understood, the parameter “TCI-i” represents a different TCI state. Note that although three CORESET pool IDs are shown in the example above, multi-TRP operations may involve only two or more TRPs, and thus there may be more or less than three CORESET pool IDs.

[0172] Second, the UE is instructed that a specific DCI and / or a scheduled PDSCH can be used to derive positioning measurements (e.g., ToA, RSRP, RSTD, Rx-Tx time difference, etc.). As mentioned above, this is because the TCI state can be associated with either the PDCCH (which carries the DCI) or the PDSCH.

[0173] Third, the UE derives the positioning measurement from the indicated DCI and / or PDSCH and, where appropriate, reports the measurement to the positioning entity (e.g., location server 230, LMF 270, SLP 272, serving base station, positioning engine at the UE, etc.) via UCI, MAC-CE, RRC, or LPP. The UE also reports the association of each measurement to one of the configured TCI codepoints (e.g., “TCI-1”, “TCI-2”, etc.) with the TCI status identifier (e.g., “TCI-1”, “TCI-2”, etc.) and the timestamp of the DCI and / or PDSCH used for that measurement. Note that this timestamp is the timestamp of the time slot when the measurement is actually performed or when the UE receives the corresponding DCI. This timestamp is necessary because the TCI status may change over time.

[0174] Fourth, if the UE sends a location report to the serving base station, the serving base station can determine from which TRP the UE received the DCI and / or PDSCH based on the TCI status identifier and the timestamp of the measured DCI and / or PDSCH. The serving base station can then determine the actual PCI used for the TRP and append it to the measurement before forwarding the location report to the location server (or other location entity). However, if the location report is sent directly to the location server (e.g., via LPP), the serving base station needs to send the location server the association between the TCI status identifier and / or TCI code point configured for the UE and the timestamp of the DCI and / or PDSCH so that the location server can perform a translation and determine the PCI of the TRP involved.

[0175] Fifth, once TRPs have been identified, their physical locations can be used to estimate the UE's location based on the UE's measurements of DCI and / or PDSCH.

[0176] For multiple DCI multiple TRPs (with PCI that is transparent to the UE), the "CORESETPoolIndex" can be used to identify a specific TRP. First, the UE can be configured with multiple "CORESETPoolIndex" values ​​for the CORESET of the active BWP serving the cell.

[0177] Second, the UE is instructed that a specific “CORESETPoolIndex”, PDCCH, and / or scheduled PDSCH can be used to derive positioning measurements (e.g., ToA, RSRP, RSTD, Rx-Tx time difference, etc.). The UE uses the CORESET associated with the “CORESETPoolIndex” or with the PDSCH scheduled by the CORESET associated with the “CORESETPoolIndex” to derive the measurements.

[0178] Third, the UE exports location measurements for the PDCCH and / or PDSCH and, where appropriate, reports these measurements to location entities (e.g., location server 230, LMF 270, SLP 272, serving base station, location engine at the UE, etc.) via UCI, MAC-CE, RRC, and LPP. The UE also reports the association between each measurement and the "CORESETPoolIndex" along with the timestamp of the PDCCH and / or PDSCH used for that measurement.

[0179] Fourth, if a location report is sent to the serving base station, the serving base station can determine from which TRP the UE received the PDCCH and / or PDSCH based on the "CORESETPoolIndex" and the timestamps of the measured PDCCH and / or PDSCH. The serving base station can then determine the actual PCI used for the TRP and append it to the measurement before forwarding the location report to the location server (or other location entity). However, if the UE sends a location report to the location server, the serving base station needs to send the location server the association between the "CORESETPoolIndex" configured for the UE and the timestamps of the PDCCH and / or PDSCH so that the location server can perform the conversion and determine the PCI of the TRP involved.

[0180] Fifth, once TRPs have been identified, their physical locations can be used to estimate the UE's location based on the UE's measurements of the PDCCH and / or PDSCH.

[0181] In multi-TRP scenarios where the PCI of the TRP involved is transparent to the UE (as in the scenario described above), the UE can configure a mapping from TRS, SSB, TCI status, TCI code point, or CORESETPoolID to TRP-ID. In this way, when the UE performs a measurement, it can use the identifier of the TRP that transmits the PDCCH and / or PDSCH (e.g., PRSID, PCI, CGI, ARFCN) instead of the locally defined SSB, TCI status, TCI code point, CORESETPoolID, and / or TRS to report the measurement to the positioning entity.

[0182] Figure 10 This is a diagram 1000 illustrating how multiple TCI status identifiers according to various aspects of this disclosure can be mapped to a single TRP. For example... Figure 10 As shown, the first TRP (labeled "TRP-1") maps to two TCI states (labeled "TCI-1" and "TCI-2"), and the second TRP (labeled "TRP-2") also maps to two TCI states (labeled "TCI-3" and "TCI-4"). Because these two TRPs map to different TCI states, even if they both map to multiple TCI states, they can be uniquely identified by their respective TCI states. For example, if the UE is configured with TCI states "TCI-1" and "TCI-3", it can map these TCI states to the first and second TRPs respectively.

[0183] SSBs can also be used to identify TRPs. In NR, SSBs of neighboring cells with PCI information can be provided to the UE for power control and for deriving spatial relationship information for SRSs. When the UE receives a PDCCH and / or PDSCH with a specific association to one or more TRPs, these TRSs are associated with an SSB, which in turn is associated with a PCI. Therefore, the UE can determine the PCI of the TRP that transmitted the TRS from the SSBs associated with the TRS used for the PDCCH and / or PDSCH. The UE can then directly report the positioning measurements associated with the PCI to the positioning server. Figure 11 This is a diagram 1100 illustrating the various SSB IEs that can be used to determine PCI.

