Spatial relation design for sidelink-assisted positioning

Abstract

According to embodiments herein, a UE can be configured with spatial relations for uplink positioning reference signals (UL-PRS) to be transmitted via a SL interface. This information can include various options related to a transparent mode in which an anchor UE connected to the UE via the SL interface generally acts as a base station. In an advanced mode, any of various aspects of the SL interface used in communications between the UE and the anchor UE can be used as a reference for the UL-PRS.

Description

[0001] background

[0002] 1. Field of Invention

[0003] This invention generally relates to the field of wireless communication, and more specifically to using radio frequency (RF) signals to determine the location of user equipment (UE).

[0004] 2. Relevant Technical Descriptions

[0005] Using the side-link (SL) interface for locating a UE (or “target UE”) whose location needs to be determined can be similar in manner to using a base station. However, the specific details, auxiliary data, and measurement reports provided via the SL interface for location determination have not yet been determined. There is no definition for SL-based auxiliary measurements in the Long Term Evolution (LTE) Location Protocol (LPP) report.

[0006] Brief Overview

[0007] According to embodiments herein, the UE can be configured with spatial relationships for uplink positioning reference signals (UL-PRS) to be transmitted via the SL interface. This information may include various options associated with transparent mode, in which the anchor UE connected to the UE via the SL interface typically acts as a base station. In advanced mode, any of various aspects of the SL interface used in communication between the UE and the anchor UE can be used as a reference for the UL-PRS.

[0008] An example method according to this disclosure for a first user equipment (UE) to transmit an uplink positioning reference signal (UL-PRS) for determining the location of the first UE may include: at the first UE, receiving a configuration for the UL-PRS, wherein (i) the configuration is received from a base station and a first spatial relationship of the configuration is: undefined, defined as a positioning-related reference signal received by the first UE from a second UE, or defined as a synchronization signal block (SSB) sent to the first UE; or (ii) the configuration is received from the second UE or from the serving gNB of the first UE, wherein the configuration uses signals sent by the second UE to the first UE via a sidelink (SL) interface to define a second spatial relationship. The method may further include determining how to transmit the UL-PRS based at least in part on the configuration. The method may further include the first UE transmitting the UL-PRS based on the determined method for transmitting the UL-PRS.

[0009] An example method according to this disclosure for configuring a first user equipment (UE) to transmit an uplink positioning reference signal (UL-PRS) to a second UE for determining the location of the first UE may include: determining a spatial relationship for the UL-PRS at a base station. The method may further include including a spatial relationship in a configuration for the first UE based on the determined spatial relationship for the UL-PRS, wherein the spatial relationship of the configuration is: undefined, defined as a positioning-related reference signal received by the first UE from the second UE via a side link (SL) interface, or defined as a synchronization signal block (SSB) sent to the first UE. The method may further include transmitting the configuration from the base station to the first UE.

[0010] An example first user equipment (UE) according to this disclosure is used to transmit an uplink positioning reference signal (UL-PRS) for determining the location of the first UE. The first UE may include: a transceiver; a memory; and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the transceiver and the memory, wherein the one or more processors are configured to receive, via the transceiver, a configuration for the UL-PRS, wherein (i) the configuration is received from a base station and a first spatial relationship of the configuration is: undefined, defined as a positioning-related reference signal received by the first UE from a second UE, or defined as a synchronization signal block (SSB) sent to the first UE; or (ii) the configuration is received from the second UE or from the serving gNB of the first UE, wherein the configuration uses signals sent by the second UE to the first UE via a side link (SL) interface to define a second spatial relationship. The one or more processors may further be configured to determine how to transmit the UL-PRS based at least in part on the configuration. The one or more processors may further be configured to transmit the UL-PRS via the transceiver based on the determination of how to transmit the UL-PRS.

