Reporting consistency related to reference signals to support user equipment positioning

Abstract

Methods, systems, computer-readable media, and apparatuses are described for reporting information about consistency of positioning reference signal (PRS) measurements, PRS resources, PRS resource sets, or transmission and reception points (TRPs) to support positioning of a UE. In some embodiments, a UE receives PRS resources from TRPs and performs PRS measurements based on the PRS resources. The UE determines whether certain PRS measurements, PRS resources, PRS resource sets, or TRPs contribute to consistent position estimates and / or consistent positioning measurements. The UE reports information about consistent groups to a device, such as to a location server, where each consistent group identifies a set of such consistent elements.

Description

[0001] background

[0002] open field

[0003] The various aspects of this disclosure generally relate to the field of wireless communications, and more specifically to information reported by a user equipment (UE) regarding the consistency of positioning reference signal (PRS) measurements, PRS resources, PRS resource sets, or transmit and receive points (TRPs) that transmit PRS to the UE in order to support UE positioning.

[0004] Related technical descriptions

[0005] In data communication networks with requirements defined by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) (such as 5G NR, also referred to herein as "NR"), positioning technologies can be used to determine the location of mobile electronic devices (hereinafter referred to as UEs). The UE can use radio frequency (RF) signaling between the UE and the transmit / receive point (TRP) (e.g., a base station) of the data communication network to perform measurements for positioning and / or transmit those measurements to the data communication network.

[0006] Different methods are available for performing location measurements. Some location methods are based on downlink signals and include downlink time difference of arrival (DL-TDOA) and downlink angle of arrival (DL-AoD) measurements. Other location methods are based on uplink signals and include uplink time difference of arrival (UL-TDOA) and uplink angle of arrival (UL-AoA) measurements. Yet another location method includes measurements related to both downlink and uplink signals, such as round-trip time (RTT) with one or more neighboring base stations. Furthermore, each base station can be associated with an identifier (ID) of the cells it covers. Location of the UE may involve radio resource management (RRM) measurements using enhanced cell identifiers (E-CIDs).

[0007] To aid in UE localization, a detection reference signal (SRS) (also known as a localization reference signal (PRS) in 3GPP specification version 16) is defined for localization, enabling the UE to detect and measure more neighboring base stations. For example, a base station sends a PRS to the UE to improve the observed time of arrival (OTDOA) in DL-TDOA measurements. The OTDOA of the PRS from the reference cell (e.g., the serving cell) and one or more neighboring cells is called the downlink (DL) reference signal time difference (RSTD). The UE's localization can be determined using DL RSTD measurements, the absolute or relative transmission timing of each cell, and the known localization of the base station transmit antenna elements of the reference cell and neighboring cells.

[0008] Other SRS-based and PRS-based measurements are also possible. For example, downlink PRS can be used for downlink (DL) PRS reference signal received power (RSRP) measurement to support DL-TDOA, DL-AoD, or multiple RTT. SRS for positioning can be used for UE receive-transmit time difference (Rx-Tx) measurement to support multiple RTT.

[0009] UE positioning can also use measurements other than those based on SRS and PRS. For example, the Synchronization Signal Block (SSB) and Channel State Information Reference Signal (CSI-RS) used for Radio Resource Management (RRM) based measurements can be used in the E-CID method.

[0010] Brief Overview

[0011] According to this disclosure, an example method for reporting measurement consistency to support positioning includes: receiving a Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) resource and performing measurements based on the PRS resource. The method further includes: sending information to a device about a first consistency group comprising a first set of elements, wherein: the first set of elements comprises a first number of elements equal to or less than the total of: PRS measurements configured for the UE, PRS resources, a PRS resource set, a Transmit and Receive Point (TRP), or a frequency layer, or a combination thereof. Each element in the first consistency group corresponds to: a PRS measurement, a PRS resource, a PRS resource set, a TRP, or a frequency layer, or a combination thereof. The first consistency group is associated with: a threshold; and a location estimate of the UE determined based on at least a first subset of elements of the first consistency group, wherein the accuracy of the location estimate is estimated to be within the threshold for the first subset of elements.

[0012] According to this disclosure, an example user equipment (UE) for reporting measurement consistency to support positioning includes: a transceiver, a memory, and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the transceiver and the memory, wherein the one or more processors are configured to: receive Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) resources via the transceiver. The one or more processing units are further configured to: perform measurements based on the PRS resources. The one or more processing units are further configured to: transmit information to the device via the transceiver regarding a first consistency group comprising a first set of elements, wherein: the first set of elements comprises a first number of elements equal to or less than the total of: PRS measurements configured for the UE, PRS resources, a set of PRS resources, a Transmit and Receive Point (TRP), or a frequency layer, or a combination thereof. Each element in the first consistency group corresponds to: a PRS measurement, a PRS resource, a set of PRS resources, a TRP, or a frequency layer, or a combination thereof. The first consensus group is associated with: a threshold; and a location estimate of the UE determined based on at least a first subset of elements of the first consensus group, wherein the accuracy of the location estimate is estimated to be within the threshold for the first subset of elements.

[0013] According to this disclosure, an example device for reporting measurement consistency to support positioning includes: means for receiving Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) resources and means for performing measurements based on the PRS resources. The device further includes: means for sending information to the device regarding a first consistency group comprising a first set of elements based on the performed measurements, wherein: the first set of elements comprises a first number of elements equal to or less than the total of: PRS measurements configured for the UE, PRS resources, a set of PRS resources, a Transmit and Receive Point (TRP), or a frequency layer, or a combination thereof. Each element in the first consistency group corresponds to: a PRS measurement, a PRS resource, a set of PRS resources, a TRP, or a frequency layer, or a combination thereof. The first consistency group is associated with: a threshold; and a location estimate of the UE determined based on at least a first subset of the first consistency group, the accuracy of which is estimated to be within the threshold for the first subset of elements.

[0014] According to this disclosure, an example non-transient computer-readable medium stores instructions for reporting measurement consistency to support positioning. The instructions include code for performing operations such as receiving a Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) resource and performing measurements based on the PRS resource. The instructions include code for sending information to a device regarding a first consistency group comprising a first set of elements, based on the performed measurements. The first set of elements comprises a first number of elements equal to or less than the total number of: PRS measurements configured for the UE, PRS resources, a set of PRS resources, a Transmit and Receive Point (TRP), or a frequency layer, or a combination thereof. Each element in the first consistency group corresponds to: a PRS measurement, a PRS resource, a set of PRS resources, a TRP, or a frequency layer, or a combination thereof. The first consistency group is associated with: a threshold; and a location estimate of the UE determined based on at least a first subset of elements of the first consistency group, the accuracy of which is estimated to be within the threshold for the first subset of elements.

[0015] This summary is not intended to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used alone to determine the scope of the claimed subject matter. The subject matter should be understood in reference to the appropriate portions of this disclosure, any or all drawings, and each claim. The foregoing, as well as other features and examples, will be described in more detail in the following description, claims, and drawings. Brief description of the attached diagram

[0017] Various aspects of this disclosure are illustrated by way of example. In the accompanying drawings, similar reference numerals indicate similar elements.

[0018] Figure 1 An example illustrating a communication system according to at least one embodiment.

[0019] Figure 2 An example of a frame structure that can be used by a communication system according to at least one embodiment is explained.

[0020] Figure 3 An example of a communication procedure in a location session according to at least one embodiment is explained.

[0021] Figure 4 An example of a UE receiving a PRS from multiple TRPs according to at least one embodiment is explained.

[0022] Figure 5 An example of a UE reporting information about a conformance group according to at least one embodiment is explained.

[0023] Figure 6 An example of a process for reporting information about a consistency group, according to at least one embodiment, is explained.

[0024] Figure 7 Another example of a process for determining a consistency group according to at least one embodiment is explained.

[0025] Figure 8 This section explains another example of a process for reporting measurement consistency to support the positioning of a UE, according to at least one embodiment.

[0026] Figure 9 This is a block diagram of an embodiment of a UE, which can be as described in the embodiments described herein and in conjunction with... Figures 1 to 8 Utilize them in a related way.

[0027] Figure 10 Explaining embodiments of the device, which may be as described herein and in conjunction with Figure 1-8 Use it as described in relation to the relevant information.

[0028] Similar reference numerals in the various figures indicate similar elements according to certain examples. Additionally, multiple instances of an element can be indicated by appending a letter or hyphen followed by a second numeral after the first numeral. For example, multiple instances of element 110 may be indicated as 110-1, 110-2, 110-3, etc., or as 110a, 110b, 110c, etc. When only the first numeral is used to refer to such an element, it will be understood as any instance of that element (e.g., element 110 in the previous example would refer to elements 110-1, 110-2, and 110-3, or elements 110a, 110b, and 110c).

[0029] Detailed description

[0030] The following description is directed to certain implementations in order to describe aspects of the innovation of the various embodiments. However, those skilled in the art will readily recognize that the teachings herein can be applied in many different ways. The described implementations can be implemented in any device, system, or network capable of transmitting and receiving radio frequency (RF) signals according to any communication standard such as any of the following: any of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) IEEE 802.11 standards (including those identified as...). Those technical standards) Standard, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), GSM / General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), Enhanced Data GSM Environment (EDGE), Terrestrial Trunking Radio (TETRA), Wideband CDMA (W-CDMA), Evolved Data Optimized (EV-DO), 1xEV-DO, EV-DO Revision A, EV-DO Revision B, High Rate Packet Data (HRPD), High Speed ​​Packet Access (HSPA), High Speed ​​Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), High Speed ​​Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA), Evolved High Speed ​​Packet Access (HSPA+), Long Term Evolution (LTE), Advanced Mobile Phone Systems (AMPS), or other known signals used for communication in wireless, cellular, or Internet of Things (IoT) networks (such as systems utilizing 3G, 4G, 5G, 6G, or further implementations thereof).

[0031] Several illustrative embodiments will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, which form part of the embodiments. Although specific embodiments that can implement one or more aspects of this disclosure are described below, other embodiments can be used and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of this disclosure.

[0032] Among other things, embodiments of this disclosure pertain to the UE sending information about conformance groups to a device (such as a location server or another UE) to support UE positioning. In one example, the UE receives a reference signal (such as a PRS) from a TRP and performs measurements on the reference signal to support the positioning method. Measurement inconsistencies may occur at the reference signal measurement level, reference signal resource level, reference signal resource set level, TRP level, and / or frequency layer level due to various factors, including, for example, line-of-sight (LOS) and non-line-of-sight (NLOS) transmissions, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and synchronization errors. UE positioning can be improved by detecting measurement inconsistencies and alternatively relying on conformance measurements. To do so, the UE performs an outlier detection algorithm on the reference signal measurements at any of the aforementioned levels to determine one or more conformance groups for each applicable level. The UE sends information about the conformance groups to the device, such as in one or more positioning measurement reports and / or in one or more separate reports. A conformance group typically comprises a set of N elements that are consistent with their reference signal measurements. Each of the N elements corresponds to at least one of the following: reference signal measurement, reference signal resource, reference signal resource set, TRP, or frequency layer.

[0033] In one example, the consistency of the consistency group is associated with the UE's location estimation, where the location is determined based on a subset of X elements out of N elements. Consistency is also associated with an estimation threshold. The UE location estimated using any subset of Y elements out of N elements, or at least a subset of Y elements, falls within the estimation threshold for location estimation. Each of X, Y, and N is a positive integer, and X ≤ N and Y ≤ N.

[0034] In the additional or replacement example, the consistency of the consistency group is associated with the UE's location estimation and measurement threshold. Measurements estimated for at least one or any of the X elements based on reference signal measurements associated with X elements are within the measurement threshold of the reference measurement for that element.

[0035] To illustrate, consider an example where the UE receives PRS from ten TRPs during a positioning session with a location server. At the TRP level, the UE determines that eight of the ten TRPs belong to a consensus group, while the remaining two do not. In this scenario, a consensus group represents the fact that, when determining the UE's location based on measurements of PRS sent from five of the eight TRPs, further estimating the UE's location by additionally using any measurements of PRS sent from the remaining three TRPs in the consensus group would result in an error within an estimation threshold. Conversely, if any measurements of PRS sent from the two TRPs outside the consensus group are used to further estimate the UE's location, the estimated UE location will have an error greater than the estimation threshold.

[0036] As used herein, a PRS resource refers to a set of resource elements (REs) within a time slot transmitted from a specific TRP port (e.g., port 6). A resource element is a minimum transmission unit or part of a frame and contains values ​​representing data from a physical channel or signal. Receiving a PRS resource means that the UE uses configuration information regarding the allocation of PRS resources (including, for example, time slot numbers and OFDM symbol numbers) to process the corresponding set of resource elements and determine the PRS data included in such a set.

[0037] For clarity, the embodiments of this disclosure are described in conjunction with PRS-based positioning measurements. However, the embodiments are not limited thereto, and are similarly applied to other types of reference signals and positioning measurements, including reference signals and positioning measurements based on SRS for positioning, SSB for RRM, CSI-RS for RRM, etc. Furthermore, positioning measurements are performed during a positioning session to support different positioning methods, including, for example, TDOA, AoD, and / or RTT. Also herein, the terms "location" and "positioning" are used interchangeably.

[0038] Figure 1 An example illustrating a communication system 100 according to at least one embodiment is provided. The communication system 100 can be configured to determine the location of a UE 105 using one or more positioning methods implemented through access nodes 110, 114, and 116 and / or a location server (LMF 120). Here, the communication system 100 includes the UE 105 and various components of a 5G network, including a next-generation (NG) radio access network (RAN) (NG-RAN) 135 and a 5G core network (5GCN) 140. The 5G network may also be referred to as an NR network; NG-RAN 135 may be referred to as 5G RAN or NR RAN; and 5GCN 140 may be referred to as the NG core network. Standardization of NG-RAN and 5GCN is underway within 3GPP. Accordingly, NG-RAN 135 and 5GCN 140 may conform to current or future standards for 5G support from 3GPP. The communication system 100 may further utilize information from the aircraft (SV) 190 from a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) (such as GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, or BeiDou) or another local or regional satellite positioning system (SPS) (such as IRNSS, European Geostationary Navigation Coverage Service (EGNOS), or Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS)). Additional components of the communication system 100 are described below. The communication system 100 may include additional or replacement components.

