Frequency Hopping Scheme with Partial Inter-hop Bandwidth Overlap

Abstract

In one aspect, a wireless node (e.g., a UE or a BS) measures an RS on a first subband of an effective reference signal (RS) bandwidth at a first hop of a frequency hopping scheme, and measures an RS on a second subband of the effective RS bandwidth at a second hop of the frequency hopping scheme, the first and second subbands of the effective RS bandwidth partially overlapping. In another aspect, a UE transmits an RS on a first subband of an effective reference signal (RS) bandwidth at a first hop of the frequency hopping scheme, and transmits an RS on a second subband of the effective RS bandwidth at a second hop of the frequency hopping scheme, the first and second subbands of the effective RS bandwidth partially overlapping.

Description

[0001] Public background

[0002] 1. Public Domain

[0003] Aspects of the present disclosure relate generally to wireless communications and, more particularly, to frequency hopping schemes with partial inter-hop bandwidth overlap.

[0004] 2. Description of related technologies

[0005] Wireless communication systems have evolved over several generations, including first generation analog wireless telephone service (1G), second generation (2G) digital wireless telephone service (including transitional 2.5G networks), third generation (3G) high-speed data wireless service with Internet capabilities, and fourth generation (4G) services (e.g., LTE or WiMax). There are many different types of wireless communication systems in use today, including cellular and personal communications service (PCS) systems. Examples of known cellular systems include the cellular analog Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS), and digital cellular systems based on code division multiple access (CDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), global system for mobile access (GSM) TDMA variants, and the like.

[0006] The fifth generation (5G) wireless standard, known as New Radio (NR), enables higher data transmission speeds, a greater number of connections, and better coverage, among other improvements. According to the Next Generation Mobile Networks Alliance, the 5G standard is designed to provide data rates of tens of megabits per second to each of tens of thousands of users, and 1 gigabit per second to dozens of employees on an office floor. Hundreds of thousands of simultaneous connections should be supported to support large wireless sensor deployments. Therefore, the spectral efficiency of 5G mobile communications should be significantly improved compared to the current 4G standard. In addition, signaling efficiency should be improved and latency should be significantly reduced compared to the current standard.

[0007] Overview

[0008] A simplified summary of one or more aspects disclosed herein is given below. Thus, the following summary should neither be considered an exhaustive overview of all contemplated aspects, nor should the following summary be considered to identify key or decisive elements related to all contemplated aspects or to delineate the scope associated with any particular aspect. Accordingly, the sole purpose of the following summary is to present certain concepts related to one or more aspects of the mechanisms disclosed herein in a simplified form prior to the detailed description given below.

[0009] An aspect relates to a method of operating a wireless node, comprising measuring an effective reference signal (RS) on a first subband of an RS bandwidth at a first hop of a frequency hopping scheme, and measuring an RS on a second subband of the effective RS bandwidth at a second hop of the frequency hopping scheme, wherein the first and second subbands of the effective RS bandwidth partially overlap.

[0010] Another aspect relates to a method of operating a user equipment (UE), comprising transmitting a reference signal (RS) on a first subband of an effective RS bandwidth at a first hop of a frequency hopping scheme, and a RS on a second subband of the effective RS bandwidth at a second hop of the frequency hopping scheme, the first and second subbands of the effective RS bandwidth partially overlapping.

[0011] Another aspect relates to a wireless node comprising a device for measuring an RS on a first subband of an effective reference signal (RS) bandwidth at a first hop of a frequency hopping scheme, and a device for measuring an RS on a second subband of the effective RS bandwidth at a second hop of the frequency hopping scheme, wherein the first and second subbands of the effective RS bandwidth partially overlap.

[0012] Another aspect relates to a user equipment (UE) comprising means for transmitting an effective reference signal (RS) on a first subband of an RS bandwidth at a first hop of a frequency hopping scheme, and means for transmitting an RS on a second subband of the effective RS bandwidth at a second hop of the frequency hopping scheme, wherein the first and second subbands of the effective RS bandwidth partially overlap.

[0013] Another aspect relates to a wireless node 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 configured to measure an effective reference signal (RS) on a first subband of a RS bandwidth at a first hop of a frequency hopping scheme, and to measure an RS on a second subband of the effective RS bandwidth at a second hop of the frequency hopping scheme, the first and second subbands of the effective RS bandwidth partially overlapping.

[0014] Another aspect relates to 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 configured to transmit an effective reference signal (RS) on a first subband of an RS bandwidth at a first hop of a frequency hopping scheme, and to transmit the RS on a second subband of the effective RS bandwidth at a second hop of the frequency hopping scheme, the first and second subbands of the effective RS bandwidth partially overlapping.

[0015] Another aspect relates to a non-transitory computer-readable medium containing instructions stored thereon, the instructions causing at least one processor in a wireless node to measure an effective reference signal (RS) on a first subband of an RS bandwidth at a first hop of a frequency hopping scheme, and to measure an RS on a second subband of the effective RS bandwidth at a second hop of the frequency hopping scheme, the first and second subbands of the effective RS bandwidth partially overlapping.

[0016] Another aspect relates to a non-transitory computer-readable medium including instructions stored thereon, the instructions causing at least one processor in a user equipment (UE) to transmit an effective reference signal (RS) on a first subband of an RS bandwidth at a first hop of a frequency hopping scheme and to transmit an RS on a second subband of the effective RS bandwidth at a second hop of the frequency hopping scheme, the first and second subbands of the effective RS bandwidth partially overlapping.

[0017] Other objects and advantages associated with the various aspects disclosed herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art based on the accompanying drawings and detailed description. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0019] The accompanying drawings are presented to aid in describing the various aspects of the disclosure and are provided solely for illustration of the aspects and not limitation thereof.

[0020] Figure 1

[0013] An exemplary wireless communication system in accordance with various aspects is illustrated.

[0021] Figure 2A and 2B

[0013] Example wireless network structures in accordance with various aspects are illustrated.

[0022] Figures 3A to 3C is a simplified block diagram of several sample aspects of components that may be employed in a wireless communication node and configured to support communications as taught herein.

[0023] Figure 4A and 4B is a diagram illustrating examples of frame structures and channels within these frame structures in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0024] Figure 5 Exemplary PRS configurations for cells supported by a wireless node are illustrated.

[0025] Figure 6

[0013] An exemplary wireless communication system in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0026] Figure 7

[0013] An exemplary wireless communication system in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0027] Fig. 8Ais a graph illustrating RF channel response at a receiver over time in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0028] Figure 8B is a diagram illustrating this separation of clusters by AoD.

[0029] Fig. 9 The present invention explains the method based on the positioning method for positioning across RS bandwidth (denoted as B RS ) of the multipath channel of the RS (e.g., PRS or SRS) of paths 1-3.

[0030] Fig.10 A frequency hopping scheme according to an aspect of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0031] Fig.11 The measurement of RS according to an aspect of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0032] Fig.12

[0013] Exemplary wireless communication processes in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure are illustrated.

[0033] Fig.13

[0013] Exemplary wireless communication processes in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure are illustrated.

[0034] Fig.14 Explained the differences according to Figure 12-13 An example of a process for implementing a frequency hopping scheme.

[0035] Detailed Description

[0036] Various aspects of the present disclosure are provided in the following description and related drawings for various examples provided for illustrative purposes. Alternative aspects may be designed without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. In addition, well-known elements in the present disclosure will not be described in detail or will be omitted to avoid obscuring the relevant details of the present disclosure.

[0037] The words "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 preferred or superior to other aspects. Likewise, the term "aspects of the disclosure" does not require that all aspects of the disclosure include the discussed feature, advantage, or mode of operation.

[0038] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the information and signals described below may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referred to throughout the following description may be represented by voltage, current, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or magnetic particles, optical fields or optical particles, or any combination thereof, depending in part on the specific application, in part on the desired design, in part on the corresponding technology, etc.

[0039] In addition, many aspects are described in the form of a sequence of actions performed by, for example, elements of a computing device. It will be appreciated that the various actions described herein can be performed by a dedicated circuit (e.g., an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC)), by program instructions being executed by one or more processors, or by a combination of the two. In addition, the sequence of actions described herein may be considered to be fully embodied in any form of non-transient computer-readable storage medium, which stores a corresponding set of computer instructions that, upon execution, will cause or instruct the associated processor of the device to perform the functionality described herein. Thus, various aspects of the present disclosure may be embodied in several different forms, all of which have been conceived to fall within the scope of the claimed subject matter. In addition, for each aspect described herein, the corresponding form of any such aspect may be described herein as, for example, "logic configured to perform the described actions."

[0040] As used herein, the terms "user equipment" (UE) and "base station" are not intended to be dedicated to or otherwise limited to any particular radio access technology (RAT), unless otherwise specified. In general, a UE can be any wireless communication device (e.g., a mobile phone, a router, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a tracking device, a wearable device (e.g., a smart watch, glasses, an augmented reality (AR) / virtual reality (VR) head-mounted device, etc.), a vehicle (e.g., a car, a motorcycle, a bicycle, etc.), an Internet of Things (IoT) device, etc.) used by a user to communicate on a wireless communication network. The UE can be mobile or can be stationary (e.g., at certain times) and can communicate with a radio access network (RAN). As used herein, the term "UE" can be interchangeably referred to as an "access terminal" or "AT", "client device", "wireless device", "subscriber equipment", "subscriber terminal", "subscriber station", "user terminal" or UT, "mobile terminal", "mobile station", or variations thereof. In general, a UE can communicate with a core network via a 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) network (eg, based on IEEE 802.11, etc.), and the like.

[0041] A base station may operate according to one of several RATs when in communication with a UE, depending on the network in which it is deployed, and may be referred to alternatively as an access point (AP), a network node, a Node B, an evolved Node B (eNB), a new radio (NR) Node B (also referred to as a gNB or gNodeB), etc. In addition, in some systems, a base station may provide pure edge node signaling functions, while in other systems, a base station may provide additional control and / or network management functions. In some systems, a base station may correspond to a consumer terminal equipment (CPE) or a roadside unit (RSU). In some designs, a base station may correspond to a high-power UE (e.g., a vehicle UE or VUE) that may provide limited specific infrastructure functionality. The communication link by which a UE may send signals to a base station is referred to as an uplink (UL) channel (e.g., a reverse traffic channel, a reverse control channel, an access channel, etc.). The communication link by which a base station may send signals to a UE is referred to as a downlink (DL) or forward link channel (e.g., a paging channel, a control channel, a broadcast channel, a forward traffic channel, etc.). As used herein, the term traffic channel (TCH) may refer to either a UL / reverse or a DL / forward traffic channel.

[0042] The term "base station" may refer to a single physical transmit receive point (TRP) or may refer to multiple physical TRPs that may or may not be co-located. For example, where the term "base station" refers to a single physical TRP, the physical TRP may be a base station antenna corresponding to a cell of the base station. Where the term "base station" refers to multiple co-located physical TRPs, the physical TRP may be an antenna array of a base station (e.g., as in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system or where the base station employs beamforming). Where the term "base station" refers to multiple non-co-located physical TRPs, 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 head (RRH) (a remote base station connected to a serving base station). Alternatively, the non-co-located physical TRPs may be a serving base station that receives measurement reports from a UE and a neighbor base station for which the UE is measuring a reference RF signal. Since the 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.

[0043] An "RF signal" includes an electromagnetic wave of a given frequency that transmits information through the space between a transmitter and a receiver. As used herein, a transmitter may transmit a single "RF signal" or multiple "RF signals" to a receiver. However, due to the propagation characteristics of each RF signal through a multipath channel, a receiver may receive multiple "RF signals" corresponding to each transmitted RF signal. The same RF signal transmitted on different paths between a transmitter and a receiver may be referred to as a "multipath" RF signal.

