Positioning reference signal (PRS) to random access channel occasion (RO) mapping

Abstract

Various techniques for wireless communication are disclosed. In some aspects, a method of wireless communication performed by a user equipment (UE) includes determining a positioning reference signal (PRS) to random access channel (RACH) opportunity (RO) mapping that defines, based on certain PRS measurements, certain ROs during which the UE should transmit at least a RACH sequence. The method further includes performing at least one PRS measurement. The method further includes transmitting, in accordance with the PRS to RO mapping and based on the certain PRS measurements, the RACH sequence on at least one RO. The method can optionally include reporting, in accordance with the PRS to RO mapping, results of the PRS measurements to a base station based on the PRS measurements.

Description

[0001] Cross-references to related applications

[0002] This application claims priority to Indian Patent Application No. 202011033930, filed on August 7, 2020, entitled “POSITIONING REFERENCE SIGNAL (PRS) TO RANDOM ACCESS CHANNEL OCCASION (RO) MAPPING”, which is assigned to the assignee of this application and is expressly incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

[0003] Public background

[0004] 1. Public domain

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

[0006] 2. Relevant Technical Descriptions

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

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

[0009] To help determine the location or position of a User Equipment (UE) within a telecommunications network, the UE can perform a measurement of a Position Reference Signal (PRS), which is a downlink (DL) signal transmitted by a Transmitter / Receiver Point (TRP) (which may be a Base Station (BS)). The UE can then report the Time of Arrival (ToA) differences of PRS signals received from multiple different TRPs, and core network nodes (such as Location Servers (LS)) can use these reports to determine the UE's location. Uplink (UL) positioning is also possible using a Detection Reference Signal (SRS) transmitted by the UE. Based on the received SRS, the Base Station can measure and report (to the Location Server) the Time of Arrival, Received Power, and Angle of Arrival, from which the UE's location can be estimated. Round-Trip Time (RTT) based positioning schemes can also report and use the time difference between DL reception and UL transmission, where the distance between the Base Station and the UE can be determined based on the estimated RTT. The location can be determined by combining several such RTT measurements involving different Base Stations.

[0010] The aforementioned conventional methods have some drawbacks. For example, currently, if a UE is in a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connected state (RRC_CONNECTED), the UE can only perform PRS operations. Therefore, to determine its location, the UE must currently transition from an RRC_IDLE (RRC_idle) or RRC_INACTIVE (RRC_inactive) state to an RRC_CONNECTED state before it can perform PRS measurements. One reason the UE must be in the RRC_CONNECTED state is to ensure that the BS and (through extensions) the LS know how to interpret the PRS measurements provided by the UE. In conventional telecommunications networks, even if a UE in an RRC_IDLE or RRC_INACTIVE state provides PRS measurements to the BS, the BS does not know what the PRS measurements represent, such as which TRP, layer, PRS resource, etc., is being measured. Another reason the UE cannot perform PRS operations in the RRC_IDLE or RRC_INACTIVE states is that there is currently no defined way to do so.

[0011] Overview

[0012] The following is a simplified overview relating to one or more aspects disclosed herein. Therefore, this overview should not be considered an exhaustive overview relating to all aspects of the conception, nor should it be considered to identify key or decisive elements relating to all aspects of the conception or to depict the scope associated with any particular aspect. Accordingly, the sole purpose of the following overview is to present, in a simplified form, certain concepts relating to one or more aspects of the mechanism disclosed herein before the detailed description given below.

[0013] To overcome the technical shortcomings of the aforementioned conventional systems and methods, the User Equipment (UE) is provided with a Position Reference Signal (PRS) to Random Access Channel (RACH) Timing (RO) mapping. This allows the UE to report the results of PRS measurements to a Base Station (BS) (such as its serving NR Base Station (gNB)) by transmitting RACH sequences at specific ROs, depending on which PRS resources the UE can detect. When the BS receives the PRS measurement from the UE later, it can determine which TRPs / layers / etc. the UE can detect based on the ROs where the RACH sequences are transmitted, and understand what the measurement represents, for example, the time delay between the UE and a specific TRP.

[0014] In one aspect, a wireless communication method performed by a user equipment (UE) includes: determining a PRS-RO mapping that maps a positioning reference signal (PRS) measurement to a random access channel (RACH) timing (RO) during which the UE should transmit a RACH sequence; performing a PRS measurement; and transmitting the RACH sequence on the RO during which the UE should transmit the RACH sequence based on the PRS-RO mapping and the PRS measurement.

[0015] In one aspect, a wireless communication method performed by a base station (BS) includes: receiving from a network entity a PRS-to-RO mapping that maps a Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) measurement to a Random Access Channel (RACH) timing (RO) during which the UE should transmit a RACH sequence; and transmitting the PRS-to-RO mapping to the UE.

[0016] In one aspect, a wireless communication method performed by a network entity includes: determining a PRS resource group; determining, based on the PRS resource group, a PRS-to-RO mapping that maps a Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) measurement to a Random Access Channel (RACH) timing (RO) during which the UE should transmit a RACH sequence; and transmitting the PRS-to-RO mapping to a base station serving the UE.

[0017] In one aspect, a user equipment (UE) includes: a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: determine a PRS-RO mapping that maps a Position Reference Signal (PRS) measurement to a Random Access Channel (RACH) timing (RO) during which the UE should transmit a RACH sequence; perform a PRS measurement; and transmit the RACH sequence on the RO during which the UE should transmit the RACH sequence, based on the PRS-RO mapping and the PRS measurement, via the at least one transceiver.

[0018] In one aspect, a base station (BS) includes: a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: receive, via the at least one transceiver, a PRS-to-RO mapping from a network entity that maps Position Reference Signal (PRS) measurements to Random Access Channel (RACH) timings (ROs) during which a UE should transmit a RACH sequence; and transmit the PRS-to-RO mapping to the UE via the at least one transceiver.

[0019] In one aspect, a network entity includes: a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: determine a PRS resource group; determine, based on the PRS resource group, a PRS-to-RO mapping that maps Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) measurements to Random Access Channel (RACH) timings (ROs) during which the UE should transmit a RACH sequence; and transmit the PRS-to-RO mapping to a base station serving the UE via the at least one transceiver.

[0020] In one aspect, a user equipment (UE) includes: means for determining a PRS-RO mapping that maps a positioning reference signal (PRS) measurement to a random access channel (RACH) timing (RO) during which the UE should transmit a RACH sequence; means for performing the PRS measurement; and means for transmitting the RACH sequence on the RO during which the UE should transmit the RACH sequence, based on the PRS-RO mapping and the PRS measurement.

[0021] In one aspect, a base station (BS) includes: means for receiving from a network entity a PRS-RO mapping that maps a Position Reference Signal (PRS) measurement to a Random Access Channel (RACH) timing (RO) during which a UE should transmit a RACH sequence; and means for transmitting the PRS-RO mapping to the UE.

[0022] In one aspect, a network entity includes: means for determining a PRS resource group; means for determining, based on the PRS resource group, a PRS-RO mapping that maps a Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) measurement to a Random Access Channel (RACH) timing (RO) during which the UE should transmit a RACH sequence; and means for transmitting the PRS-RO mapping to a base station serving the UE.

[0023] In one aspect, a non-transient computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a user equipment (UE), cause the UE to: determine a PRS-to-RO mapping that maps a Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) measurement to a Random Access Channel (RACH) timing (RO) during which the UE should transmit a RACH sequence; perform a PRS measurement; and transmit the RACH sequence on the RO during which the UE should transmit the RACH sequence, based on the PRS-to-RO mapping and the PRS measurement.

[0024] In one aspect, a non-transient computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a base station (BS), cause the BS to: receive from a network entity a PRS-to-RO mapping that maps Position Reference Signal (PRS) measurements to Random Access Channel (RACH) timings (ROs) during which a UE should transmit a RACH sequence; and transmit the PRS-to-RO mapping to the UE.

[0025] In one aspect, a non-transient computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a network entity, cause the network entity to perform: determining a PRS resource group; determining, based on the PRS resource group, a PRS-to-RO mapping that maps Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) measurements to Random Access Channel (RACH) timings (ROs) during which the UE should transmit a RACH sequence; and transmitting the PRS-to-RO mapping to a base station serving the UE.

[0026] Other objectives and advantages associated with the aspects disclosed herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art based on the accompanying drawings and detailed description. Brief description of the attached diagram

[0028] The accompanying drawings are provided to help describe examples of one or more aspects of the disclosed subject matter, and these drawings are provided merely to illustrate the examples and not to limit it:

[0029] Figure 1 Exemplary wireless communication systems based on various aspects are explained;

[0030] Figure 2A and Figure 2B The example wireless network architecture is explained from various aspects;

[0031] Figures 3A to 3C It is a simplified block diagram of several exemplary aspects of components that can be adopted in wireless communication nodes and configured to support communication according to various aspects;

[0032] Figure 4A and 4BIt explains the example frame structures based on various aspects and provides diagrams of the channels within these frame structures;

[0033] Figure 5A and 5B This is a diagram illustrating the possible locations of ROs in the time and frequency domains according to different RACH configurations;

[0034] Figure 6A and 6B The various parts of an exemplary wireless communication method based on various aspects are explained;

[0035] Figure 7A and 7B The various parts of an exemplary wireless communication method based on various aspects are explained;

[0036] Figure 8A and 8B The various parts of an exemplary wireless communication method based on various aspects are explained;

[0037] Figures 9A to 9F This is a diagram illustrating an exemplary PRS to RO mapping according to various aspects; and

[0038] Figure 10 This is a diagram illustrating the signal message transmission and reception of an exemplary wireless communication method according to various aspects.

[0039] Detailed description

[0040] Various aspects of this disclosure are provided below in the description and accompanying drawings of various examples provided for illustrative purposes. Alternative aspects may be designed without departing from the scope of this disclosure. Furthermore, elements well-known in this disclosure will not be described in detail or will be omitted so as not to obscure the relevant details of this disclosure.

[0041] The terms “exemplary” and / or “example” are used herein to mean “serving as an example, instance, or illustration.” Any aspect described herein as “exemplary” and / or “example” is not necessarily to be construed as superior to or better than the others. Similarly, the term “aspects of this disclosure” does not require that all aspects of this disclosure include the features, advantages, or modes of operation discussed.

[0042] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the information and signals described below can be represented using any of a variety of different techniques and arts. For example, the data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referred to throughout the following description may be represented by voltage, current, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or magnetic particles, optical fields or optical particles, or any combination thereof, depending in part on the specific application, in part on the desired design, in part on the corresponding technology, etc.

[0043] Furthermore, many aspects are described in the form of sequences of actions performed by elements of, for example, computing devices. It will be appreciated that the various actions described herein can be performed by special-purpose circuitry (e.g., application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs)), by program instructions being executed by one or more processors, or by a combination of both. Additionally, the sequences of actions described herein can be considered to be fully embodied in any form of non-transient computer-readable storage medium storing a corresponding set of computer instructions that, upon execution, will cause an associated processor of the device to perform the functions described herein. Thus, various aspects of this disclosure can be embodied in several different forms, all of which are contemplated to fall within the scope of the claimed subject matter. Furthermore, for each aspect described herein, a corresponding form of any such aspect may be described herein as, for example, "logic configured to perform the described actions."

[0044] As used herein, the terms “User Equipment” (UE) and “Base Station” are not intended to be specific to or otherwise limited to any particular Radio Access Technology (RAT) unless otherwise stated. Generally, a UE can be any wireless communication device used by a user to communicate over a wireless communication network (e.g., mobile phone, router, tablet computer, laptop computer, tracking device, wearable device (e.g., smartwatch, glasses, augmented reality (AR) / virtual reality (VR) headset, etc.), vehicle (e.g., car, motorcycle, bicycle, etc.), Internet of Things (IoT) device, etc.). A UE can be mobile or can (e.g., at certain times) be stationary and can communicate with a Radio Access Network (RAN). As used herein, the term “UE” can be interchangeably referred to as “Access Terminal” or “AT”, “Client Equipment”, “Wireless Equipment”, “Subscriber Equipment”, “Subscriber Terminal”, “Subscriber Station”, “User Terminal” (UT), “Mobile Equipment”, “Mobile Terminal”, “Mobile Station”, or variations thereof. Generally, a UE can communicate with the core network via the RAN, and through the core network, the UE can connect to external networks (such as the Internet) and other UEs. Of course, other mechanisms for connecting to the core network and / or the Internet are also possible for the UE, such as through a wired access network, a wireless local area network (WLAN) (e.g., based on IEEE 802.11, etc.).

[0045] A base station may operate according to one of several RATs to communicate with a UE, depending on the network in which it is deployed, and may be alternatively referred to as an Access Point (AP), Network Node, B-Node, Evolved B-Node (eNB), Next Generation eNB (ng-eNB), New Radio (NR) B-Node (also referred to as gNB or gNodeB), etc. A base station may primarily be used to support radio access by the UE, including supporting data, voice, and / or signaling connections with the supported UE. In some systems, the base station may provide purely edge node signaling functions, while in others, it may provide additional control and / or network management functions. The communication link through which the UE can signal to the base station is called an uplink (UL) channel (e.g., reverse traffic channel, reverse control channel, access channel, etc.). The communication link through which the base station can signal to the UE is called a downlink (DL) or forward link channel (e.g., paging channel, control channel, broadcast channel, forward traffic channel, etc.). As used herein, the term traffic channel (TCH) may refer to an uplink / reverse traffic channel or a downlink / forward traffic channel.

[0046] The term "base station" can refer to a single physical transmit / receive point (TRP) or multiple physical TRPs that may or may not be located in the same place. For example, when the term "base station" refers to a single physical TRP, the physical TRP may be a base station antenna corresponding to a cell (or several cell sectors) of the base station. When the term "base station" refers to multiple physical TRPs located in the same place, the physical TRP may be an antenna array of the base station (e.g., in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system or in the case of beamforming at the base station). When the term "base station" refers to multiple physical TRPs not located in the same place, the physical TRP may be a distributed antenna system (DAS) (a network of spatially separated antennas connected to a common source via a transmission medium) or a remote radio headend (RRH) (a remote base station connected to a serving base station). Alternatively, physical TRPs not located in the same place may be the serving base station from which the UE receives measurement reports and neighboring base stations where the UE is measuring its reference radio frequency (RF) signal (or simply "reference signal"). Since a TRP is the point from which a base station transmits and receives wireless signals, as used herein, references to transmissions from or receptions at a base station should be understood as references to the specific TRP of that base station.

[0047] In some implementations that support UE positioning, the base station may not support the UE's radio access (e.g., it may not support data, voice, and / or signaling connections regarding the UE), but may instead transmit reference signals to the UE for measurement, and / or receive and measure signals transmitted by the UE. Such a base station may be referred to as a positioning tower (e.g., in the case of transmitting signals to the UE) and / or as a location measurement unit (e.g., in the case of receiving and measuring signals from the UE).

[0048] An “RF signal” refers to an electromagnetic wave of a given frequency that transmits information across the space between a transmitter and a receiver. As used herein, a transmitter may transmit a single “RF signal” or multiple “RF signals” to a receiver. However, due to the propagation characteristics of individual RF signals through a multipath channel, a receiver may receive multiple “RF signals” corresponding to each transmitted RF signal. The same RF signal transmitted on different paths between the transmitter and receiver can be referred to as a “multipath” RF signal. As used herein, an RF signal may also be referred to as a “wireless signal” or simply a “signal,” where the context clearly indicates that the term “signal” refers to a wireless signal or an RF signal.

[0049] Figure 1 An exemplary wireless communication system 100 according to various aspects has been described. The wireless communication system 100 (also referred to as a wireless wide area network (WWAN)) may include various base stations 102 and various UEs 104. Base station 102 may include macrocell base stations (high-power cellular base stations) and / or small cell base stations (low-power cellular base stations). In some aspects, macrocell base stations may include eNBs and / or ng-eNBs (where wireless communication system 100 corresponds to an LTE network), or gNBs (where wireless communication system 100 corresponds to an NR network), or a combination of both, and small cell base stations may include femtocells, picocells, microcells, etc.

[0050] Each base station 102 can collectively form a RAN and interface with a core network 170 (e.g., an evolved packet core (EPC) or a 5G core (5GC)) via a backhaul link 122, and connect to one or more location servers 172 (which may be part of the core network 170 or external to it) via the core network 170. Among other functions, base stations 102 can also perform functions related to one or more of the following: transmitting user data, radio channel cryptography and decoding, integrity protection, header compression, mobility control functions (e.g., handover, dual connectivity), inter-cell interference coordination, connection establishment and release, load balancing, distribution of non-access stratum (NAS) messages, NAS node selection, synchronization, RAN sharing, multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS), subscriber and equipment tracking, RAN information management (RIM), paging, location, and delivery of alarm messages. Base stations 102 can communicate with each other directly or indirectly (e.g., via EPC / 5GC) via a backhaul link 134 (which may be wired or wireless).

[0051] Base station 102 can wirelessly communicate with UE 104. Each base station 102 can provide communication coverage for its respective geographical coverage area 110. In some aspects, one or more cells can be supported by base station 102 in each geographical coverage area 110. A “cell” is a logical communication entity used to communicate with a base station (e.g., on a frequency resource, referred to as a carrier frequency, component carrier, carrier, frequency band, etc.) and can be associated with an identifier (e.g., Physical Cell Identifier (PCI), Virtual Cell Identifier (VCI), Cell Global Identifier (CGI)) to distinguish cells operating via the same or different carrier frequencies. In some cases, different cells can be configured according to different protocol types that can provide access to different types of UEs (e.g., Machine Type Communication (MTC), Narrowband IoT (NB-IoT), Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB), or others). Since cells are supported by specific base stations, the term “cell” can refer to either or both of the logical communication entity and the base station supporting that logical communication entity, depending on the context. Additionally, since the TRP is typically the physical transmission point of a cell, the terms "cell" and "TRP" are used interchangeably. In some cases, the term "cell" can also refer to the geographical coverage area (e.g., sector) of a base station, in the sense that the carrier frequency can be detected and used for communication within a portion of a geographical coverage area 110.

