Multi-port positioning reference signal (PRS) for downlink angle of departure (AOD) estimation

Abstract

Techniques for wireless positioning are disclosed. In an aspect, a user equipment (UE) receives a set of antenna parameters for a plurality of antenna ports of a transmission-reception point (TRP), obtains positioning measurements of a plurality of positioning reference signal (PRS) resources transmitted on the plurality of antenna ports, reconstructs a bottom-layer physical channel between the TRP and the UE based on the positioning measurements of the plurality of PRS resources, and determines a downlink angle-of-departure (DL-AoD) measurement from the TRP to the UE based on the reconstructed bottom-layer physical channel.

Description

[0001] Cross-references to related applications

[0002] This patent application claims the benefit of Indian Patent Application No. 202041043187 entitled “MULTI-PORT POSITIONING REFERENCE SIGNAL (PRS) FOR DOWNLINK ANGLE-OF-DEPARTURE (AOD) ESTIMATION”, filed on October 5, 2020, which has been assigned to the assignee herein and is expressly incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Technical Field

[0003] The various aspects of this disclosure generally relate to wireless positioning. Background Technology

[0004] Wireless communication systems have evolved through generations, including first-generation analog radiotelephone service (1G), second-generation (2G) digital radiotelephone service (including temporary 2.5G and 2.75G networks), third-generation (3G) high-speed data, wireless services supporting the Internet, and fourth-generation (4G) services (e.g., Long Term Evolution (LTE) or WiMax). Currently, many different types of wireless communication systems are in use, including cellular and Personal Communication Services (PCS) systems. Known examples of cellular systems include cellular analog Advanced Mobile Phone Systems (AMPS) and digital cellular systems based on Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), etc.

[0005] The fifth-generation (5G) wireless standard, known as New Radio (NR), delivers higher data transmission speeds, more connections, better coverage, and other improvements. According to the Next Generation Mobile Networks Alliance (NGC), the 5G standard is designed to provide higher data rates, more accurate positioning (e.g., based on Location Reference Signals (RS-P), such as downlink, uplink, or sidelink Location Reference Signals (PRS)), and other technological enhancements than previous standards. These enhancements, along with the use of higher frequency bands, advancements in the PRS process and technology, and the high-density deployment of 5G, enable highly accurate 5G-based positioning. Summary of the Invention

[0006] The following is a simplified summary of the invention relating to one or more aspects disclosed herein. Therefore, this summary should not be considered a broad overview relating to all anticipated aspects, nor should it be regarded as identifying key or essential elements relating to all anticipated aspects, or defining the scope associated with any particular aspect. Thus, the following summary has the sole purpose of presenting, in a simplified form, certain concepts relating to one or more aspects of the apparatus disclosed herein, prior to the detailed description presented below.

[0007] In one aspect, a wireless positioning method performed by a user equipment (UE) includes: receiving a set of antenna parameters for a plurality of antenna ports of a transmit receiving point (TRP); obtaining positioning measurements of a plurality of positioning reference signal (PRS) resources transmitted on the plurality of antenna ports; reconstructing the underlying physical channel between the TRP and the UE based on the positioning measurements of the plurality of PRS resources; and determining a downlink departure angle (DL-AoD) measurement from the TRP to the UE based on the reconstructed underlying physical channel.

[0008] In one aspect, a user equipment (UE) includes: a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: receive via the at least one transceiver a set of antenna parameters for a plurality of antenna ports for a transmit receive point (TRP); obtain positioning measurements of a plurality of positioning reference signal (PRS) resources transmitted on the plurality of antenna ports; reconstruct the underlying physical channel between the TRP and the UE based on the positioning measurements of the plurality of PRS resources; and determine a downlink departure angle (DL-AoD) measurement from the TRP to the UE based on the reconstructed underlying physical channel.

[0009] In one aspect, a user equipment (UE) includes: components for receiving a set of antenna parameters for a plurality of antenna ports of a transmit receive point (TRP); components for obtaining positioning measurements of a plurality of positioning reference signal (PRS) resources transmitted on the plurality of antenna ports; components for reconstructing an underlying physical channel between the TRP and the UE based on the positioning measurements of the plurality of PRS resources; and components for determining a downlink departure angle (DL-AoD) measurement from the TRP to the UE based on the reconstructed underlying physical channel.

[0010] In one aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium stores computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a user equipment (UE), cause the UE to: receive a set of antenna parameters for a plurality of antenna ports for a transmit receive point (TRP); obtain positioning measurements of a plurality of positioning reference signal (PRS) resources transmitted on the plurality of antenna ports; reconstruct the underlying physical channel between the TRP and the UE based on the positioning measurements of the plurality of PRS resources; and determine a downlink departure angle (DL-AoD) measurement from the TRP to the UE based on the reconstructed underlying physical channel.

[0011] Based on the accompanying drawings and detailed description, other objects and advantages associated with the aspects disclosed herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Attached Figure Description

[0012] The accompanying drawings are presented to help describe various aspects of this disclosure and are provided only to illustrate aspects and not to limit it.

[0013] Figure 1 An exemplary wireless communication system according to various aspects of this disclosure is shown.

[0014] Figure 2A and Figure 2B An exemplary wireless network architecture according to various aspects of this disclosure is shown.

[0015] Figure 3A , Figure 3B and Figure 3C It is a simplified block diagram of several exemplary aspects of components that can be adopted in user equipment (UE), base stations, and network entities and configured to support communications as taught herein.

[0016] Figure 4 This is a diagram illustrating an exemplary frame structure according to various aspects of this disclosure.

[0017] Figure 5 This is a diagram of an exemplary Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) configuration for PRS transmission of a given base station, according to various aspects of this disclosure.

[0018] Figure 6 This is a diagram illustrating an exemplary base station communicating with an exemplary UE according to various aspects of this disclosure.

[0019] Figure 7 Various beamforming examples for different antenna port configurations are shown according to aspects of this disclosure.

[0020] Figure 8 An exemplary process for measuring multiport PRS resources and providing feedback is shown according to various aspects of this disclosure.

[0021] Figure 9 An exemplary method of wireless positioning according to various aspects of this disclosure is shown. Detailed Implementation

[0022] Various aspects of this disclosure are provided in the following description and in the related figures for various examples provided for illustrative purposes. Alternative aspects may be designed without departing from the scope of this disclosure. Furthermore, well-known elements of this disclosure will not be described in detail or will be omitted to avoid obscuring the relevant details of this disclosure.

[0023] The terms “exemplary” and / or “illustrated” are used herein to mean “serving as an example, instance, or illustration.” Any aspect described herein as “exemplary” and / or “illustrated” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects. Similarly, the term “aspects of this disclosure” does not require that all aspects of this disclosure include the features, advantages, or modes of operation discussed.

[0024] Those skilled in the art will understand that any of a variety of different technologies and techniques can be used to represent the information and signals described below. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be mentioned throughout the following description can be represented by voltage, current, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or magnetic particles, light fields or light particles, or any combination thereof, depending on the specific application, the desired design, and the corresponding technology, etc.

[0025] Furthermore, many aspects are described in relation to sequences of actions performed, for example, by elements of a computing device. It will be appreciated that the various actions described herein can be performed by a particular circuit (e.g., an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC)), by program instructions executed by one or more processors, or by a combination of both. Additionally, it can be considered that the sequence(s) of actions described herein are fully embodied in any form of non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a corresponding set of computer instructions, which, when executed, will cause or instruct the associated processor of the device to perform the functionality described herein. Therefore, various aspects of this disclosure can be embodied in many different forms, all of which are considered to be within the scope of the claimed subject matter. Furthermore, for each aspect described herein, the corresponding form of any such aspect may be described, for example, as "logic configured to" perform the described actions.

[0026] As used herein, unless otherwise stated, the terms “User Equipment” (UE) and “Base Station” are not intended to be specific to or otherwise limited to any particular Radio Access Technology (RAT). Generally, a UE can be any wireless communication device used by a user to communicate over a wireless communication network (e.g., mobile phone, router, tablet computer, laptop computer, consumer asset positioning device, wearable device (e.g., smartwatch, glasses, augmented reality (AR) / virtual reality (VR)) headset, etc.), vehicle (e.g., car, motorcycle, bicycle, etc.), Internet of Things (IoT) device, etc.). A UE can be mobile or can (e.g., at certain times) be stationary and can communicate with a Radio Access Network (RAN). As used herein, the term “UE” can be interchangeably referred to as “Access Terminal” or “AT,” “Client Equipment,” “Wireless Equipment,” “Subscriber Equipment,” “Subscriber Terminal,” “Subscriber Station,” “User Terminal” or “UT,” “Mobile Equipment,” “Mobile Terminal,” “Mobile Station,” or variations thereof. Generally, a UE can communicate with a core network via the RAN, and through the core network, a UE can connect to external networks such as the Internet and to other UEs. Of course, for the UE, other mechanisms such as connecting to the core network and / or the Internet via wired access networks, wireless local area network (WLAN) networks (e.g., based on the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standard) are also possible.

[0027] Base stations may operate according to one of several RATs (Radio Access Points) for communicating with the UE, depending on the network in which they are deployed, and may be alternatively referred to as Access Points (APs), Network Nodes, NodeBs, Evolved NodeBs (eNBs), Next-Generation eNBs (ng-eNBs), New Radio (NR) NodeBs (also known as gNBs or gNodBs), etc. Base stations may primarily be used to support the UE's radio access, including supporting data, voice, and / or signaling connections for the supported UE. In some systems, a base station may purely provide edge node signaling functions, while in others it may provide additional control and / or network management functions. The communication link through which the UE signals to the base station is called an uplink (UL) channel (e.g., reverse traffic channel, reverse control channel, access channel, etc.). The communication link through which the base station signals to the UE is called a downlink (DL) or forward link channel (e.g., paging channel, control channel, broadcast channel, forward traffic channel, etc.). As used herein, the term Traffic Channel (TCH) may refer to an uplink / reverse or downlink / forward traffic channel.

[0028] The term "base station" can refer to a single physical transmit / receive point (TRP), or multiple physical TRPs that may or may not be co-located. For example, when the term "base station" refers to a single physical TRP, the physical TRP can be an antenna of the base station corresponding to a cell (or several cell sectors) of the base station. When the term "base station" refers to multiple co-located physical TRPs, the physical TRP can be an antenna array of the base station (e.g., as in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system, or where the base station employs beamforming). When the term "base station" refers to multiple non-co-located physical TRPs, the physical TRP can be a distributed antenna system (DAS) (a spatially separated antenna network connected to a common source via a transmission medium), or a remote radio headend (RRH) (a remote base station connected to a serving base station). Alternatively, a non-co-located physical TRP can be a serving base station from which a UE and a neighboring base station from which the UE is measuring its reference radio frequency (RF) signal receive measurement reports. Because a TRP is the point from which a base station transmits and receives radio signals, as used herein, references to transmitting from or receiving at a base station will be understood to refer to a specific TRP of the base station.

[0029] In some implementations that support UE positioning, the base station may not support the UE's radio access (e.g., it may not support the UE's data, voice, and / or signaling connections), but may instead transmit signals to the UE for measurement, and / or receive and measure signals transmitted by the UE. Such a base station may be referred to as a positioning beacon (e.g., when transmitting signals to the UE) and / or a location measurement unit (e.g., when receiving and measuring signals from the UE).

[0030] An “RF signal” comprises electromagnetic waves of a given frequency that transmit information across space between a transmitter and a receiver. As used herein, a transmitter may send a single “RF signal” or multiple “RF signals” to a receiver. However, due to the propagation characteristics of RF signals through multipath channels, a receiver may receive multiple “RF signals” corresponding to each transmitted RF signal. The same transmitted RF signal on different paths between the transmitter and receiver can be referred to as a “multipath” RF signal. As used herein, an RF signal may also be referred to as a “wireless signal” or simply a “signal,” where, depending on the context, the term “signal” clearly refers to a wireless signal or an RF signal.

[0031] Figure 1An exemplary wireless communication system 100 according to various aspects of this disclosure is illustrated. The wireless communication system 100 (also referred to as a wireless wide area network (WWAN)) may include various base stations 102 (labeled "BS") and various UEs 104. Base station 102 may include macro cell base stations (high-power cellular base stations) and / or small cell base stations (low-power cellular base stations). In one aspect, the macro cell base station may include an eNB and / or ng-eNB in ​​which the wireless communication system 100 corresponds to an LTE network, or a gNB in ​​which the wireless communication system 100 corresponds to an NR network and / or a combination of both, and the small cell base station may include femtocells, picocells, microcells, etc.

[0032] Base station 102 can collectively form a RAN and interface with core network 170 (e.g., evolved packet core (EPC) or 5G core (5GC)) via backhaul link 122, and interface with one or more location servers 172 (e.g., location management function (LMF) or secure user plane location (SUPL) location platform (SLP)) via core network 170. Location server 172 can be part of core network 170 or outside of core network 170. Location server 172 can be integrated with base station 102. UE 104 can communicate with location server 172 directly or indirectly. For example, UE 104 can communicate with location server 172 via base station 102 currently serving UE 104. UE 104 can also communicate with location server 172 via another path, such as via application server (not shown), via another network (such as via wireless local area network (WLAN) access point (AP) (e.g., AP 150 described below)), etc. For signaling purposes, communication between UE 104 and location server 172 can be represented as an indirect connection (e.g., via core network 170, etc.) or a direct connection (e.g., via direct connection 128 as shown), wherein intermediate nodes (if any) are omitted from the signaling diagram for clarity.

[0033] In addition to other functions, base station 102 may also perform functions related to one or more of the following: transmitting user data, radio channel encryption and decryption, integrity protection, header compression, mobility control functions (e.g., handover, dual connectivity), inter-cell interference coordination, connection establishment and release, load balancing, distribution of non-access stratum (NAS) messages, NAS node selection, synchronization, RAN sharing, multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS), subscriber and equipment tracking, RAN information management (RIM), paging, location, and warning message delivery. Base stations 102 may communicate with each other directly or indirectly (e.g., via EPC / 5GC) through backhaul link 134, which may be wired or wireless.

[0034] Base station 102 can wirelessly communicate with UE 104. Each of base stations 102 can provide communication coverage for a corresponding geographic coverage area 110. In one aspect, base station 102 in each geographic coverage area 110 can support one or more cells. A “cell” is a logical communication entity used to communicate with a base station (e.g., via a frequency resource, referred to as a carrier frequency, component carrier, carrier, frequency band, etc.) and can be associated with an identifier (e.g., Physical Cell Identifier (PCI), Enhanced Cell Identifier (ECI), Virtual Cell Identifier (VCI), Cell Global Identifier (CGI), etc.) used to distinguish cells operating via the same or different carrier frequencies. In some cases, different cells can be configured according to different protocol types that can provide access for different types of UEs (e.g., Machine Type Communication (MTC), Narrowband IoL (NB-IoT), Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB), or other protocol types). Because a cell is supported by a specific base station, the term “cell” can refer to one or both of the logical communication entity and the base station that supports it, depending on the context. Additionally, since the TRP is typically the physical transmission point of a cell, the terms "cell" and "TRP" are used interchangeably. In some cases, the term "cell" can also refer to the geographical coverage area of ​​a base station (e.g., a sector), provided that the carrier frequency can be detected and used for communication within a portion of the geographical coverage area 110.

[0035] Although the geographic coverage areas 110 of adjacent macro cell base stations 102 may partially overlap (e.g., in handover areas), some geographic coverage areas 110 may substantially overlap with larger geographic coverage areas 110. For example, a small cell base station 102' (labeled "SC," representing "small cell") may have a geographic coverage area 110' that substantially overlaps with the geographic coverage areas 110 of one or more macro cell base stations 102. A network that includes both small and macro cell base stations can be referred to as a heterogeneous network. A heterogeneous network may also include home eNBs (HeNBs) that can provide service to restricted groups referred to as closed subscriber groups (CSGs).