[0044] According to various aspects, Figure 1 An exemplary wireless communication system 100 is illustrated. The wireless communication system 100 (which may also be referred to as a wireless wide area network (WWAN)) may include various base stations 102 and various UEs 104. The base stations 102 may include macrocell base stations (high-power cellular base stations) and / or small cell base stations (low-power cellular base stations). In one aspect, the macrocell base stations may include eNBs (where the wireless communication system 100 corresponds to an LTE network), or gNBs (where the wireless communication system 100 corresponds to an NR network), or a combination of both, and the small cell base stations may include femtocells, picocells, microcells, etc.

[0045] The base stations 102 may collectively form a RAN and interface with a core network 170 (e.g., an evolved packet core (EPC) or a next generation core (NGC)) through a backhaul link 122, and interface to one or more location servers 172 through the core network 170. The base stations 102 may also perform functions related to one or more of delivering user data, radio channel encryption and decryption, integrity protection, header compression, mobility control functions (e.g., handover, dual connectivity), inter-cell interference coordination, connection establishment and release, load balancing, distribution of non-access stratum (NAS) messages, NAS node selection, synchronization, RAN sharing, multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS), subscriber and equipment tracking, RAN information management (RIM), paging, positioning, and delivery of alert messages, among other functions. The base stations 102 may communicate with each other directly or indirectly (e.g., through an EPC / NGC) over a backhaul link 134, which may be wired or wireless.

[0046] Base stations 102 may communicate wirelessly with UEs 104. Each base station 102 may provide communication coverage for a respective geographic coverage area 110. In one aspect, one or more cells may be supported by base stations 102 in each coverage area 110. A "cell" is a logical communication entity used to communicate with a base station (e.g., on a certain frequency resource, which is referred to as a carrier frequency, component carrier, carrier, frequency band, etc.), and may be associated with an identifier (e.g., a physical cell identifier (PCI), a virtual cell identifier (VCI)) to distinguish cells operating via the same or different carrier frequencies. In some cases, different cells may be configured according to different protocol types (e.g., machine type communication (MTC), narrowband IoT (NB-IoT), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), or others) that may provide access to different types of UEs. Since a cell is supported by a specific base station, the term "cell" may refer to either or both of a logical communication entity and a base station supporting the logical communication entity, depending on the context. In some cases, the term “cell” may also refer to a geographic coverage area (eg, a sector) of a base station, in the sense that a carrier frequency may be detected and used for communications within some portion of geographic coverage area 110 .

[0047] Although the geographic coverage areas 110 of adjacent macrocell base stations 102 may partially overlap (e.g., in a handoff region), some geographic coverage areas 110 may be substantially overlapped by a larger geographic coverage area 110. For example, a small cell base station 102' may have a coverage area 110' that substantially overlaps with the 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 a home eNB (HeNB), which may provide service to a restricted group referred to as a closed subscriber group (CSG).

[0048] The communication link 120 between the base station 102 and the UE 104 may include UL (also known as reverse link) transmissions from the UE 104 to the base station 102 and / or downlink (DL) (also known as forward link) transmissions from the base station 102 to the UE 104. The communication link 120 may use MIMO antenna technology, including spatial multiplexing, beamforming, and / or transmit diversity. The communication link 120 may be over one or more carrier frequencies. The allocation of carriers may be asymmetric with respect to DL and UL (e.g., more or fewer carriers may be allocated to DL than to UL).

[0049] The wireless communication system 100 may further include a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point (AP) 150 in communication with a WLAN station (STA) 152 via a communication link 154 in an unlicensed spectrum (e.g., 5 GHz). When communicating in the unlicensed spectrum, the WLAN STA 152 and / or the WLAN AP 150 may perform a clear channel assessment (CCA) or listen-before-talk (LBT) procedure to determine whether a channel is available before communicating.

[0050] The small cell base station 102' may operate in a licensed and / or unlicensed spectrum. When operating in an unlicensed spectrum, the small cell base station 102' may employ LTE or NR technology and use the same 5 GHz unlicensed spectrum as that used by the WLAN AP 150. The small cell base station 102' employing LTE / 5G in the unlicensed spectrum may boost coverage and / or increase capacity of the access network. NR in the unlicensed spectrum may be referred to as NR-U. LTE in the unlicensed spectrum may be referred to as LTE-U, Licensed Assisted Access (LAA), or MulteFire.

[0051] The wireless communication system 100 may further include a millimeter wave (mmW) base station 180, which can operate in mmW frequencies and / or near mmW frequencies to communicate with UE 182. Extremely high frequency (EHF) is part of RF in the electromagnetic spectrum. EHF has a range of 30 GHz to 300 GHz and a wavelength between 1 mm and 10 mm. The radio waves in this band may be referred to as millimeter waves. Near mmW can be extended downward to a 3 GHz frequency with a wavelength of 100 mm. The super high frequency (SHF) band extends between 3 GHz and 30 GHz, which is also referred to as centimeter waves. Communications using mmW / near mmW radio frequency bands have high path loss and relatively short range. The mmW base station 180 and the UE 182 can utilize beamforming (transmitting and / or receiving) on ​​the mmW communication link 184 to compensate for the extremely high path loss and short range. In addition, it will be appreciated that in an alternative configuration, one or more base stations 102 may also use mmW or near mmW and beamforming for transmission. Accordingly, it will be appreciated that the foregoing explanation is merely an example, and should not be construed as limiting the various aspects disclosed herein.

[0052] Transmit beamforming is a technique for focusing an RF signal in a specific direction. Conventionally, when a network node (e.g., a base station) broadcasts an RF signal, the network node broadcasts the signal in all directions (omnidirectionally). With transmit beamforming, the network node determines where a given target device (e.g., a UE) is located (relative to the transmitting network node) and projects a stronger downlink RF signal in that specific direction, thereby providing a faster (in terms of data rate) and stronger RF signal to the receiving device. In order to change the directivity of the RF signal when transmitting, the network node can control the phase and relative amplitude of the RF signal at each of the one or more transmitters that are broadcasting the RF signal. For example, a network node can use an antenna array (referred to as a "phased array" or "antenna array") that generates a beam of RF waves, and the beam of the RF wave can be "guided" to point in different directions without actually moving the antennas. Specifically, the RF current from the transmitter is fed to the individual antennas in the correct phase relationship so that the radio waves from the separate antennas are added together in the expected direction to increase the radiation, while canceling out in the unintended direction to suppress the radiation.

[0053] The transmit beams can be quasi-colocated, which means that they appear to the receiver (e.g., UE) to have the same parameters, regardless of whether the transmit antennas of the network nodes themselves are physically colocated. In NR, there are four types of quasi-colocation (QCL) relationships. Specifically, a given type of QCL relationship means that certain parameters about 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 QCL type D, the receiver may use the source reference RF signal to estimate spatial reception parameters of a second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel.

[0054] 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 an antenna array in a particular direction to amplify (e.g., increase its gain level) RF signals received from that direction. Thus, when a receiver is referred to as performing beamforming in a certain direction, it means that the beam gain in that direction is high relative to the beam gain along other directions, or the beam gain in that direction is the highest compared to the beam gain in that direction for all other receive beams available to the receiver. 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.) for the RF signal received from that direction.

[0055] The receive beams may be spatially correlated. The spatial relationship means that the parameters of the transmit beam for the second reference signal may be derived from information about the receive beam for the first reference signal. For example, the UE may use a particular receive beam to receive a reference downlink reference signal (e.g., a synchronization signal block (SSB)) from a base station. The UE may then form a transmit beam based on the parameters of the receive beam for sending an uplink reference signal (e.g., a sounding reference signal (SRS)) to the base station.

[0056] Note that depending on the entity forming the "downlink" beam, the beam can be a transmit beam or a receive beam. For example, if the base station is forming a downlink beam to transmit a reference signal to the UE, the downlink beam is a transmit beam. However, if the UE is forming a downlink beam, 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 a transmit beam or a receive beam. For example, if the base station is forming an uplink beam, the uplink beam is an uplink receive beam, and if the UE is forming an uplink beam, the uplink beam is an uplink transmit beam.

[0057] In 5G, the spectrum in which wireless nodes (e.g., base stations 102 / 180, UEs 104 / 182) operate is divided into multiple frequency ranges: FR1 (from 450 to 6000 MHz), FR2 (from 24250 to 52600 MHz), FR3 (above 52600 MHz), and FR4 (between FR1 and FR2). In a multi-carrier system (such as 5G), one of the carrier frequencies is referred to as the "primary carrier" or "anchor carrier" or "primary serving cell" or "PCell", and the remaining carrier frequencies are referred to as "secondary carriers" or "secondary serving cells" or "SCells". In carrier aggregation, the anchor carrier is a carrier operating on the primary frequency (e.g., FR1) utilized by the UE 104 / 182 and on the cell in which the 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 common control channels and UE-specific control channels and can be a carrier in a licensed frequency (however, this is not always the case). The secondary carrier is a carrier operating on a second frequency (e.g., FR2) that can be configured once an RRC connection is established between the 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 in an unlicensed frequency. The secondary carrier may contain only necessary signaling information and signals, for example, signaling information and signals that are UE-specific may not be present in the secondary carrier, because both the primary uplink and downlink carriers are typically UE-specific. This means that different UEs 104 / 182 in a cell may have different downlink primary carriers. This is also true for the uplink primary carrier. The network is able to change the primary carrier of any UE 104 / 182 at any time. For example, this is done to balance the load on different carriers. Since a "serving cell" (whether PCell or SCell) corresponds to a carrier frequency / component carrier that a base station is using for communication, the terms "cell", "serving cell", "component carrier", "carrier frequency", etc. may be used interchangeably.

[0058] For example, still referring to Figure 1 , one of the frequencies utilized by the macrocell base station 102 may be an anchor carrier (or "PCell"), and the other frequencies utilized by the macrocell base station 102 and / or the mmW base station 180 may be secondary carriers ("SCells"). Simultaneous transmission and / or reception of multiple carriers enables the UE 104 / 182 to significantly increase its data transmission and / or reception rate. For example, two 20 MHz aggregated carriers in a multi-carrier system would theoretically result in a two-fold increase in data rate (i.e., 40 MHz) compared to the data rate achieved by a single 20 MHz carrier.

[0059] 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) or peer-to-peer (P2P) links. Figure 1 In the example of FIG. 1 , UE 190 has a D2D P2P link 192 with a UE 104 connected to a base station 102 (e.g., UE 190 can indirectly obtain cellular connectivity therefrom), and a D2D P2P link 194 with a WLAN STA 152 connected to a WLAN AP 150 (UE 190 can indirectly obtain WLAN-based Internet connectivity therefrom). In an example, the D2D P2P links 192 and 194 can use any well-known D2D RAT (such as LTE Direct (LTE-D), WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), etc.) to support.

[0060] The wireless communication system 100 may further include a UE 164 that may communicate with the macrocell base station 102 over the communication link 120 and / or with the mmW base station 180 over the mmW communication link 184. For example, the macrocell base station 102 may support a 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.