[0011] An example base station according to this disclosure, which configures a first user equipment (UE) to transmit an uplink positioning reference signal (UL-PRS) to a second UE for determining the location of the first UE, may include: a transceiver; a memory; and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the transceiver and the memory, wherein the one or more processors are configured to determine spatial relationships for the UL-PRS via the transceiver. The one or more processors may further be configured to include spatial relationships in a configuration for the first UE based on the determined spatial relationships for the UL-PRS, wherein the spatial relationships of the configuration are: undefined, defined as positioning-related reference signals received by the first UE from the second UE via a side link (SL) interface, or defined as synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) sent to the first UE. The one or more processors may further be configured to transmit the configuration from the base station to the first UE via the transceiver.

[0012] This summary is not intended to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used alone to determine the scope of the claimed subject matter. The subject matter should be understood in reference to the appropriate portions of this disclosure, any or all drawings, and each claim. The foregoing, as well as other features and examples, will be described in more detail in the following description, claims, and drawings. Brief description of the attached diagram

[0014] Figure 1 This is a diagram of a positioning system according to an embodiment.

[0015] Figure 2 A diagram illustrating a fifth-generation (5G) new radio (NR) positioning system is shown, explaining the positioning system implemented within a 5G NR communication system (e.g., Figure 1 An example of a positioning system.

[0016] Figure 3-5 This is an explanation of the different types of positioning methods used to determine the location of the UE.

[0017] Figure 6 This is a simplified diagram illustrating how an anchor UE can be used for UE (target UE) positioning in a 5G NR network according to an embodiment.

[0018] Figure 7 This is a flowchart of a method, according to an embodiment, in which a first UE transmits an uplink positioning reference signal (UL-PRS) via an SL interface with a second UE to determine the location of the first UE.

[0019] Figure 8 This is a flowchart illustrating, according to an embodiment, how a first UE is configured to transmit UL-PRS via an SL interface with a second UE to determine the location of the first UE.

[0020] Figure 9 An embodiment of the UE that can be utilized in the embodiments as described herein has been explained.

[0021] Figure 10 An embodiment of a base station that can be used in the embodiments as described herein has been explained.

[0022] Figure 11 This is a block diagram of an embodiment of a computer system that can be utilized in the embodiments described herein.

[0023] Similar reference numerals in the various figures indicate similar elements according to certain examples. Additionally, multiple instances of an element can be indicated by appending a letter or hyphen followed by a second numeral after the first numeral. For example, multiple instances of element 110 may be indicated as 110-1, 110-2, 110-3, etc., or as 110a, 110b, 110c, etc. When only the first numeral is used to refer to such an element, it will be understood to refer to any instance of that element (e.g., element 110 in the previous examples would refer to elements 110-1, 110-2, and 110-3, or elements 110a, 110b, and 110c).

[0024] Detailed description

[0025] Several illustrative embodiments will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, which form part of the embodiments. Although some embodiments that can implement one or more aspects of this disclosure are described below, other embodiments can be used and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of this disclosure.

[0026] The following description is directed to certain implementations in order to describe aspects of the innovation of the various embodiments. However, those skilled in the art will readily recognize that the teachings herein can be applied in many different ways. The described implementations can be implemented in any device, system, or network capable of transmitting and receiving radio frequency (RF) signals according to any communication standard, such as any of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) IEEE 802.11 standards (including those identified as...). Those technical standards) Standard, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), GSM / General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), Enhanced Data GSM Environment (EDGE), Terrestrial Trunking Radio (TETRA), Wideband CDMA (W-CDMA), Evolved Data Optimized (EV-DO), 1xEV-DO, EV-DO Revision A, EV-DO Revision B, High Rate Packet Data (HRPD), High Speed ​​Packet Access (HSPA), High Speed ​​Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), High Speed ​​Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA), Evolved High Speed ​​Packet Access (HSPA+), Long Term Evolution (LTE), Advanced Mobile Phone Systems (AMPS), or other known signals used for communication in wireless, cellular, or Internet of Things (IoT) networks (such as systems utilizing 3G, 4G, 5G, 6G, or further implementations thereof).

