Selective symbol measurement for positioning

Abstract

The method for measuring a wireless OFDM PRS at a user equipment comprises: selecting a symbol subset in a symbol group of an OFDM PRS, the OFDM PRS comprising symbols of a time slot, the symbols comprising a symbol group, the symbol group consisting of consecutive symbols of a first symbol quantity in the symbols, the symbol group being completely interleaved in a frequency domain, the symbol subset consisting of symbols of a second symbol quantity in the symbol group, the second symbol quantity being less than the first symbol quantity, and the symbol subset being not completely interleaved in the frequency domain; and measuring the symbol subset without measuring all symbols of the symbol group.

Description

Background Art

[0001] Wireless communication systems have evolved over generations, including first generation analog wireless telephone service (1G), second generation (2G) digital wireless telephone service (including interim 2.5G and 2.75G networks), third generation (3G) high speed data, Internet-enabled wireless services, fourth generation (4G) services (e.g., Long Term Evolution (LTE) or WiMax), fifth generation (5G) services, and the like. There are many different types of wireless communication systems in use today, including cellular and personal communications 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), orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), global system for mobile access (GSM) variants of TDMA, and the like.

[0002] The fifth generation (5G) mobile standard calls for higher data transfer speeds, a greater number of connections, and better coverage, among 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 for each of tens of thousands of users and 1 gigabit per second for dozens of workers on an office floor. To support large sensor deployments, hundreds of thousands of simultaneous connections should be supported. As a result, the spectral efficiency of 5G mobile communications should be significantly improved compared to the current 4G standard. In addition, signaling efficiency should be improved and latency should be significantly reduced compared to the current standard. Summary of the invention

[0003] An example user device includes: a receiver configured to receive a wireless orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) positioning reference signal (PRS), a memory, and a processor communicatively coupled to the receiver and the memory, the processor configured to: select a subset of symbols in a symbol group of the OFDM PRS, the OFDM PRS including symbols of a time slot, the symbols including a symbol group, the symbol group consisting of consecutive symbols of a first symbol quantity in the symbols, the symbol group being completely interleaved in the frequency domain, the symbol subset consisting of symbols of a second symbol quantity in the symbol group, the second symbol quantity being less than the first symbol quantity, and the symbol subset being not completely interleaved in the frequency domain; and measure the symbol subset without measuring all of the symbols of the symbol group.

[0004] An example method for measuring a wireless OFDM PRS at a user equipment comprises: selecting a subset of symbols in a symbol group of the OFDM PRS, the OFDM PRS comprising symbols of a time slot, the symbols comprising a symbol group, the symbol group consisting of consecutive symbols of a first symbol quantity in the symbols, the symbol group being completely interleaved in a frequency domain, the symbol subset consisting of symbols of a second symbol quantity in the symbol group, the second symbol quantity being less than the first symbol quantity, and the symbol subset being not completely interleaved in the frequency domain; and measuring the symbol subset without measuring all of the symbols of the symbol group.

[0005] Another example user equipment includes: a component for receiving a wireless OFDM PRS; a component for selecting a symbol subset in a symbol group of the OFDM PRS, the OFDM PRS including symbols of a time slot, the symbols including a symbol group, the symbol group consisting of consecutive symbols of a first symbol amount in the symbols, the symbol group being completely interleaved in the frequency domain, the symbol subset consisting of symbols of a second symbol amount in the symbol group, the second symbol amount being less than the first symbol amount, and the symbol subset being not completely interleaved in the frequency domain; and a component for measuring the symbol subset without measuring all symbols of the symbol group.

[0006] A non-transitory processor-readable storage medium, comprising processor-readable instructions, wherein the processor-readable instructions are configured to cause a processor of a user equipment to perform the following operations in order to measure a wireless OFDM PRS: selecting a symbol subset in a symbol group of the OFDM PRS, the OFDM PRS comprising symbols of a time slot, the symbols comprising a symbol group, the symbol group consisting of consecutive symbols of a first symbol quantity in the symbols, the symbol group being completely interleaved in a frequency domain, the symbol subset consisting of symbols of a second symbol quantity in the symbol group, the second symbol quantity being less than the first symbol quantity, and the symbol subset being not completely interleaved in the frequency domain; and measuring the symbol subset without measuring all of the symbols of the symbol group. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0007] Figure 1 is a simplified diagram of an example wireless communication system.

[0008] Figure 2 yes Figure 1 A block diagram of components of an example user device is shown in FIG.

[0009] Figure 3 is a block diagram of the components of an example send / receive point.

[0010] Figure 4 is a block diagram of components of an example server, various embodiments of which are described in Figure 1 Shown in.

[0011] Figure 5 is a simplified block diagram of an example user equipment.

[0012] Fig. 6A It is comb-2, 2-symbol OFDM resource transmission scheduling.

[0013] Figure 6B It is comb-2, 12-symbol OFDM resource transmission scheduling.

[0014] Figure 6C It is comb-4, 12-symbol OFDM resource transmission scheduling.

[0015] Fig. 7A It is a curve chart of the normalized SNR of comb-1, 1-symbol transmission scheduling.

[0016] Figure 7B It is a curve chart of the normalized SNR of comb-2, 1-symbol transmission scheduling.

[0017] Figure 7C It is a curve chart of the normalized SNR of comb-3, 1-symbol transmission scheduling.

[0018] Fig.7D It is a curve chart of the normalized SNR of comb-4, 1-symbol transmission scheduling.

[0019] Figure 8 It is comb-12, 12-symbol OFDM resource transmission scheduling.

[0020] Fig. 9 is used for Figure 8 A diagram of the options for sending scheduled symbol measurements is shown in FIG.

[0021] Fig.10 It is another comb-12, 12-symbol OFDM resource transmission schedule.

[0022] Fig.11 is used for Fig.10 A diagram of the options for sending scheduled symbol measurements is shown in FIG.

[0023] Fig.12 It is comb-6, 6-symbol OFDM resource transmission scheduling.

[0024] Fig.13 is used for Fig.12 A diagram of the options for sending scheduled symbol measurements is shown in FIG.

[0025] Fig.14 It is comb-4, 4-symbol OFDM resource transmission scheduling.

[0026] Fig.15 is used for Fig.14 A diagram of the options for sending scheduled symbol measurements is shown in FIG.

[0027] Fig.16 is a simplified diagram of a user equipment determining and performing selective symbol measurements.

[0028] Fig.17 is a simplified example process and signal flow for determining positioning information.

[0029] Fig.18 is a block flow diagram of a method for measuring wireless OFDM PRS at a user equipment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0030] This article discusses techniques for selectively measuring resource elements of positioning reference signals. For example, a user equipment (UE) may determine to measure less than all available resource elements of a positioning reference signal, for example, to save processing operations / processing resources and / or processing power. The UE may determine to measure less than all available resource elements before or after measuring the resource elements of the reference signal. For example, the UE may measure a fully staggered resource element group of the reference signal and determine the timing of the peak of the reference signal. The UE may determine to reduce the processing amount and / or power consumption of other resource elements used to process the reference signal based on one or more factors. For example, the UE may determine the confidence for identifying the correct peak from a false peak of the reference signal, which is caused by one or more options of an incomplete staggered set of measured resource elements. The UE may consider the battery level of the UE, the scheduled resource elements, the expected power reduction, the expected reduction in processing operations, the period between the reference signal opportunities to be measured, the number of peaks in the options for incomplete staggered measurements, the movement of the UE, Doppler measurements, whether the UE is moving close to the base station, whether the UE is moving away from the base station, etc. The UE may use a combination of multiple factors to determine whether to reduce measurements, how much to reduce, and what measurement options to use. The UE may use machine learning (e.g., a neural network) to make such a determination. However, other examples may be implemented.

[0031] The items and / or techniques described herein may provide one or more of the following capabilities, as well as other capabilities not mentioned. User equipment power usage for positioning (e.g., for tracking) may be reduced. Processing operations for positioning at user equipment may be reduced. Network efficiency for positioning may be improved. Measurement gaps for measuring positioning reference signals may be reduced. Other capabilities may be provided, and not every embodiment according to the present disclosure necessarily provides any of the capabilities discussed, let alone necessarily provides all of the capabilities discussed.

[0032] Obtaining the location of a mobile device that is accessing a wireless network may be useful for many applications, including, for example, emergency calling, personal navigation, consumer asset tracking, locating a friend or family member, etc. Existing positioning methods include methods based on measuring radio signals transmitted from various devices or entities, including satellite vehicles (SVs) and terrestrial radio sources in wireless networks, such as base stations and access points. It is expected that the standardization of 5G wireless networks will include support for various positioning methods that can utilize reference signals transmitted by base stations in a manner similar to how LTE wireless networks currently utilize positioning reference signals (PRS) and / or cell-specific reference signals (CRS) for positioning determination.

[0033] The description may relate to a series of actions performed, for example, by elements of a computing device. The various actions described herein may be performed by specific circuits (e.g., application specific integrated circuits (ASICs)), by program instructions executed by one or more processors, or by a combination of the two. The series of actions described herein may be embodied in a non-transitory computer-readable medium having a corresponding set of computer instructions stored thereon, which when run will cause an associated processor to perform the functions described herein. Thus, the various aspects described herein may be embodied in a variety of different forms, all of which are within the scope of the present disclosure, including the claimed subject matter.

[0034] As used herein, unless otherwise specified, the terms "user equipment" (UE) and "base station" are not specific to or otherwise limited to any specific radio access technology (RAT). In general, such a UE may be any wireless communication device (e.g., a mobile phone, a router, a tablet, a laptop, a consumer asset tracking device, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, etc.) that a user uses to communicate over a wireless communication network. The UE may be mobile or may be stationary (e.g., at certain times) and may communicate with a radio access network (RAN). As used herein, the term "UE" may be interchangeably referred to as an "access terminal" or "AT," "client device," "wireless device," "subscriber device," "subscriber terminal," "subscriber station," "user terminal" or UT, "mobile terminal," "mobile station," "mobile device," or variants thereof. In general, a UE may communicate with a core network via a RAN, and through the core network, the UE may be connected to external networks such as the Internet and other UEs. Of course, other mechanisms for connecting to a core network and / or the Internet are also possible for a UE, such as through a wired access network, a WiFi network (e.g., based on IEEE 802.11, etc.), and the like.

[0035] A base station may operate according to one of several RATs for communicating with a UE, depending on the network in which it is deployed. Examples of base stations include access points (APs), network nodes, NodeBs, evolved NodeBs (eNBs), or generalized NodeBs (gNodeBs, gNBs). Additionally, in some systems, a base station may provide pure edge node signaling functionality, while in other systems, a base station may provide additional control and / or network management functionality.

[0036] The UE may be embodied by any of many types of devices, including but not limited to a printed circuit (PC) card, a compact flash device, an external or internal modem, a wireless or wired phone, a smart phone, a tablet computer, a consumer asset tracking device, an asset tag, and the like. The communication link through which the UE may send a signal to the RAN is referred to as an uplink channel (e.g., a reverse traffic channel, a reverse control channel, an access channel, etc.). The communication link through which the RAN may send a signal to the UE is referred to as a downlink or forward link channel (e.g., a paging channel, a control channel, a broadcast channel, a forward traffic channel, etc.). As used herein, the term traffic channel (TCH) may refer to an uplink / reverse or downlink / forward traffic channel.

[0037] As used herein, the term "cell" or "sector" may correspond to one of multiple cells of a base station, or to the base station itself, depending on the context. The term "cell" may refer to a logical communication entity used to communicate with a base station (e.g., via a carrier), and may be associated with an identifier (e.g., a physical cell identifier (PCID), a virtual cell identifier (VCID)) used to distinguish adjacent cells operating via the same or different carriers. In some examples, a carrier may support multiple cells, and different cells may be configured according to different protocol types that may provide access to different types of devices (e.g., machine type communication (MTC), narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), or other). In some examples, the term "cell" may refer to a portion of a geographic coverage area (e.g., a sector) on which the logical entity operates.

[0038] refer to Figure 1 , an example of a communication system 100 includes UE 105, UE 106, a radio access network (RAN), here a fifth generation (5G) next generation (NG) RAN (NG-RAN) 135, a 5G core network (5GC) 140, and a server 150. UE 105 and / or UE 106 may be, for example, an IoT device, a location tracker device, a cellular phone, a vehicle (e.g., a car, a truck, a bus, a ship, etc.), or other devices. A 5G network may also be referred to as a new radio (NR) network; NG-RAN 135 may be referred to as a 5G RAN or an NR RAN; and 5GC 140 may be referred to as an NG core network (NGC). Standardization of NG-RAN and 5GC is being conducted in the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). Accordingly, NG-RAN 135 and 5GC 140 may comply with current or future standards for 5G support from 3GPP. NG-RAN 135 may be another type of RAN, such as a 3G RAN, a 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) RAN, etc. UE 106 may be similarly configured and coupled to UE 105 to send and / or receive signals to and / or from similar other entities in system 100, but for simplicity of the diagram, such signaling is not shown in FIG. Figure 1105. Similarly, for simplicity, the discussion focuses on UE 105. The communication system 100 can use information from the constellation 185 of satellite vehicles (SVs) 190, 191, 192, 193 for a satellite positioning system (SPS) (e.g., a global navigation satellite system (GNSS)) such as the Global Positioning System (GPS), Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS), Galileo or BeiDou or some other local or regional SPS, such as the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS), the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS), or the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS). Additional components of the communication system 100 are described below. The communication system 100 may include additional or alternative components.

[0039] like Figure 1 As shown in FIG. 1 , the NG-RAN 135 includes NR nodeBs (gNBs) 110a, 110b and a next generation eNodeB (ng-eNB) 114, and the 5GC 140 includes an access and mobility management function (AMF) 115, a session management function (SMF) 117, a location management function (LMF) 120, and a gateway mobile location center (GMLC) 125. The gNBs 110a, 110b, and the ng-eNB 114 are communicatively coupled to each other, each configured to communicate bidirectionally with the UE 105 wirelessly, and each communicatively coupled to the AMF 115 and configured to communicate bidirectionally with the AMF 115. The gNBs 110a, 110b, and the ng-eNB 114 may be referred to as base stations (BSs). The AMF 115, the SMF 117, the LMF 120, and the GMLC 125 are communicatively coupled to each other, and the GMLC is communicatively coupled to the external client 130. The SMF 117 may serve as an initial contact point for a service control function (SCF) (not shown) to create, control, and delete media sessions. The base stations such as the gNBs 110a, 110b and / or the ng-eNB 114 may be macro cells (e.g., high-power cellular base stations), or small cells (e.g., low-power cellular base stations), or access points (e.g., configured to communicate with a wireless network such as WiFi, WiFi-Direct (WiFi-D), -Short-range base station for short-range technology communication such as Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), Zigbee, etc.). One or more BSs (e.g., one or more of GNBs 110a, 110b and / or ng-eNB 114) may be configured to communicate with UE 105 via multiple carriers. Each of GNBs 110a, 110b and ng-eNB 114 may provide communication coverage for a corresponding geographic area (e.g., a cell). As a function of a base station antenna, each cell may be divided into multiple sectors.

[0040] Figure 1 A generalized illustration of various components is provided, any or all of which may be utilized as appropriate, and each component may be duplicated or omitted as desired. In particular, although one UE 105 is illustrated, many UEs (e.g., hundreds, thousands, millions, etc.) may be utilized in the communication system 100. Similarly, the communication system 100 may include a greater (or smaller) number of SVs (i.e., more or less than the four SVs 190-193 shown), gNBs 110a, 110b, NG-eNBs 114, AMFs 115, external clients 130, and / or other components. The illustrated connections of the various components in the communication system 100 include data and signaling connections, which may include additional (intermediate) components, direct or indirect physical and / or wireless connections, and / or additional networks. In addition, components may be rearranged, combined, separated, replaced, and / or omitted, depending on the desired functionality.

[0041] although Figure 1 A 5G-based network is illustrated, and similar network implementations and configurations may be used for other communication technologies, such as 3G, Long Term Evolution (LTE), etc. The implementations described herein (whether for 5G technology and / or for one or more other communication technologies and / or protocols) may be used to send (or broadcast) directional synchronization signals, receive and measure directional signals at a UE (e.g., UE 105), and / or provide positioning assistance to UE 105 (via GMLC 125 or other positioning servers), and / or calculate the position of UE 105 at a positioning device such as UE 105, gNB 110a, 110b, or LMF 120 based on measurements received at UE 105 for such directional transmission signals. The gateway mobile location center (GMLC) 125, the location management function (LMF) 120, the access and mobility management function (AMF) 115, the SMF 117, the ng-eNB (eNodeB) 114 and the GNB (gNodeB) 110a, 110b are examples and, in various embodiments, may be replaced by or include various other location server functions and / or base station functions, respectively.