[0039] It should be noted that Figure 1 This document provides only a general description of the various components, where any or all of them may be utilized appropriately, and each component may be repeated or omitted as needed. Specifically, although only one UE 105 is described, it will be understood that many UEs (e.g., hundreds, thousands, millions, etc.) may utilize the communication system 100. Similarly, the communication system 100 may include a larger (or smaller) number of SV 190, gNB 110, ng-eNB 114, WLAN 116, Access and Mobility Function (AMF) 115, external clients 130, and / or other components. The described connections connecting the various components in the communication system 100 include data and signaling connections, which may include additional (intermediate) components, direct or indirect physical and / or wireless connections, and / or additional networks. Furthermore, components may be rearranged, combined, separated, replaced, and / or omitted depending on the desired functionality.

[0040] UE 105 may include and / or be referred to as a device, mobile device, wireless device, mobile terminal, terminal, mobile station (MS), Secure User Plane Positioning Enabled (SUPL) terminal (SET), or some other name. Furthermore, UE 105 may correspond to a cellular phone, smartphone, laptop computer, tablet device, personal data assistant (PDA), tracking device, navigation device, Internet of Things (IoT) device, or some other portable or mobile device. Typically, although not mandatory, UE 105 may use one or more Radio Access Technologies (RATs) (such as using Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Wideband CDMA (WCDMA), LTE, High Rate Packet Data (HRPD), IEEE 802.11 Wi-Fi (also known as Wi-Fi), Bluetooth (BT), WiMAX, 5G New Radio (NR) (e.g., using NG-RAN 135 and 5GCN 140), etc.) to support wireless communication. UE 105 may also support wireless communication using WLAN 116, which can connect to other networks (such as the Internet). Using one or more of these RATs allows UE 105 (e.g., via...) Figure 1 The 5GCN 140 (not shown) may communicate with the external client 130 via the Gateway Mobile Location Center (GMLC) 125 and / or allow the external client 130 (e.g., via GMLC 125) to receive location information about the UE 105.

[0041] UE 105 may include a single entity or may include multiple entities, such as in a personal area network in which the user may employ audio, video, and / or data I / O devices, and / or body sensors, as well as separate wired or wireless modems. An estimate of the location of UE 105 may be referred to as location, location estimate, location lock, lock, positioning, location estimation, or location lock, and may be geodetic, providing location coordinates (e.g., latitude and longitude) of UE 105, which may or may not include an elevation component (e.g., height above sea level; height above ground level, floor level, or basement level, or depth below). Alternatively, the location of UE 105 may be expressed as a municipal location (e.g., expressed as a postal address or a designation of a point or smaller area within a building (such as a specific room or floor)). The location of UE 105 may also be expressed as an area or volume region (geodographically or in a municipal form) in which UE 105 is expected to be located with a certain probability or confidence level (e.g., 67%, 95%, etc.). The location of UE 105 may further be a relative location, which includes, for example, distance and direction defined relative to an origin at a known location, or relative to X, Y (and Z) coordinates. This known location may be geographically defined, municipally defined, or defined with reference to a point, area, or volume indicated on a map, floor plan, or building plan. In the description contained herein, the use of the term "location" may include any of these variations unless otherwise indicated. When calculating the location of the UE, local X, Y, and possibly Z coordinates are typically solved, and then, if necessary, the local coordinates are converted to absolute coordinates (e.g., with respect to latitude, longitude, and elevation above or below mean sea level).

[0042] exist Figure 1 The base station (BS) in the NG-RAN 135 shown may include transmit-receive points (TRPs), such as NRB nodes (gNBs) (including gNBs 110-1 and 110-2 (generally referred to herein as gNB 110)) and / or gNB antennas. Pairs of gNBs 110 in the NG-RAN 135 may be interconnected (e.g., as shown in the diagram). Figure 1 (As shown in the diagram, a direct connection or an indirect connection via another gNB 110). Access to the 5G network is provided to the UE 105 via wireless communication between the UE 105 and one or more gNBs 110, which may use 5G NR to provide wireless communication access to the 5GCN 140 on behalf of the UE 105. 5G NR radio access may also be referred to as NR radio access or 5G radio access. Figure 1In this context, it is assumed that the serving gNB of UE 105 is gNB 110-1, although other gNBs (e.g., gNB 110-2) may act as serving gNBs or as secondary gNBs to provide additional throughput and bandwidth to UE 105 if UE 105 moves to another location.

[0043] Figure 1 The BS in NG-RAN 135 shown may also include, or instead, a Next Generation Evolved B node, also known as ng-eNB 114. Ng-eNB 114 may be connected to one or more gNBs 110 in NG-RAN 135—for example, directly or indirectly via other gNBs 110 and / or other ng-eNBs. ng-eNB 114 may provide LTE radio access and / or evolved LTE (eLTE) radio access to UE 105. Figure 1 Some gNBs 110 (e.g., gNB 110-2) and / or ng-eNBs 114 can be configured to act as location-only beacon towers, which can transmit signals (e.g., location reference signals (“PRS signals”)) and / or broadcast auxiliary data to assist in the positioning of UE 105, but may not receive signals from UE 105 or from other UEs. Note that although in Figure 1 The image shows only one ng-eNB 114, but some embodiments may include multiple ng-eNB 114s.

[0044] The communication system 100 may also include one or more WLANs 116 that can connect to a non-3GPP interoperability function (N3IWF) 150 in the 5GCN 140 (e.g., in the case of an untrusted WLAN 116). For example, the WLAN 116 may support IEEE 802.11 WiFi access for the UE 105 and may include one or more WiFi access points (APs). Here, the N3IWF 150 may connect to other elements in the 5GCN 140, such as the AMF 115. In some embodiments, the WLAN 116 may support another RAT, such as Bluetooth. The N3IWF 150 may provide support for secure access by the UE 105 to other elements in the 5GCN 140 and / or may support interoperability between one or more protocols used by the WLAN 116 and the UE 105 and one or more protocols used by other elements of the 5GCN 140 (such as the AMF 115). For example, N3IWF 150 can support: establishing an IPsec tunnel with UE 105, terminating the IKEv2 / IPsec protocol with UE 105, terminating the N2 and N3 interfaces to 5GCN 140 for control plane (CP) and user plane (UP) respectively, and relaying uplink (UL) and downlink (DL) CP non-access stratum (NAS) signaling across the N1 interface between UE 105 and AMF 115. In some other embodiments, WLAN 116 can be directly connected to components in 5GCN 140 (e.g., such as...). Figure 1 The AMF 115 (shown by the dashed line) does not pass through N3IWF 150. For example, a direct connection between WLAN 116 and 5GCN 140 can occur if WLAN 116 is a trusted WLAN to 5GCN 140, and a Trusted WLAN Interoperability (TWIF) function that can be used as an internal component of WLAN 116 can be employed. Figure 1 (Not shown in the image) to achieve this. Note that although in Figure 1 Only one WLAN 116 is shown, but some embodiments may include multiple WLANs 116.

[0045] The access node may include any of a variety of network entities that enable communication between UE 105 and AMF 115. This may include gNB 110, ng-eNB 114, WLAN 116, and / or other types of cellular base stations. However, the access node providing the functionality described herein may additionally or alternatively include entities that enable communication with… Figure 1The entity communicating with any of the various RATs (which may include non-cellular technologies) not described herein. Therefore, as used in the embodiments described below, the term "access node" may include, but is not limited to, gNB 110, ng-eNB 114, or WLAN 116.

[0046] In some embodiments, an access node (such as gNB 110, ng-eNB 114, or WLAN 116) (alone or in combination with other components of the communication system 100) may be configured to: in response to a request for location information received from LMF 120, obtain location measurements of uplink (UL) signals received from UE 105 and / or obtain DL location measurements obtained by UE 105 for downlink (DL) signals received by UE 105 from one or more access nodes. As mentioned, although Figure 1 The description depicts access nodes 110, 114, and 116 configured to communicate according to 5G NR, LTE, and Wi-Fi communication protocols, respectively. However, access nodes configured to communicate according to other communication protocols can be used, such as, for example, a B node using the WCDMA protocol for Universal Mobile Telecommunications Service (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN), an eNB using the LTE protocol for Evolved UTRAN (E-UTRAN), or using the protocol for WLAN. The protocol's Bluetooth beacon station. For example, in a 4G Evolved Packet System (EPS) providing LTE radio access to UE 105, the RAN may include an E-UTRAN, which may include base stations containing eNBs supporting LTE radio access. The core network for the EPS may include an Evolved Packet Core (EPC). Thus, the EPS may include an E-UTRAN plus an EPC, where... Figure 1 In this context, E-UTRAN corresponds to NG-RAN 135 and EPC corresponds to 5GCN 140. The methods and techniques described herein for obtaining the municipal location of UE 105 are applicable to other such networks.

[0047] gNB 110 and ng-eNB 114 can communicate with AMF 115, and for positioning functionality, AMF 115 communicates with LMF120. AMF 115 supports the mobility of UE 105, including cell changes and handovers from access nodes 110, 114, or 116 of the first RAT to access nodes 110, 114, or 116 of the second RAT. AMF 115 can also participate in supporting signaling connections to UE 105 and may support data and voice bearers for UE 105. The LMF 120 supports the use of the CP positioning solution to locate UE 105 when it accesses NG-RAN 135 or WLAN 116. It supports various positioning protocols and methods, including UE-assisted / UE-based and / or network-based protocols / methods such as A-GNSS, Observed Time Difference of Arrival (OTDOA) (which may be referred to as TDOA in NR), Real-Time Kinematics (RTK), Precise Point Positioning (PPP), Differential GNSS (DGNSS), Enhanced Cellular ID (ECID), Angle of Arrival (AOA), Angle of Departure (AOD), WLAN positioning, Round-Trip Propagation Delay (RTT), Multi-Cell RTT, and / or other positioning protocols and methods. The LMF 120 can also handle location service requests for UE 105 received, for example, from AMF 115 or GMLC 125. The LMF 120 can be connected to AMF 115 and / or GMLC 125. In some embodiments, the network (such as 5GCN 140) may additionally or alternatively implement other types of location support modules, such as an evolved Serving Mobility Location Center (E-SMLC) or a SUPL Location Platform (SLP). It should be noted that in some embodiments, at least a portion of the location functionality (including determining the location of UE 105) may be performed at UE 105 (e.g., by measuring downlink PRS (DL-PRS) signals transmitted by radio nodes (such as gNB 110, ng-eNB 114, and / or WLAN 116) and / or using auxiliary data, for example, provided to UE 105 by LMF 120).

[0048] Gateway Mobile Location Center (GMLC) 125 can support location requests for UE 105 received from external client 130, and can forward such location requests to AMF 115 for forwarding to LMF 120, or can forward the location request directly to LMF 120. A location response from LMF 120 (e.g., containing a location estimate for UE 105) can similarly be returned to GMLC 125 directly or via AMF 115, and GMLC 125 can then return the location response (e.g., containing the location estimate) to external client 130. GMLC 125 is shown connected to... Figure 1 Both AMF 115 and LMF 120 are supported, but in some implementations only one of these connections can be supported by 5GCN 140.

[0049] like Figure 1 As further explained, the LMF 120 can communicate with the gNB 110 and / or the ng-eNB 114 using NR Location Protocol Annex (NRPPa) as defined in 3GPP Technical Specification (TS) 38.445. NRPPa messages can be transmitted between the gNB 110 and LMF 120 and / or between the ng-eNB 114 and LMF 120 via the AMF 115. Figure 1 As further explained, LMF 120 and UE 105 can communicate using the LTE Positioning Protocol (LPP) as defined in 3GPP TS37.355. Here, LPP messages can be transmitted between UE 105 and LMF 120 via AMF 115 and UE 105's serving gNB 110-1 or serving ng-eNB 114. For example, LPP messages can be transmitted between LMF 120 and AMF 115 using messages for service-based operations (e.g., based on Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP)), and can be transmitted between AMF 115 and UE 105 using the 5G NAS protocol. The LPP protocol can be used to support positioning of UE 105 using UE-assisted and / or UE-based positioning methods (such as A-GNSS, RTK, TDOA, multi-cell RTT, AoD, and / or ECID). The NRPPa protocol can be used to support the location of UE 105 using network-based location methods such as ECID, AOA, and uplink TDOA (UL-TDOA) and / or can be used by LMF120 to obtain location-related information from gNB 110 and / or ng-eNB 114, such as defining parameters of DL-PRS transmissions from gNB 110 and / or ng-eNB 114.

[0050] In the case where UE 105 accesses WLAN 116, LMF 120 can use NRPPa and / or LPP to obtain the location of UE 105 in a manner similar to that described just for UE 105 accessing gNB 110 or ng-eNB 114. Thus, NRPPa messages can be transmitted between WLAN 116 and LMF 120 via AMF 115 and N3IWF 150 to support network-based location of UE 105 and / or to transmit other location information from WLAN 116 to LMF 120. Alternatively, NRPPa messages can be transmitted between N3IWF 150 and LMF 120 via AMF 115 to support network-based location of UE 105 based on location-related information and / or location measurements known or accessible to N3IWF 150 and transmitted from N3IWF 150 to LMF 120 using NRPPa. Similarly, LPP and / or LPP messages can be transmitted between UE105 and LMF 120 via AMF 115, N3IWF 150, and the serving WLAN 116 of UE 105 to support UE-assisted or UE-based positioning of UE 105 by LMF 120.