[0184] As another technique for identifying TRPs in multi-TRP scenarios, the DMRS associated with a semi-persistent PDSCH can be reused for location purposes. Unlike the dynamic PDSCH configured via DCI discussed above, the semi-persistent PDSCH is configured via RRC. In one aspect, the UE can reuse one or more of the active semi-persistent PDSCHs, or more specifically, the DMRS associated with that semi-persistent PDSCH, for location purposes. Additional parameters in the RRC configuration for the semi-persistent PDSCH inform the UE to use the associated DMRS for location. The DMRS will be directly or indirectly associated with TRS, TCI status, or PCI, as described above. In this way, the UE will be able to identify the TRP based on the DMRS.

[0185] Figure 12 An example wireless communication method 1200 according to various aspects of this disclosure has been explained. In one aspect, method 1200 can be performed by a UE (e.g., any UE described herein).

[0186] At 1210, the UE receives one or more PDCCHs, one or more PDSCHs, or both from at least a first TRP, a second TRP, or both (e.g., any two or more TRPs described herein). In one aspect, operation 1210 may be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 310, one or more processors 332, a memory 340, and / or a positioning component 342, any or all of which may be considered means for performing the operation.

[0187] At 1220, the UE performs one or more positioning measurements (e.g., ToA, RSTD, RSRP, etc.) on the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both. In one aspect, operation 1220 may be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 310, one or more processors 332, memory 340, and / or positioning components 342, any or all of which may be considered as means for performing the operation.

[0188] At 1230, the UE reports to the network node (e.g., serving base station or location server) the one or more positioning measurements, the timestamps associated with the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both, or the one or more positioning measurements, and one or more attributes (e.g., CSI-RS, DMRS, TRS, SSB) of the QCL source associated with the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both (e.g., to enable the location server to determine which TRP, either the first or second TRP, transmitted the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both). In one aspect, operation 1230 may be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 310, one or more processors 332, memory 340, and / or positioning components 342, any or all of which may be considered means for performing the operation.

[0189] Figure 13 An example wireless communication method 1300 according to various aspects of this disclosure has been explained. In one aspect, method 1300 can be performed by a UE (e.g., any UE described herein).

[0190] At 1310, the UE receives one or more PDCCHs, one or more PDSCHs, or both from at least a first TRP, a second TRP, or both (e.g., any two TRPs described herein). In one aspect, operation 1310 may be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 310, one or more processors 332, a memory 340, and / or a positioning component 342, any or all of which may be considered means for performing the operation.

[0191] At 1320, the UE performs one or more positioning measurements (e.g., ToA, RSTD, RSRP, etc.) on the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both. In one aspect, operation 1320 may be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 310, one or more processors 332, memory 340, and / or positioning components 342, any or all of which may be considered as means for performing the operation.

[0192] At 1330, the UE receives a QCL source (e.g., CSI-RS, DMRS, TRS, SSB) associated with the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both, one or more attributes of the QCL source, or a mapping between the two and the TRP identifiers of at least the first TRP and the second TRP. In one aspect, operation 1330 may be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 310, one or more processors 332, a memory 340, and / or a positioning component 342, any or all of which may be considered means for performing the operation.

[0193] At 1340, the UE reports the one or more positioning measurements to the location server and transmits the TRP identifier of the one or more PDCCHs, one or more PDSCHs, or the TRP of the first and second TRPs based on the mapping (e.g., so that the location server can determine the location estimate of the UE). In one aspect, operation 1340 may be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 310, one or more processors 332, memory 340, and / or positioning components 342, any or all of which can be considered as means for performing the operation.

[0194] Figure 14 An example wireless communication method 1400 according to various aspects of this disclosure has been described. In one aspect, method 1400 may be performed by a network node (e.g., a serving base station or a location server).

[0195] At 1410, the network node receives from the UE (e.g., any UE described herein) one or more location measurements (e.g., ToA, RSTD, RSRP, etc.) of one or more PDCCHs, one or more PDSCHs, or both of these received at the UE from at least a first TRP, a second TRP, or both (e.g., any two TRPs described herein), a timestamp associated with the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both of these or the one or more location measurements, and one or more attributes (e.g., CSI-RS, DMRS, TRS, SSB) of the QCL source associated with the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both of these. In one aspect, when the network node is a base station, operation 1410 may be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 350, one or more processors 384, a memory 386, and / or a positioning component 388, any or all of these components may be considered as means for performing the operation. When the network node is a location server, operation 1410 may be performed by one or more network interfaces 390, one or more processors 394, memory 396 and / or positioning components 398, any or all of these components may be considered as means for performing the operation.

[0196] At 1420, the network node determines the TRP identifier (e.g., PCI) of the TRP that transmits the one or more PDCCHs, one or more PDSCHs, or both in the first TRP and the second TRP based on at least the timestamp and one or more attributes of the QCL source. In one aspect, when the network node is a base station, operation 1420 may be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 350, one or more processors 384, memory 386, and / or positioning components 388, any or all of which can be considered means for performing the operation. When the network node is a location server, operation 1420 may be performed by one or more network interfaces 390, one or more processors 394, memory 396, and / or positioning components 398, any or all of which can be considered means for performing the operation.

[0197] As will be understood, the technical advantage of methods 1200 to 1400 is that the location server can determine which measurement of PDCCH and / or PDSCH is associated with each TRP / QCL, thereby enabling a positioning method using multi-point positioning.