[0036] The communication link 120 between base station 102 and UE 104 may include uplink (also known as reverse link) transmission from UE 104 to base station 102 and / or downlink (DL) (also known as forward link) transmission from base station 102 to UE 104. The communication link 120 may use MIMO antenna techniques including spatial multiplexing, beamforming, and / or transmit diversity. The communication link 120 may use one or more carrier frequencies. Carrier allocation may be asymmetric for the downlink and uplink (e.g., more or fewer carriers may be allocated to the downlink compared to the uplink).

[0037] The wireless communication system 100 may also include a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point (AP) 150, which communicates with a WLAN station (STA) 152 via a communication link 154 in an unlicensed frequency spectrum (e.g., 5 GHz). When communicating in an unlicensed frequency spectrum, the WLAN STA 152 and / or WLAN AP 150 may perform a free channel assessment (CCA) or listen-before-talk (LBT) procedure before communication to determine whether the channel is available.

[0038] Small cell base station 102' can operate in licensed and / or unlicensed frequency spectrum. When operating in unlicensed frequency spectrum, small cell base station 102' can employ LTE or NR technology and use the same 5 GHz unlicensed frequency spectrum as WLAN AP 150. Small cell base station 102' employing LTE / 5G in unlicensed frequency spectrum can increase coverage and / or capacity of the access network. NR in unlicensed spectrum can be referred to as NR-U. LTE in unlicensed frequency spectrum can be referred to as LTE-U, Unlicensed Assisted Access (LAA), or MulteFire.

[0039] The wireless communication system 100 may also include a millimeter-wave (mmW) base station 180, which can communicate with the UE 182 in mmW and / or near-mmW frequencies. Extremely high frequency (EHF) is a portion of the electromagnetic spectrum that carries the radio frequency (RF). EHF has a range of 30 GHz to 300 GHz and wavelengths between 1 mm and 10 mm. Radio waves in this band can be referred to as millimeter waves. Near-mmW may extend down to a 3 GHz frequency with a wavelength of 100 mm. Ultra-high frequency (SHF) bands extend between 3 GHz and 30 GHz and are also referred to as centimeter waves. Communication using mmW / near-mmW radio bands has high path loss and relatively short range. The mmW base station 180 and the UE 182 can utilize beamforming (transmit and / or receive) on the mmW communication link 184 to compensate for the extremely high path loss and short range. Furthermore, it should be understood that in alternative configurations, one or more base stations 102 may also use mmW or near-mmW and beamforming for transmission. Therefore, it should be understood that the foregoing illustrations are merely examples and should not be construed as limiting the various aspects disclosed herein.

[0040] Transmit beamforming is a technique for focusing RF signals in a specific direction. Traditionally, when a network node (e.g., a base station) broadcasts an RF signal, it broadcasts the signal in all directions (omnidirectionally). Using transmit beamforming, the network node determines the location of a given target device (e.g., a UE) (relative to the transmitting network node) and projects a stronger downlink RF signal in that specific direction, thereby providing a faster (in terms of data rate) and stronger RF signal to the receiving device. To change the directivity of the RF signal during transmission, the network node can control the phase and relative amplitude of the RF signal at each of one or more transmitters broadcasting the RF signal. For example, the network node can use an antenna array (referred to as a "phased array" or "antenna array") that generates beams that can be "guided" to point RF waves in different directions without actually moving the antennas. Specifically, RF currents from the transmitters are fed to individual antennas with the correct phase relationship, allowing radio waves from the individual antennas to be added together to increase radiation in the desired direction while canceling out radiation in undesired directions.

[0041] Transmit beams can be quasi-co-located, meaning they appear to the receiver (e.g., the UE) as having the same parameters, regardless of whether the transmit antennas of the network nodes are physically co-located. In NR, there are four types of quasi-co-located (QCL) relationships. Specifically, a given type of QCL relationship means that certain parameters about a second reference RF signal on a second beam can be derived from information about the source reference RF signal on the source beam. Therefore, if the source reference RF signal is QCL type A, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, and delay spread of the second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL type B, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift and Doppler spread of the second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL type C, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift and average delay of the second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is of type QCL D, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the spatial reception parameters of a second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel.

[0042] In receive beamforming, a receiver uses a receive beam to amplify an RF signal detected on a given channel. For example, the receiver may increase the gain setting and / or adjust the phase setting of the antenna array in a specific direction to amplify the RF signal received from that direction (e.g., to increase its gain level). Therefore, when a receiver is considered to be beamforming in a certain direction, it means that the beam gain in that direction is high relative to the beam gain in other directions, or that the beam gain in that direction is the highest compared to the beam gain in all other directions 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-noise ratio (SINR), etc.) of the RF signal received from that direction.

[0043] Transmit and receive beams can be spatially correlated. Spatial correlation means that the parameters of a second beam (e.g., a transmit or receive beam) used for a second reference signal can be derived from information about a first beam (e.g., a receive or transmit beam) for a first reference signal. For example, a UE can use a specific receive beam to receive a reference downlink reference signal (e.g., a synchronization signal block (SSB)) from a base station. The UE can then form a transmit beam for transmitting an uplink reference signal (e.g., a sounding reference signal (SRS)) to that base station based on the parameters of the receive beam.

[0044] Note that a "downlink" beam can be either a transmit or receive beam, depending on the entity forming it. For example, if a base station is forming a downlink beam to transmit a reference signal to a UE, then the downlink beam is a transmit beam. However, if a UE is forming a downlink beam, then that downlink beam is a receive beam for receiving downlink reference signals. Similarly, an "uplink" beam can be either a transmit or receive beam, depending on the entity forming it. For example, if a base station is forming an uplink beam, then that uplink beam is an uplink receive beam, and if a UE is forming an uplink beam, then that uplink beam is an uplink transmit beam.

[0045] The electromagnetic spectrum is typically subdivided into various classes, bands, channels, etc., based on frequency / wavelength. In 5G NR, the two initial operating bands have been designated as frequency range names FR1 (410 MHz to 7.125 GHz) and FR2 (24.25 GHz to 52.6 GHz). It should be understood that although a portion of FR1 is greater than 6 GHz, FR1 is often (interchangeably) referred to as the "below 6 GHz" band in various documents and articles. A similar naming issue sometimes occurs with FR2, which is often (interchangeably) referred to as the "millimeter wave" band in documents and articles, although this is different from the Extremely High Frequency (EHF) band (30 GHz to 300 GHz) designated as a "millimeter wave" band by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

[0046] The frequencies between FR1 and FR2 are generally referred to as mid-band frequencies. Recent 5G NR studies have identified the operating bands for these mid-band frequencies as the frequency range name FR3 (7.125 GHz to 24.25 GHz). Bands falling within FR3 can inherit FR1 and / or FR2 characteristics, and thus can effectively extend the features of FR1 and / or FR2 to mid-band frequencies. Additionally, higher bands are currently being explored to extend 5G NR operation above 52.6 GHz. For example, three higher operating bands have been identified as the frequency range names FR4a or FR4-1 (52.6 GHz to 71 GHz), FR4 (52.6 GHz to 114.25 GHz), and FR5 (114.25 GHz to 300 GHz). Each of these higher bands falls within the EHF band.

[0047] In light of the foregoing, unless otherwise specifically stated, it should be understood that the terms "below 6 GHz" and the like, as used herein, can broadly refer to frequencies that are less than 6 GHz, within FR1, or may include intermediate frequency band frequencies. Furthermore, unless otherwise specifically stated, it should be understood that the terms "millimeter wave" and the like, as used herein, can broadly refer to frequencies that may include intermediate frequency band frequencies, within FR2, FR4, FR4-a, or FR4-1 and / or FR5, or within the EHF band.

[0048] In multi-carrier systems such as 5G, one of the carrier frequencies is referred to as the "primary carrier," "anchor carrier," "primary serving cell," or "PCell," while the remaining carrier frequencies are referred to as "secondary carriers," "secondary serving cells," or "SCell." In carrier aggregation, the anchor carrier is the carrier operating on the primary frequency (e.g., FR1) utilized by UE 104 / 182 and the cell in which UE 104 / 182 performs an initial Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection establishment procedure or initiates an RRC connection re-establishment procedure. The primary carrier carries all common and UE-specific control channels and may 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 and used to provide additional radio resources once an RRC connection is established between UE 104 and the anchor carrier. In some cases, the secondary carrier may be a carrier in an unlicensed frequency. Secondary carriers may contain only the necessary signaling information and signals. For example, UE-specific signaling information and signals may not be present in the secondary carrier, since both the primary uplink and downlink carriers are typically UE-specific. This means that different UEs 104 / 182 within a cell may have different downlink primary carriers. The same applies to the uplink primary carrier. The network can change the primary carrier of any UE 104 / 182 at any time. For example, this is done to balance the load on different carriers. Because a "serving cell" (whether PCell or SCell) corresponds to the carrier frequency / component carrier on which a base station is communicating, the terms "cell," "serving cell," "component carrier," and "carrier frequency" are used interchangeably.

[0049] For example, still refer to Figure 1 One of the frequencies used by the macro cell base station 102 can be an anchor carrier (or "PCell"), while the other frequencies used by the macro cell base station 102 and / or the mmW base station 180 can be secondary carriers ("SCell"). Simultaneous transmission and / or reception on multiple carriers allows the UE 104 / 182 to significantly increase its data transmission and / or reception rates. For example, compared to that achieved by a single 20 MHz carrier, the aggregation of two 20 MHz carriers in a multi-carrier system theoretically results in a doubling of the data rate (i.e., 40 MHz).

[0050] The wireless communication system 100 may also include a UE 164, which can communicate with the macro cell base station 102 via communication link 120 and / or with the mmW base station 180 via mmW communication link 184. For example, the macro cell base station 102 may support PCells 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.

[0051] In some cases, UE 164 and UE 182 may be able to communicate via sidelink. SL-UEs supporting sidelinks (SL-UEs) can communicate with base station 102 via communication link 120 using the Uu interface (i.e., the air interface between the UE and the base station). SL-UEs (e.g., UE 164, UE 182) can also communicate directly with each other via radio sidelink 160 using the PC5 interface (i.e., the air interface between UEs supporting sidelinks). Radio sidelinks (or simply "sidelinks") are adaptations to core cellular (e.g., LTE, NR) standards that allow direct communication between two or more UEs without the need for communication through a base station. Sidelink communication can be unicast or multicast and can be used for device-to-device (D2D) media sharing, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication (e.g., cellular V2X (cV2X) communication, enhanced V2X (eV2X) communication, emergency rescue applications, etc. One or more of a group of SL-UEs communicating via sidelink may be within the geographical coverage area 110 of base station 102. Other SL-UEs in the group may be outside the geographical coverage area 110 of base station 102, or otherwise unable to receive transmissions from base station 102. In some cases, the group of SL-UEs communicating via sidelink may utilize a one-to-many (1:M) system, where each SL-UE transmits to every other SL-UE in the group. In some cases, base station 102 facilitates the scheduling of resources for sidelink communication. In other cases, sidelink communication is performed between SL-UEs without the involvement of base station 102.

[0052] In one aspect, the sidelink 160 can operate on a wireless communication medium of interest that can be shared by other vehicle and / or infrastructure access points, as well as other wireless communications between other RATs. The “medium” can consist of one or more time, frequency, and / or space communication resources (e.g., covering one or more channels across one or more carriers) associated with wireless communication between one or more transmitter / receiver pairs. In one aspect, the medium of interest can correspond to at least a portion of unlicensed frequency bands shared in various RATs. Although (e.g., government entities such as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)) have reserved different licensed frequency bands for certain communication systems, these systems, particularly those employing small cell access points, have recently extended their operation to unlicensed frequency bands, such as the unlicensed National Information Infrastructure (U-NII) bands used by Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) technologies (most notably the IEEE 802.11x WLAN technology commonly referred to as “Wi-Fi”). Exemplary systems of this type include various variants of CDMA systems, TDMA systems, FDMA systems, orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA) systems, single-carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) systems, and so on.

[0053] Note that, although Figure 1 Only two of the UEs are shown as SL-UEs (i.e., UE 164 and 182), but any of the UEs shown could be an SL-UE. Furthermore, although only UE 182 is described as capable of beamforming, any of the UEs shown (including UE 164) could be capable of beamforming. When SL-UEs are capable of beamforming, they can beamform towards each other (i.e., towards other SL-UEs), towards other UEs (e.g., UE 104), or towards base stations (e.g., base stations 102, 180, small cell 102', access point 150, etc.). Therefore, in some cases, UEs 164 and 182 can utilize beamforming on sidelink 160.

[0054] exist Figure 1 In the example shown, any of the UEs (for simplicity, in) Figure 1Each UE 104 (shown as a single UE 104) can receive signal 124 from one or more Earth-orbiting spacecraft (SV) 112 (e.g., satellites). In one aspect, SV 112 may be part of a satellite positioning system, which the UE 104 may use as an independent source of location information. A satellite positioning system typically includes a system of transmitters (e.g., SV 112) positioned such that a receiver (e.g., UE 104) can determine its location on or above the Earth based at least in part on a positioning signal (e.g., signal 124) received from the transmitter. Such transmitters typically transmit signals of repeating pseudo-random noise (PN) codes marked with a predetermined number of chips. Although typically located in SV 112, transmitters may sometimes be located at ground-based control stations, base stations 102, and / or other UEs 104. UE 104 may include one or more dedicated receivers specifically designed to receive signal 124 to derive geographic location information from SV 112.

[0055] In a satellite positioning system, the use of signal 124 can be enhanced by various satellite-based augmentation systems (SBAS) that can be associated with or otherwise enabled for use with one or more global and / or regional navigation satellite systems. For example, SBAS can include one or more augmentation systems that provide integrity information, differential correction, etc., such as Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS), European Geostationary Navigation Coverage Service (EGNOS), Multifunctional Satellite Augmentation System (MSAS), GPS-assisted Geo-Augmented Navigation, or GPS and Geo-Augmented Navigation System (GAGAN). Therefore, as used herein, a satellite positioning system can include any combination of one or more global and / or regional navigation satellites associated with one or more such satellite positioning systems.

[0056] In one aspect, SV 112 may additionally or alternatively be part of one or more non-terrestrial networks (NTNs). In an NTN, SV 112 connects to an earth station (also called a ground station, NTN gateway, or gateway), which in turn connects to elements in the 5G network, such as the modified base station 102 (without a ground antenna) or network nodes in a 5GC. This element then provides access to other elements in the 5G network and ultimately to entities outside the 5G network, such as internet web servers and other user equipment. In this way, UE 104 can receive communication signals (e.g., signal 124) from SV 112 as a substitute for or supplement to communication signals from ground base station 102.

[0057] The wireless communication system 100 may also include one or more UEs, such as UE 190, that are indirectly connected to one or more communication networks via one or more device-to-device (D2D) peer-to-peer (P2P) links (referred to as "side links"). Figure 1 In the example, UE 190 has: a D2D P2P link 192 with one of UEs 104 connected to one of base stations 102 (e.g., UE 190 can indirectly obtain cellular connectivity through this link); and a D2D P2P link 194 with a WLAN STA 152 connected to a WLAN AP 150 (UE 190 can indirectly obtain WLAN-based Internet connectivity through this link). In the example, D2D P2P links 192 and 194 can be supported by any well-known D2D RAT (such as LTE Direct (LTE-D), WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), Bluetooth®, etc.).

[0058] Figure 2A An exemplary wireless network architecture 200 is illustrated. For example, the 5GC 210 (also referred to as the Next Generation Core (NGC)) can be functionally considered to operate in concert to form the core network's control plane (C plane) functions 214 (e.g., UE registration, authentication, network access, gateway selection, etc.) and user plane (U plane) functions 212 (e.g., UE gateway functions, access to data networks, IP routing, etc.). The user plane interface (NG-U) 213 and the control plane interface (NG-C) 215 connect the gNB 222 to the 5GC 210, specifically to the user plane function 212 and the control plane function 214, respectively. In an additional configuration, the ng-eNB 224 can also connect to the 5GC 210 via the NG-C 215 to the control plane function 214 and the NG-U 213 to the user plane function 212. Furthermore, the ng-eNB 224 can communicate directly with the gNB 222 via a backhaul connection 223. In some configurations, the next-generation RAN (NG-RAN) 220 may have one or more gNBs 222, while other configurations include one or more of both ng-eNBs 224 and gNBs 222. Either or both of the gNBs 222 or ng-eNBs 224 can communicate with one or more UEs 204 (e.g., any of the UEs described herein).