[0051] In the 5G NR positioning system 100, the positioning method can be classified as "UE-assisted" or "UE-based." This depends on where the request to determine the location of UE 105 originates. For example, if the request originates from the UE (e.g., from an application or "app" executed by the UE), the positioning method can be classified as UE-based. On the other hand, if the request originates from an external client or other devices or services within the AF 130, LMF 120, or 5G network, the positioning method can be classified as UE-assisted (or "network-based").

[0052] Using a UE-assisted positioning method, UE 105 can obtain location measurements and send these measurements to a location server (e.g., LMF 120) for calculating a location estimate for UE 105. For RAT-dependent positioning methods, location measurements may include one or more of the following for one or more access points of gNB 110, ng-eNB 114, and / or WLAN 116: Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI), Round-Trip Time (RTT), Reference Received Power (RSRP), Reference Received Quality (RSRQ), Reference Received Time Difference (RSTD), Time of Arrival (TOA), AOA, Receive Time-Transmit Time Difference (Rx-Tx), Differential AOA (DAOA), AoD, or Timing Advance (TA). Additionally or alternatively, similar measurements may be performed on sidelink signals transmitted by other UEs, whose locations are known, and these other UEs may be used as anchor points for locating UE 105. Location measurements may additionally or alternatively include measurements for RAT-independent positioning methods, such as GNSS (e.g., GNSS pseudorange, GNSS code phase, and / or GNSS carrier phase with respect to GNSS satellite 110), WLAN, etc.

[0053] Using a UE-based positioning method, UE 105 can obtain a location measurement (e.g., which may be the same as or similar to the location measurement of a UE-assisted positioning method), and can further calculate the location of UE 105 (e.g., with the aid of auxiliary data received from a location server (such as LMF 120, SLP) or broadcast by gNB 110, ng-eNB 114 or WLAN 116).

[0054] Using a network-based positioning method, one or more base stations (e.g., gNB 110 and / or ng-eNB 114), one or more APs (e.g., APs in WLAN 116), or N3IWF 150 can obtain location measurements (e.g., RSSI, RTT, RSRP, RSRQ, AOA, or TOA) of signals transmitted by UE 105, and / or can receive measurements obtained by UE 105 or, in the case of N3IWF 150, by APs in WLAN 116, and can send these measurements to a location server (e.g., LMF 120) for calculating a location estimate for UE 105.

[0055] The positioning of UE 105 can also be classified as UL-based, DL-based, or DL-UL-based depending on the type of signal used for positioning. For example, if positioning is based solely on signals received by UE 105 (e.g., from a base station or other UE), the positioning can be classified as DL-based. On the other hand, if positioning is based solely on signals transmitted by UE 105 (which may be received by, for example, a base station or other UE), the positioning can be classified as UL-based. DL-UL-based positioning includes positioning based on signals transmitted and received by UE 105, such as RTT-based positioning. Side-link (SL)-assisted positioning includes signals communicated between UE 105 and one or more other UEs. According to some embodiments, the UL, DL, or DL-UL positioning described herein can enable SL signaling to be used as a supplement to or replacement of SL, DL, or DL-UL signaling.

[0056] Depending on the positioning type (e.g., UL-based, DL-based, or DL-UL-based), the type of reference signal used may differ. For example, for DL-based positioning, these signals may include PRS (e.g., DL-PRS transmitted by the base station or SL-PRS transmitted by other UEs), which can be used for TDOA, AoD, and RTT measurements. Other reference signals that can be used for positioning (UL, DL, or DL-UL) may include: probe reference signal (SRS), channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), synchronization signals (e.g., synchronization signal block (SSS) synchronization signal (SS)), physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH), demodulation reference signal (DMRS), etc. Furthermore, reference signals may be transmitted in Tx beams and / or received in Rx beams (e.g., using beamforming techniques), which can affect angle measurements such as AoD and / or AOA.

[0057] Figure 2 This is an example illustrating a frame structure 200 that can be used by a communication system (such as communication system 100) according to at least one embodiment. Frame structure 200 can serve as the basis for physical layer communication between UE 105 and serving gNB 110-1. The transmission timeline of each of the downlink and uplink can be divided into units of radio frames. Each radio frame may have a predetermined duration (e.g., 10 milliseconds (ms)) and may be divided into 10 subframes with indices “0” to “9”, each subframe being 1 ms long. Each subframe may include a variable number of time slots, depending on the subcarrier interval. Each time slot may include a variable number of symbol periods (e.g., 7 or 14 symbols), depending on the subcarrier interval. An index may be assigned to the symbol periods in each time slot. Mini-time slots may include sub-time slot structures (e.g., 2, 3, or 4 symbols). Additionally, in Figure 2 The diagram shows the complete orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) of a subframe, illustrating how a subframe can be divided into multiple resource blocks (RBs) across both time and frequency. A single RB can comprise a grid of resource elements (REs) spanning 14 symbols and 12 subcarriers. Each RE... Figure 2 Squares are used to represent PRS REs (e.g., REs allocated for PRS, also referred to as PRS resources in this document). In Figure 2 In the explanation, PRS allocation follows a diagonal pattern, where the symbols used for PRS are arranged diagonally and separated by six subcarriers in the frequency domain.

[0058] Each symbol in a time slot can indicate link direction (e.g., DL, UL, or flexible) or data transmission, and the link direction used for each subframe can be dynamically switched. Link direction can be based on a time slot format. Each time slot can include DL / UL data and DL / UL control information. In NR, synchronization signal (SS) blocks are transmitted. SS blocks include a primary SS (PSS), a secondary SS (SSS), and a two-symbol physical broadcast channel (PBCH). SS blocks can be located at fixed time slot positions (such as...). Figure 2 The PSS and SSS are transmitted in symbols “0-3” shown in the diagram. The PSS and SSS can be used by the UE for cell search and capture. The PSS provides half-frame timing, and the SS provides cyclic prefix (CP) length and frame timing. The PSS and SSS provide cell identity. The PBCH carries some basic system information, such as downlink system bandwidth, timing information within radio frames, SS burst set periodicity, and system frame number.

[0059] For a given frequency, the serving gNB 110-1 can configure the UE 105 to perform Time Domain Division (TDD) resource allocation, particularly by using different layers to perform different functions. The “upper layer” or “higher layer” may include a layer of the serving base station 110-1 that provides control information to the UE 105 via a Radio Resource Control (RRC) protocol (e.g., the RRC layer). The higher layer may additionally include an application layer, a Media Access Control (MAC) layer, or other layers capable of providing the UE 105 with information about allocated resources for communication. Furthermore, the physical layer (or “lower layer”) has a scheduler that can provide downlink control information (DCI) information (e.g., transmission format, resource allocation, etc.) to the UE 105 via the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH). The serving gNB 110-1 can use RRC signaling to perform semi-static allocation of time-domain resource elements to achieve cell-specific and / or UE-specific modes. The physical layer of the gNB 110-1 service can (using the DCI in the PDCCH) perform dynamic specification of time-domain resources on a per-slot basis (e.g., with a much finer granularity than RRC signaling) using the Slot Format Indicator (SFI) in the DCI.

[0060] PUCCH is used to convey uplink control information (UCI) from the UE to the serving gNB 110-1. This UCI may include, for example, Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) (e.g., HARQ Acknowledgement (HARQ-ACK)), Channel State Information (CSI), and Scheduling Request (SR). In NR, PUCCH can be flexible in its time and frequency allocation, allowing UEs with different capabilities (e.g., UEs with lower bandwidth capabilities) to efficiently utilize available resources. For NR, PUCCH resources can have five different formats, including short format (where the PUCCH resource spans "1-2" symbols) and long format (where the PUCCH resource can span "4-14" symbols).

[0061] Figure 3An example of a communication process in a positioning session according to at least one embodiment is described. The positioning session is between UE 305 and device 320. UE 305 may correspond to UE 105. Device 320 may be a location server (e.g., LMF 120), wherein the location server may be a standalone component of a communication system (e.g., communication system 100) or may be integrated with another component of the communication system (e.g., with a base station). The positioning session follows a specific protocol (such as the LPP protocol for LPP sessions) and remains established to allow communication between UE 305 and device 320 according to the specific protocol. During the positioning session, information is exchanged between UE 305 and device 320 to achieve UE positioning. The information may define parameters for positioning measurements to support positioning methods. UE 305 may perform positioning measurements on PRS sent from one or more TRPs and corresponding to PRS resources and resource sets. UE 305 may also report positioning measurements to device 320 and / or estimate the location of UE 305 and report that location to device 320. Specifically, UE 305 can report location information, which includes positioning measurements and / or location estimates.

[0062] As shown, at the start of a positioning session, device 320 may not be aware of UE 305's ability to perform positioning measurements. Therefore, a capability indication procedure is executed to send information about the capability to device 320 (shown as capability transmission 301). Furthermore, auxiliary data can be sent from device 320 to UE 305 according to an auxiliary data procedure (shown as auxiliary data transmission 302). UE 305 can rely on the auxiliary data to perform specific positioning measurements. According to a location transmission procedure, data related to the positioning measurements (e.g., actual measurements or location estimates derived from them) can be sent to UE 305 (shown as location transmission 303). Each transmission in the process may include the exchange of one or more messages, each message requesting and providing information.

[0063] In an OTDOA-specific example, as part of capability transmission 301, device 320 sends a "Request Capabilities" message to UE 305, indicating the type of capability required. For OTDOA, this message includes an OTDOA-RequestCapabilities information element (IE) indicating a request for OTDOA capabilities from UE 305. In response, UE 305 sends a "Provide Capabilities" message to device 320. This response message includes supported OTDOA modes, supported frequency bands, support for inter-frequency RSTD measurements, and other information related to UE 305's ability to support OTDOA positioning methods.

[0064] As part of auxiliary data transmission 302, device 320 sends a “Provide Auxiliary Data” message to UE 305, which includes, for example, OTDOA auxiliary data. The OTDOA auxiliary data message includes auxiliary data reference cells, assistance with multiple neighboring cells, PRS configuration (including PRS resources and PRS resource sets), and other information related to assisting UE 305 in performing positioning measurements.

[0065] As part of location transmission 303, device 320 sends a "Request Location Information" message to UE 305 to request, for example, RSTD measurements. This message may include the type of location information, desired accuracy, response time, whether periodic reporting is requested, environmental characteristics (including anticipated multipath and NLOS), and other information relevant to performing the location measurement. For example, UE 305 uses the provided auxiliary data to perform RSTD measurements. When the response time indicated by the "Request Location Information" message expires, UE 305 provides the RTSD measurements to device 320 in a "Provide Location Information" message.

[0066] In the example above, the following information can be reported in the "Provide Location Information Message":

[0067] NR-DL-TDOA-SignalMeasurementInformation-r16::=SEQUENCE{

[0068] dl-PRS-ReferenceInfo-r16 DL-PRS-IdInfo-r16,

[0069] nr-DL-TDOA-MeasList-r16 NR-DL-TDOA-MeasList-r16, ...

[0071] }

[0072] NR-DL-TDOA-MeasList-r16::=SEQUENCE(SIZE(1..nrMaxTRPs-r16))OFNR-DL-TDOA-MeasElement-r16

[0073] NR-DL-TDOA-MeasElement-r16::=SEQUENCE{

[0074] trp-ID-r16 TRP-ID-r16,

[0075] nr-DL-PRS-ResourceId-r16 NR-DL-PRS-ResourceId-r16 OPTIONAL,

[0076] nr-DL-PRS-ResourceSetId-r16 NR-DL-PRS-ResourceSetId-r16 OPTIONAL,nr-TimeStamp-r16 NR-TimeStamp-r16,

[0077] nr-RSTD-r16 INTEGER(0..ffs),--FFS on the value range

[0078] nr-AdditionalPathList-r16 NR-AdditionalPathList-r16 OPTIONAL,

[0079] nr-TimingMeasQuality-r16 NR-TimingMeasQuality-r16,

[0080] nr-PRS-RSRP-Result-r16 INTEGER(FFS)OPTIONAL,--FFS,valuerange to bedecided in RAN4.

[0081] nr-DL-TDOA-AdditionalMeasurements-r16

[0082] NR-DL-TDOA-AdditionalMeasurements-r16 OPTIONAL, ...

[0084] }

[0085] As shown, the information in the aforementioned report includes the identifier (or identity-ID) of the reference cell used for RTSD measurements, the quality of the TOA measurements from the reference cell (e.g., TRP ID), a list of neighboring cell measurements including the identifiers (e.g., TRP IDs) of the neighboring cells being measured, the associated RSTD measurements and their quality, the identifier of the PRS resource, the identifier of the PRS resource set, and other information related to the measurements. As further described below, the message can be expanded to also identify one or more conformance groups. Conformance groups can be applicable to areas containing UE 305 and nearby UEs.

[0086] In addition to the physical cell identifier and global cell identifier that identify the TRP for each UE, the TRP identifier may also include an integer that locally identifies the TRP for the UE 305. An example of a TRP identifier is shown below:

[0087] --ASN1START

[0088] TRP-ID-r16::=SEQUENCE{

[0089] dl-PRS-ID-r16 INTEGER(0..255)OPTIONAL,

[0090] nr-PhysCellId-r16 NR-PhysCellId-r16 OPTIONAL,

[0091] nr-CellGlobalId-r16 NCGI-r15 OPTIONAL,--Need ON

[0092] nrARFCNRef-r16 ARFCN-ValueNR-r15 OPTIONAL,--CondNotSameAsRefServ0 ...

[0094] }

[0095] --ASN1STOP

[0096] Additionally, the information in the aforementioned report includes the timestamp of the measurement. The timestamp can be used to determine the absolute time used for tracking. Specifically, the absolute time can be used to track the consistency group determined by UE 305 over time. In this way, the consistency group can be applied not only to the area containing UE 305 and nearby UEs, but also to the time period. In other words, a consistency group may be available to the UE in "Area A" between times "t1" and "t2", but may not be available in "Area B" or may no longer be available in "Area A" after time "t2". For example, the reported timestamp includes fields related to the valid time slot, subframe, and frame number for which the measurement is valid, as well as an identifier for the TRP, as follows:

[0097] --ASN1START

[0098] NR-TimeStamp-r16::=SEQUENCE{

[0099] trp-ID-r16 TRP-ID-r16 OPTIONAL,--Cond NotSameAsRefServ0

[0100] nr-SFN-r16 INTEGER(0..1023),

[0101] nr-Slot-r16 CHOICE{

[0102] scs15-r16 INTEGER(0..9),

[0103] scs30-r16 INTEGER(0..19),

[0104] scs60-r16 INTEGER(0..39),

[0105] scs120-r16 INTEGER(0..79)

[0106] }, ...