[0042] The system 100 is capable of wireless communication because the components of the system 100 can communicate with each other (at least sometimes using wireless connections), directly or indirectly, for example, via gNBs 110a, 110b, ng-eNBs 114, and / or 5GCs 140 (and / or one or more other devices not shown, such as one or more other base transceiver stations). For indirect communication, the communication can be changed during transmission from one entity to another, for example, changing header information of a data packet, changing the format, etc. The UE 105 can include multiple UEs and can be a mobile wireless communication device, but can communicate wirelessly and via a wired connection. The UE 105 can be any of a variety of devices, such as a smartphone, a tablet computer, a vehicle-based device, etc., but these are examples because the UE 105 is not required to be any of these configurations, and other configurations of the UE can be used. Other UEs can include wearable devices (e.g., smart watches, smart jewelry, smart glasses, or headphones, etc.). Other UEs, whether currently existing or developed in the future, can also be used. In addition, other wireless devices (whether mobile or not) may be implemented within the system 100 and may communicate with each other and / or with the UE 105, the gNBs 110a, 110b, the ng-eNB 114, the 5GC 140, and / or the external clients 130. For example, such other devices may include Internet of Things (IoT) devices, medical devices, home entertainment and / or automation devices, etc. The 5GC 140 may communicate with the external client 130 (e.g., a computer system), for example, to allow the external client 130 to request and / or receive location information about the UE 105 (e.g., via the GMLC 125).

[0043] The UE 105 or other device may be configured to communicate in various networks and / or for various purposes and / or using various technologies (e.g., 5G, Wi-Fi communications, multiple frequencies of Wi-Fi communications, satellite positioning, one or more types of communications (e.g., GSM (Global System for Mobile), CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), LTE (Long Term Evolution), V2X (Vehicle to Everything, such as V2P (Vehicle to Pedestrian), V2I (Vehicle to Infrastructure), V2V (Vehicle to Vehicle), etc.), IEEE 802.11p, etc.). V2X communications can be cellular (cellular-V2X (C-V2X)) and / or WiFi (e.g., DSRC (dedicated short range connection)). The system 100 can support operation on multiple carriers (waveform signals of different frequencies). A multi-carrier transmitter can send modulated signals on multiple carriers simultaneously. Each modulated signal can be a code division multiple access (CDMA) signal, a time division multiple access (TDMA) signal, an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) signal, a single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) signal, etc. Each modulated signal can be sent on a different carrier and can carry a pilot, overhead information, data, etc. UE 105, 106 can communicate with each other through UE-UE sidelink (SL) communication by sending on one or more sidelink channels such as a physical sidelink synchronization channel (PSSCH), a physical sidelink broadcast channel (PSBCH), or a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH).

[0044] UE 105 may include and / or may be referred to as a device, a mobile device, a wireless device, a mobile terminal, a terminal, a mobile station (MS), a terminal (SET) enabled with secure user plane location (SUPL), or referred to by some other name. In addition, UE 105 may correspond to a mobile phone, a smart phone, a laptop, a tablet, a PDA, a consumer asset tracking device, a navigation device, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, a health monitor, a security system, a smart city sensor, a smart meter, a wearable tracker, or some other portable or movable device. Typically, although not necessarily, UE 105 may support the use of a mobile communication system such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Wideband CDMA (WCDMA), LTE, High Speed ​​Packet Data (HRPD), IEEE 802.11 WiFi (also known as Wi-Fi), (BT), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), 5G New Radio (NR) (e.g., using NG-RAN 135 and 5GC 140), etc. UE 105 can support wireless communication using a wireless local area network (WLAN), which can be connected to other networks (e.g., the Internet) using, for example, a digital subscriber line (DSL) or a packet cable. Using one or more of these RATs can allow UE 105 to communicate with external clients 130 (e.g., via Figure 1 Elements of the 5GC 140 not shown in the figure, or possibly via the GMLC 125) and / or allowing the external client 130 to receive location information about the UE 105 (e.g., via the GMLC 125).

[0045] UE 105 may include a single entity or may include multiple entities, such as in a personal area network, in which a user may use audio, video and / or data I / O (input / output) devices and / or body sensors and separate wired or wireless modems. The estimate of the location of UE 105 may be referred to as location, location estimate, location fix, fix, position, position estimate or position fix, and may be geographic, thus providing location coordinates (e.g., latitude and longitude) of UE 105, which may or may not include an altitude component (e.g., height above sea level, height above or depth below ground level, floor level or basement level). Alternatively, the location of UE 105 may be expressed as an urban location (e.g., as a postal address or designation of a point or small area in a building, such as a specific room or floor). The location of UE 105 may be expressed as an area or volume (defined either geographically or in urban form) in which UE 105 is expected to be located with a certain probability or confidence (e.g., 67%, 95%, etc.). The location of the UE 105 can be expressed as a relative location, which includes, for example, a distance and direction to a known location. The relative location can be expressed as relative coordinates (e.g., X, Y (and Z) coordinates) defined relative to some origin at a known location, which can be defined, for example, geographically, in an urban project, or by reference to a point, area, or volume indicated, for example, on a map, floor plan, or building plan. In the description contained herein, the use of the term location can include any of these variants unless otherwise stated. When calculating the location of the UE, local x, y, and possibly z coordinates are usually solved, and then, if necessary, the local coordinates are converted into absolute coordinates (e.g., for latitude, longitude, and altitude above or below mean sea level).

[0046] UE 105 may be configured to communicate with other entities using one or more of a variety of technologies. UE 105 may be configured to be indirectly connected to one or more communication networks via one or more device-to-device (D2D) peer-to-peer (P2P) links. D2D P2P links may be supported using any suitable D2D radio access technology (RAT), such as LTE Direct (LTE-D), WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), And so on. One or more of the UE groups utilizing D2D communication may be within a geographic coverage area of ​​a transmit / receive point (TRP) such as one or more of the gNBs 110a, 110b and / or ng-eNBs 114. Other UEs in such a group may be outside such geographic coverage area or may not be able to receive transmissions from the base station. The UE group communicating via D2D communication may utilize a one-to-many (1:M) system, in which each UE may transmit to other UEs in the group. The TRP may facilitate resource scheduling for D2D communication. In other cases, D2D communication may be conducted between UEs without involving a TRP. One or more of the UE groups utilizing D2D communication may be within a geographic coverage area of ​​a TRP. Other UEs in such a group may be outside such geographic coverage area or may not be able to receive transmissions from the base station. The UE group communicating via D2D communication may utilize a one-to-many (1:M) system, in which each UE may transmit to other UEs in the group. The TRP may facilitate resource scheduling for D2D communication. In other cases, D2D communication may be conducted between UEs without involving a TRP.

[0047] Figure 1 The base stations in the NG-RAN 135 shown in FIG. 1 include NR Node Bs, referred to as gNBs 110a and 110b. The gNB pairs gNBs 110a and 110b in the NG-RAN 135 may be connected to each other via one or more other gNBs. Access to the 5G network is provided to the UE 105 via wireless communications between the UE 105 and one or more of the gNBs 110a and 110b. The gNBs 110a and 110b may provide wireless communications access to the 5GC 140 on behalf of the UE 105 using 5G. Figure 1 In the example, it is assumed that the serving gNB for UE 105 is gNB 110a, but another gNB (e.g., gNB 110b) may also serve as a serving gNB (if UE 105 moves to another location) or may serve as a secondary gNB to provide additional throughput and bandwidth to UE 105.

[0048] Figure 1The base stations (BSs) in the NG-RAN 135 shown in FIG. 1 may include an ng-eNB 114, also referred to as a next generation evolved Node B. The ng-eNB 114 may be connected to one or more of the gNBs 110a, 110b in the NG-RAN 135, possibly via one or more other gNBs and / or one or more other ng-eNBs. The ng-eNB 114 may provide LTE wireless access and / or evolved LTE (eLTE) wireless access to the UE 105. One or more of the gNBs 110a, 110b and / or ng-eNB 114 may be configured to function as a positioning-only beacon, which may transmit signals to assist in determining the positioning of the UE 105, but may not receive signals from the UE 105 or other UEs.

[0049] The gNBs 110a, 110b, and / or ng-eNB 114 may each include one or more TRPs. For example, each sector within a cell of a BS may include a TRP, although multiple TRPs may share one or more components (e.g., a shared processor but with separate antennas). The system 100 may exclusively include a macro TRP, or the system 100 may have different types of TRPs, such as macro, pico, and / or femto TRPs, etc. A macro TRP may cover a relatively large geographic area (e.g., a radius of several kilometers) and may allow unrestricted access to terminals with service subscriptions. A pico TRP may cover a relatively small geographic area (e.g., a pico cell) and may allow unrestricted access to terminals with service subscriptions. A femto or home TRP may cover a relatively small geographic area (e.g., a femto cell) and may allow restricted access to terminals associated with a femto cell (e.g., terminals of users in a home).

[0050] Each of the gNBs 110a, 110b, and / or ng-eNB 114 may include a radio unit (RU), a distributed unit (DU), and a central unit (CU). For example, the gNB 110a includes a RU 111, a DU 112, and a CU 113. The RU 111, the DU 112, and the CU 113 divide the functions of the gNB 110a. Although the gNB 110a is shown as having a single RU, a single DU, and a single CU, the gNB may include one or more RUs, one or more DUs, and / or one or more CUs. The interface between the CU 113 and the DU 112 is referred to as the F1 interface. The RU 111 is configured to perform digital front end (DFE) functions (e.g., analog-to-digital conversion, filtering, power amplification, transmission / reception) and digital beamforming, and includes a portion of the physical (PHY) layer. The RU 111 may perform DFE using massive multiple-input / multiple-output (MIMO) and may be integrated with one or more antennas of the gNB 110a. DU 112 hosts the radio link control (RLC), media access control (MAC), and physical layers of gNB 110a. One DU can support one or more units, and each unit is supported by one DU. The operation of DU 112 is controlled by CU 113. CU 113 is configured to perform functions for transmitting user data, mobility control, radio access network sharing, positioning, session management, etc., although some functions are exclusively assigned to DU 112. CU 113 hosts the radio resource control (RRC), service data adaptation protocol (SDAP), and packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) protocols of gNB 110a. UE 105 can communicate with CU 113 via RRC, SDAP, and PDCP layers, communicate with DU 112 via RLC, MAC, and PHY layers, and communicate with RU 111 via the PHY layer.

[0051] As pointed out, although Figure 1 Nodes configured to communicate according to a 5G communication protocol are depicted, but nodes configured to communicate according to other communication protocols such as, for example, an LTE protocol or an IEEE 802.11x protocol may be used. For example, in an evolved packet system (EPS) that provides LTE wireless access to a UE 105, the RAN may include an evolved universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS) terrestrial radio access network (E-UTRAN), which may include a base station including an evolved NodeB (eNB). The core network for the EPS may include an evolved packet core (EPC). The EPS may include an E-UTRAN plus an EPC, where the E-UTRAN corresponds to the NG-RAN 135 and the EPC corresponds to the LTE RAN 135. Figure 1 5GC 140 in.

[0052] The gNBs 110a, 110b, and ng-eNB 114 may communicate with the AMF 115, which in turn communicates with the LMF 120 for positioning functions. The AMF 115 may support mobility of the UE 105, including cell changes and handovers, and may participate in supporting signaling connections to the UE 105, and may support data and voice bearers for the UE 105. The LMF 120 may communicate directly with the UE 105, or directly with the gNBs 110a, 110b, and / or ng-eNB 114, for example, via wireless communications. When the UE 105 accesses the NG-RAN 135, the LMF 120 may support positioning of the UE 105 and may support positioning procedures / methods such as Assisted GNSS (A-GNSS), Observed Time Difference of Arrival (OTDOA) (e.g., downlink (DL) OTDOA or uplink (UL) OTDOA), Round Trip Time (RTT), Multi-cell RTT, Real-Time Kinematics (RTK), Precise Point Positioning (PPP), Differential GNSS (DGNSS), Enhanced Cell ID (E-CID), Angle of Arrival (AoA), Angle of Departure (AoD), and / or other positioning methods. The LMF 120 may process a positioning service request of the UE 105 received, for example, from the AMF 115 or from the GMLC 125. The LMF 120 may be connected to the AMF 115 and / or the GMLC 125. The LMF 120 may be referred to by other names such as a Location Manager (LM), a Location Function (LF), a Commercial LMF (CLMF), or a Value Added LMF (VLMF). A node / system implementing LMF 120 may additionally or alternatively implement other types of location support modules, such as an enhanced serving mobile location center (E-SMLC) or a secure user plane location (SUPL) location platform (SLP). At least a portion of the positioning function (including the derivation of the location of UE 105) may be performed at UE 105 (e.g., using signal measurements obtained by UE 105 for signals transmitted by wireless nodes such as gNB 110a, 110b and / or ng-eNB 114, and / or assistance data provided to UE 105, for example, by LMF 120). AMF 115 may serve as a control node for processing signaling between UE 105 and 5GC 140, and may provide QoS (quality of service) flow and session management. AMF 115 may support mobility of UE 105, including cell changes and handovers, and may participate in supporting signaling connections to UE 105.

[0053] The server 150 (e.g., a cloud server) is configured to obtain a location estimate for the UE 105 and provide it to the external client 130. For example, the server 150 may be configured to run a microservice / service that obtains a location estimate for the UE 105. For example, the server 150 may pull the location estimate from (e.g., by sending a location request to) the UE 105, one or more of the gNBs 110a, 110b (e.g., via the RU 111, DU 112, and CU 113), and / or the ng-eNB 114, and / or the LMF 120. As another example, the UE 105, one or more of the gNBs 110a, 110b (e.g., via the RU 111, DU 112, and CU 113), and / or the LMF 120 may push the location estimate for the UE 105 to the server 150.

[0054] The GMLC 125 may support location requests for the UE 105 received from the external client 130 via the server 150, and may forward such location requests to the AMF 115 for forwarding by the AMF 115 to the LMF 120, or may forward the location requests directly to the LMF 120. A location response (e.g., containing a location estimate for the UE 105) from the LMF 120 may be returned to the GMLC 125 either directly or via the AMF 115, and the GMLC 125 may then return the location response (e.g., containing a location estimate) to the external client 130 via the server 150. The GMLC 125 is shown as being connected to both the AMF 115 and the LMF 120, although in some embodiments it may not be connected to either the AMF 115 or the LMF 120.

[0055] like Figure 1 As further illustrated in FIG. 1 , LMF 120 may communicate with gNB 110a, 110b, and / or ng-eNB 114 using a new radio positioning protocol A (which may be referred to as NPPa or NRPPa), which may be defined in 3GPP Technical Specification (TS) 38.455. NRPPa may be the same as, similar to, or an extension of LTE Positioning Protocol A (LPPa) defined in 3GPP TS 36.455, wherein NRPPa messages are transmitted between gNB 110a (or gNB 110b) and LMF 120 and / or between ng-eNB 114 and LMF 120 via AMF 115. Figure 1As further illustrated in , the LMF 120 and the UE 105 may communicate using the LTE Positioning Protocol (LPP), which may be defined in 3GPP TS 36.355. The LMF 120 and the UE 105 may also or alternatively communicate using a new radio positioning protocol (which may be referred to as NPP or NRPP), which may be the same as, similar to, or an extension of the LPP. Here, LPP and / or NPP messages may be transmitted between the UE 105 and the LMF 120 via the AMF 115 and a serving gNB 110a, 110b or a serving ng-eNB 114 for the UE 105. For example, the LPP and / or NPP messages may be transmitted between the LMF 120 and the AMF 115 using a 5G Location Services Application Protocol (LCS AP), and may be transmitted between the AMF 115 and the UE 105 using a 5G Non-Access Stratum (NAS) protocol. The LPP and / or NPP protocols may be used to support positioning of the UE 105 using UE-assisted and / or UE-based positioning methods such as A-GNSS, RTK, OTDOA, and / or E-CID. The NRPPa protocol may be used to support positioning of the UE 105 using a network-based positioning method such as E-CID (e.g., when used with measurements obtained by the gNB 110a, 110b, or ng-eNB 114), and / or may be used by the LMF 120 to obtain location-related information from the gNB 110a, 110b, and / or ng-eNB 114, such as parameters defining directional SS transmissions from the gNB 110a, 110b, and / or ng-eNB 114. The LMF 120 may be co-located or integrated with the gNB or TRP, or may be located remotely from the gNB and / or TRP and configured to communicate directly or indirectly with the gNB and / or TRP.