[0198] In the detailed description above, it can be seen that different features are grouped together in the examples. This manner of disclosure should not be construed as an intention to have more features than those explicitly mentioned in each clause. Rather, aspects of this disclosure may include fewer features than those of the individual example clauses disclosed. Therefore, the appended clauses should thus be considered as incorporated into this description, where each clause may be a separate example. Although each dependent clause may refer in its respective clause to a specific combination with one of the other clauses, the aspects of that dependent clause are not limited to that specific combination. It will be appreciated that other example clauses may also include combinations of aspects of the dependent clause with the subject matter of any other dependent or independent clause, or any feature combined with other dependent and independent clauses. The aspects disclosed herein expressly include these combinations unless explicitly stated or readily inferred that a particular combination is not intended (e.g., contradictory aspects, such as defining an element as both an insulator and a conductor). Furthermore, it is intended that aspects of a clause may be included in any other independent clause, even if that clause is not directly subordinate to that independent clause.

[0199] Examples of implementations are described in the following numbered clauses.

[0200] Clause 1. A wireless communication method performed by a user equipment (UE), comprising: receiving a physical downlink channel from at least a first transmit receiving point (TRP) or a second TRP; performing a location measurement on the physical downlink channel; and reporting to a network node the location measurement, a timestamp associated with the physical downlink channel or the location measurement, and one or more attributes of a quasi-coexistence (QCL) source associated with the physical downlink channel.

[0201] Clause 2. The method as described in Clause 1, wherein the UE receives a single downlink control information (DCI) for the first TRP and the second TRP.

[0202] Clause 3. The method as described in Clause 2, wherein one or more attributes of the QCL source include at least one Transport Configuration Indicator (TCI) state associated with the physical downlink channel.

[0203] Clause 4. The method of Clause 3 further comprises: receiving one or more TCI code points, each TCI code point including one or more TCI states, each TCI code point being associated with one of the TRPs and the second TRP, wherein the at least one TCI state is one of the one or more TCI states of one of the one or more TCI code points.

[0204] Clause 5. The method as described in Clause 4, wherein the UE receives the one or more TCI code points from the serving base station in a Media Access Control Control Element (MAC-CE) signaling or Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling.

[0205] Clause 6. The method as described in Clause 1, wherein the UE receives DCI from each of the first TRP and the second TRP.

[0206] Clause 7. The method as described in Clause 6, wherein one or more attributes of the QCL source include a control resource set (CORESET) pool index associated with the physical downlink channel.

[0207] Clause 8. The method of Clause 7 further comprises: receiving a plurality of CORESET pool indices for corresponding plurality of CORESETs of the active bandwidth portion (BWP) of the serving cell used by the first TRP and the second TRP, wherein the CORESET pool index associated with the physical downlink channel is one of the plurality of CORESET pool indices.

[0208] Clause 9. The method as described in Clause 8, wherein the UE receives the plurality of CORESET pool indices from the serving base station in a Media Access Control Control Element (MAC-CE) signaling or Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling.

[0209] Clause 10. The method of any of Clauses 1 to 9, wherein the physical downlink channel includes a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) or a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH).

[0210] Clause 11. The method of any of Clauses 1 to 10, wherein the QCL source includes a Channel State Information Reference Signal (CSI-RS), Demodulation Reference Signal (DMRS), Tracking Reference Signal (TRS), or Synchronization Block (SSB) transmitted by the TRP that transmits the physical downlink channel in the first TRP and the second TRP.

[0211] Clause 12. The method of any of Clauses 1 to 11, wherein the first TRP and the second TRP operate in a single serving cell for the UE.

[0212] Clause 13. The method as described in any one of Clauses 1 to 12, wherein the network node includes a base station or location server serving the UE.

[0213] Clause 14. The method of any of Clauses 1 to 13, wherein the UE reports the location measurement, the timestamp, and one or more attributes to the network node so that the location server can determine which of the first TRP and the second TRP transmitted the physical downlink channel.

[0214] Clause 15. A wireless communication method performed by a user equipment (UE), comprising: receiving a physical downlink channel from at least a first transmit receiving point (TRP) or a second TRP; performing a location measurement on the physical downlink channel; receiving a quasi-coexistence (QCL) source associated with the physical downlink channel, one or more attributes of the QCL source, or both, and a mapping between the QCL source and TRP identifiers of at least the first TRP and the second TRP; determining, based on the mapping, the TRP identifier of the TRP that transmits the physical downlink channel in the first TRP and the second TRP; and reporting the location measurement and the TRP identifier to a location server.

[0215] Clause 16. The method as described in Clause 15, wherein: one or more attributes of the QCL source include at least one Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) state, at least one TCI code point, Control Resource Set (CORESET) pool index, or any combination thereof associated with the physical downlink channel, and the QCL source includes a Tracking Reference Signal (TRS), Synchronization Block (SSB), Channel State Information Reference Signal (CSI-RS), Demodulation Reference Signal (DMRS), or Synchronization Block (SSB) transmitted by the TRP that transmitted the physical downlink channel in the first TRP and the second TRP.

[0216] Clause 17. The method as described in any of Clauses 15 to 16, wherein the UE receives the mapping from the serving base station in a Media Access Control Control Element (MAC-CE) signaling or Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling.

[0217] Clause 18. The method of any one of Clauses 15 to 17, wherein: the QCL source includes a TRS associated with an SSB, and the determination includes determining the TRP identifier from the SSB associated with the TRS.

[0218] Clause 19. The method as described in any of Clauses 15 to 18, wherein the TRP identifier includes the Physical Cell Identifier (PCI).

[0219] Clause 20. The method of any of Clauses 15 to 19, wherein the physical downlink channel includes a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) or a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH).