[0108] }

[0109] --ASN1STOP

[0110] The examples of information in the above reports are provided for illustrative purposes. Depending on the positioning method, other information may be included in the "Provide Location Measurement" message, such as information related to Rx-Tx time difference measurements supporting RTT or RSRP measurements used for AoD.

[0111] Figure 4 This describes an example of a UE 405 receiving a PRS from multiple TRPs 450 according to at least one embodiment. UE 405 is... Figure 3 Example of UE 305. Each TRP 405 in TRP 450 is an example of an AP of gNB 110, ng-eNB114 and / or WLAN 116. For illustrative purposes, in Figure 4 Four TRPs are shown and labeled as 450A, 450B, 450C and 450D (collectively referred to as TRP 450), even though different numbers of TRPs are possible.

[0112] UE 405 can receive PRS in one or more multiple frequency layers. Each frequency layer can include PRS transmitted from one or more TRPs. PRS can be received from a TRP within PRS resources in one or more PRS resource sets. In particular, a TRP can support multiple frequency layers (e.g., four). A frequency layer represents a set of PRS resource sets spanning TRPs with the same bandwidth, carrier spacing, and cyclic prefix. Within each frequency layer, multiple PRS resource sets can be configured for each TRP. Furthermore, multiple PRS resources can exist within each PRS resource set. Each of the PRS resource, PRS resource set, TRP, and frequency layer can have an identifier such that measurements performed on the PRS can be traced for each PRS resource, PRS resource set, TRP, and frequency layer. As explained above, timestamps can also be used to perform tracing over time.

[0113] Depending on several conditions (including environmental conditions), some PRSs within a PRS can be transmitted using LOS transport, while others can be transmitted using NLOS transport. Figure 4 In the illustration, there is a LOS transmission between UE 405 and each of TRPs 450A, 450C, and 450D. There is an NLOS transmission between UE 405 and TRP 450B. The type of transmission (e.g., LOS and NLOS) can affect the accuracy (e.g., measurement error) when performing PRS measurements and deriving position estimates. In particular, measurements of PRS received using LOS transmissions can provide consistent measurement accuracy, resulting in position estimates with the expected estimation error. In contrast, measurements of PRS received using NLOS transmissions can provide different measurement accuracies, for example, by reducing measurement accuracy.

[0114] The ability to detect and distinguish between LOS and NLOS transmissions can improve UE positioning. For example, by using only measurements of PRS received using LOS transmissions, the location estimation of UE 405 can become more accurate. LOS and NLOS transmissions are factors that can affect accuracy. However, other factors are possible, such as SNR (e.g., accuracy decreases when SNR decreases) or synchronization errors (e.g., synchronization errors in the timing of SRS transmission by the TRP and the timing of SRS reception by the UE; accuracy decreases when the error increases).

[0115] In this document, the UE can identify one or more consistency groups. A consistency group comprises elements that will result in consistent PRS measurements and / or location estimates (e.g., within the desired accuracy), where one or more factors may contribute to consistency (e.g., LOS transmission, high SNR, low synchronization error). Elements can be defined at the levels of PRS measurements, PRS resources, PRS resource sets, TRPs, and / or frequency layers. To some extent, a consistency group indicates that elements will produce consistent PRS measurements and / or location estimates due to factors such as LOS transmission, high SNR, and / or low synchronization error corresponding to these elements.

[0116] UE 405 can report its determined information about (various) conformance groups to the location server. In this way, the location server can determine the location of UE 405 by considering only the PRS measurements corresponding to the elements of the reported conformance groups.

[0117] Additionally, a conformance group may be valid for an area containing UE 405, where PRS can be received from TRP 450 based on similar factors. This area could be a few feet or yards around UE 405. In this way, if the UE remains in this area or another UE is near UE 405, the conformance group determined by UE 405 (at the TRP and / or frequency layer level) can also be expected to be valid and applicable to both UE 405 and the other UE. UE 405 may share its determined conformance groups directly (e.g., via sidelinks, such as in a Physical Sidelink Shared Channel (PSSCH)) or indirectly (e.g., via a location server) with nearby UEs, and these UEs may consider only elements in the conformance groups in their PRS measurements and / or location estimates.

[0118] Of course, the factors contributing to a consistency group can change over time, depending on changes in conditions. For example, while a LOS transfer might occur between TRP 450A and UE 405 during the first time period, this type of transfer might be impossible during the second time period. Instead, an NLOS transfer might become possible during the second time period. Given this potential change over time, time-based tracking of consistency groups can be beneficial. In particular, a consistency group might be valid for a period of time, after which it might no longer be available. In this way, if the UE remains in the region, but some of the conditions change after a period of time, a new consistency group can be identified and used.

[0119] Figure 5 This section explains an example of UE 405 reporting information about a conformance group according to at least one embodiment. For example, UE 405 may correspond to... Figure 3 UE 305 and / or Figure 1 UE 105. UE 405 may send this information to a device 520, such as device 320 (e.g., a location server with which a location session may have been established and is ongoing) or a different UE (e.g., another UE that is near UE 405 and may have established a sidelink with it). If the device 520 includes a location server, the consistency group information may be sent, for example, in an LPP message.

[0120] Generally, a consistency group includes elements that provide consistent measurements and / or result in consistent location estimates. For example, consistency may be defined in terms of accuracy. In particular, measurements are consistent when they have similar measurement errors (e.g., within each other's measurement thresholds). Location estimates are consistent when they have similar estimation errors (e.g., within each other's estimation thresholds).

[0121] Different definitions of a consistency group are possible, all of which will set rules or parameters for determining whether an element belongs to the consistency group. In one example, a consistency group corresponds to or includes a collection or set of N elements that lead to a location measurement (e.g., RSTD, RSRP, Rx - Tx time difference), such that using any X < N measurements from a subset of the consistency group will result in a location estimate, and if the location estimate is used to estimate the measurements of the remaining N - X elements in the group, the median, maximum, or average error is within a K threshold.

[0122] For example, RSTD measurements may be used in a TDOA location method. RSTD measurements include TOA measurements. In this illustration, N is ten, X is four, and K is less than a few nanoseconds. The consistency group includes ten elements, where using any four TOA measurements corresponding to any four of the ten elements will result in a location estimate for UE 405. Given this location estimate, the TOA for each of the remaining six elements can be estimated (also given the known location of the corresponding TRP). For each of the remaining six elements, the difference between the estimated TOA measurement and the TOA measurement corresponding to that element is less than a few nanoseconds (e.g., less than the K threshold).

[0123] In another example definition, a consistency group corresponds to or includes a set or collection of N elements for which the corresponding elements result in a location estimate with an expected error less than a K threshold, where if any element of such N elements is removed from the consistency group and / or if any new element is added to the consistency group, the expected error becomes greater than the threshold.

[0124] For example, and returning a reference RSTD measurement, N is also ten, and the K threshold is a few feet. In this explanation, measurements corresponding to ten elements result in a location estimate with an expected error of less than a few feet (e.g., the K threshold). If one or more of these ten elements are removed from the group, measurements corresponding to the remaining elements result in a location estimate with an expected error of greater than a few feet. Similarly, if one or more other elements are added to the consistency group, measurements corresponding to different elements in the consistency group result in a location estimate with an expected error of greater than a few feet.

[0125] In yet another example definition, a consistency group corresponds to or comprises a set or collection of N elements and is associated with: (i) a location estimate of UE 405 determined based on a subset of X elements from the N elements, and (ii) an estimation threshold or measurement threshold, wherein the UE location estimated using any subset of Y elements from the N elements or at least a subset of Y elements is within the estimation threshold of the location estimate, or wherein a measurement estimated based on a measurement associated with X elements for any element from the Nx elements or at least one element is within the measurement threshold of the measurement for that element. Each of X, Y, and N is a positive integer, and X ≤ N and Y ≤ N.

[0126] For example, and returning a reference RSTD measurement, N is ten, X is four, the estimated threshold is a few feet, and the measurement threshold is a few seconds. The baseline position of UE 405 is determined based on measurements corresponding to a group of X elements. For a Y equal to five (or any other Y between four and ten), the position of UE 405 is estimated based on measurements corresponding to five elements. The difference between this estimated position and the baseline position is less than a few feet (e.g., the estimated threshold). Alternatively, based on the baseline position 405, the TOA can be estimated for each of N x elements (e.g., six elements). For each of these six elements, the difference between the estimated TOA and the TOA measurement corresponding to that element is less than a few nanoseconds (e.g., the measurement threshold).

[0127] In another example definition, a consistency group is a set N comprising n ≤ p elements, where p is the total number of at least one of the following: PRS measurements, PRS resources, PRS resource sets, TRPs, or frequency layers configured on the UE 405. A consistency group is associated with (i) a threshold, (ii) a UE location estimate determined based on at least one subset X of the consistency group having x ≤ p elements, for which the accuracy of the location estimate is estimated to be below the threshold, and (iii) the existence of a set Y of y elements not strictly included in the consistency group (e.g., Y ∩ N ≠ Y), for which a location estimate using at least one subset of set Y is estimated to be above the threshold.

[0128] For example, and returning the reference RSTD measurement, P is twenty, N is ten, X is four, and the threshold is a few feet. The baseline position of UE 405 is determined based on the measurement corresponding to a subset of the four elements, and that baseline position is less than a few feet. For Y equal to five (or any other Y not strictly included in the set of ten), the position of UE 405 estimated based on the subset of five elements is estimated to be greater than a few feet.

[0129] Elements can be defined at the levels of PRS measurement, PRS resource, PRS resource set, TRP, and / or frequency layer, wherein the elements satisfy any or a particular definition above. Specifically, at the PRS measurement level, a consistency group may include consistent PRS measurements, where these elements are present. At the PRS resource level, a consistency group may include consistent PRS resources. At the PRS resource set level, a consistency group may include one or more consistent PRS resource sets. At the TRP level, a consistency group may include one or more consistent TRPs. At the frequency layer level, a consistency group may include one or more consistent frequency layers. Here, including an element means including, as far as possible, the actual element (e.g., including the PRS measurement) or the identifier of the element (e.g., the ID of the PRS measurement, PRS resource, PRS resource set, TRP, and / or frequency layer).

[0130] Additionally, for the same level, defining one consistency group may be sufficient, with some elements belonging to that group and the remaining elements not. However, multiple consistency groups can also be defined, where each group may, but does not need to, have at least one different parameter (e.g., a different number of elements, a different subset size X, a different measurement threshold, a different estimation threshold, or some other parameter). For example, at the TRP level, multiple consistency groups can be defined. One consistency group might correspond to a TRP that results in a location estimate with an expected error of less than two feet, another consistency group might correspond to a TRP that results in a location estimate with an expected error between two and five feet, and so on.

[0131] Typically, UE 405 can execute outlier detection algorithms (such as the Random Sampling and Consensus (RANSAC) algorithm) to determine consensus groups(s) and can report information about the determined consensus groups(s). Outlier detection algorithms can be executed based on the definition of an element (e.g., whether an element should be a PRS measurement, PRS resource, PRS resource set, TRP, and / or frequency layer), the definition of a consensus group (e.g., the number of elements N, subset size X, and / or thresholds (e.g., estimated thresholds or measurement thresholds)), and the desired number of consensus groups. For example, at the TRP level, and to generate a consensus group of ten elements (where subset X is four and the K threshold (e.g., measurement threshold) is less than a few nanoseconds), the outlier detection algorithm can analyze different PRS measurements and their association with TRPIDs, and iteratively construct consensus groups that satisfy the subset X and K threshold parameters for the ten TRPs for the consensus group.

[0132] The definition of elements (e.g., whether an element should be a PRS measurement, PRS resource, PRS resource set, TRP, and / or frequency layer), parameters of the consistency group (e.g., the number of elements N, subset size X, and / or thresholds (e.g., estimated thresholds or measurement thresholds)), and the number of consistency groups to be determined can be configured by device 320 (e.g., when device 320 is a location server). Additionally or alternatively, such configuration can be preset and stored locally at UE 405, and / or can be recommended by UE 405 to the location server.

[0133] UE 405 can report a consistency group for each location measurement report (e.g., TDOA, RTT, AoD). For example, information about the consistency group (e.g., identifiers of the elements included in the consistency group) can be included in other information (e.g., IE) in the location measurement report. Referring to the consistency group definition, the subset size x (e.g., the minimum subset size that can be used to estimate the location of UE 405) can be set to four for TDOA and three for RTT. This minimum subset size can be predefined or can be dynamically updated depending on several factors (such as the number of neighboring TRPs). Furthermore, the consistency group for TDOA and RTT can be the same, while the consistency group for AoD can be different. Additionally, consistency groups can be reported across all location methods. In this case, a separate measurement report can be defined in the LPP, either in addition to including information about the consistency group in the location measurement report or instead of including information about the consistency group in the location measurement report.

[0134] In one example, consistency group reporting can be per frequency tier or across frequency tiers. Alternatively, UE405 can report tiered consistency groups. For example, a consistency group may include consistent TRPs. Within each TRP, the consistency group may include a specific set of PRS resources. Within each set, the consistency group may include consistent PRS resources. The report can identify the tier by including an identifier for the TRP, an identifier for the PRS resource set for each TRP identifier, and an identifier for the PRS resources for each PRS resource set identifier.