[0056] Using UE-assisted positioning methods, UE 105 can obtain location measurements and send the measurements to a location server (e.g., LMF 120) for computing a location estimate for UE 105. For example, the location measurements can include one or more of received signal strength indication (RSSI), round-trip signal propagation time (RTT), reference signal time difference (RSTD), reference signal received power (RSRP), and / or reference signal received quality (RSRQ) of gNB 110a, 110b, ng-eNB 114, and / or WLAN AP. The location measurements can also or alternatively include measurements of GNSS pseudoranges, code phases, and / or carrier phases of SVs 190-193.

[0057] Using the UE-based positioning method, the UE 105 can obtain position measurements (e.g., which can be the same or similar to the position measurements of the UE-assisted positioning method) and can calculate the position of the UE 105 (e.g., with the help of auxiliary data received from a location server such as LMF 120 or broadcast by gNB 110a, 110b, ng-eNB 114 or other base stations or APs).

[0058] Using network-based positioning methods, one or more base stations (e.g., gNB 110a, 110b and / or ng-eNB 114) or APs may obtain location measurements (e.g., measurements of RSSI, RTT, RSRP, RSRQ, or time of arrival (ToA) of signals sent by UE 105) and / or may receive measurements obtained by UE 105. One or more base stations or APs may send the measurements to a location server (e.g., LMF 120) for computing a location estimate for UE 105.

[0059] The information provided to LMF 120 by gNB 110a, 110b and / or ng-eNB 114 using NRPPa may include timing and configuration information for directional SS transmissions and location coordinates. LMF 120 may provide some or all of this information to UE 105 via NG-RAN 135 and 5GC 140 as assistance data in LPP and / or NPP messages.

[0060] The LPP or NPP message sent from LMF 120 to UE 105 may instruct UE 105 to do any of a variety of things, depending on the desired functionality. For example, the LPP or NPP message may contain instructions for UE 105 to obtain measurements for GNSS (or A-GNSS), WLAN, E-CID, and / or OTDOA (or some other positioning method). In the case of E-CID, the LPP or NPP message may instruct UE 105 to obtain one or more measurements (e.g., beam ID, beam width, average angle, RSRP, RSRQ measurements) of directional signals transmitted within a specific cell supported by one or more of gNBs 110a, 110b, and / or ng-eNBs 114 (or supported by some other type of base station such as an eNB or WiFi AP). UE 105 may send the measurement quantities back to LMF 120 in an LPP or NPP message (e.g., within a 5G NAS message) via serving gNB 110a (or serving ng-eNB 114) and AMF 115.

[0061] As described above, although the communication system 100 is described with respect to 5G technology, the communication system 100 may be implemented to support other communication technologies such as GSM, WCDMA, LTE, etc. for supporting and interacting with mobile devices such as UE 105 (e.g., implementing voice, data, positioning, and other functions). In some such embodiments, the 5GC 140 may be configured to control different air interfaces. For example, the 5GC 140 may use the non-3GPP interworking function (N3IWF, Figure 1 1140) is connected to the WLAN. For example, the WLAN may support IEEE 802.11 WiFi access for the UE 105 and may include one or more WiFi APs. Here, the N3IWF may be connected to the WLAN and other elements in the 5GC 140, such as the AMF 115. In some embodiments, both the NG-RAN 135 and the 5GC 140 may be replaced by one or more other RANs and one or more other core networks. For example, in the EPS, the NG-RAN 135 may be replaced by an E-UTRAN including an eNB, and the 5GC 140 may be replaced by an EPC including a mobility management entity (MME) replacing the AMF 115, an E-SMLC replacing the LMF 120, and a GMLC that may be similar to the GMLC 125. In such an EPS, the E-SMLC may use LPPa instead of NRPPa to send and receive location information to and from the eNB in ​​the E-UTRAN, and may use LPP to support positioning of the UE 105. In these other embodiments, positioning of UE 105 using directional PRS may be supported in a manner similar to that described herein for 5G networks, with the difference that the functions and procedures described herein for gNB 110a, 110b, ng-eNB 114, AMF 115, and LMF 120 may in some cases be applied alternatively to other network elements, such as eNBs, WiFi APs, MMEs, and E-SMLCs.

[0062] As described above, in some embodiments, the positioning functionality may be implemented at least in part using directional SS beams transmitted by a base station (such as gNB 110a, 110b and / or ng-eNB 114) at a UE (e.g., Figure 1 In some cases, the UE may use directional SS beams from multiple base stations (e.g., gNB 110a, 110b, ng-eNB 114, etc.) to calculate the UE's positioning.

[0063] Also refer to Figure 2UE 200 is an example of one of UEs 105, 106, and includes a computing platform including a processor 210, a memory 211 including software (SW) 212, one or more sensors 213, a transceiver interface 214 for a transceiver 215 (including a wireless transceiver 240 and a wired transceiver 250), a user interface 216, a satellite positioning system (SPS) receiver 217, a camera 218, and a positioning device (PD) 219. The processor 210, the memory 211, (one or more) sensors 213, the transceiver interface 214, the user interface 216, the SPS receiver 217, the camera 218, and the positioning device 219 may be communicatively coupled to each other via a bus 220 (which may be configured, for example, for optical communication and / or electrical communication). One or more of the illustrated devices (e.g., one or more of the camera 218, the positioning device 219, and / or the sensor 213, etc.) may be omitted from the UE 200. The processor 210 may include one or more intelligent hardware devices, such as a central processing unit (CPU), a microcontroller, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), etc. The processor 210 may include multiple processors, including a general / application processor 230, a digital signal processor (DSP) 231, a modem processor 232, a video processor 233, and / or a sensor processor 234. One or more of the processors 230-234 may include multiple devices (e.g., multiple processors). For example, the sensor processor 234 may include, for example, a processor for RF (radio frequency) sensing (sending one or more (cellular) wireless signals and using (one or more) reflections to identify, map, and / or track objects) and / or ultrasound, etc. The modem processor 232 may support dual SIM / dual connections (or even more SIMs). For example, a SIM (subscriber identity module or subscriber identification module) may be used by an original equipment manufacturer (OEM), and another SIM may be used by an end user of the UE 200 for connection. The memory 211 is a non-temporary storage medium that may include a random access memory (RAM), a flash memory, a disk memory, and / or a read-only memory (ROM), etc. The memory 211 stores software 212, which may be processor-readable, processor-executable software code containing instructions that are configured to, when executed, cause the processor 210 to perform various functions described herein. Alternatively, the software 212 may not be directly executed by the processor 210, but may be configured to, for example, cause the processor 210 to perform functions when compiled and executed. The description may refer to the processor 210 performing functions, but this includes other embodiments, such as embodiments in which the processor 210 runs software and / or firmware. The description may use the processor 210 performing a function as a shorthand for one or more of the processors 230-234 performing the function.The description may refer to UE 200 performing functions as shorthand for one or more appropriate components of UE 200 performing the functions. Processor 210 may include a memory with stored instructions in addition to and / or in lieu of memory 211. The functionality of processor 210 will be discussed more fully below.

[0064] Figure 2 The configuration of UE 200 shown in is an example of the present disclosure (including claims), but the present disclosure is not limited to this example, and other configurations may be used. For example, an example configuration of the UE includes one or more of the processors 230-234 of the processor 210, the memory 211, and the wireless transceiver 240. Other example configurations include one or more of the processors 230-234 of the processor 210, the memory 211, the wireless transceiver, and (one or more) sensors 213, user interface 216, SPS receiver 217, camera 218, PD 219, and / or wired transceivers.

[0065] UE 200 may include a modem processor 232 that may be capable of performing baseband processing on signals received and down-converted by transceiver 215 and / or SPS receiver 217. Modem processor 232 may perform baseband processing on signals to be up-converted for transmission by transceiver 215. Similarly or alternatively, baseband processing may be performed by processor 230 and / or DSP 231. However, other configurations may be used to perform baseband processing.

[0066] UE 200 may include sensor(s) 213, which may include, for example, one or more of various types of sensors, such as one or more inertial sensors, one or more magnetometers, one or more environmental sensors, one or more optical sensors, one or more weight sensors, and / or one or more radio frequency (RF) sensors, etc. An inertial measurement unit (IMU) may include, for example, one or more accelerometers (e.g., collectively responsive to acceleration of UE 200 in three dimensions) and / or one or more gyroscopes (e.g., three-dimensional gyroscope(s)). Sensor(s) 213 may include one or more magnetometers (e.g., three-dimensional magnetometer(s)) to determine orientation (e.g., relative to magnetic north and / or true north), which may be used for any of a variety of purposes, such as supporting one or more compass applications. Environmental sensor(s) may include, for example, one or more temperature sensors, one or more barometric pressure sensors, one or more ambient light sensors, one or more camera imagers, and / or one or more microphones, etc. Sensor(s) 213 may generate analog and / or digital signals indicative thereof, which may be stored in memory 211 and processed by DSP 231 and / or processor 230 to support one or more applications, such as, for example, applications for positioning and / or navigation operations.

[0067] The (one or more) sensors 213 may be used for relative position measurement, relative position determination, motion determination, etc. The information detected by the (one or more) sensors 213 may be used for motion detection, relative displacement, dead reckoning, sensor-based position determination, and / or sensor-assisted position determination. The (one or more) sensors 213 may be used to determine whether the UE 200 is fixed (stationary) or moving and / or whether to report certain useful information about the mobility of the UE 200 to the LMF 120. For example, based on the information obtained / measured by the (one or more) sensors 213, the UE 200 may notify / report to the LMF 120 that the UE 200 has detected movement or that the UE 200 has moved, and report the relative displacement / distance (e.g., via dead reckoning, or sensor-based position determination, or sensor-assisted position determination enabled by the (one or more) sensors 213). In another example, for relative positioning information, the sensor / IMU may be used to determine the angle and / or orientation of another device relative to the UE 200, etc.

[0068] The IMU may be configured to provide measurements of the direction of motion and / or speed of motion of the UE 200, which may be used for relative position determination. For example, one or more accelerometers and / or one or more gyroscopes of the IMU may detect the linear acceleration and rotational speed of the UE 200, respectively. The measurements of the linear acceleration and rotational speed of the UE 200 may be integrated over time to determine the instantaneous direction of motion and the displacement of the UE 200. The instantaneous direction and displacement of motion may be integrated to track the position of the UE 200. For example, a reference position of the UE 200 may be determined at a time, for example, using the SPS receiver 217 (and / or by some other components), and measurements obtained from (one or more) accelerometers and (one or more) gyroscopes after the time may be used for dead reckoning to determine the current position of the UE 200 based on the movement (direction and distance) of the UE 200 relative to the reference position.

[0069] The magnetometer(s) may determine the magnetic field strength in different directions, which may be used to determine the orientation of the UE 200. For example, the orientation may be used to provide a digital compass for the UE 200. The magnetometer(s) may include a two-dimensional magnetometer configured to detect and provide an indication of the magnetic field strength in two orthogonal dimensions. The magnetometer(s) may include a three-dimensional magnetometer configured to detect and provide an indication of the magnetic field strength in three orthogonal dimensions. The magnetometer(s) may provide a component for sensing a magnetic field and providing an indication of the magnetic field, for example, to the processor 210.

[0070] The transceiver 215 may include a wireless transceiver 240 and a wired transceiver 250 configured to communicate with other devices via wireless connections and wired connections, respectively. For example, the wireless transceiver 240 may include a wireless transmitter 242 and a wireless receiver 244 coupled to an antenna 246 for transmitting (e.g., on one or more uplink channels and / or one or more sidelink channels) and / or receiving (e.g., on one or more downlink channels and / or one or more sidelink channels) wireless signals 248 and converting signals from the wireless signals 248 to wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signals and from wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signals to the wireless signals 248. Thus, the wireless transmitter 242 may include multiple transmitters that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components, and / or the wireless receiver 244 may include multiple receivers that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components. The wireless transceiver 240 may be configured to communicate signals (e.g., with a TRP and / or one or more other devices) in accordance with various radio access technologies (RATs), such as 5G New Radio (NR), GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications), UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System), AMPS (Advanced Mobile Phone System), CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), WCDMA (Wideband CDMA), LTE (Long Term Evolution), LTE Direct (LTE-D), 3GPP LTE-V2X (PC5), IEEE 802.11 (including IEEE 802.11p), WiFi, WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), Zigbee, etc. The new radio may use millimeter wave frequencies and / or frequencies below 6 GHz. The wired transceiver 250 may include a wired transmitter 252 and a wired receiver 254 configured for wired communication (e.g., a network interface that can be used to communicate with the NG-RAN 135 to send communications to the NG-RAN 135 and receive communications from the NG-RAN 135). Therefore, the wired transmitter 252 may include multiple transmitters that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components, and / or the wired receiver 254 may include multiple receivers that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components. The wired transceiver 250 may be configured, for example, for optical communication and / or electrical communication. The transceiver 215 may be communicatively coupled to the transceiver interface 214, for example, via an optical and / or electrical connection. The transceiver interface 214 may be at least partially integrated with the transceiver 215. The wireless transmitter 242, the wireless receiver 244 and / or the antenna 246 may include multiple transmitters, multiple receivers and / or multiple antennas, respectively, for transmitting and / or receiving appropriate signals, respectively.

[0071] The user interface 216 may include one or more of several devices such as a speaker, a microphone, a display device, a vibration device, a keyboard, a touch screen, etc. The user interface 216 may include more than one of any of these devices. The user interface 216 may be configured to enable a user to interact with one or more applications hosted by the UE 200. For example, the user interface 216 may store in the memory 211 an indication of an analog and / or digital signal to be processed by the DSP 231 and / or the general processor 230 in response to an action from the user. Similarly, an application hosted on the UE 200 may store in the memory 211 an indication of an analog and / or digital signal to present an output signal to the user. The user interface 216 may include an audio input / output (I / O) device, including, for example, a speaker, a microphone, a digital-to-analog circuit, an analog-to-digital circuit, an amplifier, and / or a gain control circuit (including more than one of any of these devices). Other configurations of audio I / O devices may be used. Similarly or alternatively, the user interface 216 may include one or more touch sensors in response to, for example, a touch and / or pressure on a keyboard and / or a touch screen of the user interface 216.

[0072] The SPS receiver 217 (e.g., a global positioning system (GPS) receiver) may be capable of receiving and acquiring the SPS signal 260 via the SPS antenna 262. The SPS antenna 262 is configured to convert the SPS signal 260 from a wireless signal to a wired signal (e.g., an electrical signal or an optical signal) and may be integrated with the antenna 246. The SPS receiver 217 may be configured to process the acquired SPS signal 260 in whole or in part for estimating the position of the UE 200. For example, the SPS receiver 217 may be configured to determine the position of the UE 200 by trilateration using the SPS signal 260. The general processor 230, the memory 211, the DSP 231, and / or one or more dedicated processors (not shown) may be used to process the acquired SPS signal in whole or in part with the SPS receiver 217 and / or calculate the estimated position of the UE 200. The memory 211 may store indications (e.g., measurements) of the SPS signal 260 and / or other signals (e.g., signals acquired from the wireless transceiver 240) for performing positioning operations. The general purpose processor 230 , the DSP 231 , and / or one or more dedicated processors and / or the memory 211 may provide or support a location engine for processing measurements to estimate the location of the UE 200 .

[0073] UE 200 may include a camera 218 for capturing still or moving images. Camera 218 may include, for example, an imaging sensor (e.g., a charge coupled device or CMOS imager), a lens, analog-to-digital circuits, a frame buffer, etc. Additional processing, conditioning, encoding, decoding, and / or compression of signals representing the captured images may be performed by general purpose processor 230 and / or DSP 231. Similarly or alternatively, video processor 233 may perform conditioning, encoding, decoding, compression, and / or manipulation of signals representing the captured images. Video processor 233 may decode / decompress stored image data for presentation on a display device (not shown) such as user interface 216.