[0059] Another optional aspect may include location server 230, which can communicate with 5GC 210 to provide location assistance to UE 204. 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 distributed across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternatively, each may correspond to a single server. Location server 230 may be configured to support one or more location services for UE 204, which may connect to location server 230 via the core network, 5GC 210, and / or via the Internet (not shown). Furthermore, location server 230 may be integrated into a component of the core network, or alternatively, may be external to the core network (e.g., a third-party server, such as an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) server or a service server).

[0060] Figure 2B Another exemplary wireless network architecture 250.5GC 260 is shown (which can correspond to...). Figure 2AThe 5GC210 in this document can be functionally viewed as a control plane function provided by the Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) 264 and a user plane function provided by the User Plane Function (UPF) 262, which work together to form the core network (i.e., 5GC 260). The AMF 264 functions as follows: registration management, connection management, reachability management, mobility management, lawful interception, transmission of session management (SM) messages between one or more UEs 204 (e.g., any of the UEs described herein) and the Session Management Function (SMF) 266, transparent proxy service for routing SM messages, access authentication and access authorization, transmission of short message service (SMS) messages between UE 204 and the Short Message Service Function (SMSF) (not shown), and Security Anchor Functionality (SEAF). The AMF 264 also interacts with the Authentication Server Function (AUSF) (not shown) and UE 204, and receives intermediate keys established as a result of the UE 204 authentication process. In the case of UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) Subscriber Identity Module (USIM) authentication, AMF 264 retrieves security material from the AMF. AMF 264 also includes Security Context Management (SCM). The SCM receives a key from the SEAF, which is used to derive an access network-specific key. AMF 264 functionality also includes location service management for regulatory services, transmission of location service messages between UE 204 and Location Management Function (LMF) 270 (which acts as location server 230), transmission of location service messages between NG-RAN 220 and LMF 270, Evolved Packet System (EPS) bearer identifier allocation for EPS interoperability, and UE 204 mobility event notification. Additionally, AMF 264 supports functionality for non-3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) access networks.

[0061] The functions of UPF 262 include acting as an anchor point for intra / inter-RAT mobility (where applicable), acting as an interconnection point for Protocol Data Unit (PDU) sessions with external data networks (not shown), providing packet routing and forwarding, packet inspection, user plane policy rule enforcement (e.g., gating, redirection, traffic guidance), lawful interception (user plane collection), traffic usage reporting, user plane Quality of Service (QoS) processing (e.g., uplink / downlink rate enforcement, reflected QoS marking in downlink), uplink traffic authentication (SDF to QoS stream mapping), transport-level packet marking in uplink and downlink, downlink packet buffering and downlink data notification triggering, and issuing and forwarding one or more "end markers" to the source RAN node. UPF 262 can also support the delivery of location service messages on the user plane between UE 204 and location servers such as SLP 272.

[0062] The functions of SMF 266 include session management, UE Internet Protocol (IP) address allocation and management, selection and control of user plane functions, service bootstrapping configuration at UPF 262 for routing services to the correct destination, policy enforcement and QoS control, and downlink data notification. The interface on which SMF 266 communicates with AMF 264 is called the N11 interface.

[0063] Another optional aspect may include an LMF 270, which can communicate with the 5GC 260 to provide location assistance to 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 distributed across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternatively, each may correspond to a single server. The LMF 270 may be configured to support one or more location services for the UE 204, which may connect to the LMF 270 via the core network, the 5GC 260, and / or via the Internet (not shown). SLP 272 can support similar functionality to LMF 270, but LMF 270 can (e.g., using interfaces and protocols intended to convey signaling messages instead of voice or data) communicate with AMF 264, NG-RAN 220, and UE 204 via the control plane, while SLP 272 can (e.g., using protocols intended to carry voice and / or data, such as Transmit Control Protocol (TCP) and / or IP) communicate with UE 204 and external clients (e.g., third-party server 274) via the user plane.

[0064] Another optional aspect may include a third-party server 274, which can communicate with LMF 270, SLP 272, 5GC 260 (e.g., via AMF 264 and / or UPF 262), NG-RAN 220, and / or UE 204 to obtain location information (e.g., location estimation) of UE 204. Thus, in some cases, the third-party server 274 may be referred to as a Location Services (LCS) client or an external client. The third-party server 274 may be implemented as multiple separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules distributed across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternatively, each may correspond to a single server.

[0065] User plane interface 263 and control plane interface 265 connect 5GC 260, and specifically UPF 262 and AMF 264, to one or more gNB 222 and / or ng-eNB 224 in NG-RAN 220, respectively. The interface between (one or more) gNB 222 and / or (one or more) ng-eNB 224 and AMF 264 is referred to as the "N2" interface, while the interface between (one or more) gNB 222 and / or (one or more) ng-eNB 224 and UPF 262 is referred to as the "N3" interface. The (one or more) gNB 222 and / or (one or more) ng-eNB 224 in NG-RAN 220 can communicate directly with each other via backhaul connection 223, referred to as the "Xn-C" interface. One or more of gNB 222 and / or ng-eNB 224 can communicate with one or more UEs 204 via a radio interface referred to as the "Uu" interface.

[0066] The functionality of the gNB 222 can be divided among the gNB Central Unit (gNB-CU) 226, one or more gNB Distributed Units (gNB-DU) 228, and one or more gNB Radio Units (gNB-RU) 229. The gNB-CU 226 is a logical node that includes base station functions such as user data delivery, mobility control, radio access network sharing, positioning, and session management, in addition to those functions specifically allocated to the gNB-DU(1) or gNB-DU(228) 229. More specifically, the gNB-CU 226 generally manages the radio resource control (RRC), service data adaptation protocol (SDAP), and packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) of the gNB 222. The gNB-DU 228 is a logical node that generally manages the radio link control (RLC) and media access control (MAC) layers of the gNB 222. Its operation is controlled by the gNB-CU 226. One gNB-DU 228 can support one or more cells, and a cell is supported by only one gNB-DU 228. The interface 232 between gNB-CU 226 and one or more gNB-DU 228 is referred to as the "F1" interface. The physical (PHY) layer functionality of gNB 222 is typically managed by one or more independent gNB-RU 229s, which perform functions such as power amplification and signal transmission / reception. The interface between gNB-DU 228 and gNB-RU 229 is referred to as the "Fx" interface. Therefore, UE 204 communicates with gNB-CU 226 via the RRC, SDAP, and PDCP layers, with gNB-DU 228 via the RLC and MAC layers, and with gNB-RU 229 via the PHY layer.

[0067] Figure 3A , 3B The diagram shows that it can be incorporated into UE 302 (which may correspond to any of the UEs described herein), base station 304 (which may correspond to any of the base stations described herein), and network entity 306 (which may correspond to or embody any of the network functions described herein, including location server 230 and LMF 270, or alternatively may be independent of UE 302). Figure 2A and Figure 2B The NG-RAN 220 and / or 5GC 210 / 260 infrastructure (such as a private network) depicted herein are several exemplary components (represented by corresponding boxes) to support file transfer operations as taught herein. It should be understood that these components may be implemented in different types of devices in different implementations (e.g., in an ASIC, in a system-on-a-chip (SoC), etc.). The components shown 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. Moreover, a given device may contain 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 one or more Wireless Wide Area Network (WWAN) transceivers 310 and 350, which provide components (e.g., components for transmitting, components for receiving, components for measuring, components for tuning, and components for blocking transmission) for communication via one or more wireless communication networks (not shown), such as NR networks, LTE networks, GSM networks, etc. WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 may each be connected to one or more antennas 316 and 356 to communicate with other network nodes (such as other UEs, access points, base stations (e.g., eNB, gNB), etc.) via at least one designated RAT (e.g., NR, LTE, GSM, etc.) through a wireless communication medium of interest (e.g., a time / frequency resource set in a specific frequency spectrum). WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 can be configured differently to transmit and encode signals 318 and 358 (e.g., messages, indications, information, etc.) according to a specified RAT, and conversely, to receive and decode signals 318 and 358 (e.g., messages, indications, information, pilots, etc.). Specifically, WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 each include one or more transmitters 314 and 354 for transmitting and encoding signals 318 and 358, respectively, and one or more receivers 312 and 352 for receiving and decoding signals 318 and 358, respectively.

[0069] UE 302 and base station 304 also include, at least in some cases, one or more short-range radio transceivers 320 and 360, respectively. The short-range radio transceivers 320 and 360 may be connected to one or more antennas 326 and 366, respectively, and provide components (e.g., components for transmitting, components for receiving, components for measuring, components for tuning, and components for blocking transmission) for communicating with other network nodes (such as other UEs, access points, base stations, etc.) via at least one designated RAT (e.g., WiFi, LTE-D, Bluetooth®, Zigbee®, Z-Wave®, PC5, Dedicated Short Range Communication (DSRC), Wireless Access in Vehicle Environments (WAVE), Near Field Communication (NFC), etc.) through a wireless communication medium of interest. Short-range transceivers 320 and 360 can be configured differently to transmit and encode signals 328 and 368 (e.g., messages, indications, information, etc.) according to a specified RAT, and conversely, to receive and decode signals 328 and 368 (e.g., messages, indications, information, pilots, etc.). Specifically, short-range transceivers 320 and 360 each include one or more transmitters 324 and 364 for transmitting and encoding signals 328 and 368, respectively, and one or more receivers 322 and 362 for receiving and decoding signals 328 and 368, respectively. As a specific example, short-range transceivers 320 and 360 can be WiFi transceivers, Bluetooth® transceivers, Zigbee® and / or Z-Wave® transceivers, NFC transceivers, or vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and / or vehicle-to-everything (V2X) transceivers.

[0070] UE 302 and base station 304 also include satellite signal receivers 330 and 370, at least in some cases. Satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 may be connected to one or more antennas 336 and 376, respectively, and may each provide components for receiving and / or measuring satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378. When satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 are satellite positioning system receivers, satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378 may be Global Positioning System (GPS) signals, Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS) signals, Galileo signals, BeiDou signals, Indian Area Signals Navigation Satellite System (NAVIC), Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS), etc. When satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 are non-terrestrial network (NTN) receivers, satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378 may be communication signals originating from a 5G network (e.g., carrying control and / or user data). Satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 may include any suitable hardware and / or software for receiving and processing satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378, respectively. Satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 may appropriately request information and operations from other systems, and in at least some cases, perform calculations using measurements obtained by any suitable satellite positioning system algorithm to determine the locations of UE 302 and base station 304, respectively.

[0071] Base station 304 and network entity 306 each include one or more network transceivers 380 and 390, respectively, to provide components (e.g., components for transmitting, components for receiving, etc.) for communicating with other network entities (e.g., other base stations 304, other network entities 306). For example, base station 304 may employ one or more network transceivers 380 to communicate with other base stations 304 or network entities 306 via one or more wired or wireless backhaul links. As another example, network entity 306 may employ one or more network transceivers 390 to communicate with one or more base stations 304 via one or more wired or wireless backhaul links, or to communicate with other network entities 306 via one or more wired or wireless core network interfaces.

[0072] Transceivers can be configured to communicate via wired or wireless links. A transceiver (whether wired or wireless) includes transmitter circuitry (e.g., transmitters 314, 324, 354, 364) and receiver circuitry (e.g., receivers 312, 322, 352, 362). In some embodiments, the transceiver may be an integrated device (e.g., embodying transmitter and receiver circuitry in a single device), in some embodiments it may include separate transmitter and receiver circuitry, or in other embodiments it may be embodied in other ways. The transmitter and receiver circuitry of a wired transceiver (e.g., network transceivers 380 and 390 in some embodiments) may be coupled to one or more wired network interface ports. Wireless transmitter circuitry (e.g., transmitters 314, 324, 354, 364) may include or be coupled to multiple antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such as antenna arrays, which allow corresponding devices (e.g., UE 302, base station 304) to perform transmit "beamforming" as described herein. Similarly, wireless receiver circuitry (e.g., receivers 312, 322, 352, 362) may include or be coupled to multiple antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such as antenna arrays, which allow corresponding devices (e.g., UE 302, base station 304) to perform receive beamforming as described herein. In one aspect, the transmitter and receiver circuitry may share the same multiple antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such that the corresponding devices can only receive or transmit at a given time, and cannot receive and transmit at the same time. Wireless transceivers (e.g., WWAN transceivers 310 and 350, short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360) may also include network listening modules (NLMs) for performing various measurements.

[0073] As used herein, various wireless transceivers (e.g., transceivers 310, 320, 350, and 360, and network transceivers 380 and 390 in some embodiments) and wired transceivers (e.g., network transceivers 380 and 390 in some embodiments) can generally be characterized as "transceiver," "at least one transceiver," or "one or more transceivers." Thus, whether a particular transceiver is a wired or wireless transceiver can be inferred from the type of communication performed. For example, backhaul communication between network devices or servers typically involves signaling via a wired transceiver, while wireless communication between a UE (e.g., UE 302) and a base station (e.g., base station 304) typically involves signaling via a wireless transceiver.

[0074] UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 also include other components that can be used in conjunction with the operations disclosed herein. UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 each include one or more processors 332, 384, and 394 to provide functionality related to, for example, wireless communication and to provide other processing functionality. Processors 332, 384, and 394 can therefore provide processing components, such as determining components, calculating components, receiving components, transmitting components, indicating components, etc. In one aspect, processors 332, 384, and 394 may include, for example, one or more general-purpose processors, multi-core processors, central processing units (CPUs), ASICs, digital signal processors (DSPs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), other programmable logic devices or processing circuits, or various combinations thereof.

[0075] UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 include memory circuitry implementing memories 340, 386, and 396 (e.g., each including a memory device) for maintaining information (e.g., information indicating reserved resources, thresholds, parameters, etc.). Memories 340, 386, and 396 can thus provide storage components, retrieval components, maintenance components, etc. In some cases, UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 may each include positioning components 342, 388, and 398. Positioning components 342, 388, and 398 may be part of or coupled to processors 332, 384, and 394, respectively, which, when executed, enable UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 to perform the functionality described herein. In other aspects, positioning components 342, 388, and 398 may be external to processors 332, 384, and 394 (e.g., part of a modem processing system, integrated with another processing system, etc.). Alternatively, positioning components 342, 388, and 398 may be memory modules stored in memories 340, 386, and 396, respectively, which, when executed by processors 332, 384, and 394 (or modem processing system, another processing system, etc.), enable UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 to perform the functionality described herein. Figure 3A Possible locations of the positioning component 342 are shown. The positioning component may be, for example, part of one or more WWAN transceivers 310, memory 340, one or more processors 332 or any combination thereof, or may be a standalone component. Figure 3B Possible locations of the positioning component 388 are shown. The positioning component may be, for example, part of one or more WWAN transceivers 350, memory 386, one or more processors 384, or any combination thereof, or may be a standalone component. Figure 3CPossible locations of the positioning component 398 are shown. The positioning component may be, for example, part of one or more network transceivers 390, memory 396, one or more processors 394 or any combination thereof, or may be a standalone component.

[0076] UE 302 may include one or more sensors 344 coupled to one or more processors 332 to provide components for sensing or detecting motion and / or orientation information independent of motion data derived from signals received by one or more WWAN transceivers 310, one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320, and / or satellite signal receivers 330. As an example, the sensors 344 may include accelerometers (e.g., microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) devices), gyroscopes, geomagnetic sensors (e.g., compasses), altimeters (e.g., barometric altimeters), and / or any other type of motion detection sensor. Furthermore, the sensors 344 may include a variety of different types of devices, and their outputs may be combined to provide motion information. For example, the sensors 344 may use a combination of multi-axis accelerometers and orientation sensors to provide the ability to calculate position in two-dimensional (2D) and / or three-dimensional (3D) coordinate systems.

[0077] Additionally, UE 302 includes a user interface 346, which provides components for providing indications (e.g., auditory and / or visual indications) to a user and / or for receiving user input (e.g., when a sensing device such as a keypad, touchscreen, microphone, etc. is activated by the user). Although not shown, base station 304 and network entity 306 may also include user interfaces.