[0135] For illustration, consider the TDOA example, where device 320 is a location server. In this example, UE405 reports 500 RSTD measurements. For each reported RSTD measurement, the reported information includes the identifier of the measured TRP, the identifier of the PRS resource set, the identifier of the PRS resource, and a timestamp, as well as other information combined as previously described. Figure 3 Other information described. Additionally, the reported information here includes an integer identifying the consistency group to which the tier of the TRP, PRS resource set, and PRS resource belongs. This consistency group identifier (e.g., an integer ID) is not required for the additional TOA for each RSTD measurement. If the tier does not belong to any consistency group, the integer may be set to zero, or to a value that identifies a specific consistency group (e.g., one for the first consistency group, two for the second, and so on). In other words, UE 405 continues to report 500 of its several RSTD measurements and associates some or each of the RTSD measurements with a consistency group (if applicable) by including the consistency group identifier (e.g., an integer) in the reported RSTD measurement information. An example of this reporting is shown below (where “nr-Consistency-Group” corresponds to the reporting of a consistency group; other nomenclature is possible, such as nr-LOS-Group).

[0136] NR-DL-TDOA-MeasElement-r16::=SEQUENCE{

[0137] trp-ID-r16 TRP-ID-r16,

[0138] nr-DL-PRS-ResourceId-r16 NR-DL-PRS-ResourceId-r16 OPTIONAL,

[0139] nr-DL-PRS-ResourceSetId-r16 NR-DL-PRS-ResourceSetId-r16 OPTIONAL,nr-TimeStamp-r16 NR-TimeStamp-r16,

[0140] nr-RSTD-r16 INTEGER(0..ffs),--FFS on the value range

[0141] nr-Consistency-Group-r17 INTEGER(FFS)

[0142] nr-AdditionalPathList-r16 NR-AdditionalPathList-r16 OPTIONAL,

[0143] nr-TimingMeasQuality-r16 NR-TimingMeasQuality-r16,

[0144] nr-PRS-RSRP-Result-r16 INTEGER(FFS)OPTIONAL,

[0145] --FFS,value range to be decided in RAN4.

[0146] nr-DL-TDOA-AdditionalMeasurements-r16

[0147] NR-DL-TDOA-AdditionalMeasurements-r16 OPTIONAL, ...

[0149] }

[0150] In another explanation, consider an RTT example where device 320 is also a location server. In this example, UE 405 reports 500 Rx-Tx time difference measurements. For each reported Rx-Tx time difference measurement, the reported information includes the identifier of the measured TRP, the identifier of the PRS resource set, the identifier of the PRS resource, and a timestamp, among other information. Furthermore, the reported information here includes an integer identifying the consistency group to which the TRP, PRS resource set, and PRS resource tier belong. For the additional TOA for each Rx-Tx time difference measurement, this consistency group identifier (e.g., an integer ID) is not required. If the tier does not belong to any consistency group, the integer can be set to zero, or it can be set to a value that identifies a specific consistency group (e.g., one for the first consistency group, two for the second consistency group, and so on). In other words, UE 405 continues to report 500 of its several Rx-Tx time difference measurements, and associates some or each of the Rx-Tx time difference measurements with a consistency group (if applicable) by including an identifier (e.g., an integer) of the consistency group in the reported Rx-Tx time difference measurement information. An example of this report is shown below (where “nr-Consistency-Group” corresponds to the report of the consistency group; other nomenclatures are possible, such as nr-LOS-Group).

[0151]

[0152] In another explanation, consider the AoD example, where device 320 is also a location server. In this example, UE 405 reports 500 RSRP measurements. For each reported RSRP measurement, the reported information includes an identifier for the measured TRP, an identifier for the PRS resource set, an identifier for the PRS resource, a timestamp, and other information. Furthermore, the reported information includes an integer identifying the consistency group to which the tier of the TRP, PRS resource set, and PRS resource belongs. For additional RSRPs, this consistency group identifier (e.g., an integer ID) is not required. If a tier does not belong to any consistency group, the integer can be set to zero, or to a value that identifies a specific consistency group (e.g., one for the first consistency group, two for the second, and so on). In other words, UE 405 continues to report 500 of its several RSRP measurements and associates some or each of the RSRP measurements with a consistency group (if applicable) by including the consistency group identifier (e.g., an integer) in the reported RSRP measurement information. The following is an example of such a report (where “nr-Consistency-Group” corresponds to the report for the consistency group; other nomenclatures are possible, such as nr-LOS-Group).

[0153]

[0154] Of course, other types of consistency group reports are possible. For example, reports can be generated for each or multiple consistency groups. Reports can identify each consistency group (if a report is created for multiple consistency groups) and can list identifiers of the elements belonging to the consistency group (e.g., frequency tier only, TRP only, resource set only, PRS resource only, PRS measurement only, any combination of these elements, or a hierarchy of any of these elements). Additionally, reports can include one or more timestamps to help determine the time period during which the consistency group can be valid. Reports can be sent in messages to a location server during an LPP session according to the LPP reporting protocol. An example of information included in such a report is shown below (where “group-ID” corresponds to the identifier of the consistency group; other nomenclature is possible).

[0155]

[0156]

[0157] If device 320 is another UE with which a sidelink exists or with which a sidelink can be established, then 405 can generate a report about one or more conformance groups and send the report to that UE via the sidelink. The report may include the information described above. However, the conformance PRS resources and PRS resource sets determined for UE 405 may not be relevant to nearby UEs. Therefore, the report may differ slightly by including the identifiers of the conformance TRPs and conformance groups and excluding the identifiers of the PRS resources and PRS resource sets. Furthermore, here, the identifier of the TRP may not include local identifiers and may instead include physical cell identifiers and cell global identifiers.

[0158] Figure 6-8 Illustrative processes related to determining and reporting consistency groups are illustrated according to various embodiments. Some or all of the instructions for performing the operations of the illustrative processes may be implemented as hardware circuit systems and / or stored as computer-readable instructions on a non-transient computer-readable medium of a UE (e.g., UE 405). Equivalent or corresponding operations may also be implemented as hardware circuit systems and / or stored as computer-readable instructions on a non-transient computer-readable medium of a device (e.g., device 320). As implemented, the instructions represent modules including circuit systems or code (if applicable) executable by the processor(s) of the UE or device. Using these instructions will configure the UE or device (if applicable) to perform the specific operations described herein. Each circuit system or code combined with a processor represents means for performing the corresponding operation(s). For example, for in Figure 6-8 The means for performing functionality at each operation point of the target shown may include software and / or hardware components of the UE, such as bus 1005, (a)processing unit 1010, DSP 1020, wireless communication interface 1030, memory 1060 and / or Figure 10 Other components of the UE 1000 are shown in the diagram and described in more detail below. Although the operations are shown in a specific order, it should be understood that a specific order is not required and one or more operations may be omitted, skipped, performed in parallel, and / or reordered.

[0159] Figure 6An example of a process 600 for reporting information about a conformance group, according to at least one embodiment, is explained. In one example, the process includes operation 602, in which the UE receives conformance group configuration information from a device. For example, the configuration information relates to reporting conformance groups and includes parameters defining aspects of the reporting. Specifically, the conformance group configuration information indicates any element to be reported (e.g., whether PRS measurements, PRS resources, PRS resource sets, TRPs, and / or frequency layers should be reported), any parameter of the conformance group parameters (e.g., the number of elements N, the minimum subset size X, and thresholds), and the number of conformance groups. The conformance group configuration information may, for example, be in a message from the device during an LPP session with the device.

[0160] In one example, the process includes operation 604, which can be appended to or replaced by operation 602. At operation 604, some or all of the parameters defining the aspects of the report can be preset at the UE, and the UE sends a recommendation including some or all of these parameters. This recommendation can be sent to the device, for example, in a message during an LPP session with the device.

[0161] In one example, the process includes operation 606, where the UE receives measurement configuration from the device. Operation 606 may follow operation 602 or operation 604. The configuration information may include auxiliary data (e.g., including the location of the TRP) received in a "Provide Auxiliary Data" message and parameters for performing positioning measurements received in a "Request Location Information" message.

[0162] In one example, the process includes operation 608, in which the UE receives PRS resources. For example, based on PRS configuration information, the PRS resources are allocated in specific resource elements and belong to one or more specific resource sets for each TRP and / or frequency layer. Given the PRS configuration information and auxiliary data, the UE determines the time slot, subframe, and frame in which the PRS resources are transmitted for downlink transmissions from different TRPs.

[0163] In one example, the process includes operation 610, in which the UE performs PRS measurements. These measurements depend on the positioning method to be supported (e.g., as indicated in the Request Location Information message), such as TOA measurements, to determine RSTD measurements that support the TDOA positioning method. Rx-Tx time difference measurements can be determined for the RTT positioning method, and AoD and RSRP measurements can be determined for the AoD positioning method.

[0164] In one example, the process includes operation 612, where the UE determines a consistency group. For example, the UE performs an outlier detection algorithm on the PRS measurement. The outlier detection algorithm analyzes the PRS measurement using parameters defined in the consistency group configuration information or recommended by the UE to iteratively define each consistency group in the consistency groups.

[0165] In one example, the process includes operation 614, in which the UE sends information about the conformance group to the location server. Here, the location server can be the same device described above in conjunction with operations 602-606. Some information (e.g., the identifier of the conformance group) can be included in the measurement report used to send PRS measurements to the location server. Additionally or alternatively, one or more separate reports can be specifically generated for the conformance group(s) and sent to the location server during the LPP session. The reports can be sent for each positioning method or different positioning methods, and can be frequency-layer specific or applicable across frequency layers. The reports can also include the hierarchical conformance group.

[0166] In one example, the process includes operation 616, in which the UE additionally or alternatively sends information about the consensus group to another UE. Here, a consensus group-specific report can be generated and sent to the other UE via a side link between the two UEs. The report can identify each consensus group and list the identifiers of the TRPs belonging to the consensus group.

[0167] Figure 7 Another example of a process 700 for determining a consensus group according to at least one embodiment is explained. Process 700 is an illustrative example of performing an outlier detection algorithm. For clarity, the process is described by using TRP as an example of an element that can be added to a consensus group. However, other types of elements are possible, and process 700 can be applied similarly to these elements.

[0168] In one example, process 700 includes operation 702, where the UE selects a random set of elements. For example, there are twenty TRPs located near the UE that send PRS to the UE. Based on the consistency group configuration information, the consistency group should include Y elements, where Y is ten. Of course, if such a parameter is not configured, the selection can be for a random number of Y elements.

[0169] In one example, process 700 includes operation 704, where the UE selects a subset of measurements. A subset can be selected to satisfy a minimum subset size X. For example, X is set to 4 in the consistency group configuration information, or X is predefined locally at the UE for the positioning method. Therefore, from ten randomly selected TRPs, four TRPs are randomly selected, and the PRS measurements for these four TRPs are selected.

[0170] In one example, process 700 includes operation 706, where the UE estimates its position given a selected PRS measurement. For example, a TOA measurement is used to derive the estimated position of the UE. This position is referred to as the baseline position.

[0171] In one example, process 700 includes operation 708, where the UE determines an estimated measurement for the remaining elements in the set. For example, for each TRP of the remaining six elements (e.g., YX elements), the UE determines the location of the TRP (e.g., based on auxiliary data) and estimates the TOA for that TRP given its estimated location and the location of the TRP.

[0172] In one example, process 700 includes operation 710, where the UE compares the estimated measurement with the PRS measurement. Here, the comparison can be for each of the six remaining TRPs. Specifically, the UE compares the estimated TOA with the median, maximum, or average TOA measurement derived from the PRS measurement for the TRP. In another interpretation, the comparison can be for the remaining six TRPs. Specifically, the UE compares the median, maximum, or average TOA derived from the six estimated TOAs with the median, maximum, or average TOA measurement derived from the PRS measurement for the six TRPs. In yet another interpretation, the comparison can be at the group level. Specifically, the UE estimates its position based on the PRS measurements of the six TRPs, or the UE determines an update to its estimated position at operation 706, where the update is determined based on the PRS measurements of the six TRPs. In these different interpretations, the comparison is a comparison with a threshold (e.g., a measured threshold in the first two interpretations; and an estimated threshold in the last interpretation), where the threshold may be indicated in the consistency group configuration information or predefined locally at the UE. If the comparison indicates that the estimate using the remaining elements (e.g., PRS measurements of six TRPs) results in an error less than the expected threshold, operation 720 can be performed. Otherwise, operation 730 can be performed.

[0173] In one example, process 700 includes operation 720, where the UE determines that elements belong to a consistency group. Depending on the type of comparison performed at operation 710, one or more elements may be included in the consistency group. For example, if the comparison is for a specific TRP (e.g., one TRP from six remaining TRPs), that TRP is added to the consistency group. If the comparison is for more than one TRP, those TRPs are added to the consistency group.

[0174] In one example, process 700 includes operation 730, where the UE determines that elements(s) do not belong to a consistency group. Furthermore, depending on the type of comparison performed at operation 710, one or more elements can be excluded from the consistency group. For example, if the comparison is for a specific TRP (e.g., one TRP from six remaining TRPs), that TRP is not added to the consistency group. If the comparison is for more than one TRP, those TRPs are not added to the consistency group.

[0175] In one example, process 700 includes operation 740, where the UE determines whether to perform another iteration. Different convergence criteria may be used. One criterion involves the maximum number of iterations used to select a subset of measurements. If this number has not been reached, the process can loop back to operation 704. Another criterion involves whether the desired number of elements (e.g., Y) has been added to the consensus group. If this number has not been reached, the process can loop back to operation 702. Yet another criterion involves maximizing the size of the consensus group without the desired number. If this number has not been maximized, the process can loop back to operation 702. An additional criterion involves the maximum number of iterations used to select the set of elements. If this number has not been reached, the process can loop back to operation 702.