[0052] While the geographic coverage areas 110 of adjacent macrocell base stations 102 may partially overlap (e.g., in handover areas), some geographic coverage areas 110 may substantially overlap with larger geographic coverage areas 110. For example, a small cell base station 102' may have coverage areas 110' that substantially overlap with the geographic coverage areas 110 of one or more macrocell base stations 102. A network that includes both small cell and macrocell base stations may be referred to as a heterogeneous network. A heterogeneous network may also include home eNBs (HeNBs) that can provide service to a restricted group known as a Closed Subscriber Group (CSG).

[0053] The communication link 120 between base station 102 and UE 104 may include uplink (also known as reverse link) transmission from UE 104 to base station 102 and / or downlink (also known as forward link) transmission from base station 102 to UE 104. The communication link 120 may use MIMO antenna technologies, including spatial multiplexing, beamforming, and / or transmit diversity. The communication link 120 may use one or more carrier frequencies. Carrier allocation may be asymmetric with respect to the downlink and uplink (e.g., more or fewer carriers may be allocated to the downlink compared to the uplink).

[0054] The wireless communication system 100 may further include a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point (AP) 150 communicating with a WLAN station (STA) 152 via a communication link 154 in unlicensed spectrum (e.g., 5 GHz). When communicating in unlicensed spectrum, the WLAN STA 152 and / or WLAN AP 150 may perform a clear channel assessment (CCA) or listen-before-speak (LBT) procedure to determine channel availability before communication.

[0055] Small cell base station 102' can operate in licensed and / or unlicensed spectrum. When operating in unlicensed spectrum, small cell base station 102' can employ LTE or NR technology and use the same 5 GHz unlicensed spectrum as used by WLAN AP 150. Small cell base station 102' employing LTE / 5G in unlicensed spectrum can enhance access network coverage and / or increase access network capacity. NR in unlicensed spectrum may be referred to as NR-U. LTE in unlicensed spectrum may be referred to as LTE-U, Licensed Assisted Access (LAA), or MulteFire.

[0056] The wireless communication system 100 may further include a millimeter-wave (mmW) base station 180, which can operate in mmW and / or near-mmW frequencies to communicate with the UE 182. Extremely high frequency (EHF) is a portion of the electromagnetic spectrum that contains radio frequency (RF). EHF has a range of 30 GHz to 300 GHz and wavelengths between 1 mm and 10 mm. Radio waves in this band are referred to as millimeter waves. Near-mmW extends down to a 3 GHz frequency with a 100 mm wavelength. Ultra-high frequency (SHF) bands extend between 3 GHz and 30 GHz, and are also referred to as centimeter waves. Communication using mmW / near-mmW RF bands has high path loss and relatively short range. The mmW base station 180 and the UE 182 can utilize beamforming (transmit and / or receive) on the mmW communication link 184 to compensate for the extremely high path loss and short range. Furthermore, it will be appreciated that in alternative configurations, one or more base stations 102 may also use mmW or near-mmW and beamforming for transmission. Accordingly, it will be understood that the foregoing explanations are merely illustrative and should not be construed as limiting the aspects disclosed herein.

[0057] Transmit beamforming is a technique for focusing RF signals in a specific direction. Conventionally, when a network node (e.g., a base station) broadcasts an RF signal, it broadcasts the signal in all directions (omnidirectionally). Using transmit beamforming, the network node determines where a given target device (e.g., a UE) is located (relative to the transmitting network node) and projects a stronger downlink RF signal in that specific direction, thus providing the receiving device with a faster (in terms of data rate) and stronger RF signal. To change the directivity of the RF signal during transmission, the network node can control the phase and relative amplitude of the RF signal at each of one or more transmitters broadcasting the RF signal. For example, the network node can use an antenna array (referred to as a "phased array" or "antenna array") that generates a beam of RF waves, which can be "guided" to different directions without actually moving the antennas. Specifically, RF currents from the transmitters are fed to the individual antennas with the correct phase relationship so that radio waves from the separate antennas add together in the desired direction to increase radiation, while canceling each other out in the undesired direction to suppress radiation.

[0058] Transmit beams can be quasi-co-located, meaning they appear to the receiver (e.g., the UE) to have the same parameters regardless of whether the transmit antennas of network nodes are physically co-located. In NR, there are four types of quasi-co-location (QCL) relationships. Specifically, a given type of QCL relationship means that certain parameters of the second reference RF signal on the second beam can be derived from information about the source reference RF signal on the source beam. Therefore, if the source reference RF signal is QCL type A, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, and delay spread of the second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL type B, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift and Doppler spread of the second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL type C, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift and average delay of the second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is of type QCL D, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the spatial reception parameters of the second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel.

[0059] In receive beamforming, a receiver uses a receive beam to amplify an RF signal detected on a given channel. For example, a receiver may increase the gain setting of an antenna array and / or adjust the phase setting of the antenna array in a specific direction to amplify the RF signal received from that direction (e.g., increase its gain level). Thus, when a receiver is referred to as beamforming in a certain direction, it means that the beam gain in that direction is higher than the beam gain in other directions, or that the beam gain in that direction is the highest compared to the beam gain of all other receive beams available to the receiver in that direction. This results in a stronger received signal strength (e.g., Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP), Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ), Signal-to-Interference-plus-Noise Ratio (SINR), etc.) of the RF signal received from that direction.

[0060] The receive beam can be spatially dependent. Spatial dependency means that the parameters of the transmit beam used for the second reference signal can be derived from information about the receive beam of the first reference signal. For example, a UE can use a specific receive beam to receive one or more reference downlink reference signals (e.g., Position Reference Signal (PRS), Narrowband Reference Signal (NRS), Tracking Reference Signal (TRS), Phase Tracking Reference Signal (PTRS), Cell-Specific Reference Signal (CRS), Channel State Information Reference Signal (CSI-RS), Primary Synchronization Signal (PSS), Secondary Synchronization Signal (SSS), Synchronization Block (SSB), etc.) from a base station. The UE can then form a transmit beam based on the parameters of the receive beam to transmit one or more uplink reference signals (e.g., Uplink Position Reference Signal (UL-PRS), Detection Reference Signal (SRS), Demodulation Reference Signal (DMRS), PTRS, etc.) to the base station.

[0061] Note that, depending on the entity forming the "downlink" beam, the beam can be either a transmit beam or a receive beam. For example, if a base station is forming a downlink beam to transmit a reference signal to a UE, then the downlink beam is a transmit beam. However, if a UE is forming a downlink beam, then the downlink beam is a receive beam for receiving downlink reference signals. Similarly, depending on the entity forming the "uplink" beam, the beam can be either a transmit beam or a receive beam. For example, if a base station is forming an uplink beam, then the uplink beam is an uplink receive beam, while if a UE is forming an uplink beam, then the uplink beam is an uplink transmit beam.

[0062] In 5G, the spectrum in which radio nodes (e.g., base stations 102 / 180, UE 104 / 182) operate is divided into multiple frequency ranges: FR1 (from 450 to 6000 MHz), FR2 (from 24250 to 52600 MHz), FR3 (above 52600 MHz), and FR4 (between FR1 and FR2). In multi-carrier systems (such as 5G), one of the carrier frequencies is referred to as the “primary carrier” or “anchor carrier” or “primary serving cell” or “PCell,” and the remaining carrier frequencies are referred to as “secondary carriers” or “secondary serving cells” or “SCell.” In carrier aggregation, the anchor carrier is the carrier operating on the primary frequency (e.g., FR1) utilized by UE 104 / 182 and on the cell in which UE 104 / 182 performs an initial radio resource control (RRC) connection establishment procedure or initiates an RRC connection re-establishment procedure. The primary carrier carries all shared control channels as well as UE-specific control channels, and can be a carrier on a licensed frequency (however, this is not always the case). The secondary carrier is a carrier operating on a second frequency (e.g., FR2), which can be configured once an RRC connection is established between UE 104 and the anchor carrier, and can be used to provide additional radio resources. In some cases, the secondary carrier can be a carrier on an unlicensed frequency. The secondary carrier may contain only the necessary signaling information and signals; for example, UE-specific signaling information and signals may not be present on the secondary carrier, since both the primary uplink and downlink carriers are typically UE-specific. This means that different UEs 104 / 182 in a cell can have different downlink primary carriers. The same applies to the uplink primary carrier. The network can change the primary carrier of any UE 104 / 182 at any time. For example, this is done to balance the load on different carriers. Since a “serving cell” (whether PCell or SCell) corresponds to the carrier frequency / component carrier that a base station is using for communication, the terms “cell,” “serving cell,” “component carrier,” “carrier frequency,” etc., can be used interchangeably.

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

[0064] The wireless communication system 100 may further include one or more UEs (such as UE 190) that are indirectly connected to one or more communication networks via one or more device-to-device (D2D) peer-to-peer (P2P) links (referred to as “side links”). Figure 1 In the example, UE 190 has a D2D P2P link 192 with a UE 104 connected to a base station 102 (e.g., through which UE 190 indirectly obtains cellular connectivity), and a D2D P2P link 194 with a WLANSTA 152 connected to a WLAN AP 150 (through which UE 190 indirectly obtains WLAN-based Internet connectivity). In one example, D2D P2P links 192 and 194 can use any known D2D RAT (such as LTE Direct (LTE-D), WiFi Direct (WiFi-D)). (etc.) to support.

[0065] The wireless communication system 100 may further include a UE 164, which can communicate with the macrocell base station 102 on the communication link 120 and / or with the mmW base station 180 on the mmW communication link 184. For example, the macrocell base station 102 may support PCell and one or more SCells for the UE 164, and the mmW base station 180 may support one or more SCells for the UE 164.

[0066] Figure 2A An example wireless network architecture 200 is explained according to various aspects. For example, the 5GC 210 (also referred to as the Next Generation Core (NGC)) can be functionally considered as control plane functions 214 (e.g., UE registration, authentication, network access, gateway selection, etc.) and user plane functions 212 (e.g., UE gateway functions, access to data networks, IP routing, etc.), which operate collaboratively to form the core network. The user plane interface (NG-U) 213 and the control plane interface (NG-C) 215 connect the gNB 222 to the 5GC 210, specifically to the control plane functions 214 and user plane functions 212. In an additional configuration, the ng-eNB 224 can also connect to the 5GC 210 via the NG-C 215 to the control plane function 214 and the NG-U 213 to the user plane function 212. Furthermore, the ng-eNB 224 can communicate directly with the gNB 222 via the backhaul connection 223. In some configurations, the new RAN 220 may have only one or more gNB 222s, while other configurations include both one or more ng-eNB 224s and one or more gNB 222s. The gNB 222 or ng-eNB 224 can be used with UE 204 (e.g., Figure 1The UE 204 can communicate with any UE depicted herein. Another optional aspect may include a location server 172 that can communicate with the 5GC 210 to provide location assistance to the UE 204. The location server 172 may be implemented as multiple separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules extending across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternatively, each may correspond to a single server. The location server 172 may be configured to support one or more location services for the UE 204, which can connect to the location server 172 via the core network, the 5GC 210, and / or via the Internet (not described). Furthermore, the location server 172 may be integrated into a component of the core network, or alternatively, may be external to the core network.

[0067] Figure 2B Another example wireless network architecture 250, based on various aspects, is described. For example, 5GC 260 can be functionally considered as a control plane function (provided by Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) 264) and a user plane function (provided by User Plane Function (UPF) 262), which operate cooperatively to form the core network (i.e., 5GC 260). User plane interface 263 and control plane interface 265 connect ng-eNB 224 to 5GC 260, specifically to UPF 262 and AMF 264, respectively. In an additional configuration, gNB 222 can also connect to 5GC 260 via control plane interface 265 to AMF 264 and user plane interface 263 to UPF 262. Furthermore, ng-eNB 224 can communicate directly with gNB 222 via backhaul connection 223, with or without gNB direct connectivity to 5GC 260. In some configurations, the new RAN 220 may have only one or more gNB222s, while other configurations include both one or more ng-eNB 224s and one or more gNB 222s. The gNB 222 or ng-eNB 224 can be used with UE 204 (e.g., Figure 1 The base station of the new RAN 220 communicates with the AMF 264 via the N2 interface and with the UPF 262 via the N3 interface.

[0068] The functions of AMF 264 include registration management, connection management, reachability management, mobility management, lawful interception, transmission of Session Management (SM) messages between UE 204 and Session Management Function (SMF) 266, transparent proxy service for routing SM messages, access authentication and access authorization, transmission of Short Message Service (SMS) messages between UE 204 and Short Message Service Function (SMSF) (not shown), and Security Anchor Functionality (SEAF). AMF 264 also interacts with Authentication Server Function (AUSF) (not shown) and UE 204, and receives an intermediate key established as a result of the UE 204 authentication process. In the case of authentication based on the UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) Subscriber Identity Module (USIM), AMF 264 retrieves security material from the AUSSF. The functions of AMF 264 also include Security Context Management (SCM). The SCM receives a key from the SEAF, which is used by the SCM to derive a key that varies depending on the access network. The functionality of AMF 264 also includes: location service management for regulatory services, transmission of location service messages between UE 204 and Location Management Function (LMF) 270 (which acts as location server 172), transmission of location service messages between the new RAN 220 and LMF 270, allocation of EPS bearer identifiers for interoperability with Evolved Packet Systems (EPS), and UE 204 mobility event notification. Furthermore, AMF 264 also supports functionality for non-3GPP access networks.

[0069] The functions of UPF 262 include: acting as an anchor point for intra / inter-RAT mobility (where applicable), acting as an external Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session point interconnecting to a data network (not shown), providing packet routing and forwarding, packet inspection, user plane policy rule enforcement (e.g., strobing, redirection, traffic steering), lawful interception (user plane collection), traffic usage reporting, quality of service (QoS) handling for user plane (e.g., uplink / downlink rate enforcement, reflective QoS marking in the downlink), uplink traffic verification (Service Data Flow (SDF) to QoS Flow mapping), transport-level packet marking in the uplink and downlink, downlink packet buffering and downlink data notification triggering, and sending and forwarding one or more "end markers" to the source RAN node. UPF 262 may also support the transmission of location service messages on the user plane between UE 204 and a location server (such as Secure User Plane Positioning (SUPL) Location Platform (SLP) 272).

[0070] The functions of SMF 266 include session management, UE Internet Protocol (IP) address allocation and management, selection and control of user plane functions, traffic bootstrapping configuration at UPF 262 for routing traffic to the correct destination, partial control of policy enforcement and QoS, and downlink data notification. The interface used by SMF 266 to communicate with AMF 264 is called the N11 interface.

[0071] Another optional aspect may include LMF 270, which can communicate with 5GC 260 to provide location assistance to UE 204. LMF 270 may be implemented as multiple separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules extending across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternatively, each may correspond to a single server. LMF 270 may be configured to support one or more location services for UE 204, which can connect to LMF 270 via the core network, 5GC 260, and / or via the Internet (not explained). SLP 272 supports similar functionality to LMF 270, but while LMF 270 can communicate with AMF 264, the new RAN 220, and UE 204 on the control plane (e.g., using interfaces and protocols designed to convey signaling messages rather than voice or data), SLP 272 can communicate with UE 204 and external clients on the user plane (e.g., using protocols designed to carry voice and / or data, such as Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and / or IP). Figure 2B (Not shown in the image) communicates.

[0072] In some respects, the LMF 270 and / or SLP 272 can be integrated into base stations (such as gNB 222 and / or ng-eNB 224). When integrated into gNB 222 and / or ng-eNB 224, the LMF 270 and / or SLP 272 may be referred to as a Location Management Component (LMC). However, as used herein, references to LMF 270 and SLP 272 include both cases where LMF 270 and SLP 272 are components of the core network (e.g., 5GC 260) and cases where LMF 270 and SLP 272 are components of the base station.

[0073] Figure 3A , 3B The explanation of 3C is that it can be incorporated into UE 302 (which may correspond to any UE described herein), base station 304 (which may correspond to any base station described herein), and network entity 306 (which may correspond to or embody any network function described herein, including location server 230 and LMF 270, or alternatively may be independent of UE 302). Figure 2A and 2BSeveral example components (represented by corresponding boxes) in the NG-RAN 220 and / or 5GC 210 / 260 infrastructure (such as private networks) depicted herein support file transfer operations as taught herein. It will be appreciated that these components may be implemented in different types of devices (e.g., in ASICs, in System-on-Chip (SoCs), etc.) in different implementations. The illustrated components may also be incorporated into other devices in a communication system. For example, other devices in the system may include components similar to those described to provide similar functionality. Furthermore, a given device may include one or more of these components. For example, a device may include multiple transceiver components that enable the device to operate on multiple carriers and / or communicate via different technologies.

[0074] UE 302 and base station 304 each include one or more wireless wide area network (WWAN) transceivers 310 and 350, respectively, to provide means (e.g., means for transmitting, means for receiving, means for measuring, means for tuning, means for suppressing transmission, etc.) for communicating via one or more wireless communication networks (not shown) (such as NR networks, LTE networks, GSM networks, etc.). WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 may each be connected to one or more antennas 316 and 356 for communicating with other network nodes (such as other UEs, access points, base stations (e.g., eNB, gNB)) over a wireless communication medium of interest (e.g., a time / frequency resource set in a specific spectrum) via at least one designated RAT (e.g., NR, LTE, GSM, etc.). WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 can be configured, according to a specified RAT, in various ways to transmit and encode signals 318 and 358 (e.g., messages, indications, information, etc.), and conversely, to receive and decode signals 318 and 358 (e.g., messages, indications, information, pilots, etc.). Specifically, WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 each include one or more transmitters 314 and 354 for transmitting and encoding signals 318 and 358, respectively, and each includes one or more receivers 312 and 352 for receiving and decoding signals 318 and 358, respectively.