[0061] According to various aspects, Figure 2A An example wireless network structure 200 is illustrated. For example, NGC 210 (also referred to as "5GC") can be functionally viewed 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 in coordination to form a core network. User plane interface (NG-U) 213 and control plane interface (NG-C) 215 connect gNB 222 to NGC 210, in particular to control plane functions 214 and user plane functions 212. In additional configurations, eNB 224 can also be connected to NGC 210 via NG-C 215 to control plane functions 214 and NG-U 213 to user plane functions 212. In addition, eNB 224 can communicate directly with gNB 222 via backhaul connection 223. In some configurations, the new RAN 220 may have only one or more gNBs 222, while other configurations include both one or more eNBs 224 and one or more gNBs 222. The gNB 222 or the eNB 224 may be associated with a UE 204 (e.g., Figure 1204). Another optional aspect may include a location server 230 that may be in communication with the NGC 210 to provide location assistance to the UE 204. The location server 230 may be implemented as multiple separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules spread across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternatively may each correspond to a single server. The location server 230 may be configured to support one or more location services for the UE 204, which may be connected to the location server 230 via the core network, the NGC 210, and / or via the Internet (not illustrated). In addition, the location server 230 may be integrated into a component of the core network, or alternatively may be external to the core network.

[0062] According to various aspects, Figure 2B Another example wireless network structure 250 is illustrated. For example, the NGC 260 (also referred to as "5GC") can be functionally viewed as a control plane function provided by an access and mobility management function (AMF) / user plane function (UPF) 264, and a user plane function provided by a session management function (SMF) 262, which operate in coordination to form a core network (i.e., NGC 260). The user plane interface 263 and the control plane interface 265 connect the eNB 224 to the NGC 260, in particular to the SMF 262 and the AMF / UPF 264, respectively. In an additional configuration, the gNB 222 may also be connected to the NGC 260 via a control plane interface 265 to the AMF / UPF 264 and a user plane interface 263 to the SMF 262. In addition, the eNB 224 may communicate directly with the gNB 222 via a backhaul connection 223, whether or not there is gNB direct connectivity with the NGC 260. In some configurations, the new RAN 220 may have only one or more gNBs 222, while other configurations include both one or more eNBs 224 and one or more gNBs 222. A gNB 222 or an eNB 224 may communicate with a UE 204 (e.g., Figure 1 The base station of the new RAN 220 communicates with the AMF side of the AMF / UPF 264 through the N2 interface, and communicates with the UPF side of the AMF / UPF 264 through the N3 interface.

[0063] The functions of AMF include registration management, connection management, reachability management, mobility management, lawful interception, session management (SM) messaging between UE204 and SMF 262, transparent proxy service for routing SM messages, access authentication and access authorization, short message service (SMS) messaging between UE 204 and short message service function (SMSF) (not shown), and security anchor functionality (SEAF). AMF also interacts with authentication server function (AUSF) (not shown) and UE 204, and receives intermediate keys established as a result of the UE 204 authentication process. In the case of authentication based on UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) Subscriber Identity Module (USIM), AMF retrieves security materials from AUSF. The functions of AMF also include security context management (SCM). SCM receives keys from SEAF, which are used by SCM to derive keys that vary from access network to access network. The functionality of the AMF also includes location service management for regulatory services, transmission of location service messages between the UE 204 and the location management function (LMF) 270 and between the new RAN 220 and the LMF 270, allocation of EPS bearer identifiers for interworking with the Evolved Packet System (EPS), and notification of mobility events for the UE 204. In addition, the AMF also supports the functionality of non-3GPP access networks.

[0064] The functions of the UPF include: acting as an anchor point for intra-RAT / inter-RAT mobility (when applicable), acting as an external protocol data unit (PDU) session point for interconnection to a data network (not shown), providing packet routing and forwarding, packet inspection, user plane policy rule enforcement (e.g., gating, redirection, traffic steering), lawful interception (user plane collection), traffic usage reporting, user plane quality of service (QoS) handling (e.g., UL / DL rate enforcement, reflective QoS marking in DL), UL traffic verification (mapping of service data flows (SDFs) to QoS flows), transport level packet marking in UL and DL, DL packet buffering and DL data notification triggering, and sending and forwarding one or more "end markers" to the source RAN node.

[0065] The functions of SMF 262 include session management, UE Internet Protocol (IP) address allocation and management, selection and control of user plane functions, configuration of traffic steering for routing traffic to the correct destination at UPF, control of part of policy implementation and QoS, and downlink data notification. The interface through which SMF 262 communicates with the AMF side of AMF / UPF 264 is called the N11 interface.

[0066] Another optional aspect may include an LMF 270 that may be in communication with the NGC 260 to provide location assistance for the UE 204. The LMF 270 may be implemented as multiple separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules spread across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternatively may each correspond to a single server. The LMF 270 may be configured to support one or more location services for the UE 204, which may be connected to the LMF 270 via the core network, the NGC 260, and / or via the Internet (not illustrated).

[0067] Figure 3A , 3B 3C illustrate several sample components (represented by corresponding boxes) that may 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) to 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 an ASIC, in a system on a chip (SoC), 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. In addition, 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.

[0068] UE 302 and base station 304 each include a wireless wide area network (WWAN) transceiver 310 and 350, respectively, configured to communicate via one or more wireless communication networks (not shown) (such as NR network, LTE network, GSM network, etc.). WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 can be connected to one or more antennas 316 and 356, respectively, for communicating with other network nodes (such as other UEs, access points, base stations (e.g., eNBs, gNBs), etc.) on a wireless communication medium of interest (e.g., a certain set of time / frequency resources in a specific spectrum) via at least one designated RAT (e.g., NR, LTE, GSM, etc.). WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 can be configured in various ways according to the designated RAT to transmit and encode signals 318 and 358 (e.g., messages, indications, information, etc.), and vice versa, respectively, to receive and decode signals 318 and 358 (e.g., messages, indications, information, pilots, etc.). Specifically, transceivers 310 and 350 include one or more transmitters 314 and 354, respectively, for transmitting and encoding signals 318 and 358, respectively, and one or more receivers 312 and 352, respectively, for receiving and decoding signals 318 and 358, respectively.

[0069] In at least some cases, the UE 302 and the base station 304 also include wireless local area network (WLAN) transceivers 320 and 360, respectively. The WLAN transceivers 320 and 360 can be connected to one or more antennas 326 and 366, respectively, for communicating via at least one designated RAT (e.g., WiFi, LTE-D, The WLAN transceivers 320 and 360 may be configured in various ways according to the specified RAT to transmit and encode signals 328 and 368 (e.g., messages, indications, information, etc.), and vice versa to receive and decode signals 328 and 368 (e.g., messages, indications, information, pilots, etc.). Specifically, the transceivers 320 and 360 include one or more transmitters 324 and 364 to transmit and encode signals 328 and 368, respectively, and include one or more receivers 322 and 362 to receive and decode signals 328 and 368, respectively.

[0070] The transceiver circuitry including the transmitter and the receiver may include an integrated device (e.g., a transmitter circuit and a receiver circuit implemented as a single communication device) in some implementations, may include a separate transmitter device and a separate receiver device in some implementations, or may be implemented in other ways in other implementations. In one aspect, the transmitter may include or be coupled to a plurality of antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 336, and 376) such as an antenna array, which permits the respective device to perform transmit "beamforming" as described herein. Similarly, the receiver may include or be coupled to a plurality of antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 336, and 376) such as an antenna array, which permits the respective device to perform receive beamforming as described herein. In one aspect, the transmitter and the receiver may share the same plurality of antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 336, and 376) so that the respective device can only receive or transmit at a given time, but not both at the same time. The wireless communication devices of apparatus 302 and / or 304 (eg, one or both of transceivers 310 and 320 and / or one or both of transceivers 350 and 360) may also include a network listening module (NLM) or the like for performing various measurements.

[0071] In at least some cases, devices 302 and 304 also include satellite positioning system (SPS) receivers 330 and 370. SPS receivers 330 and 370 may be connected to one or more antennas 336 and 376, respectively, for receiving SPS signals 338 and 378, respectively, such as global positioning system (GPS) signals, global navigation satellite system (GLONASS) signals, Galileo signals, BeiDou signals, Indian regional navigation satellite system (NAVIC), Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS), etc. SPS receivers 330 and 370 may include any suitable hardware and / or software for receiving and processing SPS signals 338 and 378, respectively. SPS receivers 330 and 370 request information and operations from other systems as appropriate, and perform the necessary calculations to determine the location of devices 302 and 304 using measurements obtained by any suitable SPS algorithm.

[0072] The base station 304 and the network entity 306 each include at least one network interface 380 and 390 for communicating with other network entities. For example, the network interfaces 380 and 390 (e.g., one or more network access ports) may be configured to communicate with one or more network entities via a wired backhaul connection or a wireless backhaul connection. In some aspects, the network interfaces 380 and 390 may be implemented as transceivers configured to support wired signal communication or wireless signal communication. The communication may involve, for example, sending and receiving: messages, parameters, or other types of information.

[0073] The apparatuses 302, 304, and 306 also include other components that may be used in conjunction with the operations as disclosed herein. The UE 302 includes a processor circuit system that implements a processing system 332 for providing, for example, functionality related to false base station (FBS) detection as disclosed herein, and for providing other processing functionality. The base station 304 includes a processing system 384 for providing, for example, functionality related to FBS detection as disclosed herein, and for providing other processing functionality. The network entity 306 includes a processing system 394 for providing, for example, functionality related to FBS detection as disclosed herein, and for providing other processing functionality. In an aspect, the processing systems 332, 384, and 394 may include, for example, one or more general purpose processors, multi-core processors, ASICs, digital signal processors (DSPs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), or other programmable logic devices or processing circuit systems.

[0074] Apparatuses 302, 304, and 306 include memory circuitry implementing memory components 340, 386, and 396 (e.g., each including a memory device) for maintaining information (e.g., information indicating reserved resources, thresholds, parameters, etc.). In some cases, apparatuses 302, 304, and 306 may include frequency hopping modules 342 and 388, respectively. Frequency hopping modules 342 and 388, respectively, may be hardware circuits that are part of or coupled to processing systems 332, 384, and 394, respectively, which, when executed, cause apparatuses 302, 304, and 306 to perform the functionality described herein. Alternatively, frequency hopping modules 342 and 388, respectively, may be memory modules (e.g., memory modules stored in memory components 340, 386, and 396, respectively). Figures 3A-3C ), which, when executed by processing systems 332, 384, and 394, cause devices 302, 304, and 306 to perform the functionality described herein.

[0075] UE 302 may include one or more sensors 344 coupled to processing system 332 to provide movement and / or orientation information that is independent of motion data derived from signals received by WWAN transceiver 310, WLAN transceiver 320, and / or GPS receiver 330. As an example, sensor(s) 344 may include an accelerometer (e.g., a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) device), a gyroscope, a geomagnetic sensor (e.g., a compass), an altimeter (e.g., a barometric altimeter), and / or any other type of motion detection sensor. In addition, sensor(s) 344 may include multiple different types of devices and combine their outputs to provide motion information. For example, sensor(s) 344 may use a combination of a multi-axis accelerometer and an orientation sensor to provide the ability to calculate positioning in a 2D and / or 3D coordinate system.

[0076] In addition, UE 302 includes a user interface 346 for providing indications to the user (e.g., audible and / or visual indications) and / or for receiving user input (e.g., when the user actuates a sensing device (such as a keypad, touch screen, microphone, etc.) Although not shown, devices 304 and 306 may also include a user interface.

