Environmentally Aware Positioning Reference Signal (PRS)

Abstract

Various techniques for wireless communication are disclosed. In one aspect, a wireless communication method includes: determining a second bandwidth (BW) to be used by a user equipment (UE) for receiving a positioning reference signal (PRS) based on environmental information about an environment in which the UE is operating while receiving the PRS using a first BW; and transmitting the PRS using the second BW to be used by the UE for receiving the PRS.

Description

[0001] Cross - Reference to Related Applications

[0002] This application claims the benefit and priority of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 071,759, entitled "ENVIRONMENT - AWARE POSITIONING REFERENCE SIGNAL (PRS)", filed on August 28, 2020, and U.S. Non - Provisional Patent Application No. 17 / 377,325, entitled "ENVIRONMENT - AWARE POSITIONING REFERENCE SIGNAL (PRS)", filed on July 15, 2021. These two applications are assigned to the assignee of this application and are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties.

[0003] BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

[0004] 1. Field of the Disclosure

[0005] Aspects of the present disclosure generally relate to wireless communication.

[0006] 2. Description of the Related Art

[0007] Wireless communication systems have evolved through several generations, including first - generation analog wireless telephone services (1G), second - generation (2G) digital wireless telephone services (including transitional 2.5G and 2.75G networks), third - generation (3G) high - speed data wireless services with Internet capabilities, and fourth - generation (4G) services (e.g., Long - Term Evolution (LTE) or WiMax). There are currently many different types of wireless communication systems in use, including cellular as well as personal communication service (PCS) systems. Examples of known cellular systems include the cellular analog Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS), and digital cellular systems based on Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), etc.

[0008] The fifth generation (5G) wireless standard, known as New Radio (NR), requires higher data transfer speeds, a larger number of connections, better coverage, and other improvements. According to the Next Generation Mobile Networks Alliance, the 5G standard is designed to provide data rates of tens of megabits per second to each of thousands of users, and a data rate of 1 gigabit per second to dozens of employees on an office floor. Hundreds of thousands of simultaneous connections should be supported to enable large-scale sensor deployments. Additionally, when positioning a mobile device, positioning reference signals (PRS) can be used in the 5G network for distance determination. Therefore, the spectral efficiency of 5G mobile communications should be significantly improved compared to the current 4G standard. Additionally, the signaling efficiency should be improved and the latency should be significantly reduced compared to the current standard.

[0009] Overview

[0010] A simplified overview is provided below that relates to one or more aspects disclosed herein. Accordingly, the following overview should not be considered an exhaustive survey of all contemplated aspects, nor should the following overview be considered to identify key or critical elements related to all contemplated aspects or to delineate the scope associated with any particular aspect. Accordingly, the sole purpose of the following overview is to present in a simplified form certain concepts related to one or more aspects of the mechanisms disclosed herein prior to the detailed description provided below.

[0011] In one aspect, a wireless communication method performed by a transmitting entity (TE) includes: determining a second bandwidth (BW) to be used by a user equipment (UE) to receive a positioning reference signal (PRS) based on environmental information about an environment in which the UE is operating while receiving the PRS using a first BW; and transmitting the PRS using the second BW to be used by the UE to receive the PRS.

[0012] In one aspect, a wireless communication method performed by a user equipment (UE) includes: determining environmental information about an environment in which the UE is operating while receiving a positioning reference signal (PRS) using a first bandwidth (BW); determining a second BW to be used by the UE to receive the PRS based on the environmental information; and receiving the PRS using the second BW.

[0013] In one aspect, a transmitting entity (TE) includes: a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor configured to: determine a second bandwidth (BW) to be used by a user equipment (UE) to receive a positioning reference signal (PRS) based on environmental information about an environment in which the UE is operating while receiving the PRS using a first BW; and transmit the PRS using the second BW to be used by the UE to receive the PRS via the at least one transceiver.

[0014] In one aspect, a user equipment (UE) includes: a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor configured to: determine environmental information about an environment in which the UE, which is receiving a positioning reference signal (PRS) using a first bandwidth (BW), is operating; determine, based on the environmental information, a second BW to be used by the UE to receive the PRS; and receive the PRS using the second BW.

[0015] In one aspect, a transmitting entity (TE) includes: means for determining, based on environmental information about an environment in which a user equipment (UE), which is receiving a positioning reference signal (PRS) using a first bandwidth (BW), is operating, a second BW to be used by the UE to receive the PRS; and means for transmitting the PRS using the second BW to be used by the UE to receive the PRS.

[0016] In one aspect, a user equipment (UE) includes: means for determining environmental information about an environment in which the UE, which is receiving a positioning reference signal (PRS) using a first bandwidth (BW), is operating; means for determining, based on the environmental information, a second BW to be used by the UE to receive the PRS; and means for receiving the PRS using the second BW.

[0017] In one aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a transmitting entity (TE), cause the TE to: determine, based on environmental information about an environment in which a user equipment (UE), which is receiving a positioning reference signal (PRS) using a first bandwidth (BW), is operating, a second BW to be used by the UE to receive the PRS; and transmit the PRS using the second BW to be used by the UE to receive the PRS.

[0018] In one aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a user equipment (UE), cause the UE to: determine environmental information about an environment in which the UE, which is receiving a positioning reference signal (PRS) using a first bandwidth (BW), is operating; determine, based on the environmental information, a second BW to be used by the UE to receive the PRS; and receive the PRS using the second BW.

[0019] Based on the drawings and the detailed description, other objectives and advantages associated with the aspects disclosed herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Brief Description of the Drawings

[0021] The accompanying drawings are provided to assist in describing examples of one or more aspects of the disclosed subject matter, and are provided only for illustration of the examples and not to limit them:

[0022] Figure 1 illustrates an exemplary wireless communication system in accordance with various aspects;

[0023] Figure 2A and Figure 2B illustrates an example wireless network architecture in accordance with various aspects;

[0024] Figures 3A to 3C is a simplified block diagram of several exemplary aspects of components that can be employed in a wireless communication node and configured to support communication in accordance with various aspects;

[0025] Figure 4A and 4B is a diagram illustrating example frame structures and channels within those frame structures in accordance with various aspects;

[0026] Figure 5A 、 5B and 6 are signal messaging diagrams showing exemplary wireless communication methods in accordance with various aspects; and

[0027] Figure 7 and 8 illustrate exemplary wireless communication methods in accordance with various aspects.

[0028] DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0029] Aspects of the present disclosure are provided in the following description of various examples provided for illustrative purposes and the associated drawings. Alternative aspects may be devised without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Additionally, elements well known in the art will not be described in detail or will be omitted so as not to obscure relevant details of the present disclosure.

[0030] To assist in determining the location or position of a user equipment (UE) within a telecommunications network and for obtaining ranging between a receiving UE and a transmitting entity, the UE may perform measurements on positioning reference signals (PRSs), which are downlink (DL) signals transmitted by a transmit / receive point (TRP), which may be a base station (BS). A typical PRS message includes a pseudo-random sequence initialized by some aspect of the network but without any specific payload. The distance from the PRS transmitter can be inferred from the time of arrival (ToA) of the PRS. The UE may then report the ToA differences for PRS signals received from multiple distinct TRPs, and a core network node, such as a location server (LS), may use these reports to determine the ranging from the TRP to the UE, which can then be used to determine the location or position of the UE in 3D or geospatial space. Uplink (UL) positioning is also possible using sounding reference signals (SRSs) transmitted by the UE. Based on the received SRSs, the base station may measure and report (to the location server) the time of arrival, received power, and angle of arrival, from which the location of the UE can be estimated. The time difference between DL reception and UL transmission may also be reported and used in a round-trip time (RTT)-based positioning scheme, where the distance between the base station and the UE can be determined based on the estimated RTT. By combining several such RTT measurements involving different base stations, the location can be determined.

[0031] The above conventional methods have some drawbacks. For example, when the line of sight (LOS) between the PRS transmitter and the receiving UE is blocked, or when there are multipath reflections of the PRS signal, the receiving UE cannot easily determine the correct ToA. For example, if the UE only receives non-line-of-sight (NLOS) signals (i.e., NLOS signals reflected from an object), the ToA of the NLOS signal will be longer than the ToA of the LOS signal, resulting in an incorrect distance value between the UE and the PRS transmitter. Similarly, when there are too many reflected signals, even in the presence of non-reflected signals, the UE may have difficulty determining which (if any) of the signals is the true LOS signal. Thus, a technical challenge is to identify whether the PRS signal is LOS or NLOS so that NLOS measurements can be ignored.

[0032] Another disadvantage relates to the bandwidth over which the PRS signal is transmitted and received. The time domain representation (duration) of the PRS is inversely proportional to the PRS bandwidth. A higher bandwidth PRS provides a higher resolution PRS ToA at the receiving UE, which results in more accurate ranging and positioning, but consumes more power, while a lower bandwidth PRS consumes less power but produces less accurate results. In a traditional network, the PRS bandwidth is determined by the network, which configures the UE accordingly. However, the PRS frequency resources are typically limited, and therefore the PRS bandwidth is constrained by the available resources on the UE. Therefore, another technical challenge is that the PRS bandwidth determined by the network may not be optimal, for example, it may cause the UE to consume more power than required or may cause the UE to have a lower ranging accuracy than expected.

[0033] In order to overcome the technical shortcomings of the above conventional systems and methods, a mechanism is proposed that can dynamically (e.g., in response to environmental conditions) adjust the bandwidth of a positioning reference signal (PRS) used by a user equipment (UE). For example, a UE receiver can indicate to a transmitting entity the conditions of the environment in which the UE is operating, and in response, the transmitting entity can adjust the PRS bandwidth.

[0034] The words "exemplary" and "example" are used herein to mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration." Any aspect described herein as "exemplary" or "example" is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects. Likewise, the term "aspects of the disclosure" does not require that all aspects of the disclosure include the discussed feature, advantage, or mode of operation.

[0035] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the information and signals described below may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referred to throughout the following description may be represented by voltage, current, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or magnetic particles, optical fields or optical particles, or any combination thereof, depending in part on the specific application, in part on the desired design, in part on the corresponding technology, etc.

[0036] In addition, many aspects are described in the form of sequences of actions performed by elements of, for example, a computing device. It will be recognized that the various actions described herein can be performed by special purpose circuitry (e.g., an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC)), by program instructions being executed by one or more processors, or by a combination of both. Additionally, the sequences of actions described herein can be considered to be fully embodied within any form of non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored therein a corresponding set of computer instructions that, when executed, cause or direct the associated processor of the device to perform the functionality described herein. Thus, the various aspects of the present disclosure can be embodied in several different forms, all of which are contemplated as being within the scope of the claimed subject matter. Additionally, for each aspect described herein, any such aspect's corresponding form can be described herein as, for example, "logic configured to perform the described actions."

[0037] As used herein, the terms "user equipment" (UE) and "base station" are not intended to be dedicated to or otherwise limited to any particular radio access technology (RAT), unless otherwise specified. In general, a UE can be any wireless communication device (e.g., a mobile phone, router, tablet computer, laptop computer, tracking device, wearable device (e.g., smart watch, glasses, augmented reality (AR) / virtual reality (VR) headsets, etc.), vehicle (e.g., car, motorcycle, bicycle, etc.), Internet of Things (IoT) device, etc.) used by a user to communicate over a wireless communication network. A UE can be mobile or can be stationary (e.g., at certain times) and can communicate with a radio access network (RAN). As used herein, the term "UE" can be interchangeably referred to as "access terminal" or "AT", "client device", "wireless device", "subscriber equipment", "subscriber terminal", "subscriber station", "user terminal" (UT), "mobile device", "mobile terminal", "mobile station", or variants thereof. In general, a UE can communicate with a core network via a RAN and, through the core network, the UE can connect to an external network (such as the Internet) as well as to other UEs. Of course, other mechanisms for connecting to the core network, to the Internet, or to both are also possible for a UE, such as via a wired access network, a wireless local area network (WLAN) network (e.g., based on IEEE 802.11, etc.).

[0038] A base station can operate according to one of several RATs depending on the network in which the base station is deployed to communicate with a UE, and can alternatively be referred to as an access point (AP), network node, B node, evolved B node (eNB), next-generation eNB (ng-eNB), New Radio (NR) B node (also referred to as gNB or gNodeB), etc. The base station can be mainly used to support wireless access by the UE, including supporting data, voice, signaling connections, or various combinations thereof for the supported UE. In some systems, the base station can provide a pure edge node signaling function, while in other systems, the base station can provide additional control, network management functions, or both. The communication link by which the UE can send signals to the base station is referred to as an uplink (UL) channel (e.g., reverse traffic channel, reverse control channel, access channel, etc.). The communication link by which the base station can send signals to the UE is referred to as a downlink (DL) or forward link channel (e.g., paging channel, control channel, broadcast channel, forward traffic channel, etc.). As used herein, the term traffic channel (TCH) can refer to an uplink / reverse traffic channel or a downlink / forward traffic channel.

[0039] The term "base station" can refer to a single physical transmit-receive point (TRP) or can refer to multiple physical TRPs that may or may not be co-located. For example, in the case where the term "base station" refers to a single physical TRP, the physical TRP can be the base station antenna corresponding to the cell (or several cell sectors) of the base station. In the case where the term "base station" refers to multiple co-located physical TRPs, the physical TRPs can be an antenna array of the base station (e.g., as in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system or in the case where the base station employs beamforming). In the case where the term "base station" refers to multiple non-co-located physical TRPs, the physical TRPs can be a distributed antenna system (DAS) (a network of spatially separated antennas connected to a common source via a transmission medium) or a remote radio head (RRH) (a remote base station connected to a serving base station). Alternatively, the non-co-located physical TRPs can be the serving base station that receives measurement reports from the UE and a neighbor base station whose reference radio frequency (RF) signal (or simply "reference signal") the UE is measuring. Since the TRP is the point from which the base station transmits and receives wireless signals, as used herein, a reference to a transmission from the base station or a reception at the base station should be understood as a reference to a particular TRP of the base station.

[0040] In some implementations that support UE positioning, a base station may not support the radio access of the UE (e.g., may not support data, voice, signaling connections, or various combinations thereof for the UE), but may alternatively transmit to the UE reference signals to be measured by the UE, may receive and measure signals transmitted by the UE, or both. Such a base station may be referred to as a positioning tower (e.g., in the case of transmitting signals to the UE), as a position measurement unit (e.g., in the case of receiving and measuring signals from the UE), or both.

[0041] An "RF signal" includes an electromagnetic wave of a given frequency that transmits information through the space between a transmitter and a receiver. As used herein, a transmitter may transmit a single "RF signal" or multiple "RF signals" to a receiver. However, due to the propagation characteristics of each RF signal through a multipath channel, a receiver may receive multiple "RF signals" corresponding to each transmitted RF signal. The same RF signal transmitted on different paths between the transmitter and the receiver may be referred to as a "multipath" RF signal. As used herein, an RF signal may also be referred to as a "wireless signal" or simply a "signal", where it is clear from the context that the term "signal" refers to a wireless signal or an RF signal.

[0042] Figure 1 An exemplary wireless communication system 100 in accordance with various aspects is illustrated. The wireless communication system 100 (which may also be referred to as a wireless wide area network (WWAN)) may include various base stations 102 and various UEs 104. The base stations 102 may include macro cell base stations (high-power cell base stations), small cell base stations (low-power cell base stations), or both. In one aspect, the macro cell base stations may include eNBs, ng-eNBs, or both (where the wireless communication system 100 corresponds to an LTE network), or gNBs (where the wireless communication system 100 corresponds to an NR network), or a combination of both, and the small cell base stations may include femtocells, picocells, microcells, etc.

[0043] Each base station 102 may jointly form a RAN and interface with a core network 170 (e.g., an evolved packet core (EPC) or a 5G core (5GC)) via a backhaul link 122, and be connected to one or more location servers 172 (which may be part of the core network 170 or external to the core network 170) through the core network 170. In addition to other functions, the base station 102 may also perform functions related to one or more of transmitting user data, radio channel encryption and decryption, integrity protection, header compression, mobility control functions (e.g., handover, dual connectivity), inter-cell interference coordination, connection establishment and release, load balancing, distribution of non-access stratum (NAS) messages, NAS node selection, synchronization, RAN sharing, multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS), subscriber and device tracking, RAN information management (RIM), paging, positioning, and delivery of alert messages. The base stations 102 may communicate with each other directly or indirectly (e.g., through the EPC / 5GC) via a backhaul link 134 (which may be wired or wireless).

[0044] The base station 102 may communicate wirelessly with the UE 104. Each base station 102 may provide communication coverage for its respective geographic coverage area 110. In one aspect, one or more cells may be supported by the base stations 102 in each geographic coverage area 110. A "cell" is a logical communication entity for communicating with a base station (e.g., on a certain frequency resource, referred to as a carrier frequency, component carrier, carrier, frequency band, etc.), and may be associated with an identifier (e.g., a physical cell identifier (PCI), a virtual cell identifier (VCI), a cell global identifier (CGI)) to distinguish cells operating via the same or different carrier frequencies. In some cases, different cells may be configured according to different protocol types that may provide access for different types of UEs (e.g., machine type communication (MTC), narrowband IoT (NB-IoT), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), or others). Since a cell is supported by a specific base station, the term "cell" may refer to either or both of the logical communication entity and the base station supporting the logical communication entity depending on the context. Additionally, since a TRP is typically the physical transmission point of a cell, the terms "cell" and "TRP" may be used interchangeably. In some cases, the term "cell" may also refer to the geographic coverage area (e.g., a sector) of a base station in the sense that a carrier frequency can be detected and used for communication within a certain part of the geographic coverage area 110.