[0075] In at least some cases, UE 302 and base station 304 each further include one or more short-range radio transceivers 320 and 360, respectively. The short-range radio transceivers 320 and 360 can be connected to one or more antennas 326 and 366, respectively, and provide access via at least one designated RAT (e.g., WiFi, LTE-D, etc.). A means for communicating with other network nodes (such as other UEs, access points, base stations, etc.) over a wireless communication medium of interest (e.g., means for transmitting, means for receiving, means for measuring, means for tuning, means for suppressing transmission, etc.) such as PC5, Dedicated Short Range Communication (DSRC), Wireless Access in Vehicle Environments (WAVE), Near Field Communication (NFC), etc.). Short-range transceivers 320 and 360 can be configured, according to a specified RAT, in various ways to transmit and encode signals 328 and 368 (e.g., messages, indications, information, etc.), and conversely, to receive and decode signals 328 and 368 (e.g., messages, indications, information, pilots, etc.). Specifically, short-range transceivers 320 and 360 each include one or more transmitters 324 and 364 for transmitting and encoding signals 328 and 368, respectively, and one or more receivers 322 and 362 for receiving and decoding signals 328 and 368, respectively. As specific examples, the short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 can be WiFi transceivers, transceiver and / or Transceivers, NFC transceivers, or vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and / or vehicle-to-everything (V2X) transceivers.

[0076] In at least some cases, UE 302 and base station 304 also include satellite signal receivers 330 and 370. Satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 may be connected to one or more antennas 336 and 376, respectively, and may be provided with means for receiving and / or measuring satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378, respectively. When satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 are satellite positioning system receivers, satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378 may be Global Positioning System (GPS) signals, Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS) signals, Galileo signals, BeiDou signals, Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (NAVIC), Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS), etc. When satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 are non-terrestrial network (NTN) receivers, satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378 may be communication signals originating from a 5G network (e.g., carrying control and / or user data). Satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 may include any suitable hardware and / or software for receiving and processing satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378, respectively. Satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 may request information and operations from other systems as appropriate, and in at least some cases perform calculations to determine the respective locations of UE 302 and base station 304 using measurements obtained by any suitable satellite positioning system algorithm.

[0077] Base station 304 and network entity 306 each include one or more network transceivers 380 and 390, respectively, to provide means (e.g., means for transmitting, means for receiving, etc.) for communicating with other network entities (e.g., other base stations 304, other network entities 306). For example, base station 304 may use one or more network transceivers 380 to communicate with other base stations 304 or network entities 306 on one or more wired or wireless backhaul links. As another example, network entity 306 may use one or more network transceivers 390 to communicate with one or more base stations 304 on one or more wired or wireless backhaul links, or to communicate with other network entities 306 on one or more wired or wireless core network interfaces.

[0078] Transceivers can be configured to communicate over wired or wireless links. A transceiver (whether wired or wireless) includes a transmitter circuitry (e.g., transmitters 314, 324, 354, 364) and a receiver circuitry (e.g., receivers 312, 322, 352, 362). In some implementations, the transceiver may be an integrated device (e.g., implementing the transmitter and receiver circuitry in a single device), in some implementations it may include separate transmitter and receiver circuitry, or in other implementations it may be implemented in a different manner. The transmitter and receiver circuitry of a wired transceiver (e.g., in some implementations, network transceivers 380 and 390) may be coupled to one or more wired network interface ports. Wireless transmitter circuitry (e.g., transmitters 314, 324, 354, 364) may include or be coupled to multiple antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such as antenna arrays, which permit the corresponding device (e.g., UE 302, base station 304) to perform transmit beamforming as described herein. Similarly, wireless receiver circuitry (e.g., receivers 312, 322, 352, 362) may include or be coupled to multiple antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such as antenna arrays, which permit the corresponding device (e.g., UE 302, base station 304) to perform receive beamforming as described herein. In some aspects, the transmitter circuitry and receiver circuitry may share the same multiple antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366) so that the corresponding device can only receive or transmit at a given time, rather than both simultaneously. Wireless transceivers (e.g., WWAN transceivers 310 and 350, short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360) may also include network listening modules (NLMs) for performing various measurements.

[0079] As used herein, various wireless transceivers (e.g., transceivers 310, 320, 350, and 360, and network transceivers 380 and 390 in some implementations) and wired transceivers (e.g., network transceivers 380 and 390 in some implementations) can generally be characterized as "transceiver," "at least one transceiver," or "one or more transceivers." Thus, whether a particular transceiver is a wired or wireless transceiver can be inferred from the type of communication performed. For example, backhaul communication between network devices or servers generally involves signaling via a wired transceiver, while wireless communication between a UE (e.g., UE 302) and a base station (e.g., base station 304) generally involves signaling via a wireless transceiver.

[0080] UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 also include other components that can be used in conjunction with operations as disclosed herein. UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 each include one or more processors 332, 384, and 394 for providing functionality related to, for example, wireless communication, and for providing other processing functionality. Processors 332, 384, and 394 can therefore provide means for processing, such as means for determining, means for calculating, means for receiving, means for transmitting, means for indicating, etc. In some aspects, processors 332, 384, and 394 may include, for example, one or more general-purpose processors, multi-core processors, central processing units (CPUs), ASICs, digital signal processors (DSPs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), other programmable logic devices or processing circuitry systems, or various combinations thereof.

[0081] UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 include memory circuitry that respectively implements memories 340, 386, and 396 (e.g., each including a memory device) for maintaining information (e.g., information indicating reserved resources, thresholds, parameters, etc.). Memories 340, 386, and 396 thus provide means for storage, means for retrieval, means for maintenance, etc. In some cases, UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 may respectively include positioning components 342, 388, and 398. Positioning components 342, 388, and 398 may be hardware circuitry as part of or coupled to processors 332, 384, and 394, which, when executed, cause UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 to perform the functionality described herein. In other aspects, positioning components 342, 388, and 398 may be external to processors 332, 384, and 394 (e.g., part of a modem processing system, integrated with another processing system, etc.). Alternatively, positioning components 342, 388, and 398 may be memory modules stored in memories 340, 386, and 396, respectively, which, when executed by processors 332, 384, and 394 (or modem processing system, another processing system, etc.), enable UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 to perform the functionality described herein. Figure 3A The possible locations of the positioning component 342 are described. The positioning component 342 may be, for example, part of one or more WWAN transceivers 310, memory 340, one or more processors 332, or any combination thereof, or may be a self-contained component. Figure 3B The possible locations of the positioning component 388 are explained. The positioning component 388 may be, for example, part of one or more WWAN transceivers 350, memory 386, one or more processors 384, or any combination thereof, or may be a self-contained component. Figure 3C The possible locations of the positioning component 398 are explained. The positioning component 398 may be, for example, part of one or more network transceivers 390, memory 396, one or more processors 394, or any combination thereof, or may be a self-contained component.

[0082] UE 302 may include one or more sensors 344 coupled to one or more processors 332 to provide means for sensing or detecting motion and / or orientation information independent of motion data derived from signals received by one or more WWAN transceivers 310, one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320, and / or satellite signal receivers 330. As an example, sensor 344 may include accelerometers (e.g., microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) devices), gyroscopes, geomagnetic sensors (e.g., compasses), altimeters (e.g., barometric altimeters), and / or any other type of motion detection sensor. Furthermore, sensor 344 may include multiple different types of devices and combine their outputs to provide motion information. For example, sensor 344 may use a combination of multi-axis accelerometers and orientation sensors to provide the ability to calculate position in two-dimensional (2D) and / or three-dimensional (3D) coordinate systems.

[0083] Additionally, UE 302 includes a user interface 346, which provides means for providing instructions to the user (e.g., audible and / or visual instructions) and / or for receiving user input (e.g., when the user actuates a sensing device (such as a keypad, touchscreen, microphone, etc.)). Although not shown, base station 304 and network entity 306 may also include user interfaces.

[0084] Referring more specifically to one or more processors 384, in the downlink, IP packets from network entity 306 may be provided to processor 384. One or more processors 384 may implement functionality for the RRC layer, Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer, Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, and Media Access Control (MAC) layer. One or more processors 384 may provide RRC layer functionality associated with system information (e.g., Master Information Block (MIB), System Information Block (SIB)) broadcasting, RRC connection control (e.g., RRC connection paging, RRC connection establishment, RRC connection modification, and RRC connection release), inter-RAT mobility, and measurement configuration for UE measurement reporting; PDCP layer functionality associated with header compression / decompression, security (cryptography, cryptographic decoding, integrity protection, integrity verification), and handover support functions; RLC layer functionality associated with upper-layer PDU delivery, error correction via Automatic Repeat Request (ARQ), concatenation, segmentation and reassembly of RLC Service Data Units (SDUs), resegmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functionality associated with mapping between logical channels and transport channels, scheduling information reporting, error correction, priority handling, and logical channel priority ordering.

[0085] Transmitter 354 and receiver 352 implement Layer 1 (L1) functionality associated with various signal processing functions. Layer-1, including the physical (PHY) layer, may include error detection on the transport channel, forward error correction (FEC) decoding / decoding of the transport channel, interleaving, rate matching, mapping to the physical channel, modulation / demodulation of the physical channel, and MIMO antenna processing. Transmitter 354 processes the mapping to the signal constellation based on various modulation schemes (e.g., binary phase shift keying (BPSK), quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK), M-phase shift keying (M-PSK), M-quadrature amplitude modulation (M-QAM)). The encoded and modulated symbols can then be split into parallel streams. Each stream can then be mapped to an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) subcarrier, multiplexed with a reference signal (e.g., a pilot) in the time and / or frequency domains, and subsequently combined using an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) to produce a physical channel carrying a time-domain OFDM symbol stream. The OFDM symbol stream is spatially precoded to generate multiple spatial streams. Channel estimates from the channel estimator can be used to determine the coding and modulation schemes, as well as for spatial processing. The channel estimates can be derived from reference signals transmitted by UE 302 and / or channel condition feedback. Each spatial stream can then be provided to one or more different antennas 356. Transmitter 354 can use the corresponding spatial stream to modulate an RF carrier for transmission.

[0086] At UE 302, receiver 312 receives signals via its corresponding antenna 316. Receiver 312 recovers the information modulated onto the RF carrier and provides this information to one or more processors 332. Transmitter 314 and receiver 312 implement Layer 1 functionality associated with various signal processing functions. Receiver 312 can perform spatial processing on this information to recover any spatial stream destined for UE 302. If multiple spatial streams are destined for UE 302, they can be combined by receiver 312 into a single OFDM symbol stream. Receiver 312 then uses a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) to transform the OFDM symbol stream from the time domain to the frequency domain. The frequency domain signal consists of a separate OFDM symbol stream for each subcarrier of the OFDM signal. Symbols on each subcarrier, along with a reference signal, are recovered and demodulated by determining the signal constellation points most likely to be transmitted by base station 304. These soft decisions can be based on a channel estimate calculated by a channel estimator. These soft decisions are then decoded and deinterleaved to recover the original data and control signals transmitted by base station 304 over the physical channel. This data and control signals are then provided to one or more processors 332 that implement Layer 3 (L3) and Layer 2 (L2) functionality.

[0087] In the uplink, one or more processors 332 provide demultiplexing, packet reassembly, cipher decoding, header decompression, and control signal processing between the transport and logical channels to recover IP packets from the core network. One or more processors 332 are also responsible for error detection.

[0088] Similar to the functionality described in conjunction with downlink transmissions performed by base station 304, one or more processors 332 provide RRC layer functionality associated with system information (e.g., MIB, SIB) capture, RRC connectivity, and measurement reporting; PDCP layer functionality associated with header compression / decompression and security (cryptography, cryptographic decoding, integrity protection, integrity verification); RLC layer functionality associated with upper-layer PDU delivery, error correction via ARQ, concatenation, segmentation and reassembly of RLC SDUs, resegmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functionality associated with mapping between logical channels and transport channels, multiplexing MAC SDUs onto transport blocks (TBs), demultiplexing MAC SDUs from TBs, scheduling information reporting, error correction via Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ), priority handling, and logical channel priority ordering.

[0089] The channel estimate derived by the channel estimator from the reference signal or feedback transmitted by the base station 304 can be used by the transmitter 314 to select an appropriate coding and modulation scheme and to facilitate spatial processing. The spatial stream generated by the transmitter 314 can be provided to different antennas 316. The transmitter 314 can use the corresponding spatial stream to modulate the RF carrier for transmission.

[0090] Uplink transmissions are handled at base station 304 in a manner similar to that described in conjunction with the receiver function at UE 302. Receiver 352 receives signals via its corresponding antenna 356. Receiver 352 recovers the information modulated onto the RF carrier and provides that information to one or more processors 384.

[0091] In the uplink, one or more processors 384 provide demultiplexing, packet reassembly, cipher decoding, header decompression, and control signal processing between the transport and logical channels to recover IP packets from UE 302. IP packets from the one or more processors 384 can be provided to the core network. The one or more processors 384 are also responsible for error detection.

[0092] For convenience, UE 302, base station 304 and / or network entity 306 are in Figure 3A , 3BThe components shown in 3C are various and can be configured according to the various examples described herein. However, it will be understood that the components described may have different functionalities in different designs. Specifically, Figures 3A to 3C The various components are optional in the replacement configuration, and various aspects include configurations that can vary due to design choices, cost, equipment usage, or other considerations. For example, in Figure 3A In this scenario, a specific implementation of UE 302 may omit WWAN transceiver 310 (e.g., wearable devices, tablets, PCs, or laptops may have Wi-Fi and / or Bluetooth capabilities but no cellular capabilities), or short-range wireless transceiver 320 (e.g., cellular only), or satellite signal receiver 330, or sensor 344, etc. In another example, in Figure 3B In such cases, a particular implementation of base station 304 may omit WWAN transceiver 350 (e.g., a Wi-Fi "hotspot" access point without cellular capabilities), or short-range wireless transceiver 360 (e.g., cellular only), or satellite receiver 370, etc. For the sake of brevity, explanations of various alternative configurations are not provided herein, but will be readily understood by those skilled in the art.

[0093] Various components of UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 can be communicatively coupled to each other on data buses 334, 382, ​​and 392, respectively. In some aspects, data buses 334, 382, ​​and 392 can form or be part of the communication interfaces of UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306, respectively. For example, when different logical entities are implemented in the same device (e.g., gNB and location server functionality are incorporated into the same base station 304), data buses 334, 382, ​​and 392 can provide communication between them.

[0094] Figure 3A , 3B The various components of 3C can be implemented in various ways. In some implementations, Figure 3A , 3BThe various components of 3C can be implemented in one or more circuits, such as, for example, one or more processors and / or one or more ASICs (which may include one or more processors). Here, each circuit may use and / or incorporate at least one memory component for storing information or executable code used by that circuit to provide this functionality. For example, some or all of the functionalities represented by blocks 310 to 346 may be implemented by the processor and / or memory components of UE 302 (e.g., by executing appropriate code and / or by appropriately configuring the processor components). Similarly, some or all of the functionalities represented by blocks 350 to 388 may be implemented by the processor and memory components of base station 304 (e.g., by executing appropriate code and / or by appropriately configuring the processor components). Furthermore, some or all of the functionalities represented by blocks 390 to 398 may be implemented by the processor and / or memory components of network entity 306 (e.g., by executing appropriate code and / or by appropriately configuring the processor components). For simplicity, various operations, actions, and / or functions are described herein as being performed "by the UE," "by the base station," "by the network entity," etc. However, as will be appreciated, such operations, actions, and / or functions may actually be performed by specific components or combinations of components of the UE 302, base station 304, network entity 306, etc., such as processors 332, 384, 394, transceivers 310, 320, 350, and 360, memories 340, 386, and 396, positioning components 342, 388, and 398, etc.

[0095] In some designs, network entity 306 may be implemented as a core network component. In other designs, network entity 306 may be a network operator or operation different from the cellular network infrastructure (e.g., NG RAN 220 and / or 5GC210 / 260). For example, network entity 306 may be a component of a private network that may be configured to communicate with UE 302 via base station 304 or independently of base station 304 (e.g., on a non-cellular communication link, such as WiFi).

[0096] NR supports several cellular network-based positioning technologies, including downlink-based positioning methods, uplink-based positioning methods, and downlink-and-uplink-based positioning methods. Downlink-based positioning methods include: Observed Time Difference of Arrival (OTDOA) in LTE, Downlink Time Difference of Arrival (DL-TDOA) in NR, and Downlink Angle of Departure (DL-AoD) in NR. In an OTDOA or DL-TDOA positioning procedure, the UE measures the difference between the times of arrival (ToA) of reference signals (e.g., PRS, TRS, Narrowband Reference Signal (NRS), CSI-RS, SSB, etc.) received from paired base stations (referred to as Reference Signal Time Difference (RSTD) or Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA) measurements) and reports these differences to the positioning entity. More specifically, the UE receives identifiers of a reference base station (e.g., a serving base station) and multiple non-reference base stations in auxiliary data. The UE then measures the RSTD between the reference base station and each non-reference base station. Based on the known locations of the base stations involved and the RSTD measurements, the positioning entity can estimate the UE's location. For DL-AoD positioning, base station measurements are used to estimate the location of the UE by taking the angle of the downlink transmit beam used to communicate with the UE and other channel properties (e.g., signal strength).

[0097] Uplink-based positioning methods include uplink time difference of arrival (UL-TDOA) and uplink angle of arrival (UL-AoA). UL-TDOA is similar to DL-TDOA, but it is based on uplink reference signals (e.g., SRS) transmitted by the UE. For UL-AoA positioning, the base station measures the angle of the uplink received beam used to communicate with the UE and other channel properties (e.g., gain level) to estimate the UE's location.

[0098] Downlink and uplink-based positioning methods include Enhanced Cellular ID (E-CID) positioning and Multiple Round Trip (RTT) positioning (also known as "Multi-Cell RTT"). In an RTT procedure, the initiator (base station or UE) transmits an RTT measurement signal (e.g., PRS or SRS) to the responder (UE or base station), which then transmits an RTT response signal (e.g., SRS or PRS) back to the initiator. The RTT response signal includes the difference between the ToA of the RTT measurement signal and the transmission time of the RTT response signal (referred to as the receive-to-transmit (Rx-Tx) measurement). The initiator calculates the difference between the transmission time of the RTT measurement signal and the ToA of the RTT response signal (referred to as the "Tx-Rx" measurement). The propagation time between the initiator and the responder (also known as "time of flight") can be calculated from the Tx-Rx and Rx-Tx measurements. Based on the propagation time and the known speed of light, the distance between the initiator and the responder can be determined. For multi-RTT positioning, the UE executes RTT procedures with multiple base stations so that the UE's location can be triangulated based on the known locations of each base station. RTT and multi-RTT methods can be combined with other positioning technologies (such as UL-AoA and DL-AoD) to improve location accuracy.