[0077] Referring to the processing system 384 in more detail, in the downlink, IP packets from the network entity 306 may be provided to the processing system 384. The processing system 384 may implement functionality for the RRC layer, the Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer, the Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, and the Medium Access Control (MAC) layer. The processing system 384 may provide RRC layer functionality associated with broadcasting system information (e.g., master information block (MIB), system information block (SIB)), RRC connection control (e.g., RRC connection paging, RRC connection establishment, RRC connection modification, and RRC connection release), inter-RAT mobility, and measurement configuration for UE measurement reporting; PDCP layer functionality associated with header compression / decompression, security (ciphering, cipher decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification), and handover support functions; RLC layer functionality associated with transmission of upper layer packet data units (PDUs), error correction through ARQ, concatenation, segmentation and reassembly of RLC service data units (SDUs), re-segmentation 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 prioritization.

[0078] The transmitter 354 and the receiver 352 may implement layer 1 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) coding / decoding of the transport channel, interleaving, rate matching, mapping onto the physical channel, modulation / demodulation of the physical channel, and MIMO antenna processing. The transmitter 354 handles 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 coded and modulated symbols may then be split into parallel streams. Each stream may then be mapped to an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) subcarrier, multiplexed with a reference signal (e.g., pilot) in the time and / or frequency domain, and then combined together using an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) to produce a physical channel carrying a time domain OFDM symbol stream. The OFDM stream is spatially precoded to produce multiple spatial streams. Channel estimates from a channel estimator may be used to determine coding and modulation schemes and for spatial processing. Channel estimates may be derived from reference signals and / or channel condition feedback transmitted by UE 302. Each spatial stream may then be provided to one or more different antennas 356. Transmitter 354 may modulate an RF carrier with a corresponding spatial stream for transmission.

[0079] At UE 302, receiver 312 receives the signal through its corresponding antenna(s) 316. Receiver 312 recovers the information modulated onto the RF carrier and provides the information to processing system 332. Transmitter 314 and receiver 312 implement layer-1 functionality associated with various signal processing functions. Receiver 312 may perform spatial processing on the information to recover any spatial streams destined for UE 302. If there are multiple spatial streams destined for UE 302, they may be combined into a single OFDM symbol stream by receiver 312. Receiver 312 then converts the OFDM symbol stream from the time domain to the frequency domain using a fast Fourier transform (FFT). The frequency domain signal includes a separate OFDM symbol stream for each subcarrier of the OFDM signal. The symbols on each subcarrier, as well as the reference signal, are recovered and demodulated by determining the signal constellation point most likely transmitted by base station 304. These soft decisions may be based on channel estimates calculated by a channel estimator. These soft decisions are then decoded and deinterleaved to recover the data and control signals originally transmitted on the physical channel by the base station 304. These data and control signals are then provided to the processing system 332 that implements layer 3 and layer 2 functionality.

[0080] In the UL, the processing system 332 provides demultiplexing between transport channels and logical channels, packet reassembly, cipher decoding, header decompression, and control signal processing to recover IP packets from the core network. The processing system 332 is also responsible for error detection.

[0081] Similar to the functionality described in conjunction with DL transmissions performed by the base station 304, the processing system 332 provides RRC layer functionality associated with system information (e.g., MIB, SIB) capture, RRC connection, and measurement reporting; PDCP layer functionality associated with header compression / decompression and security (encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification); RLC layer functionality associated with transmission of upper layer PDUs, error correction through 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 of MAC SDUs onto transport blocks (TBs), demultiplexing of MAC SDUs from TBs, scheduling information reporting, error correction through HARQ, priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.

[0082] Channel estimates derived by a channel estimator from a reference signal or feedback transmitted by base station 304 may be used by transmitter 314 to select appropriate coding and modulation schemes, and to facilitate spatial processing. The spatial streams generated by transmitter 314 may be provided to different antenna(s) 316. Transmitter 314 may modulate an RF carrier with a corresponding spatial stream for transmission.

[0083] UL transmissions are processed at base station 304 in a manner similar to that described in conjunction with the receiver functionality at UE 302. Receiver 352 receives the signal through its corresponding antenna(s) 356. Receiver 352 recovers the information modulated onto the RF carrier and provides the information to processing system 384.

[0084] In the UL, the processing system 384 provides demultiplexing between transport channels and logical channels, packet reassembly, cipher decoding, header decompression, control signal processing to recover IP packets from the UE 302. The IP packets from the processing system 384 can be provided to the core network. The processing system 384 is also responsible for error detection.

[0085] For convenience, devices 302, 304 and / or 306 are Figures 3A-3C 1 and 2. The illustrated example is shown as including various components that may be configured according to the various examples described herein. However, it will be appreciated that the illustrated blocks may have different functionality in different designs.

[0086] The various components of devices 302, 304, and 306 may communicate with each other via data buses 334, 382, ​​and 392, respectively. Figures 3A-3C The components of can be implemented in various ways. In some implementations, Figures 3A-3CThe components may be implemented in one or more circuits (e.g., such as 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 the circuit to provide this functionality. For example, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 310 to 346 may be implemented by the processor and (or) memory components of the UE 302 (e.g., by executing appropriate code and / or by appropriately configuring the processor components). Similarly, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 350 to 388 may be implemented by the processor and memory components of the base station 304 (e.g., by executing appropriate code and / or by appropriately configuring the processor components). In addition, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 390 to 396 may be implemented by the processor and (or) memory components of the 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 a UE," "by a base station," "by a positioning entity," etc. However, as will be appreciated, such operations, actions, and / or functions may actually be performed by a specific component or combination of components of the UE, base station, positioning entity, etc., such as the processing systems 332, 384, 394, the transceivers 310, 320, 350, and 360, the memory components 340, 386, and 396, the frequency hopping modules 342 and 388, etc.

[0087] Figure 4A is a diagram 400 illustrating an example of a DL frame structure in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. Figure 4B is a diagram 430 illustrating an example of channels within a DL frame structure in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. Other wireless communication technologies may have different frame structures and / or different channels.

[0088] LTE and in some cases NR utilize OFDM on the downlink and single carrier frequency division multiplexing (SC-FDM) on the uplink. However, unlike LTE, NR also has the option of using OFDM on the uplink. OFDM and SC-FDM divide the system bandwidth into multiple (K) orthogonal subcarriers, which are also often referred to as frequency modulation, frequency bins, etc. Each subcarrier can be modulated with data. In general, modulation symbols are sent 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 spacing of the subcarriers can be 15kHz, and the minimum resource allocation (resource block) can be 12 subcarriers (or 180kHz). Therefore, for system bandwidths of 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10, or 20 megahertz (MHz), the nominal FFT size can be equal to 128, 256, 512, 1024, or 2048, respectively. The system bandwidth may also be partitioned into subbands. For example, a subband may cover 1.08 MHz (ie, 6 resource blocks), and there may be 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16 subbands for system bandwidths of 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10, or 20 MHz, respectively.

[0089] LTE supports a single parameter set (subcarrier spacing, symbol length, etc.). In contrast, NR may support multiple parameter designs, for example, subcarrier spacing of 15kHz, 30kHz, 60kHz, 120kHz, and 204kHz or greater may be available. Table 1 provided below lists some of the various parameters for different NR parameter sets.

[0090]

[0091] Table 1

[0092] exist Figure 4A and 4B In the example of , a parameter design of 15 kHz is used. Therefore, in the time domain, a frame (e.g., 10 ms) is divided into 10 equally sized subframes, each subframe is 1 ms, and each subframe includes one time slot. Figure 4A and 4B , time is represented horizontally (eg, on the X-axis), where time increases from left to right, and frequency is represented vertically (eg, on the Y-axis), where frequency increases (or decreases) from bottom to top.

[0093] A resource grid may be used to represent time slots, each of which includes one or more time-concurrent resource blocks (RBs) (also referred to as physical RBs (PRBs)) in the frequency domain. The resource grid is further divided into a plurality of resource elements (REs). An RE may correspond to one symbol length in the time domain and one subcarrier in the frequency domain. Figure 4A and 4B In the parameter design of , for a normal cyclic prefix, an RB may contain 12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain and 7 consecutive symbols in the time domain (OFDM symbols for DL ​​and SC-FDMA symbols for UL), for a total of 84 REs. For an extended cyclic prefix, an RB may contain 12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain and 6 consecutive symbols in the time domain, for a total of 72 REs. The number of bits carried by each RE depends on the modulation scheme.

[0094] like Figure 4A As explained in FIG, some REs carry DL reference (pilot) signals (DL-RS) for channel estimation at the UE. DL-RS may include a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) and a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), with exemplary locations at Figure 4A are marked with an "R".

[0095] Figure 4B An example of various channels within a DL subframe of an explanation frame. The physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) carries DL control information (DCI) within one or more control channel elements (CCEs), each CCE comprising 9 RE groups (REGs), each REG comprising 4 consecutive REs in an OFDM symbol. The DCI carries information about UL resource allocations (persistent and non-persistent) and a description of DL data transmitted to the UE. Multiple (e.g., up to 8) DCIs may be configured in the PDCCH, and these DCIs may have one of a variety of formats. For example, there are different DCI formats for UL scheduling, for non-MIMO DL scheduling, for MIMO DL scheduling, and for UL power control.

[0096] The primary synchronization signal (PSS) is used by the UE to determine the subframe / symbol timing and the physical layer identity. The secondary synchronization signal (SSS) is used by the UE to determine the physical layer cell identity group number and the radio frame timing. Based on the physical layer identity and the physical layer cell identity group number, the UE can determine the PCI. Based on 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 an SSB (also referred to as SS / PBCH). The MIB provides the number of RBs in the DL system bandwidth, and the system frame number (SFN). The physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) carries user data, broadcast system information that is not transmitted via the PBCH (such as system information blocks (SIBs)), and paging messages.

[0097] In some cases, Figure 4A The DL RS illustrated in may be a positioning reference signal (PRS). Figure 5 An exemplary PRS configuration 500 for a cell supported by a wireless node, such as base station 102, is illustrated. Figure 5 shows how the PRS positioning opportunity is determined by the system frame number (SFN), the subframe offset (Δ PRS )552 and PRS periodicity (T PRS ) 520. Typically, the cell-specific PRS subframe configuration is determined by a “PRS configuration index” included in the observed time difference of arrival (OTDOA) assistance data. PRS PRS periodicity (T PRS )520 and the subframe offset (Δ PRS ) is based on PRS configuration index I PRS As explained in Table 2 below.

[0098]

[0099] Table 2

[0100] The PRS configuration is defined with reference to the SFN of the cell that transmits the PRS. PRS The first subframe of the downlink subframe including the first PRS positioning opportunity, the PRS instance may satisfy:

[0101]

[0102] Where n f is SFN, where 0≤n f ≤1023, n s By n f The timeslot number within a defined radio frame, where 0 ≤ n s ≤19, TPRS is the PRS periodicity 520, and Δ PRS It is the subframe offset 552 which varies from cell to cell.

[0103] like Figure 5 As shown in , the subframe offset Δ varies from cell to cell. PRS 552 may be defined in terms of the number of subframes starting from system frame number 0 (time slot "number 0", denoted as time slot 550) to the start of transmission of the first (subsequent) PRS positioning opportunity. Figure 5 In the example of FIG. 5 , the number of consecutive positioning subframes (N) in each consecutive PRS positioning opportunity 518a, 518b, and 518c is PRS ) is equal to 4. That is, each shaded block representing the PRS positioning opportunities 518a, 518b, and 518c represents four subframes.

[0104] In some aspects, when a UE receives a PRS configuration index I in the OTDOA assistance data for a particular cell, PRS When the UE can use Table 2 to determine the PRS periodicity T PRS 520 and PRS subframe offset Δ PRS The UE may then determine the radio frames, subframes, and time slots when the PRS is scheduled in the cell (e.g., using equation (1)). The OTDOA assistance data may be determined, for example, by a location server (e.g., location server 230, LMF 270) and include assistance data for a reference cell and several neighbor cells supported by each base station.

