Use indication, determination method and apparatus, communication device and storage medium

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a use indication, a determination method and device, a communication device and a storage medium, the use indication method is executed by a network side device, and the method comprises: sending a positioning reference signal (PRS) configuration set to a terminal; and indicating the use of the PRS configuration set to the terminal. According to the present disclosure, the network side device only needs to send the PRS configuration set to the terminal through a signaling, and then indicate the use of the PRS configuration set to the terminal, without carrying both the preconfigured PRS configuration and the on-demand requested PRS configuration through the signaling, which is beneficial to saving signaling resources.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present disclosure relates to the technical field of communication, and in particular, to a use indication method, a use determination method, a use indication apparatus, a use determination apparatus, a communication apparatus, and a computer readable storage medium. BACKGROUND

[0002] 5G NR(New Radio) introduces multiple positioning technologies, which can achieve positioning of a UE(User Equipment). Some of the positioning technologies require the network to provide positioning assistance information to the UE, such as a Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) configuration.

[0003] Sending the positioning assistance information to the UE in the positioning process increases the latency. In order to reduce the latency, the related technologies use a method of pre-configuring the positioning assistance information for the UE, that is, the network side device configures the positioning assistance information to the UE before positioning the UE.

[0004] In addition, the network side device can also configure an on-demand PRS configuration for the UE, and the on-demand PRS configuration may, for example, be a set including multiple PRS configurations, and the UE selects a PRS configuration from the set and sends a request to the network side device to request the configuration.

[0005] When the network side device is applicable to both pre-configuring the positioning assistance information for the UE and configuring the on-demand PRS configuration for the UE, the signaling needs to carry both the pre-configured positioning assistance information and the configured on-demand PRS configuration. The positioning assistance information and the on-demand PRS configuration generally need to occupy more bits, resulting in large signaling overhead. SUMMARY

[0006] Therefore, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a use indication method, a use determination method, a use indication apparatus, a use determination apparatus, a communication apparatus, and a computer readable storage medium to solve the technical problems in the related art.

[0007] According to a first aspect of embodiments of the present disclosure, a use indication method is provided, which is performed by a network side device, and the method comprises: sending a Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) configuration set to a terminal; and indicating a use of the PRS configuration set to the terminal.

[0008] According to a second aspect of embodiments of the present disclosure, a use determination method is provided, which is performed by a terminal, and the method comprises: receiving a Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) configuration set sent by a network side device; and determining a use of the PRS configuration set according to an indication of the network side device.

[0009] According to a third aspect of the embodiments of the present disclosure, a use indication method is provided. The method comprises: sending, by a network side device, a set of positioning reference signal (PRS) configurations to a terminal; and indicating, by the network side device, a use of the set of PRS configurations to the terminal.

[0010] According to a fourth aspect of the embodiments of the present disclosure, a use determination method is provided. The method comprises: receiving, by a terminal, a set of PRS configurations sent by a network side device; and determining, by the terminal, a use of the set of PRS configurations according to an indication of the network side device.

[0011] According to a fifth aspect of the embodiments of the present disclosure, a communication device is provided. The device comprises: a processor; and a memory for storing a computer program. When the computer program is executed by the processor, the use indication method described above is implemented.

[0012] According to a sixth aspect of the embodiments of the present disclosure, a communication device is provided. The device comprises: a processor; and a memory for storing a computer program. When the computer program is executed by the processor, the use determination method described above is implemented.

[0013] According to a seventh aspect of the embodiments of the present disclosure, a computer readable storage medium is provided. The medium stores a computer program. When the computer program is executed by a processor, the steps of the use indication method described above are implemented.

[0014] According to an eighth aspect of the embodiments of the present disclosure, a computer readable storage medium is provided. The medium stores a computer program. When the computer program is executed by a processor, the steps of the use determination method described above are implemented.

[0015] According to the embodiments of the present disclosure, the network side device only needs to send a set of PRS configurations to the terminal through one signaling, and then indicate the use of the set of PRS configurations to the terminal, without the need to carry both preconfigured PRS configurations and on-demand requested PRS configurations through one signaling, which is beneficial to saving signaling resources. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0016] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present disclosure, the drawings needed in the embodiment description will be briefly introduced. Obviously, the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present disclosure, and other drawings can be obtained by those skilled in the art without creative labor.

[0017] Figure 1 is a schematic flow chart of a use indication method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0018] Figure 2 is a schematic flowchart of another use indication method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0019] Figure 3 is a schematic flowchart of yet another use indication method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0020] Figure 4 is a schematic flowchart of yet another use indication method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0021] Figure 5 is a schematic flowchart of a use determination method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0022] Figure 6 is a schematic flowchart of another use determination method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0023] Figure 7 is a schematic flowchart of yet another use determination method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0024] Figure 8 is a schematic flowchart of yet another use determination method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0025] Figure 9 is a schematic block diagram of an apparatus for use indication according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0026] Figure 10 is a schematic block diagram of an apparatus for use determination according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0027] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present disclosure will be described clearly and completely below with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present disclosure. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present disclosure, rather than all the embodiments of the present disclosure. Based on the embodiments in the present disclosure, all other embodiments obtained by a person of ordinary skill in the art without creative work are within the protection scope of the present disclosure.

[0028] The terms used in the embodiments of the present disclosure are merely for the purpose of describing particular embodiments, and are not intended to limit the embodiments of the present disclosure. The singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” used in the embodiments of the present disclosure and the appended claims are intended to include plural forms, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It should also be understood that the term “and / or” used herein refers to and includes any or all possible combinations of one or more associated listed items.

[0029] It should be understood that, although the terms first, second, third, etc. can be used herein to describe various information, the information should not be limited to these terms. These terms are only used to differentiate one piece of information from another piece of information. For example, without departing from the scope of embodiments of the present disclosure, first information can also be referred to as second information, and similarly, second information can also be referred to as first information. Depending on the context, the word "if' as used herein can be interpreted as "when" or "upon" or "in response to determining".

[0030] For the purpose of brevity and ease of understanding, the terms "greater than" or "less than", "higher than" or "lower than" are used herein when characterizing a size relationship. However, it can be understood by those skilled in the art that the term "greater than" also covers the meaning of "greater than or equal to", and the term "less than" also covers the meaning of "less than or equal to"; the term "higher than" covers the meaning of "higher than or equal to", and the term "lower than" covers the meaning of "lower than or equal to".

[0031] Figure 1 is a schematic flowchart of a use indication method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The use indication method shown in the embodiment can be performed by a network side device, which includes but is not limited to a base station, a core network, and the network side device can communicate with a terminal as a user equipment, which includes but is not limited to a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a wearable device, a sensor, an Internet of Things device, and the like.

[0032] As shown in Figure 1 The use indication method can include the following steps:

[0033] In step S101, a set of positioning reference signal (PRS) configurations is sent to a terminal;

[0034] In step S102, the use of the set of PRS configurations is indicated to the terminal.

[0035] In one embodiment, the network side device can pre-configure positioning assistance information for the terminal, and can also configure on-demand requested PRS configurations for the terminal, wherein the positioning assistance information can include PRS configurations, the terminal can receive PRS according to the PRS configurations, and then perform a positioning process according to the received PRS.

[0036] In this case, if the network-side device sends the PRS configuration to the terminal as the preconfigured PRS configuration through signaling and sends the PRS configuration set to the terminal as the on-demand requested PRS configuration through signaling, more signaling resources will be occupied, resulting in a large signaling overhead, for example, two information elements (IEs) need to be set in the signaling, one IE carries the PRS configuration as the preconfigured PRS configuration, and the other IE carries the PRS configuration set as the on-demand requested PRS configuration.