[0099] The E-CID positioning method is based on Radio Resource Management (RRM) measurements. In E-CID, the UE reports the serving cell ID, timing advance (TA), and the identifiers, estimated timings, and signal strengths of detected neighboring base stations. The UE's location is then estimated based on this information and the known locations of the base stations.

[0100] To assist in positioning operations, a location server (e.g., location server 172, LMF 270, SLP272) may provide auxiliary data to the UE. For example, auxiliary data may include: the identifier of the base station (or the cell / TRP of the base station) from which the measured reference signal originates, reference signal configuration parameters (e.g., the number of consecutive positioning slots, the periodicity of the positioning slots, the silence sequence, the frequency hopping sequence, the reference signal identifier (ID), the reference signal bandwidth, the slot offset, etc.), and / or other parameters applicable to a particular positioning method. Alternatively, auxiliary data may originate directly from the base station itself (e.g., in periodically broadcast overhead messages, etc.). In some cases, the UE may be able to detect neighboring network nodes without using auxiliary data.

[0101] Location estimation can be referred to by other names, such as location estimation, location, positioning, location locking, locking, etc. Location estimation can be geodetic and include coordinates (e.g., latitude, longitude, and possible elevation), or it can be municipal and include street addresses, postal addresses, or some other verbal description of location. Location estimation can be further defined relative to some other known location or in absolute terms (e.g., using latitude, longitude, and possible elevation). Location estimation can include expected errors or uncertainties (e.g., by including the area or volume that the location is expected to be included with a specified or default confidence level).

[0102] Various frame structures can be used to support downlink and uplink transmissions between network nodes (e.g., base stations and UEs).

[0103] Figure 4A Figure 400 illustrates an example of the downlink frame structure based on various aspects.

[0104] Figure 4B Figure 430 illustrates an example of a channel within a downlink frame structure, according to various aspects. Other wireless communication technologies may have different frame structures and / or different channels.

[0105] LTE, and in some cases NR, utilizes OFDM on the downlink and single-carrier frequency division multiplexing (SC-FDM) on the uplink. However, unlike LTE, NR also has the option to use OFDM on the uplink. OFDM and SC-FDM divide the system bandwidth into multiple (K) orthogonal subcarriers, which are often referred to as frequency modulation, frequency slots, etc. Each subcarrier can be modulated with data. Generally, modulation symbols are transmitted in the frequency domain for OFDM and in the time domain for SC-FDM. The spacing between adjacent subcarriers can be fixed, and the total number of subcarriers (K) can depend on the system bandwidth. For example, the subcarrier spacing can be 15 kHz, and the minimum resource allocation (resource block) can be 12 subcarriers (or 180 kHz). Therefore, for system bandwidths of 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10, or 20 MHz, the nominal FFT size can be equal to 128, 256, 504, 1024, or 2048, respectively. The system bandwidth can also be divided into subbands. For example, a subband can cover 1.8MHz (i.e., 6 resource blocks), and for system bandwidths of 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10, or 20MHz, there can be 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16 subbands, respectively.

[0106] LTE supports a single set of parameters (subcarrier spacing, symbol length, etc.). In contrast, NR can support multiple sets of parameters (μ), for example, subcarrier spacings of 15kHz, 30kHz, 60kHz, 120kHz, and 240kHz or greater may be available. Table 1 provided below lists some of the various parameters used for different NR parameter sets.

[0107]

[0108] Table 1

[0109] exist Figure 4A and Figure 4B In the example, a parameter set of 15kHz is used. Therefore, in the time domain, a 10-millisecond (ms) frame is divided into 10 equal-sized subframes, each 1ms, and each subframe includes one time slot. Figure 4A and 4B In this context, time is represented horizontally (e.g., on the X-axis), where time increases from left to right, while frequency is represented vertically (e.g., on the Y-axis), where frequency increases (or decreases) from bottom to top.

[0110] A resource grid is used to represent time slots, each time slot comprising one or more concurrent resource blocks (RBs) in the frequency domain (also known as physical RBs (PRBs)). The resource grid is further divided into multiple resource elements (REs). An RE corresponds to one symbol length in the time domain and one subcarrier in the frequency domain. In NR, a subframe is 1 ms in duration, a time slot is 14 symbols in the time domain, and an RB contains 12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain and 14 consecutive symbols in the time domain. Therefore, in NR, there is one RB per time slot. Depending on the SCS, an NR subframe can have 14 symbols, 28 symbols, or more symbols, and therefore can have one, two, or more time slots. The number of bits carried by each RE depends on the modulation scheme.

[0111] Some REs carry downlink reference (pilot) signals (DL-RS). DL-RS may include PRS, TRS, PTRS, CRS, CSI-RS, DMRS, PSS, SSS, SSB, etc. Figure 4A An exemplary location (labeled "R") of the RE carrying the PRS is explained.

[0112] A “PRS instance” or “PRS timing” is an instance of a periodically repeating time window in which a PRS is expected to be transmitted (e.g., a group of one or more consecutive time slots). A PRS timing may also be referred to as a “PRS positioning timing,” “PRS positioning instance,” “positioning timing,” “positioning instance,” “positioning repetition,” or simply “timing,” “instance,” or “repetition.”

[0113] The set of resource elements (REs) used for PRS transmission is called a "PRS resource". This set of resource elements can span multiple PRBs in the frequency domain and can span 'N' (e.g., one or more) consecutive symbols within a time slot in the time domain. In a given OFDM symbol in the time domain, the PRS resource occupies a consecutive PRB in the frequency domain.

[0114] The transmission of PRS resources within a given PRB has a specific comb size (also known as "comb density"). The comb size 'N' represents the subcarrier spacing (or frequency / frequency modulation spacing) within each symbol of the PRS resource configuration. Specifically, for a comb size 'N', the PRS is transmitted in every Nth subcarrier of a symbol in the PRB. For example, for comb-4, for each of the 4th symbols of the PRS resource configuration, the RE corresponding to each 4th subcarrier (e.g., subcarriers 0, 4, 8) is used to transmit the PRS resource. Currently, comb sizes 2, 4, 6, and 12 are supported for DL ​​PRS. Figure 4A An exemplary PRS resource configuration for comb tooth 6 (which spans six symbols) is explained. That is, the location of the shaded RE (marked as "R") indicates the PRS resource configuration for comb tooth 6.

[0115] A “PRS resource set” is a group of PRS resources used for the transmission of PRS signals, where each PRS resource has a PRS resource ID. Furthermore, PRS resources in a PRS resource set are associated with the same TRP. A PRS resource set is identified by a PRS resource set ID and associated with a specific TRP (identified by the TRP ID). Additionally, PRS resources in a PRS resource set share the same periodicity, a shared silent mode configuration, and the same cross-slot repetition factor (e.g., PRS-ResourceRepetitionFactor). Periodicity is the time from the first repetition of the first PRS resource in the first PRS instance to the same first repetition of the same first PRS resource in the next PRS instance. Periodicity can have a length selected from the following: 2 μ • {4,5,8,10,16,20,32,40,64,80,160,320,640,1280,2560,5040,10240} time slots, where μ = 0,1,2,3. The repetition factor can have a length selected from {1,2,4,6,8,16,32} time slots.

[0116] In a PRS resource set, a PRS resource ID is associated with a single beam (and / or beam ID) transmitted from a single TRP (where a TRP can transmit one or more beams). That is, each PRS resource in a PRS resource set can be transmitted on a different beam, and thus, a "PRS resource" (or simply "resource") can also be referred to as a "beam". Note that this does not imply whether the UE is aware of the TRP and beam transmitting the PRS.

[0117] A “positioning frequency layer” (also simply “frequency layer”) is a collection of one or more PRS resource sets with identical values ​​for certain parameters across one or more TRPs. Specifically, the collection of PRS resource sets has the same subcarrier spacing (SCS) and cyclic prefix (CP) type (meaning all parameter sets supported by PDSCH are also supported by PRS), the same point A, the same downlink PRS bandwidth, the same starting PRB (and center frequency), and the same comb size. The point A parameter uses the value of the parameter ARFCN-ValueNR (where “ARFCN” stands for “Absolute Radio Channel Number”) and is an identifier / code specifying the physical radio channel pair used for transmission and reception. The downlink PRS bandwidth can have a granularity of 4 PRBs, with a minimum of 24 PRBs and a maximum of 272 PRBs. Currently, up to four frequency layers have been defined, and up to two PRS resource sets can be configured per frequency layer per TRP.

[0118] The concept of a frequency layer is somewhat similar to that of component carriers and bandwidth portions (BWPs), but the difference is that component carriers and BWPs are used by a single base station (or macrocell base station and small cell base station) to transmit data channels, while a frequency layer is used by several (often three or more) base stations to transmit PRS (Positioning Signals). A UE can indicate the number of frequency layers it can support when sending its positioning capabilities to the network (such as during an LTE Positioning Protocol (LPP) session). For example, a UE can indicate whether it can support one or four positioning frequency layers.

[0119] Figure 4BExamples of various channels within the downlink time slot of a radio frame are explained. In NR, the channel bandwidth, or system bandwidth, is divided into multiple BWPs. A BWP is a set of adjacent PRBs selected from a contiguous subset of shared RBs for a given set of parameters for a given carrier. Generally, a maximum of four BWPs can be specified in both the downlink and uplink. That is, a UE can be configured to have up to four BWPs in the downlink and up to four BWPs in the uplink. Only one BWP (uplink or downlink) can be active at a given time, meaning that the UE can only receive or transmit on one BWP at a time. In the downlink, the bandwidth of each BWP should be equal to or greater than the bandwidth of the SSB, but it may or may not contain an SSB.

[0120] Reference Figure 4B The Primary Synchronization Signal (PSS) is used by the UE to determine subframe / symbol timing and physical layer identity. The Secondary Synchronization Signal (SSS) is used by the UE to determine the physical layer cell identity group number and radio frame timing. Based on the physical layer identity and physical layer cell identity group number, the UE can determine the PCI. Based on the PCI, the UE can determine the location of the aforementioned DL-RS. The Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH) carrying the MIB can be logically grouped with the PSS and SSS to form the SSB (also known as SS / PBCH). The MIB provides the number of RBs in the downlink system bandwidth and the System Frame Number (SFN). The Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) carries user data, broadcast system information (such as System Information Blocks (SIBs)) not transmitted through the PBCH, and paging messages.

[0121] The Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) carries downlink control information (DCI) within one or more Control Channel Elements (CCEs). Each CCE includes one or more RE Group (REG) bundles (which can span multiple symbols in the time domain). Each REG bundle includes one or more REGs, and each REG corresponds to 12 resource elements (one resource block) in the frequency domain and one OFDM symbol in the time domain. The physical resource set used to carry the PDCCH / DCI is called the Control Resource Set (CORESET) in NR. In NR, the PDCCH is confined to a single CORESET and transmitted along with its own DMRS. This enables UE-specific beamforming for the PDCCH.

[0122] exist Figure 4BIn the example, each BWP has one CORESET, and this CORESET spans three symbols in the time domain (although it can be only one or two symbols). Unlike the LTE control channel, which occupies the entire system bandwidth, in NR, the PDCCH channel is localized to a specific region in the frequency domain (i.e., the CORESET). Therefore, Figure 4B The frequency components of the PDCCH shown are interpreted in the frequency domain as fewer than a single BWP. Note that although the interpreted CORESETs are contiguous in the frequency domain, they do not need to be contiguous. Additionally, a CORESET can span fewer than three symbols in the time domain.

[0123] The DCI within the PDCCH carries information about uplink resource allocation (persistent and non-persistent) and a description of the downlink data transmitted to the UE. Multiple (e.g., up to eight) DCIs can be configured in the PDCCH, and these DCIs can have one of several formats. For example, different DCI formats exist for uplink scheduling, non-MIMO downlink scheduling, MIMO downlink scheduling, and uplink power control. The PDCCH can be transmitted by 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16 CCEs to accommodate different DCI payload sizes or coding rates.

[0124] The Random Access Channel (RACH) is a shared channel used by a UE to access the mobile network for call setup and burst data transmission. There are several scenarios in which a UE may need to use RACH, including but not limited to: initial access from the RRC_IDLE state; RRC connection reconstruction; handover; arrival of DL or UL data during the RRC_CONNECTED state when the UL synchronization state is "asynchronous"; transition from the RRC_INACTIVE state; establishing time alignment during SCell addition; requests for other system information; and beam fault recovery.

[0125] Generally, the NR RACH procedure includes the following steps (for simplicity, this is tailored for a fully reciprocal scenario). The UE receives an SSB, from which it learns where to receive System Information Block (SIB) 1 (SIB1). Based on the synchronization information from the gNB contained in SIB1, the UE selects a RACH preamble sequence (MSG1) and transmits the MSG1 at the RO according to the SSB-to-RACH timing (RO) mapping. The RO can be configured to occur every 10, 20, 40, 80, or 160 ms. If reciprocity is available, the UE uses the transmit (Tx) beam corresponding to the optimal Rx beam determined during synchronization and transmits it only once. Otherwise, the UE repeats the same preamble for all gNB Tx beams. The gNB responds to the detected preamble with a Random Access Response (RAR) UL Grant (MSG2) in the Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) using a selected beam. Subsequently, the UE and the gNB establish a coarse beam alignment that can be utilized in subsequent steps. Upon receiving MSG2, the UE responds by transmitting MSG3 on resources scheduled by the gNB, thus informing the gNB where to detect MSG3 and which gNB Rx beam should be used. MSG3 can be transmitted in the same beam as MSG1 or in a different beam via the Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH). The gNB confirms this by transmitting MSG4 in the PDSCH using the previously determined gNB Tx beam.

[0126] In contention-based RACH access (CBRA), the UE randomly selects a RACH preamble from a preamble pool shared with other UEs in the cell. If multiple UEs select / transmit the same preamble during MSG1, all of these UEs decode the same MSG2 content and transmit MSG3 on the same UL time / frequency resources. In the next step (MSG4), the network resolves the contention. In contention-free RACH access (CFRA), the UE uses a dedicated preamble provided to it by the network via RRC signaling or PDCCH commands.

[0127] The RACH timing (RO) is defined in both the time and frequency domains based on the RACH configuration received by the UE from the gNB. In NR, the frequency domain location (resource) is determined by the RRC parameters msg1-FDM and msg1-FrequencyStart (msg1-Frequency Start), which specify how many ROs are allocated in the frequency domain at the same location in the time domain. The time domain location (resource) is determined by the RRC parameter prach-ConfigurationIndex (prach-Configuration Index), which the UE uses to index the parameter table. An example RACH configuration is shown below:

[0128]

[0129]

[0130] The 3GPP Technical Specification (TS) 38.211, v15.5, Table 6.3.3.2-4 (a portion of which is shown below) lists the random access configurations in the time domain for FR2 and unpaired spectrum.

[0131]

[0132] For example, a UE may be provided with a PRACH configuration index value of 8, from which the UE can determine other information for calculating the position of RO in the time domain. The RACH transmission symbols can be calculated according to the following symbol position equation:

[0133]

[0134] For example, when using the calculated RACH transmission symbols and preamble format 3 structure, the RACH timings in the time domain will be: time slot 7, symbols 0-1; time slot 7, symbols 2-3; time slot 7, symbols 4-5; time slot 7, symbols 6-7; time slot 7, symbols 8-9; time slot 7, symbols 10-11; time slot 8, symbols 0-1; time slot 8, symbols 2-3; time slot 8, symbols 4-5; time slot 8, symbols 6-7; time slot 8, symbols 8-9; and time slot 8, symbols 10-11.

[0135] Figure 5A and 5B This is a diagram illustrating the possible locations of the ROs in the time and frequency domains according to different RACH configurations. Figure 5A There are 64 ROs that occupy the same frequency bandwidth but are separated in time. Figure 5B In this system, there are 64 Original Routers (ROs) occupying two frequency bandwidths, where ROs occupy the same location in the time domain. For example, RO#0 and RO#1 occur at the same time but in different frequency ranges, while RO#0 and RO#2 occupy the same frequency range but occur at different times. Other configurations (e.g., different numbers of ROs, different numbers of frequency bandwidths, different locations in time, etc.) are also possible.

[0136] This disclosure presents a mechanism by which a UE in the RRC_IDLE or RRC_INACTIVE state can report the results of a PRS measurement to a BS, thereby enabling the BS to determine what the PRS measurement represents. In some aspects, this is achieved by providing the UE with a PRS-to-RO mapping that defines a specific RO (Real Router) to which the UE should transmit at least a RACH sequence during its period, based on a specific PRS measurement. The UE performs the PRS measurement and transmits the RACH sequence based on the specific PRS measurement result according to the PRS-to-RO mapping. The BS can determine the PRS resource, PRS set, Transmit / Receive Point (TRP), and / or layer associated with the PRS measurement based on the PRS-to-RO mapping. The PRS measurement can be a measurement of signal timing and / or energy. Performing PRS measurements involves measuring characteristics of the PRS signal, such as Rx-Tx timing, Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP), Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ), Signal-to-Interference-plus-Noise Ratio (SINR), Reference Signal Time Difference (RSTD), Time of Arrival (TOA) or Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA) measurements, timestamps, quality metric measurements, and / or other characteristics. Thus, PRS measurements can correspond to estimating the TOA or energy of multipath propagation. Other types of information may also be useful for position estimation, such as, but not limited to, quality metrics for TOA estimation, K-factor, line-of-sight (LOS) / non-LOS (NLOS) probabilities, power delay profiles, receive angle, and transmit angle.