[0220] Clause 21. The method as described in Clause 20, wherein: the PDSCH is a semi-persistent PDSCH configured via RRC signaling from the serving base station, or the PDSCH is a dynamic PDSCH configured via DCI from the serving base station.

[0221] Clause 22. The method of any of Clauses 15 to 21, wherein the first TRP and the second TRP operate in a single serving cell for the UE.

[0222] Clause 23. The method of any of Clauses 15 to 22, wherein the UE reports the positioning measurement and the TRP identifier to the location server so that the location server can determine the location estimate of the UE.

[0223] Clause 24. A wireless communication method performed by a network node, comprising: receiving from a user equipment (UE) a location measurement of a physical downlink channel received at the UE from at least a first transmit-receive point (TRP) or a second TRP, a timestamp associated with the physical downlink channel or the location measurement, and one or more attributes of a quasi-coexistence (QCL) source associated with the physical downlink channel; and determining a TRP identifier for which of the first and second TRPs transmitted the physical downlink channel based on at least the timestamp and one or more attributes of the QCL source.

[0224] Clause 25. The method as described in Clause 24, wherein the network node is a serving base station for the UE.

[0225] Clause 26. The method as described in Clause 25, wherein the positioning measurement, the timestamp, and one or more attributes of the QCL source are received from the UE.

[0226] Clause 27. The method as described in any of Clauses 25 to 26, wherein one or more attributes of the QCL source include at least one Transport Configuration Indicator (TCI) state associated with the physical downlink channel.

[0227] Clause 28. The method of Clause 27 further comprises: transmitting one or more TCI code points to the UE, each TCI code point including one or more TCI states, each TCI code point being associated with one of the TRPs and the second TRP, wherein the at least one TCI state is one of the one or more TCI states of one of the one or more TCI code points.

[0228] Clause 29. The method of any of Clauses 25 to 28, wherein one or more attributes of the QCL source include a control resource set (CORESET) pool index associated with the physical downlink channel.

[0229] Clause 30. The method of Clause 29 further comprises: transmitting to the UE a plurality of CORESET pool indices for corresponding plurality of CORESETs of the active bandwidth portion (BWP) of the serving cell used by the first TRP and the second TRP, wherein the CORESET pool index associated with the physical downlink channel is one of the plurality of CORESET pool indices.

[0230] Clause 31. The method of any one of Clauses 25 to 30 further comprises: transmitting the positioning measurement and the TRP identifier to a location server so that the location server is able to calculate the location estimate of the UE.

[0231] Clause 32. The method of any one of Clauses 25 to 31 further comprises: calculating the location estimate of the UE based on at least the positioning measurement and the TRP identifier.

[0232] Clause 33. The method as described in Clause 24, wherein the network node is a location server.

[0233] Clause 34. The method as described in Clause 33, wherein one or more attributes of the QCL source include at least one Transport Configuration Indicator (TCI) state associated with the physical downlink channel.

[0234] Clause 35. The method of Clause 34 further comprises: receiving from a serving base station for the UE an association between the UE and one or more TCI code points, each TCI code point including one or more TCI states, each TCI code point being associated with one of the TRPs and the second TRP, wherein the at least one TCI state is one of the one or more TCI states of the one or more TCI code points; and receiving from the serving base station a timestamp indicating the time during which the one or more TCI code points were associated with the first TRP or the second TRP.

[0235] Clause 36. The method as described in Clause 35, wherein the determination of the TRP identifier is further based on the association and the timestamp received from the serving base station.

[0236] Clause 37. The method as described in any of Clauses 33 to 36, wherein one or more attributes of the QCL source include a control resource set (CORESET) pool index associated with the physical downlink channel.

[0237] Clause 38. The method of Clause 37 further comprises: receiving from the serving base station for the UE an association between the UE and a plurality of CORESET pool indices for a plurality of corresponding CORESETs for an active bandwidth portion (BWP) of a serving cell used by the first TRP and the second TRP, wherein the CORESET pool index associated with the physical downlink channel is one of the plurality of CORESET pool indices; and receiving from the serving base station a timestamp indicating the time during which the plurality of CORESET pool indices are associated with the first TRP or the second TRP.

[0238] Clause 39. The method as described in Clause 38, wherein the determination of the TRP identifier is further based on the association and the timestamp received from the serving base station.

[0239] Clause 40. The method of any one of Clauses 33 to 39 further comprises: calculating the location estimate of the UE based on at least the positioning measurement and the TRP identifier.

[0240] Clause 41. The method of any of Clauses 24 to 40, wherein the physical downlink channel includes a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) or a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH).

[0241] Clause 42. The method of any of Clauses 24 to 41, wherein the QCL source includes a Channel State Information Reference Signal (CSI-RS), Demodulation Reference Signal (DMRS), Tracking Reference Signal (TRS), or Synchronization Block (SSB) transmitted by the TRP that transmits the physical downlink channel in the first TRP and the second TRP.

[0242] Clause 43. An apparatus comprising: a memory, at least one transceiver, and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the memory, the at least one transceiver, and the at least one processor being configured to perform a method according to any one of Clauses 1 to 42.

[0243] Clause 44. An apparatus for performing a method pursuant to any one of Clauses 1 to 42.

[0244] Clause 45. A non-transient computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions, the computer-executable instructions including at least one instruction for causing a computer or processor to perform a method according to any one of Clauses 1 to 42.

[0245] Examples of additional implementations are described in the following numbered clauses.

[0246] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that information and signals can be represented using any of a variety of different techniques and skills. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referred to throughout the above description can be represented by voltage, current, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or magnetic particles, light fields or light particles, or any combination thereof.