[0078] Referring more specifically to one or more processors 384, in the downlink, IP packets from network entity 306 can be provided to processor 384. One or more processors 384 can implement functionality for the RRC layer, Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer, Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, and Media Access Control (MAC) layer. One or more processors 384 may provide RRC layer functionality associated with 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 of UE measurement reports; PDCP layer functionality associated with header compression / decompression, security (encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification), and handover support functions; RLC layer functionality associated with upper-layer PDU delivery, error correction via Automatic Repeat Request (ARQ), concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC Service Data Units (SDUs), resegmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functionality associated with mapping between logical channels and transport channels, scheduling information reporting, error correction, priority processing, and logical channel priority allocation.

[0079] Transmitter 354 and receiver 352 can implement Layer 1 (L1) functionality associated with various signal processing functions. Layer 1, including the physical (PHY) layer, can include error detection on the transport channel, forward error correction (FEC) decoding / decoding of the transport channel, interleaving, rate matching, mapping to the physical channel, modulation / demodulation of the physical channel, and MIMO antenna processing. Transmitter 354 processes the mapping to the signal constellation based on various modulation schemes (e.g., binary phase shift keying (BPSK), quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK), M-phase shift keying (M-PSK), M-quadrature amplitude modulation (M-QAM)). The encoded and modulated symbols can then be segmented into parallel streams. Each stream can then be mapped to orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) subcarriers, multiplexed with a reference signal (e.g., pilot) in the time and / or frequency domains, and then combined using inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) to produce a physical channel carrying a time-domain OFDM symbol stream. The OFDM symbol stream is spatially pre-decoded to generate multiple spatial streams. Channel estimates from the channel estimator can be used to determine the decoding and modulation scheme, as well as for spatial processing. The channel estimates can be derived from reference signals and / or channel condition feedback transmitted by UE 302. Each spatial stream can then be provided to one or more different antennas 356. Transmitter 354 can use the corresponding spatial stream to modulate an RF carrier for transmission.

[0080] At UE 302, receiver 312 receives signals via its corresponding antenna 316. Receiver 312 recovers the information modulated onto the RF carrier and provides this information to one or more processors 332. Transmitter 314 and receiver 312 implement Layer 1 functionality associated with various signal processing functions. Receiver 312 can perform spatial processing on the information to recover any spatial streams sent to UE 302. If multiple spatial streams are sent to UE 302, they can be combined by receiver 312 into a single OFDM symbol stream. Receiver 312 then uses a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) to convert the OFDM symbol stream from the time domain to the frequency domain. The frequency domain signal comprises a separate OFDM symbol stream for each subcarrier of the OFDM signal. Symbols on each subcarrier, along with a reference signal, are recovered and demodulated by determining the most probable signal constellation point transmitted by base station 304. These soft decisions can be based on channel estimates calculated by a channel estimator. The soft decision is then decoded and deinterleaved to recover the data and control signals originally transmitted by base station 304 on the physical channel. The data and control signals are then provided to one or more processors 332, which implement layer 3 (L3) and layer 2 (L2) functionality.

[0081] In the uplink, one or more processors 332 provide demultiplexing, packet reassembly, decryption, header decompression, and control signal processing between the transport and logical channels to recover IP packets from the core network. One or more processors 332 are also responsible for error detection.

[0082] Similar to the functionality described in conjunction with downlink transmission of base station 304, one or more processors 332 provide RRC layer functionality associated with system information (e.g., MIB, SIB) acquisition, RRC connectivity, and measurement reporting; PDCP layer functionality associated with header compression / decompression and security (encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification); RLC layer functionality associated with upper-layer PDU delivery, error correction via ARQ, concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC SDUs, resegmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functionality associated with mapping between logical channels and transport channels, multiplexing MACSDUs to TBs, demultiplexing MAC SDUs from transport blocks (TBs), scheduling information reporting, error correction via Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ), priority processing, and logical channel priority allocation.

[0083] The channel estimate derived by the channel estimator from the reference signal or feedback transmitted by the base station 304 can be used by the transmitter 314 to select an appropriate decoding and modulation scheme and facilitate spatial processing. The spatial stream generated by the transmitter 314 can be provided to different antenna(s)(s) 316. The transmitter 314 can use the corresponding spatial stream to modulate the RF carrier for transmission.

[0084] Uplink transmission is processed in base station 304 in a manner similar to that described in conjunction with the receiver function at UE 302. Receiver 352 receives signals through its respective antenna(s) 356. Receiver 352 recovers the information modulated onto the RF carrier and provides that information to one or more processors 384.

[0085] In the uplink, one or more processors 384 provide demultiplexing, packet reassembly, decryption, header decompression, and control signal processing between the transport and logical channels to recover IP packets from the UE 302. IP packets from one or more processors 384 can be provided to the core network. One or more processors 384 are also responsible for error detection.

[0086] For convenience, UE 302, base station 304 and / or network entity 306 are in Figure 3A , Figure 3B and Figure 3C The document is shown as including various components that can be configured according to the various examples described herein. However, it should be understood that the components shown may have different functionalities in different designs. Specifically, Figures 3A to 3C Various components are optional in alternative configurations, and aspects include configurations that may vary due to design options, cost, equipment usage, or other considerations. For example, in Figure 3A In certain implementations of UE 302, one or more WWAN transceivers 310 may be omitted (e.g., wearable devices, tablets, PCs, or laptops may have Wi-Fi and / or Bluetooth capabilities but no cellular capabilities), or one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320 may be omitted (e.g., cellular capabilities only), or satellite signal receiver 330 may be omitted, or one or more sensors 344 may be omitted, and so on. In another example, in Figure 3BIn certain implementations of base station 304, one or more WWAN transceivers 350 (e.g., a Wi-Fi "hotspot" access point without cellular capabilities), one or more short-range wireless transceivers 360 (e.g., cellular-only), or satellite receiver 370, etc., may be omitted. For the sake of brevity, descriptions of various alternative configurations are not provided herein, but they will be readily understood by those skilled in the art.

[0087] The various components of UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 can be communicatively coupled to each other via data buses 334, 382, ​​and 392, respectively. In one aspect, data buses 334, 382, ​​and 392 can form or be part of the communication interfaces of UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306, respectively. For example, when different logical entities are embodied in the same device (e.g., gNB and location server functionality are combined in the same base station 304), data buses 334, 382, ​​and 392 can provide communication between them.

[0088] Figure 3A , Figure 3B and Figure 3C The components can be implemented in various ways. In some implementations, Figure 3A , Figure 3B and Figure 3CThe components may be implemented in one or more circuits, such as, for example, in one or more processors and / or one or more ASICs (which may include one or more processors). Each circuit may use and / or incorporate at least one memory component for storing information or executable code used by the circuit to provide that functionality. For example, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 310 to 346 may be implemented by the processor and memory components of UE 302 (e.g., by the execution of appropriate code and / or by the appropriate configuration of 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 base station 304 (e.g., by the execution of appropriate code and / or by the appropriate configuration of the processor components). Likewise, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 390 to 398 may be implemented by the processor and memory components of network entity 306 (e.g., by the execution of appropriate code and / or by the appropriate configuration of the processor components). For simplicity, various operations, actions, and / or functions are described herein as being performed "by the UE," "by the base station," "by the network entity," etc. However, as will be understood, such operations, actions and / or functions can actually be performed by specific components or combinations of components of the UE 302, base station 304, network entity 306, etc. (such as processors 332, 384, 394, transceivers 310, 320, 350 and 360, memory 340, 386 and 396, positioning components 342, 388 and 398, etc.).

[0089] In some designs, network entity 306 may be implemented as a core network component. In other designs, network entity 306 may be different from the network operator or the operation of the cellular network infrastructure (e.g., NG RAN 220 and / or 5GC210 / 260). For example, network entity 306 may be a component of a private network that can be configured to communicate with UE 302 via base station 304 or independently of base station 304 (e.g., via a non-cellular communication link, such as WiFi).

[0090] Various frame structures can be used to support downlink and uplink transmission between network nodes (e.g., base stations and UEs). Figure 4 Figure 400 illustrates an exemplary frame structure according to various aspects of this disclosure. The frame structure may be a downlink or uplink frame structure. Other wireless communication technologies may have different frame structures and / or different channels.

[0091] LTE (and in some cases NR) uses OFDM on the downlink and single-carrier frequency division multiplexing (SC-FDM) on the uplink. However, unlike LTE, NR can also choose to use OFDM on the uplink. OFDM and SC-FDM divide the system bandwidth into multiple (K) orthogonal subcarriers, which are often referred to as tones, bins, etc. Each subcarrier can be modulated with data. Typically, modulation symbols are transmitted using OFDM in the frequency domain and SC-FDM in the time domain. The spacing between adjacent subcarriers can be fixed, and the total number of subcarriers (K) can depend on the system bandwidth. For example, the subcarrier spacing can be 15 kHz and the minimum resource allocation (resource block) can be 12 subcarriers (or 180 kHz). Therefore, for system bandwidths of 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10, or 20 MHz, the nominal FFT size can be equal to 128, 256, 512, 1024, or 2048, respectively. System bandwidth can also be divided into subbands. For example, a subband can cover 1.08 MHz (i.e., 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.

[0092] LTE supports a single set of parameters (subcarrier spacing (SCS), symbol length, etc.). In contrast, NR can support multiple parameter sets (µ), such as 15 kHz subcarrier spacing (µ=0), 30 kHz subcarrier spacing (µ=1), 60 kHz subcarrier spacing (µ=2), 120 kHz subcarrier spacing (µ=3), and 240 kHz subcarrier spacing (µ=4) or larger. Within each subcarrier spacing, there are 14 symbols per time slot. For a 15 kHz SCS (µ=0), there is one time slot per subframe, with 10 time slots per frame, a time slot duration of 1 millisecond (ms), a symbol duration of 66.7 microseconds (µs), and a maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) of 4K FET size. For a 30 kHz SCS (µ=1), there are two time slots per subframe, 20 time slots per frame, a time slot duration of 0.5 ms, a symbol duration of 33.3 µs, and a maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) of 4K FET size. For a 60 kHz SCS (µ=2), there are four time slots per subframe, 40 time slots per frame, a time slot duration of 0.25 ms, a symbol duration of 16.7 µs, and a maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) of 4K FET size. For a 120 kHz SCS (µ=3), there are eight time slots per subframe, 80 time slots per frame, a time slot duration of 0.125 ms, a symbol duration of 8.33 µs, and a maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) of 4K FET size. For a 240 kHz SCS (µ=4), there are 16 slots per subframe, 160 slots per frame, a slot duration of 0.0625 ms, a symbol duration of 4.17 µs, and a maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) of 4K FET size.

[0093] exist Figure 4 In the example, a parameter set of 15 kHz is used. Therefore, in the time domain, a 10 ms frame is divided into 10 equal-sized subframes, each 1 ms in size, and each subframe includes a time slot. Figure 4 In this diagram, time is represented horizontally (on the X-axis) as time increases from left to right, while frequency is represented vertically (on the Y-axis) as frequency increases (or decreases) from bottom to top.

[0094] A resource grid can be used to represent time slots, each of which includes one or more time-concurrent resource blocks (RBs) (also known as physical RBs (PRBs)) in the frequency domain. The resource grid is further divided into multiple resource elements (REs). An RE can correspond to one symbol length in the time domain and one subcarrier in the frequency domain. Figure 4 In the parameter set, for a normal cyclic prefix, the RB can contain 12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain and seven consecutive symbols in the time domain for a total of 84 REs. For an extended cyclic prefix, the RB can contain 12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain and six 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.

[0095] Some REs can carry reference (pilot) signals (RS). Reference signals may include positioning reference signals (PRS), tracking reference signals (TRS), phase tracking reference signals (PTRS), cell-specific reference signals (CRS), channel state information reference signals (CSI-RS), demodulation reference signals (DMRS), primary synchronization signals (PSS), secondary synchronization signals (SSS), synchronization signal blocks (SSB), sounding reference signals (SRS), etc., depending on whether the frame structure shown is for uplink or downlink communication. Figure 4 An exemplary location (labeled "R") of the RE carrying the reference signal is shown.

[0096] The set of resource elements (REs) used to transmit PRS is called a "PRS resource". The set of resource elements can span multiple PRBs in the frequency domain and 'N' (such as one or more) consecutive symbols in a time slot in the time domain. In a given OFDM symbol in the time domain, the PRS resource occupies a consecutive PRB in the frequency domain.

[0097] The transmission of PRS resources within a given PRB has a specific comb size (also known as "comb density"). The comb size 'N' represents the subcarrier spacing (or frequency / frequency modulation spacing) within each symbol of the PRS resource configuration. Specifically, for a comb size 'N', the PRS is transmitted in every Nth subcarrier of a symbol in the PRB. For example, for comb-4, for each symbol of the PRS resource configuration, the RE corresponding to every fourth subcarrier (such as subcarriers 0, 4, 8) is used to transmit the PRS for the PRS resource. Currently, DL-PRS supports comb sizes of comb-2, comb-4, comb-6, and comb-12. Figure 4 An exemplary PRS resource configuration for comb-4 (spanning four symbols) is shown. That is, the location of the shaded RE (labeled "R") indicates the comb-4 PRS resource configuration.

[0098] Currently, DL-PRS resources can span 2, 4, 6, or 12 consecutive symbols within a time slot using full-frequency domain interleaving patterns. DL-PRS resources can be configured in any higher-layer configured downlink or variable (FL) symbol within a time slot. For all REs of a given DL-PRS resource, a constant element-per-resource-cell energy (EPRE) can exist. The following are the inter-symbol frequency offsets for comb sizes 2, 4, 6, and 12 on 2, 4, 6, and 12 symbols: 2-symbol comb-2: {0, 1}; 4-symbol comb-2: {0, 1, 0, 1}; 6-symbol comb-2: {0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1}; 12-symbol comb-2: {0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1}; 4-symbol comb-4: {0, 2, 1, 3} (e.g., ...). Figure 4 Examples); 12-symbol comb-4: {0, 2, 1, 3, 0, 2, 1, 3, 0, 2, 1, 3}; 6-symbol comb-6: {0, 3, 1, 4, 2, 5}; 12-symbol comb-6: {0, 3, 1, 4, 2, 5, 0, 3, 1, 4, 2, 5}; and 12-symbol comb-12: {0, 6, 3, 9, 1, 7, 4, 10, 2, 8, 5, 11}.

[0099] A “PRS resource set” is a collection of PRS resources used for transmitting PRS signals, where each PRS resource has a PRS resource ID. Furthermore, PRS resources within a PRS resource set are associated with the same Time Retention Port (TRP). A PRS resource set is identified by a PRS resource set ID and associated with a specific TRP (identified by a TRPID). Additionally, PRS resources within a PRS resource set share the same periodicity in time slots, a common silence mode configuration, and the same repetition factor (such as “PRS-ResourceRepetitionFactor”). Periodicity refers to the time from the first repetition of the first PRS resource in the first PRS instance to the same first repetition of the same first PRS resource in the next PRS instance. The periodicity can have a length of 2^µ*{4, 5, 8, 10, 16, 20, 32, 40, 64, 80, 160, 320, 640, 1280, 2560, 5120, 10240} time slots, where µ = 0, 1, 2, 3. The repetition factor can have a length of {1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 16, 32} time slots.

[0100] In a PRS resource set, a PRS resource ID is associated with a single beam (or beam ID) transmitted from a single TRP (where a TRP can transmit one or more beams). That is, each PRS resource in a PRS resource set can be transmitted on a different beam; therefore, a "PRS resource," or simply a "resource," can also be referred to as a "beam." Note that this has no effect on whether the UE knows the TRP and beam on which it transmits the PRS.

[0101] A “PRS instance” or “PRS timing” is an instance of a periodic recurring time window (such as a group of one or more consecutive time slots) in which a PRS is expected to be sent. A PRS timing may also be referred to as a “PRS positioning timing”, “PRS positioning instance”, “positioning timing”, “positioning instance”, “positioning repetition”, or simply “timing”, “instance”, or “repetition”.