[0027] As used herein, an "RF signal" includes electromagnetic waves that transmit information across the space between a transmitter (or transmitter equipment) and a receiver (or receiver equipment). As used herein, a transmitter may transmit a single "RF signal" or multiple "RF signals" to a receiver. However, due to the propagation characteristics of individual RF signals through multipath channels, a receiver may receive multiple "RF signals" corresponding to each transmitted RF signal. The same RF signal transmitted on different paths between the transmitter and receiver may be referred to as a "multipath" RF signal. Additionally, unless otherwise stated, references to "reference signal," "location reference signal," "reference signal for location," etc., may be used to refer to signals used for locating user equipment (UE). As described in more detail herein, such signals may include any of a wide variety of signal types, but are not necessarily limited to the Location Reference Signal (PRS) as defined in the relevant radio standards.

[0028] Figure 1 This is a simplified explanation of a positioning system 100 according to one embodiment, in which the UE 105, location server 160, and / or other components of the positioning system 100 may use the techniques provided herein for determining the estimated location of the UE 105. The techniques described herein may be implemented by one or more components of the positioning system 100. The positioning system 100 may include: the UE 105; one or more satellites 110 (also referred to as spacecraft (SV)) for a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) (such as GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, or BeiDou); a base station 120; an access point (AP) 130; a location server 160; a network 170; and an external client 180. Generally, the positioning system 100 may estimate the location of the UE 105 based on RF signals received and / or transmitted by the UE 105 and the known locations of other components transmitting and / or receiving RF signals (e.g., GNSS satellites 110, base station 120, AP 130). Reference Figure 2 Further details regarding location-specific estimation techniques will be discussed.

[0029] It should be noted that Figure 1 This provides only a general explanation of the various components, where any or all of them can be appropriately utilized, and each component can be repeated as needed. Specifically, although only one UE 105 is described, it will be understood that many UEs (e.g., hundreds, thousands, millions, etc.) can utilize positioning system 100. Similarly, positioning system 100 may include more than Figure 1The illustrated number of base stations 120 and / or access points 130 may be greater or less. The illustrated connections to the various components in the positioning system 100 include data and signaling connections, which may include additional (intermediate) components, direct or indirect physical and / or wireless connections, and / or additional networks. Furthermore, components may be rearranged, combined, separated, replaced, and / or omitted depending on desired functionality. In some embodiments, for example, an external client 180 may be directly connected to the location server 160. Those skilled in the art will recognize numerous modifications to the illustrated components.

[0030] Depending on the desired functionality, network 170 may include any of a wide variety of wireless and / or wired networks. Network 170 may include, for example, any combination of public and / or private networks, local area networks (LANs) and / or wide area networks (WANs). Furthermore, network 170 may utilize one or more wired and / or wireless communication technologies. In some embodiments, network 170 may include, for example, cellular or other mobile networks, wireless local area networks (WLANs), wireless wide area networks (WWANs), and / or the Internet. Examples of network 170 include Long Term Evolution (LTE) wireless networks, fifth-generation (5G) wireless networks (also known as New Radio (NR) wireless networks or 5G NR wireless networks), Wi-Fi WLANs, and the Internet. LTE, 5G, and NR are wireless technologies defined or being defined by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). Network 170 may also include more than one network and / or more than one type of network.