[0037] According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the network-side device only needs to send the PRS configuration set to the terminal through one piece of signaling and indicate the use of the PRS configuration set to the terminal, without sending the preconfigured PRS configuration and the on-demand requested PRS configuration through signaling, which is beneficial to saving signaling resources.

[0038] In one embodiment, the network-side device can indicate the use of the PRS configuration set to the terminal in an explicit and / or implicit manner.

[0039] Taking the explicit manner as an example, the network-side device can send a use indication to the terminal to indicate the use of the PRS configuration set. The use of the PRS configuration set includes three, that is, the PRS configuration in the PRS configuration set is the on-demand requested PRS configuration of the terminal; or the PRS configuration in the PRS configuration set is the preconfigured PRS configuration of the terminal device; or the PRS configuration in the PRS configuration set is both the on-demand requested PRS configuration of the terminal and the preconfigured PRS configuration of the terminal device.

[0040] Since the use of the PRS configuration set can only include the above three, the use indication can only occupy 2 bits, that is, the indication of the above three uses can be realized.

[0041] If the PRS configuration in the PRS configuration set is indicated as the on-demand requested PRS configuration of the terminal through one piece of signaling alone, this piece of signaling needs to indicate the entire PRS configuration set, and the resources required to be occupied are greater than 2 bits.

[0042] If the PRS configuration in the PRS configuration set is indicated as the preconfigured PRS configuration of the terminal device through one piece of signaling alone, this piece of signaling needs to be able to indicate each PRS configuration in the PRS configuration set, so the resources occupied are also greater than 2 bits.

[0043] Therefore, in the case of indicating the use of the PRS configuration set by display, the required occupied resources are relatively less compared to carrying the PRS configuration set as preconfigured PRS configuration sent to the terminal by signaling and carrying the PRS configuration set as on-demand requested PRS configuration sent to the terminal by signaling, which is beneficial to save signaling resources.

[0044] For example, in an implicit manner, after the network side device sends the PRS configuration set to the terminal, if no use indication is sent, the PRS configuration set is by default the PRS configuration on-demand requested by the terminal, and if the use indication is sent, it is by default that one or more PRS configurations in the PRS configuration set are indicated to the terminal as preconfigured PRS configuration for the terminal. Regardless of whether the use indication is sent or not, the required occupied resources are relatively less compared to carrying the PRS configuration set as preconfigured PRS configuration sent to the terminal by signaling and carrying the PRS configuration set as on-demand requested PRS configuration sent to the terminal by signaling, which is beneficial to save signaling resources.

[0045] It should be noted that in the case of indication by implicit manner, if no use indication is sent, the PRS configuration in the PRS configuration set can also be by default the PRS configuration preconfigured for the terminal. The specific indication of which use is by default when no use indication is sent can be agreed in the communication protocol between the base station and the terminal.

[0046] In one embodiment, the indication of the use of the PRS configuration set to the terminal includes:

[0047] indicating the PRS configuration in the PRS configuration set to the terminal as the PRS configuration on-demand requested by the terminal, and the PRS configuration in the PRS configuration set as the PRS configuration preconfigured for the terminal device;

[0048] or indicating the PRS configuration in the PRS configuration set to the terminal as the PRS configuration on-demand requested by the terminal;

[0049] or indicating the PRS configuration in the PRS configuration set to the terminal as the PRS configuration preconfigured for the terminal.

[0050] That is, the network side device indicates the use of the PRS configuration set, which can indicate one of the above three uses.

[0051] It should be noted that the indication of the use of the PRS configuration set can be for the entire PRS configuration set, that is, indicating the use of all PRS configurations in the PRS configuration set, or for part of the PRS configurations in the PRS configuration set, that is, indicating the use of one or more PRS configurations in the PRS configuration set.

[0052] The network-side device can indicate that the PRS configurations in the PRS configuration set are only as PRS configurations requested on demand by the terminal. In this case, the terminal can select a PRS configuration that needs to be requested from the PRS configuration set, and generate a PRS request on demand and send it to the network-side device to request the selected PRS configuration. After receiving the request of the terminal, the network-side device can send the PRS configuration requested by the terminal to the terminal, for example, can indicate that the terminal is allowed to use the selected PRS configuration, for example, can send the identifier corresponding to the PRS configuration selected by the terminal to the terminal, for example, can send the PRS configuration selected by the terminal to the terminal.

[0053] The network-side device can indicate that the PRS configurations in the PRS configuration set are only as PRS configurations pre-configured for the terminal. In this case, the terminal can directly use the pre-configured PRS configuration to receive the downlink PRS in the positioning process. Further, the terminal cannot send a PRS request on demand to the network-side device, or the terminal can send a PRS request on demand to the network-side device, but the PRS configuration requested by the PRS request on demand does not contain the PRS configuration and / or PRS configuration identifier in the PRS configuration set, so that the network-side device cannot support the requested PRS configuration and / or cannot identify the PRS configuration identifier requested by the terminal.

[0054] The network-side device can indicate that the PRS configurations in the PRS configuration set are both as PRS configurations requested on demand by the terminal and as PRS configurations pre-configured for the terminal. In this case, the terminal can select one or more PRS configurations from the PRS configuration set as pre-configured PRS configurations according to the indication of the network-side device, and can also send a PRS request on demand to the network-side device according to the PRS configuration set, for example, select a PRS configuration from the PRS configuration set and send a PRS request on demand to the network-side device to request the selected PRS configuration. For example, in the case that the pre-configured PRS configuration does not meet the needs of the terminal, the terminal can select a PRS configuration that meets the needs of the terminal from the PRS configuration set other than the pre-configured PRS configuration, and send a PRS request on demand to the network-side device to request the selected PRS configuration.

[0055] In addition, in a case where a plurality of PRS configurations in the PRS configuration set are indicated as preconfigured PRS configurations, and a PRS configuration in the PRS configuration set is indicated as a PRS configuration requested on demand, the network-side device can indicate one PRS configuration in the plurality of PRS configurations as a PRS configuration for the terminal to use through the positioning request information in a subsequent positioning process. In this case, the terminal can determine whether the PRS configuration indicated by the positioning request information meets the needs (such as positioning needs), and if the needs are not met, the terminal can select a PRS configuration meeting the needs of the terminal from PRS configurations other than the PRS configuration indicated by the positioning request information in the PRS configuration set, and send a PRS request on demand to the network-side device to request the selected PRS configuration.

[0056] In one embodiment, the indicating to the terminal a PRS configuration in the PRS configuration set as a preconfigured PRS configuration for the terminal comprises:

[0057] indicating to the terminal a plurality of PRS configurations in the PRS configuration set as preconfigured PRS configurations for the terminal;

[0058] Or the indicating to the terminal a PRS configuration in the PRS configuration set as a PRS configuration requested on demand by the terminal, and a PRS configuration in the PRS configuration set as a preconfigured PRS configuration for the terminal device comprises:

[0059] indicating to the terminal a plurality of PRS configurations in the PRS configuration set as preconfigured PRS configurations for the terminal, and a PRS configuration corresponding to the PRS configuration set as a PRS configuration requested on demand.

[0060] In one embodiment, when the network-side device indicates a plurality of PRS configurations in the PRS configuration set as preconfigured PRS configurations for the terminal, the network-side device can indicate all PRS configurations in the PRS configuration set as preconfigured PRS configurations for the terminal, in which case 1 bit can be used for indication; or the network-side device can indicate one or more PRS configurations in the PRS configuration set as preconfigured PRS configurations for the terminal, in which case a plurality of bits are needed for indication.