[0137] Figure 6A and Figure 6B This is a flowchart of the various parts of the example process 600 associated with the PRS to RO mapping. In some implementations, Figure 6A One or more process frames can be executed by the UE (e.g., UE 104, WLAN STA 152, etc.). In some implementations, Figure 6A and 6B One or more process frames may be executed by another device or a group of devices separate from or including the UE. Additionally or alternatively, Figure 6A and 6B One or more process blocks may be executed by one or more components of UE 302, such as processor 332, memory 340, WWAN transceiver 310, short-range wireless transceiver 320, satellite signal receiver 330, sensors 344, user interface 346, and positioning components 342, any or all of these components may be means for performing operations of process 600.

[0138] like Figure 6AAs shown, process 600 may include determining a PRS-to-RO mapping (block 602) that maps PRS measurements to ROs during which the UE should transmit a RACH sequence. Apparatus for performing the operations of block 602 may include processors 332, memory 340, or WWAN transceivers 310 of the UE 302. In some aspects, determining the PRS-to-RO mapping includes receiving the PRS-to-RO mapping from a base station. For example, the UE 302 may receive the PRS-to-RO mapping via receivers 312 and store it in memory 340. In some aspects, receiving the PRS-to-RO mapping includes receiving an SIB or location SIB that includes the PRS-to-RO mapping. In some aspects, the PRS-to-RO mapping defines the ROs during which the UE should transmit a RACH sequence based on specific PRS measurements associated with a measurement target, including one or more identified PRS resources, one or more identified PRS sets, one or more identified TRPs, one or more identified location frequency layers, or combinations thereof.

[0139] As in Figure 6A As further illustrated, process 600 may include performing at least one PRS measurement (block 604). The means for performing the operation of block 604 may include processor(s) 332, memory 340, or WWAN transceiver(s) of UE 302. For example, UE 302 may use receiver(s) 312 to perform at least one PRS measurement and store the measurement result in memory 340. In some aspects, the at least one PRS measurement is performed when the UE is in RRC_IDLE state or RRC_INACTIVE state.

[0140] As in Figure 6A As further illustrated, process 600 may include transmitting a RACH sequence on the ROs on which the UE should transmit the RACH sequence during its period, based on the PRS-to-RO mapping and the PRS measurement (block 606). Apparatus for performing the operations of block 606 may include processor(s) 332, memory 340, or WWAN transceiver(s) of the UE 302. For example, the UE may use transmitter(s) 314 to transmit a RACH sequence on at least one RO based on the PRS-to-RO mapping and a specific PRS measurement.

[0141] like Figure 6BAs shown, process 600 may further include transmitting an SRS mapped to the RO that the UE should transmit during the RACH sequence (block 608). The means for performing the operation of block 608 may include the WWAN transceivers of UE 302. For example, the one or more SRSs may be transmitted using transmitters 314 of UE 302. In some aspects, multiple SRSs may be transmitted, each SRS having a one-to-one mapping to the RO. In some aspects, at least one of the one or more SRSs may be transmitted using the same transmit beam for the RO, using one of one or more timing adjustment commands received from the base station, using a power offset specified by the base station or, if no power offset is specified by the base station, using time and frequency resources specified by the base station, using the same time and frequency resources for the RO, or a combination thereof. In some aspects, transmitting the SRS includes transmitting multiple SRSs, each SRS using one of multiple power offsets.

[0142] As in Figure 6B As further shown, process 600 may also include reporting the result of the at least one PRS measurement to the base station (block 610). The means for performing the operation of block 610 may include (a) WWAN transceivers of UE 302. For example, UE 302 may use (a) transmitters 314 of UE 302 to transmit the result of the at least one PRS measurement. In some aspects, reporting the result of the PRS measurement to the base station includes transmitting an MSG3 message. In some aspects, the result includes a receive-to-transmission (Rx-Tx) measurement, an RSRP measurement, an RSTD measurement, a timestamp, a quality metric measurement, or a combination thereof, wherein the result is reported to the base station based on the at least one PRS measurement, a PRS-to-RO mapping based on a specific PRS measurement, SRS, or a combination thereof (block 610). In some aspects, the result of the at least one PRS measurement is reported when the UE is in an RRC_IDLE state or an RRC_INACTIVE state. In some aspects, the result of the at least one PRS measurement is reported to the base station via at least one PUSCH timing, via at least one MSG3 message, or a combination thereof.

[0143] In some aspects, reporting multiple measurements includes transmitting on multiple Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) times. In some aspects, a first subset of the multiple measurements is transmitted on one of the multiple PUSCH times, and a second subset of the multiple measurements is transmitted on another of the multiple PUSCH times. In some aspects, measurements from a first transmit / receive point (TRP) subset are transmitted on one of the multiple PUSCH times, and measurements from a second TRP subset are transmitted on another of the multiple PUSCH times. In some aspects, measurements from TRPs are allocated among the multiple PUSCH times such that each PUSCH time contains measurements from fewer than a threshold number of TRPs. In some aspects, TRPs are allocated among the multiple PUSCH times according to a mapping that specifies the number of measurements for each time and frequency resource set of the PUSCH times.

[0144] In some respects, BS 102 is a gNB. In some respects, receiving the PRS-to-RO mapping includes receiving an SIB that includes the PRS-to-RO mapping. In some respects, the SIB is a location SIB. In some respects, the PRS-to-RO mapping defines the ROs for which the UE should report PRS measurements during its period, which are associated with one or more identified PRS resources, one or more identified PRS sets, one or more identified transmit / receive points (TRPs), one or more specific tiers, or a combination thereof.

[0145] In some aspects, transmitting a RACH sequence based on the PRS-RO mapping and a specific PRS measurement includes: measuring the detected PRS resource and transmitting the RACH sequence during the RO to which the detected PRS resource is mapped.

[0146] In some respects, transmitting RACH sequences based on the PRS-RO mapping and specific PRS measurements includes: detecting a PRS set and transmitting the RACH sequence during the RO to which the PRS set is mapped.

[0147] In some respects, transmitting a RACH sequence based on the PRS-RO mapping and a specific PRS measurement includes: detecting a TRP and transmitting the RACH sequence during the RO to which the TRP is mapped.

[0148] In some respects, transmitting a RACH sequence based on the PRS to RO mapping and a specific PRS measurement includes: detecting a layer and transmitting the RACH sequence during the RO to which the layer is mapped.

[0149] In some aspects, transmitting a RACH sequence based on the PRS-RO mapping and specific PRS measurement results includes: detecting a set including at least one PRS resource, at least one PRS set, at least one TRP and at least one layer, and transmitting a RACH sequence during the RO to which the set is mapped.

[0150] In some respects, UE 104 is in the RRC_IDLE or RRC_INACTIVE state when it performs PRS measurements and transmits RACH sequences.

[0151] In some respects, transmitting RACH sequences based on the PRS-RO mapping and specific PRS measurements includes transmitting RACH sequences during multiple ROs. This will be described in more detail below. Furthermore, in the case where the UE transmits multiple ROs, multiple SRSs can also be transmitted, and a one-to-one mapping can exist between ROs and SRSs.

[0152] Process 600 may include additional implementations, such as any single implementation or any combination of implementations described below and / or in conjunction with one or more other processes described elsewhere herein. Although Figure 6B and 6B An example box of process 600 is shown, but in some implementations, process 600 may include... Figure 6A and 6B The boxes depicted in the process are compared to additional boxes, fewer boxes, different boxes, or boxes arranged differently. Additionally or alternatively, two or more boxes in process 600 can be executed in parallel.

[0153] Figure 7A and Figure 7B This is a flowchart of the various parts of the example process 700 associated with the PRS to RO mapping. In some implementations, Figure 7A and 7B One or more process frames can be executed by a BS (e.g., BS 102). In some implementations, Figure 7A and 7B One or more process frames may be executed by another device or a group of devices separate from or including the BS. Additionally or alternatively, Figure 7A and 7B One or more process frames may be executed by one or more components of BS 304, such as processor 384, memory 386, WWAN transceiver 350, short-range wireless transceiver 360, satellite signal receiver 370, network transceiver 380, and positioning components 388, any or all of these components may be means for performing the operation of process 700.

[0154] like Figure 7AAs shown, process 700 may include receiving a PRS-to-RO mapping (block 702) from a network entity that maps PRS measurements to ROs to which the UE should transmit a RACH sequence during its period. Apparatus for performing the operations of block 702 may include processors 384, memory 386, or WWAN transceivers 350 of BS 304. For example, the BS may receive the PRS-to-RO mapping via receivers 352 of BS 304. In some aspects, the network entity includes a location server or location management functions.

[0155] As in Figure 7A As further illustrated, process 700 may include sending the PRS-to-RO mapping to the UE (block 704). Apparatus for performing the operations of block 704 may include processors 384, memory 386, or WWAN transceivers 350 of BS 304. For example, the BS may send the PRS-to-RO mapping to the UE via transmitters 354 of BS 304. In some aspects, sending the PRS-to-RO mapping includes sending an SIB or positioning SIB that includes the PRS-to-RO mapping. In some aspects, the PRS-to-RO mapping defines the RO for which the UE should report PRS measurements related to a measurement target during its operation, the measurement target including one or more identified PRS resources, one or more identified PRS sets, one or more identified TRPs, one or more identified positioning frequency layers, or a combination of the above.

[0156] like Figure 7B As shown, process 700 may further include receiving the results of the PRS measurement (and optionally, the RACH sequence) from the UE on at least one RO (block 706). The means for performing the operation of block 706 may include the WWAN transceivers 350 of BS 304. For example, BS 304 may receive the results of the PRS measurement via receivers 352 of BS 304.

[0157] As in Figure 7B As further shown, process 700 may also include determining the measurement target associated with the PRS measurement based on the PRS-RO mapping (block 708). The means for performing the operations of block 704 may include processor(s) 384 and memory 386 of BS 304. For example, BS 304 may use processor(s) 384 to determine the measurement target associated with the PRS measurement based on the PRS-RO mapping stored in memory 386.

[0158] As in Figure 7BAs further shown, process 700 may also include sending the results of the PRS measurement and an indication of the measurement target associated with the PRS measurement to the network entity (block 710). The means for performing the operations of block 706 may include the WWAN transceivers 350 of BS 304. For example, BS 304 may send the results of the PRS measurement and an indication of the measurement target associated with the PRS measurement via transmitters 354.

[0159] Process 700 may include additional implementations, such as any single implementation or any combination of implementations described below and / or in conjunction with one or more other processes described elsewhere herein. Although Figure 7B and 7B The example box for process 700 is shown, but in some implementations, process 700 may include... Figure 7A and 7B The boxes depicted in the process are compared to additional boxes, fewer boxes, different boxes, or boxes arranged differently. Additionally or alternatively, two or more boxes in process 700 can be executed in parallel.

[0160] Figure 8A and Figure 8B This is a flowchart of the various parts of the example process 800 associated with the PRS to RO mapping. In some implementations, Figure 8A and 8B One or more process frames can be executed by a network entity (e.g., an entity with core network 170, location server 172, LMF270, etc.). In some aspects, this network entity includes a location server or location management functionality. In some implementations, Figure 8A and 8B One or more process frames may be executed by another device or a group of devices separate from or including the network entity. Additionally or alternatively, Figure 8A and 8B One or more process frames may be executed by one or more components of network entity 306 (such as processors 394, memory 396, network transceivers 390 and positioning components 398), any or all of which may be means for performing the operation of process 800.

[0161] like Figure 8AAs shown, process 800 may include determining a PRS resource group (block 802). Means for performing the operations of block 802 may include processors 394, memory 396, or network transceivers 390 of network entity 306. For example, network entity 306 may use processors 394 to determine the PRS resource group and store information about the PRS resource group in memory 396. For example, LS 172 may determine the PRS resource set, PRS set, TRPS, and / or tier on which UE 104 can perform PRS measurements. In some aspects, LS 172 may determine the TRP set geographically adjacent to a particular UE 104.

[0162] As in Figure 8A As further illustrated, process 800 may include determining a PRS-to-RO mapping based on the PRS resource group, specifically a particular RO that the UE should transmit at least a RACH sequence during its period, defined by a particular PRS measurement. (Block 804) The means for performing the operations of block 804 may include processors 394, memory 396, or network transceivers 390 of network entity 306. For example, network entity 306 may use processors 394 to determine the PRS-to-RO mapping based on information about the PRS resource group stored in memory 396, which defines a particular RO that the UE should transmit at least a RACH sequence during its period based on a particular PRS measurement. In some aspects, determining the PRS resource group includes determining the PRS resource group based on TRPs in a geographic area.

[0163] As in Figure 8A As further illustrated, process 800 may include sending the PRS-RO mapping to the base station serving the UE (block 806). The means for performing the operation of block 806 may include network transceivers 390 of network entity 306. For example, network entity 306 may send the PRS-RO mapping to the base station serving the UE via network transceivers 390. In some aspects, the base station is located in the same location as the network entity or is a component of the network entity. In some aspects, the base station is a gNB.

[0164] like Figure 8B As shown, process 800 may further include receiving PRS measurement results from the base station and indications of PRS resources, PRS sets, TRPs, or layers associated with the PRS measurement (block 808). The means for performing the operation of block 808 may include network transceivers 390 of network entity 306. For example, network entity 306 may receive the information from the base station via network transceivers 390.

[0165] Process 800 may include additional implementations, such as any single implementation or any combination of implementations described below and / or in conjunction with one or more other processes described elsewhere herein. Although Figure 8B and 8B The example box for process 800 is shown, but in some implementations, process 800 may include... Figure 8A and 8B The boxes depicted in the diagram are compared to additional boxes, fewer boxes, different boxes, or boxes arranged differently. Additionally or alternatively, two or more boxes in process 800 can be executed in parallel.

[0166] Figures 9A to 9F Exemplary PRS to RO mappings based on various aspects are explained. As used herein, the term "PRS cluster" refers to a collection of one or more identified PRS resources, PRS sets, TRPs, and / or layers.

[0167] Figure 9A The explanation describes how one of the PRS groups is mapped to one side of an RO, where the RO is configured within a single frequency band. For example, in Figure 9A In this context, PRS group 0 is mapped to RO#0, PRS group 1 is mapped to RO#1, and so on, where each RO appears in its own position in the time domain.

[0168] Figure 9B The explanation describes how one of the PRS groups is mapped to one side of an RO, where the RO is configured in two frequency bands. For example, in Figure 9B In this context, PRS group 0 is mapped to RO#0, PRS group 1 is mapped to RO#1, and so on. However, RO pairs appear at the same location in the time domain but in different frequency bands.

[0169] Figure 9C Commentary Figure 9A A variant of , where the set of PRS groups is mapped to each RO. In Figure 9C In the PRS group, groups 0 to 7 occupy RO#0, PRS groups 8 to 15 occupy RO#1, and so on.

[0170] Figure 9D Commentary Figure 9B A variant of , where the set of PRS groups is mapped to each RO. In Figure 9D In the PRS group, groups 0 to 7 occupy RO#0, PRS groups 8 to 15 occupy RO#1, and so on.

[0171] Figures 9A to 9D It explains that PRS groups (regardless of how they are defined) can be mapped to points of a specific RO. Figure 9E and 9D Examples of how to define PRS groups are given. These examples are exemplary and not restrictive.

[0172] Figure 9E The explanation states that each PRS group definition includes one aspect of a set of one or more TRPs.

[0173] It will be understood that UE 104 can detect PRS signals from one or more TRPs, and UE 104 can detect a signal from one TRP mapped to one RO, and UE 104 can detect another signal from another TRP mapped to another RO. In such a scenario, UE 104 can report PRS measurements on more than one RO.

[0174] Figure 9F This explains one aspect of how each PRS group defines a combination of specific layers (e.g., layer 0) across a particular TRP set.

[0175] It will be understood that any combination of one or more PRS resources, PRS sets, TRPs, and / or layers can constitute each PRS group, and one PRS group can have a different composition than another. For example, one PRS group can be defined as a specific PRS set, another PRS group can be defined as a specific TRP, and yet another PRS group can be defined as a specific layer, and so on.

[0176] Figure 10 Figure 1000 illustrates a signal message transmission and reception method according to various aspects of an exemplary wireless communication method. Figure 10 The interaction between the core network node (LS 172 in this example), BS 102, and UE 104 is illustrated. Figure 10 In block 1002, LS 172 determines the PRS resource group. In block 1004, the core network node, based on the determined PRS resource group, determines the PRS-to-RO mapping for a specific RO that UE 104 should transmit at least the RACH sequence during its period, based on a specific PRS measurement definition. Figure 10 In this process, the core network node sends the PRS to RO mapping to BS 102 (message 1006), and BS 102 forwards it to UE 104 (message 1008). In box 1010, UE 104 performs the PRS measurement. Figure 10 In this process, UE 104 transmits the RACH sequence (message 1012) using one or more ROs based on the PRS-to-RO mapping and the specific PRS measurements UE 104 is capable of performing (e.g., the PRS signals UE 104 can detect). Figure 10 In this context, UE 104 may optionally transmit SRS 1014. Figure 10In block 1016, UE 104 transmits PRS measurement results 1016 to BS 102. In some aspects, PRS measurement results can be transmitted in an MSG3 message. In block 1018, BS 102 determines the PRS resources, PRS sets, TRPs, and / or tiers associated with the PRS measurement based on the PRS-to-RO mapping. Figure 10 In this process, BS 102 sends the PRS measurement results 1020 to the core network nodes along with indications of the PRS resources, PRS sets, TRPs, and / or layers associated with the PRS measurement (which are in...). Figure 10 (Referring to the "identified target" in the text).

[0177] In some aspects, the association of one or more PRS resources / sets / layers / TRPs with the RACH timing (e.g., PRS to RO mapping) is as follows: UE 104 determines the association of the physical RACH (PRACH) with one or more PRS resources / sets / TRPs / layers (e.g., by receiving specific location SIBs). In some aspects, the UE may request these location SIBs containing information related to the association as needed. These SIBs may come from the same TRP or multiple TRPs. In some aspects, the order of mapping PRS resources / sets / TRPs / layers is derived from the order / sequence of the received auxiliary data (dedicated auxiliary data or broadcast auxiliary data).