[0102] A “frequency layer” (also simply “frequency layer”) is a collection of one or more PRS resource sets on one or more TRPs that have the same values ​​for certain parameters. Specifically, the collection of PRS resource sets has the same subcarrier spacing and cyclic prefix (CP) type (meaning the PRS also supports all parameter sets supported by the Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH)), the same point A, the same downlink PRS bandwidth value, the same starting PRB (and center frequency), and the same comb size. The point A parameter uses the value of the parameter “ARFCN-ValueNR” (where “ARFCN” stands for “Absolute Radio Channel Number”) and is an identifier / code specifying a pair of physical radio channels used for transmission and reception. The granularity of the downlink PRS bandwidth can be four PRBs, with a minimum of 24 PRBs and a maximum of 272 PRBs. Currently, a maximum of four frequency layers are defined, and a maximum of two PRS resource sets can be configured per frequency layer per TRP.

[0103] The concept of a frequency layer is somewhat similar to that of component carriers and bandwidth portions (BWPs), but the difference is that component carriers and BWPs are used by a single base station (or a macro cell base station and a small cell base station) to transmit data channels, while a frequency layer is used by several (usually three or more) base stations to transmit PRS (Positioning Signals). A UE can indicate the number of frequency layers it can support when transmitting its positioning capabilities to the network (such as during an LTE Positioning Protocol (LPP) session). For example, a UE can indicate whether it can support one or four positioning frequency layers.

[0104] Figure 5 This is a diagram of an exemplary PRS configuration 500 for PRS transmission for a given base station, based on various aspects of this disclosure. Figure 5In the diagram, time is represented horizontally, increasing from left to right. Each long rectangle identifies a time slot, while each short (shaded) rectangle identifies an OFDM symbol. Figure 5 In the example, PRS resource set 510 (labeled "PRS resource set 1") includes two PRS resources: first PRS resource 512 (labeled "PRS resource 1") and second PRS resource 514 (labeled "PRS resource 2"). The base station transmits PRS on PRS resources 512 and 514 of PRS resource set 510.

[0105] The timing length (N_PRS) of PRS resource set 510 is two time slots, and the periodicity (T_PRS) is, for example, 160 time slots or 160 milliseconds (ms) (for a 15 kHz subcarrier spacing). Therefore, both PRS resources 512 and 514 are two consecutive time slots in length and repeat every T_PRS time slots, starting from the time slot where the first symbol of the corresponding PRS resource appears. Figure 5 In the example, PRS resource 512 has a symbol length (N_symb) of two symbols, and PRS resource 514 has a symbol length (N_symb) of four symbols. PRS resource 512 and PRS resource 514 can be transmitted on separate beams of the same base station.

[0106] Each instance of PRS resource set 510 (shown as instances 520a, 520b, and 520c) includes an opportunity of length '2' (i.e., N_PRS = 2) for each PRS resource 512, 514 of the PRS resource set. PRS resources 512 and 514 repeat once every T_PRS time slots until the silence sequence is periodically T_REP. Therefore, a bitmap of length T_REP is needed to indicate which opportunities of instances 520a, 520b, and 520c of PRS resource set 510 are silenced (i.e., not sent).

[0107] In one aspect, there may be additional constraints on PRS configuration 500. For example, for all PRS resources (e.g., PRS resources 512, 514) in a PRS resource set (e.g., PRS resource set 510), the base station can configure the following parameters to be the same: (a) timing length (N_PRS), (b) number of symbols (N_symb), (c) comb type, and / or (d) bandwidth. Additionally, for all PRS resources in all PRS resource sets, the subcarrier spacing and cyclic prefix can be configured to be the same for a single base station or for all base stations. Whether this is for a single base station or for all base stations may depend on the UE's ability to support the first and / or second options.

[0108] Note that the terms “positioning reference signal” and “PRS” generally refer to specific reference signals used for positioning in NR and LTE systems. However, as used herein, the terms “positioning reference signal” and “PRS” can also refer to any type of reference signal that can be used for positioning, such as, but not limited to, PRS, TRS, PTRS, CRS, CSI-RS, DMRS, PSS, SSS, SSB, SRS, UL-PRS, etc., as defined in LTE and NR. Additionally, unless the context otherwise indicates, the terms “positioning reference signal” and “PRS” can refer to downlink or uplink positioning reference signals. If further differentiation of the type of PRS is required, downlink positioning reference signals can be referred to as “DL-PRS”, and uplink positioning reference signals (e.g., SRS-for-positioning, PTRS) can be referred to as “UL-PRS”. Furthermore, for signals that can be transmitted in both uplink and downlink (e.g., DMRS, PTRS), “UL” or “DL” can be added before the signal to distinguish the direction. For example, “UL-DMRS” can be distinguished from “DL-DMRS”.

[0109] NR supports various cellular network-based positioning technologies, including downlink-based, uplink-based, and downlink-and-uplink-based positioning methods. Downlink-based positioning methods include Observed Time Difference of Arrival (OTDOA) in LTE, Downlink Time Difference of Arrival (DL-TDOA) in NR, and Downlink Angle of Departure (DL-AoD) in NR. During OTDOA or DL-TDOA positioning, the UE measures the difference between the times of arrival (ToA) of a reference signal (e.g., a Positioning Reference Signal (PRS)) received from a base station pair, referred to as the Reference Signal Time Difference (RSTD) or Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA) measurement, and reports them to the positioning entity. More specifically, the UE receives identifiers (IDs) of a reference base station (e.g., a serving base station) and multiple non-reference base stations in auxiliary data. The UE then measures the RSTD between the reference base station and each of the non-reference base stations. Based on the known locations of the base stations involved and the RSTD measurement, the positioning entity (e.g., a UE for UE-based positioning or a location server for UE-assisted positioning) can estimate the UE's location.

[0110] For DL-AoD positioning, the positioning entity uses measurement reports of received signal strength measurements from multiple downlink transmitted beams from the UE to determine one or more angles between the UE and one or more transmitting base stations. The positioning entity can then estimate the UE's location based on the determined angles and the known locations of one or more transmitting base stations.

[0111] Uplink-based positioning methods include uplink time difference of arrival (UL-TDOA) and uplink angle of arrival (UL-AoA). UL-TDOA is similar to DL-TDOA, but is based on uplink reference signals (e.g., sounding reference signals (SRS)) transmitted by the UE to multiple base stations. Specifically, the UE transmits one or more uplink reference signals measured by a reference base station and multiple non-reference base stations. Each base station then reports the reception time (called relative time of arrival (RTOA)) of the reference signal(s) to a positioning entity (e.g., a location server) that knows the location and relative timing of the base stations involved. Based on the receive-receive (Rx-Rx) time difference between the RTOA reported by the reference base station and the RTOA reported by each non-reference base station, the known location of the base stations, and their known time offsets, the positioning entity can estimate the UE's location using the TDOA.

[0112] For UL-AoA positioning, one or more base stations measure the received signal strength of one or more uplink reference signals (e.g., SRS) received from the UE on one or more uplink receive beams. The positioning entity uses the signal strength measurement and the angles of the receive beams to determine the angles between the UE and the base stations. Based on the determined angles and the known locations of the base stations, the positioning entity can then estimate the UE's location.

[0113] Downlink and uplink-based positioning methods include Enhanced Cell ID (E-CID) positioning and Multiple Round-Trip Time (RTT) positioning (also known as "Multi-Cell RTT" and "Multi-RTT"). During RTT, a first entity (e.g., a base station or a UE) sends a first RTT-related signal (e.g., PRS or SRS) to a second entity (e.g., a UE or a base station), which then sends a second RTT-related signal (e.g., SRS or PRS) back to the first entity. Each entity measures the time difference between the arrival time (ToA) of the received RTT-related signal and the transmission time of the transmitted RTT-related signal. This time difference is called the receive-transmit (Rx-Tx) time difference. The Rx-Tx time difference measurement can be performed or adjusted to include only the time difference between the nearest time slot boundaries of the received and transmitted signals. The two entities can then transmit their Rx-Tx time difference measurements to a location server (e.g., LMF 270), which calculates the round-trip time (i.e., RTT) between the two entities based on the two Rx-Tx time difference measurements (e.g., as the sum of the two Rx-Tx time difference measurements). Alternatively, one entity can transmit its Rx-Tx time difference measurement to another entity, which then calculates the RTT. The distance between the two entities can be determined based on the RTT and a known signal speed (e.g., the speed of light). For multi-RTT positioning, a first entity (e.g., a UE or base station) performs an RTT positioning process with multiple second entities (e.g., multiple base stations or UEs) to enable the location of the first entity to be determined based on the distance to the second entities and the known location of the second entities (e.g., using multipoint positioning). RTT and multi-RTT methods can be combined with other positioning technologies (such as UL-AoA and DL-AoD) to improve positioning accuracy.

[0114] The E-CID positioning method is based on Radio Resource Management (RRM) measurements. In E-CID, the UE reports the serving cell ID, timing advance (TA), and identifiers, estimated timings, and signal strengths of detected neighboring base stations. The UE's location is then estimated based on this information and the known locations of one or more base stations.

[0115] To assist in positioning operations, a location server (e.g., location server 230, LMF 270, SLP 272) can provide auxiliary data to the UE. For example, auxiliary data may include the identifier of the base station (or the cell / TRP of the base station) from which the reference signal is measured, reference signal configuration parameters (e.g., including the number of consecutive time slots of the PRS, the periodicity of consecutive time slots of the PRS, silence sequences, frequency hopping sequences, reference signal identifiers, reference signal bandwidth, etc.), and / or other parameters applicable to a specific positioning method. Alternatively, auxiliary data may be derived directly from the base station itself (e.g., in periodically broadcast overhead messages, etc.). In some cases, the UE may be able to detect neighboring network nodes themselves without using auxiliary data.

[0116] In the case of OTDOA or DL-TDOA positioning procedures, auxiliary data may also include the expected RSTD value and the associated uncertainty or search window around the expected RSTD. In some cases, the expected RSTD value may range from + / - 500 microseconds (µs). In some cases, when any of the resources used for positioning measurements are in FR1, the uncertainty of the expected RSTD may range from + / - 32 µs. In other cases, when all resources used for positioning measurements(s) are in FR2, the uncertainty of the expected RSTD may range from + / - 8 µs.

[0117] Location estimation may be referred to by other names, such as location estimate, location, positioning, fixed location, etc. Location estimation can be geographical and include coordinates (e.g., latitude, longitude, and possible altitude), or it can be urban and include street addresses, postal addresses, or some other verbal description of a location. Location estimation can be further defined relative to another known location, or defined in absolute terms (e.g., using latitude, longitude, and possible altitude). Location estimation may include anticipated errors or uncertainties (e.g., by including an area or volume, within which a location with a specified or default confidence level is expected).

[0118] Figure 6 Figure 600 shows a base station (BS) 602 (which may correspond to any of the UEs described herein) communicating with UE 604 (which may correspond to any of the UEs described herein). Reference Figure 6Base station 602 can transmit beamforming signals to UE 604 on one or more transmit beams 602a, 602b, 602c, 602d, 602e, 602f, 602g, 602h, each transmit beam having a beam identifier that UE 604 can use to identify the corresponding beam. When base station 602 is beamforming towards UE 604 using a single antenna array (e.g., a single TRP / cell), base station 602 can perform a “beam scan” by transmitting the first beam 602a, then the beam 602b, and so on until the last beam 602h. Alternatively, base station 602 can transmit beams 602a through 602h in a pattern, such as transmitting beam 602a, then beam 602h, then beam 602b, then beam 602g, and so on. In the case where base station 602 is using multiple antenna arrays (e.g., multiple TRPs / cells) to perform beamforming toward UE 604, each antenna array can perform beam scanning of a subset of beams 602a to 602h. Alternatively, each of beams 602a to 602h can correspond to a single antenna or antenna array.

[0119] Figure 6 The paths 612c, 612d, 612e, 612f, and 612g followed by beamforming signals transmitted on beams 602c, 602d, 602e, 602f, and 602g are also shown. Each path 612c, 612d, 612e, 612f, and 612g may correspond to a single “multipath” or may consist of multiple (clustered) “multipaths” due to the propagation characteristics of radio frequency (RF) signals through the environment. It should be noted that although only the paths of beams 602c to 602g are shown, this is for simplicity, and the signals transmitted on each of beams 602a to 602h will follow a certain path. In the example shown, paths 612c, 612d, 612e, and 612f are straight lines, while path 612g is reflected back from an obstacle 620 (e.g., a building, vehicle, ground feature, etc.).

[0120] UE 604 can receive beamforming signals from base station 602 on one or more receive beams 604a, 604b, 604c, 604d. It should be noted that, for simplicity, this depends on which of base station 602 and UE 604 is transmitting and which is receiving. Figure 6 The beams shown represent transmit beams or receive beams. Therefore, UE 604 can also transmit beamforming signals to base station 602 on one or more of beams 604a to 604d, and base station 602 can receive beamforming signals from UE 604 on one or more of beams 602a to 602h.

[0121] In one aspect, base station 602 and UE 604 can perform beam training to align the transmit and receive beams of base station 602 and UE 604. For example, depending on environmental conditions and other factors, base station 602 and UE 604 can determine optimal transmit and receive beams as 602d and 604b, or as 602e and 604c, respectively. The direction of the optimal transmit beam for base station 602 may or may not be the same as the direction of the optimal receive beam, and similarly, the direction of the optimal receive beam for UE 604 may or may not be the same as the direction of the optimal transmit beam. However, it should be noted that aligning the transmit and receive beams is not necessary for performing downlink departure angle (DL-AoD) or uplink arrival angle (UL-AoA) positioning procedures.

[0122] To perform the DL-AoD positioning process, base station 602 can transmit reference signals (e.g., PRS, CRS, TRS, CSI-RS, PSS, SSS, etc.) to UE 604 on one or more of beams 602a to 602h, where each beam has a different transmission angle. The different transmission angles of the beams will result in different received signal strengths (e.g., RSRP, RSRQ, SINR, etc.) at UE 604. Specifically, the received signal strength will be lower for beams 602a to 602h that are further away from the LOS path 610 than for beams 602a to 602h that are closer to the line-of-sight (LOS) path 610 between base station 602 and UE 604.

[0123] exist Figure 6 In the example, if base station 602 transmits reference signals to UE 604 on beams 602c, 602d, 602e, 602f, and 602g, then transmit beam 602e is optimally aligned with LOS path 610, while transmit beams 602c, 602d, 602f, and 602g are not. Therefore, beam 602e may have a higher received signal strength at UE 604 than beams 602c, 602d, 602f, and 602g. It should be noted that reference signals transmitted on some beams (e.g., beams 602c and / or 602f) may not reach UE 604, or the energy reaching UE 604 from these beams may be too low to be detected or at least negligible.

[0124] UE 604 can report the received signal strength of each measured transmit beam 602c to 602g to base station 602, and optionally, report the associated measurement quality, or alternatively, report the transmit beam with the highest received signal strength (in Figure 6In the example, the beam 602e is identified. Alternatively or additionally, if UE 604 also has round-trip time (RTT) or time difference of arrival (TDOA) positioning sessions with at least one base station 602 or multiple base stations 602, UE 604 may report receive-transmit (Rx-Tx) time difference or reference signal time difference (RSTD) measurements (and optionally, associated measurement quality) to the serving base station 602 or other positioning entities. In any case, the positioning entity (e.g., base station 602, location server, third-party client, UE 604, etc.) may estimate the angle from base station 602 to UE 604 as the AoD of the transmit beam (here, transmit beam 602e) with the highest received signal strength at UE 604.

[0125] In one aspect of DL-AoD-based positioning (where only one involved base station 602 exists), base station 602 and UE 604 can perform a round-trip time (RTT) procedure to determine the distance between base station 602 and UE 604. Therefore, the positioning entity can determine both the direction to UE 604 (using DL-AoD positioning) and the distance to UE 604 (using RTT positioning) to estimate the location of UE 604. It should be noted that the AoD with the highest received signal strength is not necessarily along the LOS path 610, such as... Figure 6 As shown in the figure. However, this is assumed for the purposes of DL-AoD-based positioning.