[0074] Positioning device (PD) 219 may be configured to determine the location of UE 200, the movement of UE 200, and / or the relative location and / or time of UE 200. For example, PD 219 may communicate with SPS receiver 217 and / or include some or all of SPS receiver 217. PD 219 may work appropriately in conjunction with processor 210 and memory 211 to perform at least a portion of one or more positioning methods, although the description herein may refer to PD 219 being configured to perform according to (one or more) positioning methods. PD 219 may also or alternatively be configured to determine the location of UE 200 using land-based signals (e.g., at least some of signals 248) for trilateration, for assisting in obtaining and using SPS signals 260, or both. PD 219 may be configured to determine the location of UE 200 using one or more other techniques (e.g., relying on the self-reported location of the UE (e.g., a portion of the UE's location beacon)), and may use a combination of techniques (e.g., SPS and terrestrial positioning signals) to determine the location of UE 200. The PD 219 may include one or more sensors 213 (e.g., gyroscope(s), accelerometer(s), magnetometer(s), etc.) that may sense the orientation and / or motion of the UE 200 and provide an indication that the processor 210 (e.g., the processor 230 and / or the DSP 231) may be configured to use to determine the motion (e.g., velocity vector and / or acceleration vector) of the UE 200. The PD 219 may be configured to provide an indication of uncertainty and / or error in the determined position and / or motion. The functionality of the PD 219 may be provided in various manners and / or configurations, such as by a general / application processor 230, a transceiver 215, an SPS receiver 217, and / or another component of the UE 200, and may be provided by hardware, software, firmware, or various combinations thereof.

[0075] Also refer to Figure 3, an example of a TRP 300 for a gNB 110a, 110b, and / or ng-eNB 114 includes a computing platform including a processor 310, a memory 311 including software (SW) 312, and a transceiver 315. The processor 310, the memory 311, and the transceiver 315 may be communicatively coupled to one another via a bus 320 (the bus 320 may be configured, for example, for optical and / or electrical communication). One or more of the illustrated devices (e.g., a wireless interface) may be omitted from the TRP 300. The processor 310 may include one or more intelligent hardware devices, such as a central processing unit (CPU), a microcontroller, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), etc. The processor 310 may include a plurality of processors (e.g., including a general / application processor, a DSP, a modem processor, a video processor, and / or a sensor processor, such as Figure 2 ). The memory 311 is a non-transitory storage medium that may include random access memory (RAM), flash memory, disk memory, and / or read-only memory (ROM), etc. The memory 311 stores software 312, which may be a processor-readable, processor-executable software code containing instructions, which are configured to cause the processor 310 to perform various functions described herein when executed. Alternatively, the software 312 may not be directly executed by the processor 310, but may be configured to cause the processor 310 to perform functions, for example, when compiled and executed.

[0076] The description may refer to a processor 310 performing functions, but this includes other embodiments, such as embodiments in which the processor 310 runs software and / or firmware. The description may refer to the processor 310 performing functions as shorthand for one or more processors included in the processor 310 performing functions. The description may refer to the TRP 300 performing functions as shorthand for one or more appropriate components (e.g., the processor 310 and memory 311) of the TRP 300 (and thus one of the gNBs 110a, 110b and / or ng-eNB 114) performing functions. The processor 310 may include a memory having stored instructions in addition to and / or in lieu of the memory 311. The functionality of the processor 310 will be discussed more fully below.

[0077] The transceiver 315 may include a wireless transceiver 340 and / or a wired transceiver 350 configured to communicate with other devices via wireless connections and wired connections, respectively. For example, the wireless transceiver 340 may include a wireless transmitter 342 and a wireless receiver 344 coupled to one or more antennas 346 for transmitting (e.g., on one or more uplink channels and / or one or more downlink channels) and / or receiving (e.g., on one or more downlink channels and / or one or more uplink channels) wireless signals 348 and converting signals from the wireless signals 348 to wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signals and from wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signals to the wireless signals 348. Thus, the wireless transmitter 342 may include multiple transmitters that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components, and / or the wireless receiver 344 may include multiple receivers that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components. The wireless transceiver 340 may be configured to communicate signals (e.g., with the UE 200, one or more other UEs, and / or one or more other devices) according to various radio access technologies, such as 5G New Radio (NR), GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications), UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System), AMPS (Advanced Mobile Phone System), CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), WCDMA (Wideband CDMA), LTE (Long Term Evolution), LTE Direct (LTE-D), 3GPP LTE-V2X (PC5), IEEE 802.11 (including IEEE 802.11p), WiFi, WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), Zigbee, etc. The wired transceiver 350 may include a wired transmitter 352 and a wired receiver 354 configured for wired communication (e.g., a network interface that may be used to communicate with the NG-RAN 135 to send and receive communications to, for example, the LMF 120 and / or one or more other network entities). Thus, the wired transmitter 352 may include a plurality of transmitters that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components, and / or the wired receiver 354 may include a plurality of receivers that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components. The wired transceiver 350 may be configured, for example, for optical communication and / or electrical communication.

[0078] Figure 3The configuration of TRP 300 shown in is an example of the present disclosure (including the claims), but the present disclosure is not limited to this example, and other configurations may be used. For example, the description herein discusses that TRP 300 is configured to perform or implement several functions, but one or more of these functions may be performed by LMF 120 and / or UE 200 (i.e., LMF 120 and / or UE 200 may be configured to perform one or more of these functions).

[0079] Also refer to Figure 4 , the server 400 includes a computing platform including a processor 410, a memory 411 including software (SW) 412, and a transceiver 415, where LMF 120 is an example of the server 400. The processor 410, the memory 411, and the transceiver 415 may be communicatively coupled to each other via a bus 420 (the bus 320 may be configured, for example, for optical and / or electrical communication). One or more of the illustrated devices (e.g., a wireless interface) may be omitted from the server 400. The processor 410 may include one or more intelligent hardware devices, such as a central processing unit (CPU), a microcontroller, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), etc. The processor 410 may include a plurality of processors (e.g., including a general / application processor, a DSP, a modem processor, a video processor, and / or a sensor processor, such as Figure 2 ). Memory 411 is a non-transitory storage medium that may include random access memory (RAM), flash memory, disk storage, and / or read-only memory (ROM), etc. Memory 411 stores software 412, which may be a processor-readable, processor-executable software code containing instructions, which are configured to cause processor 410 to perform various functions described herein when executed. Alternatively, software 412 may not be directly executed by processor 410, but may be configured to cause processor 410 to perform functions, for example, when compiled and run. The description may refer to processor 410 that performs functions, but this includes other embodiments, such as embodiments in which processor 410 runs software and / or firmware. The description may use processor 410 that performs functions as a shorthand for one or more processors included in processor 410 that performs functions. The description may use server 400 that performs functions as a shorthand for one or more appropriate components of server 400 that performs functions. In addition to and / or in place of memory 411, processor 410 may include a memory with stored instructions. The functions of processor 410 will be discussed more fully below.

[0080] The transceiver 415 may include a wireless transceiver 440 and / or a wired transceiver 450 configured to communicate with other devices via wireless connections and wired connections, respectively. For example, the wireless transceiver 440 may include a wireless transmitter 442 and a wireless receiver 444 coupled to one or more antennas 446 for transmitting (e.g., on one or more downlink channels) and / or receiving (e.g., on one or more uplink channels) wireless signals 448 and converting signals from the wireless signals 448 to wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signals and from wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signals to the wireless signals 448. Thus, the wireless transmitter 442 may include multiple transmitters that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components, and / or the wireless receiver 444 may include multiple receivers that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components. The wireless transceiver 440 may be configured to communicate signals (e.g., with the UE 200, one or more other UEs, and / or one or more other devices) according to various radio access technologies, such as 5G New Radio (NR), GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications), UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System), AMPS (Advanced Mobile Phone System), CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), WCDMA (Wideband CDMA), LTE (Long Term Evolution), LTE Direct (LTE-D), 3GPP LTE-V2X (PC5), IEEE 802.11 (including IEEE802.11p), WiFi, WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), Zigbee, etc. The wired transceiver 450 may include a wired transmitter 452 and a wired receiver 454 configured for wired communication, for example, a network interface that can be used to communicate with the NG-RAN 135 to send and receive communications to and from the TRP 300 and / or one or more other network entities, for example. Therefore, the wired transmitter 452 may include multiple transmitters that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components, and / or the wired receiver 454 may include multiple receivers that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components. The wired transceiver 450 may be configured, for example, for optical communication and / or electrical communication.

[0081] The description herein may refer to the processor 410 performing functions, but this includes other implementations, such as the processor 410 running software (software stored in the memory 411) and / or firmware. The description herein will refer to the server 400 performing functions as shorthand for one or more appropriate components of the server 400 performing functions (e.g., the processor 410 and the memory 411).

[0082] Figure 4The configuration of server 400 shown in is an example of the present disclosure (including the claims), but the present disclosure is not limited to this example, and other configurations may be used. For example, wireless transceiver 440 may be omitted. Similarly or alternatively, the description herein discusses that server 400 is configured to perform or implement several functions, but one or more of these functions may be performed by TRP 300 and / or UE 200 (i.e., TRP 300 and / or UE 200 may be configured to perform one or more of these functions).

[0083] Positioning Technology

[0084] For terrestrial positioning of UEs in cellular networks, techniques such as Advanced Forward Link Trilateration (AFLT) and Observed Time Difference of Arrival (OTDOA) typically operate in a "UE-assisted" mode, in which measurements of reference signals (e.g., PRS, CRS, etc.) transmitted by base stations are acquired by the UE and then provided to a location server. The location server then calculates the position of the UE based on the measurements and the known positions of the base stations. Because these techniques use a location server rather than the UE itself to calculate the position of the UE, these positioning techniques are not often used in applications such as automotive or mobile phone navigation, which instead typically rely on satellite-based positioning.

[0085] The UE can use a satellite positioning system (SPS) (Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)) to use precise point positioning (PPP) or real-time kinematic (RTK) techniques for high accuracy positioning. These techniques use assistance data, such as measurements from ground base stations. LTE Release 15 allows the data to be encrypted so that UEs that are exclusively subscribed to the service can read the information. This assistance data changes over time. Therefore, it may not be easy for a UE that has subscribed to the service to "crack the encryption" for other UEs by passing the data to other UEs that have not paid for the subscription. This transfer needs to be repeated every time the assistance data changes.

[0086] In UE-assisted positioning, the UE sends measurements (e.g., TDOA, Angle of Arrival (AoA), etc.) to a positioning server (e.g., LMF / eSMLC). The positioning server has a Base Station Almanac (BSA) containing multiple "entries" or "records", one record per cell, where each record contains a geographic cell location, but may also include other data. An identifier of a "record" among multiple "records" in the BSA may be referenced. The BSA and the measurements from the UE may be used to calculate the positioning of the UE.

[0087] In traditional UE-based positioning, the UE calculates its own position thereby avoiding sending measurements to the network (e.g., a location server), which in turn improves latency and scalability. The UE uses relevant BSA record information from the network (e.g., the location of the gNB (more generally, base stations)). The BSA information can be encrypted. However, since the BSA information changes much less than, for example, the PPP or RTK assistance data described previously, it may be easier to make the BSA information available to UEs that do not subscribe and pay for decryption keys (compared to PPP or RTK information). The reference signals sent by the gNB make it possible for the BSA information to be obtained by crowdsourcing or war-driving, which essentially enables the BSA information to be generated based on field and / or excessive observations.

[0088] Positioning techniques may be characterized and / or evaluated based on one or more criteria such as positioning determination accuracy and / or latency. Latency is the time elapsed between an event that triggers the determination of positioning-related data and the availability of the data at a positioning system interface (e.g., an interface of LMF 120). When the positioning system is initialized, the latency of the availability of positioning-related data is called the first fix time (TTFF) and is greater than the latency after the TTFF. The inverse of the time elapsed between two consecutive positioning-related data availabilities is called the update rate, i.e., the rate at which positioning-related data is generated after the first positioning. Latency may depend on, for example, the processing capability of the UE. For example, the UE may report the processing capability of the UE as the duration of a DL PRS symbol in time units (e.g., milliseconds), assuming that 272 PRBs (physical resource blocks) are allocated, and the UE may process the DL PRS symbol every T amount of time (e.g., T milliseconds). Other examples of capabilities that may affect latency are the number of TRPs from which the UE can process PRSs, the number of PRSs that the UE can process, and the bandwidth of the UE.

[0089] One or more of many different positioning techniques (also referred to as positioning methods) can be used to determine the location of an entity such as one of the UEs 105, 106. For example, known positioning determination techniques include RTT, multi-RTT, OTDOA (also referred to as TDOA, including UL-TDOA and DL-TDOA), enhanced cell identification (E-CID), DL-AoD, UL-AoA, etc. RTT uses the time it takes for a signal to propagate from one entity to another and back to determine the range between two entities. The range plus the known position of the first entity and the angle (e.g., azimuth) between the two entities can be used to determine the location of the second entity. In multi-RTT (also referred to as multi-cell RTT), multiple ranges from one entity (e.g., UE) to other entities (e.g., TRP) and the known positions of the other entities can be used to determine the location of one entity. In TDOA techniques, the propagation time difference between one entity and the other entities can be used to determine the relative range to the other entities, and these ranges combined with the known positions of the other entities can be used to determine the location of one entity. The arrival and / or departure angles can be used to help determine the location of an entity. For example, the angle of arrival or departure of a signal combined with the range between devices (determined using the signal, such as the propagation time of the signal, the received power of the signal, etc.) and the known position of one of the devices can be used to determine the location of the other device. The angle of arrival or departure can be an azimuth relative to a reference direction such as true north. The angle of arrival or departure can be a zenith angle relative to directly upward from an entity (i.e., relative to radially outward from the center of the earth). E-CID uses the identity of the serving cell, the timing advance (i.e., the difference between the reception and transmission times at the UE), the estimated timing and power of the detected neighboring cell signals, and possible angles of arrival (e.g., the angle of arrival of the signal from the base station at the UE, and vice versa) to determine the location of the UE. In TDOA, the difference in the time at which signals from different sources arrive at the receiving device and the known position of the source and the known offset of the transmission time from the source are used to determine the location of the receiving device.

[0090] In network-centric RTT estimation, the serving base station instructs the UE to scan / receive RTT measurement signals (e.g., PRS) on the serving cells of two or more neighboring base stations (and typically the serving base station, since at least three base stations are required). One of the multiple base stations transmits the RTT measurement signal on a low reuse resource (e.g., a resource used by the base station to transmit system information) allocated by the network (e.g., a location server such as LMF 120). The UE records the arrival time (also referred to as reception time, reception time, received time, or arrival time (ToA)) of each RTT measurement signal relative to the current downlink timing of the UE (e.g., derived by the UE from the DL signal received from its serving base station), and transmits a common or individual RTT response message (e.g., an SRS (sounding reference signal) for positioning, i.e., UL-PRS) to one or more base stations (e.g., when instructed by its serving base station), and may include the time difference T between the ToA of the RTT measurement signal and the transmission time of the RTT response message in the payload of each RTT response message. Rx→Tx (i.e. UE T Rx-Tx or UE Rx-Tx The RTT response message will include a reference signal from which the base station can infer the ToA of the RTT response. TT→Rx The time difference T reported by the UE Rx→Tx By comparison, the base station can deduce the propagation time between the base station and the UE, from which the base station can determine the distance between the UE and the base station by assuming the speed of light during the propagation time.

[0091] UE-centric RTT estimation is similar to the network-based approach, except that the UE sends (one or more) uplink RTT measurement signals (e.g., when instructed by a serving base station), which are received by multiple base stations in the vicinity of the UE. Each involved base station responds with a downlink RTT response message, which may include the time difference between the ToA of the RTT measurement signal and the transmission time of the RTT response message from the base station in the RTT response message payload.

[0092] For both network-centric and UE-centric procedures, the side performing the RTT calculation (the network or the UE) typically (although not always) sends (one or more) first messages or signals (e.g., (one or more) RTT measurement signals), and the other side responds with one or more RTT response messages or signals, which may include the difference between the ToA of the (one or more) first messages or signals and the sending time of the (one or more) RTT response messages or signals.