[0061] In one embodiment, in a case where the network-side device indicates a PRS configuration in the PRS configuration set as only a preconfigured PRS configuration for the terminal, the network-side device can indicate a plurality of PRS configurations in the PRS configuration set as preconfigured PRS configurations for the terminal.

[0062] In one embodiment, in the case that the network-side device indicates a PRS configuration in the PRS configuration set as both a PRS configuration requested on demand by the terminal and a PRS configuration pre-configured for the terminal, the network-side device can indicate multiple PRS configurations in the PRS configuration set as PRS configurations pre-configured for the terminal.

[0063] In one embodiment, in the case that the network-side device indicates multiple PRS configurations in the PRS configuration set as PRS configurations pre-configured for the terminal, the terminal can only use one of the PRS configurations when needing to use a pre-configured PRS configuration in a positioning procedure, and then receive a downlink PRS on a time-frequency resource corresponding to the selected PRS configuration.

[0064] The following is an exemplary description of how the terminal selects one PRS configuration from multiple PRS configurations as a pre-configured PRS configuration.

[0065] Figure 2 is a schematic flowchart of another use indication method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 2 the method further includes:

[0066] In step S201, positioning request information is sent to the terminal, wherein the positioning request information carries indication information, and the indication information is used to indicate a first target PRS configuration in the multiple PRS configurations as a PRS configuration.

[0067] In one embodiment, in the case that the network-side device indicates multiple PRS configurations in the PRS configuration set as PRS configurations pre-configured for the terminal, but the terminal will only receive a downlink PRS according to one PRS configuration in a positioning procedure.

[0068] Therefore, when the network-side device needs to perform positioning on the terminal subsequently, the network-side device can carry indication information in the positioning request information sent to the terminal, indicate a first target PRS configuration in the multiple PRS configurations as a PRS configuration through the indication information, so that the terminal only needs to receive a downlink PRS according to the one first target PRS configuration.

[0069] Figure 3 is a schematic flowchart of still another use indication method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 3 the indication of the PRS configuration in the PRS configuration set to the terminal as a PRS configuration requested on demand by the terminal and as a PRS configuration pre-configured for the terminal device includes:

[0070] In step S301, one or more PRS configurations in the PRS configuration set are indicated to the terminal as pre-configured PRS configurations for the terminal, and the PRS configurations corresponding to the PRS configuration set are indicated as on-demand requested PRS configurations.

[0071] In one embodiment, in the case where the network side device indicates a PRS configuration in the PRS configuration set as both a pre-configured PRS configuration for the terminal and an on-demand requested PRS configuration for the terminal, the network side device can indicate one or more PRS configurations in the PRS configuration set as pre-configured PRS configurations for the terminal, so that the terminal can receive downlink PRS based only on the one PRS configuration.

[0072] Figure 4 is a schematic flowchart of yet another use indication method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 4 the method further includes:

[0073] In step S401, a PRS configuration request sent by the terminal is received.

[0074] In step S401, the PRS configuration requested by the terminal is sent to the terminal.

[0075] In one embodiment, when the network side device indicates one or more PRS configurations in the PRS configuration set as pre-configured PRS configurations for the terminal, the one or more pre-configured PRS configurations can not meet the positioning needs of the terminal, for example, the terminal needs higher positioning accuracy, and thus needs a PRS configuration with a larger bandwidth and a smaller period, while the pre-configured PRS configuration has a relatively small bandwidth and / or a relatively large period.

[0076] Since the network side device also indicates that a PRS configuration in the PRS configuration set can also be an on-demand requested PRS configuration for the terminal, the terminal can select a PRS configuration other than the pre-configured PRS configuration in the PRS configuration set according to needs, and send a request to the network side device to request the selected PRS configuration. Further, the network side device can send the PRS configuration requested by the terminal to the terminal, for example, can indicate that the terminal is allowed to use the selected PRS configuration, for example, can send an identifier corresponding to the PRS configuration selected by the terminal to the terminal, or can send the PRS configuration selected by the terminal to the terminal. Accordingly, it can be ensured that the terminal receives downlink PRS according to a PRS configuration that meets the positioning needs, and ensures that PRS is successfully received.

[0077] In one embodiment, the method further includes determining the use of the PRS set provided for the terminal.

[0078] The indication of the use of the PRS configuration set to the terminal includes:

[0079] when the PRS set provided for the terminal is both as on-demand requested PRS and as pre-configured PRS to the terminal, indicating to the terminal the PRS configuration in the PRS configuration set as the on-demand requested PRS configuration of the terminal and the PRS configuration in the PRS configuration set as the pre-configured PRS configuration to the terminal device;

[0080] when the PRS set provided for the terminal is only as on-demand PRS, indicating to the terminal the PRS configuration in the PRS configuration set as the on-demand requested PRS configuration of the terminal;

[0081] when the PRS set provided for the terminal is only as pre-configured PRS to the terminal, indicating to the terminal the PRS configuration in the PRS configuration set as the pre-configured PRS configuration to the terminal.

[0082] In one embodiment, the PRS set provided for the terminal by the network side device can have a specified use, for example, when the PRS set provided for the terminal is only as on-demand requested PRS, then the PRS configuration can only be as on-demand requested PRS configuration, thereby indicating to the terminal the PRS configuration in the PRS configuration set as the on-demand requested PRS configuration of the terminal; for example, when the PRS set provided for the terminal is only as pre-configured PRS to the terminal, then the PRS configuration can only be as pre-configured PRS configuration to the terminal, thereby indicating to the terminal the PRS configuration in the PRS configuration set as the pre-configured PRS configuration to the terminal; for example, when the PRS set provided for the terminal is both as on-demand requested PRS and as pre-configured PRS to the terminal, then the PRS configuration can be both as pre-configured PRS configuration to the terminal and as on-demand requested PRS configuration, thereby indicating to the terminal the PRS configuration in the PRS configuration set as the on-demand requested PRS configuration of the terminal and the PRS configuration in the PRS configuration set as the pre-configured PRS configuration to the terminal device.

[0083] wherein the network side device can determine the specified use of the PRS set provided for the terminal according to the capability of the network and the demand of positioning. For example, when the latency of positioning is relatively low, the PRS set provided for the terminal can be as pre-configured PRS to the terminal; for example, when the capability of the network can support on-demand requested PRS, the PRS set provided for the terminal can be as on-demand requested PRS; for example, when both the latency of positioning is relatively low and the capability of the network can support on-demand requested PRS, the PRS set provided for the terminal can be both as pre-configured PRS to the terminal and as on-demand requested PRS.

[0084] In an embodiment, the network-side device comprises a core network, configured to send, to the terminal, indication information indicating the use of the PRS configuration set, in a LTE (Long Term Evolution) positioning protocol (LPP) message sent by the core network to the terminal.

[0085] In the case that the network-side device is a core network, the core network (e.g. a location management function (LMF) in the core network) can carry the indication information indicating the use of the PRS configuration set in a LTE positioning protocol message sent to the terminal (transmitted by a base station), e.g. sent to the terminal before positioning the terminal, e.g. the indication information can be carried in a LPP provide assistance data, which can be sent to the terminal together with other positioning assistance information other than PRS configuration.

[0086] In an embodiment, the network-side device comprises a base station, configured to send, to the terminal, indication information indicating the use of the PRS configuration set, in a positioning system message broadcasted by the base station.