[0105] Typically, the PRS opportunities from all cells in the network that use the same frequency are aligned in time and may have a fixed known time offset (e.g., a cell-specific subframe offset 552) relative to other cells in the network that use different frequencies. In a SFN synchronous network, all wireless nodes (e.g., base stations 102) may be aligned on both frame boundaries and system frame numbers. Thus, in a SFN synchronous network, all cells supported by various wireless nodes may use the same PRS configuration index for any particular frequency of PRS transmission. On the other hand, in a SFN asynchronous network, various wireless nodes may be aligned on frame boundaries but not on system frame numbers. Thus, in a SFN asynchronous network, the PRS configuration index for each cell may be individually configured by the network so that the PRS opportunities are aligned in time.

[0106] If the UE can obtain the cell timing (e.g., SFN) of at least one cell (e.g., a reference cell or a serving cell), the UE can determine the timing of the PRS opportunities of the reference cell and neighbor cells for OTDOA positioning. The timing of other cells can then be derived by the UE, for example, based on assumptions about overlap of PRS opportunities from different cells.

[0107] The set of resource elements used to transmit PRS is called a "PRS resource". The set of resource elements can span multiple PRBs in the frequency domain and can span N (e.g., one or more) consecutive symbols 460 within a time slot 430 in the time domain. In a given OFDM symbol 460, the PRS resource occupies consecutive PRBs. The PRS resource is described by at least the following parameters: a PRS resource identifier (ID), a sequence ID, a comb size N, a resource element offset in the frequency domain, a starting time slot and a starting symbol, the number of symbols per PRS resource (i.e., the duration of the PRS resource), and QCL information (e.g., with other DL reference signals QCL). In some designs, one antenna port is supported. The comb size indicates the number of subcarriers carrying PRS in each symbol. For example, a comb size of comb-4 means that every fourth subcarrier of a given symbol carries PRS.

[0108] A "PRS resource set" is a group of PRS resources used for transmission of a PRS signal, where each PRS resource has a PRS resource ID. In addition, the PRS resources in the PRS resource set are associated with the same transmit receive point (TRP). The PRS resource ID in the PRS resource set is associated with a single beam transmitted from a single TRP (wherein the TRP can transmit one or more beams). That is, each PRS resource in the PRS resource set can be transmitted on a different beam, and as such, a "PRS resource" may also be referred to as a "beam". Note that this does not have any implication as to whether the UE knows the TRP and beam in which the PRS is transmitted. A "PRS opportunity" is an example of a periodically repeating time window (e.g., a group of one or more consecutive time slots) in which a PRS is expected to be transmitted. A PRS opportunity may also be referred to as a "PRS positioning opportunity", "positioning opportunity" or simply "opportunity".

[0109] Note that the terms positioning "reference signal" and "PRS" may sometimes refer to a specific reference signal used for positioning in an LTE or NR system. However, as used herein, unless otherwise indicated, the terms "positioning reference signal" and "PRS" refer to any type of reference signal that can be used for positioning, such as but not limited to: PRS signals in LTE or NR, navigation reference signals (NRS) in 5G, transmitter reference signals (TRS), cell-specific reference signals (CRS), channel state information reference signals (CSI-RS), primary synchronization signals (PSS), secondary synchronization signals (SSS), SSB, etc.

[0110] SRS is an uplink-only signal transmitted by the UE to help the base station obtain channel state information (CSI) for each user. Channel state information describes how the RF signal propagates from the UE to the base station and represents the combined effects of scattering, fading, and power attenuation with distance. The system uses SRS for resource scheduling, link adaptation, massive MIMO, beam management, etc.

[0111] Several enhancements to the previous definition of SRS have been proposed for SRS for positioning (SRS-P), such as a new staggered pattern within the SRS resources, a new comb type for SRS, a new sequence for SRS, a larger number of SRS resource sets per component carrier, and a larger number of SRS resources per component carrier. In addition, the parameters "SpatialRelationInfo" and "PathLossReference" are to be configured based on DL RSs from neighboring TRPs. Further still, one SRS resource may be transmitted outside the active bandwidth part (BWP), and one SRS resource may span multiple component carriers. Finally, the UE may transmit over the same transmit beam from multiple SRS resources for UL-AoA. All of these are features in addition to the current SRS framework, which is configured through RRC higher layer signaling (and potentially triggered or activated through MAC control elements (CEs) or downlink control information (DCI)).

[0112] As mentioned above, SRS in NR is a UE-specifically configured reference signal transmitted by the UE for the purpose of sounding the uplink radio channel. Similar to CSI-RS, such sounding provides various levels of knowledge of the radio channel characteristics. At one extreme, SRS may be used simply at the gNB to obtain signal strength measurements, e.g., for UL beam management purposes. At the other extreme, SRS may be used at the gNB to obtain detailed amplitude and phase estimates as a function of frequency, time, and space. In NR, channel sounding with SRS supports a more diverse set of use cases compared to LTE (e.g., downlink CSI acquisition for reciprocity-based gNB transmit beamforming (downlink MIMO); uplink CSI acquisition for link adaptation and codebook / non-codebook-based precoding for uplink MIMO, uplink beam management, etc.).

[0113] SRS can be configured using various options. The time / frequency mapping of SRS resources is defined by the following properties.

[0114] Time duration N 码元 SRS - The time duration of the SRS resource can be 1, 2 or 4 consecutive OFDM symbols within a slot, in contrast to LTE which only allows a single OFDM symbol per slot.

[0115] Starting symbol position 10—The starting symbol of an SRS resource can be located anywhere within the last 6 OFDM symbols of a slot, provided that the resource does not cross a slot end boundary.

[0116] Repetition factor R - For SRS resources configured with frequency hopping, repetition allows the same set of subcarriers to be sounded in R consecutive OFDM symbols before the next hop occurs (as used herein, "hop" specifically refers to frequency hopping). For example, the value of R is 1, 2, 4, where R ≤ N 码元 SRS .

[0117] Transmission comb tooth spacing K TC and comb offset k TC - SRS resources can occupy resource elements (REs) in a frequency domain comb structure, where the comb spacing is 2 or 4 REs as in LTE. This structure allows frequency domain multiplexing of different SRS resources for the same or different users on different combs, where different combs are offset from each other by an integer number of REs. The comb offset is defined with respect to the PRB boundary and can take values ​​of 0, 1, ..., K TC -1 RE range. Therefore, for the comb tooth spacing K TC = 2, there are 2 different comb teeth that can be used for multiplexing (if necessary), and for the comb tooth spacing K TC =4, there are 4 different comb teeth available.

[0118] Periodicity and slot offset for periodic / semi-persistent SRS cases.

[0119] The sounding bandwidth within the bandwidth section.

[0120] For low latency positioning, the gNB may trigger UL SRS-P via DCI (e.g., the transmitted SRS-P may include repetitions or beam sweeping to enable several gNBs to receive the SRS-P). Alternatively, the gNB may send information about aperiodic PRS transmissions to the UE (e.g., the configuration may include information about PRS from multiple gNBs to enable the UE to perform timing calculations for positioning (UE-based) or for reporting (UE-assisted)). Although various embodiments of the present disclosure relate to DL PRS-based positioning procedures, some or all of such embodiments may also be applied to UL SRS-P-based positioning procedures.

[0121] Note that the terms "sounding reference signal", "SRS" and "SRS-P" may sometimes refer to a specific reference signal used for positioning in an LTE or NR system. However, as used herein, unless otherwise indicated, the terms "sounding reference signal", "SRS" and "SRS-P" refer to any type of reference signal that can be used for positioning, such as but not limited to: SRS signals in LTE or NR, navigation reference signals (NRS) in 5G, transmitter reference signals (TRS), random access channel (RACH) signals used for positioning (e.g., RACH preambles, such as Msg-1 in a 4-step RACH procedure or Msg-A in a 2-step RACH procedure), etc.

[0122] Various NR positioning aspects introduced by 3GPP Release 16 involve improving the position accuracy of positioning schemes involving measurement(s) associated with one or more UL or DL ​​PRS (e.g., higher bandwidth (BW), FR2 beam sweeping, angle-based measurements (such as angle of arrival (AoA) and angle of departure (AoD) measurements), multi-cell round trip time (RTT) measurements, etc.). If latency reduction is a priority, UE-based positioning techniques are typically used (e.g., DL-only techniques without UL position measurement reports). However, if latency is less critical, UE-assisted positioning techniques may be used, whereby data measured by the UE is reported to a network entity (e.g., location server 230, LMF 270, etc.). By implementing the LMF in the RAN, the latency associated with UE-assisted positioning techniques may be reduced to some extent.

[0123] Layer 3 (L3) signaling (e.g., RRC or Position Positioning Protocol (LPP)) is typically used to transmit reports including location-based data associated with UE-assisted positioning techniques. L3 signaling is associated with relatively high latency (e.g., above 100 ms) compared to Layer 1 (L1 or PHY layer) signaling or Layer 2 (L2 or MAC layer) signaling. In some scenarios, lower latency (e.g., less than 100 ms, less than 10 ms, etc.) for location-based reporting between the UE and the RAN may be desired. In such scenarios, L3 signaling may not be able to achieve these lower latency levels. L3 signaling for positioning measurements may include any combination of the following:

[0124] One or more TOA, TDOA, RSRP or Rx-Tx measurements,

[0125] one or more AoA / AoD (e.g. currently only DL AoA and UL AoD are reported for gNB->LMF as agreed) measurements,

[0126] One or more multipath reporting measurements, e.g., per-path ToA, RSRP, AoA / AoD (e.g., per-path ToA currently only allowed in LTE)

[0127] One or more motion states (e.g., walking, driving, etc.) and trajectories (e.g., currently for a UE), and / or

[0128] One or more report quality indicators.

[0129] Recently, L1 and L2 signaling have been contemplated for use in association with PRS-based reporting. For example, L1 and L2 signaling are currently used in some systems to transmit CSI reports (e.g., reports of channel quality indication (CQI), precoding matrix indicator (PMI), layer indicator (Li), L1-RSRP, etc.). The CSI report may include a set of fields in a predefined order (e.g., defined by a relevant standard). A single UL transmission (e.g., on PUSCH or PUCCH) may include multiple reports, referred to herein as sub-reports, which are arranged according to a predefined priority (e.g., defined by a relevant standard). In some designs, the predefined order may be based on an associated sub-report periodicity (e.g., aperiodic / semi-persistent / periodic (A / SP / P) on PUSCH / PUCCH), a measurement type (e.g., L1-RSRP or non-L1-RSRP), a serving cell index (e.g., in a carrier aggregation (CA) scenario), and a report configuration ID (reportconfigID). For 2-part CSI reporting, part 1 of all reports are grouped together and part 2 are grouped separately and each group is coded separately (e.g., part 1 payload size is fixed based on configuration parameters, while part 2 size is variable and depends on configuration parameters and also on associated part 1 content). The number of coded bits / symbols to be output after coding and rate matching is calculated based on the number of input bits and the beta factor as per the relevant standard. A link (e.g., time offset) is defined between the instance of the RS being measured and the corresponding report. In some designs, CSI-like reporting based on PRS measurement data using L1 and L2 signaling may be implemented.