[0126] In another aspect of DL-AoD-based positioning (in which multiple involved base stations 602 exist), each involved base station 602 can report a determined AoD or RSRP measurement from the corresponding base station 602 to the serving base station 602. The serving base station 602 can then report the AoD or RSRP measurement from the other involved base stations(one or more) 602 to a positioning entity (e.g., the UE 604 for UE-based positioning or a location server for UE-assisted positioning). Using this information and knowledge of the geographic locations of the base stations 602, the positioning entity can estimate the location of the UE 604 as the intersection of determined AoDs. At least two involved base stations 602 should exist for a two-dimensional (2D) positioning solution; however, it should be understood that the more base stations 602 involved in the positioning process, the more accurate the estimated location of the UE 604 will be.

[0127] To perform the UL-AoA positioning procedure, UE 604 transmits an uplink reference signal (e.g., UL-PRS, SRS, DMRS, etc.) to base station 602 on one or more of the uplink transmit beams 604a to 604d. Base station 602 receives the uplink reference signal on one or more of the uplink receive beams 602a to 602h. Base station 602 determines the angle of the optimal receive beams 602a to 602h for receiving one or more reference signals from UE 604 as the AoA from UE 604 to itself. Specifically, each of the receive beams 602a to 602h will result in a different received signal strength (e.g., RSRP, RSRQ, SINR, etc.) for one or more reference signals at base station 602. Furthermore, the channel impulse response of one or more reference signals will be smaller for the receive beams 602a to 602h that are farther from the LOS path than for the receive beams 602a to 602h that are closer to the actual LOS path between base station 602 and UE 604. Similarly, the received signal strength will be lower for the receive beams 602a to 602h that are farther from the LOS path than for the receive beams 602a to 602h that are closer to the LOS path. Therefore, base station 602 identifies the receive beams 602a to 602h that cause the highest received signal strength and optionally the strongest channel impulse response, and estimates its angle from itself to UE 604 as the AoA of that receive beam 602a to 602h. It should be noted that, as with DL-AoD-based positioning, the AoA of the receive beams 602a to 602h that cause the highest received signal strength (and the strongest channel impulse response (if measured)) is not necessarily along the LOS path 610. However, for the purpose of positioning based on UL-AoA in FR2, this can be assumed.

[0128] It should be noted that although UE 604 is shown to be capable of beamforming, this is not necessary for DL-AoD and UL-AoA positioning procedures. Rather, UE 604 can receive and transmit on an omnidirectional antenna.

[0129] In the case where UE 604 estimates its location (i.e., the UE is the location entity), it needs to obtain the geographic location of base station 602. UE 604 can obtain its location from, for example, base station 602 itself or a location server (e.g., location server 230, LMF 270, SLP272). Using knowledge of the distance to base station 602 (based on RTT or timing advance), the angle between base station 602 and UE 604 (based on the UL-AoA of the optimal receive beams 602a to 602h), and the known geographic location of base station 602, UE 604 can estimate its location.

[0130] Alternatively, when a positioning entity, such as base station 602 or a location server, is estimating the location of UE 604, base station 602 reports the AoA of the receiving beams 602a to 602h that produce the highest received signal strength (and optionally, the strongest channel impulse response) of the reference signal received from UE 604, or all received signal strengths and channel impulse responses of all receiving beams 602a to 602h (this allows the positioning entity to determine the optimal receiving beams 602a to 602h). Base station 602 may additionally report the Rx-Tx time difference to UE 604. The positioning entity can then estimate the location of UE 604 based on the distance of UE 604 to base station 602, the AoA of the identified receiving beams 602a to 602h, and the known geographic location of base station 602.

[0131] Currently, for DL-AoD-based positioning, the base station is expected to create narrow beams by using pre-decoding at the transmitter (i.e., applying a set of phase values ​​to the corresponding antenna elements to beamp manipulate the beam generated by the antenna), and the UE is expected to measure the RSRP of each received / detected downlink beam. The UE then reports the beam identifiers (e.g., beam indices) of the top P beams with RSRPs sorted from highest to lowest. The pre-decoding performed at the base station for each beam is typically unknown to the UE. Therefore, the UE blindly reports the RSRP of each beam and cannot perform any angle estimation itself.

[0132] This disclosure provides a mechanism for enabling a UE to measure angles by limiting beamforming at a base station. In one aspect, the base station can transmit multiple PRS resources, one PRS resource per antenna port. "Antenna port" is a logical concept related to the physical layer, not a physical antenna panel. An antenna port is defined such that a channel transmitting a symbol on the antenna port can be inferred from a channel transmitting another symbol on the same antenna port. In other words, each individual downlink transmission is performed from a specific antenna port, the identity of which the UE is aware, and the UE can assume that two transmitted signals traverse the same radio channel if and only if they are transmitted from the same antenna port. In practice, it can be assumed that each antenna port used for downlink transmission corresponds to a specific reference signal (e.g., a PRS resource). Therefore, each PRS resource transmitted by the base station corresponds to a specific antenna port.

[0133] In the disclosed mechanism, the primary constraint is that transmissions from each antenna port should be beamformed equally. This allows the UE to observe the transmitted signal (e.g., PRS resources) as if it were transmitted from a uniform planar antenna array, where "each virtual antenna element of the array" has the same transmission pattern. It should be noted that the option of no beamforming (i.e., transmission from each individual antenna element versus transmission from a set of antenna elements, as with beamforming) is also valid and possible.

[0134] Figure 7 Various beamforming examples for different antenna port configurations are shown. In each example, an antenna panel 712 comprising a 4×4 array of 16 antenna elements 714 is shown. The spacing between each antenna element 714 is λ / 2 (where "λ" (lambda) is the wavelength) on both the horizontal and vertical axes of the antenna panel 712. The antenna panel 712 may correspond to a base station's TRP or cell.

[0135] Figure 710 illustrates an example without beamforming. Thus, the base station can transmit up to 16 PRS resources per polarization, one PRS resource per antenna element 714. In this example, each antenna element will correspond to an antenna port. The spacing between each antenna port (since each antenna port corresponds to antenna element 714) is λ / 2 on both the horizontal and vertical axes of the antenna panel 712. The example shown in Figure 710 is an example of an omnidirectional antenna.

[0136] Figure 720 shows an example where 16 antenna elements 714 are divided into four antenna element groups 722 (indicated by dashed circles) with four adjacent antenna elements 714. Each antenna element group 722 corresponds to an antenna port and can be used for beamforming different PRS resources. Therefore, dividing the antenna panel 712 into four antenna element groups 722 allows the base station to beamform up to four PRS resources per polarization. Because each antenna element group 722 corresponding to an antenna port is two antenna elements 714 wide and two antenna elements 714 high, the spacing between each antenna port is λ (i.e., 2×λ / 2) on both the horizontal and vertical axes.

[0137] Figure 720 further illustrates a beam 724 that can be transmitted by the antenna element group 722. Beam 724 can correspond to... Figure 6Some of the beams in beams 602a-h are shown. Conventionally, the base station can transmit PRS resources on each antenna element group 722 in independent (e.g., different) directions. However, as shown in Figure 720, each beam is beamformed equally, meaning that each beam is transmitted in the same direction. As mentioned above and further described below, this allows the UE to observe the transmitted signal (e.g., PRS resources) as if it were being transmitted from a uniform planar antenna array.

[0138] Figure 730 shows an example where the 16 antenna elements 714 are also divided into four antenna element groups 732 (represented by dashed ellipses) with four adjacent antenna elements 714. Each antenna element group 732 corresponds to an antenna port and can be used for beamforming different PRS resources. Therefore, dividing the antenna panel 712 into four antenna element groups 732 allows the base station to beamform up to four PRS resources per polarization. However, unlike the example of Figure 720, because each antenna element group 732 corresponding to an antenna port is four antenna elements 714 wide and one antenna element 714 high, the spacing between each antenna port (i.e., each antenna element group 732) is 2λ (i.e., 4×λ / 2) on the horizontal axis and λ / 2 on the vertical axis.

[0139] Figure 740 illustrates an example of beamforming using interleaved antenna elements 714. Specifically, Figure 740 shows an antenna element group 742 (represented by four dashed circles) comprising four non-adjacent antenna elements 714 interleaved with other antenna elements 714 of the antenna panel 712. Antenna element group 742 corresponds to an antenna port and can be used to transmit a specific PRS resource. Although only one antenna element group 742 is shown in Figure 740, the remaining antenna elements 714 can be divided into other antenna element groups 742 of non-adjacent antenna elements 714. However, each antenna element group should perform equivalent beamforming for the corresponding PRS resource, meaning each beam will be transmitted in the same direction. Because each antenna element group (corresponding to an antenna port) in the example of Figure 740 will be adjacent to (interleaved) with other antenna element groups, the spacing between each antenna port is λ / 2 on both the horizontal and vertical axes of the antenna panel 712.

[0140] It should be understood that Figure 7 The beamforming examples in the examples are not exhaustive, and there are many different antenna element patterns that can correspond to different antenna ports. Furthermore, the UE can receive PRS resources from different antenna ports using Time Division Multiplexing (TDM), Frequency Division Multiplexing (FDM), or Code Division Multiplexing (CDM), depending on how the resources are defined.

[0141] Since the hardware configuration of the antenna panel 712 remains unchanged, but the grouping of the antenna elements 714 is changed to form different antenna ports, therefore Figure 7 The exemplary antenna element grouping shown herein is referred to as a "virtual antenna array configuration". The virtual antenna array configuration can specify the number of antenna ports (e.g., four in the examples of Figures 720 and 730), the spacing between the ports (e.g., λ in the example of Figure 720), etc. In one aspect, the virtual antenna array configuration (e.g., the number of ports, the spacing in each direction, etc.) is signaled to the UE. The UE can receive this configuration from a location server (e.g., location server 230, LMF 270, SLP 272) in one or more LPP messages, or directly from the base station in RRC signaling.

[0142] This disclosure provides codebook-based and non-codebook-based angle measurement techniques. For codebook-based techniques, similar to Type I CSI pre-decoded codebooks, the set of potential angles that the UE can search is provided by the definition of the codebook.

[0143] More specifically, codebook-based pre-decoding is a type of vector quantization of the channel experienced by the UE. The pre-decoder codebook is a collection of pre-decoder matrices, each containing a set of phase values ​​that can be applied to the corresponding antenna elements to beam manipulate the beam generated by the antenna. Therefore, the pre-decoder matrix can be referred to as the manipulation matrix. The pre-decoder codebook can be designed to take into account typical cellular propagation channels and antenna deployments. The codebook is typically designed based on one-dimensional or two-dimensional Discrete Fourier Transform (1D / 2D-DFT) vectors and therefore implicitly assumes, for example, the use of a uniform linear or uniform planar array (UPA) at the TRP.

[0144] Because many dimensions of two-dimensional antenna arrays can be used, codebooks are typically configurable and scalable. The antenna port (element) layout of the antenna panels in the vertical (number of rows) and horizontal (number of columns) dimensions (denoted as N1 and N2, respectively) can be configured as part of the codebook configuration. For multi-panel codebooks, the number of panels N is also configured. g If a dual-polarized antenna is used (which can be assumed), the total number of ports in the antenna codebook is P = 2N. g N1N2 is given, where P is the number of ports, and for the single-panel case, N g= 1. Currently, the NR codebook supports a maximum of 32 ports, but the description herein is not limited to 32 ports. Currently, supported antenna port layouts in NR include the following row and column combinations: 1×2, 1×4 (e.g., as shown in the example of Figure 730), 1×6, 1×8, 1×12, 1×16, 2×2 (e.g., as shown in the example of Figure 720), 2×3, 2×4, 2×6, 2×8, 3×4, 4×4, but the description herein is not limited to these configurations. N1 and N2 configurations can be configured by multi-port PRS resources, by PRS resource sets, by frequency layers, or associated with one or more TRPs (e.g., associated with one or more TRP IDs).

[0145] A codebook including constant-mode DFT for dual-polarization, two-dimensional UPA can be used. The codebook consists of a combination of two linear pre-decoder vectors. The DFT pre-decoder (where the pre-decoder vector w is used to pre-decode a single-layer transmission using a single-polarization uniform linear array (ULA) with N antennas) can be defined as follows:

[0146] (1)

[0147] Where k = 0, 1, 2, ..., Q(N-1) are pre-decoder indices, and Q is an oversampling factor that can be configured by the network entity (e.g., a base station or location server). For a two-dimensional UPA, the corresponding pre-decoder matrix can be generated by performing a Kronecker product on the two pre-decoder vectors according to the following formula:

[0148] (2)

[0149] Where k is the pre-decoder index in one dimension, and l is the pre-decoder index in another dimension (k = 0, 1, 2, ..., Q(N1-1), l = 0, 1, 2, ..., Q(N2-1)). This can be extended for dual-polarized UPA according to the following formula:

[0150] (3)

[0151] in, Here, φ is the in-phase factor between two bipolarizations (e.g., orthogonal polarizations). A fixed number of φ values ​​can be evaluated, for example, selected from the QPSK alphabet, where The in-phase factor is the phase difference between signals transmitted by different polarizations of the antenna elements. The in-phase factor between polarizations may vary with frequency and is related to the pre-decoder matrix w. 2DThe beam direction corresponding to one of (k,l) produces the strongest beam (e.g., for codebook-based CSI feedback), or the LOS beam will generally remain the same for different frequencies. The pre-decoder matrix can be divided into a matrix or beam factor that can be selected at the broadband level to indicate the beam direction, and a phase factor that can be selected at the sub-band level, including polarization in-phase.

[0152] In this disclosure, one or more codebooks may be defined and provided to the UE to enable the UE to determine the DL-AoD associated with a base station (or more specifically, a specific antenna panel / TRP / cell of the base station). More specifically, the one or more codebooks may provide a list of angle vectors (or matrices) similar to a CSI codebook, instructing the UE to search for angles from a specific PRS resource of the base station. (See above reference...) Figure 7 As described, the PRS resources transmitted by the antenna panel should be beamformed so that the UE can observe different PRS resources as if they were transmitted from a uniform planar array. The UE searches for the transmitted PRS resources along the indicated angle vector and determines the index of the vector that produces the strongest RSRP measurement. Because the PRS resources are beamformed, the corresponding radio signals should all arrive at the UE along substantially the same path(s), in contrast to a scenario where the PRS resources are not beamformed. Since it is assumed that the PRS resources all arrive at the UE along the same path(s), the angle associated with the strongest RSRP in the codebook is most likely from the DL-AoD of the base station (or more specifically, the antenna panel).

[0153] In one aspect, one or more codebooks can be hierarchical codebooks. Specifically, a first codebook can provide angle information (e.g., vectors, matrices) for coarse angle searches, while a second codebook can provide angle information for fine angle searches based on the first angle search. For example, vectors in the second codebook can be centered on vectors (angles) selected from the first codebook. Thus, as an example, the first codebook can provide angle vectors in 10-degree increments (e.g., 0 degrees, 10 degrees, 20 degrees, etc.), while the second codebook can provide angle vectors in 1-degree increments, for example, -5 degrees to +5 degrees. Therefore, once the UE recognizes that a 10-degree increment angle produces the maximum RSRP, it can perform another search around that angle in increments defined in the second codebook.

[0154] As should be understood, the benefits of a hierarchical codebook are reduced signaling overhead because fewer and smaller values ​​need to be sent, and reduced UE complexity because the search needs to be concentrated in smaller angles. For example, instead of searching in 210 1-degree increments in the general direction of the base station, the UE can search in 21 10-degree increments, and then in 10 1-degree increments.

[0155] Figure 8 An exemplary flow 800 for measuring multiport PRS resources and providing feedback according to various aspects of this disclosure is shown. At 810, a location server (e.g., shown as an LMF) provides PRS configuration 812 to UE 804 (e.g., any of the UEs described herein) via TRP 802 (e.g., the TRP of any of the base stations described herein) and possibly to TRP 802. PRS configuration 812 provides scheduling information (e.g., such as...) for the PRS sent by TRP 802. Figure 5 The PRS configuration shown indicates to UE804 that the PRS will be a multi-port PRS, and provides codebook configuration values, which include the number of rows N1 and columns N2 of the antenna elements to be used to communicate the multi-port PRS, the oversampling factor Q, and so on. The alphabet of values, and possibly which REs correspond to each polarization of the signal transmitted from TRP 802. Additionally or alternatively, TRP 802 may provide codebook configuration values ​​N1, N2, Q, ... in codebook configuration message 816 at stage 814. .