[0045] Although the geographical coverage areas 110 of adjacent macro cell base stations 102 may partially overlap (e.g., in a handover area), some geographical coverage areas 110 may be substantially overlapped by larger geographical coverage areas 110. For example, a small cell base station 102' may have a coverage area 110' that substantially overlaps the geographical coverage areas 110 of one or more macro cell base stations 102. A network including both small cells and macro cell base stations may be referred to as a heterogeneous network. The heterogeneous network may further include a home evolved Node B (HeNB) that may serve a restricted group known as a closed subscriber group (CSG).

[0046] The communication link 120 between the base station 102 and the UE 104 may include an uplink (also referred to as a reverse link) transmission from the UE 104 to the base station 102, a downlink (also referred to as a forward link) transmission from the base station 102 to the UE 104, or both. The communication link 120 may use MIMO antenna technology, including spatial multiplexing, beamforming, transmit diversity, or various combinations thereof. The communication link 120 may be over one or more carrier frequencies. The allocation of carriers may be asymmetric with respect to the downlink and the uplink (e.g., more or fewer carriers may be allocated to the downlink compared to the uplink).

[0047] The wireless communication system 100 may further include a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point (AP) 150 in communication with a WLAN station (STA) 152 via a communication link 154 in an unlicensed spectrum (e.g., 5 GHz). When communicating in the unlicensed spectrum, the WLAN STA 152, the WLAN AP 150, or various combinations thereof may perform a clear channel assessment (CCA) or listen-before-talk (LBT) procedure to determine whether the channel is available before communicating.

[0048] The small cell base station 102' may operate in a licensed spectrum, an unlicensed spectrum, or both. When operating in the unlicensed spectrum, the small cell base station 102' may employ LTE or NR technology and use the same 5 GHz unlicensed spectrum as that used by the WLAN AP 150. The small cell base station 102' adopting LTE / 5G in the unlicensed spectrum may boost the coverage of the access network, increase the capacity of the access network, or both. NR in the unlicensed spectrum may be referred to as NR-U. LTE in the unlicensed spectrum may be referred to as LTE-U, licensed-assisted access (LAA), or MulteFire.

[0049] The wireless communication system 100 may further include a millimeter wave (mmW) base station 180 that may operate at mmW frequencies, near mmW frequencies, or a combination thereof to communicate with a UE 182. Extremely high frequency (EHF) is a part of RF in the electromagnetic spectrum. EHF has a range of 30 GHz to 300 GHz and a wavelength between 1 millimeter and 10 millimeters. Radio waves in this band may be referred to as millimeter waves. Near mmW may extend down to 3 GHz frequencies with a 100 millimeter wavelength. The super high frequency (SHF) band extends between 3 GHz and 30 GHz, which is also referred to as centimeter waves. Communication using the mmW / near mmW radio frequency bands has high path loss and a relatively short range. The mmW base station 180 and the UE 182 may utilize beamforming (transmission, reception, or both) on the mmW communication link 184 to compensate for the extremely high path loss and short range. Additionally, it will be appreciated that in alternative configurations, one or more of the base stations 102 may also use mmW or near mmW and beamforming for transmission. Accordingly, it will be appreciated that the foregoing explanations are merely examples and should not be construed as limiting the various aspects disclosed herein.

[0050] Transmit beamforming is a technique for focusing an RF signal in a specific direction. Conventionally, when a network node (e.g., a base station) broadcasts an RF signal, the network node broadcasts the signal in all directions (omnidirectionally). With transmit beamforming, the network node determines where a given target device (e.g., a UE) is located (relative to the transmitting network node) and projects a stronger downlink RF signal in that specific direction, thereby providing a faster (in terms of data rate) and stronger RF signal to the receiving device. To change the directivity of the RF signal during transmission, the network node may control the phase and relative amplitude of the RF signal at each of one or more transmitters that are broadcasting the RF signal. For example, the network node may use an antenna array (referred to as a "phased array" or "antenna array") that generates a beam of RF waves, and the beam of RF waves can be "steered" to point in different directions without actually moving the antennas. Specifically, the RF currents from the transmitters are fed to the individual antennas in the correct phase relationship so that the radio waves from the separate antennas add together in the desired direction to increase radiation, while canceling in the non-desired directions to suppress radiation.

[0051] Transmission beams can be quasi - co - located, which means that they appear to have the same parameters to a receiving party (e.g., a UE), regardless of whether the transmitting antennas of the network nodes are physically co - located themselves. In NR, there are four types of quasi - co - location (QCL) relationships. Specifically, a given type of QCL relationship means that certain parameters of a second reference RF signal on a second beam can be derived from information about a source reference RF signal on a source beam. Thus, if the source reference RF signal is of QCL type A, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, and delay spread of the second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is of QCL type B, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift and Doppler spread of the second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is of QCL type C, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift and average delay of the second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is of QCL type D, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the spatial reception parameters of the second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel.

[0052] In receive beamforming, the receiver uses receive beams to amplify the RF signals detected on a given channel. For example, the receiver can increase the gain setting of the antenna array in a specific direction, adjust the phase setting of the antenna array, or a combination thereof, to amplify the RF signals received from that direction (e.g., increase its gain level). Thus, when the receiver is said to be beamforming in a certain direction, this means that the beam gain in that direction is higher relative to the beam gains in other directions, or the beam gain in that direction is the highest compared to the beam gains of all other receive beams available to the receiver in that direction. This results in a stronger received signal strength for the RF signals received from that direction (e.g., reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), signal - to - interference - plus - noise ratio (SINR), etc.).

[0053] The receiving beam can be spatially related. Spatial relationship means that the parameters of the transmission beam for the second reference signal can be derived from the information on the receiving beam of the first reference signal. For example, a UE can receive one or more reference downlink reference signals (such as positioning reference signal (PRS), narrowband reference signal (NRS), tracking reference signal (TRS), phase tracking reference signal (PTRS), cell-specific reference signal (CRS), channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), primary synchronization signal (PSS), secondary synchronization signal (SSS), synchronization signal block (SSB), etc.) from a base station using a specific receiving beam. The UE can then form a transmission beam based on the parameters of the receiving beam for transmitting one or more uplink reference signals (such as uplink positioning reference signal (UL-PRS), sounding reference signal (SRS), demodulation reference signal (DMRS), PTRS, etc.) to the base station.

[0054] Note that depending on the entity forming the "downlink" beam, the beam can be a transmission beam or a receiving beam. For example, if the base station is forming a downlink beam to transmit a reference signal to the UE, the downlink beam is a transmission beam. However, if the UE is forming a downlink beam, the downlink beam is a receiving beam for receiving downlink reference signals. Similarly, depending on the entity forming the "uplink" beam, the beam can be a transmission beam or a receiving beam. For example, if the base station is forming an uplink beam, the uplink beam is an uplink receiving beam, and if the UE is forming an uplink beam, the uplink beam is an uplink transmission beam.

[0055] In 5G, the spectrum in which wireless nodes (e.g., base stations 102 / 180, UEs 104 / 182) operate is divided into multiple frequency ranges: FR1 (from 450 to 6000 MHz), FR2 (from 24250 to 52600 MHz), FR3 (above 52600 MHz), and FR4 (between FR1 and FR2). In a multi-carrier system such as 5G, one of the carrier frequencies is referred to as the "primary carrier" or "anchor carrier" or "primary serving cell" or "PCell", and the remaining carrier frequencies are referred to as "secondary carriers" or "secondary serving cells" or "SCells". In carrier aggregation, the anchor carrier is the carrier that operates on the primary frequency (e.g., FR1) utilized by the UE 104 / 182 and on the cell in which the UE 104 / 182 performs the initial radio resource control (RRC) connection establishment procedure or initiates the RRC connection re-establishment procedure. The primary carrier carries all common control channels as well as UE-specific control channels, and can be a carrier in a licensed frequency (however, this is not always the case). The secondary carrier is a carrier that operates on a second frequency (e.g., FR2), which can be configured once an RRC connection is established between the UE 104 and the anchor carrier, and which can be used to provide additional radio resources. In some cases, the secondary carrier can be a carrier in an unlicensed frequency. The secondary carrier may only contain necessary signaling information and signals. For example, UE-specific signaling information and signals may not exist in the secondary carrier because both the primary uplink and downlink carriers are typically UE-specific. This means that different UEs 104 / 182 in a cell can have different downlink primary carriers. The same holds true for uplink primary carriers. The network is able to change the primary carrier of any UE 104 / 182 at any time. For example, this is done to balance the load on different carriers. Since the "serving cell" (whether it is a PCell or an SCell) corresponds to the carrier frequency / component carrier that a certain base station is using for communication, the terms "cell", "serving cell", "component carrier", "carrier frequency", etc. can be used interchangeably.

[0056] For example, still referring to Figure 1 , one of the frequencies utilized by the macro cell base station 102 can be the anchor carrier (or "PCell"), and other frequencies utilized by the macro cell base station 102, mmW base station 180, or a combination thereof can be secondary carriers ("SCells"). Simultaneous transmission, reception, or both of multiple carriers enables the UE 104 / 182 to significantly increase its data transmission rate, reception rate, or both. For example, two 20 MHz aggregated carriers in a multi-carrier system will theoretically result in a two-fold increase in the data rate (i.e., 40 MHz) compared to the data rate obtained by a single 20 MHz carrier.

[0057] The wireless communication system 100 may further include one or more UEs (such as UE 190), which are indirectly connected to one or more communication networks via one or more device-to-device (D2D) peer-to-peer (P2P) links (referred to as "sidelinks"). In Figure 1 the example, UE 190 has a D2D P2P link 192 with a UE 104 connected to a base station 102 (e.g., UE 190 can indirectly obtain cellular connectivity through it), and a D2D P2P link 194 with a WLAN STA 152 connected to a WLAN AP 150 (UE 190 can indirectly obtain WLAN-based Internet connectivity through it). In one example, the D2D P2P links 192 and 194 can use any well-known D2D RAT (such as LTE Direct (LTE-D), WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), etc.) to support.

[0058] The wireless communication system 100 may further include a UE 164, which can communicate with the macrocell base station 102 on the communication link 120, communicate with the mmW base station 180 on the mmW communication link 184, or a combination thereof. For example, the macrocell base station 102 may support a PCell and one or more SCell for the UE 164, and the mmW base station 180 may support one or more SCell for the UE 164.

[0059] Figure 2A An example wireless network structure 200 according to various aspects is illustrated. For example, the 5GC 210 (also referred to as the Next Generation Core (NGC)) can be functionally regarded as a control plane function 214 (e.g., UE registration, authentication, network access, gateway selection, etc.) and a user plane function 212 (e.g., UE gateway function, access to data networks, IP routing, etc.), which operate in cooperation to form the core network. The user plane interface (NG-U) 213 and the control plane interface (NG-C) 215 connect the gNB 222 to the 5GC 210, particularly to the control plane function 214 and the user plane function 212. In an additional configuration, the ng-eNB 224 can also be connected to the 5GC 210 via the NG-C 215 to the control plane function 214 and the NG-U 213 to the user plane function 212. In addition, the ng-eNB 224 can communicate directly with the gNB 222 via a backhaul connection 223. In some configurations, the new RAN 220 can have only one or more gNB 222, while other configurations include both one or more ng-eNB 224 and one or more gNB 222. The gNB 222 or the ng-eNB 224 can communicate with the UE 204 (e.g., Figure 1communicate with any UE depicted therein. Another optional aspect may include a location server 172 that may be in communication with the 5GC 210 to provide location assistance for the UE 204. The location server 172 may be implemented as multiple separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules scaled across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternatively may each correspond to a single server. The location server 172 may be configured to support one or more location services for the UE 204, and the UE 204 can be connected to the location server 172 via the core network (5GC 210), via the Internet (not illustrated), or via both. Additionally, the location server 172 may be integrated into a component of the core network, or alternatively may be external to the core network.

[0060] Figure 2B Another example wireless network structure 250 according to various aspects is illustrated. For example, the 5GC 260 may be functionally viewed as a control plane function (provided by the Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) 264) and a user plane function (provided by the User Plane Function (UPF) 262), which operate in concert to form the core network (i.e., 5GC 260). The user plane interface 263 and the control plane interface 265 connect the ng-eNB 224 to the 5GC 260, specifically to the UPF 262 and the AMF 264 respectively. In an additional configuration, the gNB 222 may also be connected to the 5GC 260 via the control plane interface 265 to the AMF 264 and the user plane interface 263 to the UPF 262. Additionally, the ng-eNB 224 may communicate directly with the gNB 222 via a backhaul connection 223 with or without direct gNB connectivity to the 5GC 260. In some configurations, the new RAN 220 may have only one or more gNBs 222, while other configurations include both one or more ng-eNBs 224 and one or more gNBs 222. The gNB 222 or the ng-eNB 224 may communicate with the UE 204 (e.g., Figure 1 any UE depicted therein). The base stations of the new RAN 220 communicate with the AMF 264 via the N2 interface and with the UPF 262 via the N3 interface.

[0061] The functions of the AMF 264 include registration management, connection management, reachability management, mobility management, lawful interception, transmission of session management (SM) messages between the UE 204 and the session management function (SMF) 266, transparent proxy service for routing SM messages, access authentication and access authorization, transmission of short message service (SMS) messages between the UE 204 and the short message service function (SMSF) (not shown), and security anchor functionality (SEAF). The AMF 264 also interacts with the authentication server function (AUSF) (not shown) and the UE 204, and receives the intermediate key established as a result of the UE 204 authentication process. In the case of authentication based on a UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) subscriber identity module (USIM), the AMF 264 retrieves security material from the AUSF. The functions of the AMF 264 also include security context management (SCM). The SCM receives a key from the SEAF, which the SCM uses to derive access network - specific keys. The functionality of the AMF 264 also includes: location service management for regulatory services, transmission of location service messages between the UE 204 and the location management function (LMF) 270 (which acts as the location server 172), transmission of location service messages between the new RAN 220 and the LMF 270, EPS bearer identifier allocation for interoperability with the evolved packet system (EPS), and UE 204 mobility event notification. In addition, the AMF 264 also supports the functionality of non - 3GPP access networks.

[0062] The functions of the UPF 262 include: acting as an anchor for intra - RAT / inter - RAT mobility (when applicable), acting as an external protocol data unit (PDU) session point for interconnection to a data network (not shown), providing packet routing and forwarding, packet inspection, user plane policy rule enforcement (e.g., gating, redirection, traffic steering), lawful interception (user plane collection), traffic usage reporting, quality of service (QoS) handling for the user plane (e.g., uplink / downlink rate enforcement, reflexive QoS marking in the downlink), uplink traffic verification (service data flow (SDF) to QoS flow mapping), transmission - level packet marking in the uplink and downlink, downlink packet buffering and downlink data notification triggering, and sending and forwarding one or more "end markers" to the source RAN node. The UPF 262 may also support the transmission of location service messages on the user plane between the UE 204 and a location server such as the secure user plane location (SUPL) location platform (SLP) 272.

[0063] The functions of the SMF 266 include session management, UE Internet Protocol (IP) address allocation and management, selection and control of the user plane function, traffic steering configuration at the UPF 262 for routing traffic to the correct destination, partial control of policy enforcement and QoS, and downlink data notification. The interface used by the SMF 266 to communicate with the AMF 264 is referred to as the N11 interface.

[0064] Another optional aspect may include an LMF 270, which may communicate with the 5GC 260 to provide location assistance for the UE 204. The LMF 270 may be implemented as multiple separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules spanning multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternatively may each correspond to a single server. The LMF 270 may be configured to support one or more location services for the UE 204, which can be connected to the LMF 270 via the core network (5GC 260), via the Internet (not illustrated), or via both. The SLP 272 may support similar functions to the LMF 270, but the LMF 270 may communicate with the AMF 264, the new RAN 220, and the UE 204 on the control plane (e.g., using interfaces and protocols designed to convey signaling messages rather than voice or data messages), and the SLP 272 may communicate with the UE 204 and external clients ( Figure 2B not shown in the figure) on the user plane (e.g., using protocols designed to carry voice or data, such as Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and / or IP).

[0065] In one aspect, the LMF 270, the SLP 272, or both may be integrated into a base station, such as the gNB 222 or the ng-eNB 224. When integrated into the gNB 222 or the ng-eNB 224, the LMF 270 or the SLP 272 may be referred to as a Location Management Component (LMC). However, as used herein, references to the LMF 270 and the SLP 272 include both the case where the LMF 270 and the SLP 272 are components of the core network (e.g., 5GC 260) and the case where the LMF 270 and the SLP 272 are components of a base station.

[0066] Figure 3A , 3B3C illustrates several exemplary components (represented by corresponding boxes) that can be incorporated into UE 302 (which can correspond to any UE described herein), base station 304 (which can correspond to any base station described herein), and network entity 306 (which can correspond to or embody any network function described herein, including location server 172 and LMF 270) to support file transfer operations as taught herein. It will be appreciated that these components can be implemented in different types of devices (e.g., in an ASIC, in a system-on-chip (SoC), etc.) in different implementations. The illustrated components can also be incorporated into other devices in the communication system. For example, other devices in the system can include components similar to those described to provide similar functionality. Additionally, a given device can include one or more of these components. For example, a device can include multiple transceiver components that enable the device to operate on multiple carriers, communicate via different technologies, or both.