[0093] Positioning may be determined using multi-RTT techniques. For example, a first entity (e.g., a UE) may send out one or more signals (e.g., unicast, multicast, or broadcast from a base station), and multiple second entities (e.g., other TSPs such as (one or more) base stations and / or (one or more) UEs) may receive the signals from the first entity and respond to the received signals. The first entity receives responses from the multiple second entities. The first entity (or another entity such as an LMF) may use the responses from the second entities to determine the range to the second entity, and may use the multiple ranges and known locations of the second entity to determine the location of the first entity through trilateration.

[0094] In some cases, additional information may be available in the form of an angle of arrival (AoA) or angle of departure (AoD), which defines a straight line direction (e.g., which may be in a horizontal plane or in three dimensions) or a range of possible directions (e.g., for the location from a base station to a UE). The intersection of the two directions may provide another estimate of the location for the UE.

[0095] For positioning techniques using PRS (positioning reference signal) signals (e.g., TDOA and RTT), PRS signals sent by multiple TRPs are measured, and the arrival time of the signal, the known transmission time, and the known location of the TRP are used to determine the range from the UE to the TRP. For example, RSTD (reference signal time difference) can be determined for PRS signals received from multiple TRPs, and RSTD is used in TDOA techniques to determine the location (position) of the UE. Positioning reference signals may be referred to as PRS or PRS signals. PRS signals are typically transmitted using the same power, and PRS signals with the same signal characteristics (e.g., the same frequency shift) may interfere with each other, so that PRS signals from farther TRPs may be drowned by PRS signals from closer TRPs, so that signals from farther TRPs may not be detected. PRS muting can be used to help reduce interference by muting some PRS signals (e.g., reducing the power of the PRS signal to zero and thus not sending the PRS signal). In this way, weaker (at the UE) PRS signals can be more easily detected by the UE without stronger PRS signals interfering with weaker PRS signals. The term RS and its variants (eg, PRS, SRS, CSI-RS (Channel State Information - Reference Signal)) may refer to one reference signal or more than one reference signal.

[0096] Positioning Reference Signals (PRS) include downlink PRS (DL PRS, often referred to as PRS) and uplink PRS (UL PRS) (which may be referred to as SRS (Sounding Reference Signal) for positioning). PRS may include a PN code (pseudo-random number) or be generated using a PN code (e.g., by modulating a carrier signal with a PN code) so that the source of the PRS may be used as a pseudo-satellite (pseudo-satellite system). The PN code may be unique to the PRS source (at least within a specified area, so that the same PRS from different PRS sources do not overlap). PRS may include PRS resources or PRS resource sets of a frequency layer. A DL PRS positioning frequency layer (or simply a frequency layer) is a collection of DL PRS resource sets from one or more TRPs, where (one or more) PRS resources have common parameters configured by higher layer parameters DL-PRS-PositioningFrequencylayer, DL-PRS-ResourceSet, and DL-PRS-Resource. Each frequency layer has a DL PRS subcarrier spacing (SCS) for a DL PRS resource set and DL PRS resources in the frequency layer. Each frequency layer has a DL PRS cyclic prefix (CP) for the DL PRS resource sets and DL PRS resources in the frequency layer. In 5G, a resource block occupies 12 consecutive subcarriers and a specified number of symbols. In addition, the DL PRS point A parameter defines the frequency of the reference resource block (and the lowest subcarrier of the resource block), where DL PRS resources belonging to the same DL PRS resource set have the same point A, and all DL PRS resource sets belonging to the same frequency layer have the same point A. The frequency layers also have the same DL PRS bandwidth, the same starting PRB (and center frequency), and the same comb size value (i.e., the frequency of PRS resource elements per symbol, so that for comb -N, every N th Resource elements are PRS resource elements). A PRS resource set is identified by a PRS resource set ID and can be associated with a specific TRP (identified by a cell ID) sent by the antenna panel of the base station. The PRS resource ID in a PRS resource set can be associated with an omnidirectional signal and / or with a single beam (and / or beam ID) sent from a single base station (where the base station can send one or more beams). Each PRS resource in a PRS resource set can be sent on a different beam, so a PRS resource (or simply a resource) can also be called a beam. This has no effect on whether the UE knows the base station and the beam on which the PRS is sent.

[0097] The TRP may be configured to send DL PRS according to a schedule, for example, by instructions received from a server and / or by software in the TRP. According to the schedule, the TRP may send DL PRS intermittently (e.g., periodically at consistent intervals starting from the initial transmission). The TRP may be configured to send one or more PRS resource sets. A resource set is a collection of PRS resources across a TRP that have the same periodicity, common muting mode configuration (if any), and the same repetition factor across time slots. Each PRS resource set includes multiple PRS resources, each of which includes multiple resource elements (REs) in multiple resource blocks (RBs) that may be within N (one or more) consecutive symbols within a time slot. An RB is a collection of REs spanning the number of one or more consecutive symbols in the time domain and the number of consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain (12 for 5G RBs). Each PRS resource is configured with an RE offset, a time slot offset, a symbol offset within a time slot, and the number of consecutive symbols that a PRS resource can occupy within a time slot. The RE offset defines the starting RE offset of the first symbol within the DL PRS resource in frequency. The relative RE offset of the remaining symbols within the DL PRS resource is defined based on the initial offset. The slot offset is the starting slot of the DL PRS resource relative to the corresponding resource set slot offset. The symbol offset determines the starting symbol of the DL PRS resource within the starting slot. The transmitted REs can be repeated across slots, where each transmission is called a repetition, so that multiple repetitions can exist in the PRS resource. The DL PRS resources in a DL PRS resource set are associated with the same TRP, and each DL PRS resource has a DL PRS resource ID. The DL PRS resource ID in a DL PRS resource set is associated with a single beam transmitted from a single TRP (although a TRP can transmit one or more beams).

[0098] PRS resources can also be defined by quasi co-location and starting PRB parameters. Quasi co-location (QCL) parameters can define any quasi co-location information of DL PRS resources together with other reference signals. DL PRS can be configured as QCL type D with DL PRS or SS / PBCH (synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel) blocks from a serving cell or a non-serving cell. DL PRS can be configured as QCL type C with SS / PBCH blocks from a serving cell or a non-serving cell. The starting PRB parameter defines the starting PRB index of the DL PRS resource relative to reference point A. The starting PRB index has a granularity of one PRB and can have a minimum value of 0 and a maximum value of 2176 PRBs.

[0099] A PRS resource set is a collection of PRS resources with the same periodicity, the same muting pattern configuration (if any), and the same repetition factor across time slots. Each time all repetitions of all PRS resources of a PRS resource set are configured to be transmitted, it is referred to as an "instance". Thus, an "instance" of a PRS resource set is a specified number of repetitions for each PRS resource and a specified number of PRS resources within a PRS resource set, such that once a specified number of repetitions are transmitted for each of the specified number of PRS resources, the instance is complete. An instance may also be referred to as an "opportunity". A DL PRS configuration including a DL PRS transmission schedule may be provided to a UE to facilitate (or even enable) the UE to measure the DL PRS.

[0100] Multiple frequency layers of a PRS may be aggregated to provide an effective bandwidth that is larger than any of the bandwidths of the individual layers. Multiple frequency layers of a component carrier (which may be contiguous and / or separated and satisfy criteria such as quasi-co-location (QCLed) and having the same antenna port) may be spliced ​​to provide a larger effective PRS bandwidth (for DL ​​PRS and ULPRS), resulting in increased arrival time measurement accuracy. Splicing includes combining PRS measurements on separate bandwidth fragments into a unified slice so that the spliced ​​PRS may be considered to have been obtained from a single measurement. Due to QCLed, different frequency layers behave similarly, enabling the splicing of PRSs to produce a larger effective bandwidth. A larger effective bandwidth (which may be referred to as the bandwidth of an aggregated PRS or the frequency bandwidth of an aggregated PRS) provides better time domain resolution (e.g., TDOA). An aggregated PRS includes a collection of PRS resources, and each PRS resource of the aggregated PRS may be referred to as a PRS component, and each PRS component may be sent on different component carriers, frequency bands, or frequency layers, or on different portions of the same frequency band.

[0101] RTT positioning is an active positioning technique because RTT uses positioning signals sent by the TRP to the UE and by the UE (participating in RTT positioning) to the TRP. The TRP can send a DL-PRS signal received by the UE, and the UE can send an SRS (sounding reference signal) signal received by multiple TRPs. The sounding reference signal may be referred to as an SRS or an SRS signal. In 5G multi-RTT, co-positioning may be used with a UE where the UE sends a single UL-SRS for positioning received by multiple TRPs instead of sending a separate UL-SRS for positioning for each TRP. A TRP participating in multi-RTT typically searches for UEs currently residing on the TRP (served UEs, which are serving TRPs) and UEs residing on neighboring TRPs (neighboring UEs). A neighboring TRP may be a TRP of a single BTS (e.g., a gNB), or may be a TRP of one BTS and a TRP of a separate BTS. For RTT positioning (including multi-RTT positioning), the DL-PRS signal in the PRS / SRS for the positioning signal pair used to determine the RTT (and therefore for determining the range between the UE and the TRP) and the UL-SRS for the positioning signal can appear close to each other in time so that errors due to UE motion and / or UE clock drift and / or TRP clock drift are within acceptable limits. For example, the signals in the PRS / SRS for the positioning signal pair can be sent from the TRP and the UE, respectively, within approximately 10 ms of each other. Using the SRS for the positioning signal sent by the UE, and using the PRS and SRS for the positioning signal transmitted close to each other in time, it has been found that radio frequency (RF) signal congestion may result (which may result in excessive noise, etc.), particularly if many UEs attempt to locate at the same time and / or computational congestion may result at the TRPs of many UEs that attempt to measure at the same time.

[0102] RTT positioning can be UE-based or UE-assisted. In UE-based RTT, the UE 200 determines the RTT and the corresponding range to each TRP 300 and the positioning of the UE 200 based on the range to the TRP 300 and the known location of the TRP 300. In UE-assisted RTT, the UE 200 measures the positioning signal and provides the measurement information to the TRP 300, and the TRP 300 determines the RTT and the range. The TRP 300 provides the range to a location server such as the server 400, and the server determines the location of the UE 200 based on the range to different TRPs 300, for example. The RTT and / or range can be determined by the TRP 300 receiving (one or more) signals from the UE 200, by the TRP 300 in combination with one or more other devices (e.g., one or more other TRPs 300 and / or the server 400), or by one or more devices other than the TRP 300 that receive (one or more) signals from the UE 200.

[0103] 5G NR supports various positioning technologies. The NR native positioning methods supported in 5G NR include DL-only positioning method, UL-only positioning method, and DL+UL positioning method. Downlink-based positioning methods include DL-TDOA and DL-AoD. Uplink-based positioning methods include UL-TDOA and UL-AoA. Combined DL+UL-based positioning methods include RTT with one base station and RTT with multiple base stations (multi-RTT).

[0104] A positioning estimate (e.g., for a UE) may be referred to by other names, such as position estimate, position, fix, position fix, fix, etc. A positioning estimate may be geodetic and include coordinates (e.g., latitude, longitude, and possibly altitude), or may be municipal and include a street address, postal address, or some other verbal description of a location. A positioning estimate may also be defined relative to some other known location or in absolute terms (e.g., using latitude, longitude, and possibly altitude). A positioning estimate may include expected errors or uncertainties (e.g., by including an area or volume within which the location is expected to be included with some specified or default confidence level).

[0105] Selective symbol measurement

[0106] refer to Figure 5 , further reference Figure 1-Figure 4 UE 500 includes a processor 510, an interface 520, and a memory 530 that are communicatively coupled to each other via a bus 540. UE 500 may include Figure 5 Some or all of the components shown in the Figure 2214, so that UE 200 may be an example of UE 500. Processor 510 may include one or more components of processor 210. Interface 520 may include one or more components of transceiver 215, such as wireless transmitter 242 and antenna 246, or wireless receiver 244 and antenna 246, or wireless transmitter 242, wireless receiver 244 and antenna 246. Similarly or alternatively, interface 520 may include wired transmitter 252 and / or wired receiver 254. Interface 520 may include SPS receiver 217 and SPS antenna 262. Memory 530 may be configured similarly to memory 211, for example, including software having processor-readable instructions configured to cause processor 510 to perform functions.

[0107] The description herein may refer to the processor 510 performing functions, but this includes other embodiments, such as the processor 510 running software (stored in the memory 530) and / or firmware. The description herein will refer to the UE 500 performing functions as a shorthand for one or more appropriate components (e.g., the processor 510 and the memory 530) of the UE 500 performing functions. The processor 510 (possibly in combination with the memory 530 and, where appropriate, the interface 520) includes a symbol selection unit 550. The configuration and functionality of the symbol selection unit 550 are further discussed herein, where the symbol selection unit 550 is configured to perform the functions described as being performed by the symbol selection unit 550.

[0108] Also refer to Figure 6A-6C , shows an example of transmission scheduling of resources for various combinations of comb types and symbol quantities of OFDM signals. Fig. 6A A transmit schedule for a comb-2, 2-symbol OFDM resource is shown with a symbol offset 603 of three symbols, where each time slot contains 14 symbols and each symbol has 12 subcarriers. In the transmit schedule shown, the columns represent different symbols, the rows represent different subcarriers, and the dark boxes represent the probed resource elements (symbol-subcarrier combinations) of a TRP. Unprobed resource elements may be probed by one or more other TRPs. Figure 6B A transmission schedule 604 of comb-2, 12-symbol resources is shown. Figure 6CA transmit schedule 606 for a comb-4, 12-symbol resource is shown. If resource elements covering the same bandwidth are measured, the time accuracy is the same regardless of the number of combs of the resource. A fully interleaved symbol group includes the sounding REs for each subcarrier in a resource block (RB), for example, all 12 REs for a 5G RB as shown in transmit schedules 602, 604, 606. For example, the group consisting of symbols 3 and 4 of transmit schedule 602 is fully interleaved. Multiple symbol groups in the same time slot can each be fully interleaved (i.e., repetitions in the time slot can each be fully interleaved). For example, each of the groups consisting of symbols 2 and 3, 4 and 5, 6 and 7, 8 and 9, 10 and 11, and 12 and 13 of transmit schedule 604 is fully interleaved. Similarly, each of the groups consisting of symbols 2, 3, 4, 5, the groups consisting of symbols 6, 7, 8, 9, and the groups consisting of symbols 10, 11, 12, 13 of the transmit schedule 606 is fully interleaved. A set of groups (e.g., repetitions) that are fully interleaved are also fully interleaved. Thus, for example, time slots 3-13 of the transmit schedule 606 are groups of consecutive symbols that are fully interleaved. A symbol group may be fully interleaved and may include one or more portions of one or more repetitions. For example, a group may contain symbols 3-8 of the transmit schedule 606 or symbols 4-8 of the transmit schedule 606, and both groups will be fully interleaved. From the fully interleaved symbol group, an incompletely interleaved subset may be measured, the subset consisting of one or more symbols of the fully interleaved group. The measured symbols of such a subset may be from the same repetition (if there is a repetition) or from different repetitions. For example, symbols 3 and 4 of the transmit schedule 606 may be measured. As another example, symbols 3 and 8 of the transmit schedule 606 may be measured. As another example, symbols 3, 8, and 12 of transmit schedule 606 may be measured.

[0109] Also refer to Figure 7A-7D , various numbers of available resource elements for the transmission scheduling of the measurement reference signal may provide different patterns of the measured signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the reference signal. Fig. 7A As shown in FIG. 7 , a graph 710 of normalized SNR may be generated by measuring a set of resource elements (REs) including all subcarriers (e.g., all REs of a comb-1 symbol, or a fully interleaved (in the frequency domain) symbol group of a reference signal resource). Graph 710 includes a single peak 712 and may therefore be desirable for use in signal acquisition, such as acquisition of TRP 300 and determination of ToA and / or RSTD (relative timing difference between signals received from two cells, a reference cell and a measurement cell). Figure 7BAs shown in FIG. 7 , the graph 720 may be generated by measuring a single symbol of a comb-2 resource, wherein the graph 720 has multiple peaks 722, 724, 726. Figure 7C As shown in FIG. 7 , the graph 730 may be generated by measuring a single symbol of a comb-3 resource, wherein the graph 730 has a plurality of peaks 732, 734, 736, wherein the time interval between the peaks 732, 734 and the peaks 732, 736 is shorter than the time interval between the peaks 722, 724 and the peaks 722, 726. Fig.7D As shown in FIG. 7 , a graph 740 may be generated by measuring a single symbol of a comb-4 resource, wherein the graph 740 has a plurality of peaks 742, 744, 745, 746, 747, wherein a time interval between adjacent peaks in the peaks 742, 744, 745, 746, 747 is shorter than a time interval between adjacent peaks in the peaks 732, 734, 736. Simulations have shown that the closer a UE is to the TRP at which a reference signal is transmitted, the more it can decode a reference signal resource with a higher comb number.