[0156] At stage 818, TRP 802 transmits a multiport PRS with multiple PRS ports within a single time slot using multiple OFDM symbols. For example, TRP 802 can perform equivalent beamforming on the multiport PRS using various transmission modes, such as... Figure 7 As shown. TRP 802 can transmit PRS from different antenna ports in TDM, FDM, or CDM mode. UE 804 receives and measures the multiport PRS transmitted by TRP 802 at stage 818. UE 804 measures the multiport PRS (i.e., multiple PRS resources corresponding to multiple ports) in a single time slot (and possibly in a single resource), but UE 804 can measure the multiport PRS resource multiple times (e.g., multiple repetitions of the multiport PRS resource) to fully measure the signal and obtain the desired information.

[0157] At stage 820, UE 804 analyzes and processes the measured multiport PRS to determine feedback information. This feedback information can be from the perspective of TRP 802 to UE 804. (Reference) Figure 6 Applying an angle vector (or matrix) to the measured channel will isolate the energy from the multi-port PRS into effective beams, each corresponding to the angle vector for each individual application. This is achieved by configuring the values ​​(N1, N2, Q) according to the codebook. By applying the codebook of the pre-decoder matrix, UE 804 can analyze the multiport PRS transmitted by TRP 802 as if TRP 802 were transmitting the PRS in directional beams (e.g., beams 602a-h). The effective beam is a logical reconstruction based on the energy received in the multiport PRS and is not necessarily the beam transmitted by TRP 802 (i.e., TRP 802 may not perform beamforming on the multiport PRS). Since the beam may not actually be transmitted but logically simulated using the codebook, the associated angle can be considered the effective angle (the angle the beam will follow is the actually transmitted beam). Some beams (e.g., beams 602a, 602b, 602g, 602h) may not reach UE 804, or the energy reaching UE 804 from these beams may be too low to be detected or at least negligible.

[0158] An angle vector (or matrix) is applied to the received PRS to isolate the energy of the effective beams, generating an impulse response for each effective beam. UE 804 analyzes the impulse responses of multiple effective beams of the multiport PRS to determine which beam has the strongest RSRP and therefore may follow a LOS path from TRP 802 to UE 804. UE 804 can determine the DL-AoD of the effective beam identified as having the strongest RSRP. Specifically, the angle vector (or matrix) corresponding to the strongest effective beam provides the AoD relative to TRP 802. UE 804 can use the position and orientation of TRP 802 combined with the angle vector corresponding to the strongest effective beam to determine the AoD relative to the global coordinate system.

[0159] At phase 834, UE 804 provides feedback to the network entity that was determined during phase 820. For example, UE 804 may provide feedback to TRP 802 in RRC feedback message 830, and / or may provide feedback to location server 870 in LPP feedback message 832. Feedback messages 830 and 832 may include beam index (k, l tuples) and in-phase factor of the strongest (e.g., strongest RSRP) effective beam, and / or may include AoD of the strongest effective beam.

[0160] At stage 836, location server 870 can use feedback information to determine the location of UE 804. For example, location server 870 can use or determine the AoD of the LOS beam to UE 804 as part of the trilateration determination, for example, using other AoDs from the LOS beams of other TRPs 802 and the location of the TRPs to determine the location of UE 804.

[0161] Referring to non-codebook-based techniques, the UE can directly determine the angle using certain implementation-based angle search and / or optimization techniques (i.e., DL-AoD). In UE-assisted mode, the angle is quantized (determined at some level of granularity) and then reported to the positioning entity (e.g., location server 230, LMF 270, SLP 272). The quantization granularity can be specified by the positioning entity, applicable standards, UE capabilities, etc. The advantage of non-codebook-based methods is that the algorithm is completely controlled at the UE side—no configuration of the search codebook from the base station is required.

[0162] It should be noted that a UE may be allowed to report more than one angle or beam index. For example, if a UE measures two beams with substantially the same signal strength, it may report both, assuming it is located between the beams.

[0163] It should also be noted that each port in a multi-port PRS resource set should share a common spatial QCL with the UE. That is, since each PRS resource is beamformed equally, they will have the same spatial relationship with the receiving beam at the UE, and the UE will be expected to receive the PRS resources on the same receiving beam.

[0164] In one scenario, if the base station has multiple antenna panels, and not all antenna panels are oriented in the same plane, different multi-port PRS transmission groups can be defined, with at least one multi-port PRS transmission group for each antenna panel with a different orientation. In this scenario, the UE cannot combine across different groups without additional signaling (i.e., additional auxiliary data) from the base station. For example, the base station can signal the relative orientation of the panels to the UE so that the UE can combine across panels.

[0165] In one aspect, the UE can select or recommend the granularity of the reported DL-AoD. For example, for tracking purposes, when the UE is moving (e.g., driving), the UE can report differential AoD measurements. That is, the UE can report the first AoD measurement in its entirety, and then report subsequent AoD measurements as the difference between the original AoD measurement and the new AoD measurement. Additionally, the base station can dynamically signal a subset of the codebook, allowing the UE to limit its search.

[0166] A similar mechanism applies to SRS transmission. In this case, multiple uplink multi-port SRSs can exist, each corresponding to an antenna panel of the UE. The UE can signal the base station to inform it of the distance and relative orientation between the panels. The UE then beamforms the SRS (or other uplink positioning signals) to the base station, and the base station beamforms the PRS to the UE. The base station measures the RSRP of each valid uplink beam, and the UE measures the RSRP of each valid downlink beam to determine the UL-AoA between the base station and the UE.

[0167] Another mechanism disclosed in this paper allows for the use of different beamforming for each antenna port. If the base station pre-decodes the beams at each antenna port differently, it becomes more difficult for the UE to determine the angle of the path in the underlying channel corresponding to the antenna / PRS port. Currently, as described above, for DL-AoD positioning, the UE observes different versions of beamforming for the channel from each port and selects the beam with the best P RSRPs to report. The base station then uses the angle of one or more beams to determine the DL-AoD. However, at least for UE-based positioning, it would be beneficial if the UE could determine (and optionally report) the angle between itself and the base station, rather than the base station determining and reporting that angle.

[0168] In various aspects, the UE can use different beamforming versions of the channel (corresponding to different antenna ports) to reconstruct the underlying physical channel (or an approximation thereof) between the base station and the UE. The UE can then determine the DL-AoD of the underlying channel and report it (and optionally, the ToA of the associated beam) to the base station. An example of how this channel reconstruction (to enable multi-user transmission) can be implemented for different applications is described in the paper “Channel Reconstruction-Based Hybrid Precoding for Millimeter Wave Multi-User MIMO Systems” by Miguel R. Castellanos et al., which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

[0169] In order for the UE to reconstruct the channel, it is necessary to signal the antenna configuration, antenna element mode, and beamforming mode(s) for each port (examples of which are provided in [reference needed]). Figure 7(As shown in the diagram). One or more beamforming patterns can be indexes from a dictionary (e.g., lookup table, codebook, etc.) to reduce signaling overhead. The UE can use this signaling and the beamforming channels from each antenna port to reconstruct the underlying channels, as described in the white paper above, and then perform the desired reporting. For example, the UE can report angle, delay (e.g., ToA), RSRP, path energy ratio, probability of each path being in LOS, in-phase factor, and a quality metric for each of these parameters.

[0170] From a processing perspective, the aforementioned mechanism (i.e., different beamforming for each port) is likely preferred on the network side because it reduces constraints on the UE side. The base station can calculate relevant parameters based on signaling received from the location server (e.g., location server 230, LMF270, SLP 272) and then forward the results to the location server.

[0171] Additional considerations exist for configurations and reporting applicable to both mechanisms described above (i.e., using the same beamforming for each port and using different beamforming for each port). When a UE reports DL-AoD, the definition of the measurement period may differ from the case where the UE only reports the raw measurement. This is because the UE may require more time to perform such measurements, as it may need to perform codebook scanning or more advanced processing. The UE can indicate its capability regarding the number of multi-port PRS resources it can process within a time period and / or can support holistically (e.g., per band or per band combination). This capability can also be expressed in the form of the total number of ports the UE can process. Currently, the underlying assumption is that a single PRS resource maps to one antenna port (and therefore, the terms "PRS port" and "antenna port" are used interchangeably). Furthermore, the measurement period for the first measurement may differ from subsequent measurements because the search required for subsequent measurements is reduced. The UE can also indicate its capability to jointly determine angles and delays using the same PRS resources.

[0172] Regarding positioning accuracy requirements, the accuracy requirements for DL-AoD measurements can be determined by assuming a single repetition of the PRS resource, since there may be no phase coherence between repetitions. Therefore, even if a single symbol is punched in a multi-port PRS, it can be defined that the DL-AoD measurement requirements do not need to be met.

[0173] Figure 9 An exemplary method 900 for wireless positioning according to various aspects of this disclosure is shown. In one aspect, method 900 may be performed by a UE (e.g., any of the UEs described herein).

[0174] At 910, the UE receives a set of antenna parameters for multiple antenna ports for the TRP (e.g., the TRP of any of the base stations described herein). In one aspect, operation 910 may be performed by WWAN transceiver 310, processing system 332, memory component 340, and / or positioning component 342, any or all of which can be considered as components for performing the operation.

[0175] At 920, the UE obtains location measurements of multiple PRS resources transmitted on multiple antenna ports. In one aspect, operation 920 may be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 310, processors 332, memory 340, and / or positioning components 342, any or all of which may be considered as components for performing the operation.

[0176] At 930, the UE reconstructs the underlying physical channel between the TRP and the UE based on positioning measurements of the plurality of PRS resources. In one aspect, operation 930 may be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 310, processors 332, memory 340, and / or positioning components 342, any or all of which may be considered as components for performing the operation.

[0177] At 940, the UE determines the DL-AoD measurement from the TRP to the UE based on the reconstructed underlying physical channel. In one aspect, operation 940 may be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 310, processors 332, memory 340, and / or positioning components 342, any or all of which may be considered as components for performing the operation.

[0178] It should be understood that the technical advantage of Method 900 lies in the fact that the UE can determine its own DL-AoD with the base station, rather than having the network calculate the DL-AoD. This could be particularly beneficial for UE-based positioning technologies and reducing signaling overhead between the UE and the base station.

[0179] As can be seen in the detailed description above, different features are combined together in the examples. This manner of disclosure should not be construed as an intention for the exemplary clauses to have more features than those expressly mentioned in each clause. Rather, aspects of this disclosure may include features fewer than all the features of the individual exemplary clauses disclosed. Therefore, the following clauses should be considered as being incorporated into the specification, where each clause may serve as a separate example. Although each dependent clause may refer in the clause to a specific combination with one of the other clauses, the aspect(s) of that dependent clause is not limited to that specific combination. It should be understood that other exemplary clauses may also include combinations of aspects(s) of dependent clauses with the subject matter of any other dependent or independent clauses, or any feature with other dependent and independent clauses. Unless expressly stated or readily inferred that a particular combination is not intended (e.g., contradictory aspects, such as defining an element as both an insulator and a conductor), aspects of this disclosure expressly include such combinations. Furthermore, it is intended that aspects of a clause may be included in any other independent clause, even if that clause does not directly depend on the independent clause.

[0180] Examples of implementation methods are described in the following numbered clauses:

[0181] Clause 1. A wireless positioning method performed by a user equipment (UE), comprising: receiving an antenna parameter set for a plurality of antenna ports for a transmit receiving point (TRP); obtaining positioning measurements of a plurality of positioning reference signal (PRS) resources transmitted on the plurality of antenna ports; reconstructing an underlying physical channel between the TRP and the UE based on the positioning measurements of the plurality of PRS resources; and determining a downlink departure angle (DL-AoD) measurement from the TRP to the UE based on the reconstructed underlying physical channel.

[0182] Clause 2. The method according to Clause 1, wherein the set of antenna parameters includes antenna configurations, antenna element modes, beamforming modes or any combination thereof for each of the plurality of antenna ports.

[0183] Clause 3. The method described in Clause 2, wherein the antenna configuration, antenna element mode, beamforming mode or any combination thereof is each received as an index value of the dictionary.

[0184] Clause 4. The method according to any one of Clauses 1 to 3, wherein the positioning measurements include angle measurements, time of arrival (ToA) measurements, reference signal received power (RSRP) measurements, path energy ratio, probability that each path is in line of sight (LOS), in-phase factor, quality metric for each positioning measurement, or any combination thereof.

[0185] Clause 5. The method according to any one of Clauses 1 to 4, wherein the antenna parameter set is received from the TRP, the serving base station, or the location server.

[0186] Clause 6. The method according to any one of Clauses 1 to 5 further includes: reporting the DL-AoD measurement to the positioning entity.

[0187] Clause 7. The method described in Clause 6, wherein the positioning entity includes a serving base station or a location server.

[0188] Clause 8. The method according to any one of Clauses 1 to 7 further includes: sending a capability report that instructs the UE to measure the capability of multi-port PRS resources.

[0189] Clause 9. The method according to Clause 8, wherein the capability report indicates the number of multiport PRS resources that the UE can process in each measurement cycle, or the total number of multiport PRS resources that the UE can process in each frequency band or combination of frequency bands.

[0190] Clause 10. The method according to any one of Clauses 8 to 9 further comprises: wherein the measurement period for processing multiport PRS resources to determine a first DL-AoD measurement of a positioning session is different from the measurement period for processing multiport PRS resources to determine subsequent DL-AoD measurements of a positioning session.

[0191] Clause 11. The method according to any one of Clauses 8 to 10, wherein the capability report indicates the total number of antenna ports that the UE is capable of handling.

[0192] Clause 12. The method according to any one of Clauses 8 to 11, wherein the capability report indicates the UE's ability to jointly perform ToA and DL-AoD measurements using the same PRS resources among multiple PRS resources.

[0193] Clause 13. The method according to any one of Clauses 1 to 12, wherein the accuracy requirement for DL-AoD measurement is based on a single repetition of each of a plurality of PRS resources.

[0194] Clause 14. The method according to any one of Clauses 1 to 13, wherein at least one symbol based on one of a plurality of PRS resources is punched, is not intended to meet the accuracy requirements of DL-AoD measurement.

[0195] Clause 15. A user equipment (UE) comprising: a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: receive via the at least one transceiver a set of antenna parameters for a plurality of antenna ports for a transmit receive point (TRP); obtain positioning measurements of a plurality of positioning reference signal (PRS) resources transmitted on the plurality of antenna ports; reconstruct the underlying physical channel between the TRP and the UE based on the positioning measurements of the plurality of PRS resources; and determine a downlink departure angle (DL-AoD) measurement from the TRP to the UE based on the reconstructed underlying physical channel.

[0196] Clause 16. The UE as described in Clause 15, wherein the set of antenna parameters includes antenna configurations, antenna element modes, beamforming modes, or any combination thereof for each of the plurality of antenna ports.

[0197] Clause 17. The UE as described in Clause 16, wherein the antenna configuration, antenna element mode, beamforming mode or any combination thereof is each received as an index value of the dictionary.

[0198] Clause 18. The UE according to any one of Clauses 15 to 17, wherein the positioning measurements include angle measurements, time of arrival (ToA) measurements, reference signal received power (RSRP) measurements, path energy ratio, probability that each path is in line of sight (LOS), in-phase factor, quality metric for each positioning measurement, or any combination thereof.

[0199] Clause 19. The UE pursuant to any one of Clauses 15 to 18, wherein the antenna parameter set is received from the TRP, the serving base station, or the location server.

[0200] Clause 20. The UE pursuant to any one of Clauses 15 to 19, wherein at least one processor is further configured to report DL-AoD measurements to the positioning entity via at least one transceiver.

[0201] Clause 21. The UE as described in Clause 20, wherein the location entity includes a serving base station or a location server.