[0247] Furthermore, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative logic blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithmic steps described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein can be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or a combination of both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability between hardware and software, the various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps are described above in a generalized manner in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends on the specific application and the design constraints imposed on the overall system. Those skilled in the art may implement the described functionality in different ways for each specific application, but such implementation decisions should not be construed as departing from the scope of this disclosure.

[0248] The various illustrative logic blocks, modules, and circuits described in conjunction with the aspects disclosed herein may be implemented or executed using a general-purpose processor, digital signal processor (DSP), ASIC, field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in alternative embodiments, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. The processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, such as a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors cooperating with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

[0249] The methods, sequences, and / or algorithms described in conjunction with the aspects disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of both. The software module may reside in random access memory (RAM), flash memory, read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), registers, hard disks, removable disks, CD-ROMs, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. Example storage media are coupled to a processor so that the processor can read and write information from / to the storage medium. In alternatives, the storage medium may be integrated into the processor. The processor and storage medium may reside in an ASIC. The ASIC may reside in a user terminal (e.g., a UE). In alternatives, the processor and storage medium may reside as discrete components in the user terminal.

[0250] In one or more examples, the described functionality may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functionality may be stored or transmitted as one or more instructions or codes on or through a computer-readable medium. A computer-readable medium includes both computer storage media and communication media, including any medium that facilitates the transfer of a computer program from one location to another. A storage medium may be any available medium accessible to a computer. By way of example and not limitation, such computer-readable media may include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disc storage, disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and is accessible to a computer. Similarly, any connection is also legitimately referred to as a computer-readable medium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave, then such coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave are included in the definition of medium. As used in this article, disks and discs include compact discs (CDs), laser discs, optical discs, digital multi-purpose discs (DVDs), floppy disks, and Blu-ray discs. Disks typically reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically using lasers. Combinations of these should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0251] Although the foregoing disclosure illustrates illustrative aspects of this disclosure, it should be noted that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the scope of this disclosure as defined by the appended claims. The functions, steps, and / or actions in the method claims according to the aspects of this disclosure described herein need not be performed in any particular order. Furthermore, although elements of this disclosure may be described or claimed in the singular, pluralism is also contemplated unless explicitly stated to be limited to the singular.

Claims

1. A wireless communication method performed by a user equipment (UE), comprising: Receive one or more physical downlink control channels (PDCCH), one or more physical downlink shared channels (PDSCH), or both from at least a first transmit receiving point (TRP), a second TRP, or both; Receive one or more Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) code points, each TCI code point including one or more TCI states, each TCI code point being associated with one of the first TRP and the second TRP, wherein the at least one TCI state is one of the one or more TCI states of one of the one or more TCI code points; Perform positioning measurements on one or more of the PDCCHs, one or more of the PDSCHs, or both; and Report to network nodes the one or more location measurements, timestamps associated with the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both, or the one or more location measurements, and one or more attributes of a quasi-coexistence (QCL) source associated with the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both, wherein the one or more attributes of the QCL source include at least one TCI state associated with the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: Receive a single downlink control information (DCI) associated with both the first TRP and the second TRP.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising: Receive a single PDSCH associated with both the first TRP and the second TRP.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more TCI code points are received from the serving base station via Media Access Control Element (MAC-CE) signaling or Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising: Receive DCI associated with each of the first TRP and the second TRP.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more attributes of the QCL source include a control resource set (CORESET) pool index associated with the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising: Receive multiple CORESET pool indices for the corresponding multiple CORESETs of the active bandwidth portion (BWP) of the serving cell used by the first TRP and the second TRP, wherein the CORESET pool index associated with the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both is one of the multiple CORESET pool indices.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the plurality of CORESET pool indices are received from the serving base station in a Media Access Control Element (MAC-CE) signaling or Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the QCL source includes a Channel State Information Reference Signal (CSI-RS), Demodulation Reference Signal (DMRS), Tracking Reference Signal (TRS), or Synchronization Block (SSB) transmitted by the TRP that transmits the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both of the first TRP and the second TRP.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the first TRP and the second TRP operate in a single serving cell for the UE.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the network node includes a base station or location server serving the UE.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more location measurements, the timestamp, and the one or more attributes are reported to the network node so that the location server can determine whether the first TRP, the second TRP, or both transmitted the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more positioning measurements include reference signal received power (RSRP) measurement, reference signal time difference (RSTD) measurement, receive-transmit (Rx-Tx) time difference measurement, angle measurement, or any combination thereof.

14. A wireless communication method performed by a network node, comprising: Receive one or more location measurements of one or more Physical Downlink Control Channels (PDCCHs), one or more Physical Downlink Shared Channels (PDSCHs), or both, received at a User Equipment (UE) from at least a first Transmit Receive Point (TRP), a second TRP, or both; timestamps associated with the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both, or the one or more location measurements; and one or more attributes of a Quasi-Coexistence (QCL) source associated with the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both. as well as Receive one or more Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) code points, each TCI code point including one or more TCI states, each TCI code point being associated with one of the first TRP and the second TRP, wherein the at least one TCI state is one of the one or more TCI states of one of the one or more TCI code points; The TRP identifier of the TRP that transmitted the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both, in the first TRP and the second TRP is determined based on at least the timestamp and the one or more attributes of the QCL source, wherein the one or more attributes of the QCL source include at least one TCI state associated with the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the network node is a serving base station for the UE.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the one or more positioning measurements, the timestamp, and the one or more attributes of the QCL source are received from the UE.