[0130] Figure 6 An exemplary wireless communication system 600 is illustrated in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. Figure 6 In the example of Figure 1 Any UE described (e.g., UE 104, UE 182, UE 190, etc.) is attempting to compute an estimate of its location, or assisting another entity (e.g., a base station or core network component, another UE, a location server, a third-party application, etc.) in computing an estimate of its location. UE 604 may wirelessly communicate with multiple base stations 602a-d (collectively, base stations 602) using RF signals and standardized protocols for modulating RF signals and exchanging information packets, and base stations 602a-d may correspond to Figure 1102 or 180 and / or WLAN AP 150 in any combination. By extracting different types of information from the exchanged RF signals and utilizing the layout of the wireless communication system 600 (i.e., base station locations, geometry, etc.), the UE 604 can determine its location, or assist in determining its location in a predefined reference coordinate system. In one aspect, the UE 604 can specify its location using a two-dimensional coordinate system; however, the various aspects disclosed herein are not limited in this regard and may also be adapted to determine location using a three-dimensional coordinate system where additional dimensions are desired. Additionally, although Figure 6 One UE 604 and four base stations 602 are illustrated, but as will be appreciated, there may be more UEs 604 and more or fewer base stations 602.

[0131] To support positioning estimation, the base stations 602 may be configured to broadcast reference RF signals (e.g., positioning reference signals (PRS), cell-specific reference signals (CRS), channel state information reference signals (CSI-RS), synchronization signals, etc.) to each UE 604 in their coverage area to enable the UE 604 to measure the reference RF signal timing difference (e.g., OTDOA or RSTD) between paired network nodes and / or to identify the beam that best excites the LOS or shortest radio path between the UE 604 and the transmitting base station 602. Identifying the LOS / shortest path beam(s) is of interest not only because these beams can then be used for OTDOA measurements between a pair of base stations 602, but also because identifying these beams can directly provide some positioning information based on the beam direction. In addition, these beams can then be used for other positioning estimation methods that require accurate ToA, such as methods based on round-trip time estimation.

[0132] As used herein, a "network node" may be a base station 602, a cell of a base station 602, a remote radio head, an antenna of a base station 602, wherein the antenna of the base station 602 is located differently from the location of the base station 602 itself, or the location of any other network entity capable of transmitting a reference signal. Furthermore, as used herein, a "node" may refer to a network node or a UE.

[0133] A location server (e.g., location server 230) may send assistance data to UE 604, the assistance data including identification of one or more neighbor cells of base station 602, and configuration information about reference RF signals transmitted by each neighbor cell. Alternatively, the assistance data may originate directly from each base station 602 itself (e.g., in an overhead message broadcast periodically, etc.). Alternatively, UE 604 may detect neighbor cells of base station 602 by itself without using assistance data. UE 604 (e.g., based in part on assistance data (if provided)) may measure and (optionally) report OTDOA from individual network nodes and / or RSTD between reference RF signals received from each network node pair. Using these measurements and the known location of the measured network node (i.e., the base station(s) 602 or antenna(s) that transmitted the reference RF signal measured by UE 604), UE 604 or location server may determine the distance between the UE 604 and the measured network node, and thereby calculate the location of UE 604.

[0134] The term "position estimate" is used herein to refer to an estimate of the location of a UE 604, which may be geographic (e.g., may include latitude, longitude, and possibly altitude) or municipal (e.g., may include a street address, a building name, or a precise point or area within or near a building or street address (such as a specific entrance to a building, a specific room or suite in a building, or a landmark (such as a town square)). The position estimate may also be referred to as a "position," "fix," "position fix," "position fix," "position fix," "position estimate," "fix estimate," or some other term. The manner in which a position estimate is obtained may be generally referred to as "positioning," "addressing," or "position fix." The specific solution for obtaining a position estimate may be referred to as a "positioning solution." The specific method for obtaining a position estimate that is part of a positioning solution may be referred to as a "positioning method," or as a "position determination method."

[0135] The term "base station" may refer to a single physical transmission point or to multiple physical transmission points that may or may not be co-located. For example, where the term "base station" refers to a single physical transmission point, the physical transmission point may be a base station antenna corresponding to a cell of a base station (e.g., base station 602). Where the term "base station" refers to multiple co-located physical transmission points, these physical transmission points may be antenna arrays of a base station (e.g., as in a MIMO system or where the base station employs beamforming). Where the term "base station" refers to multiple non-co-located physical transmission points, these physical transmission points 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 head (RRH) (a remote base station connected to a serving base station). Alternatively, these non-co-located physical transmission points may be a serving base station that receives measurement reports from a UE (e.g., UE 604) and a neighbor base station whose reference RF signal the UE is measuring. Thus, Figure 6 An aspect is illustrated in which base stations 602a and 602b form a DAS / RRH 620. For example, base station 602a can be a serving base station for UE 604, and base station 602b can be a neighbor base station for UE 604. As such, base station 602b can be an RRH for base station 602a. Base stations 602a and 602b can communicate with each other over a wired or wireless link 622.

[0136] In order to accurately determine the positioning of UE 604 using OTDOA and / or RSTD between RF signals received from various network node pairs, the UE 604 needs to measure reference RF signals received on a LOS (line of sight) path (or the shortest NLOS (non-line of sight) path if the LOS path is not available) between the UE 604 and a network node (e.g., base station 602, antenna). However, RF signals do not only travel along the LOS / shortest path between a transmitter and a receiver, but also on several other paths because RF signals spread out from the transmitter and are reflected by other objects (such as hills, buildings, water, etc.) on their way to the receiver. Thus, Figure 6 Several LOS paths 610 and several NLOS paths 612 between base station 602 and UE 604 are illustrated. Specifically, Figure 6 Base station 602a is illustrated transmitting on LOS path 610a and NLOS path 612a, base station 602b transmitting on LOS path 610b and two NLOS paths 612b, base station 602c transmitting on LOS path 610c and NLOS path 612c, and base station 602d transmitting on two NLOS paths 612d. Figure 6, each NLOS path 612 is reflected from an object 630 (e.g., a building). As will be appreciated, each LOS path 610 and NLOS path 612 transmitted by the base station 602 may be transmitted by a different antenna of the base station 602 (e.g., as in a MIMO system), or may be transmitted by the same antenna of the base station 602 (thereby illustrating the propagation of the RF signal). In addition, as used herein, the term "LOS path" refers to the shortest path between a transmitter and a receiver, and may not be an actual LOS path but rather the shortest NLOS path.

[0137] In one aspect, one or more base stations 602 may be configured to transmit RF signals using beamforming. In this case, some available beams may focus the transmitted RF signals along the LOS path 610 (e.g., these beams produce the highest antenna gain along the LOS path), while other available beams may focus the transmitted RF signals along the NLOS path 612. A beam having a high gain along a particular path and thus focusing the RF signal along that path may still allow a certain RF signal to propagate along other paths; the strength of the RF signal naturally depends on the beam gain along those other paths. "RF signals" include electromagnetic waves that transmit information through the space between a transmitter and a receiver. As used herein, a transmitter may transmit a single "RF signal" or multiple "RF signals" to a receiver. However, as further described below, due to the propagation characteristics of each RF signal through a multipath channel, a receiver may receive multiple "RF signals" corresponding to each transmitted RF signal.

[0138] In the case where the base station 602 uses beamforming to transmit RF signals, the beam of interest for data communication between the base station 602 and the UE 604 will be the beam carrying the RF signal that reaches the UE 604 with the highest signal strength (as indicated by, for example, received signal received power (RSRP) or, in the presence of a directional interfering signal, by SINR), while the beam of interest for positioning estimation will be the beam carrying the RF signal that excites the shortest path or LOS path (e.g., LOS path 610). In some frequency bands and for commonly used antenna systems, these beams will be the same beam. However, in other frequency bands (such as mmW), where a large number of antenna elements may be used to create a narrow transmit beam, they may not be the same beam. As described below with reference to Figure 7 As described, in some cases, the signal strength of the RF signal on the LOS path 610 may be weaker (eg, due to obstacles) than the signal strength of the RF signal on the NLOS path 612 where the RF signal arrives later due to propagation delay.

[0139] Figure 7An exemplary wireless communication system 700 is illustrated in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. Figure 7 In the example of Figure 6 UE 604 in the example is attempting to compute an estimate of its location, or assisting another entity (e.g., a base station or core network component, another UE, a location server, a third-party application, etc.) in computing an estimate of its location. UE 704 communicates with base station 702 (which may correspond to a base station 702) using RF signals and standardized protocols for modulation of RF signals and exchange of information packets. Figure 6 wireless communication with one of the base stations 602 in the communication network.

[0140] like Figure 7 As illustrated in FIG. 1 , a base station 702 is utilizing beamforming to transmit multiple beams 711-715 of RF signals. Each beam 711-715 may be formed and transmitted by an antenna array of the base station 702. Figure 7 Base station 702 is illustrated transmitting five beams 711-715, but as will be appreciated, there may be more or less than five beams, beam shapes (such as peak gain, width, and sidelobe gain) may differ between transmitted beams, and some of these beams may be transmitted by different base stations.

[0141] For the purpose of distinguishing an RF signal associated with one beam from an RF signal associated with another beam, a beam index may be assigned to each of the multiple beams 711-715. In addition, an RF signal associated with a specific beam in the multiple beams 711-715 may carry a beam index indicator. The beam index may also be derived from the transmission time (e.g., frame, time slot, and / or OFDM symbol number) of the RF signal. The beam index indicator may be, for example, a three-bit field for uniquely distinguishing up to eight beams. If two different RF signals with different beam indexes are received, this will indicate that the RF signals are transmitted using different beams. If two different RF signals share a common beam index, this will indicate that the different RF signals are transmitted using the same beam. Another way to describe that two RF signals are transmitted using the same beam is that the antenna port (s) used for the transmission of the first RF signal is spatially quasi-co-located with the antenna port (s) used for the transmission of the second RF signal.

[0142] exist Figure 7 In the example of FIG. 7 , UE 704 receives NLOS data stream 723 of RF signals transmitted on beam 713 and LOS data stream 724 of RF signals transmitted on beam 714. Figure 7The NLOS data stream 723 and the LOS data stream 724 are illustrated as single lines (dashed and solid, respectively), but as will be appreciated, the NLOS data stream 723 and the LOS data stream 724 may each include multiple rays (i.e., "clusters") by the time they arrive at the UE 704, e.g., due to the propagation characteristics of RF signals through multipath channels. For example, when an electromagnetic wave is reflected by multiple surfaces of an object and these reflections arrive at a receiver (e.g., UE 704) from approximately the same angle, a cluster of RF signals is formed, with each reflection traveling a few wavelengths (e.g., centimeters) more or less than the other reflections. A "cluster" of received RF signals generally corresponds to a single transmitted RF signal.

[0143] exist Figure 7 In the example of FIG. 7 , NLOS data stream 723 is not initially directed to UE 704, although as will be appreciated, it could have been initially directed to UE 704, as in FIG. Figure 6 723. However, it is reflected by reflector 740 (e.g., a building) and reaches UE 704 unimpeded, and thus can still be a relatively strong RF signal. In contrast, LOS data stream 724 is directed toward UE 704 but passes through obstacles 730 (e.g., vegetation, buildings, hills, disruptive environments (such as clouds or smoke), etc.), which can significantly degrade the RF signal. As will be appreciated, although LOS data stream 724 is weaker than NLOS data stream 723, LOS data stream 724 will arrive at UE 704 before NLOS data stream 723 because it follows a shorter path from base station 702 to UE 704.