[0087] In the case that the network-side device is a base station, the base station can carry the indication information indicating the use of the PRS configuration set in a broadcasted positioning system message sent to the terminal, e.g. a new positioning system message type can be defined to contain the PRS set, e.g. the new defined type is posSibType6-4.

[0088] It is noted that in this case, the source of the PRS configuration can be the core network, i.e. the core network first sends the PRS configuration as positioning assistance information to the base station, and the base station then broadcasts the positioning system message carrying the positioning assistance information to the terminal.

[0089] Figure 5 is a schematic flow chart of a use determination method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The use determination method shown in this embodiment can be performed by a terminal, which can communicate with a network-side device as a user equipment, and the network-side device can comprise but is not limited to a base station, a core network, and the terminal can comprise but is not limited to a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a wearable device, a sensor, an Internet of Things device, and the like.

[0090] As shown in Figure 5 the use determination method can comprise the following steps:

[0091] In step S501, a PRS configuration set sent by a network-side device is received;

[0092] In step S502, the use of the PRS configuration set is determined according to the indication of the network-side device.

[0093] In one embodiment, the network-side device can pre-configure positioning assistance information for the terminal and configure on-demand requested PRS configurations for the terminal, wherein the positioning assistance information can include PRS configurations, the terminal can receive PRS according to the PRS configurations, and then perform a positioning process according to the received PRS.

[0094] In this case, if the network-side device sends the PRS configurations to the terminal as pre-configured PRS configurations and sends the PRS configuration set to the terminal as on-demand requested PRS configurations through signaling, more signaling resources will be occupied, resulting in large signaling overhead.

[0095] According to embodiments of the present disclosure, the network-side device only needs to send the PRS configuration set to the terminal through one piece of signaling and indicate the use of the PRS configuration set to the terminal, without sending pre-configured PRS configurations and on-demand requested PRS configurations through signaling, which is beneficial to saving signaling resources.

[0096] In one embodiment, the network-side device can indicate the use of the PRS configuration set to the terminal in an explicit and / or implicit manner.

[0097] Taking the explicit manner as an example, the network-side device can send a use indication to the terminal to indicate the use of the PRS configuration set. The use of the PRS configuration set includes three, that is, the PRS configurations in the PRS configuration set are on-demand requested PRS configurations of the terminal; or the PRS configurations in the PRS configuration set are pre-configured PRS configurations of the terminal; or the PRS configurations in the PRS configuration set are both on-demand requested PRS configurations of the terminal and pre-configured PRS configurations of the terminal.

[0098] Since the use of the PRS configuration set can only include the above three, the use indication can only occupy 2 bits, that is, the indication of the above three uses can be realized.

[0099] If the PRS configurations in the PRS configuration set are indicated as on-demand requested PRS configurations of the terminal through one piece of signaling, the signaling needs to indicate the entire PRS configuration set, and the resources required to be occupied are greater than 2 bits.

[0100] If the PRS configurations in the PRS configuration set are indicated as pre-configured PRS configurations of the terminal through one piece of signaling, the signaling needs to be able to indicate each PRS configuration in the PRS configuration set, so the resources occupied are also greater than 2 bits.

[0101] Therefore, in the case of indicating the use of the PRS configuration set by display, the required occupied resources are relatively less compared to carrying the PRS configuration set as preconfigured PRS configuration sent to the terminal by signaling and carrying the PRS configuration set as on-demand requested PRS configuration sent to the terminal by signaling, which is beneficial to save signaling resources.

[0102] For example, in an implicit manner, after the network side device sends the PRS configuration set to the terminal, if no use indication is sent, the PRS configuration set is by default the PRS configuration on-demand requested by the terminal, and if the use indication is sent, it is by default that one or more PRS configurations in the PRS configuration set are indicated to the terminal as preconfigured PRS configuration for the terminal. Regardless of whether the use indication is sent or not, the required occupied resources are relatively less compared to carrying the PRS configuration set as preconfigured PRS configuration sent to the terminal by signaling and carrying the PRS configuration set as on-demand requested PRS configuration sent to the terminal by signaling, which is beneficial to save signaling resources.

[0103] It should be noted that in the case of indication by implicit manner, if no use indication is sent, the PRS configuration in the PRS configuration set can also be by default the PRS configuration preconfigured for the terminal. The specific default indication of which use is not sent and can be agreed in the base station and terminal communication protocol.

[0104] In one embodiment, the determining the use of the PRS configuration set according to the indication of the network side device comprises:

[0105] determining the PRS configuration in the PRS configuration set as the PRS configuration on-demand requested by the terminal according to the indication of the network side device, and the PRS configuration in the PRS configuration set as the PRS configuration preconfigured for the terminal device;

[0106] or determining the PRS configuration in the PRS configuration set as the PRS configuration on-demand requested by the terminal according to the indication of the network side device;

[0107] or determining the PRS configuration in the PRS configuration set as the PRS configuration preconfigured for the terminal according to the indication of the network side device.

[0108] It should be noted that the network side indicates the use of the PRS configuration set, which can be indicating the use of all PRS configurations in the PRS configuration set, that is, indicating the use of all PRS configurations in the PRS configuration set, or indicating the use of part of the PRS configurations in the PRS configuration set, that is, indicating the use of one or more PRS configurations in the PRS configuration set.

[0109] The network-side device can indicate that the PRS configurations in the PRS configuration set are only as PRS configurations requested by the terminal on demand. In this case, the terminal can select a PRS configuration that needs to be requested in the PRS configuration set, and generate a PRS request on demand and send it to the network-side device to request the selected PRS configuration. After receiving the request of the terminal, the network-side device can send the PRS configuration requested by the terminal to the terminal, for example, can indicate that the terminal is allowed to use the selected PRS configuration, for example, can send the identifier corresponding to the PRS configuration selected by the terminal to the terminal, for example, can send the PRS configuration selected by the terminal to the terminal.

[0110] The network-side device can indicate that the PRS configurations in the PRS configuration set are only as PRS configurations pre-configured for the terminal. In this case, the terminal can directly use the pre-configured PRS configuration to receive the downlink PRS in the positioning process. Further, the terminal cannot send a PRS request on demand to the network-side device, or the terminal can send a PRS request on demand to the network-side device, but the PRS configuration requested by the PRS request on demand does not contain the PRS configuration and / or PRS configuration identifier in the PRS configuration set, so that the network-side device cannot support the requested PRS configuration and / or cannot identify the PRS configuration identifier requested by the terminal.

[0111] The network-side device can indicate that the PRS configurations in the PRS configuration set are both as PRS configurations requested by the terminal on demand and as PRS configurations pre-configured for the terminal. In this case, the terminal can select one or more PRS configurations in the PRS configuration set as pre-configured PRS configurations according to the indication of the network-side device, and can also send a PRS request on demand to the network-side device according to the PRS configuration set, for example, select a PRS configuration in the PRS configuration set and send a PRS request on demand to the network-side device to request the selected PRS configuration. For example, in the case that the pre-configured PRS configuration does not meet the needs of the terminal, the terminal can select a PRS configuration that meets the needs of the terminal in the PRS configuration set other than the pre-configured PRS configuration, and send a PRS request on demand to the network-side device to request the selected PRS configuration.

[0112] In addition, in a case where a plurality of PRS configurations in the PRS configuration set are indicated as preconfigured PRS configurations, and a PRS configuration in the PRS configuration set is indicated as a PRS configuration requested on demand, the network side device can indicate one PRS configuration in the plurality of PRS configurations as a PRS configuration for the terminal to use through the positioning request information in a subsequent positioning process when sending the positioning request information to the terminal. In this case, the terminal can determine whether the PRS configuration indicated by the positioning request information meets the needs (such as positioning needs), and if the needs are not met, the terminal can select a PRS configuration that meets the needs of the terminal from the PRS configurations other than the PRS configuration indicated by the positioning request information in the PRS configuration set, and send a PRS request on demand to the network side device to request the selected PRS configuration.