[0110] refer to Figure 8 and Fig. 9, a comb-12, 12-symbol resource transmission schedule 800 of an OFDM signal (e.g., a PRS) may be measured on various symbol combinations with corresponding valid comb numbers and associated processing. As shown in the diagram 900, the comb / symbol number field 910 indicates the comb number and symbol aggregation options. As shown in entries 951, 952, 953, 954 of the diagram 900, respectively, for the comb-12, 12-symbol schedule, 12 symbols of the schedule 800 may be measured; for a valid single symbol comb-6 schedule, two symbols may be measured; for a valid single symbol comb-3 schedule, four symbols may be measured; and for a valid single symbol comb-4 schedule, three symbols may be measured. The combination of symbols measured may be selected such that the REs (and therefore subcarriers) in each set are not completely interleaved (i.e., have at least one RE of a resource block that is not measured in common), provide valid comb values ​​overall, and are evenly spaced in the frequency domain or unevenly spaced in the frequency domain. If all measured REs combined are effectively a single symbol of the comb scheduling as a whole (each pair of consecutive (in the frequency domain) measured REs is separated by the same number of subcarriers), then the measured symbol combinations are evenly spaced in the frequency domain. The measured symbols can be consecutive symbols in time (e.g., symbols 3-5 in a time slot), non-consecutive symbols in time (e.g., symbols 3 and 5), or a combination thereof (e.g., symbols 3-5 and 7, or symbols 3, 4, 7, 9, 10). The symbol aggregation field 920 indicates the combination of symbols that can be measured to provide the corresponding effective comb value. The wakeup symbol field 930 indicates the amount of symbols that the UE 500 will wake up to measure the corresponding symbol combination. The number of symbols saved field 940 indicates the number of symbols that the UE 500 avoids processing relative to the 12-symbol scheduling by measuring only the symbols in the corresponding symbol combination.

[0111] UE 500 may remain awake from the first symbol measured to the last symbol measured in each corresponding combination. For example, UE 500 may not wake up before the first symbol in the measurement combination, may not remain awake after the last symbol in the measurement combination, and may remain awake between non-continuous symbols (because it may not be practical for UE 500 to go to sleep between non-continuous symbols to be measured). For comb-12 scheduling of entry 951, all 12 symbols are measured, and thus UE 500 is awake for 12 symbols. For valid single symbol comb-6 scheduling of entry 952, two-symbol measurement is performed by any two-symbol combination indicated in measurement field 920. As indicated in field 940 of entry 952, UE 500 may be awake for as few as two symbols, and thus 10 symbols may be saved relative to 12-symbol scheduling. For valid single symbol comb-3 scheduling of entry 953, four-symbol measurement is performed by any four-symbol combination indicated in measurement field 920. As indicated in field 940 of entry 953, the UE 500 may be awakened for as few as four symbols and may therefore save eight symbols relative to a 12-symbol scheduling. For an effective single symbol comb-4 scheduling of entry 954, three-symbol measurements are performed by measuring any three-symbol combination indicated in field 920. To measure three symbols in each combination, the UE 500 may be awakened for eight symbols because the measured symbols are not contiguous in the time domain to achieve uniform frequency spacing. Therefore, as indicated in field 940 of entry 954, the UE 500 may save four symbols relative to a 12-symbol scheduling. The number of symbols saved corresponds to the processing and processing power saved by measuring or otherwise processing fewer symbols relative to processing a fully interleaved combination of symbols. The symbols saved correspond to an incompletely interleaved combination of symbols, with a corresponding multi-peak time-domain SNR curve graph (e.g., as shown in FIG. 1 ). Figure 7A-7D ).

[0112] Also refer to Fig.10 and Fig.11, another comb-12, 12-symbol resource transmission schedule 1000 of the OFDM signal can be measured on various symbol combinations with corresponding effective comb numbers and related processing. Entry 1111 of the chart 1100 indicates comb-12 scheduling, in which all 12 symbols are measured. As shown in entry 1112 of the chart 1100, an effective single symbol comb-6 scheduling can be achieved by measuring any of two different combinations of two consecutive symbols, where the UE 500 wakes up for as few as two symbols, and thus saves 10 symbols relative to a fully staggered scheduling. As shown in entry 1113, an effective single symbol comb-3 scheduling can be achieved by measuring any of three different combinations of four non-consecutive (in time) symbols, where the UE 500 wakes up for as few as 10 symbols, and thus saves two symbols relative to a fully staggered scheduling. As shown in items 1114 and 1115, effective single symbol comb-2 and comb-4 scheduling can be achieved by UE 500 waking up for six consecutive symbols or three consecutive symbols and measuring the six consecutive symbols and three consecutive symbols, respectively, thereby saving UE 500 six symbols or nine symbols, respectively. Therefore, effective single symbol comb-4 scheduling can be achieved by selectively measuring three consecutive symbols of comb-12 scheduling 1000, which is different from selectively measuring three symbols of comb-12 scheduling 800 (as shown in FIG. 1 ). Fig. 9 954 in ), which saves nine symbols (as shown in entry 1115).

[0113] Also refer to Fig.12 and Fig.13 , a comb-6, 6-symbol resource transmission schedule 1200 of an OFDM signal can be measured on various symbol combinations with corresponding effective comb numbers and related processing. As shown in the diagram 1300, an effective single symbol comb-3 schedule can be achieved by measuring any of three different combinations of two non-contiguous symbols, where the UE 500 wakes up for as few as two symbols and thus saves four symbols relative to a fully interleaved schedule. An effective single symbol comb-2 schedule can be achieved by measuring any of two different combinations of three symbols, where the UE 500 wakes up for as few as five symbols and thus saves one symbol relative to a fully interleaved schedule.

[0114] Also refer to Fig.14 and Fig.15, a comb-4, 4-symbol resource transmission schedule 1400 of an OFDM signal can be measured on various symbol combinations with corresponding effective comb numbers and related processing. As shown in the diagram 1500, an effective single symbol comb-2 schedule can be achieved by measuring any of two different combinations of two non-contiguous symbols, where the UE 500 wakes up for as few as two symbols and thus saves two symbols relative to a fully staggered schedule. An effective single symbol comb-4 schedule can be achieved by measuring any single symbol of the schedule 1400, where the UE 500 wakes up for as few as one symbol and thus saves three symbols relative to a fully staggered schedule.

[0115] refer to Fig.16 , further reference Figure 1-Figure 15 UE 500 may selectively measure less than all available resource elements (REs) of the signal, for example, to save processing operations and / or power used to process (eg, measure) the reference signal. Fig.16 , the symbol selection unit 550 can cause the UE 500 to change from measuring all REs of the comb-12, 12-symbol schedule 1610 based on one or more factors 1620 to measuring less than all available REs to measure effective scheduling 1630. The symbol selection unit 550 can implement machine learning (e.g., a neural network) to determine whether to implement selective measurement, and if so, to determine which (one or more) measurements to select and implement. The machine learning can adapt over time to better determine whether and how to implement selective measurement to achieve one or more desired results. For example, the training input can include one or more characteristic values ​​of the measured REs, one or more values ​​of the measured RE amount and / or one or more factors 1620, and a marker value of whether the correct peak in the aliased peak of the reference signal is determined.

[0116] The symbol selection unit 550 may be configured to implement or determine whether to implement selective signal (e.g., selective symbol) measurements in response to one or more triggers. For example, the trigger may be a stored energy level of a battery of the UE 500 falling below a threshold, for example in conjunction with expected power consumption. For example, the trigger may be a determination by the symbol selection unit 550 that the expected battery life, for example, is less than a threshold amount of time until the battery falls below a threshold level (e.g., 2% of capacity). Another example trigger is an instruction received by the UE 500 via the interface 520 to implement selective signal measurements. Another example trigger is an increase in expected power consumption of the UE 500, for example due to an increase in expected signals to be measured, an increase in expected performance of computation and / or other functions. Another example trigger is movement of the UE 500 closer to the TRP 300. The symbol selection unit 550 may be configured to respond to a determination that the UE 500 is moving (as indicated by the velocity vector 1660) closer to the TRP (e.g., Fig.16 Another example trigger is the movement of UE 500 away from TRP 300. Symbol selection unit 550 may be configured to respond to a determination that UE 500 is moving away from TRP (e.g., TRP 1640 shown in FIG. 16 ) by selecting a measurement configuration that increases the number of symbols measured (if possible) relative to a current or expected measurement configuration of TRP 1650. Fig.16 1650) shown in FIG.

[0117] The symbol selection unit 550 may be configured to analyze one or more factors to determine whether to selectively measure one or more signals, and if so, how to selectively measure one or more signals, e.g., to reduce signal measurements relative to past and / or expected measurements. Multiple factors may be considered in concert, e.g., using a weighted formula so that different factors may have different weights (different amounts of influence on decisions regarding selective signal measurements). Exemplary factors include desired power / processing usage or savings, potential power / processing savings, location session type (e.g., emergency, non-emergency), RSRP, RSRQ, SNR, SINR (signal to interference and noise ratio), ToA / RSTD accuracy, actual periodicity of PRS, UE mobility, (one or more) Doppler measurements, delay spread, bandwidth of (one or more) REs to be measured, mobility (e.g., speed) of the UE 500 (e.g., relative to a base station), scheduled power consumption, potential power consumption (e.g., potential power reduction compared to a reference such as a current processing rate), separation of aliasing peaks for one or more signal measurement options, expected battery life, expected battery life, scheduled battery usage, content of power reduction instructions, and confidence that one or more quality of service metrics are met. The symbol selection unit 550 may also or alternatively consider one or more other factors.

[0118] The symbol selection unit 550 may determine whether to selectively measure reference signals and / or the selective measurement configuration to be used so as to meet one or more performance requirements (e.g., boundary conditions). For example, if multiple options that meet (one or more) requirements are available, the symbol selection unit 550 may select the option with the most symbol savings (the least number of symbols for which the UE 500 is awakened). Many examples of requirements or combinations of requirements may be used. For example, a requirement may be that the multiple symbols by which the UE 500 will be awakened will meet the desired power consumption (e.g., the power consumption is reduced by more than a threshold amount relative to the current or expected power consumption rate, or the power consumption is lower than a threshold power consumption). A combination of requirements may be that the selected measurement configuration saves at least a threshold number of symbols to meet the desired power and also allows one or more performance metrics (e.g., ToA / RSTD accuracy, RSRP, RSRQ, SNR) to be met. As another example, the symbol selection unit 550 may select a measurement configuration that will allow the SNR, RSRP, or RSRQ metrics (or a combination thereof) to be met and allow the UE 500 to decode the ToA using less than all (e.g., possibly half or less) symbols. The requirement may be the minimum distance between SNR time domain peaks. Other requirements may be a maximum delay spread, a minimum bandwidth covered by the measured REs, a maximum number of SNR time domain peaks, a maximum number of symbols for which the UE 500 is to wake up, a maximum number of combs, and / or a confidence level that the UE 500 can identify the correct time domain SNR peak (which may be determined based on one or more of the factors considered). For example, both a higher delay spread and a lower bandwidth of the measured REs may widen the SNR peak, so an upper limit may be placed on the delay spread and / or a lower limit may be placed on the bandwidth of the measured REs.

[0119] The selective symbol measurement may be limited in duration. For example, the symbol selection unit 550 may terminate the selective symbol measurement in response to one or more factors. Examples of these factors include, but are not limited to: UE 500 receiving charging energy; the battery level of UE 500 exceeding a threshold level; a change in the expected power consumption of UE 500; an instruction to terminate the selective measurement; expiration of time (e.g., UE 500 is instructed to implement selective measurement, or a default time window used by UE 500 when implementing selective measurement, etc.); a change in one or more performance requirements on which the selective measurement is based; a change in the movement of UE 500 (from close to TRP 300 to far away from TRP 300); a change in the measured delay spread; a change in the serving cell; a change in the PRS configuration; a change in the transmit beam, etc.

[0120] Also refer to Fig.17, the process and signal flow 1700 for determining positioning information includes the stages shown. The process 1700 is an example, and stages can be added to the process 1700, removed from the process 1700, and / or rearranged in the process 1700.

[0121] At stage 1710, the TRP 300 sends a PRS configuration message 1712 to the UE 500. The PRS configuration message 1712 includes parameters defining the PRS and provides scheduling information for scheduled transmission of the PRS to the UE 500.

[0122] At stage 1720, TRP 300 may send PRS 1722 to UE 500. PRS 1722 may be sent according to the parameters and schedule provided in PRS configuration message 1712. Stage 1720 is optional, as UE 500 may initiate and / or determine selective PRS measurement without first receiving and measuring PRS.

[0123] At stage 1730, UE 500 (e.g., symbol selection unit 550) is triggered to determine whether to implement selective PRS measurement, and if so, how to implement selective PRS measurement. For example, TRP 300 may send a selective measurement trigger 1732 to UE 500. The selective measurement trigger may instruct UE 500 to determine whether to implement selective PRS measurement. Alternatively, the selective measurement trigger may instruct UE 500 to implement selective PRS measurement and may provide one or more performance requirements for selective measurement. At sub-stage 1734, UE 500 (e.g., symbol selection unit 550) may initiate selective measurement determination, for example, in response to receiving selective measurement trigger 1732 and / or in response to one or more triggering conditions determined by UE 500. If selective symbol measurement is determined to be desirable, symbol selection unit 550 attempts to determine a selective measurement configuration to be implemented. If PRS 1722 is sent by TRP 300 and measured by UE 500, the selected selective measurement configuration may be based on the measurement of PRS 1722. The symbol selection unit 550 may send a PRS configuration request 1736 to the TRP 300 for a specific configuration of the PRS. For example, the scheduled PRS may have a transmit schedule 800, and the symbol selection unit 550 may determine that an efficient single symbol comb-4 measurement schedule is desired, and that saving more than four symbols is desired. The symbol selection unit 550 may respond to these conditions (transmit schedule and performance metric) by requesting the TRP 300 to use the transmit schedule 1000 for the PRS so that the UE 500 may meet the desired performance metric. The PRS configuration request 1736 may request a specific PRS transmit schedule, or may request a new transmit schedule generally, or may request a new schedule with one or more specified characteristics (e.g., comb number).

[0124] At stage 1740, the TRP 300 transmits a PRS 1742 to the UE 500. In response to the PRS configuration request 1736, the PRS 1742 may be transmitted according to the initially scheduled PRS transmission schedule or a new PRS transmission schedule.

[0125] At stage 1750, UE 500 implements the determined selective measurement configuration. Symbol selection unit 550 selects (one or more) symbols according to the selective measurement configuration determined at sub-stage 1734 and measures these symbols. Symbol selection unit 550 wakes up UE 500 from a sleep mode, in which UE 500 does not listen to or measure symbols of PRS 1742, to an awake mode, in which UE 500 listens to and measures symbols of PRS 1742.

[0126] At stage 1760, the UE determines positioning information. The positioning information may include, for example, one or more measurements, one or more ranges, and / or one or more positioning estimates of the UE 500. The UE 500 may send a positioning information message 1762 to the TRP 300 (and / or to the server 400), as appropriate (e.g., for the TRP 300 and / or server 400 (e.g., LMF) to determine a positioning estimate for the UE 500).

[0127] operate

[0128] refer to Fig.18 , further reference Figure 1-Figure 17 , the method 1800 for measuring wireless OFDM PRS at the UE includes the stages shown. However, the method 1800 is only an example and not a limitation. The method 1800 can be modified, for example, by adding, removing, rearranging, combining, performing concurrently, and / or dividing a single step into multiple steps.