[0067] UE 302 and base station 304 each include a wireless wide area network (WWAN) transceiver (such as WWAN transceiver 310 and WWAN transceiver 350) configured to communicate via one or more wireless communication networks (not shown) (such as an NR network, an LTE network, a GSM network, etc.). WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 can be respectively connected to one or more antennas (such as antenna 316 and antenna 356) for communicating with other network nodes (such as other UEs, access points, base stations (e.g., eNB, gNB), etc.) on an interested wireless communication medium (e.g., a set of time / frequency resources in a specific spectrum) via at least one specified RAT (e.g., NR, LTE, GSM, etc.). WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 can be respectively configured in various ways according to the specified RAT for transmitting and encoding signals 318 and 358 (e.g., messages, indications, information, etc.), and vice versa for receiving and decoding signals (e.g., messages, indications, information, pilots, etc.). Specifically, WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 each include one or more transmitters (such as transmitter 314 and transmitter 354) for respectively transmitting and encoding signals 318 and 358, and each include one or more receivers (such as receiver 312 and receiver 352) for respectively receiving and decoding signals 318 and 358.

[0068] In at least some cases, UE 302 and base station 304 also respectively include a wireless local area network (WLAN) transceiver 320 and WLAN transceiver 360. WLAN transceivers 320 and 360 can be respectively connected to one or more antennas (such as antenna 326 and antenna 366) for communicating via at least one specified RAT (e.g., WiFi, LTE-D, communicate with other network nodes (such as other UEs, access points, base stations, etc.) over a wireless communication medium of interest. The WLAN transceivers 320 and 360 can be configured in various ways according to the specified RAT for transmitting and encoding signals (such as messages, indications, information, etc.) (such as signal 328 and signal 368), and vice versa for receiving and decoding signals (such as signal 328 and signal 368). Specifically, the WLAN transceivers 320 and 360 each include one or more transmitters (such as transmitter 324 and transmitter 364) for transmitting and encoding signals (such as signals 328 and 368), and each include one or more receivers (such as receiver 322 and receiver 362) for receiving and decoding signals 328 and 368, respectively.

[0069] The transceiver circuitry including at least one transmitter and at least one receiver can include an integrated device (e.g., a transmitter circuit and a receiver circuit implemented as a single communication device) in some implementations, can include separate transmitter devices and separate receiver devices in some implementations, or can be implemented in other ways in other implementations. In one aspect, the transmitter can include or be coupled to a plurality of antennas such as an antenna array (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), which permits the corresponding device to perform transmit "beamforming" as described herein. Similarly, the receiver can include or be coupled to a plurality of antennas such as an antenna array (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), which permits the corresponding device to perform receive beamforming as described herein. In one aspect, the transmitter and the receiver can share the same plurality of antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366) such that the corresponding device can only receive or transmit at a given time, rather than both simultaneously. The wireless communication devices of the UE 302, the base station 304, or both (e.g., transceivers 310 and / or 320, transceivers 350 and / or 360, or both) can also include a network listening module (NLM) for performing various measurements, etc.

[0070] In at least some instances, UE 302 and base station 304 also include satellite positioning system (SPS) receivers (such as SPS receiver 330 and SPS receiver 370). SPS receivers 330 and 370 can be respectively connected to one or more antennas (such as antenna 336 and antenna 376) for respectively receiving SPS signals (such as SPS signal 338 and SPS signal 378) (such as Global Positioning System (GPS) signals, Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS) signals, Galileo signals, Beidou signals, Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (NAVIC), Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS), etc.). SPS receivers 330 and 370 can respectively include any suitable hardware, software, or both for receiving and processing SPS signals 338 and 378. SPS receivers 330 and 370 request information and operations from other systems as appropriate and perform necessary calculations to determine the positions of UE 302 and base station 304 using measurements obtained by any suitable SPS algorithm.

[0071] Base station 304 and network entity 306 each respectively include at least one network interface (such as network interface 380 and network interface 390) for communicating with other network entities. For example, network interfaces 380 and 390 (e.g., one or more network access ports) can be configured to communicate with one or more network entities via a wired-based backhaul connection or a wireless backhaul connection. In some aspects, network interfaces 380 and 390 can be implemented as transceivers configured to support wired-based signal communication or wireless signal communication. This communication can involve, for example, sending and receiving messages, parameters, other types of information, or various combinations thereof.

[0072] UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 also include other components that can be used in conjunction with the operations disclosed herein. UE 302 includes processor circuitry that implements (the) processors 332 for providing, for example, functionality related to wireless positioning and for providing other processing functionality. Base station 304 includes (the) processors 384 for providing, for example, functionality related to wireless positioning as disclosed herein and for providing other processing functionality. Network entity 306 includes (the) processors 394 for providing, for example, functionality related to wireless positioning as disclosed herein and for providing other processing functionality. In one aspect, (the) processors 332, 384, and 394 can include, for example, one or more general-purpose processors, multi-core processors, ASICs, digital signal processors (DSPs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), or other programmable logic devices or processing circuitry.

[0073] The UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 include memory circuitry that implements memories 340, 386, and 396 (e.g., each including a memory device) for maintaining information (e.g., information indicating reserved resources, thresholds, parameters, etc.). In some cases, the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 may include positioning components 342, 388, and 398, respectively. The positioning components 342, 388, and 398 may be, respectively, hardware circuits that are part of or coupled to the (respective) processors 332, 384, and 394, which, when executed, cause the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 to perform the functionality described herein. In other aspects, the positioning components 342, 388, and 398 may be external to the (respective) processors 332, 384, and 394 (e.g., part of a modem processing system, integrated with another processing system, etc.). Alternatively, the positioning components 342, 388, and 398 may be memory modules stored in the memories 340, 386, and 396, which, when executed by the (respective) processors 332, 384, and 394 (or a modem processing system, another processing system, etc.), cause the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 to perform the functionality described herein. Figure 3A Illustrates possible locations of the positioning component 342, which may be part of the WWAN transceiver 310, the memory 340, the (respective) processor 332, or any combination thereof, or may be a stand-alone component. Figure 3B Illustrates possible locations of the positioning component 388, which may be part of the WWAN transceiver 350, the memory 386, the (respective) processor 384, or any combination thereof, or may be a stand-alone component. Figure 3C Illustrates possible locations of the positioning component 398, which may be part of the (respective) network interface 390, the memory 396, the (respective) processor 394, or any combination thereof, or may be a stand-alone component.

[0074] UE 302 may include one or more sensors 344 coupled to processors 332 to provide movement information, orientation information, or both, independent of motion data derived from signals received by WWAN transceiver 310, WLAN transceiver 320, or SPS receiver 330. As an example, sensors 344 may include an accelerometer (e.g., a microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) device), a gyroscope, a geomagnetic sensor (e.g., a compass), an altimeter (e.g., a barometric altimeter), any other type of movement detection sensor, or a combination thereof. Additionally, sensors 344 may include multiple different types of devices and combine their outputs to provide movement information. For example, sensors 344 may use a combination of a multi-axis accelerometer and an orientation sensor to provide the ability to calculate a position in a 2D or 3D coordinate system.

[0075] In addition, UE 302 includes a user interface 346 for providing an indication to a user (e.g., an audible indication, a visual indication, or both), for receiving user input (e.g., upon a user actuating a sensing device such as a keypad, a touch screen, a microphone, etc.), or for both. Although not shown, base station 304 and network entity 306 may also include a user interface.

[0076] Referring more specifically to processors 384, in the downlink, IP packets from network entity 306 may be provided to processors 384. Processors 384 may implement functionality for the RRC layer, the packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, the radio link control (RLC) layer, and the media access control (MAC) layer. Processors 384 may provide RRC layer functionality associated with broadcast system information (e.g., master information block (MIB), system information block (SIB)), RRC connection control (e.g., RRC connection paging, RRC connection establishment, RRC connection modification, and RRC connection release), inter-RAT mobility, and measurement configuration for UE measurement reporting; PDCP layer functionality associated with header compression / decompression, security (ciphering, deciphering, integrity protection, integrity verification), and handover support functions; RLC layer functionality associated with the transfer of upper layer protocol data units (PDUs), error correction via automatic repeat request (ARQ), concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC service data units (SDUs), re-segmentation of RLC data PDUs, and re-ordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functionality associated with the mapping between logical channels and transport channels, scheduling information reporting, error correction, priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.

[0077] The transmitter 354 and the receiver 352 may implement layer 1 functionality associated with various signal processing functions. Layer 1, which includes the physical (PHY) layer, may include error detection on the transport channel, forward error correction (FEC) encoding / decoding of the transport channel, interleaving, rate matching, mapping onto the physical channel, modulation / demodulation of the physical channel, and MIMO antenna processing. The transmitter 354 disposes of the mapping to the signal constellation based on various modulation schemes (e.g., binary phase shift keying (BPSK), quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK), M-phase shift keying (M-PSK), M-quadrature amplitude modulation (M-QAM)). The encoded and modulated symbols may then be split into parallel streams. Each stream may then be mapped to orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) subcarriers, multiplexed with reference signals (e.g., pilots) in the time domain, in the frequency domain, or in both, and then combined together using the inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) to generate a physical channel carrying a stream of time-domain OFDM symbols. The OFDM symbol stream is space precoded to generate multiple spatial streams. Channel estimates from a channel estimator may be used to determine the encoding and modulation schemes and for spatial processing. The channel estimates may be derived from reference signals transmitted by the UE 302, channel conditions, or feedback from both. Each spatial stream may then be provided to one or more different antennas 356. The transmitter 354 may modulate an RF carrier with the respective spatial streams for transmission.

[0078] At the UE 302, the receiver 312 receives signals via its respective antenna(s) 316. The receiver 312 recovers the information modulated onto the RF carrier and provides the information to the processor(s) 332. The transmitter 314 and the receiver 312 implement layer 1 functionality associated with various signal processing functions. The receiver 312 may perform spatial processing on the information to recover any spatial streams destined for the UE 302. If there are multiple spatial streams destined for the UE 302, they may be combined by the receiver 312 into a single OFDM symbol stream. The receiver 312 then uses the fast Fourier transform (FFT) to transform the OFDM symbol stream from the time domain to the frequency domain. The frequency-domain signal includes a separate OFDM symbol stream for each subcarrier of the OFDM signal. The symbols on each subcarrier, as well as the reference signals, are recovered and demodulated by determining the signal constellation points most likely transmitted by the base station 304. These soft decisions may be based on channel estimates calculated by the channel estimator. These soft decisions are then decoded and deinterleaved to recover the original data and control signals transmitted by the base station 304 on the physical channel. These data and control signals are then provided to the processor(s) 332 that implement layer 3 and layer 2 functionality.

[0079] On the uplink, processors 332 provide demultiplexing between transport channels and logical channels, packet reassembly, deciphering, header decompression, and control signal processing to recover IP packets from the core network. Processors 332 are also responsible for error detection.

[0080] Similar to the functionality described in connection with downlink transmission by base station 304, processors 332 provide RRC layer functionality associated with system information (e.g., MIB, SIB) capture, RRC connection, and measurement reporting; PDCP layer functionality associated with header compression / decompression and security (ciphering, deciphering, integrity protection, integrity verification); RLC layer functionality associated with transfer of upper layer PDUs, error correction via ARQ, concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC SDUs, resegmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functionality associated with mapping between logical channels and transport channels, multiplexing MAC SDUs onto transport blocks (TBs), demultiplexing MAC SDUs from TBs, scheduling information reporting, error correction via hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ), priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.

[0081] Channel estimates derived by a channel estimator from reference signals or feedback transmitted by base station 304 can be used by transmitter 314 to select appropriate coding and modulation schemes and to facilitate spatial processing. The spatial streams generated by transmitter 314 can be provided to different antennas 316. Transmitter 314 can modulate an RF carrier with the respective spatial streams for transmission.

[0082] Uplink transmissions are processed at base station 304 in a manner similar to that described in connection with the receiver functionality at UE 302. Receiver 352 receives signals via its respective antennas 356. Receiver 352 recovers the information modulated onto the RF carrier and provides the information to processors 384.

[0083] On the uplink, processors 384 provide demultiplexing between transport channels and logical channels, packet reassembly, deciphering, header decompression, control signal processing to recover IP packets from UE 302. The IP packets from processors 384 can be provided to the core network. Processors 384 are also responsible for error detection.

[0084] For convenience, UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 are shown in Figures 3A - 3C as including various components that can be configured according to the various examples described herein. However, it will be appreciated that the illustrated blocks can have different functionality in different designs.

[0085] The various components of the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 can communicate with each other on data buses 334, 382, and 392, respectively. Figures 3A - 3C The components of Figures 3A - 3C can be implemented in various ways. In some implementations, Figures 3A - 3C the components of Figures 3A - 3C can be implemented in one or more circuits (for example, such as one or more processors, one or more ASICs (which may include one or more processors), or both). Here, each circuit can use or incorporate at least one memory for storing information or executable code used by the circuit to provide this functionality. For example, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 310 to 346 can be implemented by the processor and (the) memory of the UE 302 (for example, by executing appropriate code, by appropriately configuring the processor components, or by both). Similarly, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 350 to 388 can be implemented by the processor and (the) memory of the base station 304 (for example, by executing appropriate code, by appropriately configuring the processor components, or by both). And, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 390 to 398 can be implemented by the processor and (the) memory of the network entity 306 (for example, by executing appropriate code, by appropriately configuring the processor components, or by both). For simplicity, various operations, actions, and / or functions are described herein as "performed by the UE", "performed by the base station", "performed by the positioning entity", etc. However, as will be appreciated, such operations, actions, or functions can actually be performed by specific components or combinations of components of the UE, the base station, the positioning entity, etc., such as (the) processors 332, 384, 394, the transceivers 310, 320, 350, and 360, the memories 340, 386, and 396, the positioning modules 342, 388, and 398, etc.

[0086] NR supports several cellular network-based positioning techniques, including downlink-based positioning methods, uplink-based positioning methods, and downlink- and uplink-based positioning methods. Downlink-based positioning methods include: Observed Time Difference of Arrival (OTDOA) in LTE, Downlink Time Difference of Arrival (DL-TDOA) in NR, and Downlink Angle of Departure (DL-AoD) in NR. In the OTDOA or DL-TDOA positioning procedures, the UE measures the difference in the time of arrival (ToA) of reference signals (e.g., PRS, TRS, Narrowband Reference Signal (NRS), CSI-RS, SSB, etc.) received from paired base stations (referred to as Reference Signal Time Difference (RSTD) or Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA) measurements), and reports these differences to the positioning entity. More specifically, the UE receives in the assistance data the identifiers of the reference base station (e.g., serving base station) and multiple non-reference base stations. The UE then measures the RSTD between the reference base station and each non-reference base station. Based on the known locations of the involved base stations and the RSTD measurements, the positioning entity can estimate the location of the UE. For DL-AoD positioning, the base station measurements are used to measure the angle and other channel attributes (e.g., signal strength) of the downlink transmission beam used to communicate with the UE to estimate the location of the UE.

[0087] Uplink-based positioning methods include Uplink Time Difference of Arrival (UL-TDOA) and Uplink Angle of Arrival (UL-AoA). UL-TDOA is similar to DL-TDOA, but UL-TDOA is based on uplink reference signals (e.g., SRS) transmitted by the UE. For UL-AoA positioning, the base station measurements are used to measure the angle and other channel attributes (e.g., gain level) of the uplink reception beam used to communicate with the UE to estimate the location of the UE.

[0088] Downlink- and uplink-based positioning methods include: enhanced cell ID (E-CID) positioning and multi-round-trip time (RTT) positioning (also known as "multi-cell RTT"). In the RTT procedure, the initiator (base station or UE) transmits an RTT measurement signal (e.g., PRS or SRS) to the responder (UE or base station), and the responder transmits an RTT response signal (e.g., SRS or PRS) back to the initiator. The RTT response signal includes the difference between the ToA of the RTT measurement signal and the transmission time of the RTT response signal (referred to as the receive-to-transmit (Rx-Tx) measurement). The initiator calculates the difference between the transmission time of the RTT measurement signal and the ToA of the RTT response signal (referred to as the "Tx-Rx" measurement). The propagation time between the initiator and the responder (also known as the "time of flight") can be calculated from the Tx-Rx measurement and the Rx-Tx measurement. Based on the propagation time and the known speed of light, the distance between the initiator and the responder can be determined. For multi-RTT positioning, the UE performs the RTT procedure with multiple base stations so that the location of the UE can be triangulated based on the known locations of the base stations. The RTT and multi-RTT methods can be combined with other positioning techniques (such as UL-AoA and DL-AoD) to improve location accuracy.

[0089] The E-CID positioning method is based on radio resource management (RRM) measurements. In E-CID, the UE reports the serving cell ID, timing advance (TA), and the identifiers, estimated timing, and signal strength of the detected neighbor base stations. Subsequently, the location of the UE is estimated based on this information and the known locations of the base stations.

[0090] To assist the positioning operation, a location server (e.g., location server 172, LMF 270, SLP 272) can provide auxiliary data to the UE. For example, the auxiliary data can include: the identifier of the base station (or the cell / TRP of the base station) from which to measure the reference signal, reference signal configuration parameters (e.g., the number of coherent positioning time slots, the periodicity of the positioning time slots, the silence sequence, the frequency hopping sequence, the reference signal identifier (ID), the reference signal bandwidth, the time slot offset, etc.), other parameters applicable to a specific positioning method, or a combination thereof. Alternatively, the auxiliary data can directly originate from the base station itself (e.g., in a periodically broadcast overhead message, etc.). In some cases, the UE itself may be able to detect neighbor network nodes without using the auxiliary data.