17. The method of claim 14, further comprising: Transmit one or more TCI code points, each TCI code point including one or more TCI states, each TCI code point being associated with one of the TRPs and the second TRP, wherein the at least one TCI state is one of the one or more TCI states of one of the one or more TCI code points.

18. The method of claim 15, wherein the one or more attributes of the QCL source include a control resource set (CORESET) pool index associated with the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising: Transmit multiple CORESET pool indices for the corresponding multiple CORESETs of the active bandwidth portion (BWP) of the serving cell used by the first TRP and the second TRP, wherein the CORESET pool index associated with the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both is one of the multiple CORESET pool indices.

20. The method of claim 15, further comprising: The location server transmits the one or more location measurements and the TRP identifier to the location server so that the location server can calculate an estimate of the UE's location.

21. The method of claim 15, further comprising: The location of the UE is estimated based on at least one or more positioning measurements and the TRP identifier.

22. The method of claim 14, wherein the network node is a location server.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the one or more attributes of the QCL source include at least one Transport Configuration Indicator (TCI) state associated with the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both.

24. The method of claim 23, further comprising: Receive a timestamp from the serving base station indicating the time during which one or more TCI code points are associated with the first TRP or the second TRP.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein determining the TRP identifier is further based on the association and the timestamp received from the serving base station.

26. The method of claim 22, wherein the one or more attributes of the QCL source include a control resource set (CORESET) pool index associated with the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both.

27. The method of claim 26, further comprising: The association between the UE and the corresponding multiple CORESET pool indexes of the multiple CORESETs for the active bandwidth portion (BWP) of the serving cell used by the first TRP and the second TRP is received from the serving base station for the UE, wherein the CORESET pool index associated with the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs or both is one of the multiple CORESET pool indexes; as well as Receive from the serving base station a timestamp indicating the time during which the plurality of CORESET pool indices are associated with the first TRP or the second TRP.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein determining the TRP identifier is further based on the association and the timestamp received from the serving base station.

29. The method of claim 22, further comprising: The location of the UE is estimated based on at least one or more positioning measurements and the TRP identifier.

30. The method of claim 14, wherein the QCL source includes a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), demodulation reference signal (DMRS), tracking reference signal (TRS), or synchronization signal block (SSB) transmitted by the TRP that transmits the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both of the first TRP and the second TRP.

31. A user equipment (UE), comprising: Memory; At least one transceiver; as well as At least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: The physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), or both are received from at least a first transmit receiving point (TRP), a second TRP, or both via the at least one transceiver. Receive one or more Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) code points, each TCI code point including one or more TCI states, each TCI code point being associated with one of the first TRP and the second TRP, wherein the at least one TCI state is one of the one or more TCI states of one of the one or more TCI code points; Perform positioning measurements on one or more of the PDCCHs, one or more of the PDSCHs, or both; and Report to network nodes the one or more location measurements, timestamps associated with the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both, or the one or more location measurements, and one or more attributes of a quasi-coexistence (QCL) source associated with the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both, wherein the one or more attributes of the QCL source include at least one TCI state associated with the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both.

32. The UE of claim 31, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: Receive a single downlink control information (DCI) for both the first TRP and the second TRP via the at least one transceiver.

33. The UE of claim 31, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: A single PDSCH associated with both the first TRP and the second TRP is received via the at least one transceiver.

34. The UE of claim 31, wherein the one or more TCI code points are received from the serving base station via Media Access Control Element (MAC-CE) signaling or Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling.

35. The UE of claim 31, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: DCI is received from each of the first TRP and the second TRP via the at least one transceiver.

36. The UE of claim 31, wherein the one or more attributes of the QCL source include a control resource set (CORESET) pool index associated with the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both.

37. The UE of claim 36, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: Receive via the at least one transceiver multiple CORESET pool indices for the corresponding multiple CORESETs of the active bandwidth portion (BWP) of the serving cell used by the first TRP and the second TRP, wherein the CORESET pool index associated with the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both is one of the multiple CORESET pool indices.

38. The UE of claim 37, wherein the plurality of CORESET pool indices are received from the serving base station in a Media Access Control Element (MAC-CE) signaling or Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling.

39. The UE of claim 31, wherein the QCL source includes a Channel State Information Reference Signal (CSI-RS), Demodulation Reference Signal (DMRS), Tracking Reference Signal (TRS), or Synchronization Signal Block (SSB) transmitted by the TRP that transmits the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both of the first TRP and the second TRP.

40. The UE of claim 31, wherein the first TRP and the second TRP operate in a single serving cell for the UE.

41. The UE of claim 31, wherein the network node includes a base station or location server serving the UE.

42. The UE of claim 31, wherein the one or more positioning measurements, the timestamp, and the one or more attributes are reported to the network node so that the location server can determine whether the first TRP or the second TRP transmitted the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both.

43. The UE of claim 31, wherein the one or more positioning measurements include reference signal received power (RSRP) measurement, reference signal time difference (RSTD) measurement, receive-transmit (Rx-Tx) time difference measurement, angle measurement, or any combination thereof.

44. A network node, comprising: Memory; At least one transceiver; as well as At least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: The at least one transceiver receives one or more location measurements of a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH), or both, received at a User Equipment (UE) from at least a first Transmit Receive Point (TRP) or a second TRP, timestamps associated with the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both, or the one or more location measurements, and one or more attributes of a Quasi-Coexistence (QCL) source associated with the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both; One or more Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) code points are received via the at least one transceiver, each TCI code point includes one or more TCI states, each TCI code point is associated with one of the first TRP and the second TRP, wherein the at least one TCI state is one of the one or more TCI states of one of the one or more TCI code points; as well as The TRP identifier of the TRP that transmitted the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both, in the first TRP and the second TRP is determined based on at least the timestamp and the one or more attributes of the QCL source, wherein the one or more attributes of the QCL source include at least one TCI state associated with the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both.