[0144] As mentioned above, the beam of interest for data communication between a base station (e.g., base station 702) and a UE (e.g., UE 704) is the beam that carries the RF signal that arrives at the UE with the highest signal strength (e.g., the highest RSRP or SINR), while the beam of interest for positioning estimation is the beam that carries the RF signal that excites the LOS path and has the highest gain along the LOS path among all other beams (e.g., beam 714). That is, even though beam 713 (NLOS beam) would have weakly excited the LOS path (even if not focused along the LOS path due to the propagation characteristics of the RF signal), the weak signal (if any) of the LOS path of beam 713 may not be reliably detected (compared to the LOS path from beam 714), thus resulting in a larger error when performing positioning measurements.

[0145] Although the beam of interest for data communication and the beam of interest for positioning estimation may be the same beam for some frequency bands, they may not be the same beam for other frequency bands (such as mmW). Figure 7, where UE 704 is engaged in a data communication session with base station 702 (e.g., where base station 702 is the serving base station for UE 704) and is not simply attempting to measure a reference RF signal transmitted by base station 702, the beam of interest for the data communication session may be beam 713 because it is carrying an unobstructed NLOS data stream 723. However, the beam of interest for positioning estimation would be beam 714 because it carries the strongest LOS data stream 724, despite being obstructed.

[0146] Fig. 8A 800A is a diagram illustrating RF channel response at a receiver (eg, UE 704) over time in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. Fig. 8A Under the illustrated channel, the receiver receives a first cluster of two RF signals on the channel taps at time T1, a second cluster of five RF signals on the channel taps at time T2, a third cluster of five RF signals on the channel taps at time T3, and a fourth cluster of four RF signals on the channel taps at time T4. Fig. 8A In the example of , because the first RF signal cluster arrives first at time T1, it is assumed to be a LOS data stream (i.e., a data stream that arrives on the LOS or shortest path) and may correspond to LOS data stream 724. The third cluster at time T3 consists of the strongest RF signal and may correspond to NLOS data stream 723. From the transmitter's side, each cluster of received RF signals may include a portion of the RF signal transmitted at a different angle, and therefore each cluster may be said to have a different angle of departure (AoD) from the transmitter. Figure 8B FIG. 800B is a diagram illustrating this separation of clusters by AoD. RF signals transmitted in AoD range 802a may correspond to Fig. 8A , and the RF signal transmitted in AoD range 802b may correspond to Fig. 8A a different cluster in (e.g., “Cluster 3”). Note that although Figure 8B The AoD ranges of the two clusters depicted in are spatially isolated, but the AoD ranges of some clusters may also partially overlap, even though the clusters are separated in time. This may happen, for example, when two separate buildings at the same AoD from the transmitter reflect the signal towards the receiver. Note that although Fig. 8A Clusters of two to five channel taps (or "peaks") are illustrated, but as will be appreciated, the clusters may have more or fewer channel taps than the number of channel taps illustrated.

[0147] RAN1 NR may define UE measurements on DL reference signals (e.g., for serving, reference, and / or neighbor cells) applicable to NR positioning, including DL reference signal time difference (RSTD) measurement for NR positioning, DL RSRP measurement for NR positioning, and UE Rx-Tx (e.g., hardware group delay from signal reception at a UE receiver to response signal transmission at a UE transmitter, such as time difference measurements for NR positioning, such as RTT).

[0148] RAN1 NR may define gNB measurements based on UL reference signals suitable for NR positioning, such as relative UL time of arrival (RTOA) for NR positioning, UL AoA measurements for NR positioning (e.g., including azimuth and zenith angle), UL RSRP measurements for NR positioning, and gNB Rx-Tx (e.g., hardware group delay from signal reception at a gNB receiver to response signal transmission at a gNB transmitter, e.g., in time difference measurements such as RTT for NR positioning).

[0149] As mentioned above, various device types can be characterized as UEs. Starting from 3GPP Release 17, several of these UE types are assigned a new UE classification, denoted as "NR-Light" UE or reduced capability ("RedCap") UE. Examples of UE types that fall into the RedCap classification include wearable devices (e.g., smart watches, etc.), industrial sensors, cameras (e.g., surveillance cameras, etc.), and the like. Typically, UE types grouped under this RedCap classification are associated with lower communication capacity. For example, relative to 'normal' UEs (e.g., UEs not classified as RedCap), RedCap UEs may be limited in terms of maximum bandwidth for transmission and / or reception (e.g., 5MHz, 10MHz, 20MHz, etc.), maximum transmit power (e.g., 20dBm, 14dBm, etc.), number of receive antennas (e.g., 1 receive antenna, 2 receive antennas, etc.), and the like. Some RedCap UEs may also be sensitive in terms of power consumption (e.g., requiring long battery life, such as several years) and may be highly mobile. Furthermore, in some designs, RedCap UEs are often expected to coexist with UEs implementing protocols such as eMBB, URLLC, LTE NB-IoT / MTC, etc. In one specific example, Industrial Internet of Things (I-IoT) wireless sensors may be associated with dense uplink traffic, moderate reliability and latency (e.g., non-URLLC), small packet sizes (e.g., low data rates) with relatively long TX intervals, and high capacity (e.g., up to 1 UE per square meter).

[0150] As described above, for a multipath channel link, the ToA of a signal is determined based on its first corresponding arrival path, which may correspond to the LOS path. Fig. 9 The present invention explains the method based on the positioning method for positioning across RS bandwidth (denoted as B RS ) of the multipath channel of the RS (eg, PRS or SRS-P) of paths 1-3. Fig. 9 As shown, the corresponding peak of each path represents the ToA of the reference signal on the corresponding path. At the receiver side, each path is observed as a sinusoidal envelope, which can be defined as:

[0151]

[0152] Generally speaking, the wider the B RS This results in sharper peaks in the PDP, which in turn results in more accurate positioning. However, RedCap UEs may suffer from narrow bandwidth constraints (for transmission and / or reception), which results in low-quality or coarse positioning for such UEs. For example, B for PRS or SRS-P RS The RS bandwidth may be relatively large (e.g., 100 MHz), and a RedCap UE may only be able to measure or transmit on a portion of the RS bandwidth (e.g., 20 MHz) at any given time. To compensate for this limitation, a RedCap UE may implement Fig.10 The frequency hopping scheme shown.

[0153] Fig.10 A frequency hopping scheme 1000 is illustrated in accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure. Fig.10 In the example, the RS used for positioning (eg, PRS or SRS-P) is transmitted at the RedCap UE via a signal denoted as l m ,m=1,2,...,M, a series of M hops to process (e.g., measure or transmit). At each hop, the portion of the RS bandwidth that the RedCap can process is denoted as B RS By hopping to different non-overlapping portions (or sub-bands) of the RS bandwidth, the RedCap UE can monitor the entire RS bandwidth (although not concurrently). Thus, the total RS bandwidth becomes the effective RS bandwidth (B ) for the RedCap UE. eff ), regardless of the limited bandwidth capability of the RedCap UE (B RS ).

[0154] Each hop transition requires the RedCap UE to perform an RF switch, which consumes time and resources at the RedCap UE. Typically, the RedCap UE will implement random phase changes at each RF switch (or at each hop). These random phase changes can be represented as φ m , m=1,2,...,M.

[0155] In some designs, the random phase change is generated in the hardware implementation of the RF front end of the UE, regardless of whether the UE performs a receive function or a transmit function. The "random phase" is flat in the frequency domain, that is, the entire frequency band spanned by the RF front end shares a common value (phase), and the common phase remains constant until the next RF switch / retuning is performed. For each RF switch, the phase before and after the switch is different, and the difference is uncontrollable and does not satisfy any rules, so it is called "random phase".

[0156] In some cases, the random phase can be completely ignored as long as no cross-switching operations are involved, since the random phase is a constant coefficient. However, once cross-switching operations are involved (e.g., using multiple hops of narrow bandwidth to approximate a wider bandwidth by hopping in the frequency domain), the switching-related random phase may need to be compensated. Even if the phase changes are random and uncontrollable, the random phase changes can be estimated and compensated.

[0157] In some designs, the channel estimate for the RS may be derived as follows, for example:

[0158]

[0159] thus, is the inverse discrete Fourier transform (IDFT) operator, X(k,l m ) is between subcarrier k and symbol l m The reference signal transmitted on the resource elements in m ) is between subcarrier k and symbol l m The signal received on the resource element in , with superscript (·) * is the conjugate of the complex value.

[0160] However, function 1 does not take into account the inter-hop phase difference described above. In some designs, the inter-hop phase difference must be estimated and compensated at the receiver (eg, UE for PRS or BS for SRS-P) before performing the positioning estimation procedure.

[0161] Fig.11 1100 of RS measurements according to an aspect of the present disclosure are illustrated. Specifically, reference measurements at different phase offsets (including one zero phase offset) are depicted, compared to taking three P2Ps, where M=1 (i.e., no frequency hopping, as would be possible for a normal or non-RedCap UE). Fig.11 (where the actual timing is at sample 20), if the phase changes due to frequency hopping are not compensated, the resulting measurements may be degraded in accuracy, resulting in a less precise UE positioning estimate.

[0162] One or more embodiments of the present disclosure are thus directed to a frequency hopping scheme associated with a UE (eg, a RedCap UE) in which successive hops are made within a bandwidth (or B RS Additional aspects may include performing (at the receiver) random phase estimation and random phase compensation, which may provide technical advantages of more accurate channel estimation and positioning.

[0163] Fig.12 An exemplary wireless communication process 1200 is illustrated in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. In an aspect, process 1200 may be performed by a wireless node, such as any of the UEs (eg, UE 302, etc.) or base stations (eg, BS 304, etc.) described above.

[0164] At 1210, the wireless node (e.g., receiver 312, receiver 322, receiver 352, receiver 362, frequency hopping module 342 or 388, etc.) measures RS (e.g., PRS, SRS-P, sidelink PRS, or SL-PRS) on a first subband of an effective RS bandwidth at a first hop of a frequency hopping scheme. In some designs, the first subband of the effective RS bandwidth (e.g., 20 MHz) is smaller than all effective RS bandwidths (e.g., 100 MHz) as measured cumulatively (over time) across all hops of the frequency hopping scheme.

[0165] At 1220, the wireless node (e.g., receiver 312, receiver 322, receiver 352, receiver 362, frequency hopping module 342 or 388, etc.) measures RS on a second subband of the effective RS bandwidth at a second hop of the frequency hopping scheme, the first and second subbands of the effective RS bandwidth partially overlapping. In some designs, at each new hop, the effective RS bandwidth increases as the measurements are accumulated (over time) across all hops of the frequency hopping scheme. In some designs, the first and second subbands can be offset from each other in frequency while occupying the same amount of bandwidth (e.g., 20 MHz).

[0166] Fig.13 An exemplary wireless communication process 1300 is illustrated in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. In an aspect, process 1300 may be performed by a UE, such as any of the UEs described above (eg, UE 302, etc.).

[0167] At 1310, UE 302 (e.g., transmitter 314, transmitter 324, frequency hopping module 342 or 388, etc.) transmits RS (e.g., PRS, SRS-P, sidelink PRS, or SL-PRS) on a first subband of an effective RS bandwidth at a first hop of a frequency hopping scheme. In some designs, at each new hop, the effective RS bandwidth increases as measurements are accumulated (over time) across all hops of the frequency hopping scheme.

[0168] At 1320, the UE 302 (e.g., transmitter 314, transmitter 324, frequency hopping module 342 or 388, etc.) transmits RS on a second subband of the effective RS bandwidth at a second hop of the frequency hopping scheme, the first and second subbands of the effective RS bandwidth partially overlapping. In some designs, at each new hop, the effective RS bandwidth increases as measured (over time) across all hops of the frequency hopping scheme. In some designs, the first and second subbands may be offset from each other in frequency while occupying the same amount of bandwidth (e.g., 20 MHz).