[0176] In one example, process 700 includes operation 742, where the UE has determined that one or more convergence criteria have been met. Therefore, the UE outputs information about the consistency group. This information includes the identifiers of the elements belonging to the consistency group. Process 700 can be repeated to define one or more additional consistency groups based on any remaining elements not added to the consistency group by changing some parameters (e.g., minimum subset size, threshold).

[0177] Figure 8This section describes another example of a process 800 for reporting measurement consistency to support UE positioning according to at least one embodiment. In one example, process 800 includes operation 802, in which the UE receives a Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) resource. Means for performing the functionality at operation 802 may include software and / or hardware components of the UE, such as bus 1005, processing unit 1010, DSP 1500, wireless communication interface 1500, memory 1060, and / or Figure 10 The other components of UE 1000 are explained in the following text and described in more detail.

[0178] In one example, process 800 includes operation 804, where the UE performs a measurement based on PRS resources. (See also: Regarding...) Figure 6 As indicated in operation 610, the measurement may vary depending on the type of positioning performed. The means for performing the functionality at operation 804 may include software and / or hardware components of the UE, such as bus 1005, processing unit(s) 1010, DSP 1500, wireless communication interface 1500, memory 1060, and / or Figure 10 The other components of UE 1000 are explained in the following text and described in more detail.

[0179] In one example, process 800 includes operation 806, wherein the UE sends information to the device regarding a first consistency group comprising a first set of elements based on the performed measurement, wherein: the first set comprises a first number of elements equal to or less than the total of: PRS measurements configured for the UE, PRS resources, PRS resource sets, transmit and receive points (TRPs), or frequency layers, or combinations thereof. Each element in the first consistency group corresponds to: PRS measurement, PRS resources, PRS resource sets, TRPs, or frequency layers, or combinations thereof. The first consistency group is associated with: (i) a threshold; and (ii) a location estimate of the UE determined based on at least a first subset of the first consistency group, the accuracy of which is estimated to be within the threshold for the first subset of elements. Means for performing the functionality at operation 806 may include software and / or hardware components of the UE, such as bus 1005, (a) processing unit 1010, DSP 1500, wireless communication interface 1500, memory 1060, and / or Figure 10 The other components of UE 1000 are explained in the following text and described in more detail.

[0180] Depending on the desired functionality, embodiments may include one or more additional features, as discussed in the previously described embodiments. Examples of such features are described in the following paragraphs.

[0181] In one example, the method, partly defined by process 800, includes: determining a second set of one or more elements, for which the accuracy of the UE location estimate determined based on one or more elements of the second set is estimated to exceed a threshold.

[0182] In one example, the device includes a location server. In this example, the method, partly defined by process 800, includes one or more additional operations. At the additional operation, the UE receives auxiliary data from the location server indicating the location of the TRP. Additionally, according to some embodiments, the auxiliary data may indicate a TRP ID to link each identified TRP to a specific location. Information about the consistency group may be determined based on the TRP location. Furthermore, at an additional optional operation, the UE may determine the information by performing an outlier detection algorithm on at least the PRS measurement. The TRP location may be input into the outlier detection algorithm.

[0183] In one example, at an additional operation point, the UE receives configuration information from the location server associated with parameters for one or more consistency groups, and determines a first consistency group based on the parameters and the measurements performed. In this example, the parameters may indicate the number of consistency groups to be determined, the number of elements in each consistency group, the minimum subset size for generating location estimates for each consistency group, or the estimation threshold for each consistency group, or a combination thereof.

[0184] In one example, at an additional operation point, the UE determines the consensus group based on predefined parameters and the measurements performed. In this example, the predefined parameters can be stored at the UE and can indicate the number of consensus groups to be determined, the number of elements in each consensus group, the minimum subset size to generate location estimates for each consensus group, or the estimation threshold for each consensus group, or a combination thereof.

[0185] In one example, at an additional operation point, the UE sends multiple pieces of information to the device, each of which is specific to a consensus group among multiple consensus groups. In this example, each consensus group among the multiple consensus groups may be associated with the following: the number of elements for the consensus group, the minimum subset size for generating location estimates for the consensus group, or an estimation threshold for the consensus group that is different from another estimation threshold used for another consensus group, or a combination thereof.

[0186] In one example, at an additional operation point, the UE sends multiple pieces of information to the device, each of which is specific to a set of consistency groups for a positioning measurement report from one or more positioning measurement reports. In this example, the one or more positioning measurement reports may include a Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA) positioning measurement report, a Round Trip Time (RTT) positioning measurement report, and an Angle of Arrival (AoD) positioning measurement report. Furthermore, in this example, the first piece of information regarding the consistency group for the TDOA positioning measurement report may be the same as the second piece of information regarding the consistency group for the RTT positioning measurement report. Additionally, in this example, for the TDOA positioning measurement report, the first subset of elements may include at least four elements, and for the Round Trip Time (RTT) positioning measurement report, the first subset of elements may include at least three elements.

[0187] In one example, at an additional operation point, the UE sends a measurement report to the device that identifies one or more consistency groups for each positioning method, as well as the elements included in each of the one or more consistency groups.

[0188] In one example, the information may identify one or more TRPs belonging to the first consistency group, one or more PRS resource sets belonging to the first consistency group, multiple PRS resources belonging to the first consistency group, or timestamps associated with the first consistency group, or a combination thereof.

[0189] In one example, information can identify a first consistency group and the following hierarchies: one or more TRPs belonging to the first consistency group, one or more PRS resources of each TRP in the first consistency group, and one or more PRS resources of each set of PRS resources in the first consistency group.

[0190] In one example, the information may include an identifier of a first consensus group, and sending the information may include sending to the device a Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA) measurement element including a Reference Signal Time Difference (RSTD) measurement and identifier, a Round Trip Time (RTT) measurement element including a Receive-Transmit Time Difference (Rx-Tx) measurement and identifier, or a Transmit Angle (AoD) measurement element including a Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) measurement and identifier, or a combination thereof.

[0191] In one example, the device includes a location server. In this example, information about the first consistency group may be sent to the location server in a message during a location session between the UE and the location server, or via a side link between the UE and a second UE. Furthermore, in this example, the information may identify the first consistency group and one or more TRPs belonging to the first consistency group. Additionally or alternatively, the information may identify multiple TRPs and whether each of the multiple TRPs is associated with the first consistency group.

[0192] In one example, measuring the positioning reference signal may include measuring the time of arrival (TOA) of the positioning reference signal, and wherein the estimated threshold may correspond to a TOA error threshold.

[0193] Functional means for performing each additional operation of the method may include software and / or hardware components of the UE, such as bus 1005, (a)processing unit 1010, DSP 1500, wireless communication interface 1500, memory 1060, and / or Figure 10 The other components of UE 1000 are explained in the following text and described in more detail.

[0194] Figure 9 This is a block diagram of an embodiment of UE 900, which can be implemented as described in the embodiments described herein and in conjunction with... Figure 1-8 In connection with this, UE 900 is an example of UE 405 described above herein. It should be noted that... Figure 9 This is intended only to provide a general explanation of the various components of UE 900; any or all of these components can be used appropriately. In other words, because UEs can vary widely in functionality, they can include only... Figure 9 Part of the components shown. Note that in some instances, it is composed of... Figure 9 The components described can be localized to a single physical device and / or distributed among various networked devices that can be set up in different physical locations.

[0195] UE 900 is shown as including hardware elements electrically coupled (or otherwise communicatively connected) via bus 905. The hardware elements may include processing units 910, which may include, but are not limited to, one or more general-purpose processors, one or more special-purpose processors (such as digital signal processing (DSP) chips, graphics accelerator processors, application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), etc.), and / or other processing structures or means, which may be configured to perform one or more methods described herein. Figure 9As shown, some embodiments may have a separate DSP 920 depending on the desired functionality. UE 900 may also include one or more input devices 970 and one or more output devices 915, the input devices 970 including but not limited to: one or more touch screens, touchpads, microphones, buttons, dial pads, switches, etc.; the output devices 915 including but not limited to one or more displays, light-emitting diodes (LEDs), speakers, etc.

[0196] UE 900 may also include a wireless communication interface 930, which may include, but is not limited to, a modem, a network card, an infrared communication device, a wireless communication device, and / or a chipset (such as...). Devices, such as IEEE 802.11 devices, IEEE 802.15.4 devices, Wi-Fi devices, WiMAX™ devices, or cellular communication facilities, etc., enable the UE 900 to perform as described in this article. Figure 1-8 Communication is conducted via a network as described. The wireless communication interface 930 may permit the transmission of data with a network, eNB, ng-eNB, gNB, and / or other network components, computer systems, and / or any other electronic device described herein. Communication may be performed via one or more wireless communication antennas 932 that transmit and / or receive wireless signals 934.

[0197] Depending on the desired functionality, the wireless communication interface 930 may include a separate transceiver to communicate with the BS (e.g., eNB, ng-eNB, and / or gNB) and other terrestrial transceivers (such as wireless devices and access points). The UE 900 can communicate with various data networks, which may include a variety of network types. For example, a wireless wide area network (WWAN) may be a CDMA network, a Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) network, a Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) network, an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) network, a Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) network, a WiMax (IEEE 802.16) network, and so on. A CDMA network may implement one or more RATs, such as CDMA2000, Wideband CDMA (WCDMA), etc. CDMA2000 includes IS-95, IS-2000, and / or IS-856 standards. A TDMA network may implement GSM, Digital Advanced Mobile Phone Systems (D-AMPS), or some other RAT. An OFDMA network may employ LTE, Advanced LTE, NR, etc. 5G, LTE, Advanced LTE, NR, GSM, and WCDMA are described in documents from 3GPP. CDMA2000 is described in documents from an organization called "3rd Generation Partnership Project 2" (3GPP2). 3GPP and 3GPP2 documents are publicly available. WLAN can also be an IEEE 802.11x network, while a Wireless Personal Area Network (WPAN) can be a Bluetooth network, IEEE 802.15x, or some other type of network. The technologies described herein can also be used in any combination of WWAN, WLAN, and / or WPAN.

[0198] UE 900 may further include sensors 940. Such sensors may include, but are not limited to, one or more inertial sensors (e.g., accelerometers, gyroscopes, and other inertial measurement units (IMUs)), cameras, magnetometers, compasses, altimeters, microphones, proximity sensors, optical sensors, barometers, etc., some of which may be used to complement and / or contribute to the functionality described herein.

[0199] Various embodiments of UE 900 may also include a GNSS receiver 980 capable of receiving signals 984 from one or more GNSS satellites (e.g., SV 190) using a GNSS antenna 982 (which may be combined with antennas 932 in some implementations). Such positioning can be used to supplement and / or incorporate the techniques described herein. The GNSS receiver 980 may use conventional techniques to extract the positioning of UE 900 from GNSS SVs (e.g., SV 190) of GNSS systems such as GPS, Galileo, GLONASS, Compass, Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS) over Japan, IRNSS over India, BeiDou over China, etc. Furthermore, the GNSS receiver 980 may use various augmentation systems (e.g., satellite-based augmentation systems (SBAS)) that may be associated with or otherwise enabled for use with one or more global and / or regional navigation satellite systems. By way of example and not limitation, SBAS can include augmentation systems such as WAAS, EGNOS, Multifunctional Satellite Augmentation System (MSAS), GPS-assisted GEO Augmentation Navigation, or GPS-assisted GEO Augmentation Navigation System (GAGAN) that provide integrity information, differential correction, etc. Thus, as used herein, GNSS can include any combination of one or more global and / or regional navigation satellite systems and / or augmentation systems, and GNSS signals can include GNSS, GNSS-like signals, and / or other signals associated with one or more such GNSS systems.

[0200] UE 900 may further include memory 460 and / or be in communication with memory 460. Memory 960 may include, but is not limited to, local and / or network-accessible storage, disk drives, drive arrays, optical storage devices, solid-state storage devices (such as random access memory (“RAM”) and / or read-only memory (“ROM”)), which may be programmable, flash-updatable, etc. Such storage devices may be configured to implement any suitable data storage, including but not limited to various file systems, database structures, etc.

[0201] The memory 960 of the UE 900 may also include software elements (not shown) including an operating system, device drivers, executable libraries, and / or other code (such as one or more application programs). These software elements may include computer programs provided by various embodiments and / or may be designed to implement methods provided by other embodiments and / or configure systems provided by other embodiments, as described herein. By way of example only, one or more procedures described in relation to the functional descriptions discussed above may be implemented as code and / or instructions executable by the UE 900 (e.g., using processing units 910). In one aspect, such code and / or instructions may then be used to configure and / or adapt a general-purpose computer (or other device) to perform one or more operations according to the described methods.

[0202] Figure 10 Explanatory embodiments of device 1000, which can be described herein and in conjunction with Figure 1-8 Used as described in connection with the above. Device 1000 is an example of device 320 described herein. Components of device 1000 are used to implement a UE or a location server. In the case of a location server implementation, the location server may be a standalone component of the communication system or may be integrated with another component of the network system (such as with a BS). It should be noted that Figure 10 This is intended only to provide a general explanation of the various components, which may be used appropriately for any or all of them.

[0203] Device 1000 is shown as including hardware elements electrically coupled (or otherwise communicable) via bus 1005. The hardware elements may include processing unit 1010, which may include, but is not limited to, one or more general-purpose processors, one or more special-purpose processors (such as DSP chips, graphics accelerator processors, ASICs, etc.), and / or other processing structures or devices. Figure 10 As shown, some embodiments may have a separate DSP 1020 depending on the desired functionality. According to some embodiments, location determination and / or other determination based on wireless communication may be provided in the processing unit 1010 and / or the wireless communication interface 1030 (discussed below). The device 1000 may also include one or more input devices and one or more output devices, the input devices including, but not limited to, a keyboard, display, mouse, microphone, buttons, dial pads, switches, etc.; the output devices including, but not limited to, a display, LEDs, speakers, etc.