[0202] Clause 22. The UE pursuant to any one of Clauses 15 to 21, wherein at least one processor is further configured to transmit a capability report via at least one transceiver, the capability report indicating the UE's ability to measure multi-port PRS resources.

[0203] Clause 23. The UE as described in Clause 22, wherein the capability report indicates the number of multiport PRS resources that the UE can process in each measurement period, or the total number of multiport PRS resources that the UE can process in each frequency band or combination of frequency bands.

[0204] Clause 24. The UE according to any one of Clauses 22 to 23 further comprises: wherein the measurement period for processing multiport PRS resources to determine the first DL-AoD measurement of the positioning session is different from the measurement period for processing multiport PRS resources to determine subsequent DL-AoD measurements of the positioning session.

[0205] Clause 25. A UE pursuant to any one of Clauses 22 to 24, wherein the capability report indicates the total number of antenna ports that the UE is capable of handling.

[0206] Clause 26. A UE pursuant to any one of Clauses 22 to 25, wherein the capability report indicates the UE's ability to jointly perform ToA and DL-AoD measurements using the same PRS resources among multiple PRS resources.

[0207] Clause 27. The UE pursuant to any one of Clauses 15 to 26, wherein the accuracy requirement for DL-AoD measurement is based on a single repetition of each of a plurality of PRS resources.

[0208] Clause 28. A UE pursuant to any one of Clauses 15 to 27, wherein at least one symbol based on one of a plurality of PRS resources is punched, not intended to meet the accuracy requirements of DL-AoD measurements.

[0209] Clause 29. A user equipment (UE) comprising: means for receiving a set of antenna parameters for a plurality of antenna ports of a transmit receive point (TRP); means for obtaining positioning measurements of a plurality of positioning reference signal (PRS) resources transmitted on the plurality of antenna ports; means for reconstructing an underlying physical channel between the TRP and the UE based on the positioning measurements of the plurality of PRS resources; and means for determining a downlink departure angle (DL-AoD) measurement from the TRP to the UE based on the reconstructed underlying physical channel.

[0210] Clause 30. The UE as described in Clause 29, wherein the set of antenna parameters includes antenna configurations, antenna element modes, beamforming modes, or any combination thereof for each of the plurality of antenna ports.

[0211] Clause 31. The UE as described in Clause 30, wherein the antenna configuration, antenna element mode, beamforming mode or any combination thereof is each received as an index value of a dictionary.

[0212] Clause 32. The UE according to any one of Clauses 29 to 31, wherein the positioning measurements include angle measurements, time of arrival (ToA) measurements, reference signal received power (RSRP) measurements, path energy ratio, probability that each path is in line of sight (LOS), in-phase factor, quality metric for each positioning measurement, or any combination thereof.

[0213] Clause 33. The UE pursuant to any one of Clauses 29 to 32, wherein the antenna parameter set is received from the TRP, the serving base station, or the location server.

[0214] Clause 34. The UE according to any one of Clauses 29 to 33 further includes: a component for reporting DL-AoD measurements to the positioning entity.

[0215] Clause 35. The UE as described in Clause 34, wherein the positioning entity includes a serving base station or a location server.

[0216] Clause 36. The UE pursuant to any one of Clauses 29 to 35 further includes: a component for transmitting a capability report instructing the UE to measure the capability of multiport PRS resources.

[0217] Clause 37. The UE as described in Clause 36, wherein the capability report indicates the number of multiport PRS resources that the UE can process in each measurement cycle, or the total number of multiport PRS resources that the UE can process in each frequency band or combination of frequency bands.

[0218] Clause 38. The UE according to any one of Clauses 36 to 37 further comprises: wherein the measurement period for processing multiport PRS resources to determine the first DL-AoD measurement of the positioning session is different from the measurement period for processing multiport PRS resources to determine subsequent DL-AoD measurements of the positioning session.

[0219] Clause 39. A UE pursuant to any one of Clauses 36 to 38, wherein the capability report indicates the total number of antenna ports that the UE is capable of handling.

[0220] Clause 40. A UE pursuant to any one of Clauses 36 to 39, wherein the capability report indicates the UE's ability to jointly perform ToA and DL-AoD measurements using the same PRS resources among multiple PRS resources.

[0221] Clause 41. The UE pursuant to any one of Clauses 29 to 40, wherein the accuracy requirement for DL-AoD measurement is based on a single repetition of each of a plurality of PRS resources.

[0222] Clause 42. A UE pursuant to any one of Clauses 29 to 41, wherein at least one symbol of one of a plurality of PRS resources is punched, not intended to meet the accuracy requirements of DL-AoD measurements.

[0223] Clause 43. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a user equipment (UE), cause the UE to: receive a set of antenna parameters for a plurality of antenna ports for a transmit receive point (TRP); obtain positioning measurements of a plurality of positioning reference signal (PRS) resources transmitted on the plurality of antenna ports; reconstruct the underlying physical channel between the TRP and the UE based on the positioning measurements of the plurality of PRS resources; and determine a downlink departure angle (DL-AoD) measurement from the TRP to the UE based on the reconstructed underlying physical channel.

[0224] Clause 44. The non-transitory computer-readable medium as described in Clause 43, wherein the set of antenna parameters includes antenna configurations, antenna element modes, beamforming modes, or any combination thereof for each of a plurality of antenna ports.

[0225] Clause 45. The non-transitory computer-readable medium as described in Clause 44, wherein antenna configuration, antenna element mode, beamforming mode or any combination thereof is each received as an index value of a dictionary.

[0226] Clause 46. A non-transitory computer-readable medium pursuant to any one of Clauses 43 to 45, wherein positioning measurements include angle measurements, time of arrival (ToA) measurements, reference signal received power (RSRP) measurements, path energy ratio, probability that each path is in line of sight (LOS), in-phase factor, quality metric for each positioning measurement, or any combination thereof.

[0227] Clause 47. A non-transitory computer-readable medium pursuant to any one of Clauses 43 to 46, wherein the antenna parameter set is received from a TRP, a serving base station, or a location server.

[0228] Clause 48. The non-transitory computer-readable medium pursuant to any one of Clauses 43 to 47 further includes, when executed by the UE, computer-executable instructions that cause the UE to report DL-AoD measurements to a positioning entity.

[0229] Clause 49. The non-transitory computer-readable medium as described in Clause 48, wherein the positioning entity includes a serving base station or a location server.

[0230] Clause 50. The non-transitory computer-readable medium pursuant to any one of Clauses 43 to 49 further includes, when executed by the UE, computer-executable instructions that cause the UE to perform the following: send a capability report instructing the UE to measure the capability of the multiport PRS resources.

[0231] Clause 51. The non-transitory computer-readable medium as described in Clause 50, wherein the capability report indicates the number of multiport PRS resources that the UE can process in each measurement cycle, or the total number of multiport PRS resources that the UE can process in each frequency band or combination of frequency bands.

[0232] Clause 52. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of Clauses 50 to 51 further comprises: wherein the measurement period for processing multi-port PRS resources to determine a first DL-AoD measurement of a positioning session is different from the measurement period for processing multi-port PRS resources to determine subsequent DL-AoD measurements of a positioning session.

[0233] Clause 53. A non-transitory computer-readable medium pursuant to any one of Clauses 50 to 52, wherein the capability report indicates the total number of antenna ports that the UE is capable of processing.

[0234] Clause 54. A non-transitory computer-readable medium pursuant to any one of Clauses 50 to 53, wherein the capability report indicates the UE's ability to jointly perform ToA and DL-AoD measurements using the same PRS resources among multiple PRS resources.

[0235] Clause 55. A non-transitory computer-readable medium pursuant to any one of Clauses 43 to 54, wherein the accuracy requirement for DL-AoD measurements is based on a single repetition of each of a plurality of PRS resources.

[0236] Clause 56. A non-transitory computer-readable medium pursuant to any one of Clauses 43 to 55, wherein at least one symbol based on one of a plurality of PRS resources is punched, not intended to meet the accuracy requirements of DL-AoD measurements.

[0237] Those skilled in the art will understand that information and signals can be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be mentioned throughout the foregoing description can be represented by voltage, current, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or magnetic particles, light fields or light particles, or any combination thereof.

[0238] Furthermore, those skilled in the art will understand that the various illustrative logic blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein can be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or a combination of both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability between hardware and software, the various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been 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 system as a whole. Those skilled in the art may implement the described functionality in different ways for each specific application, but such implementation decisions should not be construed as departing from the scope of this disclosure.

[0239] The various illustrative logic blocks, modules, and circuits described in conjunction with the aspects disclosed herein can be implemented or performed by a general-purpose processor, digital signal processor (DSP), ASIC, field-programmable gate array (FPGA), or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware component, or any combination thereof, designed to perform the functions described herein. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but alternatively, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. The processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, such as a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors combined with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

[0240] The steps of the methods, sequences, and / or algorithms described in conjunction with the aspects disclosed herein can be directly embodied in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or a combination of both. The software module can reside in random access memory (RAM), flash memory, read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), registers, hard disks, removable disks, CD-ROMs, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium is coupled to a processor such that the processor can read information from and write information to the storage medium. Alternatively, the storage medium can be integrated into the processor. The processor and storage medium can reside in an ASIC. The ASIC can reside in a user terminal (e.g., a UE). Alternatively, the processor and storage medium can reside as discrete components in the user terminal.

[0241] In one or more exemplary aspects, the described functionality may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functionality may be stored as one or more instructions or code on or transmitted via a computer-readable medium. A computer-readable medium includes both computer storage media and communication media, including any medium that facilitates the transfer of a computer program from one place to another. A storage medium may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example and not limitation, such a computer-readable medium may include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disc storage, disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer. Moreover, any connection is appropriately referred to as a computer-readable medium. For example, if software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave, the definition of medium includes coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave. As used herein, disks and optical discs include compact optical discs (CDs), laser optical discs, optical discs, digital multifunction optical discs (DVDs), floppy disks, and Blu-ray discs, where disks typically reproduce data magnetically, while optical discs reproduce data optically using lasers. The combination of these should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0242] While the foregoing disclosure illustrates illustrative aspects of this disclosure, it should be noted that various changes and modifications may be made herein without departing from the scope of this disclosure as defined by the appended claims. The functions, steps, and / or actions of the method claims according to aspects of this disclosure described herein do not need to be performed in any particular order. Furthermore, although elements of this disclosure may be described or claimed in the singular, plural forms are conceivable unless explicitly stated otherwise.

Claims

1. A wireless positioning method performed by a user equipment (UE), comprising: Send a capability report, which indicates the UE's ability to measure multi-port PRS resources, the capability including the total number of antenna ports that the UE can handle; Receive a set of antenna parameters for multiple antenna ports of the transmitting receiver point (TRP); Obtain positioning measurements of multiple Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) resources transmitted on the multiple antenna ports; Based on the antenna parameters and positioning measurements of the multiple PRS resources, the underlying physical channel between the TRP and the UE is reconstructed; and The downlink departure angle (DL-AoD) measurement from the TRP to the UE is determined based on the reconstructed underlying physical channel.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the set of antenna parameters includes an antenna configuration, antenna element mode, beamforming mode, or any combination thereof for each of the plurality of antenna ports.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the antenna configuration, the antenna element mode, the beamforming mode, or any combination thereof are each received as index values ​​of a dictionary.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the positioning measurement includes angle measurement, time of arrival (ToA) measurement, reference signal received power (RSRP) measurement, path energy ratio, probability that each path is in line-of-sight (LOS), in-phase factor, quality metric for each positioning measurement, or any combination thereof.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the set of antenna parameters is received from the TRP, serving base station, or location server.

6. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: Report the DL-AoD measurement to the positioning entity.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the positioning entity includes a serving base station or a location server.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the capability report indicates the number of multi-port PRS resources that the UE can process per measurement cycle, or the total number of multi-port PRS resources that the UE can process per frequency band or per combination of frequency bands.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the measurement period for processing the multi-port PRS resources to determine the first DL-AoD measurement of the positioning session is different from the measurement period for processing the multi-port PRS resources to determine subsequent DL-AoD measurements of the positioning session.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the capability report indicates the UE's ability to jointly perform ToA and DL-AoD measurements using the same PRS resource among the plurality of PRS resources.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the accuracy requirement for the DL-AoD measurement is based on a single repetition of each of the plurality of PRS resources.

12. The method according to claim 1, wherein, At least one symbol of one of the plurality of PRS resources is punched, which is not expected to meet the accuracy requirements for the DL-AoD measurement.

13. A user equipment (UE), comprising: Memory; At least one transceiver; as well as At least one processor, communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: A capability report is transmitted via the at least one transceiver, the capability report indicating the UE's ability to measure multi-port PRS resources, the capability including the total number of antenna ports that the UE can handle; The at least one transceiver receives a set of antenna parameters for multiple antenna ports of the transmit receiver point TRP. Obtain positioning measurements of multiple Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) resources transmitted on the multiple antenna ports; Based on the antenna parameters and positioning measurements of the multiple PRS resources, the underlying physical channel between the TRP and the UE is reconstructed; and The downlink departure angle (DL-AoD) measurement from the TRP to the UE is determined based on the reconstructed underlying physical channel.

14. The UE of claim 13, wherein the set of antenna parameters includes an antenna configuration, antenna element mode, beamforming mode, or any combination thereof for each of the plurality of antenna ports.

15. The UE of claim 14, wherein the antenna configuration, the antenna element mode, the beamforming mode, or any combination thereof are each received as index values ​​of a dictionary.

16. The UE of claim 13, wherein the positioning measurement includes angle measurement, time of arrival (ToA) measurement, reference signal received power (RSRP) measurement, path energy ratio, probability that each path is in line-of-sight (LOS), in-phase factor, quality metric for each positioning measurement, or any combination thereof.

17. The UE of claim 13, wherein the set of antenna parameters is received from the TRP, the serving base station, or the location server.

18. The UE of claim 13, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: The DL-AoD measurement is reported to the positioning entity via the at least one transceiver.

19. The UE of claim 18, wherein the positioning entity includes a serving base station or a location server.

20. The UE of claim 13, wherein the capability report indicates the number of multiport PRS resources that the UE can process per measurement period, or the total number of multiport PRS resources that the UE can process per frequency band or per combination of frequency bands.

21. The UE of claim 13, wherein the measurement period for processing the multi-port PRS resources to determine the first DL-AoD measurement of the positioning session is different from the measurement period for processing the multi-port PRS resources to determine subsequent DL-AoD measurements of the positioning session.

22. The UE of claim 13, wherein the capability report indicates the UE's ability to jointly perform ToA and DL-AoD measurements using the same PRS resource among the plurality of PRS resources.

23. The UE of claim 13, wherein the accuracy requirement for the DL-AoD measurement is based on a single repetition of each of the plurality of PRS resources.

24. The UE of claim 13, wherein at least one symbol based on one of the plurality of PRS resources is punched, not intended to meet the accuracy requirements for the DL-AoD measurement.

25. A user equipment (UE) comprising: A component for sending a capability report, the capability report indicating the UE's ability to measure multi-port PRS resources, the capability including the total number of antenna ports that the UE can handle; A component for receiving a set of antenna parameters for multiple antenna ports of a transmit receiver point (TRP); A component for obtaining positioning measurements of multiple positioning reference signal (PRS) resources transmitted on the multiple antenna ports; A component for reconstructing the underlying physical channel between the TRP and the UE based on the antenna parameters and positioning measurements of the plurality of PRS resources; as well as A component used to determine the downlink departure angle (DL-AoD) measurement from the TRP to the UE based on the reconstructed underlying physical channel.

26. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions, which, when executed by a user equipment (UE), cause the UE to: Send a capability report, which indicates the UE's ability to measure multi-port PRS resources, the capability including the total number of antenna ports that the UE can handle; Receive a set of antenna parameters for multiple antenna ports of the transmitting receiver point (TRP); Obtain positioning measurements of multiple Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) resources transmitted on the multiple antenna ports; Based on the antenna parameters and positioning measurements of the multiple PRS resources, the underlying physical channel between the TRP and the UE is reconstructed; and The downlink departure angle (DL-AoD) measurement from the TRP to the UE is determined based on the reconstructed underlying physical channel.

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