[0178] In some aspects, UE 104 is in an RRC idle / inactive state and measures the PRS resource / set / TRP / layer broadcast by the network, and determines which RACH to transmit. In some aspects, if the UE has detected resource / set / TRP / layers not mapped to the same RO, the UE may transmit multiple ROs. In other aspects, if the UE has detected resource / set / TRP / layers not mapped to the same RO, the UE may select one of multiple ROs, provided that the UE can transmit the PRACH to a sufficient set of TRPs required for positioning. For example, one of these ROs may be associated with many detected TRPs, while another RO may be associated with only some detected TRPs: in this example, the former RO is preferred over the latter.

[0179] In some aspects, UE 104 receives MSG2 messages from a single BS 102 that include at least timing adjustments (such as timing advance (TA) commands). In other aspects, UE 104 receives MSG2 messages from multiple BSs, each MSG2 message including a TA command; in some aspects, UE 104 can select the TA value it perceives as the best. In some aspects, where the MSG2 message is only for supporting positioning, the message may include TA commands from other base stations. For example, it may include the TA of the first base station and the relative TA values ​​of other base stations relative to the first base station.

[0180] In some aspects, after transmitting the PRACH, UE 104 uses the same Tx beam used for the corresponding RO to transmit the SRS for positioning. In other aspects, UE 104 uses a different Tx beam than the one used for the corresponding RO or transmits the SRS for positioning on multiple Tx beams (which may or may not include the beam used for the corresponding RO). In some aspects, the Tx power offset of the SRS signal can be indicated to the UE in MSG2. In some aspects, UE 104 may assume a default power offset of zero. In some aspects, time and / or frequency resources can be determined based on the information provided in MSG2 and / or the previous time / frequency resources of the RO used. In some aspects, UE 104 transmits MSG3 with Rx-Tx, RSRP, RSTD, timestamp, and quality metric measurements based on the PRACH and the transmitted SRS. In some aspects, it may be necessary to transmit multiple PUSCHs including all necessary information. For example, one PUSCH may contain Rx-Tx, and another may contain timestamp / quality metric. In some respects, another option is for UE 104 to split the PUSCH based on the number of TRPs included in each PUSCH. In some respects, there may be a mapping from the time / frequency resources indicated for the PUSCH to the number of measurements / TRPs to be included in that PUSCH.

[0181] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that information and signals can be represented using any of a variety of different techniques and skills. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referred to throughout the above description can be represented by voltage, current, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or magnetic particles, light fields or light particles, or any combination thereof.

[0182] Furthermore, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative logic blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithmic steps described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein can be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or a combination of both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability between hardware and software, the various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps are described above in a generalized manner in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends on the specific application and the design constraints imposed on the overall system. Those skilled in the art may implement the described functionality in different ways for each specific application, but such implementation decisions should not be construed as departing from the scope of this disclosure.

[0183] The various illustrative logic blocks, modules, and circuits described in conjunction with the aspects disclosed herein can be implemented or executed using a general-purpose processor, DSP, ASIC, FPGA, or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in alternatives, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. The processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, such as a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors cooperating with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

[0184] The methods, sequences, and / or algorithms described in conjunction with the aspects disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of both. The software module may reside in random access memory (RAM), flash memory, read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), registers, hard disks, removable disks, CD-ROMs, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to the processor so that the processor can read / write information from / to the storage medium. In an alternative, the storage medium may be integrated into the processor. The processor and storage medium may reside in an ASIC. The ASIC may reside in a user terminal (e.g., a UE). In an alternative, the processor and storage medium may reside as discrete components in the user terminal.

[0185] In one or more exemplary aspects, the described functionality may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functionality may be stored or transmitted as one or more instructions or codes on or through a computer-readable medium. A computer-readable medium includes both computer storage media and communication media, including any medium that facilitates the transfer of a computer program from one location to another. A storage medium may be any available medium accessible to a computer. By way of example and not limitation, such computer-readable media may include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disc storage, disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and is accessible to a computer. Similarly, any connection is also legitimately referred to as a computer-readable medium. For example, if software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave, then such coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave are included in the definition of medium. As used in this article, disks and discs include compact discs (CDs), laser discs, optical discs, digital multi-purpose discs (DVDs), floppy disks, and Blu-ray discs. Disks typically reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically using lasers. Combinations of these should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0186] In the detailed description above, it can be seen that different features are grouped together in the examples. This manner of disclosure should not be construed as an intention to have more features than those explicitly mentioned in each clause. Rather, aspects of this disclosure may include fewer features than those of the individual example clauses disclosed. Therefore, the appended clauses should thus be considered as incorporated into this description, where each clause may be a separate example. Although each dependent clause may refer in its respective clause to a specific combination with one of the other clauses, the aspects of that dependent clause are not limited to that specific combination. It will be appreciated that other example clauses may also include combinations of aspects of the dependent clause with the subject matter of any other dependent or independent clause, or any feature combined with other dependent and independent clauses. The aspects disclosed herein expressly include these combinations unless explicitly stated or readily inferred that a particular combination is not intended (e.g., contradictory aspects, such as defining an element as both an insulator and a conductor). Furthermore, it is intended that aspects of a clause may be included in any other independent clause, even if that clause is not directly subordinate to that independent clause.

[0187] Examples of implementations are described in the following numbered clauses.

[0188] Clause 1. A wireless communication method performed by a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: determining a PRS-RO mapping that maps a positioning reference signal (PRS) measurement to a random access channel (RACH) timing (RO) during which the UE should transmit a RACH sequence; performing a PRS measurement; and transmitting the RACH sequence on the RO during which the UE should transmit the RACH sequence, based on the PRS-RO mapping and the PRS measurement.

[0189] Clause 2. The method of Clause 1, wherein performing the PRS measurement includes performing the PRS measurement when the UE is in the RRC_IDLE state or the RRC_INACTIVE state.

[0190] Clause 3. The method of any of Clauses 1 to 2 further includes: transmitting a probe reference signal (SRS) mapped to the RO of the RACH sequence that the UE shall transmit during its period.

[0191] Clause 4. The method of Clause 3, wherein transmitting the SRS comprises: using the same transmit beam for the RO of the RACH sequence that the UE should transmit during its period; using the same time and frequency resources for the RO of the RACH sequence that the UE should transmit during its period; or using one or more timing adjustment commands received from the base station; using a power offset specified by the base station or, if no power offset is specified by the base station, using a zero power offset; using time and frequency resources specified by the base station; or a combination thereof.

[0192] Clause 5. The method of any of Clauses 3 to 4 further comprises: reporting to the base station the result of the PRS measurement, the result including a receive-to-transmit (Rx-Tx) measurement, a reference signal received power (RSRP) measurement, a reference signal time difference (RSTD) measurement, a timestamp, a quality metric measurement, or a combination thereof, wherein the result is reported to the base station based on the PRS measurement, the PRS-to-RO mapping, the SRS, or a combination thereof.

[0193] Clause 6. The method of Clause 5, wherein reporting the result of the PRS measurement includes: reporting the result of the PRS measurement when the UE is in the RRC_IDLE state or the RRC_INACTIVE state.

[0194] Clause 7. The method of any of Clauses 5 to 6, wherein reporting the result of the PRS measurement comprises: reporting the result of the PRS measurement to the base station via at least one Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) timing, via at least one MSG3 message, or a combination thereof.

[0195] Clause 8. The method of any of Clauses 1 to 7, wherein determining the PRS to RO mapping comprises: receiving the PRS to RO mapping from a base station.

[0196] Clause 9. The method of Clause 8, wherein receiving the PRS to RO mapping comprises: receiving a System Information Block (SIB) or a Location SIB that includes the PRS to RO mapping.

[0197] Clause 10. The method of any of Clauses 1 to 9, wherein determining the PRS to RO mapping comprises: mapping a PRS measurement associated with a measurement target to an RO during which the UE should transmit a RACH sequence, the measurement target comprising: one or more identified PRS resources; one or more identified PRS sets; one or more identified transmit / receive points (TRPs); one or more identified location frequency layers; or combinations thereof.

[0198] Clause 11. A wireless communication method performed by a base station (BS), the method comprising: receiving from a network entity a PRS-to-RO mapping that maps a Position Reference Signal (PRS) measurement to a Random Access Channel (RACH) timing (RO) during which a UE should transmit a RACH sequence; and transmitting the PRS-to-RO mapping to the UE.

[0199] Clause 12. The method of Clause 11, wherein receiving the PRS to RO mapping from the network entity includes: receiving the PRS to RO mapping from a location server or location management function.

[0200] Clause 13. The method of any of Clauses 11 to 12, wherein sending the PRS to RO mapping comprises: sending a System Information Block (SIB) or a Location SIB that includes the PRS to RO mapping.

[0201] Clause 14. The method of any of Clauses 11 to 13, wherein receiving the PRS to RO mapping comprises: receiving a mapping that maps a PRS measurement associated with a measurement target to an RO for which the UE shall report the PRS measurement associated with the measurement target during its period, the measurement target comprising: one or more identified PRS resources; one or more identified PRS sets; one or more identified transmit / receive points (TRPs); one or more identified location frequency layers; or combinations thereof.

[0202] Clause 15. The method of Clause 14 further includes: receiving the result of the PRS measurement from the UE and on at least one RO; and determining the measurement target associated with the PRS measurement based on the PRS-RO mapping.

[0203] Clause 16. The method of Clause 15 further includes: sending to the network entity the results of the PRS measurement and an indication of the measurement objectives associated with the PRS measurement.

[0204] Clause 17. A wireless communication method performed by a network entity, the method comprising: determining a PRS resource group; determining, based on the PRS resource group, a PRS-to-RO mapping that maps a Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) measurement to a Random Access Channel (RACH) timing (RO) during which a UE should transmit a RACH sequence; and transmitting the PRS-to-RO mapping to a base station serving the UE.

[0205] Clause 18. The method of Clause 17, wherein the network entity includes a location server or location management function.

[0206] Clause 19. The method of Clause 18, wherein the base station is located in the same place as the network entity or is a component of the network entity.

[0207] Clause 20. The method of any of Clauses 17 to 19, wherein determining the PRS resource group comprises: determining the PRS resource group based on the Transmit / Receive Points (TRPs) in a geographic area.

[0208] Clause 21. A user equipment (UE) comprising: a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: determine a PRS-RO mapping that maps a Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) measurement to a Random Access Channel (RACH) timing (RO) during which the UE should transmit a RACH sequence; perform a PRS measurement; and transmit the RACH sequence on the RO during which the UE should transmit the RACH sequence, based on the PRS-RO mapping and the PRS measurement, via the at least one transceiver.

[0209] Clause 22. The UE as in Clause 21, wherein the at least one processor is configured to perform the PRS measurement when the UE is in the RRC_IDLE state or the RRC_INACTIVE state.

[0210] Clause 23. The UE of any of Clauses 21 to 22, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: transmit via the at least one transceiver a probe reference signal (SRS) mapped to the RO of the RACH sequence that the UE shall transmit during its period.

[0211] Clause 24. The UE as in Clause 23, wherein the at least one processor is configured to: transmit the SRS using the same transmit beam for the RO of the RACH sequence during which the UE should transmit; the same time and frequency resources for the RO of the RACH sequence during which the UE should transmit; or one of one or more timing adjustment commands received from the base station; using a power offset specified by the base station or, in the absence of a power offset specified by the base station, using a zero power offset; using time and frequency resources specified by the base station; or a combination thereof.

[0212] Clause 25. The UE of any of Clauses 23 to 24, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: report to the base station the result of the PRS measurement, the result including a receive-to-transmit (Rx-Tx) measurement, a reference signal received power (RSRP) measurement, a reference signal time difference (RSTD) measurement, a timestamp, a quality metric measurement, or a combination thereof, wherein the result is reported to the base station based on the PRS measurement, the PRS-to-RO mapping, the SRS, or a combination thereof.

[0213] Clause 26. The UE as in Clause 25, wherein the at least one processor is configured to report the result of the PRS measurement when the UE is in the RRC_IDLE state or the RRC_INACTIVE state.

[0214] Clause 27. The UE of any of Clauses 25 to 26, wherein the at least one processor is configured to report the result of the PRS measurement to the base station via at least one Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) timing, via at least one MSG3 message, or a combination thereof.

[0215] Clause 28. The UE of any of Clauses 21 to 27, wherein, in order to determine the PRS to RO mapping, the at least one processor is configured to receive the PRS to RO mapping from the base station.

[0216] Clause 29. The UE as in Clause 28, wherein, in order to receive the PRS to RO mapping, the at least one processor is configured to receive a System Information Block (SIB) or Location SIB including the PRS to RO mapping.

[0217] Clause 30. A UE of any of Clauses 21 to 29, wherein, in order to determine the PRS-RO mapping, the at least one processor is configured to map a PRS measurement associated with a measurement target to an RO during which the UE should transmit the RACH sequence, the measurement target comprising: one or more identified PRS resources; one or more identified PRS sets; one or more identified transmit / receive points (TRPs); one or more identified location frequency layers; or combinations thereof.

[0218] Clause 31. A base station (BS) comprising: a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: receive, via the at least one transceiver, a PRS-to-RO mapping from a network entity that maps Position Reference Signal (PRS) measurements to Random Access Channel (RACH) timings (ROs) during which a UE should transmit a RACH sequence; and transmit the PRS-to-RO mapping to the UE via the at least one transceiver.

[0219] Clause 32. The BS as in Clause 31, wherein in order to receive the PRS-RO mapping from the network entity, the at least one processor is configured to receive the PRS-RO mapping from a location server or location management function.

[0220] Clause 33. The BS of any of Clauses 31 to 32, wherein, in order to send the PRS to RO mapping, the at least one processor is configured to send a System Information Block (SIB) or Location SIB including the PRS to RO mapping.

[0221] Clause 34. The BS of any of Clauses 31 to 33, wherein, in order to receive the PRS-RO mapping, the at least one processor is configured to receive a mapping that maps a PRS measurement associated with a measurement target to an RO for which the UE should report the PRS measurement associated with the measurement target during its period, the measurement target including: one or more identified PRS resources; one or more identified PRS sets; one or more identified transmit / receive points (TRPs); one or more identified location frequency layers; or combinations thereof.

[0222] Clause 35. The BS as in Clause 34, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: receive the results of the PRS measurement from the UE and on at least one RO via the at least one transceiver; and determine the measurement target associated with the PRS measurement based on the PRS-RO mapping.

[0223] Clause 36. The BS of Clause 35, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: transmit to the network entity via the at least one transceiver the results of the PRS measurement and an indication of the measurement target associated with the PRS measurement.

[0224] Clause 37. A network entity comprising: a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: determine a PRS resource group; determine, based on the PRS resource group, a PRS-to-RO mapping that maps Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) measurements to Random Access Channel (RACH) timings (ROs) during which a UE should transmit a RACH sequence; and transmit the PRS-to-RO mapping to a base station serving the UE via the at least one transceiver.

[0225] Clause 38. A network entity as described in Clause 37, wherein the network entity includes a location server or location management functionality.

[0226] Clause 39. A network entity as described in Clause 38, wherein the base station is located in the same place as the network entity or is a component of the network entity.

[0227] Clause 40. A network entity as described in any of Clauses 37 to 39, wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine the PRS resource group based on the Transmit / Receive Point (TRP) in the geographic region.

[0228] Clause 41. A user equipment (UE) comprising: means for determining a PRS-RO mapping that maps a Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) measurement to a Random Access Channel (RACH) timing (RO) during which the UE should transmit a RACH sequence; means for performing the PRS measurement; and means for transmitting the RACH sequence on the RO during which the UE should transmit the RACH sequence, based on the PRS-RO mapping and the PRS measurement.

[0229] Clause 42. The UE as described in Clause 41, wherein the means for performing the PRS measurement includes means for performing the PRS measurement when the UE is in an RRC_IDLE state or an RRC_INACTIVE state.

[0230] Clause 43. The UE of any of Clauses 41 to 42 further includes: means for transmitting a probe reference signal (SRS) mapped to the RO that the UE should transmit during the RACH sequence.

[0231] Clause 44. The UE of Clause 43, wherein the means for transmitting the SRS comprises: means for transmitting the SRS using: using the same transmit beam for the RO of the RACH sequence that the UE should transmit during its period; using the same time and frequency resources for the RO of the RACH sequence that the UE should transmit during its period; or using one or more timing adjustment commands received from the base station; using a power offset specified by the base station or, in the absence of a power offset specified by the base station, using a zero power offset; using time and frequency resources specified by the base station; or a combination thereof.

[0232] Clause 45. The UE of any of Clauses 43 to 44 further includes: means for reporting the result of the PRS measurement to the base station, the result including a receive-to-transmit (Rx-Tx) measurement, a reference signal received power (RSRP) measurement, a reference signal time difference (RSTD) measurement, a timestamp, a quality metric measurement, or a combination thereof, wherein the result is reported to the base station based on the PRS measurement, the PRS-to-RO mapping, the SRS, or a combination thereof.

[0233] Clause 46. The UE as described in Clause 45, wherein the means for reporting the result of the PRS measurement includes: means for reporting the result of the PRS measurement when the UE is in the RRC_IDLE state or the RRC_INACTIVE state.

[0234] Clause 47. For any of Clauses 45 to 46, the means for reporting the result of the PRS measurement includes: means for reporting the result of the PRS measurement to the base station via at least one Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) timing, via at least one MSG3 message, or a combination thereof.

[0235] Clause 48. For any of Clauses 41 to 47, the means for determining the PRS to RO mapping includes: means for receiving the PRS to RO mapping from a base station.

[0236] Clause 49. The UE as in Clause 48, wherein the means for receiving the PRS to RO mapping includes: means for receiving a system information block (SIB) or a location SIB that includes the PRS to RO mapping.

[0237] Clause 50. For any UE of Clauses 41 to 49, wherein the means for determining the PRS to RO mapping includes: means for mapping a PRS measurement associated with a measurement target to an RO for which the UE should transmit the RACH sequence during its period, the measurement target including: one or more identified PRS resources; one or more identified PRS sets; one or more identified transmit / receive points (TRPs); one or more identified location frequency layers; or combinations thereof.