[0129] At stage 1810, method 1800 includes selecting a subset of symbols of a symbol group of an OFDM PRS, the OFDM PRS including symbols of a slot, the symbols including a symbol group, the symbol group consisting of a first number of consecutive symbols of the symbols, the symbol group being completely interleaved in the frequency domain, the symbol subset consisting of a second number of symbols of the symbol group, the second number of symbols being less than the first number of symbols, and the symbol subset being not completely interleaved in the frequency domain. For example, symbol selection unit 550 determines fewer symbol combinations (e.g., such as, for example, less than all symbols of corresponding schedule 800, 1000, 1200, 1400) based on one or more factors (e.g., such that the symbol combination will satisfy one or more parameters, such as performance requirements) than all symbols of corresponding schedule 800, 1000, 1200, 1400. Fig. 9 , Fig.11 , Fig.13 , Fig.15 ) to select a subset of symbols. Fig.16 As discussed in substage 1734, symbol selection unit 550 may select a subset of symbols. A symbol group may include one or more repetitions of a fully interleaved set of symbols and / or a portion thereof. Processor 510 (possibly in conjunction with memory 530) may include components for selecting a subset of symbols. In addition, processor 510 (possibly in conjunction with memory 530) in conjunction with interface 520 (e.g., wireless receiver 244 and antenna 246) may include components for receiving a first time slot and a second time slot of a wireless OFDM PRS.

[0130] At stage 1820, method 1800 includes measuring a subset of symbols of the symbol group without measuring all symbols of the symbol group. For example, as described with respect to stages 1750 and Fig. 9 , Fig.11 , Fig.13 , Fig.15 As discussed, the UE 500 may be awakened by enough consecutive symbols (e.g., just enough consecutive symbols (i.e., a minimum number of consecutive symbols)) to measure all symbols in the selected symbol subset without measuring symbols that are not in the selected subset. The UE 500 may return to sleep mode after the last symbol in the symbol subset. The selective measurement may reduce processing operations and / or power consumption of the UE 500 compared to measuring all symbols in the symbol group. The processor 510 (possibly in conjunction with the memory 530) may include components for measuring a symbol subset in conjunction with the interface 520 (e.g., the wireless receiver 244 and the antenna 246).

[0131] Implementations of method 1800 may include one or more of the following features. In an example embodiment, the subcarriers of a symbol subset are uniformly spaced in the frequency domain. In another example embodiment, the symbol subset includes at least two consecutive symbols of a symbol group. For example, a symbol group includes at least two consecutive symbols and may include one or more other symbols. In another example embodiment, the symbol subset is selected based on at least one of a desired processing reduction or a desired power consumption reduction. The desired power consumption reduction may be based on a current power consumption rate and / or an expected (e.g., scheduled) power consumption rate (i.e., a power consumption rate based on scheduled processing). The desired reduction may be, for example, a reduction amount that satisfies a desired extension of battery life. In another example embodiment, the symbol subset is selected based on consecutive symbols of a third symbol amount in the symbols of all symbols of the symbol subset, the third symbol amount being less than the first symbol amount. For example, the UE 500 may be awakened by more symbols than in the symbol subset (e.g., if the symbols in the symbol subset are not consecutive (in time)). The symbol selection unit 550 may select the symbol subset based on the number of symbols for which the UE 500 will wake up, for example, rather than based solely on or not solely on the number of symbols in the symbol subset. In another example embodiment, the time slot is a second time slot, the OFDM PRS includes a first time slot, the first time slot includes a symbol group, and the method 1800 includes obtaining a measurement of the symbol group of the first time slot, wherein the symbol subset is selected based on a measured metric. The measured metric may include, for example, a Doppler measurement, a delay spread, RSRP, RSRQ, and / or SNR, etc. The processor 510 (possibly in conjunction with the memory 530), possibly in conjunction with the interface 520 (e.g., the wireless receiver 244 and the antenna 246), may include a component for obtaining a measurement of the symbol group. In another example embodiment, the method 1800 includes decoding a time of arrival (ToA) of the OFDM PRS at a user equipment, wherein the symbol subset is selected based on the measured metric that meets a corresponding threshold quality, and the time of arrival can be decoded by the user equipment using less than all symbols of the OFDM PRS (e.g., possibly half or less). For example, the symbol selection unit 550 can select a subset of symbols based on the SNR, RSRP and / or RSRQ of the symbol group and an RSTD accuracy determined from decoding ToA for a portion (less than all symbols) of the symbols that is at least as good as a threshold accuracy. thSymbols are used to decode ToA, then the UE 500 may have a subset of symbols that produce effective comb-N in the frequency domain while being able to meet the desired QoS. The threshold accuracy may be, for example, a threshold of the main peak power divided by the noise base power, or a threshold of the main peak power divided by the median power. The processor 510, possibly in conjunction with the memory 530, may be combined with the interface 520 (e.g., the wireless receiver 244 and the antenna 246), and may include components for decoding ToA.

[0132] Similarly or alternatively, embodiments of method 1800 may include one or more of the following features. In an example embodiment, a subset of symbols is selected in response to an indication that the user equipment is approaching a source of an OFDM PRS. For example, symbol selection unit 550 may determine and select a symbol combination having fewer symbols (e.g., a fully interleaved symbol set or an incompletely interleaved symbol set) than the currently measured symbols based on UE 500 reducing the distance between UE 500 and TRP 300. Thus, UE 500 may already be measuring a reduced symbol set, and symbol selection unit 550 may also reduce the number of selectively measured symbols to further reduce power consumption and / or processing resources. In another example embodiment, the subset of symbols is a first subset of symbols, and method 1800 includes selecting a second subset of symbols of the symbol group in response to an indication that the user equipment is moving away from a source of an OFDM PRS, the second subset of symbols consisting of symbols of a fourth amount of symbols in the symbol group, the fourth amount of symbols being greater than the second amount of symbols, and the second subset of symbols being incompletely interleaved. For example, the symbol selection unit 550 may determine a symbol combination having more symbols than the symbol currently being measured based on the UE 500 increasing the distance between the UE 500 and the TRP 300, for example to improve performance (e.g., measurement accuracy). In another example embodiment, the symbol subset is selected based on the time between the opportunities of the OFDM PRS. For example, if the PRS opportunities are closely spaced in time (e.g., 100 ms from the start of one opportunity to the start of the next opportunity), the symbol selection unit 550 may select a symbol subset that is smaller and / or has a higher effective single symbol comb number than when the PRS opportunities are spaced farther apart (e.g., to reduce power consumption and / or processing resources while achieving acceptable performance). In another example embodiment, the symbol subset is selected based on the motion of the user equipment. For example, the faster the UE 500 moves, or the more the UE 500 moves between PRS opportunities (e.g., using the PRS opportunity spacing and speed together to select the symbol subset), the symbol selection unit 550 may select the symbol subset to have a lower effective single symbol comb number to achieve the desired performance (e.g., measurement accuracy) when the UE is in motion. In another example embodiment, the symbol subset is selected based on the bandwidth of the symbol subset.The symbol selection unit 550 can select the symbol subset as small as possible while maintaining a threshold confidence that the UE 500 can identify the correct SNR peak given that the SNR peak broadens as the bandwidth of the symbol subset decreases.

[0133] Implementation Example

[0134] Implementation examples are provided in the numbered clauses below.

[0135] Clause 1. A user device comprising:

[0136] a receiver configured to receive a wireless orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) positioning reference signal (PRS);

[0137] Memory; and

[0138] a processor communicatively coupled to the receiver and the memory, configured to:

[0139] Selecting a subset of symbols in a symbol group of an OFDM PRS, the OFDM PRS comprising symbols of a time slot, the symbols comprising a symbol group, the symbol group consisting of consecutive symbols of a first symbol amount in the symbols, the symbol group being completely interleaved in the frequency domain, the symbol subset consisting of symbols of a second symbol amount in the symbol group, the second symbol amount being less than the first symbol amount, and the symbol subset being incompletely interleaved in the frequency domain; and

[0140] The subset of symbols is measured without measuring all symbols of the group of symbols.

[0141] Clause 2. A user equipment according to clause 1, wherein the subcarriers of the subset of symbols are uniformly spaced in the frequency domain.

[0142] Clause 3. A user equipment according to clause 1, wherein the subset of symbols comprises at least two consecutive symbols in the group of symbols.

[0143] Clause 4. The user equipment of clause 1, wherein the processor is configured to select the subset of symbols based on at least one of a desired processing reduction or a desired power consumption reduction.

[0144] Clause 5. A user device according to clause 1, wherein the processor is configured to select a subset of symbols based on consecutive symbols of a third symbol quantity among the symbols, the symbols including all symbols of the subset of symbols, the third symbol quantity being less than the first symbol quantity.

[0145] Clause 6. A user equipment according to clause 1, wherein the time slot is a second time slot, the OFDM PRS includes a first time slot, the first time slot includes a symbol group, and wherein the processor is configured to obtain a measurement of the symbol group of the first time slot and select the symbol subset based on the metric of the measurement.

[0146] Clause 7. The user equipment of clause 6, wherein the processor is configured to select the subset of symbols based on a measured metric satisfying a corresponding threshold quality, and the processor is capable of decoding the arrival times of the OFDM PRS using fewer than all symbols of the OFDM PRS.

[0147] Clause 8. The user equipment of clause 1, wherein the processor is configured to select the subset of symbols in response to an indication that the user equipment is approaching a source of the OFDM PRS.

[0148] Clause 9. A user device according to clause 1, wherein the symbol subset is a first symbol subset, and wherein the processor is configured to select a second symbol subset of the symbol group in response to an indication that the user device is moving away from a source of the OFDM PRS, the second symbol subset consisting of symbols of a fourth symbol quantity in the symbol group, the fourth symbol quantity being greater than the second symbol quantity, and the second symbol subset is not completely interleaved in the frequency domain.

[0149] Clause 10. The user equipment of clause 1, wherein the processor is configured to select the subset of symbols based on a time between opportunities of the OFDM PRS.

[0150] Clause 11. The user device of clause 1, wherein the processor is configured to select the subset of symbols based on a motion of the user device.

[0151] Clause 12. The user equipment of clause 1, wherein the processor is configured to select the symbol subset based on a bandwidth of the symbol subset.

[0152] Clause 13. A method of measuring a wireless Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) at a user equipment, the method comprising:

[0153] selecting a subset of symbols in a symbol group of an OFDM PRS, the OFDM PRS comprising symbols of a time slot, the symbols comprising a symbol group, the symbol group consisting of consecutive symbols of a first symbol amount in the symbols, the symbol group being completely interleaved in the frequency domain, the symbol subset consisting of symbols of a second symbol amount in the symbol group, the second symbol amount being less than the first symbol amount, and the symbol subset being not completely interleaved in the frequency domain; and

[0154] Instead of measuring all symbols of the group of symbols, a subset of symbols is measured.

[0155] Clause 14. The method of clause 13, wherein the subcarriers of the symbol subset are uniformly spaced in the frequency domain.

[0156] Clause 15. The method of clause 13, wherein the subset of symbols comprises at least two consecutive symbols in the group of symbols.

[0157] Clause 16. The method of clause 13, wherein the subset of symbols is selected based on at least one of a desired processing reduction or a desired power consumption reduction.

[0158] Clause 17. The method of clause 13, wherein the subset of symbols is selected based on consecutive symbols of a third symbol quantity among the symbols, the symbols including all symbols of the subset of symbols, the third symbol quantity being less than the first symbol quantity.

[0159] Clause 18. The method of clause 13, wherein the time slot is a second time slot, the OFDM PRS comprises a first time slot, the first time slot comprises a symbol group, and the method further comprises obtaining a measurement of the symbol group of the first time slot, wherein the symbol subset is selected based on a metric of the measurement.

[0160] Clause 19. The method of clause 18, further comprising decoding an arrival time of the OFDM PRS at a user device, wherein the subset of symbols is selected based on a metric of a measurement satisfying a corresponding threshold quality, and the arrival time can be decoded by the user device using fewer symbols than all symbols of the OFDM PRS.

[0161] Clause 20. The method of clause 13, wherein the subset of symbols is selected in response to an indication that the user equipment is approaching a source of OFDMPRS.

[0162] Clause 21. A method according to clause 13, wherein the symbol subset is a first symbol subset, and wherein the method further comprises selecting a second symbol subset in the symbol group in response to an indication that the user equipment is moving away from a source of the OFDM PRS, the second symbol subset consisting of consecutive symbols of a fourth symbol quantity in the symbol group, the fourth symbol quantity being greater than the second symbol quantity, and the second symbol subset being not completely interleaved in the frequency domain.

[0163] Clause 22. The method of clause 13, wherein the subset of symbols is selected based on a time between opportunities of an OFDM PRS.

[0164] Clause 23. The method of clause 13, wherein the subset of symbols is selected based on motion of the user device.

[0165] Clause 24. The method of clause 13, wherein the subset of symbols is selected based on a bandwidth of the subset of symbols.

[0166] Clause 25. A user device comprising:

[0167] A component for receiving a wireless Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) Positioning Reference Signal (PRS);

[0168] means for selecting a subset of symbols in a symbol group of an OFDM PRS, the OFDM PRS comprising symbols of a time slot, the symbols comprising a symbol group, the symbol group consisting of consecutive symbols of a first symbol amount in the symbols, the symbol group being completely interleaved in the frequency domain, the symbol subset consisting of symbols of a second symbol amount in the symbol group, the second symbol amount being less than the first symbol amount, and the symbol subset being incompletely interleaved in the frequency domain; and

[0169] Means for measuring the subset of symbols without measuring all symbols of the group of symbols.

[0170] Clause 26. User equipment according to clause 25, wherein the subcarriers of the symbol subset are evenly spaced in the frequency domain.

[0171] Clause 27. User equipment according to clause 25, wherein the subset of symbols comprises at least two consecutive symbols of the group of symbols.

[0172] Clause 28. The user equipment of clause 25, wherein the means for selecting the subset of symbols comprises means for selecting the subset of symbols based on at least one of a desired reduction in processing or a desired reduction in power consumption.

[0173] Clause 29. The user equipment of clause 25, wherein the means for selecting the subset of symbols comprises means for selecting the subset of symbols based on consecutive symbols of a third symbol quantity among the symbols comprising all the symbols of the subset of symbols, the third symbol quantity being less than the first symbol quantity.

[0174] Clause 30. A user equipment according to clause 25, wherein the time slot is a second time slot, the OFDM PRS comprises a first time slot comprising a symbol group, and the user equipment further comprises means for obtaining a measurement of the symbol group of the first time slot, wherein the means for selecting the symbol subset comprises means for selecting the symbol subset based on a metric of the measurement.

[0175] Clause 31. A user equipment according to clause 30, further comprising means for decoding the arrival time of an OFDM PRS, wherein the means for selecting a symbol subset comprises means for selecting a symbol subset based on a metric of a measurement satisfying a corresponding threshold quality, and means for decoding the arrival time, the means being capable of decoding the arrival time of the OFDM PRS using fewer symbols than all symbols of the OFDM PRS.

[0176] Clause 32. The user equipment of clause 25, wherein the means for selecting the subset of symbols comprises means for selecting the subset of symbols in response to an indication that the user equipment is approaching a source of the OFDM PRS.

[0177] Clause 33. A user device according to clause 25, wherein the symbol subset is a first symbol subset, the user device further comprising a component for selecting a second symbol subset of the symbol group in response to an indication that the user device is moving away from a source of the OFDM PRS, the second symbol subset consisting of symbols of a fourth symbol quantity in the symbol group, the fourth symbol quantity being greater than the second symbol quantity, wherein the second symbol subset is not completely interleaved in the frequency domain.

[0178] Clause 34. The user equipment of clause 25, wherein the means for selecting the subset of symbols comprises means for selecting the subset of symbols based on a time between opportunities of the OFDM PRS.

[0179] Clause 35. The user device of clause 25, wherein the means for selecting the subset of symbols comprises means for selecting the subset of symbols based on motion of the user device.

[0180] Clause 36. The user equipment of clause 25, wherein the means for selecting the subset of symbols comprises means for selecting the subset of symbols based on a bandwidth of the subset of symbols.