[0091] Location estimation may be referred to by other names, such as positioning estimation, location, positioning, position lock, lock, etc. Location estimation may be geodetic and include coordinates (e.g., latitude, longitude, and possibly altitude), or may be civic and include a street address, postal address, or some other verbal location description. Location estimation may be further defined relative to some other known location or in absolute terms (e.g., using latitude, longitude, and possibly altitude). Location estimation may include an expected error or uncertainty (e.g., by including the area or volume within which the location is expected to be included with a certain specified or default confidence).

[0092] Various frame structures may be used to support downlink and uplink transmissions between network nodes (e.g., base stations and UEs).

[0093] Figure 4A FIG. 400 is a diagram illustrating an example of a downlink frame structure according to various aspects.

[0094] Figure 4B FIG. 430 is a diagram illustrating an example of channels within a downlink frame structure according to various aspects. Other wireless communication technologies may have different frame structures, different channels, or both.

[0095] LTE and in some cases NR utilize OFDM on the downlink and single - carrier frequency - division multiplexing (SC - FDM) on the uplink. However, unlike LTE, NR also has the option of using OFDM on the uplink. OFDM and SC - FDM divide the system bandwidth into multiple (K) orthogonal sub - carriers, which are also often referred to as frequency tones, frequency bins, etc. Each sub - carrier can be modulated with data. Generally, modulation symbols are transmitted in the frequency domain for OFDM and in the time domain for SC - FDM. The spacing between adjacent sub - carriers can be fixed, and the total number of sub - carriers (K) can depend on the system bandwidth. For example, the sub - carrier spacing can be 15 kHz, and the minimum resource allocation (resource block) can be 12 sub - carriers (or 180 kHz). Thus, for system bandwidths of 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10, or 20 megahertz (MHz), the nominal FFT size can be equal to 128, 256, 504, 1024, or 2048 respectively. The system bandwidth can also be divided into sub - bands. For example, a sub - band can cover 1.8 MHz (i.e., 6 resource blocks), and for system bandwidths of 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10, or 20 MHz, there can be 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16 sub - bands respectively.

[0096] LTE supports a single parameter set (subcarrier spacing, symbol length, etc.). In contrast, NR can support multiple parameter sets (μ). For example, subcarrier spacings of 15 kHz, 30 kHz, 60 kHz, 120 kHz, and 240 kHz or greater can be available. Table 1 provided below lists some of the various parameters for different NR parameter sets.

[0097]

[0098] Table 1

[0099] In Figure 4A and Figure 4B 's example, a parameter set of 15 kHz is used. Thus, in the time domain, a 10 millisecond (ms) frame is divided into 10 equal-sized subframes, each 1 ms, and each subframe includes one time slot. In Figure 4A and 4B , time is represented horizontally (e.g., on the X-axis), where time increases from left to right, while frequency is represented vertically (e.g., on the Y-axis), where frequency increases (or decreases) from bottom to top.

[0100] A resource grid can be used to represent a time slot, and each time slot includes one or more time-concurrent resource blocks (RBs) (also known as physical RBs (PRBs)) in the frequency domain. The resource grid is further divided into multiple resource elements (REs). A UE can correspond to one symbol length in the time domain and one subcarrier in the frequency domain. In NR, a subframe is 1 ms in duration, a time slot is 14 symbols in the time domain, and one RB contains 12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain and 14 consecutive symbols in the time domain. Thus, in NR, there is one RB per time slot. Depending on the SCS, an NR subframe can have 14 symbols, 28 symbols, or more symbols, and thus can have 1 time slot, 2 time slots, or more time slots. The number of bits carried by each UE depends on the modulation scheme.

[0101] Some REs carry downlink reference (pilot) signals (DL-RS). DL-RS can include PRS, TRS, PTRS, CRS, CSI-RS, DMRS, PSS, SSS, SSB, etc. Figure 4A Illustrates an exemplary position of the REs carrying PRS (marked as "R").

[0102] A "PRS instance" or "PRS occasion" is an instance of a periodically repeated time window (e.g., a group of one or more consecutive time slots) in which PRS is expected to be transmitted. A PRS occasion can also be referred to as a "PRS positioning occasion", "PRS positioning instance", "positioning occasion", "positioning instance", "positioning repetition", or simply "occasion", "instance", or "repetition".

[0103] The set of resource elements (REs) used for the transmission of PRS is referred to as "PRS resource". This set of resource elements can span multiple PRBs in the frequency domain and can span 'N' (e.g., one or more) consecutive symbols within a time slot in the time domain. In a given OFDM symbol in the time domain, the PRS resource occupies consecutive PRBs in the frequency domain.

[0104] The transmission of the PRS resource within a given PRB has a specific comb size (also referred to as "comb density"). The comb size 'N' represents the subcarrier spacing (or frequency / tone spacing) within each symbol of the PRS resource configuration. Specifically, for a comb size 'N', the PRS is transmitted in every Nth subcarrier of a symbol of the PRB. For example, for a comb-4, for each of the 4th symbols of the PRS resource configuration, the REs corresponding to every 4th subcarrier (e.g., subcarriers 0, 4, 8) are used to transmit the PRS of the PRS resource. Currently, comb sizes of comb-2, comb-4, comb-6, and comb-12 are supported for DL PRS. Figure 4A An exemplary PRS resource configuration for a comb 6 (which spans six symbols) is illustrated. That is, the positions of the shaded REs (labeled "R") indicate the PRS resource configuration of the comb-6.

[0105] An "RS resource set" is a set of PRS resources used for the transmission of PRS signals, where each PRS resource has a PRS resource ID. Additionally, the PRS resources in the PRS resource set are associated with the same TRP. The PRS resource set is identified by a PRS resource set ID and is associated with a specific TRP (identified by the TRP ID). Additionally, the PRS resources in the PRS resource set have the same periodicity, shared silent mode configuration, and the same cross-slot repetition factor (e.g., PRS-ResourceRepetitionFactor). The periodicity is the time from the first repetition of the first PRS resource of the first PRS instance to the same first repetition of the same first PRS resource of the next PRS instance. The periodicity can have a length selected from the following: 2 μ · {4, 5, 8, 10, 16, 20, 32, 40, 64, 80, 160, 320, 640, 1280, 2560, 5040, 10240} time slots, where μ = 0, 1, 2, 3. The repetition factor can have a length selected from {1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 16, 32} time slots.

[0106] The PRS resource ID in the PRS resource set is associated with a single beam (or beam ID) transmitted from a single TRP (where a TRP can transmit one or more beams). That is, each PRS resource in the PRS resource set can be transmitted on a different beam, and thus, a "PRS resource" (or simply "resource") can also be referred to as a "beam". Note that this does not imply anything about whether the UE knows the TRP and beam transmitting the PRS.

[0107] A "positioning frequency layer" (also simply referred to as "frequency layer") is a set of one or more PRS resource sets with the same values for certain parameters across one or more TRPs. Specifically, the set of PRS resource sets has the same subcarrier spacing (SCS) and cyclic prefix (CP) type (meaning that all parameter designs supported for PDSCH are also supported for PRS), the same point A, the same value for the downlink PRS bandwidth, the same starting PRB (and center frequency), and the same comb size. The point A parameter takes the value of the parameter ARFCN-ValueNR (ARFCN - value NR), where "ARFCN" stands for "absolute radio frequency channel number" and is an identifier / code specifying the physical radio channel pair used for transmission and reception. The downlink PRS bandwidth can have a granularity of 4 PRB, and the minimum value is 24 PRB while the maximum value is 272 PRB. Currently, up to 4 frequency layers are defined, and each TRP can configure up to 2 PRS resource sets per frequency layer.

[0108] The concept of a frequency layer is somewhat similar to the concepts of component carrier and bandwidth part (BWP), but the difference is that component carriers and BWPs are used by a base station (or macro cell base station and small cell base station) to transmit data channels, while frequency layers are used by several (often three or more) base stations to transmit PRS. The UE can indicate the number of frequency layers that the UE can support when the UE sends its positioning capabilities to the network (such as during an LTE positioning protocol (LPP) session). For example, the UE can indicate whether the UE can support one or four positioning frequency layers.

[0109] Figure 4BExamples of various channels within a downlink time slot of a radio frame are explained. In NR, the channel bandwidth or system bandwidth is divided into multiple BWPs. A BWP is a set of contiguous PRBs selected from a contiguous subset of common RBs designed for given parameters of a given carrier. Generally, a maximum of 4 BWPs can be specified for both the downlink and the uplink. That is, a UE can be configured to have at most 4 BWPs on the downlink and at most 4 BWPs on the uplink. Only one BWP (either uplink or downlink) can be active at a given time, which means that a UE can only receive or transmit on one BWP at a time. On the downlink, the bandwidth of each BWP should be equal to or greater than the bandwidth of the SSB, but it may or may not include the SSB.

[0110] Referring to Figure 4B , the primary synchronization signal (PSS) is used by the UE to determine subframe / symbol timing and the physical layer identity. The secondary synchronization signal (SSS) is used by the UE to determine the physical layer cell identity group number and radio frame timing. Based on the physical layer identity and the physical layer cell identity group number, the UE can determine the PCI. Based on this PCI, the UE can determine the location of the aforementioned DL-RS. The physical broadcast channel (PBCH) carrying the MIB can be logically grouped with the PSS and SSS to form an SSB (also referred to as SS / PBCH). The MIB provides the number of RBs in the downlink system bandwidth and the system frame number (SFN). The physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) carries user data, broadcast system information not transmitted through the PBCH (such as system information blocks (SIBs)), and paging messages.

[0111] The physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) carries downlink control information (DCI) within one or more control channel elements (CCEs), each CCE including one or more RE group (REG) bundles (which may span multiple symbols in the time domain), each REG bundle including one or more REGs, each REG corresponding to 12 resource elements (one resource block) in the frequency domain and one OFDM symbol in the time domain. The physical resource set used to carry the PDCCH / DCI is referred to as a control resource set (CORESET) in NR. In NR, the PDCCH is limited to a single CORESET and is transmitted together with its own DMRS. This enables UE-specific beamforming for the PDCCH.

[0112] In Figure 4BIn the example, there is one CORESET for each BWP, and this CORESET spans three symbols in the time domain (although it can be only one symbol or two symbols). Different from the LTE control channel that occupies the entire system bandwidth, in NR, the PDCCH channel is localized in a specific area in the frequency domain (i.e., the CORESET). Thus, Figure 4B the frequency components of the PDCCH shown in Figure 4B are illustrated as less than a single BWP in the frequency domain. Note that although the illustrated CORESETs are contiguous in the frequency domain, the CORESETs do not need to be contiguous. Additionally, the CORESET can span less than three symbols in the time domain.

[0113] The DCI within the PDCCH carries information regarding uplink resource allocation (persistent and non-persistent) and a description of the downlink data being transmitted to the UE. Multiple (e.g., up to 8) DCIs can be configured in the PDCCH, and these DCIs can have one of multiple formats. For example, there are different DCI formats for uplink scheduling, for non-MIMO downlink scheduling, for MIMO downlink scheduling, and for uplink power control. The PDCCH can be transmitted by 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16 CCEs to accommodate different DCI payload sizes or coding rates.

[0114] To overcome the technical drawbacks of the above conventional systems and methods, a mechanism is proposed that can dynamically (e.g., in response to environmental conditions) adjust the bandwidth used by a user equipment (UE) for positioning reference signals (PRS). For example, the UE receiver can indicate to the transmitting entity the conditions of the environment in which the UE is operating, and in response, the transmitting entity can adjust the PRS bandwidth. The transmitting entity can be a base station, a core network node, or another UE.

[0115] Figure 5A and Figure 5B are signal messaging diagrams showing portions of an exemplary method 500 of wireless communication according to various aspects. Figure 5A and 5BShows the interaction between an entity that transmits the PRS (referred to herein as the transmitting entity (TE) 502), an entity that receives the PRS (such as the UE 504), and an entity within the core network (referred to herein as the network entity (NE) 506). In some aspects, the TE 502 can be a base station (such as, by way of example, BS102, BS180, or other gNB). In some aspects, the core network entity that controls the base station can be considered the TE 502. In some aspects, the TE 502 can be a UE (such as, by way of example, UE104, UE 152, UE 182, UE 190, or other UE). In some aspects, the NE 506 can be an entity on the core network (such as, by way of example, the core network 170), and in some aspects can be or can include the location server 172.

[0116] In Figure 5A the example shown, the TE 502 uses the first bandwidth (BW1) to transmit the PRS 508, and the UE 504 receives the PRS 508. The UE 504 detects environmental conditions. For example, the UE 504 determines information about the environment in which it is operating (block 510). This information is referred to herein as environmental information. For example, the environmental information can include information indicating that the UE 504 has received a non-line-of-sight (NLOS) signal or that the UE 504 has not received any NLOS signals; the environmental information can include information indicating that the UE 504 has detected multiple PRS sources (i.e., additional PRS sources other than the TE 502) or that the UE 504 has not detected other PRS sources; the environmental information can include information indicating that the UE 504 has detected other UEs in its vicinity or that the UE 504 has not detected any other UEs in its vicinity; the environmental information can include information indicating the level of multipath transmission received by the UE 504; or other environmental information. In some aspects, the UE 504 can optionally determine a new PRS bandwidth (BW2) based on the environmental conditions (block 512). The UE 504 transmits a message 514 to the TE 502 that contains the environmental information, the proposed BW2, or both. The TE 502 then determines the new PRS bandwidth BW2 (block 516).

[0117] For example, in some aspects, the UE forwards the environmental information to the TE 502 in the message 514, and in block 516, the TE 502 determines the BW2 based on the environmental information it receives in the message 514. In aspects where the UE 504 does not execute the optional block 512 and thus does not determine the BW2, the TE 502 can notify the UE 504 to use the BW2 via an optional message 518.

[0118] In other aspects, such as when the UE 504 executes the optional block 512 and has thus determined BW2, the UE 504 may send environmental information to the TE 502 via message 514, and the TE 502 uses this environmental information in block 516 to determine BW2. In this scenario, the TE 502 and the UE 504 have been configured to use environmental information via a common algorithm or set of rules by which it is mapped to bandwidth requirements, i.e., such that the TE 502 and the UE 504 will determine the same BW2 value for each other. If the TE 502 knows that the UE 504 has executed the optional block 512, the TE 502 may omit sending message 518 to the UE 504 unnecessarily. Alternatively, the TE 502 may send message 518 to the UE 504 anyway, e.g., such that the UE 504 can confirm that both the TE 502 and the UE 504 have calculated the same value of BW2, or such that the TE 502 has the opportunity to overwrite the value of BW2 that the UE 504 may have calculated.

[0119] In yet other aspects, the UE 504 may execute the optional block 512 and provide a proposed BW2 value to the TE 502 via message 514. In some aspects, message 514 may also include environmental information. In these aspects, the TE 502 may simply make a determination of whether to adopt the BW2 proposed by the UE 504, and may use message 518 as an ACK / NACK message to the UE 504.

[0120] In Figure 5A the example shown, the TE 502 uses BW2 to transmit PRS, and the UE 504 processes the PRS within BW2 (message 520).

[0121] Figure 5B Illustrates a scenario in which environmental information related to the UE 504 is provided to the TE 502 from the NE 506 rather than from the UE 504 itself (message 522). In this scenario, the TE 502 may determine a new PRS bandwidth (BW3) to be used for PRS (block 524), and notify the UE 504 to use BW3 (message 526), after which the TE 502 and the UE 504 use BW3 for PRS (message 528). The environmental information may include information indicating that the number of possible reflecting objects near the UE 504 is higher or lower than a threshold number; the environmental information may include information indicating that the PRS received by the UE 504 is only NLOS; or other environmental information. For example, the NE 506 may be the location server 172, which generally knows the geographical location of the UE 504 and has information about the reflecting objects near the UE 504.

[0122] In some aspects, the new PRS bandwidth (e.g., BW2, BW3) to be used by the UE 504 can be selected from a table. For example, a table can list a set of one or more environmental conditions and the PRS bandwidth to be used if the UE's current environment meets these conditions. In some aspects, the new PRS bandwidth to be used by the UE 504 can be selected according to a formula. For example, a formula can map environmental conditions to coefficients used to calculate the new PRS bandwidth to be used. In some aspects, the new PRS bandwidth to be used by the UE 504 can be selected using a decision tree. For example, a decision tree can consider one or more of the various environmental conditions that the UE 504 is currently experiencing and use them to arrive at a decision on what new PRS bandwidth the UE 504 should use.

[0123] Each of the ways listed above can include consideration of one or more of the environmental conditions, such as but not limited to: whether the UE 504 has detected another UE nearby, e.g., the UE 504 can make this detection based on the received signal; whether the UE 504 has detected a single PRS source or multiple PRS sources, which the UE 504 can detect based on the received signal; whether the UE 504 has detected any multipath transmissions, and if so, how many multipath transmissions the UE 504 can detect, e.g., based on an analysis of the power delay profile of the received signal; other environmental conditions that the UE 504 has detected or that other network entities have detected and have notified the UE 504; or various combinations thereof.

[0124] For example, if the environmental information indicates that the UE 504 has not received any NLOS signals, all PRS received by the UE 504 are LOS signals, the UE 504 has not received any multipath transmissions, there are no other UEs within the threshold distance of the UE 504, or the number of possible reflecting objects within the threshold distance of the UE 504 may be less than a threshold number, then the UE 504 may be able to use a PRS bandwidth narrower than the PRS bandwidth it is currently using.