[0204] Device 1000 may also include a wireless communication interface 1030, which may include, but is not limited to, a modem, network interface card, infrared communication device, wireless communication device and / or chipset (such as Bluetooth device, IEEE 802.11 device, IEEE 802.15.4 device, Wi-Fi device, WiMAX device, or cellular communication facility, etc.), etc., enabling device 1000 to communicate as described herein. Wireless communication interface 1030 may permit the transmission of data and signaling to UE, BS (e.g., eNB, gNB and / or ng-eNB), and / or other network components, computer systems, and / or any other electronic devices described herein. Communication may be performed via one or more wireless communication antennas 1034 that transmit and / or receive wireless signals 1032.

[0205] Device 1000 may also include a network interface 1080, which may include support for wired communication technologies. Network interface 1080 may include a modem, network interface card (NIC), chipset, etc. Network interface 1080 may include one or more input and / or output communication interfaces to allow data exchange with networks, communication network servers, computer systems, and / or any other electronic devices described herein.

[0206] In many embodiments, device 1000 will further include memory 1060. Memory 1060 may include, but is not limited to, local and / or network-accessible storage, disk drives, drive arrays, optical storage devices, solid-state storage devices (such as RAM and / or ROM), which may be programmable, flash-updatable, and so on. Such storage devices may be configured to implement any suitable data storage, including but not limited to various file systems, database structures, and so on.

[0207] The memory 1060 of device 1000 may also include software elements ( Figure 10 (Not shown in the text), these software elements include operating systems, device drivers, executable libraries, and / or other code (such as one or more applications). These software elements may include computer programs provided by various embodiments, and / or may be designed to implement methods provided by other embodiments, and / or configure systems provided by other embodiments, as described herein. By way of example only, one or more procedures described with respect to the methods discussed above may be implemented as code and / or instructions in memory 1060 executable by device 1000 (and / or processing units 1010 or DSP 1020 within device 1000). In one aspect, such code and / or instructions may then be used to configure and / or adapt a general-purpose computer (or other device) to perform one or more operations according to the described methods.

[0208] It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that substantial variations can be made to suit specific requirements. For example, custom hardware may be used, and / or specific elements may be implemented in hardware, software (including portable software such as applets), or both. Furthermore, connectivity to other computing devices (such as network I / O devices) may be employed.

[0209] Referring to the accompanying drawings, components that may include memory may include non-transient machine-readable media. As used herein, the terms "machine-readable media" and "computer-readable media" refer to any storage medium that participates in providing data that enables a machine to operate in a particular manner. In the embodiments provided above, various machine-readable media may be involved in providing instructions / code to processing units and / or other devices for execution. Additionally or alternatively, machine-readable media may be used to store and / or carry such instructions / code. In many implementations, computer-readable media are physical and / or tangible storage media. Such media can take many forms, including, but not limited to, non-volatile media, volatile media, and transmission media. Common forms of computer-readable media include, for example, magnetic and / or optical media, any other physical media with a hole pattern, RAM, programmable ROM (PROM), erasable PROM (EPROM), FLASH-EPROM, any other memory chip or memory cartridge, the carrier wave described below, or any other medium from which a computer can read instructions and / or code.

[0210] The methods, systems, and devices discussed herein are examples. Various procedures or components may be appropriately omitted, substituted, or added to the various embodiments. For example, features described with reference to certain embodiments may be combined in various other embodiments. Different aspects and elements of embodiments may be combined in a similar manner. Various components of the accompanying drawings provided herein may be embodied in hardware and / or software. Moreover, technology evolves, and therefore many elements are examples that do not limit the scope of this disclosure to those particular examples.

[0211] Primarily for reasons of common use, referring to such signals as bits, information, values, elements, symbols, characters, variables, items, quantities, numbers, etc., has proven convenient in some cases. However, it should be understood that all such terms, or similar terms, are to be associated with the appropriate physical quantity and are merely convenient labels. Unless otherwise specifically stated, as is apparent from the foregoing discussion, it should be understood that throughout this specification, discussions using terms such as “processing,” “calculating,” “determining,” “identifying,” “ascertaining,” “identifying,” “associating,” “measuring,” “performing,” etc., refer to the actions or processes of a particular device (such as a dedicated computer or similar dedicated electronic computing device). Therefore, in the context of this specification, a dedicated computer or similar dedicated electronic computing device is capable of manipulating or transforming signals of physical, electronic, electrical, or magnetic quantities typically represented in the memory, registers, or other information storage, transmission, or display devices of that dedicated computer or similar dedicated electronic computing device.

[0212] As used herein, the terms “and” and “or” can include a variety of meanings, which are also contemplated to depend at least in part on the context in which such terms are used. Generally, “or,” when used in relation to a list such as A, B, or C, is intended to mean A, B, and C (in the inclusive sense) and A, B, or C (in the exclusive sense). Additionally, the term “one or more” as used herein can be used to describe any feature, structure, or property in the singular form, or can be used to describe some combination of features, structures, or properties. However, it should be noted that this is merely an illustrative example, and the claimed subject matter is not limited to this example. Furthermore, the term “at least one of” when used in relation to a list such as A, B, or C can be interpreted as meaning any combination of A, B, and / or C, such as A, AB, AA, AAB, AABBCCC, etc.

[0213] Several embodiments have been described, and various modifications, substitutions, constructions, and equivalents may be used without departing from the spirit of this disclosure. For example, the above elements may be components of a larger system, where other rules may take precedence over or otherwise modify the application of the various embodiments. Furthermore, several steps may be taken before, during, or after considering the above elements. Accordingly, the above description does not limit the scope of this disclosure.

[0214] In view of this specification, various embodiments may include different combinations of features. Examples of implementations are described in the following numbered clauses.

[0215] Clause 1. A method for reporting measurement consistency to support positioning, the method being implemented by a user equipment (UE) and comprising: receiving a positioning reference signal (PRS) resource; performing a measurement based on the PRS resource; and sending information to the device regarding a first consistency group comprising a first set of elements, wherein: the first set of elements comprises a first number of elements equal to or less than the total number of: PRS measurements configured for the UE, PRS resources, a set of PRS resources, a transmit and receive point (TRP), or a frequency layer, or a combination thereof; each element in the first consistency group corresponds to: a PRS measurement, a PRS resource, a set of PRS resources, a TRP, or a frequency layer, or a combination thereof; and the first consistency group is associated with: a threshold; and a location estimate of the UE determined based on at least a first subset of elements of the first consistency group, wherein the accuracy of the location estimate is estimated to be within the threshold for the first subset of elements.

[0216] Clause 2. The method of Clause 1 further comprises: determining a second set of one or more elements, wherein, for the second set, the accuracy of the position estimate of the UE determined based on one or more elements of the second set is estimated to exceed the threshold.

[0217] Clause 3. The method of any one of Clauses 1-2, wherein the device includes a location server, and the method further includes: receiving auxiliary data from the location server indicating the location of the TRP, wherein the information regarding the first consensus group is determined based on the TRP location.

[0218] Clause 4. The method of Clause 3 further comprises: determining the information by performing an outlier detection algorithm on at least the PRS measurement, wherein the TRP location is input to the outlier detection algorithm.

[0219] Clause 5. The method of any one of Clauses 1-4 further comprises: receiving configuration information associated with parameters for one or more consistency groups from a location server; and determining the first consistency group based on the parameters and the measurement performed.

[0220] Clause 6. The method as described in Clause 5, wherein the parameters indicate: the number of consensus groups to be determined, the number of elements in each consensus group, the minimum subset size for generating location estimates for each consensus group, or the estimation threshold for each consensus group, or a combination thereof.

[0221] Clause 7. The method of any one of Clauses 1-6 further comprises: determining the first consensus group based on: predefined parameters and the measurement performed.

[0222] Clause 8. The method of any one of Clauses 1-7, wherein the predefined parameters are stored at the UE and indicate: the number of consensus groups to be determined, the number of elements in each consensus group, the minimum subset size of the location estimate to be generated for each consensus group, or the estimation threshold for each consensus group, or a combination thereof.

[0223] Clause 9. The method of any one of Clauses 1-8 further comprises: sending a plurality of information sets to the device, each information set corresponding to a corresponding consistency group among a plurality of consistency groups.

[0224] Clause 10. The method as described in Clause 9, wherein each of the plurality of consistency groups is associated with: the number of elements for the consistency group, the minimum subset size for generating location estimates for the consistency group, or an estimation threshold for the consistency group that is different from another estimation threshold for another consistency group, or a combination thereof.

[0225] Clause 11. The method of any one of Clauses 1-10 further comprises: sending a plurality of information sets to the device, each information set corresponding to a corresponding set of consistency groups for a positioning measurement report from one or more positioning measurement reports.

[0226] Clause 12. The method as described in Clause 11, wherein the first set of information regarding the consistency group for Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA) positioning measurement reports is the same as the second set of information regarding the consistency group for Round Trip Time (RTT) positioning measurement reports.

[0227] Clause 13. The method of Clause 11, wherein for a TDOA positioning measurement report, the first subset of elements comprises at least four elements; and for a round-trip time (RTT) positioning measurement report, the first subset of elements comprises at least three elements.

[0228] Clause 14. The method of any one of Clauses 1-13 further comprises: sending a measurement report to the device, the measurement report identifying one or more consistency groups and elements included in each of the one or more consistency groups for each positioning method.

[0229] Clause 15. The method of any one of Clauses 1-14, wherein the information identifies: one or more TRPs belonging to the first consistency group, one or more PRS resource sets belonging to the first consistency group, multiple PRS resources belonging to the first consistency group, or a timestamp associated with the first consistency group, or a combination thereof.

[0230] Clause 16. The method as described in any one of Clauses 1-15, wherein the information identifies the first consistency group and the hierarchy of: one or more TRPs belonging to the first consistency group, one or more PRS resources of each TRP of the first consistency group, and one or more PRS resources of each set of PRS resources of the first consistency group.

[0231] Clause 17. The method of any one of Clauses 1-16, wherein the information includes an identifier of the first consensus group, and sending the information includes sending to the device an element including a reference signal time difference (RSTD) measurement and a time difference of arrival (TDOA) measurement of the identifier, an element including a receive-transmit time difference (Rx-Tx) measurement and a round-trip time (RTT) measurement of the identifier, or an element including a reference signal received power (RSRP) measurement and a transmit angle (AoD) measurement of the identifier, or a combination thereof.

[0232] Clause 18. The method of any one of Clauses 1-17, wherein the device includes a location server, and wherein the information regarding the first consensus group is sent to the location server in a message during a location session between the UE and the location server or via a sidelink connection between the UE and a second UE.

[0233] Clause 19. The method as described in Clause 18, wherein the information identifies the first consistency group and one or more TRPs belonging to the first consistency group.

[0234] Clause 20. The method as described in Clause 19, wherein the information identifies a plurality of TRPs and whether each of the plurality of TRPs is associated with the first consistency group.

[0235] Clause 21. The method of any one of Clauses 1-20, wherein measuring the positioning reference signal includes measuring the time of arrival (TOA) of the positioning reference signal, and wherein the threshold corresponds to a TOA error threshold.

[0236] Clause 22. A user equipment (UE) for reporting measurement consistency to support positioning, the UE comprising: a transceiver; a memory; and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the transceiver and the memory, wherein the one or more processors are configured to: receive Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) resources via the transceiver; perform measurements based on the PRS resources; and transmit information to the device via the transceiver regarding a first consistency group comprising a first set of elements, wherein: the first set of elements comprises a first number of elements equal to or less than the total number of: PRS measurements configured on the UE, PRS resources, a set of PRS resources, a Transmit and Receive Point (TRP), or a frequency layer, or a combination thereof; each element in the first consistency group corresponds to: a PRS measurement, a PRS resource, a set of PRS resources, a TRP, or a frequency layer, or a combination thereof; and the first consistency group is associated with: a threshold; and a location estimate of the UE determined based on at least a first subset of elements of the first consistency group, wherein the accuracy of the location estimate is estimated to be within the threshold for the first subset of elements.

[0237] Clause 23. The UE as described in Clause 22, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: determine a second set of one or more elements, wherein the accuracy of the position estimate of the UE determined based on one or more elements of the second set is estimated to exceed the threshold.

[0238] Clause 24. The UE as described in any one of Clauses 22-23, wherein the device includes a location server, and the one or more processors are further configured to: receive auxiliary data from the location server indicating the location of the TRP, wherein the information regarding the first consensus group is determined based on the TRP location.

[0239] Clause 25. The UE as described in Clause 24, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to determine the information by performing an outlier detection algorithm on at least the PRS measurement, wherein the TRP location is input to the outlier detection algorithm.

[0240] Clause 26. The UE as described in any one of Clauses 22-25, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: receive configuration information from a location server associated with parameters for one or more consensus groups; and determine the first consensus group based on the parameters and the measurements performed.

[0241] Clause 27. The UE as described in any one of Clauses 22-26, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to determine the first consensus group based on: predefined parameters and the measurements performed.

[0242] Clause 28. The UE as described in any one of Clauses 22-27, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to store the predefined parameters in the memory, wherein the predefined parameters indicate: the number of consensus groups to be determined, the number of elements in each consensus group, the minimum subset size for generating location estimates for each consensus group, or the estimation threshold for each consensus group, or a combination thereof.

[0243] Clause 29. The UE as described in any one of Clauses 22-28, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: transmit a plurality of information sets to the device via the transceiver, each information set corresponding to a corresponding consistency group among a plurality of consistency groups.

[0244] Clause 30. The UE as described in any one of Clauses 22-29, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: transmit a plurality of information sets to the device via the transceiver, each information set corresponding to a corresponding set of consistency groups for a positioning measurement report from one or more positioning measurement reports.

[0245] Clause 31. The UE as described in any one of Clauses 22-30, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: transmit a measurement report to the device via the transceiver, the measurement report identifying one or more consistency groups and elements included in each of the one or more consistency groups for each positioning method.

[0246] Clause 32. The UE as described in any one of Clauses 22-31, wherein the one or more processors are configured to include in the information information identifying one or more TRPs belonging to the first consistency group, one or more PRS resource sets belonging to the first consistency group, multiple PRS resources belonging to the first consistency group, or a timestamp associated with the first consistency group, or a combination thereof.