[0238] Clause 51. A base station (BS) comprising: means for receiving from a network entity a PRS-RO mapping that maps a Position Reference Signal (PRS) measurement to a Random Access Channel (RACH) timing (RO) during which a UE should transmit a RACH sequence; and means for transmitting the PRS-RO mapping to the UE.

[0239] Clause 52. The BS of Clause 51, wherein the means for receiving the PRS-RO mapping from the network entity includes: means for receiving the PRS-RO mapping from a location server or location management function.

[0240] Clause 53. The BS of any of Clauses 51 to 52, wherein the means for transmitting the PRS to RO mapping includes: means for transmitting a System Information Block (SIB) or a Location SIB that includes the PRS to RO mapping.

[0241] Clause 54. The BS of any of Clauses 51 to 53, wherein the means for receiving the PRS-RO mapping comprises: means for receiving a mapping of a PRS measurement associated with a measurement target to an RO for which the UE shall report the PRS measurement associated with the measurement target during its period, the measurement target comprising: one or more identified PRS resources; one or more identified PRS sets; one or more identified transmit / receive points (TRPs); one or more identified location frequency layers; or combinations thereof.

[0242] Clause 55. The BS as described in Clause 54 further includes: means for receiving the result of a PRS measurement from the UE and on at least one RO; and means for determining the measurement target associated with the PRS measurement based on the PRS-RO mapping.

[0243] Clause 56. As in Clause 55, the BS further includes: means for sending to the network entity the results of the PRS measurement and an indication of the measurement target associated with the PRS measurement.

[0244] Clause 57. A network entity comprising: means for determining a PRS resource group; means for determining, based on the PRS resource group, a PRS-RO mapping that maps a Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) measurement to a Random Access Channel (RACH) timing (RO) during which the UE should transmit a RACH sequence; and means for transmitting the PRS-RO mapping to a base station serving the UE.

[0245] Clause 58. A network entity as described in Clause 57, wherein the network entity includes a location server or location management functionality.

[0246] Clause 59. A network entity as described in Clause 58, wherein the base station is located in the same place as the network entity or is a component of the network entity.

[0247] Clause 60. A network entity of any of Clauses 57 to 59, wherein the means for determining the PRS resource group includes: means for determining the PRS resource group based on Transmit / Receive Points (TRPs) in a geographic area.

[0248] Clause 61. A non-transient computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a user equipment (UE), cause the UE to: determine a PRS-RO mapping that maps a Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) measurement to a Random Access Channel (RACH) timing (RO) during which the UE should transmit a RACH sequence; perform the PRS measurement; and transmit the RACH sequence on the RO during which the UE should transmit the RACH sequence, based on the PRS-RO mapping and the PRS measurement.

[0249] Clause 62. A non-transient computer-readable medium as described in Clause 61, wherein the computer-executable instructions that cause the UE to perform the PRS measurement include: computer-executable instructions that cause the UE to perform the PRS measurement when the UE is in an RRC_IDLE state or an RRC_INACTIVE state.

[0250] Clause 63. A non-transient computer-readable medium such as any of Clauses 61 to 62 further includes instructions, when executed by the UE, to further cause the UE to perform the following operations: transmit a probe reference signal (SRS) mapped to the RO that each UE should transmit during its period.

[0251] Clause 64. A non-transient computer-readable medium as described in Clause 63, wherein computer-executable instructions causing the UE to transmit the SRS include: computer-executable instructions causing the UE to transmit the SRS using: using the same transmit beam for the RO of the RACH sequence during which the UE should transmit; using the same time and frequency resources for the RO of the RACH sequence during which the HARQ feedback information UE should transmit; or using one or more timing adjustment commands received from a base station; using a power offset specified by the base station or, if no power offset is specified by the base station, using a zero power offset; using time and frequency resources specified by the base station; or a combination thereof.

[0252] Clause 65. A non-transient computer-readable medium such as that in any of Clauses 63 to 64 further includes, when executed by the UE, instructions to further cause the UE to perform the following operations: report to the base station the result of the PRS measurement, the result including a receive-to-transmit (Rx-Tx) measurement, a reference signal received power (RSRP) measurement, a reference signal time difference (RSTD) measurement, a timestamp, a quality metric measurement, or a combination thereof, wherein the result is reported to the base station based on the PRS measurement, the PRS-to-RO mapping, the SRS, or a combination thereof.

[0253] Clause 66. A non-transient computer-readable medium as described in Clause 65, wherein computer-executable instructions causing the UE to report the result of the PRS measurement include: computer-executable instructions causing the UE to report the result of the PRS measurement when the UE is in an RRC_IDLE state or an RRC_INACTIVE state.

[0254] Clause 67. A non-transient computer-readable medium such as those in Clauses 65 to 66, wherein computer-executable instructions causing the UE to report the result of the PRS measurement include: computer-executable instructions causing the UE to report the result of the PRS measurement to the base station via at least one Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) timing, via at least one MSG3 message, or a combination thereof.

[0255] Clause 68. A non-transient computer-readable medium such as any of Clauses 61 to 67, wherein the computer-executable instructions that cause the UE to determine the PRS-RO mapping include: causing the UE to receive the computer-executable instructions for the PRS-RO mapping from a base station.

[0256] Clause 69. A non-transient computer-readable medium as described in Clause 68, wherein computer-executable instructions causing the UE to receive the PRS-RO mapping include: causing the UE to receive a system information block (SIB) including the PRS-RO mapping or computer-executable instructions locating the SIB.

[0257] Clause 70. A non-transient computer-readable medium such as those in Clauses 61 to 69, wherein computer-executable instructions causing the UE to determine the PRS-RO mapping include: computer-executable instructions causing the UE to map a PRS measurement associated with a measurement target to an RO for which the UE should transmit the RACH sequence during its period, the measurement target including: one or more identified PRS resources; one or more identified PRS sets; one or more identified transmit / receive points (TRPs); one or more identified location frequency layers; or combinations thereof.

[0258] Clause 71. A non-transient computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a base station (BS), cause the BS to: receive from a network entity a PRS-to-RO mapping that maps Position Reference Signal (PRS) measurements to Random Access Channel (RACH) timings (ROs) during which a UE should transmit a RACH sequence; and transmit the PRS-to-RO mapping to the UE.

[0259] Clause 72. A non-transient computer-readable medium as described in Clause 71, wherein causing the BS to receive the PRS-RO mapping from the network entity comprises: causing the BS to receive the PRS-RO mapping from a location server or location management function.

[0260] Clause 73. A non-transient computer-readable medium such as those in Clauses 71 to 72, wherein computer-executable instructions causing the BS to send the PRS to RO mapping include: causing the BS to send a system information block (SIB) including the PRS to RO mapping or computer-executable instructions locating the SIB.

[0261] Clause 74. A non-transient computer-readable medium such as those in Clauses 71 to 73, wherein computer-executable instructions causing the BS to receive the PRS-RO mapping comprise: computer-executable instructions causing the BS to receive a mapping of a PRS measurement associated with a measurement target to an RO for which the UE is required to report the PRS measurement associated with the measurement target during its period, the measurement target comprising: one or more identified PRS resources; one or more identified PRS sets; one or more identified transmit / receive points (TRPs); one or more identified location frequency layers; or combinations thereof.

[0262] Clause 75. The non-transient computer-readable medium of Clause 74 further includes, when executed by the BS, instructions to further cause the BS to perform the following operations: receive the result of the PRS measurement from the UE and on at least one RO; and determine the measurement target associated with the PRS measurement based on the PRS-RO mapping.

[0263] Clause 76. The non-transient computer-readable medium of Clause 75 further includes, when executed by the BS, instructions that cause the BS to perform the following operations: send to the network entity the results of the PRS measurement and an indication of the measurement target associated with the PRS measurement.

[0264] Clause 77. A non-transient computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a network entity, cause the network entity to: determine a PRS resource group; determine, based on the PRS resource group, a PRS-to-RO mapping that maps Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) measurements to Random Access Channel (RACH) timings (ROs) during which a UE should transmit a RACH sequence; and transmit the PRS-to-RO mapping to a base station serving the UE.

[0265] Clause 78. A non-transient computer-readable medium as described in Clause 77, wherein the network entity includes a location server or location management function.

[0266] Clause 79. A non-transient computer-readable medium as described in Clause 78, wherein the base station is located in the same place as the network entity or is a component of the network entity.

[0267] Clause 80. A non-transient computer-readable medium such as any of Clauses 77 to 79, wherein computer-executable instructions that cause the network entity to determine the PRS resource group include: computer-executable instructions that cause the network entity to determine the PRS resource group based on a Transmit / Receive Point (TRP) in a geographic area.

[0268] Clause 81. An apparatus comprising: a memory, a transceiver, and a processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the transceiver, the memory, the transceiver, and the processor being configured to perform a method according to any one of Clauses 1 to 20.

[0269] Clause 82. An apparatus comprising means for performing the method according to any one of Clauses 1 to 20.

[0270] Clause 83. A non-transient computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions, the computer-executable instructions including at least one instruction for causing a computer or processor to perform a method according to any one of Clauses 1 to 20.

[0271] Additional aspects.

[0272] In some aspects, a wireless communication method performed by a user equipment (UE) includes: determining a PRS-RO mapping based on a specific positioning reference signal (PRS) measurement to define a specific random access channel (RACH) timing (RO) during which the UE should at least transmit a RACH sequence; performing the PRS measurement; and transmitting the RACH sequence according to the PRS-RO mapping and based on the specific PRS measurement.

[0273] In some aspects, the method includes transmitting a probe reference signal (SRS).

[0274] In some respects, transmitting the SRS includes transmitting using the same transmit beam used for the RO.

[0275] In some respects, transmitting the SRS includes transmitting it using timing adjustment commands received from the base station.

[0276] In some aspects, transmitting the SRS includes transmitting multiple SRSs, each SRS using one of multiple timing adjustment commands received from the base station.

[0277] In some aspects, transmitting the SRS includes: transmitting using a power offset specified by the base station; or transmitting using a zero power offset when no power offset is specified by the base station;

[0278] In some respects, transmitting the SRS includes transmitting multiple SRSs, each SRS using one of multiple power offsets.

[0279] In some respects, transmitting the SRS includes: transmitting using time and frequency resources specified by the base station, and / or transmitting using the same time and frequency resources used for the RO.

[0280] In some aspects, the method includes reporting the results of the PRS measurement to the base station.

[0281] In some respects, reporting the results of the PRS measurement to the base station includes transmitting an MSG3 message.

[0282] In some respects, the MSG3 message includes at least one of the following: receive-to-transmit (Rx-Tx) measurement; reference signal received power (RSRP) measurement; reference signal time difference (RSTD) measurement; timestamp; or quality metric measurement; based on a specific PRS measurement and the SRS.

[0283] In some respects, reporting the results of the PRS measurement to the base station includes reporting multiple measurements.

[0284] In some respects, the reported measurements include: transmissions occurring on multiple Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) occasions.

[0285] In some respects, a first subset of the plurality of measurements is transmitted on one of the plurality of PUSCH times, and a second subset of the plurality of measurements is transmitted on the other of the plurality of PUSCH times.

[0286] In some respects, measurements from the first transmit / receive point (TRP) subset are transmitted on one of the plurality of PUSCH times, and measurements from the second TRP subset are transmitted on the other of the plurality of PUSCH times.

[0287] In some respects, measurements from TRPs are distributed among the plurality of PUSCH times such that each PUSCH time contains measurements from fewer than a threshold number of TRPs.

[0288] In some respects, TRPs are allocated among the multiple PUSCH times based on a mapping that specifies the number of measurements for each time and frequency resource set of the PUSCH time.

[0289] In some respects, determining the PRS to RO mapping includes receiving the PRS to RO mapping from the base station.

[0290] In some respects, the PRS measurement is performed when the UE is in the RRC_IDLE state or the RRC_INACTIVE state.

[0291] In some aspects, receiving the PRS to RO mapping includes receiving a system information block (SIB) that includes the PRS to RO mapping.

[0292] In some respects, the SIB includes a positioning SIB.

[0293] In some respects, the PRS to RO mapping defines the ROs that the UE should transmit during its period based on specific PRS measurements, which are associated with one or more identified PRS resources; one or more identified PRS sets; one or more identified transmit / receive points (TRPs); one or more specific layers; or a combination of the above.

[0294] In some aspects, transmitting a RACH sequence based on the PRS-RO mapping and a specific PRS measurement includes: measuring the detected PRS resource and transmitting the RACH sequence during the RO to which the detected PRS resource is mapped.

[0295] In some aspects, transmitting a RACH sequence based on the PRS-RO mapping and a specific PRS measurement includes: measuring the detected PRS set and transmitting the RACH sequence during the RO to which the detected PRS set is mapped.

[0296] In some aspects, transmitting a RACH sequence based on the PRS to RO mapping and a specific PRS measurement includes: measuring the detected layer and transmitting the RACH sequence during the RO to which the detected layer is mapped.

[0297] In some aspects, transmitting a RACH sequence based on the PRS-RO mapping and a specific PRS measurement includes: detecting a set including at least one PRS resource, at least one PRS set, at least one transmit / receive point (TRP), and / or at least one layer; and transmitting the RACH sequence during the RO to which the set is mapped.

[0298] In some respects, transmitting RACH sequences based on the PRS to RO mapping and specific PRS measurements includes transmitting RACH sequences during multiple ROs.

[0299] In some aspects, the method includes transmitting a plurality of probe reference signals (SRS), each SRS having a one-to-one mapping to one of the plurality of probe reference signals (ROs).

[0300] In some aspects, the method includes: reporting the results of a specific PRS measurement to a base station based on the PRS-RO mapping.

[0301] In some aspects, the method includes: reporting the results of a PRS measurement to a base station based on the PRS-to-RO mapping and a specific PRS measurement, which includes detecting a set including at least one PRS resource, at least one PRS set, at least one transmit / receive point (TRP), and / or at least one layer; and reporting the results of the PRS measurement to the base station during the RO to which the set is mapped.

[0302] In some respects, reporting the results of the PRS measurement to the base station based on the PRS-RO mapping and the specific PRS measurement includes reporting during multiple ROs.

[0303] In some respects, the results of this PRS measurement are reported when the UE is in the RRC_IDLE state or the RRC_INACTIVE state.

[0304] In some aspects, a wireless communication method performed by a base station (BS) includes: receiving from a network entity a PRS-to-RO mapping based on specific positioning reference signal (PRS) measurements to define a specific random access channel (RACH) timing (RO) during which the UE should at least transmit a RACH sequence; and transmitting the PRS-to-RO mapping to the UE.

[0305] In some respects, this network entity includes location servers or location management functions.

[0306] In some respects, sending the PRS to RO mapping includes sending a System Information Block (SIB) that includes the PRS to RO mapping.

[0307] In some respects, the SIB includes a positioning SIB.

[0308] In some respects, the PRS to RO mapping defines the ROs for which the UE should report PRS measurements during its period, which are associated with one or more identified PRS resources; one or more identified PRS sets; one or more identified transmit / receive points (TRPs); one or more specific tiers; or a combination of the above.

[0309] In some aspects, the method includes: receiving PRS measurement results from the UE on at least one RO; and determining the PRS resource, PRS set, transmit / receive point (TRP), and / or layer associated with the PRS measurement based on the PRS-RO mapping.

[0310] In some aspects, receiving the PRS measurement result from the UE on at least one RO includes receiving the PRS measurement result on multiple ROs.

[0311] In some aspects, the method includes sending the PRS measurement result to the network entity along with indications of the PRS resources, PRS sets, TRPs, and / or layers associated with the PRS measurement.

[0312] In some aspects, a wireless communication method performed by a network entity includes: determining a PRS resource group; determining a PRS-to-RO mapping based on the PRS resource group for a random access channel (RACH) timing (RO) during which the UE should transmit at least a RACH sequence based on a specific positioning reference signal (PRS) measurement; and transmitting the PRS-to-RO mapping to a base station serving the UE.

[0313] In some respects, this network entity includes location servers or location management functions.

[0314] In some respects, the base station is located in the same place as the network entity or is a component of the network entity.

[0315] In some respects, the base station includes a new gNB (gradio base station).

[0316] In some respects, identifying the PRS resource group includes determining the PRS resource group based on the Transmit / Receive Points (TRPs) in the geographic region.

[0317] In some aspects, the method includes: receiving PRS measurement results from the base station and indications of PRS resources, PRS sets, TRPs, and / or layers associated with the PRS measurement.

[0318] In some aspects, a user equipment (UE) includes: a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: determine a PRS-to-RO mapping based on a specific Position Reference Signal (PRS) measurement defining a specific Random Access Channel (RACH) timing (RO) during which the UE should at least transmit a RACH sequence; perform a PRS measurement; and transmit the RACH sequence based on the specific PRS measurement according to the PRS-to-RO mapping.

[0319] In some respects, the at least one processor is further configured to transmit a probe reference signal (SRS).

[0320] In some respects, transmitting the SRS includes transmitting using the same transmit beam used for the RO.

[0321] In some respects, transmitting the SRS includes transmitting it using timing adjustment commands received from the base station.

[0322] In some aspects, transmitting the SRS includes transmitting multiple SRSs, each SRS using one of multiple timing adjustment commands received from the base station.

[0323] In some aspects, transmitting the SRS includes: transmitting using a power offset specified by the base station; or transmitting using a zero power offset when no power offset is specified by the base station;

[0324] In some respects, transmitting the SRS includes transmitting multiple SRSs, each SRS using one of multiple power offsets.

[0325] In some respects, transmitting the SRS includes: transmitting using time and frequency resources specified by the base station, and / or transmitting using the same time and frequency resources used for the RO.

[0326] In some respects, the at least one processor is further configured to report the results of the PRS measurement to the base station.

[0327] In some respects, reporting the results of the PRS measurement to the base station includes transmitting an MSG3 message.

[0328] In some respects, the MSG3 message includes at least one of the following: receive-to-transmit (Rx-Tx) measurement; reference signal received power (RSRP) measurement; reference signal time difference (RSTD) measurement; timestamp; or quality metric measurement; based on a specific PRS measurement and the SRS.