[0125] In another example, if the environmental information indicates that the UE 504 has received NLOS signals, not all PRS received by the UE 504 are LOS signals, the UE 504 has received multipath transmissions, there are other UEs within the threshold distance of the UE 504, or the number of possible reflecting objects within the threshold distance of the UE 504 is less than a threshold number, then the UE 504 may need to use a PRS bandwidth wider than the PRS bandwidth it is currently using.

[0126] In Figure 5A and Figure 5BIn the example shown, in some aspects, each of the three bandwidths BW1, BW2, and BW3 can be different from one another, i.e., TE 502 selects among a set of three bandwidth options. In some aspects, TE 502 selects among a set of more than three bandwidth options. In other aspects, BW1 and BW3 can be the same, i.e., in these aspects, TE 502 selects among a set of only two bandwidth options.

[0127] In some aspects, BW1 > BW2 > BW3, where BW1 is the full bandwidth supported by UE 504. In this aspect, TE 502 starts by using the full bandwidth supported by UE 504, but reduces the PRS bandwidth used when circumstances allow, which allows UE 504 to reduce its power consumption. For example, Figure 5A and Figure 5B it can be illustrated that the PRS bandwidth used by UE 504 can be reduced and then reduced again (or increased and then increased again).

[0128] In some aspects, BW3 > BW1 > BW2, where BW1 is the default PRS bandwidth used by UE 504, which is less than the full bandwidth supported by UE 504. In some aspects, BW3 can be the full bandwidth supported by UE 504, but in other aspects, even BW3 is less than the full bandwidth supported by UE 504. Thus, Figure 5A and Figure 5B it can be illustrated that the PRS bandwidth used by UE 504 can be increased or decreased in response to environmental conditions. For example, at block 510, UE 504 can indicate that it has not detected other UEs in its vicinity, and TE 502 responds by reducing the PRS bandwidth, while at 518, NE 506 can notify TE 502 that UE 504 has only NLOS sources (UE 504 may not know this at its location), in which case TE 502 responds by increasing the PRS bandwidth to be used by UE 504.

[0129] In some aspects, TE 502 does not select a bandwidth from a finite set of bandwidth options, but instead modifies an existing bandwidth, e.g., by increasing or decreasing the existing bandwidth by a set number (e.g., by adding or removing a certain number of physical resource blocks) or percentage (e.g., by multiplying the existing bandwidth by a certain percentage that may be less than or greater than 100%).

[0130] In some aspects, the environmental information may be sent by the UE 504 periodically or aperiodically, e.g., in response to a triggering condition. In some aspects, the triggering condition is internal to the UE 504. For example, the triggering condition may be that the confidence level at the UE 504 has dropped below a threshold. In some aspects, the triggering condition is external to the UE 504. For example, the UE 504 may send the environmental information in response to a request from the NE 506.

[0131] Figure 6 is a signaling diagram 600 showing an exemplary wireless communication method 600 according to various aspects. Figure 6 shows as Figure 5A and Figure 5B the interactions between the TE 502, UE 504 and NE 506 as shown therein, and thus the description thereof will not be repeated here. As Figure 6 explained therein, in some aspects, the UE 504 may notify a nearby base station or UE of environmental conditions, such as environmental conditions that may affect the reception of PRS transmissions. In Figure 6 , at 602, the UE 504 detects an environmental condition, and at 604, notifies the TE 502 of the environmental condition. Examples of environmental conditions that the UE 504 may notify the TE 502 of include, but are not limited to: detecting LOS / NLOS from a single source, detecting a single or multiple PRS sources, detecting multiple reflectors around the UE 504, and not detecting an adjacent UE. In some aspects, detecting the environmental condition may include some of the steps described for Figure 5A box 510, and these steps will not be elaborated here.

[0132] In some aspects, the TE 502 may use this information to determine the PRS bandwidth to be used by the UE 504. Thus, in Figure 6 , at 606, the TE 502 determines the PRS bandwidth to be used by the UE 504 based on the environmental information it receives from the UE 504. In some aspects, this may involve some of the steps described for Figure 5A box 516, and these steps will not be elaborated here. In the example shown in Figure 6 , the TE 502 determines that a new PRS bandwidth should be used. In some aspects, at 608, the TE 502 may inform the UE 504 that a second bandwidth (BW2) will be used for PRS. At 610, the TE 502, UE 504, or both use the bandwidth BW2 for PRS.

[0133] For example, UE 504 may indicate to TE 502 that UE 504 appears to be close to two reflecting walls. In such a scenario, TE 502 may increase the bandwidth of the PRS signal to UE 504 so that UE 504 can use a shorter time-domain signal - this allows UE 504 to distinguish between the two reflections even if the reflections are close in time.

[0134] In some aspects, the information provided by UE 504 may be valuable for understanding the environment in which another UE is operating. Thus, in Figure 6 , at 612, TE 502 conveys at least some environmental information to NE 506. At 614, NE 506 identifies other UEs that may be affected by the environmental conditions of UE 504, e.g., UEs that may also be in the same vicinity, and at 616, NE 506 notifies TE 502 of the potentially affected (or actually affected) UEs. In Figure 6 , UE 618 is one of the UEs affected by the environmental conditions reported by UE 504, and thus, at 620, TE 502 determines a new PRS bandwidth to be used by UE 618. In some aspects, this may involve some of the steps described above for Figure 5A 's box 516, and these steps will not be repeated here. At 622, TE 502 informs UE 618 of this new PRS bandwidth, and at 624, UE 618, UE 504, or both use bandwidth BW2 for PRS.

[0135] Figure 7 is a flowchart of an example process 700 associated with environment-aware positioning reference signal (PRS). In some implementations, Figure 7 one or more of the process blocks of may be performed by a transmitting entity (TE), which may be a base station (e.g., BS102, BS 304, etc.) or a peer UE (e.g., UE 104, UE 190, UE 302, etc.). In some implementations, Figure 7 one or more of the process blocks of may be performed by another device or a group of devices separate from or including the transmitting entity (TE). For example, Figure 7 one or more of the process blocks of may be performed by one or more components of BS 304, such as processors 384, memories 386, WWAN transceivers 350, WLAN transceivers 360, SPS receivers 370, and positioning components 388, any one or all of which may be means for performing the operations of process 700. Alternatively, Figure 7One or more of the process blocks can be performed by one or more components of the UE 302, such as one or more processors 332, memory 340, one or more WWAN transceivers 310, one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320, satellite signal receivers 330, and one or more positioning components 342, and any one or all of the components can be means for performing the operations of process 700.

[0136] As Figure 7 shown, process 700 can include: determining a second bandwidth (BW) to be used by the UE for receiving the PRS based on environmental information about the environment in which the UE is operating while receiving the PRS using a first BW (block 710). In the case where the TE includes a base station, for example, the means for performing the operations of block 710 can include one or more WWAN transceivers 350 and one or more processors 384 of the BS 304.

[0137] In some aspects, for example, determining the second BW to be used by the UE for receiving the PRS includes receiving an indication from the UE of the second BW to be used by the UE for receiving the PRS and determining the second BW to be used by the UE for receiving the PRS based on the indication. In some aspects, receiving the indication of the second BW to be used for the PRS includes: receiving an indication of selecting the second BW from a predefined set of BWs, an indication of calculating the second BW by increasing or decreasing the first BW by a number, or an indication of calculating the second BW by increasing or decreasing the first BW by a percentage value.

[0138] In other aspects, determining the second BW to be used by the UE for receiving the PRS includes: receiving environmental information about the environment in which the UE is operating and determining the second BW to be used by the UE for receiving the PRS based on the environmental information. In some aspects, the environmental information is received from the UE, from another UE, from a base station, from a core network entity, or from an intelligent traffic system (ITS). In some aspects, the environmental information is received in response to a request for environmental information. In some aspects, process 700 includes instructing the UE to receive the PRS using the second BW.

[0139] In some aspects, the environmental information includes information indicating: the number of multipath transmissions received by the UE, the UE has received at least one non-line-of-sight (NLOS) signal, the UE has not received an NLOS signal, there is another UE in the vicinity of the UE, there is no other UE in the vicinity of the UE, the number of possible reflecting objects in the vicinity of the UE is greater than or less than a threshold number, none of the PRSs received by the UE is an NLOS signal, at least one of the PRSs received by the UE is an NLOS signal, the PRS source is a line-of-sight (LOS) or non-line-of-sight (NLOS) source, there are multiple PRS sources or there is a single PRS source, multiple reflectors are detected or not detected in the vicinity of the UE, other UEs are or are not in the vicinity of the UE, or various combinations thereof.

[0140] In some aspects, the environmental information can be received from an entity other than the UE 504. For example, the environmental information can be received from a core network entity (such as a location server). The environmental information can include information indicating: the number of possible reflecting objects in the vicinity of the UE 504 can be greater than or less than a threshold number, none of the PRSs received by the UE 504 is an NLOS signal, at least one of the PRSs received by the UE 504 can be an NLOS signal, or various combinations thereof. In another example, the environmental information can be received via an intelligent transportation system (ITS). The environmental information can include information indicating: the PRS source can be a LOS source or an NLOS source, there are multiple PRS sources or there is a single PRS source, multiple reflectors are detected or not detected in the vicinity of the UE 104, other UEs are or are not in the vicinity of the UE 104, or various combinations thereof.

[0141] In some aspects, determining a second BW to be used by the UE for receiving PRS includes determining a modification to be made to a first BW, and wherein instructing the UE to use the second BW includes instructing the UE to make the modification to the first BW.

[0142] For example, in some aspects, the environmental information indicates that: the UE has not received any non-line-of-sight (NLOS) signals, all the PRSs received by the UE are line-of-sight (LOS) signals, the UE has not received any multipath transmissions, there are no other UEs within a threshold distance of the UE, or the number of possible reflecting objects within a threshold distance of the UE is less than a threshold number; in such a scenario, for example, it can be determined that the second BW should be narrower than the first BW.

[0143] For example, in some aspects, the environmental information indicates that the UE has received a non-line-of-sight (NLOS) signal, not all of the PRS received by the UE are line-of-sight (LOS) signals, the UE has received multipath transmission, there is another UE within the threshold distance of the UE, or the number of possible reflecting objects within the threshold distance of the UE is not less than the threshold number; in such a scenario, for example, it can be determined that the second BW should be wider than the first BW.

[0144] In some aspects, determining the second BW to be used by the UE for receiving PRS includes: selecting the second BW from a predefined set of BWs, calculating the second BW by increasing or decreasing the first BW by a number, or calculating the second BW by increasing or decreasing the first BW by a percentage value.

[0145] Determining the second BW to be used by the UE for receiving PRS may include determining the modification to be made to the PRS BW currently used by the UE 504. Instructing the UE 504 to use the PRS BW may include instructing the UE 504 to make this modification. The environmental information may be received in response to a request for the environmental information.

[0146] Determining the second BW to be used by the UE for receiving PRS may include determining to use the first bandwidth (BW1) or a second bandwidth (BW2) that may be less than BW1 based on the environmental information. BW1 may include the entire bandwidth supported by the UE 504. BW1 may include a bandwidth less than the entire bandwidth supported by the UE 504.

[0147] Determining the second BW to be used by the UE for receiving PRS based on the environmental information may include using BW2 when the environmental information indicates the following: the UE 504 has not received any NLOS signals, all of the PRS received by the UE 504 are LOS signals, the UE 504 has not received any multipath transmission, there is no other UE within the threshold distance of the UE 504, the number of possible reflecting objects within the threshold distance of the UE 504 may be less than the threshold number, or various combinations thereof.

[0148] Determining the second BW to be used by the UE for receiving PRS based on the environmental information may include using BW1 when the environmental information indicates the following: the UE 504 has received NLOS signals, not all of the PRS received by the UE 504 are LOS signals, the UE 504 has received multipath transmission, there is another UE within the threshold distance of the UE 504, the number of possible reflecting objects within the threshold distance of the UE 504 is less than the threshold number, or various combinations thereof.

[0149] Determining a second BW to be used by a UE for receiving PRS may include determining to reduce or increase a current PRS BW used by the UE 504 based on environmental information. Determining to reduce or increase the current PRS BW used by the UE 504 may include selecting a bandwidth from a predefined set of bandwidths. One of the bandwidths from the predefined set of bandwidths may include the entire bandwidth supported by the UE 504. The predefined set of bandwidths may define three different bandwidths. The predefined set of bandwidths may define more than three different bandwidths. Determining to reduce or increase the current PRS BW used by the UE 504 may include increasing or decreasing the current PRS BW used by the UE 504 by an amount or percentage value.

[0150] Determining a second BW to be used by a UE for receiving PRS based on environmental information may include reducing the current PRS BW used by the UE 504 when the environmental information indicates that: the UE 504 has not received any NLOS signals, all PRSs received by the UE 504 are line-of-sight (LOS) signals, the UE 504 has not received any multipath transmissions, there are no other UEs within a threshold distance of the UE 504, the number of possible reflecting objects within a threshold distance of the UE 504 is less than a threshold number, or various combinations thereof.

[0151] Determining a second BW to be used by a UE for receiving PRS based on environmental information may include increasing the current PRS BW used by the UE 504 when the environmental information indicates that: the UE 504 has received NLOS signals, all PRSs received by the UE 504 are not LOS signals, the UE 504 has received multipath transmissions, there are other UEs within a threshold distance of the UE 504, the number of possible reflecting objects within a threshold distance of the UE 504 is not less than a threshold number, or various combinations thereof.

[0152] As Figure 7 further shown, process 700 may include using the second BW for PRS (block 720). In the case where the TE includes a base station, the apparatus for performing the operations of block 720 may include the (one or more) WWAN transceivers 350 of the BS 304. For example, the BS 304 may use the (one or more) transmitters 354 to use the second BW for PRS to transmit PRS.

[0153] Process 700 may include additional implementations, such as any individual implementation or any combination of implementations described below and / or in connection with one or more other processes described elsewhere in this document. Although Figure 7 example blocks of process 700 are shown, in some implementations, process 700 may include operations different from Figure 7fewer boxes, different boxes, or boxes arranged differently than the boxes depicted in []. Additionally or alternatively, two or more boxes of process 700 may be executed in parallel.

[0154] Figure 8 is a flow chart of an example process 800 associated with an environment-aware positioning reference signal (PRS). In some implementations, Figure 8 one or more process boxes of [] may be performed by a user equipment (UE) (e.g., user equipment (UE) reference numeral). In some implementations, Figure 8 one or more process boxes of [] may be performed by another device or a group of devices separate from or including the UE. Alternatively, Figure 8 one or more process boxes of [] may be performed by one or more components of UE 302, such as processors 332, memory 340, WWAN transceivers 310, short-range wireless transceivers 320, satellite signal receivers 330, and positioning components 342, any one or all of which may be means for performing the operations of process 800.

[0155] As shown in Figure 8 process 800 may include determining environmental information about the environment in which a UE that is receiving a PRS using a first BW is operating (block 810). The means for performing the operations of block 810 may include WWAN transceivers 310, processors 332, and sensors 344 of UE 302. For example, UE 302 may determine environmental information about the environment in which it is operating based on measurements of signals received by receivers 312, data or information received by sensors 344, results of analysis performed by processors 332, etc. In some aspects, the environmental information includes information indicating: the number of multipath transmissions received by the UE, the UE has received at least one non-line-of-sight (NLOS) signal, the UE has not received an NLOS signal, there is another UE in the vicinity of the UE, there is no other UE in the vicinity of the UE, or various combinations thereof. The environmental information may include information indicating: the number of multipath transmissions received by UE 504, UE 504 has received at least one NLOS signal, UE 504 has not received an NLOS signal, there is another UE 104 in the vicinity of UE 504, there is no other UE 104 in the vicinity of UE 504, or various combinations thereof.

[0156] As Figure 8As further shown in, process 800 may include determining a second BW to be used by the UE for receiving PRS based on environmental information (block 820). The apparatus for performing the operations of block 820 may include the processor(s) 332 of the UE 302. For example, the processor(s) 332 of the UE 302 may determine the second BW to be used for PRS. For example, in some aspects, the UE 302 may determine the second BW based on its own analysis of the environmental information using the processor(s) 332.

[0157] In other aspects, determining the second BW includes sending the environmental information to a base station, a peer UE, or another transmitting entity (TE), and receiving an indication of the second BW to be used for PRS from the TE. In some aspects, receiving an indication of the second BW to be used for PRS includes receiving instructions for: selecting the second BW from a predefined set of BWs, calculating the second BW by increasing or decreasing the first BW by a number, or calculating the second BW by increasing or decreasing the first BW by a percentage value.

[0158] As Figure 8 As further shown in, process 800 may include receiving PRS using the second BW (block 830). The apparatus for performing the operations of block 830 may include the WWAN transceiver(s) 310, the processor(s) 332, and the sensor(s) 344 of the UE 302. For example, the UE 302 may use the receiver(s) 312 to receive and process PRS.

[0159] In some aspects, the determining step and the sending step are performed in response to a trigger. In some aspects, the trigger is generated internally by the UE. For example, in some aspects, the trigger includes a detection that a confidence level has been met or no longer meets a confidence level threshold. In some aspects, the trigger is a periodic trigger or an aperiodic trigger. In some aspects, the trigger is an external trigger received by the UE. In some aspects, the trigger is a request from a core network entity.

[0160] Process 800 may include additional implementations, such as any individual implementation or any combination of implementations described below and / or in combination with one or more other processes described elsewhere in this document. Although Figure 8 example blocks of process 800 are shown, in some implementations, process 800 may include additional blocks, fewer blocks, different blocks, or differently arranged blocks compared to the blocks depicted in Figure 8 . Additionally or alternatively, two or more blocks of process 800 may be executed in parallel.