[0247] Clause 33. The UE as described in any one of Clauses 22-32, wherein the one or more processors are configured to include in the information information identifying the first consensus group and the hierarchy of the following: one or more TRPs belonging to the first consensus group, one or more PRS resources of each TRP of the first consensus group, and one or more PRS resources of each set of PRS resources of the first consensus group.

[0248] Clause 34. The UE as described in any one of Clauses 22-33, wherein the one or more processors are configured to: include an identifier of the first consensus group in the information, and wherein, in order to transmit the information, the one or more processors are configured to transmit: elements including a reference signal time difference (RSTD) measurement and a time difference of arrival (TDOA) measurement of the identifier, elements including a receive-transmit time difference (Rx-Tx) measurement and a round-trip time (RTT) measurement of the identifier, or elements including a reference signal received power (RSRP) measurement and a transmit angle (AoD) measurement of the identifier, or a combination thereof.

[0249] Clause 35. The UE as described in any one of Clauses 22-34, wherein the device includes a location server, and wherein the one or more processors are configured to: send information about the first consensus group to the location server in a message during a location session between the UE and the location server or via a sidelink connection between the UE and a second UE.

[0250] Clause 36. The UE as described in Clause 35, wherein the one or more processors are configured to include in the information information identifying the first consensus group and one or more TRPs belonging to the first consensus group.

[0251] Clause 37. The UE as described in Clause 36, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to include in the information information identifying a plurality of TRPs and whether each of the plurality of TRPs is associated with the first consensus group.

[0252] Clause 38. The UE as described in any one of Clauses 22-37, wherein, in order to measure the positioning reference signal, the one or more processors are configured to: measure the time of arrival (TOA) of the positioning reference signal, and wherein the threshold corresponds to a TOA error threshold.

[0253] Clause 39. An apparatus for reporting measurement consistency to support the positioning of a user equipment (UE), the apparatus comprising: means for receiving a positioning reference signal (PRS) resource; means for performing a measurement based on the PRS resource; and means for transmitting information to the apparatus, based on the performed measurement, about a first consistency group comprising a first set of elements, wherein: the first set of elements comprises a first number of elements equal to or less than the total number of: PRS measurements configured for the UE, PRS resources, a set of PRS resources, a transmit and receive point (TRP), or a frequency layer, or a combination thereof; each element in the first consistency group corresponds to: a PRS measurement, a PRS resource, a set of PRS resources, a TRP, or a frequency layer, or a combination thereof; and the first consistency group is associated with: a threshold; and a location estimate of the UE determined based on at least a first subset of elements of the first consistency group, wherein the accuracy of the location estimate is estimated to be within the threshold for the first subset of elements.

[0254] Clause 40. A non-transient computer-readable medium storing instructions for reporting measurement consistency to support the positioning of a user equipment (UE), the instructions comprising code for performing: receiving a Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) resource; performing a measurement based on the PRS resource; and sending information to a device regarding a first consistency group comprising a first set of elements, wherein: the first set of elements comprises a first number of elements equal to or less than the total number of: PRS measurements configured for the UE, PRS resources, a set of PRS resources, a Transmit and Receive Point (TRP), or a frequency layer, or a combination thereof; each element in the first consistency group corresponds to: a PRS measurement, a PRS resource, a set of PRS resources, a TRP, or a frequency layer, or a combination thereof; and the first consistency group is associated with: a threshold; and a location estimate of the UE determined based on at least a first subset of the first consistency group, the accuracy of the location estimate being estimated to be within the threshold for the first subset of elements.

Claims

1. A method for reporting measurement consistency to support positioning, the method implemented by a user equipment (UE) and comprising: receiving positioning reference signal (PRS) resources; performing measurements based on the PRS resources; and sending, to a device, information about a first consistency group comprising a first set of elements based on the performed measurements, wherein: the first set of elements comprises a first number of elements equal to or less than a total number of: PRS measurements, PRS resources, PRS resource sets, transmission and reception points (TRPs), or frequency layers, or combinations thereof, that the UE is configured with; each element in the first consistency group corresponds to: a PRS measurement, a PRS resource, a PRS resource set, a TRP, or a frequency layer, or combinations thereof; and the first consistency group is associated with: (i) a threshold, and (ii) a position estimate of the UE determined from at least a first subset of elements of the first consistency group for which an accuracy of the position estimate is estimated to be within the threshold.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: determining a second set of one or more elements for which the accuracy of the position estimate of the UE determined from the one or more elements of the second set is estimated to exceed the threshold.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the device comprises a location server, and the method further comprises: receiving, from the location server, assistance data indicating TRP locations, wherein the information about the first consistency group is determined based on the TRP locations.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising: determining the information by performing an outlier detection algorithm on at least the PRS measurements, wherein the TRP locations are input to the outlier detection algorithm.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving, from a location server, configuration information associated with parameters for one or more consistency groups; and determining the first consistency group based on: the parameters, and the performed measurements.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the parameters indicate: a number of consistency groups to determine, a number of elements per consistency group, a minimum subset size for each consistency group to generate a position estimate, or an estimated threshold per consistency group, or combinations thereof.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising: determining the first consistency group based on: a predefined parameter, and the performed measurements.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the predefined parameter is stored at the UE and indicates: a number of consistency groups to determine, a number of elements per consistency group, a minimum subset size for each consistency group to generate a position estimate, or an estimated threshold per consistency group, or combinations thereof.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising: sending, to the device, a plurality of sets of information, each set of information corresponding to a respective consistency group of a plurality of consistency groups.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein each consistency group of the plurality of consistency groups is associated with: a number of elements for the coherency group, a minimum subset size for generating a position estimate for the coherency group, or an estimate threshold for the coherency group that is different from another estimate threshold for another coherency group, or a combination thereof.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising: sending, to the device, a plurality of sets of information, each set of information corresponding to a respective set of coherency groups for a positioning measurement report from one or more positioning measurement reports.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein a first set of information regarding coherency groups for time difference of arrival (TDOA) positioning measurement reports is the same as a second set of information regarding coherency groups for round trip time (RTT) positioning measurement reports.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein: the first subset of elements includes at least four elements for TDOA positioning measurement reports; and the first subset of elements includes at least three elements for round trip time (RTT) positioning measurement reports.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising: sending, to the device, a measurement report that identifies one or more coherency groups for each positioning method and elements included in each coherency group of the one or more coherency groups.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the information identifies: one or more TRPs belonging to the first coherency group, one or more PRS resource sets belonging to the first coherency group, a plurality of PRS resources belonging to the first coherency group, or a timestamp associated with the first coherency group, or a combination thereof.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the information identifies the first coherency group and a hierarchy of: one or more TRPs belonging to the first coherency group, one or more PRS resources for each TRP of the first coherency group, and one or more PRS resources for each PRS resource set of the first coherency group.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the information includes an identifier of the first coherency group, and sending the information includes sending, to the device: a time difference of arrival (TDOA) measurement element that includes a reference signal time difference (RSTD) measurement and the identifier, a round trip time (RTT) measurement element that includes a receive-transmit time difference (Rx-Tx) measurement and the identifier, or an angle of departure (AoD) measurement element that includes a reference signal received power (RSRP) measurement and the identifier, or a combination thereof.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein the device includes a location server, and wherein the information regarding the first coherency group is sent to the location server in a message during a positioning session between the UE and the location server or via a sidelink connection between the UE and a second UE.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the information identifies the first coherency group and one or more TRPs belonging to the first coherency group.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the information identifies a plurality of TRPs and whether each TRP of the plurality of TRPs is associated with the first consistency group.

21. The method of claim 1, wherein measuring the positioning reference signal comprises measuring a time of arrival, TOA, of the positioning reference signal, and wherein the threshold corresponds to a TOA error threshold.

22. A user equipment (UE) for reporting measurement consistency to support positioning, the UE comprising: a transceiver; a memory; and one or more processors communicatively coupled with the transceiver and the memory, wherein the one or more processors are configured to: receive, via the transceiver, a positioning reference signal (PRS) resource; perform a measurement based on the PRS resource; and send, via the transceiver, information about a first consistency group comprising a first set of elements to a device based on the performed measurement, wherein: the first set of elements comprises a first number of elements equal to or less than a total number of: PRS measurements, PRS resources, PRS resource sets, transmission and reception points (TRPs), or frequency layers, or combinations thereof, that the UE is configured with; each element in the first consistency group corresponds to: a PRS measurement, a PRS resource, a PRS resource set, a TRP, or a frequency layer, or combinations thereof; and the first consistency group is associated with: a threshold, and a position estimate of the UE determined from at least a first subset of elements of the first consistency group for which an accuracy of the position estimate is estimated to be within the threshold.

23. The UE of claim 22, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to determine a second set of one or more elements for which the accuracy of the position estimate of the UE determined from the one or more elements of the second set is estimated to exceed the threshold.

24. The UE of claim 22, wherein the device comprises a location server, and the one or more processors are further configured to receive assistance data from the location server indicating TRP locations, wherein the information about the first consistency group is determined based on the TRP locations.

25. The UE of claim 24, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to determine the information by performing an outlier detection algorithm on at least the PRS measurements, wherein the TRP locations are input to the outlier detection algorithm.

26. The UE of claim 22, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to: receive configuration information associated with parameters for one or more consistency groups from a location server; and determine the first consistency group based on: the parameters, and the performed measurement.

27. The UE of claim 22, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to determine the first consistency group based on: a predefined parameter, and the performed measurement. ​ 28. The UE of claim 27, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to store, in the memory, the predefined parameters, wherein the predefined parameters indicate: a number of consistency groups to determine, a number of elements of each consistency group, a minimum subset size for each consistency group to generate a position estimate, or an estimation threshold for each consistency group, or a combination thereof.

29. The UE of claim 22, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to transmit, via the transceiver, a plurality of sets of information to the device, each set of information corresponding to a respective consistency group of a plurality of consistency groups.

30. The UE of claim 22, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to transmit, via the transceiver, a plurality of sets of information to the device, each set of information corresponding to a respective set of consistency groups for a positioning measurement report from one or more positioning measurement reports.

31. The UE of claim 22, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to transmit, via the transceiver, a measurement report to the device, the measurement report identifying, for each positioning method, one or more consistency groups and elements included in each consistency group of the one or more consistency groups.

32. The UE of claim 22, wherein the one or more processors are configured to include, in the information, information identifying: one or more TRPs belonging to the first consistency group, one or more PRS resource sets belonging to the first consistency group, a plurality of PRS resources belonging to the first consistency group, or a timestamp associated with the first consistency group, or a combination thereof.

33. The UE of claim 22, wherein the one or more processors are configured to include, in the information, information identifying a hierarchy of the first consistency group and: one or more TRPs belonging to the first consistency group, one or more PRS resources of each TRP of the first consistency group, and one or more PRS resources of each PRS resource set of the first consistency group.

34. The UE of claim 22, wherein the one or more processors are configured to include, in the information, an identifier of the first consistency group, and wherein to transmit the information, the one or more processors are configured to transmit: a time difference of arrival (TDOA) measurement element including a reference signal time difference (RSTD) measurement and the identifier, a round trip time (RTT) measurement element including a receive-transmit time difference (Rx-Tx) measurement and the identifier, or an angle of departure (AoD) measurement element including a reference signal received power (RSRP) measurement and the identifier, or a combination thereof. ​ 35. The UE of claim 22, wherein the apparatus comprises a location server, and wherein the one or more processors are configured to transmit information about the first consistency group to the location server in a message during a positioning session between the UE and the location server or via a sidelink connection between the UE and a second UE.

36. The UE of claim 35, wherein the one or more processors are configured to include, in the information, information that identifies the first consistency group and one or more TRPs that belong to the first consistency group.

37. The UE of claim 36, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to include, in the information, information that identifies a plurality of TRPs and whether each TRP of the plurality of TRPs is associated with the first consistency group.

38. The UE of claim 22, wherein, to measure the positioning reference signals, the one or more processors are configured to measure a time of arrival, TOA, of the positioning reference signals, and wherein the threshold corresponds to a TOA error threshold.

39. A device for reporting measurement consistency to support positioning, the device comprising: means for receiving positioning reference signal (PRS) resources; means for performing measurements based on the PRS resources; and means for transmitting, to a device, information about a first consistency group comprising a first set of elements based on the performed measurements, wherein: the first set of elements comprises a first number of elements equal to or less than a total number of: PRS measurements a user equipment (UE) is configured with, PRS resources, sets of PRS resources, transmission and reception points (TRPs), or frequency layers, or combinations thereof; each element in the first consistency group corresponds to: a PRS measurement, a PRS resource, a set of PRS resources, a TRP, or a frequency layer, or combinations thereof; and the first consistency group is associated with: (i) a threshold, and (ii) a position estimate of the UE determined from at least a first subset of elements of the first consistency group for which an accuracy of the position estimate is estimated to be within the threshold.

40. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions for reporting measurement consistency to support positioning, the instructions comprising code for: receiving positioning reference signal (PRS) resources; performing measurements based on the PRS resources; and transmitting, to a device, information about a first consistency group comprising a first set of elements based on the performed measurements, wherein: the first set of elements comprises a first number of elements equal to or less than a total number of: PRS measurements a user equipment (UE) is configured with, PRS resources, sets of PRS resources, transmission and reception points (TRPs), or frequency layers, or combinations thereof; each element in the first consistency group corresponds to: a PRS measurement, a PRS resource, a set of PRS resources, a TRP, or a frequency layer, or combinations thereof; and the first consistency group is associated with: (i) a threshold, and (ii) a position estimate of the UE determined from at least a first subset of elements of the first consistency group for which an accuracy of the position estimate is estimated to be within the threshold. (ii) a position estimate of the UE determined according to at least a first subset of elements of the first consistency group, for which the accuracy of the position estimate is estimated to be within the threshold.

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