[0113] In one embodiment, the determining, according to the indication of the network side device, of a PRS configuration in the PRS configuration set as a PRS configuration requested on demand by the terminal comprises:

[0114] determining, according to the indication of the network side device, a plurality of PRS configurations in the PRS configuration set as preconfigured PRS configurations for the terminal;

[0115] Or the determining, according to the indication of the network side device, of a PRS configuration in the PRS configuration set as a PRS configuration requested on demand by the terminal, and the determining of a PRS configuration in the PRS configuration set as a preconfigured PRS configuration for the terminal device comprises:

[0116] determining, according to the indication of the network side device, a plurality of PRS configurations in the PRS configuration set as preconfigured PRS configurations for the terminal, and a PRS configuration corresponding to the PRS configuration set as a PRS configuration requested on demand.

[0117] In one embodiment, when the network side device indicates a plurality of PRS configurations in the PRS configuration set as preconfigured PRS configurations for the terminal, the network side device can indicate all PRS configurations in the PRS configuration set as preconfigured PRS configurations for the terminal, in which case 1 bit can be used for indication; or the network side device can indicate one or more PRS configurations in the PRS configuration set as preconfigured PRS configurations for the terminal, in which case a plurality of bits are needed for indication.

[0118] In one embodiment, in a case where the network side device indicates that a PRS configuration in the PRS configuration set is only a preconfigured PRS configuration for the terminal, the network side device can indicate a plurality of PRS configurations in the PRS configuration set as preconfigured PRS configurations for the terminal.

[0119] In one embodiment, in the case that the network-side device indicates a PRS configuration in the PRS configuration set as both a PRS configuration requested by the terminal on demand and a PRS configuration pre-configured for the terminal, the network-side device can indicate multiple PRS configurations in the PRS configuration set as PRS configurations pre-configured for the terminal.

[0120] In one embodiment, in the case that the network-side device indicates multiple PRS configurations in the PRS configuration set as PRS configurations pre-configured for the terminal, the terminal can only use one of the PRS configurations when needing to use the pre-configured PRS configuration in the positioning process, and then receive the downlink PRS on the time-frequency resource corresponding to the selected PRS configuration.

[0121] The following is an exemplary description of how the terminal selects one PRS configuration from multiple PRS configurations as a pre-configured PRS configuration.

[0122] Figure 6 is a schematic flowchart of another use determination method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 6 the method further includes:

[0123] In step S601, the positioning request information sent by the network-side device is received.

[0124] In step S602, according to the indication information carried in the positioning request information, a first target PRS configuration is determined as a PRS configuration from the multiple PRS configurations.

[0125] In one embodiment, in the case that the network-side device indicates multiple PRS configurations in the PRS configuration set as PRS configurations pre-configured for the terminal, but the terminal will only receive the downlink PRS according to one PRS configuration in the positioning process.

[0126] Therefore, when the network-side device needs to perform positioning on the terminal subsequently, the network-side device can carry indication information in the positioning request information sent to the terminal, and indicate a first target PRS configuration in the multiple PRS configurations as a PRS configuration through the indication information. The terminal can determine the first target PRS configuration as a PRS configuration from the multiple PRS configurations according to the indication information carried in the positioning request information, and then only needs to receive the downlink PRS according to the one first target PRS configuration.

[0127] Figure 7 is a schematic flowchart of another use determination method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 7As shown, the method further comprises:

[0128] In step S701, one or more PRS configurations in the PRS configuration set are determined as preconfigured PRS configurations according to the indication of the network side device, and the PRS configurations corresponding to the PRS configuration set are determined as on-demand requested PRS configurations.

[0129] In one embodiment, in the case that the network side device indicates that a PRS configuration in the PRS configuration set is both a PRS configuration requested on demand by the terminal and a PRS configuration preconfigured for the terminal, the network side device can indicate one or more PRS configurations in the PRS configuration set as PRS configurations preconfigured for the terminal, so that the terminal can receive downlink PRS based only on the one or more PRS configurations.

[0130] Figure 8 is another schematic flowchart of a use determination method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in the figure, the method further comprises: Figure 8 As shown, the method further comprises:

[0131] In step S801, in the case that the preconfigured PRS configuration does not meet the requirements, a PRS configuration request is sent to the network side device, for requesting a PRS configuration other than the preconfigured PRS configuration in the PRS configuration set.

[0132] In one embodiment, in the case that the network side device indicates one or more PRS configurations in the PRS configuration set as PRS configurations preconfigured for the terminal, this preconfigured PRS configuration may not meet the positioning requirements of the terminal, for example, the terminal needs higher-precision positioning requirements, and thus needs a PRS configuration with a larger bandwidth and a smaller period, while the preconfigured PRS configuration has a relatively small bandwidth and / or a relatively large period.

[0133] Since the network side device also indicates that the PRS configurations in the PRS configuration set can also be requested by the terminal as needed, the terminal can select a PRS configuration other than the preconfigured PRS configuration in the PRS configuration set as needed, and send a request to the network side device to request the selected PRS configuration. Further, the network side device can send the PRS configuration requested by the terminal to the terminal, for example, can indicate that the terminal is allowed to use the selected PRS configuration, for example, can send the terminal the identifier corresponding to the PRS configuration selected by the terminal, for example, can send the terminal the PRS configuration selected by the terminal. Accordingly, it can be ensured that the terminal receives the downlink PRS according to the PRS configuration that meets the positioning requirements, and ensures that the PRS is successfully received.

[0134] In one embodiment, the network side device indicates multiple PRS configurations in the PRS configuration set as preconfigured PRS configurations, and the method further comprises:

[0135] According to the positioning request information of the network side device, a second target PRS configuration in the multiple PRS configurations is determined as a PRS configuration;

[0136] In the case that the second target PRS configuration does not meet the requirements, a PRS configuration request is sent to the network side device to request a PRS configuration other than the second target PRS configuration in the PRS configuration set.

[0137] In one embodiment, when the network side device indicates a second target PRS configuration in the PRS configuration set as a PRS configuration, this second target PRS configuration may not meet the positioning requirements of the terminal, for example, the terminal needs higher positioning requirements, and the PRS configuration needs a larger bandwidth and a smaller period, while the second target PRS configuration has a relatively small bandwidth and / or a relatively large period.

[0138] Since the network side device also indicates that the PRS configurations in the PRS configuration set can also be requested by the terminal as needed, the terminal can select a PRS configuration other than the second target PRS configuration in the PRS configuration set as needed, and send a request to the network side device to request the selected PRS configuration. Further, the network side device can send the PRS configuration requested by the terminal to the terminal, for example, can indicate that the terminal is allowed to use the selected PRS configuration, for example, can send the terminal the identifier corresponding to the PRS configuration selected by the terminal, for example, can send the terminal the PRS configuration selected by the terminal. Accordingly, it can be ensured that the terminal receives the downlink PRS according to the PRS configuration that meets the positioning requirements, and ensures that the PRS is successfully received.

[0139] In an embodiment, the network-side device comprises a core network, configured to send, to the terminal, indication information indicating the use of the PRS configuration set, in an LTE positioning protocol message sent by the core network to the terminal.