[0161] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that information and signals can be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referred to throughout the above description may be represented by voltage, current, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or magnetic particles, optical fields or optical particles, or any combination thereof.

[0162] In addition, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithmic steps described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein can be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or a combination of both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, the various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps are described above in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system. The skilled person may implement the described functionality in different ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0163] The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein can be implemented or executed with a general-purpose processor, a DSP, an ASIC, an FPGA or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. The processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

[0164] The methods, sequences, and algorithms described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein can be embodied directly in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of both. The software module may reside in random access memory (RAM), flash memory, read only memory (ROM), erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), registers, a hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor such that the processor can read from, and write to, the storage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may be integrated into the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in an ASIC. The ASIC may reside in a user terminal (e.g., a UE). In the alternative, the processor and the storage medium may reside as discrete components in a user terminal.

[0165] In one or more exemplary aspects, the described functionality may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functions may be stored on or transmitted via a computer-readable medium as one or more instructions or code. Computer-readable media includes both computer storage media and communication media including any medium that facilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another. A storage media may be any available media that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readable media can comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer. Also, any connection is properly termed a computer-readable medium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave, then the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave are included in the definition of medium. As used herein, disk and disc include compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk and Blu-ray disc where disks typically reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0166] In the above detailed description, it can be seen that in the various examples different features are grouped together. This manner of disclosure should not be interpreted as an intention that the example clauses have more features than those explicitly recited in each clause. Rather, various aspects of the present disclosure may include less than all of the features of the individual example clauses disclosed. Accordingly, the appended clauses are hereby incorporated into this description, where each clause by itself may be a separate example. Although each dependent clause may refer in the clauses to a particular combination with one of the other clauses, the aspects of that dependent clause are not limited to that particular combination. It will be appreciated that other example clauses may also include combinations of aspects of the dependent clause(s) with the subject matter of any other dependent or independent clause or combinations of any feature with other dependent and independent clauses. The various aspects disclosed herein expressly include such combinations, unless expressly stated or readily inferred to the contrary (e.g., conflicting aspects such as defining an element as both an insulator and a conductor). Additionally, it is intended that aspects of the clauses may be included in any other independent clause, even if the clause is not directly subordinate to that independent clause.

[0167] Exemplary implementations are described in the numbered clauses below.

[0168] Clause 1. A wireless communication method performed by a transmitting entity (TE), the method comprising: determining a second bandwidth (BW) to be used by a user equipment (UE) for receiving a positioning reference signal (PRS) based on environmental information about an environment in which the UE is operating while receiving the PRS using a first BW; and transmitting the PRS using the second BW to be used by the UE for receiving the PRS.

[0169] Clause 2. The method of Clause 1, wherein determining the second BW to be used by the UE for receiving the PRS comprises: receiving environmental information about the environment in which the UE is operating, and determining the second BW to be used by the UE for receiving the PRS based on the environmental information.

[0170] Clause 3. The method of Clause 2, wherein the environmental information is received from the UE, from another UE, from a base station, from a core network entity, or from an intelligent traffic system (ITS).

[0171] Clause 4. The method of any one of Clauses 2 to 3, wherein the environmental information is received in response to a request for the environmental information.

[0172] Clause 5. The method of any one of Clauses 2 to 4, wherein receiving the environmental information comprises receiving information indicating: the number of multipath transmissions received by the UE; the UE has received at least one non-line-of-sight (NLOS) signal; the UE has not received an NLOS signal; there is another UE in the vicinity of the UE; there is no other UE in the vicinity of the UE; the number of possible reflecting objects in the vicinity of the UE is greater than or less than a threshold number; the PRS received by the UE is not an NLOS signal; at least one PRS received by the UE is an NLOS signal; the PRS source is a line-of-sight (LOS) or non-line-of-sight (NLOS) source; there are multiple PRS sources or there is a single PRS source; multiple reflectors are detected or not detected in the vicinity of the UE; other UEs are or are not in the vicinity of the UE; or various combinations thereof.

[0173] Clause 6. The method of any one of Clauses 2 to 5, further comprising: instructing the UE to receive the PRS using the second BW.

[0174] Clause 7. The method of Clause 6, wherein determining the second BW to be used by the UE for receiving the PRS comprises determining a modification to be made to the first BW, and wherein instructing the UE to receive the PRS using the second BW comprises instructing the UE to make the modification to the first BW.

[0175] Clause 8. A method according to any one of Clauses 2 to 7, wherein receiving the environmental information includes receiving information indicating that: the UE has not received any non-line-of-sight (NLOS) signals; all PRSs received by the UE are line-of-sight (LOS) signals; the UE has not received any multipath transmissions; there are no other UEs within a threshold distance of the UE; or the number of possible reflecting objects within a threshold distance of the UE is less than a threshold number; and wherein determining a second BW to be used by the UE for receiving PRS based on the environmental information includes determining that the second BW to be used by the UE for receiving PRS should be narrower than a first BW that is currently being used by the UE for receiving PRS.

[0176] Clause 9. A method according to any one of Clauses 2 to 8, wherein receiving the environmental information includes receiving information indicating that: the UE has received non-line-of-sight (NLOS) signals; all PRSs received by the UE are not line-of-sight (LOS) signals; the UE has received multipath transmissions; there are other UEs within a threshold distance of the UE; or the number of possible reflecting objects within a threshold distance of the UE is not less than a threshold number; and wherein determining a second BW to be used by the UE for receiving PRS based on the environmental information includes determining that the second BW to be used by the UE for receiving PRS should be wider than the first BW.

[0177] Clause 10. A method according to any one of Clauses 1 to 9, wherein determining a second BW to be used by the UE for receiving PRS includes: selecting the second BW to be used by the UE for receiving PRS from a predefined set of BWs; calculating the second BW to be used by the UE for receiving PRS by increasing or decreasing the first BW by a number; or calculating the second BW to be used by the UE for receiving PRS by increasing or decreasing the first BW by a percentage value.

[0178] Clause 11. A method according to any one of Clauses 1 to 10, wherein determining a second BW to be used by the UE for receiving PRS includes receiving an indication of the second BW to be used by the UE for receiving PRS from the UE, and determining the second BW to be used by the UE for receiving PRS based on the indication.

[0179] Clause 12. A method according to Clause 11, wherein receiving an indication of the second BW to be used by the UE for receiving PRS includes receiving: an indication of selecting the second BW to be used by the UE for receiving PRS from a predefined set of BWs; an indication of calculating the second BW to be used by the UE for receiving PRS by increasing or decreasing the first BW by a number; or an indication of calculating the second BW to be used by the UE for receiving PRS by increasing or decreasing the first BW by a percentage value.

[0180] Clause 13. A method according to any one of Clauses 1 to 12, wherein the TE includes a base station or a second UE.

[0181] Clause 14. A wireless communication method performed by a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: determining environmental information about an environment in which the UE is operating while receiving a positioning reference signal (PRS) using a first bandwidth (BW); determining, based on the environmental information, a second BW to be used by the UE for receiving the PRS; and receiving the PRS using the second BW.

[0182] Clause 15. The method of clause 14, wherein determining the second BW to be used by the UE for receiving the PRS comprises: sending the environmental information to a transmitting entity (TE); and receiving, from the TE, an indication of the second BW to be used by the UE for receiving the PRS.

[0183] Clause 16. The method of clause 15, wherein receiving the indication of the second BW to be used by the UE for receiving the PRS comprises receiving an instruction for: selecting the second BW from a predefined set of BWs; calculating the second BW by increasing or decreasing the first BW by a number; or calculating the second BW by increasing or decreasing the first BW by a percentage value.

[0184] Clause 17. The method of any one of clauses 15 to 16, wherein the TE comprises a base station or a core network entity.

[0185] Clause 18. The method of any one of clauses 14 to 17, wherein receiving the environmental information comprises receiving information indicating: the number of multipath transmissions received by the UE; the UE has received at least one non-line-of-sight (NLOS) signal; the UE has not received an NLOS signal; there is another UE in the vicinity of the UE; there is no other UE in the vicinity of the UE; or various combinations thereof.

[0186] Clause 19. The method of any one of clauses 14 to 18, comprising determining the environmental information in response to receiving a trigger.

[0187] Clause 20. The method of clause 19, wherein the trigger is generated internally by the UE.

[0188] Clause 21. The method of clause 20, wherein the trigger comprises a detection that a confidence level has been met or no longer meets a confidence level threshold.

[0189] Clause 22. The method of any one of clauses 20 to 21, wherein the trigger is a periodic trigger or an aperiodic trigger.

[0190] Clause 23. The method of any one of clauses 19 to 22, wherein the trigger is an external trigger received by the UE.

[0191] Clause 24. The method of clause 23, wherein the trigger is a request from a core network entity.

[0192] Clause 25. A transmitting entity (TE) includes: a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: determine a second bandwidth (BW) to be used by a user equipment (UE) for receiving a positioning reference signal (PRS) based on environmental information about an environment in which the UE is operating while receiving the PRS using a first BW; and transmit the PRS via the at least one transceiver using the second BW to be used by the UE for receiving the PRS.

[0193] Clause 26. The TE of Clause 25, wherein, to determine the second BW to be used by the UE for receiving the PRS, the at least one processor is configured to receive environmental information about the environment in which the UE is operating and determine the second BW to be used by the UE for receiving the PRS based on the environmental information.

[0194] Clause 27. The TE of Clause 26, wherein the environmental information is received from the UE, from another UE, from a base station, from a core network entity, or from an intelligent traffic system (ITS).

[0195] Clause 28. The TE of any one of Clauses 26 to 27, wherein the environmental information is received in response to a request for the environmental information.

[0196] Clause 29. The TE of any one of Clauses 26 to 28, wherein, to receive the environmental information, the at least one processor is configured to receive information indicating: the number of multipath transmissions received by the UE; the UE has received at least one non-line-of-sight (NLOS) signal; the UE has not received an NLOS signal; there is another UE in the vicinity of the UE; there is no other UE in the vicinity of the UE; the number of possible reflecting objects in the vicinity of the UE is greater than or less than a threshold number; the PRS received by the UE is not an NLOS signal; at least one PRS received by the UE is an NLOS signal; the PRS source is a line-of-sight (LOS) or non-line-of-sight (NLOS) source; there are multiple PRS sources or there is a single PRS source; multiple reflectors are detected or not detected in the vicinity of the UE; other UEs are or are not in the vicinity of the UE; or various combinations thereof.

[0197] Clause 30. The TE of any one of Clauses 26 to 29, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to instruct the UE to receive the PRS using the second BW.

[0198] Clause 31. The TE of Clause 30, wherein determining the second BW to be used by the UE for receiving the PRS includes determining a modification to be made to the first BW, and wherein instructing the UE to receive the PRS using the second BW includes instructing the UE to make the modification to the first BW.

[0199] Clause 32. The TE as in any one of Clauses 26 to 31, wherein, in order to receive the environmental information, the at least one processor is configured to receive information indicating that: the UE has not received any non-line-of-sight (NLOS) signals; all PRSs received by the UE are line-of-sight (LOS) signals; the UE has not received any multipath transmissions; there are no other UEs within a threshold distance of the UE; or the number of possible reflecting objects within a threshold distance of the UE is less than a threshold number; and wherein, in order to determine a second BW to be used by the UE for receiving PRS based on the environmental information, the at least one processor is configured to determine that the second BW to be used by the UE for receiving PRS should be narrower than a first BW that is being used by the UE for receiving PRS.

[0200] Clause 33. The TE as in any one of Clauses 26 to 32, wherein, in order to receive the environmental information, the at least one processor is configured to receive information indicating that: the UE has received non-line-of-sight (NLOS) signals; all PRSs received by the UE are not line-of-sight (LOS) signals; the UE has received multipath transmissions; there are other UEs within a threshold distance of the UE; or the number of possible reflecting objects within a threshold distance of the UE is not less than a threshold number; and wherein, in order to determine a second BW to be used by the UE for receiving PRS based on the environmental information, the at least one processor is configured to determine that the second BW to be used by the UE for receiving PRS should be wider than the first BW.

[0201] Clause 34. The TE as in any one of Clauses 25 to 33, wherein, in order to determine a second BW to be used by the UE for receiving PRS, the at least one processor is configured to: select the second BW to be used by the UE for receiving PRS from a predefined set of BWs; calculate the second BW to be used by the UE for receiving PRS by increasing or decreasing a first BW by a number; or calculate the second BW to be used by the UE for receiving PRS by increasing or decreasing a first BW by a percentage value.

[0202] Clause 35. The TE as in any one of Clauses 25 to 34, wherein, in order to determine a second BW to be used by the UE for receiving PRS, the at least one processor is configured to receive an indication of the second BW to be used by the UE for receiving PRS from the UE, and determine the second BW to be used by the UE for receiving PRS based on the indication.

[0203] Clause 36. The TE as in Clause 35, wherein, in order to receive an indication of a second BW to be used by the UE for receiving PRS, the at least one processor is configured to receive: an indication of selecting, from a predefined set of BWs, a second BW to be used by the UE for receiving PRS; an indication of calculating, by increasing or decreasing a first BW by a number, a second BW to be used by the UE for receiving PRS; or an indication of calculating, by increasing or decreasing a first BW by a percentage value, a second BW to be used by the UE for receiving PRS.

[0204] Clause 37. The TE as in any one of Clauses 25 to 36, wherein the TE includes a base station or a second UE.

[0205] Clause 38. A user equipment (UE) includes: a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: determine environmental information about an environment in which the UE operating while receiving a positioning reference signal (PRS) using a first bandwidth (BW); determine, based on the environmental information, a second BW to be used by the UE for receiving PRS; and receive PRS using the second BW.

[0206] Clause 39. The UE as in Clause 38, wherein, in order to determine a second BW to be used by the UE for receiving PRS, the at least one processor is configured to: send the environmental information to a transmitting entity (TE) via the at least one transceiver; and receive, via the at least one transceiver, an indication of a second BW to be used by the UE for receiving PRS from the TE.

[0207] Clause 40. The UE as in Clause 39, wherein, in order to receive an indication of a second BW to be used by the UE for receiving PRS, the at least one processor is configured to receive an instruction for: selecting a second BW from a predefined set of BWs; calculating a second BW by increasing or decreasing a first BW by a number; or calculating a second BW by increasing or decreasing a first BW by a percentage value.

[0208] Clause 41. The UE as in any one of Clauses 39 to 40, wherein the TE includes a base station or a core network entity.

[0209] Clause 42. The UE as in any one of Clauses 38 to 41, wherein, in order to receive the environmental information, the at least one processor is configured to receive information indicating: the number of multipath transmissions received by the UE; the UE has received at least one non-line-of-sight (NLOS) signal; the UE has not received an NLOS signal; there is another UE in the vicinity of the UE; there is no other UE in the vicinity of the UE; or various combinations thereof.

[0210] Clause 43. A UE as in any one of Clauses 38 to 42, wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine the environmental information in response to receiving a trigger.

[0211] Clause 44. A UE as in Clause 43, wherein the trigger is generated internally by the UE.

[0212] Clause 45. A UE as in Clause 44, wherein the trigger includes a detection that a confidence level has been met or no longer meets a confidence level threshold.

[0213] Clause 46. A UE as in any one of Clauses 44 to 45, wherein the trigger is a periodic trigger or an aperiodic trigger.

[0214] Clause 47. A UE as in any one of Clauses 43 to 46, wherein the trigger is an external trigger received by the UE.

[0215] Clause 48. A UE as in Clause 47, wherein the trigger is a request from a core network entity.

[0216] Clause 49. A transmitting entity (TE) comprising: means for determining a second bandwidth (BW) to be used by a user equipment (UE) for receiving a positioning reference signal (PRS) based on environmental information about an environment in which the UE is operating while receiving the PRS using a first BW; and means for transmitting the PRS using the second BW to be used by the UE for receiving the PRS.

[0217] Clause 50. A TE as in Clause 49, wherein the means for determining the second BW to be used by the UE for receiving the PRS comprises: means for receiving environmental information about the environment in which the UE is operating and for determining the second BW to be used by the UE for receiving the PRS based on the environmental information.

[0218] Clause 51. A TE as in Clause 50, wherein the means for receiving environmental information about the environment in which the UE is operating comprises: means for receiving environmental information about the environment in which the UE is operating from the UE, from another UE, from a base station, from a core network entity, or from an intelligent traffic system (ITS).

[0219] Clause 52. A TE as in any one of Clauses 50 to 51, wherein the means for receiving environmental information about the environment in which the UE is operating comprises: means for receiving environmental information about the environment in which the UE is operating in response to a request for the environmental information.

[0220] Clause 53. The TE as in any one of Clauses 50 to 52, wherein the means for receiving the environmental information includes means for receiving information indicating: the number of multipath transmissions received by the UE; the UE has received at least one non-line-of-sight (NLOS) signal; the UE has not received an NLOS signal; there is another UE in the vicinity of the UE; there is no other UE in the vicinity of the UE; the number of possible reflecting objects in the vicinity of the UE is greater than or less than a threshold number; the PRS received by the UE is not an NLOS signal; at least one PRS received by the UE is an NLOS signal; the PRS source is a line-of-sight (LOS) or non-line-of-sight (NLOS) source; there are multiple PRS sources or there is a single PRS source; multiple reflectors are detected or not detected in the vicinity of the UE; other UEs are or are not in the vicinity of the UE; or various combinations thereof.

[0221] Clause 54. The TE as in any one of Clauses 50 to 53, further comprising: means for instructing the UE to receive the PRS using a second BW.