[0031] Base station 120 and access point (AP) 130 can be communicatively coupled to network 170. In some embodiments, base station 120 may be owned, maintained, and / or operated by a cellular network provider and may employ any of a variety of wireless technologies as described below. Depending on the technology of network 170, base station 120 may include a B-node, evolved B-node (eNodeB or eNB), base transceiver station (BTS), radio base station (RBS), NR B-node (gNB), next-generation eNB (ng-eNB), etc. In the case where network 170 is a 5G network, base station 120, as a gNB or ng-eNB, may be part of a next-generation radio access network (NG-RAN) that can connect to a 5G core network (5GC). For example, AP 130 may include a Wi-Fi AP or An access point (AP) or an AP with cellular capabilities (e.g., 4G LTE and / or 5G NR). Thus, UE 105 can send and receive information with network-connected devices (such as location server 160) via base station 120 accessing network 170 using a first communication link 133. Additionally or alternatively, because AP 130 can also be communicatively coupled to network 170, UE 105 can communicate with network-connected and Internet-connected devices (including location server 160) using a second communication link 135 or via one or more other UEs 145.

[0032] As used herein, the term "base station" generally refers to a single physical transmission point or multiple physical transmission points located at base station 120. A transmit / receive point (TRP) (also referred to as a transmit / receive point) corresponds to this type of transmission point, and the term "TRP" is used interchangeably with the terms "gNB," "ng-eNB," and "base station." In some cases, base station 120 may include multiple TRPs—for example, where each TRP is associated with a different antenna or a different antenna array of base station 120. A physical transmission point may include the antenna array of base station 120 (e.g., as in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system and / or in the case of beamforming at the base station). The term "base station" may additionally refer to multiple non-co-located physical transmission points, which may be a distributed antenna system (DAS) (a network of spatially separated antennas connected via a transmission medium to a shared source) or a remote radio headend (RRH) (a remote base station connected to a serving base station).

[0033] As used herein, the term "cell" generally refers to a logical communication entity used to communicate with base station 120 and may be associated with an identifier (e.g., Physical Cell Identifier (PCID), Virtual Cell Identifier (VCID)) used to distinguish adjacent cells operating via the same or different carriers. In some examples, a carrier may support multiple cells and may be configured with different protocol types (e.g., Machine-Type Communication (MTC), Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT), Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB), or other protocols) that can provide access for different types of devices. In some cases, the term "cell" may refer to a portion (e.g., a sector) of the geographic coverage area on which a logical entity operates.

[0034] Location server 160 may include servers and / or other computing devices configured to determine the estimated location of UE 105 and / or provide data (e.g., “auxiliary data”) to UE 105 to facilitate location measurement and / or location determination. According to some embodiments, location server 160 may include a Home Secure User Plane Positioning (SUPL) location platform (H-SLP) that supports SUPL user plane (UP) positioning solutions defined by the Open Mobility Alliance (OMA) and can support location services for UE 105 based on subscription information about UE 105 stored in location server 160. In some embodiments, location server 160 may include a Discovery SLP (D-SLP) or an Emergency SLP (E-SLP). Location server 160 may also include an Enhanced Serving Mobility Location Center (E-SMLC) that uses a control plane (CP) positioning solution to support the positioning of UE 105 for LTE radio access of UE 105. Location server 160 may further include location management function (LMF) that uses a control plane (CP) positioning solution to support the positioning of UE 105 for NR or LTE radio access of UE 105.

[0035] In the CP positioning solution, from the perspective of network 170, signaling for controlling and managing the positioning of UE 105 can use existing network interfaces and protocols and be exchanged as signaling between the various components of network 170 and with UE 105. In the UP positioning solution, from the perspective of network 170, signaling for controlling and managing the positioning of UE 105 can be exchanged as data (e.g., data transmitted using Internet Protocol (IP) and / or Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)) between location server 160 and UE 105.

[0036] As previously mentioned (and discussed in more detail below), the estimated location of UE 105 can be based on measurements of RF signals transmitted from and / or received by UE 105. Specifically, these measurements can provide information about the relative distance and / or angle between UE 105 and one or more components of positioning system 100 (e.g., GNSS satellite 110, AP 130, base station 120). The estimated location of UE 105 can be estimated geometrically (e.g., using polygonal measurements and / or polygonal positioning) based on the distance and / or angle measurements along with the known locations of these one or more components.