[0140] In the case that the network-side device is a core network, the core network (e.g. a location management function LMF in the core network) can carry the indication information indicating the use of the PRS configuration set in an LTE positioning protocol message sent to the terminal (transmitted by a base station), e.g. sent to the terminal before positioning the terminal, e.g. the indication information can be carried in a LPP Provide Assistance Data message, which can be sent to the terminal together with other positioning assistance information other than PRS configuration.

[0141] In an embodiment, the network-side device comprises a base station, configured to send, to the terminal, indication information indicating the use of the PRS configuration set, in a positioning system message broadcasted by the base station.

[0142] In the case that the network-side device is a base station, the base station can carry the indication information indicating the use of the PRS configuration set in a broadcasted positioning system message sent to the terminal, e.g. a new positioning system message type can be defined to contain the PRS set, e.g. the new defined type is posSibType6-4.

[0143] It should be noted that in this case, the source of the PRS configuration can be the core network, i.e. the core network first sends the PRS configuration as positioning assistance information to the base station, and the base station then broadcasts the positioning system message carrying the positioning assistance information to the terminal.

[0144] Corresponding to the aforementioned embodiments of the use indication method and the use determination, the present disclosure also provides embodiments of a use indication apparatus and a use determination apparatus.

[0145] Embodiments of the present disclosure also propose a use indication apparatus. The use indication apparatus shown in the present embodiment can be applied to a network-side device, which comprises but is not limited to a base station and a core network. The network-side device can communicate with a terminal as a user equipment, which comprises but is not limited to a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a wearable device, a sensor, an Internet of Things device, and the like.

[0146] In an embodiment, the use indication apparatus comprises one or more processors, configured to perform the following: sending, to a terminal, a positioning reference signal PRS configuration set; and indicating, to the terminal, the use of the PRS configuration set.

[0147] In one embodiment, the processor is configured to perform indicating to the terminal a PRS configuration in the set of PRS configurations as a PRS configuration requested on-demand by the terminal, and a PRS configuration in the set of PRS configurations as a PRS configuration pre-configured to the terminal device;

[0148] or indicating to the terminal a PRS configuration in the set of PRS configurations as a PRS configuration requested on-demand by the terminal;

[0149] or indicating to the terminal a PRS configuration in the set of PRS configurations as a PRS configuration pre-configured to the terminal.

[0150] In one embodiment, the processor is configured to perform indicating to the terminal a plurality of PRS configurations in the set of PRS configurations as PRS configurations pre-configured to the terminal;

[0151] or the processor is configured to perform indicating to the terminal a plurality of PRS configurations in the set of PRS configurations as PRS configurations pre-configured to the terminal, and a PRS configuration corresponding to the set of PRS configurations as a PRS configuration requested on-demand.

[0152] In one embodiment, the processor is further configured to perform sending to the terminal a positioning request information, wherein the positioning request information carries indication information indicating a first target PRS configuration in the plurality of PRS configurations as a PRS configuration.

[0153] In one embodiment, the processor is configured to perform indicating to the terminal a PRS configuration in the set of PRS configurations as a PRS configuration pre-configured to the terminal, and a PRS configuration corresponding to the set of PRS configurations as a PRS configuration requested on-demand.

[0154] In one embodiment, the processor is further configured to perform receiving a PRS configuration request sent by the terminal; sending to the terminal a PRS configuration requested by the terminal.

[0155] In one embodiment, the processor is further configured to perform determining a use of a set of PRS provided for the terminal;

[0156] and the processor is configured to perform indicating to the terminal a PRS configuration in the set of PRS configurations as a PRS configuration requested on-demand by the terminal, and a PRS configuration in the set of PRS configurations as a PRS configuration pre-configured to the terminal device, when the set of PRS provided for the terminal is both a PRS requested on-demand and a PRS pre-configured to the terminal;

[0157] indicate a PRS configuration in the set of PRS configurations to the terminal as a PRS configuration requested on-demand by the terminal when the set of PRS provided to the terminal is only as on-demand PRS;

[0158] indicate a PRS configuration in the set of PRS configurations to the terminal as a PRS configuration pre-configured to the terminal when the set of PRS provided to the terminal is only as pre-configured PRS to the terminal.

[0159] In one embodiment, the processor is configured to perform indicating the use of the set of PRS configurations to the terminal by explicit and / or implicit way.

[0160] In one embodiment, the network-side device comprises a core network, and the indication information for indicating the use of the set of PRS configurations to the terminal is carried in a LTE positioning protocol message sent by the core network to the terminal.

[0161] In one embodiment, the network-side device comprises a base station, and the indication information for indicating the use of the set of PRS configurations to the terminal is carried in a positioning system message broadcasted by the base station.

[0162] Embodiments of the present disclosure also propose a use determining apparatus. The use determining apparatus shown in the present embodiment can be executed by a terminal, which can communicate with a network-side device as a user equipment, and the network-side device comprises but is not limited to a base station, a core network, and the terminal comprises but is not limited to a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a wearable device, a sensor, an Internet of Things device, and the like.

[0163] In one embodiment, the use determining apparatus comprises one or more processors, and the processor is configured to perform receiving a set of positioning reference signal (PRS) configurations sent by a network-side device; and determining the use of the set of PRS configurations according to an indication of the network-side device.

[0164] In one embodiment, the processor is configured to perform determining a PRS configuration in the set of PRS configurations as a PRS configuration requested on-demand by the terminal and a PRS configuration in the set of PRS configurations as a PRS configuration pre-configured to the terminal according to the indication of the network-side device.

[0165] or determining a PRS configuration in the set of PRS configurations as a PRS configuration requested on-demand by the terminal according to the indication of the network-side device;

[0166] or determining a PRS configuration in the set of PRS configurations as a PRS configuration pre-configured to the terminal according to the indication of the network-side device.

[0167] In one embodiment, the processor is configured to determine a plurality of PRS configurations in the PRS configuration set as preconfigured PRS configurations for the terminal according to an indication of the network-side device.

[0168] Or the processor is configured to determine a plurality of PRS configurations in the PRS configuration set as preconfigured PRS configurations for the terminal according to an indication of the network-side device, and the PRS configurations corresponding to the PRS configuration set as on-demand requested PRS configurations.

[0169] In one embodiment, the processor is further configured to receive positioning request information sent by the network-side device.

[0170] According to indication information carried in the positioning request information, a first target PRS configuration is determined from the plurality of PRS configurations as a PRS configuration.

[0171] In one embodiment, the processor is configured to indicate one PRS configuration in the PRS configuration set to the terminal as a preconfigured PRS configuration for the terminal, and the PRS configurations corresponding to the PRS configuration set as on-demand requested PRS configurations.

[0172] In one embodiment, the processor is further configured to send a PRS configuration request to the network-side device for requesting PRS configurations other than the preconfigured PRS configurations in the PRS configuration set.

[0173] In one embodiment, the network-side device includes a core network for indicating indication information of use of the PRS configuration set to the terminal, carried in an LTE positioning protocol message sent by the core network to the terminal.

[0174] In one embodiment, the network-side device includes a base station for indicating indication information of use of the PRS configuration set to the terminal, carried in a positioning system message broadcast by the base station.

[0175] As to the apparatus in the above embodiments, the specific manners in which various modules perform operations have been described in detail in the embodiments of the related methods, and will not be described in detail here.

[0176] For the device embodiments, since they basically correspond to the method embodiments, the relevant parts can be referred to in the description of the method embodiments. The device embodiments described above are merely illustrative. The modules described as separate components may or may not be physically separate, and the components shown as modules may or may not be physical modules, that is, they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network modules. Some or all of the modules can be selected to achieve the purpose of this embodiment according to actual needs. Those skilled in the art can understand and implement this without creative effort.