[0222] Clause 55. The TE as in Clause 54, wherein the means for determining the second BW to be used by the UE to receive the PRS includes means for determining the modification to be made to the first BW, and wherein the means for instructing the UE to receive the PRS using the second BW includes means for instructing the UE to make the modification to the first BW.

[0223] Clause 56. The TE as in any one of Clauses 50 to 55, wherein the means for receiving the environmental information includes means for receiving information indicating: the UE has not received any non-line-of-sight (NLOS) signals; all PRSs received by the UE are line-of-sight (LOS) signals; the UE has not received any multipath transmissions; there are no other UEs within the threshold distance of the UE; or the number of possible reflecting objects within the threshold distance of the UE is less than the threshold number; and wherein the means for determining the second BW to be used by the UE to receive the PRS based on the environmental information includes means for determining that the second BW to be used by the UE to receive the PRS should be narrower than the first BW being used by the UE to receive the PRS.

[0224] Clause 57. The TE as in any one of Clauses 50 to 56, wherein the means for receiving the environmental information includes means for receiving information indicating: the UE has received non-line-of-sight (NLOS) signals; all PRSs received by the UE are not line-of-sight (LOS) signals; the UE has received multipath transmissions; there are other UEs within the threshold distance of the UE; or the number of possible reflecting objects within the threshold distance of the UE is not less than the threshold number; and wherein the means for determining the second BW to be used by the UE to receive the PRS based on the environmental information includes means for determining that the second BW to be used by the UE to receive the PRS should be wider than the first BW.

[0225] Clause 58. The TE as in any one of Clauses 49 to 57, wherein the apparatus for determining a second BW to be used by the UE for receiving the PRS includes: an apparatus for selecting, from a set of predefined BWs, a second BW to be used by the UE for receiving the PRS; an apparatus for calculating, by increasing or decreasing a first BW by a number, a second BW to be used by the UE for receiving the PRS; or an apparatus for calculating, by increasing or decreasing a first BW by a percentage value, a second BW to be used by the UE for receiving the PRS.

[0226] Clause 59. The TE as in any one of Clauses 49 to 58, wherein the apparatus for determining a second BW to be used by the UE for receiving the PRS includes an apparatus for receiving, from the UE, an indication of the second BW to be used by the UE for receiving the PRS and for determining, based on the indication, the second BW to be used by the UE for receiving the PRS.

[0227] Clause 60. The TE as in Clause 59, wherein the apparatus for receiving an indication of the second BW to be used by the UE for receiving the PRS includes an apparatus for receiving: an indication of selecting, from a set of predefined BWs, a second BW to be used by the UE for receiving the PRS; an indication of calculating, by increasing or decreasing a first BW by a number, a second BW to be used by the UE for receiving the PRS; or an indication of calculating, by increasing or decreasing a first BW by a percentage value, a second BW to be used by the UE for receiving the PRS.

[0228] Clause 61. The TE as in any one of Clauses 49 to 60, wherein the TE includes a base station or a second UE.

[0229] Clause 62. A user equipment (UE) includes: an apparatus for determining environmental information of an environment in which the UE is operating while receiving a positioning reference signal (PRS) using a first bandwidth (BW); an apparatus for determining, based on the environmental information, a second BW to be used by the UE for receiving the PRS; and an apparatus for receiving the PRS using the second BW.

[0230] Clause 63. The UE as in Clause 62, wherein the apparatus for determining a second BW to be used by the UE for receiving the PRS includes: an apparatus for sending the environmental information to a transmitting entity (TE); and an apparatus for receiving, from the TE, an indication of the second BW to be used by the UE for receiving the PRS.

[0231] Clause 64. The UE of Clause 63, wherein the means for receiving an indication of a second BW to be used by the UE for receiving PRS includes means for receiving an instruction for: selecting the second BW from a predefined set of BWs; calculating the second BW by increasing or decreasing the first BW by a number; or calculating the second BW by increasing or decreasing the first BW by a percentage value.

[0232] Clause 65. The UE of any one of Clauses 63 to 64, wherein the TE includes a base station or a core network entity.

[0233] Clause 66. The UE of any one of Clauses 63 to 65, wherein the means for receiving the environmental information includes means for receiving information indicating: the number of multipath transmissions received by the UE; the UE has received at least one non-line-of-sight (NLOS) signal; the UE has not received an NLOS signal; there is another UE in the vicinity of the UE; there is no other UE in the vicinity of the UE; or various combinations thereof.

[0234] Clause 67. The UE of any one of Clauses 62 to 66, wherein the means for determining the environmental information includes means for determining the environmental information in response to a trigger.

[0235] Clause 68. The UE of Clause 67, wherein the means for determining the environmental information in response to a trigger includes means for determining the environmental information in response to a trigger internally generated by the UE.

[0236] Clause 69. The UE of Clause 68, wherein the means for determining the environmental information in response to a trigger includes means for determining the environmental information in response to a detection that a confidence level has been met or no longer meets a confidence level threshold.

[0237] Clause 70. The UE of any one of Clauses 68 to 69, wherein the means for determining the environmental information in response to a trigger includes means for determining the environmental information in response to a periodic trigger or an aperiodic trigger.

[0238] Clause 71. The UE of any one of Clauses 67 to 70, wherein the means for determining the environmental information in response to a trigger includes means for determining the environmental information in response to an external trigger received by the UE.

[0239] Clause 72. The UE of Clause 71, wherein the means for determining the environmental information in response to an external trigger received by the UE includes means for determining the environmental information in response to a request from a core network entity.

[0240] Clause 73. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a transmitting entity (TE), cause the TE to: determine a second bandwidth (BW) to be used by a user equipment (UE) to receive a positioning reference signal (PRS) based on environmental information about an environment in which the UE is operating while receiving the PRS using a first BW; and transmit the PRS using the second BW to be used by the UE to receive the PRS.

[0241] Clause 74. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of Clause 73, wherein the computer-executable instructions that cause the TE to determine the second BW to be used by the UE to receive the PRS include computer-executable instructions that cause the TE to perform the following operations: receive environmental information about the environment in which the UE is operating, and determine the second BW to be used by the UE to receive the PRS based on the environmental information.

[0242] Clause 75. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of Clause 74, wherein the environmental information is received from the UE, from another UE, from a base station, from a core network entity, or from an intelligent traffic system (ITS).

[0243] Clause 76. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any one of Clauses 74 to 75, wherein the environmental information is received in response to a request for the environmental information.

[0244] Clause 77. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any one of Clauses 74 to 76, wherein the computer-executable instructions that cause the TE to receive the environmental information include computer-executable instructions that cause the TE to receive information indicating the following: the number of multipath transmissions received by the UE; the UE has received at least one non-line-of-sight (NLOS) signal; the UE has not received an NLOS signal; there is another UE in the vicinity of the UE; there is no other UE in the vicinity of the UE; the number of possible reflecting objects in the vicinity of the UE is greater than or less than a threshold number; the PRS received by the UE is not an NLOS signal; at least one PRS received by the UE is an NLOS signal; the PRS source is a line-of-sight (LOS) or non-line-of-sight (NLOS) source; there are multiple PRS sources or there is a single PRS source; multiple reflectors are detected or not detected in the vicinity of the UE; other UEs are or are not in the vicinity of the UE; or various combinations thereof.

[0245] Clause 78. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any one of Clauses 74 to 77, further including instructions that, when executed by the TE, further cause the TE to instruct the UE to receive the PRS using the second BW.

[0246] Clause 79. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of Clause 78, wherein determining a second BW to be used by a UE to receive PRS includes determining a modification to be made to a first BW, and wherein instructing the UE to use the second BW to receive PRS includes instructing the UE to make the modification to the first BW.

[0247] Clause 80. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any one of Clauses 74 to 79, wherein the computer-executable instructions that cause the TE to receive the environmental information include computer-executable instructions that cause the TE to receive information indicating that: the UE has not received any non-line-of-sight (NLOS) signals; all PRSs received by the UE are line-of-sight (LOS) signals; the UE has not received any multipath transmissions; there are no other UEs within a threshold distance of the UE; or the number of possible reflecting objects within a threshold distance of the UE is less than a threshold number; and wherein the computer-executable instructions that cause the TE to determine a second BW to be used by the UE to receive PRS based on the environmental information include computer-executable instructions that cause the TE to determine that the second BW to be used by the UE to receive PRS should be narrower than a first BW that is being used by the UE to receive PRS.

[0248] Clause 81. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any one of Clauses 74 to 80, wherein the computer-executable instructions that cause the TE to receive the environmental information include computer-executable instructions that cause the TE to receive information indicating that: the UE has received non-line-of-sight (NLOS) signals; all PRSs received by the UE are not line-of-sight (LOS) signals; the UE has received multipath transmissions; there are other UEs within a threshold distance of the UE; or the number of possible reflecting objects within a threshold distance of the UE is not less than a threshold number; and wherein the computer-executable instructions that cause the TE to determine a second BW to be used by the UE to receive PRS based on the environmental information include computer-executable instructions that cause the TE to determine that the second BW to be used by the UE to receive PRS should be wider than the first BW.

[0249] Clause 82. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any one of Clauses 73 to 81, wherein the computer-executable instructions that cause the TE to determine a second BW to be used by the UE to receive PRS include computer-executable instructions that cause the TE to perform one of the following operations: select a second BW to be used by the UE to receive PRS from a predefined set of BWs; calculate a second BW to be used by the UE to receive PRS by increasing or decreasing the first BW by a number; or calculate a second BW to be used by the UE to receive PRS by increasing or decreasing the first BW by a percentage value.

[0250] Clause 83. A non-transitory computer-readable medium as in any one of Clauses 73 to 82, wherein the computer-executable instructions that cause the TE to determine a second BW to be used by the UE for receiving a PRS include computer-executable instructions that cause the TE to perform the following: receive an indication from the UE of the second BW to be used by the UE for receiving a PRS, and determine the second BW to be used by the UE for receiving a PRS based on the indication.

[0251] Clause 84. A non-transitory computer-readable medium as in Clause 83, wherein the computer-executable instructions that cause the TE to receive an indication of the second BW to be used by the UE for receiving a PRS include computer-executable instructions that cause the TE to receive the following: an indication of selecting the second BW to be used by the UE for receiving a PRS from a predefined set of BWs; an indication of calculating the second BW to be used by the UE for receiving a PRS by increasing or decreasing a first BW by a number; or an indication of calculating the second BW to be used by the UE for receiving a PRS by increasing or decreasing a first BW by a percentage value.

[0252] Clause 85. A non-transitory computer-readable medium as in any one of Clauses 73 to 84, wherein the TE includes a base station or a second UE.

[0253] Clause 86. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a user equipment (UE), cause the UE to: determine environmental information about an environment in which the UE is operating while receiving a positioning reference signal (PRS) using a first bandwidth (BW); determine a second BW to be used by the UE for receiving a PRS based on the environmental information; and receive the PRS using the second BW.

[0254] Clause 87. A non-transitory computer-readable medium as in Clause 86, wherein the computer-executable instructions that cause the UE to determine the second BW to be used by the UE for receiving a PRS include computer-executable instructions that cause the UE to perform the following: send the environmental information to a transmitting entity (TE); and receive an indication of the second BW to be used by the UE for receiving a PRS from the TE.

[0255] Clause 88. A non-transitory computer-readable medium as in Clause 87, wherein the computer-executable instructions that cause the UE to receive an indication of the second BW to be used by the UE for receiving a PRS include computer-executable instructions that cause the UE to receive instructions for the following: select a second BW from a predefined set of BWs; calculate a second BW by increasing or decreasing a first BW by a number; or calculate a second BW by increasing or decreasing a first BW by a percentage value.

[0256] Clause 89. A non-transitory computer-readable medium as in any one of Clauses 87 to 88, wherein the TE includes a base station or a core network entity.

[0257] Clause 90. A non-transitory computer-readable medium as in any one of Clauses 86 to 89, wherein the computer-executable instructions that cause the UE to receive the environmental information include computer-executable instructions that cause the UE to receive information indicating: the number of multipath transmissions received by the UE; the UE has received at least one non-line-of-sight (NLOS) signal; the UE has not received an NLOS signal; there is another UE in the vicinity of the UE; there is no other UE in the vicinity of the UE; or various combinations thereof.

[0258] Clause 91. A non-transitory computer-readable medium as in any one of Clauses 86 to 90, wherein the determining step and the sending step are performed in response to a trigger.

[0259] Clause 92. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as in Clause 91, wherein the trigger is generated internally by the UE.

[0260] Clause 93. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium as in Clause 92, wherein the trigger includes a detection that a confidence level has been met or no longer meets a confidence level threshold.

[0261] Clause 94. A non-transitory computer-readable medium as in any one of Clauses 92 to 93, wherein the trigger is a periodic trigger or an aperiodic trigger.

[0262] Clause 95. A non-transitory computer-readable medium as in any one of Clauses 91 to 94, wherein the trigger is an external trigger received by the UE.

[0263] Clause 96. A non-transitory computer-readable medium as in Clause 95, wherein the trigger is a request from a core network entity.

[0264] Clause 97. An apparatus, comprising: a memory, a transceiver, and a processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the transceiver, the memory, the transceiver, and the processor being configured to perform the method according to any one of Clauses 1 to 24.

[0265] Clause 98. A device, comprising means for performing the method according to any one of Clauses 1 to 24.

[0266] Clause 99. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions, the computer-executable instructions including at least one instruction for causing a computer or a processor to perform the method according to any one of Clauses 1 to 24.

[0267] Additional aspects are described below:

[0268] In one aspect, a wireless communication method includes, at a TE: receiving environmental information about the environment in which a UE is operating; determining, based on the environmental information, a bandwidth (BW) to be used for the Physical Random Sequence (PRS); and using the BW for the PRS, instructing the UE to use the BW for the PRS, or both. In some aspects, the UE includes a UE. In some aspects, the TE includes a base station or a core network entity. In some aspects, the TE includes a second UE.

[0269] In some aspects, the environmental information is received from the UE. In some aspects, the environmental information includes information indicating: the number of multipath transmissions received by the UE; the UE has received at least one Non-Line-of-Sight (NLOS) signal; the UE has not received an NLOS signal; there is another UE in the vicinity of the UE; there is no other UE in the vicinity of the UE; or various combinations thereof. In some aspects, the environmental information is received from an entity other than the UE. In some aspects, the environmental information is received from a core network entity.

[0270] In some aspects, the core network entity includes a location server.

[0271] In some aspects, the environmental information includes information indicating: the number of possible reflecting objects in the vicinity of the UE may be greater than or less than a threshold number; none of the PRSs received by the UE is an NLOS signal; at least one of the PRSs received by the UE is an NLOS signal; or various combinations thereof. In some aspects, the environmental information is received from a UE. In some aspects, the environmental information is received via the Intelligent Transportation System (ITS). In some aspects, the environmental information includes information indicating: the PRS source may be a Line-of-Sight (LOS) source or an NLOS source; there are multiple PRS sources or there is a single PRS source; multiple reflectors are detected or not detected in the vicinity of the UE; other UEs are or are not in the vicinity of the UE; or various combinations thereof.

[0272] In some aspects, determining the BW to be used for the PRS includes determining a modification to be made to the PRS BW currently used by the UE, and instructing the UE to use the PRS BW includes instructing the UE to make the modification.

[0273] In some aspects, the environmental information is received in response to a request for the environmental information.

[0274] In some aspects, determining the BW to be used for the PRS includes determining, based on the environmental information, to use a first bandwidth (BW1) or a second bandwidth (BW2) smaller than BW1.

[0275] In some aspects, BW1 includes the entire bandwidth supported by the UE.

[0276] In some aspects, BW1 includes a bandwidth smaller than the entire bandwidth supported by the UE.

[0277] In some aspects, determining the BW to be used for PRS based on the environmental information includes using BW2 when the environmental information indicates the following: The UE has not received any NLOS signals; all PRS received by the UE are LOS signals; the UE has not received any multipath transmissions; there are no other UEs within the threshold distance of the UE; or the number of possible reflecting objects within the threshold distance of the UE is less than the threshold number.

[0278] In some aspects, determining the BW to be used for PRS based on the environmental information includes using BW1 when the environmental information indicates the following: The UE has received NLOS signals; all PRS received by the UE are not LOS signals; the UE has received multipath transmissions; there are other UEs within the threshold distance of the UE; or the number of possible reflecting objects within the threshold distance of the UE is not less than the threshold number.

[0279] In some aspects, determining the BW to be used for PRS includes determining to reduce or increase the current PRS BW used by the UE based on the environmental information.

[0280] In some aspects, determining to reduce or increase the current PRS BW used by the UE may include selecting a bandwidth from a predefined set of bandwidths.

[0281] In some aspects, one of the bandwidths from the predefined set of bandwidths includes the entire bandwidth supported by the UE.

[0282] In some aspects, the predefined set of bandwidths defines three different bandwidths.

[0283] In some aspects, the predefined set of bandwidths defines more than three different bandwidths.

[0284] In some aspects, determining to reduce or increase the current PRS BW used by the UE may include increasing or decreasing the current PRS BW used by the UE by a number or percentage value.

[0285] In some aspects, determining the BW to be used for PRS based on the environmental information includes reducing the current PRS BW used by the UE when the environmental information indicates the following: The UE has not received any NLOS signals; all PRS received by the UE are LOS signals; the UE has not received any multipath transmissions; there are no other UEs within the threshold distance of the UE; or the number of possible reflecting objects within the threshold distance of the UE is less than the threshold number.