[0329] In some respects, reporting the results of the PRS measurement to the base station includes reporting multiple measurements.

[0330] In some respects, the reported measurements include: transmissions occurring on multiple Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) occasions.

[0331] In some respects, a first subset of the plurality of measurements is transmitted on one of the plurality of PUSCH times, and a second subset of the plurality of measurements is transmitted on the other of the plurality of PUSCH times.

[0332] In some respects, measurements from the first transmit / receive point (TRP) subset are transmitted on one of the plurality of PUSCH times, and measurements from the second TRP subset are transmitted on the other of the plurality of PUSCH times.

[0333] In some respects, measurements from TRPs are distributed among the plurality of PUSCH times such that each PUSCH time contains measurements from fewer than a threshold number of TRPs.

[0334] In some respects, TRPs are allocated among the multiple PUSCH times based on a mapping that specifies the number of measurements for each time and frequency resource set of the PUSCH time.

[0335] In some respects, determining the PRS to RO mapping includes receiving the PRS to RO mapping from the base station.

[0336] In some respects, the PRS measurement is performed when the UE is in the RRC_IDLE state or the RRC_INACTIVE state.

[0337] In some respects, the PRS to RO mapping includes: a System Information Block (SIB) that includes the PRS to RO mapping.

[0338] In some respects, the SIB includes a positioning SIB.

[0339] In some respects, the PRS to RO mapping defines the ROs that the UE should transmit during its period based on specific PRS measurements, which are associated with one or more identified PRS resources; one or more identified PRS sets; one or more identified transmit / receive points (TRPs); one or more specific layers; or a combination of the above.

[0340] In some aspects, transmitting a RACH sequence based on the PRS-RO mapping and a specific PRS measurement includes: measuring the detected PRS resource and transmitting the RACH sequence during the RO to which the detected PRS resource is mapped.

[0341] In some aspects, transmitting a RACH sequence based on the PRS-RO mapping and a specific PRS measurement includes: measuring the detected PRS set and transmitting the RACH sequence during the RO to which the detected PRS set is mapped.

[0342] In some aspects, transmitting a RACH sequence based on the PRS-RO mapping and a specific PRS measurement includes: measuring the detected TRP and transmitting the RACH sequence during the RO to which the detected TRP is mapped.

[0343] In some aspects, transmitting a RACH sequence based on the PRS to RO mapping and a specific PRS measurement includes: measuring the detected layer and transmitting the RACH sequence during the RO to which the detected layer is mapped.

[0344] In some aspects, the method includes: transmitting a RACH sequence based on the PRS-RO mapping and a specific PRS measurement, which includes detecting a set including at least one PRS resource, at least one PRS set, at least one transmit / receive point (TRP), and / or at least one layer; and transmitting the RACH sequence during the RO to which the set is mapped.

[0345] In some respects, transmitting RACH sequences based on the PRS to RO mapping and specific PRS measurements includes transmitting RACH sequences during multiple ROs.

[0346] In some aspects, the at least one processor is further configured to transmit a plurality of probe reference signals (SRS), each SRS having a one-to-one mapping to one of the plurality of ROs.

[0347] In some aspects, the at least one processor is further configured to report the results of the PRS measurement to the base station based on a specific PRS measurement according to the PRS-RO mapping.

[0348] In some aspects, the method includes: reporting the result of the PRS measurement to the base station, which includes detecting a set including at least one PRS resource, at least one PRS set, at least one transmit / receive point (TRP), and / or at least one layer; and reporting the result of the PRS measurement to the base station during the RO to which the set is mapped.

[0349] In some respects, reporting the results of the PRS measurement to the base station based on the PRS-RO mapping and the specific PRS measurement results includes reporting during multiple ROs.

[0350] In some respects, the results of this PRS measurement are reported when the UE is in the RRC_IDLE state or the RRC_INACTIVE state.

[0351] In some aspects, a base station includes: a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: receive from a network entity a PRS-to-RO mapping based on a specific Position Reference Signal (PRS) measurement to define a specific Random Access Channel (RACH) timing (RO) during which a UE should at least transmit a RACH sequence; and transmit the PRS-to-RO mapping to the UE.

[0352] In some respects, this network entity includes location servers or location management functions.

[0353] In some respects, sending the PRS to RO mapping includes sending a System Information Block (SIB) that includes the PRS to RO mapping.

[0354] In some respects, the SIB includes a positioning SIB.

[0355] In some respects, the PRS to RO mapping defines the ROs for which the UE should report PRS measurements during its period, which are associated with one or more identified PRS resources; one or more identified PRS sets; one or more identified transmit / receive points (TRPs); one or more specific tiers; or a combination of the above.

[0356] In some aspects, the method includes: receiving PRS measurements from the UE on at least one RO; and determining the PRS resource, PRS set, transmit / receive point (TRP), and / or layer associated with the PRS measurements based on the PRS-RO mapping.

[0357] In some aspects, receiving the PRS measurement from the UE on at least one RO includes receiving PRS measurement results on multiple ROs.

[0358] In some aspects, a network entity includes: a memory; at least one network interface; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one network interface, the at least one processor being configured to: determine a PRS resource group; determine, based on the PRS resource group, a PRS-to-RO mapping of random access channel (RACH) timings (ROs) during which a UE should at least transmit a RACH sequence based on a specific positioning reference signal (PRS) measurement definition; and transmit the PRS-to-RO mapping to a base station serving the UE.

[0359] In some respects, this network entity includes location servers or location management functions.

[0360] In some respects, the base station is located in the same place as the network entity or is a component of the network entity.

[0361] In some respects, the base station includes a new gNB (gradio base station).

[0362] In some respects, identifying the PRS resource group includes determining the PRS resource group based on the Transmit / Receive Points (TRPs) in the geographic region.

[0363] In some aspects, a user equipment (UE) includes: means for determining a PRS-RO mapping based on a specific positioning reference signal (PRS) measurement to define a specific random access channel (RACH) timing (RO) during which the UE should at least transmit a RACH sequence; means for performing the PRS measurement; and means for transmitting the RACH sequence according to the PRS-RO mapping and the specific PRS measurement.

[0364] In some aspects, a base station includes: means for receiving from a network entity a PRS-to-RO mapping that defines a specific random access channel (RACH) timing (RO) during which a UE should at least transmit a RACH sequence based on a specific positioning reference signal (PRS) measurement; and means for transmitting the PRS-to-RO mapping to the UE.

[0365] In some aspects, the method includes: means for receiving PRS measurements from the UE on at least one RO; and means for determining, based on the PRS-RO mapping, the PRS resource, PRS set, transmit / receive point (TRP), and / or layer associated with the PRS measurement.

[0366] In some aspects, the method includes: means for sending the PRS measurement to the network entity and indications of PRS resources, PRS sets, TRPs, and / or layers associated with the PRS measurement.

[0367] In some aspects, a network entity includes: means for determining a PRS resource group; means for determining, based on the PRS resource group, a PRS-to-RO mapping of the random access channel (RACH) timing (RO) during which the UE should at least transmit a RACH sequence based on a specific positioning reference signal (PRS) measurement; and means for transmitting the PRS-to-RO mapping to a base station serving the UE.

[0368] In some aspects, the method includes: means for receiving PRS measurements from the base station and indications of PRS resources, PRS sets, TRPs, and / or layers associated with the PRS measurements.

[0369] In some aspects, a non-transient computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions includes: at least one instruction instructing a user equipment (UE) to determine a PRS-RO mapping based on a specific positioning reference signal (PRS) measurement to define a specific random access channel (RACH) timing (RO) during which the UE should at least transmit a RACH sequence; at least one instruction instructing the UE to perform the PRS measurement; and at least one instruction instructing the UE to transmit the RACH sequence according to the PRS-RO mapping and the specific PRS measurement.

[0370] In some aspects, a non-transient computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions includes: an instruction that instructs a base station to receive from a network entity at least one PRS-to-RO mapping that defines a specific random access channel (RACH) timing (RO) during which a UE should at least transmit a RACH sequence based on a specific positioning reference signal (PRS) measurement; and an instruction that instructs the base station to transmit the PRS-to-RO mapping to the UE.

[0371] In some aspects, a non-transient computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions includes: at least one instruction instructing a network entity to determine a PRS resource group; at least one instruction instructing the network entity to determine, based on the PRS resource group, a PRS-to-RO mapping of a random access channel (RACH) timing (RO) that the UE should transmit at least a RACH sequence during its period, defined by a specific positioning reference signal (PRS) measurement; and at least one instruction instructing the network entity to send the PRS-to-RO mapping to a base station serving the UE.

[0372] While the foregoing disclosure has illustrated illustrative aspects of this disclosure, it should be noted that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the scope of this disclosure as defined by the appended claims. The functions, steps, and / or actions in the method claims according to the aspects of this disclosure described herein need not be performed in any particular order. Furthermore, although elements of this disclosure may be described or claimed in the singular, pluralism is also contemplated unless explicitly stated to be limited to the singular.

Claims

1. A wireless communication method performed by a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: Determine the Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) to Random Access Channel (RACH) Timing RO mapping, wherein the PRS to RO mapping maps the PRS measurement to the RO during which the UE should transmit the RACH sequence; Perform PRS measurements; Based on the PRS-to-RO mapping and the PRS measurement, the UE transmits the RACH sequence on the RO on which it is required to transmit the RACH sequence during its period; and The transmission is mapped to the RO probe reference signal SRS of the RACH sequence during which the UE should transmit.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein performing the PRS measurement comprises: The PRS measurement is performed when the UE is in RRC_Idle state or RRC_Inactive state.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein transmitting the SRS comprises: Use the following to transmit the SRS: Use the same transmit beam used for the RO that the UE should transmit the RACH sequence during its period; Use the same time and frequency resources as the RO for which the UE should transmit the RACH sequence during its period; or Use one of one or more timing adjustment commands received from the base station; Use the power offset specified by the base station or, if no power offset is specified by the base station, use a power offset of zero; Use the time and frequency resources specified by the base station; Its combination.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising: The results of the PRS measurements are reported to the base station, including received-to-transmit Rx-Tx measurements, reference signal received power (RSRP) measurements, reference signal time difference (RSTD) measurements, timestamps, quality metric measurements, or combinations thereof. The results are reported to the base station based on the PRS measurement, the PRS-RO mapping, the SRS, or a combination thereof.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein reporting the result of the PRS measurement comprises: The results of the PRS measurement are reported when the UE is in RRC_Idle state or RRC_Inactive state.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein reporting the result of the PRS measurement comprises: The results of the PRS measurement are reported to the base station via at least one Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH), at least one MSG3 message, or a combination thereof.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the PRS to RO mapping comprises: Receive the PRS to RO mapping from the base station.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein receiving the PRS to RO mapping comprises: Receive system information block SIB or location SIB that includes the PRS to RO mapping.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the PRS to RO mapping comprises: Map the PRS measurements associated with the measurement target to the ROs during which the UE should transmit the RACH sequence, the measurement target including: One or more identified PRS resources; One or more identified PRS sets; One or more identified Transmit / Receive Points (TRPs); One or more identified positioning frequency layers; or The combination it identifies.

10. A wireless communication method performed by a base station (BS), the method comprising: The location reference signal (PRS) received from the network entity is mapped to the random access channel (RACH) timing (RO) mapping, which maps the PRS measurement to the RO during which the UE should transmit the RACH sequence. Send the PRS to RO mapping to the UE; According to the PRS to RO mapping, the UE receives the RACH sequence from the UE on the RO where the UE should transmit the RACH sequence during its period; as well as The UE receives the probe reference signal SRS mapped to the RO that the UE should transmit during the RACH sequence.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein receiving the PRS-RO mapping from the network entity comprises: Receive the PRS to RO mapping from the location server or location management function.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein sending the PRS to the RO mapping comprises: Send a system information block (SIB) or location SIB that includes the PRS to RO mapping.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein receiving the PRS to RO mapping comprises: Receive a mapping that maps PRS measurements associated with a measurement target to ROs (Responsibility Orders) during which the UE should report PRS measurements associated with the measurement target, the measurement target including: One or more identified PRS resources; One or more identified PRS sets; One or more identified Transmit / Receive Points (TRPs); One or more identified positioning frequency layers; or The combination it identifies.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising: The results of PRS measurements are received from the UE and at least one RO; as well as The measurement target associated with the PRS measurement is determined based on the PRS-RO mapping.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising: Send the results of the PRS measurement and the indication of the measurement target associated with the PRS measurement to the network entity.

16. A wireless communication method performed by a network entity, the method comprising: Identify the PRS resource group; Based on the PRS resource group, the positioning reference signal PRS to random access channel RACH timing RO mapping is determined. The PRS to RO mapping maps the PRS measurement to the RO during which the UE should transmit the RACH sequence. as well as Send the PRS to RO mapping to the base station serving the UE.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the network entity includes a location server or a location management function.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the base station is located in the same place as the network entity or is a component of the network entity.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein determining the PRS resource group comprises: The PRS resource group is determined based on the Transmit / Receive Points (TRPs) in the geographic region.

20. A user equipment (UE), comprising: Memory; At least one transceiver; as well as At least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: Determine the Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) to Random Access Channel (RACH) Timing RO mapping, wherein the PRS to RO mapping maps the PRS measurement to the RO during which the UE should transmit the RACH sequence; Perform PRS measurements; The RACH sequence is transmitted on the RO where the UE should transmit the RACH sequence during its period, via the at least one transceiver according to the PRS-RO mapping and based on the PRS measurement; as well as The probe reference signal SRS, mapped to the RO of the RACH sequence that the UE should transmit during its period, is transmitted via the at least one transceiver.

21. The UE of claim 20, wherein the at least one processor is configured to perform the PRS measurement when the UE is in an RRC_idle state or an RRC_inactive state.

22. The UE of claim 20, wherein the at least one processor is configured to transmit the SRS using the following: Use the same transmit beam used for the RO that the UE should transmit the RACH sequence during its period; Use the same time and frequency resources as the RO for which the UE should transmit the RACH sequence during its period; or Use one of one or more timing adjustment commands received from the base station; Use the power offset specified by the base station or, if no power offset is specified by the base station, use a power offset of zero; Use the time and frequency resources specified by the base station; Its combination.

23. The UE of claim 20, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: The results of the PRS measurements are reported to the base station, including received-to-transmit Rx-Tx measurements, reference signal received power (RSRP) measurements, reference signal time difference (RSTD) measurements, timestamps, quality metric measurements, or combinations thereof. The results are reported to the base station based on the PRS measurement, the PRS-RO mapping, the SRS, or a combination thereof.

24. The UE of claim 23, wherein the at least one processor is configured to report the result of the PRS measurement when the UE is in an RRC_idle state or an RRC_inactive state.

25. The UE of claim 23, wherein the at least one processor is configured to report the result of the PRS measurement to the base station via at least one Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) timing, via at least one MSG3 message, or a combination thereof.

26. The UE of claim 20, wherein, in order to determine the PRS-RO mapping, the at least one processor is configured to receive the PRS-RO mapping from the base station.

27. The UE of claim 26, wherein, in order to receive the PRS-RO mapping, the at least one processor is configured to receive a System Information Block (SIB) or a Location SIB including the PRS-RO mapping.

28. The UE of claim 20, wherein, in order to determine the PRS-RO mapping, the at least one processor is configured to map a PRS measurement associated with a measurement target to an RO during which the UE should transmit the RACH sequence, the measurement target comprising: One or more identified PRS resources; One or more identified PRS sets; One or more identified Transmit / Receive Points (TRPs); One or more identified positioning frequency layers; or The combination it identifies.

29. A base station (BS), comprising: Memory; At least one transceiver; as well as At least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: The location reference signal (PRS) to random access channel (RACH) timing RO mapping is received from the network entity via the at least one transceiver, the PRS to RO mapping mapping the PRS measurement to the RO during which the UE should transmit the RACH sequence; The PRS to RO mapping is sent to the UE via the at least one transceiver; According to the PRS to RO mapping, the RACH sequence is received from the UE via the at least one transceiver on the RO during which the UE should transmit the RACH sequence; as well as The probe reference signal SRS is received from the UE via the at least one transceiver and mapped to the RO that the UE should transmit during the RACH sequence.

30. The BS of claim 29, wherein, in order to receive the PRS-RO mapping from the network entity, the at least one processor is configured to receive the PRS-RO mapping from a location server or a location management function.

31. The BS of claim 29, wherein, in order to send the PRS to RO mapping, the at least one processor is configured to send a System Information Block (SIB) or a Location SIB including the PRS to RO mapping.

32. The BS of claim 29, wherein, in order to receive the PRS-RO mapping, the at least one processor is configured to receive a mapping that maps a PRS measurement associated with a measurement target to an RO for which the UE should report the PRS measurement associated with the measurement target during its period, the measurement target comprising: One or more identified PRS resources; One or more identified PRS sets; One or more identified Transmit / Receive Points (TRPs); One or more identified positioning frequency layers; or The combination it identifies.

33. The BS of claim 32, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: The results of PRS measurements are received from the UE and on at least one RO via the at least one transceiver; and The measurement target associated with the PRS measurement is determined based on the PRS-RO mapping.

34. The BS of claim 33, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: transmit the result of the PRS measurement and an indication of the measurement target associated with the PRS measurement to the network entity via the at least one transceiver.

35. A network entity, comprising: Memory; At least one transceiver; as well as At least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: Identify the PRS resource group; Based on the PRS resource group, the positioning reference signal PRS to random access channel RACH timing RO mapping is determined. The PRS to RO mapping maps the PRS measurement to the RO during which the UE should transmit the RACH sequence. as well as The PRS to RO mapping is sent to the base station serving the UE via the at least one transceiver.

36. The network entity of claim 35, wherein the network entity includes a location server or location management functionality.

37. The network entity of claim 36, wherein the base station is located in the same place as the network entity or is a component of the network entity.

38. The network entity of claim 35, wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine the PRS resource group based on the Transmit / Receive Points (TRPs) in a geographic region.

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