[0037] While ground components (such as AP 130 and base station 120) may be fixed, the embodiments are not limited thereto. Mobile components may be used. For example, in some embodiments, the location of UE 105 may be estimated at least in part based on measurements of RF signals 140 transmitted between UE 105 and one or more other UEs 145 (which may be mobile or fixed). When one or more other UEs 145 are used in determining the location of a particular UE 105, the UE 105 whose location is to be determined may be referred to as the “target UE,” and each of the one or more other UEs 145 may be referred to as the “anchor UE.” For the location determination of the target UE, the respective locations of the one or more anchor UEs may be known and / or determined jointly with the target UE. Direct communication between the one or more other UEs 145 and UE 105 may include sidelinks and / or similar device-to-device (D2D) communication technologies. Sidelinks, as defined by 3GPP, are forms of D2D communication under cellular-based LTE and NR standards.

[0038] The estimated location of UE 105 can be used in various applications—for example, to assist the user of UE 105 in direction finding or navigation, or to assist (e.g., in the location of another user associated with external client 180) in locating UE 105. "Location" is also referred to herein as "location estimation," "estimated location," "location," "positioning," "location estimation," "location lock," "estimated location," "location lock," or "lock." The process of determining location may be referred to as "location," "location determination," "location determination," etc. The location of UE 105 may include the absolute location of UE 105 (e.g., latitude and longitude and possible altitude) or the relative location of UE 105 (e.g., expressed as a distance north or south, east or west, and possibly above or below from another known fixed location (including, for example, the location of base station 120 or AP 130) or another location (such as the location of UE 105 at a known previous time, or the location of another UE 145 at a known previous time)). Location can be specified as a geodetic location including coordinates, which can be absolute (e.g., latitude, longitude, and optionally altitude), relative (e.g., relative to a known absolute location), or local (e.g., X, Y, and optionally Z coordinates according to a coordinate system defined relative to a local area (such as a factory, warehouse, university campus, shopping mall, stadium, or conference center). Location can alternatively be a municipal location, and then may include one or more of the following: street address (e.g., including the name or label of country, state, county, city, road and / or street and / or road or street number) and / or location, building, part of a building, floor of a building and / or room within a building, etc. Location may further include indications of uncertainty or error, such as horizontal distances and possible vertical distances where errors are expected to exist in the location, or indications of the area or volume (e.g., a circle or ellipse) within which UE 105 is expected to be located at a certain confidence level (e.g., 95% confidence).

[0039] External client 180 may be a web server or remote application that can be associated with UE 105 in some way (e.g., accessible by a user of UE 105), or it may be a server, application, or computer system that provides location services to one or more other users, which may include obtaining and providing the location of UE 105 (e.g., to enable services such as finding friends or relatives, or locating children or pets). Additionally or alternatively, external client 180 may obtain the location of UE 105 and provide it to emergency service providers, government agencies, etc.

[0040] As previously mentioned, the example positioning system 100 can be implemented using a wireless communication network (such as an LTE-based or 5G NR-based network). Figure 2A diagram of a 5G NR positioning system 200 is shown, illustrating an embodiment of a positioning system (e.g., positioning system 100) implementing 5G NR. The 5G NR positioning system 200 can be configured to use access nodes 210, 214, 216 (which may correspond to...) Figure 1 The 5G NR positioning system 200 uses one or more positioning methods to determine the location of the UE 105, including base station 120 and access point 130, and optionally LMF 220 (which may correspond to location server 160). Here, the 5G NR positioning system 200 includes the UE 105 and various components of the 5G NR network, including a next-generation (NG) radio access network (RAN) (NG-RAN) 235 and a 5G core network (5G CN) 240. The 5G network may also be referred to as an NR network; the NG-RAN 235 may be referred to as a 5G RAN or NR RAN; and the 5G CN 240 may be referred to as an NG core network. The 5G NR positioning system 200 may further utilize information from GNSS satellites 110 from GNSS systems (e.g., Global Positioning System (GPS)) or similar systems (e.g., GLONASS, Galileo, BeiDou, Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS)). Additional components of the 5G NR positioning system 200 are described below. The 5G NR positioning system 200 may include additional or replacement components.