[0286] In some aspects, determining the BW to be used for PRS based on the environmental information includes increasing the current PRS BW used by the UE when the environmental information indicates the following: the UE has received an NLOS signal; not all PRS received by the UE are LOS signals; the UE has received multipath transmissions; there is another UE within the threshold distance of the UE; or the number of possible reflecting objects within the threshold distance of the UE is not less than the threshold number.

[0287] In one aspect, a wireless communication method includes, at a UE: determining environmental information about the environment in which the UE is operating; and sending the environmental information to a TE.

[0288] In some aspects, the UE includes a UE.

[0289] In some aspects, the TE includes a base station or a core network entity.

[0290] In some aspects, the environmental information includes information indicating the following: the number of multipath transmissions received by the UE; the UE has received at least one NLOS signal; the UE has not received an NLOS signal; there is another UE in the vicinity of the UE; there is no other UE in the vicinity of the UE; or various combinations thereof.

[0291] In some aspects, the determining step and the sending step are performed in response to a trigger.

[0292] In some aspects, the trigger is generated internally by the UE.

[0293] In some aspects, the trigger includes a detection that a confidence level has been met or no longer meets a confidence level threshold.

[0294] In some aspects, the trigger is a periodic trigger or an aperiodic trigger.

[0295] In some aspects, the trigger is an external trigger received by the UE.

[0296] In some aspects, the trigger is a request from a core network entity.

[0297] In some aspects, the method includes receiving an indication of the BW to be used for PRS from the TE.

[0298] In some aspects, receiving an indication of the BW to be used for PRS includes receiving an instruction to reduce or increase the current BW used for PRS.

[0299] In some aspects, receiving an instruction to reduce or increase the current BW used for PRS includes receiving an instruction to select a bandwidth from a predefined set of bandwidths.

[0300] In some aspects, one of the bandwidths from the predefined set of bandwidths includes the entire bandwidth supported by the UE.

[0301] In some aspects, the predefined set of bandwidths defines three different bandwidths.

[0302] In some aspects, the predefined set of bandwidths defines more than three different bandwidths.

[0303] In some aspects, receiving an instruction to reduce or increase the current BW used for PRS includes receiving an instruction to increase or decrease the current PRS BW used by the UE by an amount or percentage value.

[0304] In some aspects, the method includes using the BW for PRS.

[0305] In one aspect, a TE includes: a memory; at least one network interface; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one network interface, the at least one processor being configured to: receive environmental information about the environment in which the UE is operating; determine a BW to be used for PRS based on the environmental information; and use the BW for PRS, instruct the UE to use the BW for PRS, or both.

[0306] In some aspects, the environmental information is received from the UE.

[0307] In some aspects, the environmental information includes information indicating: the number of multipath transmissions received by the UE; the UE has received at least one NLOS signal; the UE has not received an NLOS signal; there is another UE in the vicinity of the UE; there is no other UE in the vicinity of the UE; or various combinations thereof.

[0308] In some aspects, the environmental information is received from an entity other than the UE.

[0309] In some aspects, the environmental information is received from a core network entity.

[0310] In some aspects, the core network entity includes a location server.

[0311] In some aspects, the environmental information includes information indicating: the number of possible reflecting objects in the vicinity of the UE may be greater than or less than a threshold number; none of the PRSs received by the UE is an NLOS signal; at least one of the PRSs received by the UE is an NLOS signal; or various combinations thereof.

[0312] In some aspects, the environmental information is received from a UE.

[0313] In some aspects, the environmental information is received via ITS.

[0314] In some aspects, the environmental information includes information indicating that: the PRS source can be a LOS source or a NLOS source; there are multiple PRS sources or a single PRS source; multiple reflectors are detected or not detected near the UE; other UEs are or are not near the UE; or various combinations thereof.

[0315] In some aspects, determining the BW to be used for PRS includes determining the modification to be made to the PRS BW currently used by the UE, and instructing the UE to use the PRS BW includes instructing the UE to make the modification.

[0316] In some aspects, the environmental information is received in response to a request for the environmental information.

[0317] In some aspects, determining the BW to be used for PRS includes determining to use a first bandwidth (BW1) or a second bandwidth (BW2) less than BW1 based on the environmental information.

[0318] In some aspects, BW1 includes the entire bandwidth supported by the UE.

[0319] In some aspects, BW1 includes a bandwidth less than the entire bandwidth supported by the UE.

[0320] In some aspects, determining the BW to be used for PRS based on the environmental information includes using BW2 when the environmental information indicates that: the UE has not received any NLOS signals; all PRS received by the UE are LOS signals; the UE has not received any multipath transmissions; there are no other UEs within the threshold distance of the UE; or the number of possible reflecting objects within the threshold distance of the UE is less than the threshold number.

[0321] In some aspects, determining the BW to be used for PRS based on the environmental information includes using BW1 when the environmental information indicates that: the UE has received NLOS signals; all PRS received by the UE are not LOS signals; the UE has received multipath transmissions; there are other UEs within the threshold distance of the UE; or the number of possible reflecting objects within the threshold distance of the UE is not less than the threshold number.

[0322] In some aspects, determining the BW to be used for PRS includes determining to reduce or increase the current PRS BW used by the UE based on the environmental information.

[0323] In some aspects, determining to reduce or increase the current PRS BW used by the UE may include selecting a bandwidth from a predefined set of bandwidths.

[0324] In some aspects, one of the bandwidths from the predefined set of bandwidths includes the entire bandwidth supported by the UE.

[0325] In some aspects, the predefined set of bandwidths defines three different bandwidths.

[0326] In some aspects, the predefined set of bandwidths defines more than three different bandwidths.

[0327] In some aspects, determining the current PRS BW used by the UE to be decreased or increased can include increasing or decreasing the current PRS BW used by the UE by a number or percentage value.

[0328] In some aspects, determining the BW to be used for PRS based on the environmental information includes decreasing the current PRS BW used by the UE in cases where the environmental information indicates that: the UE has not received any NLOS signals; all PRSs received by the UE are LOS signals; the UE has not received any multipath transmissions; there are no other UEs within a threshold distance of the UE; or the number of possible reflecting objects within a threshold distance of the UE is less than a threshold number.

[0329] In some aspects, determining the BW to be used for PRS based on the environmental information includes increasing the current PRS BW used by the UE in cases where the environmental information indicates that: the UE has received NLOS signals; all PRSs received by the UE are not LOS signals; the UE has received multipath transmissions; there are other UEs within a threshold distance of the UE; or the number of possible reflecting objects within a threshold distance of the UE is not less than a threshold number.

[0330] In some aspects, the TE includes a base station.

[0331] In some aspects, the TE includes a core network entity.

[0332] In some aspects, the TE includes a location server.

[0333] In some aspects, the TE includes a UE.

[0334] In one aspect, a UE includes: a memory, at least one transceiver, and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: determine environmental information about the environment in which the UE is operating; and send the environmental information to a TE.

[0335] In some aspects, the environmental information includes information indicating: the number of multipath transmissions received by the UE; the UE has received at least one NLOS signal; the UE has not received an NLOS signal; there is another UE in the vicinity of the UE; there is no other UE in the vicinity of the UE; or various combinations thereof.

[0336] In some aspects, the determining step and the sending step are performed in response to a trigger.

[0337] In some aspects, the trigger is generated internally by the UE.

[0338] In some aspects, the trigger includes a detection that a confidence level has been met or no longer meets a confidence level threshold.

[0339] In some aspects, the trigger is a periodic trigger or an aperiodic trigger.

[0340] In some aspects, the trigger is an external trigger received by the UE.

[0341] In some aspects, the trigger is a request from a core network entity.

[0342] In some aspects, the method includes receiving an indication from the TE of the BW to be used for PRS.

[0343] In some aspects, receiving an indication of the BW to be used for PRS includes receiving an instruction to reduce or increase the current BW used for PRS.

[0344] In some aspects, receiving an instruction to reduce or increase the current BW used for PRS includes an instruction to select a bandwidth from a predefined set of bandwidths.

[0345] In some aspects, one of the bandwidths from the predefined set of bandwidths includes the entire bandwidth supported by the UE.

[0346] In some aspects, the predefined set of bandwidths defines three different bandwidths.

[0347] In some aspects, the predefined set of bandwidths defines more than three different bandwidths.

[0348] In some aspects, receiving an instruction to reduce or increase the current BW used for PRS includes receiving an instruction to increase or decrease the current PRS BW used by the UE by a number or percentage value.

[0349] In some aspects, the method includes using the BW for PRS.

[0350] In some aspects, the UE includes a UE.

[0351] In some aspects, the TE includes a base station or a core network entity.

[0352] In one aspect, a TE includes: means for receiving environmental information about the environment in which the UE is operating; means for determining, based on the environmental information, the BW to be used for PRS; and means for using the BW for PRS, instructing the UE to use the BW for PRS, or both.

[0353] In one aspect, a UE includes: means for determining environmental information about the environment in which the UE is operating; and means for sending the environmental information to a TE.

[0354] In one aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by at least one processor in a TE, cause the at least one processor to: receive environmental information about the environment in which a UE is operating; determine a BW to be used for a PRS based on the environmental information; and use the BW for the PRS, instruct the UE to use the BW for the PRS, or both.

[0355] In one aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by at least one processor in a UE, cause the at least one processor to: determine environmental information about the environment in which the UE is operating; and send the environmental information to a TE.

[0356] Although the foregoing disclosure shows illustrative aspects of the present disclosure, it should be noted that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the scope of the present disclosure as defined by the appended claims. The functions, steps, or acts in the method claims according to aspects of the present disclosure described herein need not be performed in any particular order. Moreover, although the elements of the present disclosure may be described or claimed in the singular, the plural is also contemplated unless expressly stated to be limited to the singular.

Claims

1. A method for wireless communication performed by a transmitting entity TE, the method comprising: receiving environmental information about an environment in which a user equipment UE is operating while receiving a positioning reference signal PRS using a first bandwidth BW, the environmental information indicating that: the UE has received a non-line-of-sight NLOS signal; not all PRSs received by the UE are line-of-sight LOS signals; the UE has received multipath transmission; there is another UE within a threshold distance of the UE; or the number of possible reflecting objects within the threshold distance of the UE is not less than a threshold number; determining, based on the received environmental information, a second BW to be used by the UE for receiving the PRS, wherein determining the second BW includes determining that the second BW to be used by the UE for receiving the PRS should be wider than the first BW; and transmitting the PRS using the second BW to be used by the UE for receiving the PRS.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein, the environmental information is received from the UE, from another UE, from a base station, from a core network entity or from an intelligent traffic system ITS.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein, the environmental information is received in response to a request for the environmental information.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein, receiving the environmental information includes receiving information indicating: the number of multipath transmissions received by the UE; the UE has received at least one NLOS signal; the UE has not received an NLOS signal; there is another UE near the UE; there is no other UE near the UE; the number of possible reflecting objects near the UE is greater than or less than a threshold number; the PRS received by the UE is not an NLOS signal; at least one PRS received by the UE is an NLOS signal; the PRS source is a LOS source or an NLOS source; there are multiple PRS sources or there is a single PRS source; multiple reflectors are detected or not detected near the UE; other UEs are or are not near the UE; or various combinations thereof.

5. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: instructing the UE to receive the PRS using the second BW.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein, determining the second BW to be used by the UE for receiving the PRS includes determining a modification to be made to the first BW, and wherein instructing the UE to receive the PRS using the second BW includes instructing the UE to make the modification to the first BW.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein, determining the second BW to be used by the UE for receiving the PRS includes: selecting the second BW to be used by the UE for receiving the PRS from a predefined set of BWs; calculating the second BW to be used by the UE for receiving the PRS by increasing or decreasing the first BW by a number; or calculating the second BW to be used by the UE for receiving the PRS by increasing or decreasing the first BW by a percentage value.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein, Determining the second BW to be used by the UE for receiving PRS includes: receiving an indication from the UE of the second BW to be used by the UE for receiving PRS, and determining the second BW to be used by the UE for receiving PRS based on the indication.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein, the TE includes a base station or a second UE.

10. A method for a user equipment UE to perform wireless communication, the method comprises: determining environmental information about an environment in which the UE is operating while receiving a positioning reference signal PRS using a first bandwidth BW, wherein determining the environmental information includes determining: the UE has received a non-line-of-sight NLOS signal; not all PRS received by the UE are line-of-sight LOS signals; the UE has received multipath transmission; there is another UE within a threshold distance of the UE; or the number of possible reflecting objects within the threshold distance of the UE is not less than a threshold number; determining a second BW to be used by the UE for receiving PRS based on the environmental information, wherein determining the second BW includes determining that the second BW to be used by the UE for receiving PRS should be wider than the first BW; and receiving PRS using the second BW.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein, determining the second BW to be used by the UE for receiving PRS includes: sending the environmental information to a transmitting entity TE; and receiving an indication from the TE of the second BW to be used by the UE for receiving PRS.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein, receiving the indication of the second BW to be used by the UE for receiving PRS includes receiving an instruction for: selecting the second BW from a predefined set of BWs; calculating the second BW by increasing or decreasing the first BW by a number; or calculating the second BW by increasing or decreasing the first BW by a percentage value.

13. The method according to claim 11, wherein, the TE includes a base station or a core network entity.

14. The method according to claim 10, wherein, receiving the environmental information includes receiving information indicating: the number of multipath transmissions received by the UE; the UE has received at least one NLOS signal; the UE has not received an NLOS signal; there is another UE near the UE; there is no other UE near the UE; or various combinations thereof.

15. The method according to claim 10 includes determining the environmental information in response to receiving a trigger.

16. The method according to claim 15, wherein, the trigger is generated internally by the UE.

17. The method according to claim 16, wherein, the trigger includes detection that a confidence level has been met or no longer meets a confidence level threshold.

18. The method according to claim 16, wherein, the trigger is a periodic trigger or an aperiodic trigger.

19. The method according to claim 15, wherein, the trigger is an external trigger received by the UE.

20. A transmitting entity TE, comprising: a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: receive environmental information about an environment in which a user equipment UE that is receiving a positioning reference signal PRS using a first bandwidth BW is operating, the environmental information indicating: the UE has received a non-line-of-sight NLOS signal; not all PRSs received by the UE are line-of-sight LOS signals; the UE has received multipath transmission; there is another UE within a threshold distance of the UE; or the number of possible reflecting objects within the threshold distance of the UE is not less than a threshold number; determine a second BW to be used by the UE for receiving the PRS based on the received environmental information, wherein, in order to determine the second BW, the at least one processor is configured to determine that the second BW to be used by the UE for receiving the PRS should be wider than the first BW; and transmit the PRS via the at least one transceiver using the second BW to be used by the UE for receiving the PRS.

21. The TE according to claim 20, wherein, the environmental information is received in response to a request for the environmental information.

22. The TE according to claim 20, wherein, in order to receive the environmental information, the at least one processor is configured to receive information indicating: the number of multipath transmissions received by the UE; the UE has received at least one non-line-of-sight NLOS signal; the UE has not received an NLOS signal; there is another UE in the vicinity of the UE; there is no other UE in the vicinity of the UE; the number of possible reflecting objects in the vicinity of the UE is greater than or less than a threshold number; the PRS received by the UE is not an NLOS signal; at least one PRS received by the UE is an NLOS signal; the PRS source is a line-of-sight LOS source or an NLOS source; there are multiple PRS sources or there is a single PRS source; multiple reflectors are detected or not detected in the vicinity of the UE; other UEs are or are not in the vicinity of the UE; or various combinations thereof.

23. The TE according to claim 20, wherein, in order to determine the second BW to be used by the UE for receiving the PRS, the at least one processor is configured to receive an indication of the second BW to be used by the UE for receiving the PRS from the UE, and determine the second BW to be used by the UE for receiving the PRS based on the indication.

24. The TE according to claim 20, wherein, the TE includes a base station or a second UE.

25. A user equipment UE, comprising: a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: Determine environmental information about the environment in which the UE is operating while receiving positioning reference signals (PRS) using a first bandwidth (BW), wherein, to determine the environmental information, the at least one processor is configured to determine: The UE has received a non-line-of-sight (NLOS) signal; Not all of the PRS received by the UE are line-of-sight (LOS) signals; The UE has received multipath transmissions; There is another UE within a threshold distance of the UE; Or The number of possible reflecting objects within the threshold distance of the UE is not less than a threshold number; Determine a second BW to be used by the UE to receive PRS based on the environmental information, wherein, to determine the second BW, the at least one processor is configured to determine that the second BW to be used by the UE to receive PRS should be wider than the first BW; And Receive PRS using the second BW.

26. The UE according to claim 25, Wherein, To determine the second BW to be used by the UE to receive PRS, the at least one processor is configured to: Send the environmental information to a transmitting entity (TE) via the at least one transceiver; And Receive an indication of the second BW to be used by the UE to receive PRS from the TE via the at least one transceiver.

27. The UE according to claim 26, Wherein, The TE includes a base station or a core network entity.

28. The UE according to claim 25, Wherein, To receive the environmental information, the at least one processor is configured to receive information indicating: The number of multipath transmissions received by the UE; The UE has received at least one non-line-of-sight (NLOS) signal; The UE has not received an NLOS signal; There is another UE in the vicinity of the UE; There is no other UE in the vicinity of the UE; or Various combinations thereof.

29. The UE according to claim 25, Wherein, The at least one processor is configured to determine the environmental information in response to receiving a trigger.

30. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a transmitting entity (TE), cause the TE to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 9.

31. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a user equipment (UE), cause the UE to perform the method according to any one of claims 10 to 19.

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