[0177] Embodiments of this disclosure also provide a communication device, comprising: a processor; a memory for storing a computer program; wherein, when the computer program is executed by the processor, it implements the purpose indication method described in any of the above embodiments.

[0178] Embodiments of this disclosure also provide a communication device, comprising: a processor; a memory for storing a computer program; wherein, when the computer program is executed by the processor, the purpose determination method described in any of the above embodiments is implemented.

[0179] Embodiments of this disclosure also provide a computer-readable storage medium for storing a computer program, characterized in that, when the computer program is executed by a processor, it implements the steps of the purpose indication method described in any of the above embodiments.

[0180] Embodiments of this disclosure also provide a computer-readable storage medium for storing a computer program, characterized in that, when the computer program is executed by a processor, it implements the steps of the purpose determination method described in any of the above embodiments.

[0181] like Figure 9 As shown, Figure 9 This is a schematic block diagram illustrating an apparatus 900 for indicating purpose according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The apparatus 900 can be provided as a base station. (Refer to...) Figure 9 The device 900 includes a processing component 922, a wireless transmitting / receiving component 924, an antenna component 926, and a signal processing section specific to the wireless interface. The processing component 922 may further include one or more processors. One of the processors in the processing component 922 may be configured to implement the use indication method described in any of the above embodiments.

[0182] Figure 10 This is a schematic block diagram illustrating an apparatus 1000 for a defined purpose, according to embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, apparatus 1000 may be a mobile phone, computer, digital broadcasting terminal, messaging device, game console, tablet device, medical device, fitness equipment, personal digital assistant, etc.

[0183] Referring to Figure 10 The device 1000 can include one or more components of the following: a processing component 1002, a memory 1004, a power supply component 1006, a multimedia component 1008, an audio component 1010, an input / output (I / O) interface 1012, a sensor component 1014, and a communication component 1016.

[0184] The processing component 1002 usually controls overall operations of the device 1000, such as operations associated with display, a telephone call, data communication, camera operation and recording operation. The processing component 1002 can include one or more processors 1020 to execute instructions to complete all or part of steps of the use determination method described above. In addition, the processing component 1002 can include one or more modules to facilitate interaction between the processing component 1002 and other components. For example, the processing component 1002 can include a multimedia module to facilitate the interaction between the multimedia component 1008 and the processing component 1002.

[0185] The memory 1004 is configured to store various types of data to support operations of the device 1000. Examples of these data include instructions for any application or method operating on the device 1000, contact data, phonebook data, messages, pictures, videos, etc. The memory 1004 can be implemented by any type of volatile or non-volatile storage devices or a combination thereof, such as static random access memory (SRAM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), read-only memory (ROM), magnetic storage, flash memory, magnetic disk or optical disk.

[0186] The power supply component 1006 provides power for various components of the device 1000. The power supply component 1006 can include a power supply management system, one or more power supplies, and other components associated with generating, managing and distributing power for the device 1000.

[0187] The multimedia component 1008 includes a screen providing an output interface between the device 1000 and a user. In some embodiments, the screen can include a liquid crystal display (LCD) and a touch panel (TP). If the screen includes a touch panel, the screen can be implemented as a touch screen to receive input signals from a user. The touch panel includes one or more touch sensors to sense touch, swiping, and gestures on the touch panel. The touch sensors can not only sense a boundary of a touching or swiping action, but also detect duration and pressure related to the touching or swiping action. In some embodiments, the multimedia component 1008 includes a front camera and / or a rear camera. When the device 1000 is in an operation mode, such as a camera mode or a video mode, the front camera and / or the rear camera can receive external multimedia data. Each of the front and rear camera can be a fixed optical lens system or have a focal length and optical zooming capability.

[0188] The audio component 1010 is configured to output and / or input audio signals. For example, the audio component 1010 includes a microphone (MIC) to receive an external audio signal when the device 1000 is in an operation mode, such as a call mode, a recording mode, and a voice recognition mode. The received audio signal can be further stored in the memory 1004 or transmitted via the communication component 1016. In some embodiments, the audio component 1010 further includes a speaker for outputting audio signals.

[0189] The I / O interface 1012 provides an interface between the processing component 1002 and peripheral interface modules, such as a keypad, a click wheel, buttons, and so on. The buttons can include, but are not limited to, a home button, a volume button, a start button, and a lock button.

[0190] The sensor component 1014 includes one or more sensors to provide various state assessments for the device 1000. For example, the sensor component 1014 can detect an open / closed position of the device 1000, relative positioning of components, such as a display and a keypad of the device 1000, a change in position of the device 1000 or a component of the device 1000, presence or absence of user contact with the device 1000, an orientation or acceleration / deceleration of the device 1000, and a temperature change of the device 1000. The sensor component 1014 can include a proximity sensor configured to detect presence of a nearby object without any physical touch. The sensor component 1014 can further include a light sensor, such as a CMOS or CCD image sensor, for use in an imaging application. In some embodiments, the sensor component 1014 can further include an acceleration sensor, a gyroscope sensor, a magnetic sensor, a pressure sensor, or a temperature sensor.

[0191] The communication component 1016 is configured to facilitate wired or wireless communication between the device 1000 and other devices. The device 1000 can access a wireless network based on a communication standard, such as WiFi, 2G or 3G, 4G LTE, 5G NR, or a combination thereof. In an exemplary embodiment, the communication component 1016 receives a broadcast signal or broadcast related information from an external broadcast management system via a broadcast channel. In an exemplary embodiment, the communication component 1016 further includes a Near Field Communication (NFC) module to facilitate short-range communication. For example, the NFC module can be implemented based on Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) techniques, infrared data association (IrDA) techniques, ultra-wideband (UWB) techniques, Bluetooth (BT) techniques, and other techniques.

[0192] In an exemplary embodiment, the device 1000 can be implemented by one or more application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signal processing devices (DSPDs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), controllers, micro-controllers, microprocessors, or other electronic elements, for performing the above-described use determination method.

[0193] In an exemplary embodiment, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium including instructions, such as the memory 1004 including instructions, is also provided, which can be executed by the processor 1020 of the device 1000 to complete the above-described use determination method. For example, the non-transitory computer-readable storage medium can be a ROM, a random access memory (RAM), a CD-ROM, a magnetic tape, a floppy disc, and an optical data storage device, etc.

[0194] Other embodiments of the present disclosure will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the subject disclosure. The present disclosure is intended to cover any and all variations of the present disclosure which become apparent to those skilled in the art from the reading and understanding of the specification and examples. The specification and examples are intended to be exemplary only and the true scope and spirit of the present disclosure should be indicated by the following claims.

[0195] It should be understood that the present disclosure is not limited to the precise structures as set forth above and as shown in the attached drawings, and that various modifications and changes can be made without departing from the scope thereof. The scope of the present disclosure is limited only by the claims appended hereto.

[0196] It is to be noted that, in the present text, relational terms such as first and second and the like can be used solely to distinguish one entity or action from another entity or action without necessarily requiring or implying any actual such relationship or order between such entities or actions. The terms "comprises", "comprising", or any other variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include only those elements but can include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. An element proceeded by "comprises... a" does not, without more constraints, exclude the existence of additional identical elements in the process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises the recited element.

[0197] The above describes in detail the method and device provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure. The principles and implementation manners of the present disclosure are described by using specific examples. The above description of the embodiments is only used to help understand the method of the present disclosure and its core idea. Meanwhile, for those skilled in the art, according to the idea of the present disclosure, the specific implementation manners and application ranges can be changed. In summary, the content of the present description should not be understood as a limitation of the present disclosure.