[0041] It should be noted that Figure 2 This document provides only a general description of the various components, where any or all of them may be utilized appropriately, and each component may be repeated or omitted as needed. Specifically, although only one UE 105 is described, it will be understood that many UEs (e.g., hundreds, thousands, millions, etc.) may utilize the 5G NR positioning system 200. Similarly, the 5G NR positioning system 200 may include a larger (or smaller) number of GNSS satellites 110, gNB 210, ng-eNB 214, wireless local area network (WLAN) 216, access and mobility management functions (AMF) 215, external clients 230, and / or other components. The described connections linking the various components in the 5G NR positioning system 200 include data and signaling connections, which may include additional (intermediate) components, direct or indirect physical and / or wireless connections, and / or additional networks. Furthermore, components may be rearranged, combined, separated, replaced, and / or omitted depending on the desired functionality.

[0042] UE 105 may include and / or be referred to as a device, mobile device, wireless device, mobile terminal, terminal, mobile station (MS), Secure User Plane Positioning Enabled (SUPL) terminal (SET), or some other name. Furthermore, UE 105 may correspond to a cellular phone, smartphone, laptop device, tablet device, personal data assistant (PDA), tracking device, navigation device, Internet of Things (IoT) device, or some other portable or mobile device. Typically, although not required, UE 105 may use one or more radio access technologies (RATs) such as GSM, CDMA, W-CDMA, LTE, High Rate Packet Data (HRPD), IEEE 802.11, etc. Bluetooth and microwave access are globally interoperable (WiMAX) TM 5G NR (e.g., using NG-RAN 235 and 5G CN 240) etc.) can support wireless communication. UE 105 can also use WLAN216 (similar to one or more RATs, and as previously referenced) which can connect to other networks such as the Internet. Figure 1 (As mentioned) to support wireless communication. Using one or more of these RATs allows UE 105 (e.g., via...) Figure 2 The 5G CN 240 (not shown) may communicate with external client 230 via Gateway Mobile Location Center (GMLC) 225 and / or allow external client 230 (e.g., via GMLC 225) to receive location information about UE 105. When implemented in or coupled to a 5G NR network, Figure 2 The external client 230 can correspond to Figure 1 External client 180.

[0043] UE 105 may include a single entity or may include multiple entities, such as in a personal area network in which the user may employ audio, video, and / or data I / O devices, and / or body sensors, as well as separate wired or wireless modems. An estimate of the location of UE 105 may be referred to as location, location estimate, location lock, lock, positioning, location estimation, or location lock, and may be geodetic, providing location coordinates (e.g., latitude and longitude) of UE 105, which may or may not include an elevation component (e.g., altitude; height above or depth below ground level, floor level, or basement level). Alternatively, the location of UE 105 may be expressed as a municipal location (e.g., expressed as a postal address or designation of a point or smaller area within a building (such as a specific room or floor)). The location of UE 105 may also be expressed as an area or volume within which UE 105 is expected to be located with a certain probability or confidence level (e.g., 67%, 95%, etc.) (geodetically or municipally defined). The location of UE 105 may further be a relative location, which includes, for example, distance and direction defined relative to an origin at a known location, or relative to X, Y (and Z) coordinates, which may be defined geodetically, municipalally, or with reference to a point, area, or volume indicated on a map, floor plan, or building plan. In the description contained herein, the use of the term location may include any of these variations unless otherwise indicated. When calculating the location of the UE, local X, Y, and possibly Z coordinates are typically solved, and then, if necessary, the local coordinates are converted to absolute coordinates (e.g., with respect to latitude, longitude, and elevation above or below mean sea level).