[0169] Fig.14 Explained the differences according to Figure 12-13 The example implementation of the process 1200-1300 is a frequency hopping scheme 1400. Fig.14 In the example, the RS used for positioning (eg, PRS or SRS-P) is transmitted at the RedCap UE via a signal denoted as l m ,m=1,2,...,M series of M hops to process (e.g., measurement or transmission). At each hop, the portion of the RS bandwidth that the RedCap can process is denoted as B RS By hopping to different non-overlapping parts (or sub-bands) of the RS bandwidth, the RedCap UE can monitor the entire RS bandwidth (although not concurrently). Therefore, the total RS bandwidth becomes the effective RS bandwidth (B) of the RedCap UE. eff ), regardless of the limited bandwidth capability of the RedCap UE (B RS ).

[0170] Each hop transition requires the RedCap UE to perform an RF switch, which consumes time and resources at the RedCap UE. Typically, the RedCap UE will implement random phase changes at each RF switch (or at each hop). These random phase changes can be represented as φ m , m = 1, 2, ..., M. Unlike Fig.10 The frequency hopping scheme of 1000, Fig.14 B RS Partially overlap, as shown with reference to l1 and l2. The bandwidth of the overlapping portion is denoted as B OL Here, B eff Equal to MB RS –(M-1)B OL .

[0171] Reference Fig.12In some designs, a wireless node (e.g., UE 302 or BS 304) may estimate a phase difference associated with the first and second hops, and may compensate for the estimated phase difference on the RS as measured on the first and / or second subbands of the effective RS bandwidth. This estimation / compensation procedure may be performed for each corresponding hop in the frequency hopping pattern. In some designs, the wireless node (or some other entity, such as an LMF) may determine a positioning estimate for the UE based at least in part on the compensation.

[0172] Reference Fig.14 , the random phase estimation at the wireless node can be performed according to equation 3-4 and function 2 as follows:

[0173]

[0174]

[0175] Thus m=1, ..., M-1.

[0176] Reference Fig.14 , random phase compensation at the wireless node can be performed according to Function 2 (in contrast to Function 1), as follows:

[0177]

[0178] Reference Figure 12-13 In some designs, the frequency hopping scheme may include three or more hops (e.g., each hop jumps to a new bandwidth subset of the effective RS bandwidth that partially overlaps the bandwidth of the previous hop). In some designs, the frequency hopping scheme may be repeated according to a frequency hopping pattern. In some designs, the frequency hopping pattern may be configurable by the BS or gNB and may specify parameters such as a starting frequency, an ending frequency, a bandwidth, an overlapping bandwidth portion, etc.

[0179] Reference Fig.12 In some designs, the wireless node corresponds to a UE and the RS corresponds to a PRS. In some designs, the PRS is concurrently transmitted by the base station across an effective RS bandwidth, and the UE is limited to measuring the PRS (e.g., at any given time) over a bandwidth (e.g., 20 MHz) associated with a first and a second subband of the effective RS bandwidth. In an example, the UE performs an RF switch to transition from a first hop to a second hop, the RF switch causing a phase difference between a measurement at the first hop and a measurement at the second hop.

[0180] Reference Fig.12In some designs, the wireless node corresponds to a base station and the RS corresponds to an SRS-P. In some designs, the SRS-P is received only on first and second subbands of the effective RS bandwidth at first and second hops, respectively (e.g., because the UE transmitting the RS is limited to transmitting the SRS-P (e.g., at any given time) on bandwidths associated with the first and second subbands of the RS bandwidth (e.g., 20 MHz)).

[0181] Reference Fig.13 , similar to Fig.12 , the transition between hops for transmission may be performed via RF switching that results in a phase difference between the transmission at the first hop and the transmission at the second hop.

[0182] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that information and signals may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referred to throughout the above description may be represented by voltage, current, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or magnetic particles, optical fields or optical particles, or any combination thereof.

[0183] In addition, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative logic blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described in conjunction with the aspects disclosed herein can be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or a combination of the two. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps are generally described above 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. The technician can implement the described functionality in different ways for each specific application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0184] The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in conjunction with the various aspects disclosed herein may be implemented or executed with a general purpose processor, a DSP, an ASIC, an FPGA or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in an alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. The processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, for example, a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

[0185] The methods, sequences and / or algorithms described in conjunction with the various aspects disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. The software module may reside in a 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 a processor so that the processor can read and write information from / to the storage medium. In an alternative, a storage medium may be integrated into a processor. The processor and storage medium may reside in an ASIC. The ASIC may reside in a user terminal (e.g., UE). In an alternative, the processor and storage medium may reside in a user terminal as discrete components.

[0186] In one or more exemplary aspects, the functions described may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, each function may be stored on or transmitted by a computer-readable medium as one or more instructions or codes. Computer-readable media include both computer storage media and communication media, including any media that facilitates the transfer of a computer program from one place to another. Storage media may be any available media that can be accessed by a computer. As an example and not limitation, such computer-readable media may include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store the expected program code in the form of instructions or data structures and can be accessed by a computer. Similarly, any connection is also properly referred to as a computer-readable medium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwaves, the coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwaves are included in the definition of the medium. As used herein, disk and disc include compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk and Blu-ray disc, wherein disk often reproduces data magnetically, while disc reproduces data optically with lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0187] Although the foregoing disclosure shows illustrative aspects of the present disclosure, it should be noted that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the scope of the present disclosure as defined by the appended claims. The functions, steps, and / or actions in the method claims according to the various aspects of the present disclosure described herein do not have to be performed in any particular order. In addition, although the elements of the present disclosure may be described or claimed in the singular, the plural is also contemplated unless limitation to the singular is explicitly stated.

Claims

1. A method of operating a wireless node, comprising: measuring a reference signal (RS) on a first subband of a valid RS bandwidth at a first hop of a frequency hopping scheme; as well as measuring the RS on a second subband of the effective RS bandwidth at a second hop of the frequency hopping scheme, the first subband and the second subband of the effective RS bandwidth partially overlapping; estimating a phase difference associated with the first hop and the second hop, Wherein the RS is received from a user equipment (UE) with limited bandwidth capability only on the first subband and the second subband of the effective RS bandwidth at the first hop and the second hop, respectively.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: estimating a phase difference associated with the first hop and the second hop; as well as An estimated phase difference on the RS measured on the first subband and / or the second subband of the effective RS bandwidth is compensated.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising: A position estimate for the wireless node is determined based at least in part on the compensation.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the wireless node corresponds to a base station, and The RS corresponds to the SRS in the uplink. 5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the UE transmitting the SRS is restricted to transmitting the SRS on a bandwidth associated with the first subband and the second subband of the RS bandwidth.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the UE performs a radio frequency (RF) switch to transition from the first hop to the second hop, the RF switch causing a phase difference between transmissions at the first hop and transmissions at the second hop.

7. A method of operating a user equipment (UE) having limited bandwidth capabilities, comprising: transmitting a reference signal (RS) on a first subband of an effective RS bandwidth at a first hop of a frequency hopping scheme; as well as transmitting the RS on a second subband of the effective RS bandwidth at a second hop of the frequency hopping scheme, the first subband and the second subband of the effective RS bandwidth partially overlapping, Wherein the UE is restricted to transmit the RS on a bandwidth associated with the first subband and the second subband of the effective RS bandwidth.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising: Radio frequency (RF) switching is performed to transition from the first hop to the second hop, the RF switching causing a phase difference between transmission at the first hop and transmission at the second hop.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the RS corresponds to a Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) in an uplink.

10. A wireless node, comprising: means for measuring a reference signal (RS) on a first sub-band of an effective RS bandwidth at a first hop of a frequency hopping scheme; as well as means for measuring the RS on a second sub-band of the effective RS bandwidth at a second hop of the frequency hopping scheme, the first sub-band and the second sub-band of the effective RS bandwidth partially overlapping, Wherein the RS is received from a user equipment (UE) with limited bandwidth capability only on the first subband and the second subband of the effective RS bandwidth at the first hop and the second hop, respectively.

11. The wireless node of claim 10, further comprising: means for estimating a phase difference associated with said first hop and said second hop; as well as Means for compensating for an estimated phase difference on the RS measured on the first sub-band and / or the second sub-band of the effective RS bandwidth.

12. The wireless node of claim 11, further comprising: Means for determining a position estimate for the wireless node based at least in part on the compensation.

13. The wireless node according to claim 10, wherein the wireless node corresponds to a base station, and The RS corresponds to the SRS in the uplink.

14. The wireless node of claim 13, wherein the UE transmitting the SRS is restricted to transmitting the SRS on a bandwidth associated with the first subband and the second subband of the RS bandwidth.

15. The wireless node of claim 14, wherein the UE performs a radio frequency (RF) switch to transition from the first hop to the second hop, the RF switch causing a phase difference between transmissions at the first hop and transmissions at the second hop.

16. A user equipment (UE) having bandwidth limiting capability, comprising: means for transmitting a reference signal (RS) on a first sub-band of an effective RS bandwidth at a first hop of a frequency hopping scheme; as well as means for transmitting the RS on a second subband of the effective RS bandwidth at a second hop of the frequency hopping scheme, the first subband and the second subband of the effective RS bandwidth partially overlapping, Wherein the UE is restricted to transmit the RS on a bandwidth associated with the first subband and the second subband of the effective RS bandwidth.

17. The UE of claim 16, further comprising: Means for performing a radio frequency (RF) switch to transition from the first hop to the second hop, the RF switch causing a phase difference between transmissions at the first hop and transmissions at the second hop.

18. The UE of claim 16, wherein the RS corresponds to a Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) in an uplink.

19. A wireless node 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 configured to: measuring a reference signal (RS) on a first subband of a valid RS bandwidth at a first hop of a frequency hopping scheme; as well as measuring the RS on a second subband of the effective RS bandwidth at a second hop of the frequency hopping scheme, the first subband and the second subband of the effective RS bandwidth partially overlapping, Wherein the RS is received from a user equipment (UE) with limited bandwidth capability only on the first subband and the second subband of the effective RS bandwidth at the first hop and the second hop, respectively.

20. A user equipment (UE) having bandwidth limiting capability, 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 configured to: transmitting a reference signal (RS) on a first subband of an effective RS bandwidth at a first hop of a frequency hopping scheme; as well as transmitting the RS on a second subband of the effective RS bandwidth at a second hop of the frequency hopping scheme, the first subband and the second subband of the effective RS bandwidth partially overlapping, Wherein the UE is restricted to transmit the RS on a bandwidth associated with the first subband and the second subband of the effective RS bandwidth.

21. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions stored thereon, the instructions for causing at least one processor in a wireless node to: measuring a reference signal (RS) on a first subband of a valid RS bandwidth at a first hop of a frequency hopping scheme; and measuring the RS on a second subband of the effective RS bandwidth at a second hop of the frequency hopping scheme, the first subband and the second subband of the effective RS bandwidth partially overlapping, Wherein the RS is received from a user equipment (UE) with limited bandwidth capability only on the first subband and the second subband of the effective RS bandwidth at the first hop and the second hop, respectively.

22. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions stored thereon for causing at least one processor in a user equipment (UE) having limited bandwidth capability to: transmitting a reference signal (RS) on a first subband of an effective RS bandwidth at a first hop of a frequency hopping scheme; and transmitting the RS on a second subband of the effective RS bandwidth at a second hop of the frequency hopping scheme, the first subband and the second subband of the effective RS bandwidth partially overlapping, Wherein the UE is restricted to transmit the RS on a bandwidth associated with the first subband and the second subband of the effective RS bandwidth.

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