45. The network node of claim 44, wherein the network node is a serving base station for the UE.

46. ​​The network node of claim 45, wherein the one or more location measurements, the timestamp, and the one or more attributes of the QCL source are received from the UE.

47. The network node of claim 44, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: The at least one transceiver transmits one or more TCI code points, each TCI code point including one or more TCI states, each TCI code point being associated with one of the TRPs and the second TRP, wherein the at least one TCI state is one of the one or more TCI states of one of the one or more TCI code points.

48. The network node of claim 45, wherein the one or more attributes of the QCL source include a control resource set (CORESET) pool index associated with the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both.

49. The network node of claim 48, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: The at least one transceiver transmits multiple CORESET pool indices for the active bandwidth portion (BWP) of the serving cell used by the first TRP and the second TRP, wherein the CORESET pool index associated with the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both is one of the multiple CORESET pool indices.

50. The network node of claim 45, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: The at least one transceiver transmits the one or more positioning measurements and the TRP identifier to the location server so that the location server can calculate an estimate of the UE's location.

51. The network node of claim 45, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: The location of the UE is estimated based on at least one or more positioning measurements and the TRP identifier.

52. The network node of claim 44, wherein the network node is a location server.

53. The network node of claim 52, wherein the one or more attributes of the QCL source include at least one Transport Configuration Indicator (TCI) state associated with the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both.

54. The network node of claim 53, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: Receive from the serving base station via the at least one transceiver a timestamp indicating the time during which the one or more TCI code points are associated with the first TRP or the second TRP.

55. The network node of claim 54, wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine the TRP identifier further based on the association and the timestamp received from the serving base station.

56. The network node of claim 52, wherein the one or more attributes of the QCL source include a control resource set (CORESET) pool index associated with the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both.

57. The network node of claim 56, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: The at least one transceiver receives from the serving base station for the UE an association between the UE and multiple CORESET pool indices corresponding to multiple CORESETs of the serving cell used by the first TRP and the second TRP, wherein the CORESET pool index associated with the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both is one of the multiple CORESET pool indices; and Receive from the serving base station via the at least one transceiver a timestamp indicating the time during which the plurality of CORESET pool indices are associated with the first TRP or the second TRP.

58. The network node of claim 57, wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine the TRP identifier further based on the association and the timestamp received from the serving base station.

59. The network node of claim 52, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: The location of the UE is estimated based on at least one or more positioning measurements and the TRP identifier.

60. The network node of claim 44, wherein the QCL source includes a Channel State Information Reference Signal (CSI-RS), Demodulation Reference Signal (DMRS), Tracking Reference Signal (TRS), or Synchronization Block (SSB) transmitted by the TRP that transmits the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both of the first TRP and the second TRP.

61. A user equipment (UE), comprising: A means for receiving one or more physical downlink control channels (PDCCH), one or more physical downlink shared channels (PDSCH), or both, from at least a first transmit receiving point (TRP), a second TRP, or both; A means for receiving one or more Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) code points, each TCI code point including one or more TCI states, each TCI code point being associated with one of the first TRP and the second TRP, wherein the at least one TCI state is one of the one or more TCI states of one of the one or more TCI code points. A means for performing positioning measurements on one or more PDCCHs, one or more PDSCHs, or both; as well as A means for reporting to a network node the one or more location measurements, a timestamp associated with the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both, or the one or more location measurements, and one or more attributes of a quasi-coexistence (QCL) source associated with the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both, wherein the one or more attributes of the QCL source include at least one TCI state associated with the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both.

62. The UE of claim 61, further comprising: A means for receiving a single downlink control information (DCI) associated with both the first TRP and the second TRP.

63. The UE of claim 61, further comprising: A means for receiving a single PDSCH associated with both the first TRP and the second TRP.

64. The UE of claim 61, wherein the one or more TCI code points are received from the serving base station via Media Access Control Element (MAC-CE) signaling or Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling.

65. The UE of claim 61, further comprising: A means for receiving a DCI associated with each of the first TRP and the second TRP.

66. The UE of claim 61, wherein the one or more attributes of the QCL source include a control resource set (CORESET) pool index associated with the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both.

67. The UE of claim 66, further comprising: A means for receiving multiple CORESET pool indices for corresponding multiple CORESETs of a serving cell active bandwidth portion (BWP) used by the first TRP and the second TRP, wherein the CORESET pool index associated with the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both is one of the multiple CORESET pool indices.

68. The UE of claim 67, wherein the plurality of CORESET pool indices are received from the serving base station in a Media Access Control Element (MAC-CE) signaling or Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling.

69. The UE of claim 61, wherein the QCL source includes a Channel State Information Reference Signal (CSI-RS), Demodulation Reference Signal (DMRS), Tracking Reference Signal (TRS), or Synchronization Signal Block (SSB) transmitted by the TRP that transmits the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both of the first TRP and the second TRP.

70. The UE of claim 61, wherein the first TRP and the second TRP operate in a single serving cell for the UE.

71. The UE of claim 61, wherein the network node includes a base station or location server serving the UE.

72. The UE of claim 61, wherein the one or more positioning measurements, the timestamp, and the one or more attributes are reported to the network node so that the location server can determine whether the first TRP, the second TRP, or both transmitted the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both.

73. The UE of claim 61, wherein the one or more positioning measurements include reference signal received power (RSRP) measurement, reference signal time difference (RSTD) measurement, receive-transmit (Rx-Tx) time difference measurement, angle measurement, or any combination thereof.