Claims

1. A method of indicating use, characterized in that, The method is performed by a network side device, wherein the network side device can both pre-configure positioning assistance information for a terminal and configure on-demand requested positioning reference signal (PRS) configuration for the terminal, and the method comprises: sending a PRS configuration set to the terminal; indicating the use of the PRS configuration set to the terminal; wherein the indication of the use of the PRS configuration set to the terminal comprises one of: indicating a PRS configuration in the PRS configuration set as the PRS configuration requested on-demand by the terminal and a PRS configuration in the PRS configuration set as the PRS configuration pre-configured for the terminal to the terminal; indicating a PRS configuration in the PRS configuration set as the PRS configuration requested on-demand by the terminal to the terminal; indicating a PRS configuration in the PRS configuration set as the PRS configuration pre-configured for the terminal to the terminal.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein, The indication of the PRS configuration in the PRS configuration set as the PRS configuration pre-configured for the terminal to the terminal comprises: indicating multiple PRS configurations in the PRS configuration set as the PRS configuration pre-configured for the terminal to the terminal; or The indication of the PRS configuration in the PRS configuration set as the PRS configuration requested on-demand by the terminal and the PRS configuration in the PRS configuration set as the PRS configuration pre-configured for the terminal device comprises: indicating multiple PRS configurations in the PRS configuration set as the PRS configuration pre-configured for the terminal and the PRS configuration corresponding to the PRS configuration set as the PRS configuration requested on-demand. The method further comprises:

3. The method of claim 2, wherein, sending positioning request information to the terminal, wherein the positioning request information carries indication information indicating a first target PRS configuration in the multiple PRS configurations as the PRS configuration. The indication of the PRS configuration in the PRS configuration set as the PRS configuration requested on-demand by the terminal and the PRS configuration in the PRS configuration set as the PRS configuration pre-configured for the terminal device comprises:

4. The method of claim 1, wherein, indicating one or more PRS configurations in the PRS configuration set as the PRS configuration pre-configured for the terminal and the PRS configuration corresponding to the PRS configuration set as the PRS configuration requested on-demand to the terminal. The method further comprises:

5. The method of claim 4, wherein, receiving a PRS configuration request sent by the terminal; sending the PRS configuration requested by the terminal to the terminal. The method further comprises:

6. The method of claim 1, wherein, determining the use of the PRS set provided for the terminal; The indication of the use of the PRS configuration set to the terminal comprises: when the PRS set provided for the terminal is both the PRS requested on-demand and the PRS pre-configured for the terminal, indicating a PRS configuration in the PRS configuration set as the PRS configuration requested on-demand by the terminal and a PRS configuration in the PRS configuration set as the PRS configuration pre-configured for the terminal device to the terminal; ​ indicate, to the terminal, a PRS configuration in the PRS configuration set as a PRS configuration requested by the terminal on demand, when the PRS set provided for the terminal is only as on-demand PRS; indicate, to the terminal, a PRS configuration in the PRS configuration set as a PRS configuration pre-configured to the terminal, when the PRS set provided for the terminal is only as PRS pre-configured to the terminal.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that, The use of the PRS configuration set includes: explicitly and / or implicitly indicating the use of the PRS configuration set to the terminal.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that, The network-side device includes a core network, and the indication information indicating the use of the PRS configuration set is carried in an LTE positioning protocol message sent by the core network to the terminal.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that, The network-side device includes a base station, and the indication information indicating the use of the PRS configuration set is carried in a positioning system message broadcast by the base station.

10. A method of use determination, characterized in that, The method is performed by a terminal, and the method includes: receiving a PRS configuration set sent by a network-side device, wherein the network-side device can pre-configure positioning assistance information for a terminal and can configure a PRS configuration requested on demand for the terminal; determining the use of the PRS configuration set according to an indication of the network-side device; The determination of the use of the PRS configuration set according to the indication of the network-side device includes one of the following: determining, according to the indication of the network-side device, a PRS configuration in the PRS configuration set as a PRS configuration requested by the terminal on demand and a PRS configuration in the PRS configuration set as a PRS configuration pre-configured to the terminal; determining, according to the indication of the network-side device, a PRS configuration in the PRS configuration set as a PRS configuration requested by the terminal on demand; determining, according to the indication of the network-side device, a PRS configuration in the PRS configuration set as a PRS configuration pre-configured to the terminal.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein, The determination of the PRS configuration in the PRS configuration set as the PRS configuration requested by the terminal on demand according to the indication of the network-side device includes: determining, according to the indication of the network-side device, multiple PRS configurations in the PRS configuration set as PRS configurations pre-configured to the terminal; or The determination of the PRS configuration in the PRS configuration set as the PRS configuration requested by the terminal on demand and the PRS configuration in the PRS configuration set as the PRS configuration pre-configured to the terminal device according to the indication of the network-side device includes: determining, according to the indication of the network-side device, multiple PRS configurations in the PRS configuration set as PRS configurations pre-configured to the terminal and a PRS configuration corresponding to the PRS configuration set as a PRS configuration requested on demand.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein, The method further includes: receiving positioning request information sent by the network-side device; determining, according to indication information carried in the positioning request information, a first target PRS configuration in the multiple PRS configurations as a PRS configuration.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein, The method further comprises: The method further comprises:

14. The method of claim 13, wherein, The method further comprises: The method further comprises:

15. The method of claim 13, wherein, The method further comprises: The method further comprises: The network side device comprises a core network, and the indication information indicating the use of the PRS configuration set is carried in a LTE positioning protocol message sent by the core network to the terminal.

16. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 15, characterized in that, The network side device comprises a base station, and the indication information indicating the use of the PRS configuration set is carried in a positioning system message broadcasted by the base station.

17. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 15, characterized in that, The network side device comprises one or more processors, and the network side device can both pre-configure positioning assistance information for a terminal and configure on-demand PRS configuration for the terminal.

18. A use indicating device characterized by, The processor is configured to perform the following operations: The processor is configured to perform the following operations: The processor is configured to perform the following operations: The processor is configured to perform the following operations: The terminal comprises one or more processors, and the processor is configured to perform the following operations: The processor is configured to perform the following operations:

19. A use determination apparatus characterized by comprising: The processor is configured to perform the following operations: The processor is configured to perform the following operations: The use of the network-side device to determine the PRS configuration set includes one of the following: determining a PRS configuration in the PRS configuration set as a PRS configuration requested by the terminal on demand according to the indication of the network-side device, and a PRS configuration in the PRS configuration set as a PRS configuration pre-configured for the terminal according to the indication of the network-side device; determining a PRS configuration in the PRS configuration set as a PRS configuration requested by the terminal on demand according to the indication of the network-side device; determining a PRS configuration in the PRS configuration set as a PRS configuration pre-configured for the terminal according to the indication of the network-side device.

20. A communications device, characterized by comprising: a processor; a memory for storing a computer program; wherein the computer program, when executed by the processor, implements the use indication method of any one of claims 1 to 9.

21. A communications device, characterized by comprising: a processor; a memory for storing a computer program; wherein the computer program, when executed by the processor, implements the use determination method of any one of claims 10 to 17.

22. A computer readable storage medium for storing a computer program, characterized in that, The computer program, when executed by the processor, implements the steps of the use indication method of any one of claims 1 to 9.

23. A computer readable storage medium for storing a computer program, characterized in that, The computer program, when executed by the processor, implements the steps of the use determination method of any one of claims 10 to 17.

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