[0181] Clause 37. A non-transitory processor-readable storage medium comprising processor-readable instructions configured to cause a processor of a user equipment to perform the following operations for measuring a wireless orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) positioning reference signal (PRS):

[0182] Selecting a subset of symbols in a symbol group of an OFDM PRS, the OFDM PRS comprising symbols of a time slot, the symbols comprising a symbol group, the symbol group consisting of consecutive symbols of a first symbol amount in the symbols, the symbol group being completely interleaved in the frequency domain, the symbol subset consisting of symbols of a second symbol amount in the symbol group, the second symbol amount being less than the first symbol amount, and the symbol subset being incompletely interleaved in the frequency domain; and

[0183] The subset of symbols is measured without measuring all symbols of the group of symbols.

[0184] Clause 38. The storage medium of clause 37, wherein the subcarriers of the subset of symbols are uniformly spaced in the frequency domain.

[0185] Clause 39. The storage medium of clause 37, wherein the subset of symbols comprises at least two consecutive symbols in the group of symbols.

[0186] Clause 40. The storage medium of clause 37, wherein the processor-readable instructions configured to cause the processor to select the subset of symbols include processor-readable instructions configured to cause the processor to select the subset of symbols based on at least one of a desired processing reduction or a desired power consumption reduction.

[0187] Clause 41. A storage medium according to clause 37, wherein the processor-readable instructions configured to cause the processor to select a subset of symbols include processor-readable instructions configured to cause the processor to select a subset of symbols based on consecutive symbols of a third symbol quantity among the symbols of all symbols of the subset of symbols, the third symbol quantity being less than the first symbol quantity.

[0188] Clause 42. A storage medium according to clause 37, wherein the time slot is a second time slot, the OFDM PRS includes a first time slot, the first time slot includes a symbol group, and the storage medium also includes processor-readable instructions configured to cause the processor to obtain a measurement of the symbol group in the first time slot, wherein the processor-readable instructions configured to cause the processor to select a symbol subset include processor-readable instructions configured to cause the processor to select the symbol subset based on a metric of the measurement.

[0189] Clause 43. The storage medium according to clause 42 further includes processor-readable instructions configured to cause the processor to decode the arrival time of the OFDM PRS at the user equipment, wherein the processor-readable instructions configured to cause the processor to select a subset of symbols include processor-readable instructions configured to cause the processor to select a subset of symbols based on a metric of the measurement, the metric of the measurement satisfies a corresponding threshold quality and the arrival time can be decoded by the processor using fewer symbols than all symbols of the OFDM PRS.

[0190] Clause 44. The storage medium of clause 37, wherein the processor-readable instructions configured to cause the processor to select the subset of symbols include processor-readable instructions configured to cause the processor to select the subset of symbols in response to an indication that the user equipment is approaching a source of the OFDM PRS.

[0191] Clause 45. A storage medium according to clause 37, wherein the symbol subset is a first symbol subset, and wherein the storage medium further comprises processor-readable instructions configured to cause the processor to select a second symbol subset in the symbol group in response to an indication that the user equipment is moving away from a source of the OFDM PRS, the second symbol subset being comprised of symbols of a fourth symbol quantity in the symbol group, the fourth symbol quantity being greater than the second symbol quantity, and the second symbol subset being not completely interleaved in the frequency domain.

[0192] Clause 46. The storage medium of clause 37, wherein the processor-readable instructions configured to cause the processor to select the subset of symbols include processor-readable instructions configured to cause the processor to select the subset of symbols based on time between opportunities of the OFDM PRS.

[0193] Clause 47. The storage medium of clause 37, wherein the processor-readable instructions configured to cause the processor to select the subset of symbols include processor-readable instructions configured to cause the processor to select the subset of symbols based on motion of the user device.

[0194] Clause 48. The storage medium of clause 37, wherein the processor-readable instructions configured to cause the processor to select the subset of symbols include processor-readable instructions configured to cause the processor to select the subset of symbols based on a bandwidth of the subset of symbols.

[0195] Other considerations

[0196] Other examples and implementations are within the scope of this disclosure and the appended claims. For example, due to the nature of software and computers, the functions described above can be implemented using software executed by a processor, hardware, firmware, hard wiring, or any combination thereof. Features that implement the functions can also be physically located in a variety of locations, including being distributed so that parts of the functions are implemented in different physical locations.

[0197] As used herein, the singular forms "a", "an", and "the" also include the plural forms, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. The terms "comprises", "comprising", "includes", and / or "comprising" as used herein specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and / or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and / or groups thereof.

[0198] In addition, as used herein, "or" used in a list of items (possibly preceded by "at least one" or "one or more") represents a disjunctive list, so that, for example, a list of "at least one of A, B, or C" or a list of "one or more of A, B, or C" or a list of "A or B or C" represents A, B, C, or AB (A and B), or AC (A and C), or BC (B and C), or ABC (i.e., A and B and C), or a combination having more than one feature (e.g., AA, AAB, ABBC, etc.). Thus, a statement that an item, such as a processor, is configured to perform a function with respect to at least one of A or B, or a statement that an item is configured to perform function A or function B, means that the item can be configured to perform the function with respect to A, or can be configured to perform the function with respect to B, or can be configured to perform the function with respect to both A and B. For example, the phrase "a processor configured to measure at least one of A or B" or "a processor configured to measure A or measure B" means that the processor may be configured to measure A (and may or may not be configured to measure B), or may be configured to measure B (and may or may not be configured to measure A), or may be configured to measure A and measure B (and may be configured to select which one or both of A and B to measure). Similarly, a recitation of a component for measuring at least one of A or B includes a component for measuring A (which may or may not measure B), or a component for measuring B (and may or may not be configured to measure A), or a component for measuring A and B (which may select which one or both of A and B to measure). As another example, a recitation of an item, such as a processor, being configured to perform at least one of function X or to perform function Y means that the item may be configured to perform function X, or may be configured to perform function Y, or may be configured to perform function X and perform function Y. For example, the phrase “a processor configured to measure at least one of X or Y” means that the processor may be configured to measure X (and may be configured to measure Y or not measure Y), or may be configured to measure Y (and may be configured to measure X or not measure X), or may be configured to measure X and measure Y (and may be configured to select which one or both of X and Y to measure).

[0199] As used herein, unless otherwise stated, a statement that a function or operation is “based on” an item or condition means that the function or operation is based on the item or condition, and may be based on one or more items and / or conditions other than the item or condition.

[0200] Substantial changes can be made according to specific requirements. For example, customized hardware can also be used, and / or specific elements can be implemented in hardware, software (including portable software, such as applets, etc.) run by a processor, or both. In addition, connections of other computing devices such as network input / output devices can be adopted. Unless otherwise stated, components, functions or other components connected or communicating with each other shown in the figures and / or discussed in this article are communicatively coupled. That is, they can be directly or indirectly connected so that communication can be carried out between them.

[0201] The systems and devices discussed above are examples. Various configurations may omit, replace, or add various processes or components as appropriate. For example, features described with respect to certain configurations may be combined in various other configurations. Different aspects and elements of a configuration may be combined in a similar manner. In addition, technology is developing, and therefore, many elements are examples and do not limit the scope of the present disclosure or claims.

[0202] A wireless communication system is a system that carries communications wirelessly, i.e., by electromagnetic waves and / or sound waves propagating through atmospheric space, rather than through wired or other physical connections. A wireless communication network may not enable all communications to be sent wirelessly, but is configured to enable at least some communications to be sent wirelessly. In addition, the term "wireless communication device" or similar terms does not require that the functionality of the device is exclusively or evenly primarily used for communication, or that the device is a mobile device, but rather indicates that the device includes wireless communication capabilities (unidirectional or bidirectional), such as including at least one radio for wireless communication (each radio is part of a transmitter, receiver, or transceiver).

[0203] Specific details are given in the description to provide a comprehensive understanding of example configurations (including implementations). However, the configurations can be practiced without these specific details. For example, well-known circuits, processes, algorithms, structures, and techniques have been shown without unnecessary details to avoid obscuring the configurations. This description only provides example configurations and does not limit the scope, applicability, or configuration of the claims. On the contrary, the foregoing description of the configurations provides a description of the techniques described in the implementation. Various changes can be made to the functions and arrangements of the elements.

[0204] As used herein, the terms "processor-readable medium," "machine-readable medium," and "computer-readable medium" refer to any medium that participates in providing data that causes a machine to operate in a particular manner. Using a computing platform, various processor-readable media may be involved in providing instructions / codes to (one or more) processors for operation, and / or may be used to store and / or carry such instructions / codes (e.g., as signals). In many embodiments, processor-readable media are physical and / or tangible storage media. Such media may take a variety of forms, including, but not limited to, non-volatile media and volatile media. Non-volatile media include, for example, optical disks and / or magnetic disks. Volatile media include, but are not limited to, dynamic memory.

[0205] Several example configurations have been described, and various modifications, alternative configurations, and equivalents may be used. For example, the above elements may be components of a larger system, in which other rules may take precedence over or otherwise modify the application of the present invention. In addition, many operations may be performed before, during, or after considering the above elements. Accordingly, the above description does not limit the scope of the claims.

[0206] A statement that a value exceeds (or is greater than or above) a first threshold is equivalent to a statement that the value meets or exceeds a second threshold that is slightly greater than the first threshold, e.g., the second threshold is one value higher than the first threshold in the resolution capability of the computing system. A statement that a value is less than (or within or below) a first threshold is equivalent to a statement that the value is less than or equal to a second threshold that is slightly less than the first threshold, e.g., the second threshold is one value lower than the first threshold in the resolution capability of the computing system.

Claims

1. A user equipment, comprising: A receiver configured to receive a wireless orthogonal frequency division multiplexing OFDM positioning reference signal PRS; Memory; as well as a processor, communicatively coupled to the receiver and the memory, configured to: Selecting a subset of symbols in a symbol group of the OFDM PRS, the OFDM PRS comprising symbols of a time slot, the symbols comprising a symbol group, the symbol group consisting of consecutive symbols of a first symbol amount in the symbols, the symbol group being completely interleaved in the frequency domain, the symbol subset consisting of symbols of a second symbol amount in the symbol group, the second symbol amount being less than the first symbol amount, and the symbol subset being not completely interleaved in the frequency domain; as well as measuring said subset of symbols without measuring all said symbols of said group of symbols, The processor is configured to select the subset of symbols based on a movement of the user equipment. 2 . The user equipment according to claim 1 , wherein the subcarriers of the symbol subset are uniformly spaced in the frequency domain. 3 . The user equipment of claim 1 , wherein the subset of symbols comprises at least two consecutive symbols in the group of symbols. 4 . The user equipment of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to select the subset of symbols based on at least one of a desired processing reduction or a desired power consumption reduction.

5. The user equipment according to claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to select the symbol subset based on consecutive symbols of a third symbol amount in the symbols, the symbols including all symbols of the symbol subset, and the third symbol amount is less than the first symbol amount.

6. The user equipment of claim 1 , wherein the time slot is a second time slot, the OFDM PRS comprises a first time slot, the first time slot comprises the symbol group, and wherein the processor is configured to obtain a measurement of the symbol group of the first time slot and select the symbol subset based on the measured metric.

7. The user equipment of claim 6, wherein the processor is configured to select the subset of symbols based on the measured metric satisfying a corresponding threshold quality, and the processor is capable of decoding the arrival time of the OFDM PRS using fewer symbols than all symbols of the OFDM PRS.

8. The user equipment of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to select the subset of symbols in response to an indication that the user equipment is approaching a source of the OFDM PRS.

9. The user equipment of claim 1 , wherein the symbol subset is a first symbol subset, and wherein the processor is configured to select a second symbol subset in the symbol group in response to an indication that the user equipment is moving away from a source of the OFDM PRS, the second symbol subset consisting of symbols of a fourth symbol quantity in the symbol group, the fourth symbol quantity being greater than the second symbol quantity, and the second symbol subset being not completely interleaved in the frequency domain.

10. The user equipment of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to select the subset of symbols based on a time between opportunities of the OFDM PRS.

11. The user equipment of claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to select the subset of symbols based on a bandwidth of the subset of symbols.

12. A method for measuring a wireless orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) positioning reference signal (PRS) at a user equipment, the method comprising: Selecting a subset of symbols in a symbol group of the OFDM PRS, the OFDM PRS comprising symbols of a time slot, the symbols comprising a symbol group, the symbol group consisting of consecutive symbols of a first symbol amount in the symbols, the symbol group being completely interleaved in the frequency domain, the symbol subset consisting of symbols of a second symbol amount in the symbol group, the second symbol amount being less than the first symbol amount, and the symbol subset being not completely interleaved in the frequency domain; as well as measuring the subset of symbols without measuring all symbols in the set of symbols, The subset of symbols is selected based on the movement of the user equipment.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the subcarriers of the subset of symbols are evenly spaced in the frequency domain. The method of claim 12 , wherein the subset of symbols comprises at least two consecutive symbols in the group of symbols.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein the subset of symbols is selected based on at least one of a desired processing reduction or a desired power consumption reduction.

16. The method of claim 12, wherein the subset of symbols is selected based on consecutive symbols of a third symbol quantity among the symbols, the symbols including all symbols in the subset of symbols, the third symbol quantity being less than the first symbol quantity.

17. The method of claim 12, wherein the time slot is a second time slot, the OFDM PRS comprises a first time slot, the first time slot comprises the symbol group, and the method further comprises obtaining a measurement of the symbol group of the first time slot, wherein the symbol subset is selected based on a metric of the measurement.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising decoding an arrival time of the OFDM PRS at the user equipment, wherein the subset of symbols is selected based on a metric of the measurement satisfying a corresponding threshold quality, and the arrival time can be decoded by the user equipment using fewer symbols than all symbols of the OFDM PRS.

19. The method of claim 12, wherein the subset of symbols is selected in response to an indication that the user equipment is approaching a source of the OFDM PRS.

20. The method of claim 12, wherein the symbol subset is a first symbol subset, and wherein the method further comprises selecting a second symbol subset in the symbol group in response to an indication that the user equipment is moving away from a source of the OFDM PRS, the second symbol subset consisting of symbols of a fourth symbol quantity in the symbol group, the fourth symbol quantity being greater than the second symbol quantity, and the second symbol subset being incompletely interleaved in the frequency domain.

21. The method of claim 12, wherein the subset of symbols is selected based on time between opportunities of the OFDM PRS.

22. The method of claim 12, wherein the subset of symbols is selected based on a bandwidth of the subset of symbols.

23. A user equipment, comprising: A component for receiving a wireless orthogonal frequency division multiplexing OFDM positioning reference signal PRS; means for selecting a subset of symbols in a symbol group of the OFDM PRS, the OFDM PRS comprising symbols of a time slot, the symbols comprising a symbol group, the symbol group consisting of consecutive symbols of a first amount of the symbols, the symbol group being completely interleaved in the frequency domain, the symbol subset consisting of symbols of a second amount of the symbols in the symbol group, the second amount of the symbols being less than the first amount of the symbols, and the symbol subset being not completely interleaved in the frequency domain; as well as means for measuring said subset of symbols without measuring all symbols of said group of symbols, The symbol subset is selected based on the movement of the user equipment.

24. The user equipment of claim 23, wherein the subcarriers of the subset of symbols are uniformly spaced in the frequency domain.

25. The user equipment of claim 23, wherein the subset of symbols comprises at least two consecutive symbols in the group of symbols.

26. The user equipment of claim 23, wherein means for selecting the subset of symbols comprises means for selecting the subset of symbols based on at least one of a desired reduction in processing or a desired reduction in power consumption.

27. A user device according to claim 23, wherein the component for selecting the symbol subset includes a component for selecting the symbol subset based on consecutive symbols of a third symbol quantity in the symbols, the symbols including all symbols of the symbol subset, and the third symbol quantity is less than the first symbol quantity.

28. A non-transitory processor-readable storage medium comprising processor-readable instructions, wherein the processor-readable instructions are configured to cause a processor of a user equipment to perform the following operations in order to measure a wireless orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) positioning reference signal (PRS): selecting a subset of symbols in a symbol group of the OFDM PRS, the OFDM PRS comprising symbols of a time slot, the symbols comprising a symbol group, the symbol group consisting of consecutive symbols of a first symbol amount in the symbols, the symbol group being completely interleaved in the frequency domain, the symbol subset consisting of symbols of a second symbol amount in the symbol group, the second symbol amount being less than the first symbol amount, and the symbol subset being not completely interleaved in the frequency domain; and measuring said subset of symbols without measuring all said symbols of said group of symbols, in, The subset of symbols is selected based on the motion of the user equipment.

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