74. A network node, comprising: A means for receiving one or more location measurements of one or more physical downlink control channels (PDCCHs), one or more physical downlink shared channels (PDSCHs), or both, received at a user equipment (UE) from at least a first transmit receiving point (TRP), a second TRP, or both; a timestamp associated with the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both, or the one or more location measurements; and one or more attributes of a quasi-coexistence (QCL) source associated with the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both. A means for receiving one or more Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) code points, each TCI code point including one or more TCI states, each TCI code point being associated with one of the first TRP and the second TRP, wherein the at least one TCI state is one of the one or more TCI states of one of the one or more TCI code points. as well as A means for determining, based on at least the timestamp and one or more attributes of the QCL source, the TRP identifier of the TRP in the first TRP and the second TRP that transmitted the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both, wherein the one or more attributes of the QCL source include at least one TCI state associated with the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both.

75. The network node of claim 74, wherein the network node is a serving base station for the UE.

76. The network node of claim 75, wherein the one or more location measurements, the timestamp, and the one or more attributes of the QCL source are received from the UE.

77. The network node of claim 74, further comprising: A means for transmitting one or more TCI code points, each TCI code point including one or more TCI states, each TCI code point being associated with one of the TRPs and the second TRP, wherein the at least one TCI state is one of the one or more TCI states of one of the one or more TCI code points.

78. The network node of claim 75, wherein the one or more attributes of the QCL source include a control resource set (CORESET) pool index associated with the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both.

79. The network node of claim 78, further comprising: A means for transmitting multiple CORESET pool indices for corresponding multiple CORESETs of the active bandwidth portion (BWP) of the serving cell used by the first TRP and the second TRP, wherein the CORESET pool index associated with the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both is one of the multiple CORESET pool indices.

80. The network node of claim 75, further comprising: A means for transmitting the one or more positioning measurements and the TRP identifier to a location server so that the location server can calculate an estimate of the UE's location.

81. The network node of claim 75, further comprising: A means for calculating an estimate of the location of the UE based on at least one or more positioning measurements and the TRP identifier.

82. The network node of claim 74, wherein the network node is a location server.

83. The network node of claim 82, wherein the one or more attributes of the QCL source include at least one Transport Configuration Indicator (TCI) state associated with the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both.

84. The network node of claim 83, further comprising: A means for receiving from a serving base station a timestamp indicating the time during which one or more TCI code points are associated with the first TRP or the second TRP.

85. The network node of claim 84, wherein determining the TRP identifier is further based on the association and the timestamp received from the serving base station.

86. The network node of claim 82, wherein the one or more attributes of the QCL source include a control resource set (CORESET) pool index associated with the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both.

87. The network node of claim 86, further comprising: A means for receiving from a serving base station for the UE an association between the UE and a plurality of CORESET pool indices for a plurality of corresponding CORESETs for a serving cell active bandwidth portion (BWP) used by the first TRP and the second TRP, wherein the CORESET pool index associated with the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both is one of the plurality of CORESET pool indices; as well as A means for receiving from the serving base station a timestamp indicating the time during which the plurality of CORESET pool indices are associated with the first TRP or the second TRP.

88. The network node of claim 87, wherein determining the TRP identifier is further based on the association and the timestamp received from the serving base station.

89. The network node of claim 82, further comprising: A means for calculating an estimate of the location of the UE based on at least one or more positioning measurements and the TRP identifier.

90. The network node of claim 74, wherein the QCL source includes a Channel State Information Reference Signal (CSI-RS), Demodulation Reference Signal (DMRS), Tracking Reference Signal (TRS), or Synchronization Signal Block (SSB) transmitted by the TRP that transmits the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both of the first TRP and the second TRP.

91. A non-transient computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions, which, when executed by a user equipment (UE), cause the UE to: Receive one or more physical downlink control channels (PDCCH), one or more physical downlink shared channels (PDSCH), or both from at least a first transmit receiving point (TRP), a second TRP, or both; Receive one or more Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) code points, each TCI code point including one or more TCI states, each TCI code point being associated with one of the first TRP and the second TRP, wherein the at least one TCI state is one of the one or more TCI states of one of the one or more TCI code points; Perform positioning measurements on one or more of the PDCCHs, one or more of the PDSCHs, or both; and Report to network nodes the one or more location measurements, timestamps associated with the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both, or the one or more location measurements, and one or more attributes of a quasi-coexistence (QCL) source associated with the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both, wherein the one or more attributes of the QCL source include at least one TCI state associated with the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both.

92. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions, which, when executed by a network node, cause the network node to: Receive one or more location measurements of one or more Physical Downlink Control Channels (PDCCHs), one or more Physical Downlink Shared Channels (PDSCHs), or both, received at a User Equipment (UE) from at least a first Transmit Receive Point (TRP), a second TRP, or both; timestamps associated with the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both, or the one or more location measurements; and one or more attributes of a Quasi-Coexistence (QCL) source associated with the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both. Receive one or more Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) code points, each TCI code point including one or more TCI states, each TCI code point being associated with one of the first TRP and the second TRP, wherein the at least one TCI state is one of the one or more TCI states of one of the one or more TCI code points; and The TRP identifier of the TRP that transmitted the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both, in the first TRP and the second TRP is determined based on at least the timestamp and the one or more attributes of the QCL source, wherein the one or more attributes of the QCL source include at least one TCI state associated with the one or more PDCCHs, the one or more PDSCHs, or both.

Citation Information

Patent Citations

  • Methods, apparatus and machine-readable mediums relating to reference signals for positioning in a wireless network

    WO2020091658A1