[0044] Figure 2 The base station in the NG-RAN 235 shown can correspond to Figure 1 The base station 120 in the NG-RAN 235 may include NRB nodes (gNBs) 210-1 and 210-2 (collectively and generally referred to herein as gNB 210). Pairs of gNBs 210 in the NG-RAN 235 may be interconnected (e.g., as shown in the image). Figure 2(The connection shown is either a direct connection or an indirect connection via another gNB 210). The communication interface between the base stations (gNB 210 and / or ng-eNB 214) may be referred to as the Xn interface 237. Access to the 5G network is provided to the UE 105 via wireless communication between the UE 105 and one or more gNBs 210, which may use 5G NR to provide wireless communication access to the 5G CN 240 on behalf of the UE 105. The radio interface between the base stations (gNB 210 and / or ng-eNB 214) and the UE 105 may be referred to as the Uu interface 239, as described in more detail below. 5G NR radio access may also be referred to as NR radio access or 5G radio access. Figure 2 In this context, it is assumed that the serving gNB of UE 105 is gNB 210-1, but other gNBs (e.g., gNB 210-2) may act as serving gNBs or as secondary gNBs to provide additional throughput and bandwidth to UE 105 if UE 105 moves to another location.

[0045] Figure 2 The base stations in the NG-RAN 235 shown may additionally or alternatively include next-generation evolved B nodes (also referred to as ng-eNBs) 214. The ng-eNB 214 may connect to one or more gNBs 210 in the NG-RAN 235—for example, directly or indirectly via other gNBs 210 and / or other ng-eNBs. The ng-eNB 214 may provide LTE radio access and / or evolved LTE (eLTE) radio access to the UE 105. Figure 2 Some gNBs 210 (e.g., gNB 210-2) and / or ng-eNBs 214 may be configured to act as location-only beacons, which may transmit signals (e.g., location reference signal (PRS)) and / or broadcast auxiliary data to assist in the location of UE 105, but may not receive signals from UE 105 or from other UEs. Some gNBs 210 (e.g., gNB 210-2 and / or another gNB not shown) and / or ng-eNBs 214 may be configured to act as detection-only nodes, which may scan for signals containing, for example, PRS data, auxiliary data, or other location data. Such detection-only nodes may not transmit signals or data to the UE, but may transmit signals or data (involving, for example, PRS, auxiliary data, or other location data) to other network entities (e.g., one or more components of the 5G CN 240, external client 230, or controller), which may receive and store the data or use the data to locate at least UE 105. Note that although in Figure 2The diagram shows only one ng-eNB 214, but some embodiments may include multiple ng-eNBs 214. Base stations 210 and 214 may communicate directly with each other via the Xn communication interface. Additionally or alternatively, base stations 210 and 214 may communicate directly or indirectly with other components of the 5G NR positioning system 200, such as LMF 220 and AMF 215.

[0046] The 5G NR positioning system 200 may also include one or more WLANs 216 that can connect to the non-3GPP interoperability function (N3IWF) 250 in the 5G CN 240 (e.g., in the case of untrusted WLAN 216). For example, WLAN 216 may support IEEE 802.11 Wi-Fi access for UE 105 and may include one or more Wi-Fi APs (e.g., Figure 1 (AP 130). Here, N3IWF 250 can connect to other components in 5G CN 240, such as AMF 215. In some embodiments, WLAN 216 can support another RAT, such as Bluetooth. N3IWF 250 can provide support for secure access of UE 105 to other components in 5G CN 240 and / or can support interoperability between one or more protocols used by WLAN 216 and UE 105 and one or more protocols used by other components of 5G CN 240 (such as AMF 215). For example, N3IWF 250 can support: establishing an IPSec tunnel with UE 105, terminating IKEv2 / IPSec protocol with UE 105, terminating N2 and N3 interfaces to 5G CN 240 for control plane and user plane respectively, and relaying uplink (UL) and downlink (DL) control plane non-access layer (NAS) signaling across the N1 interface between UE 105 and AMF 215. In some other embodiments, WLAN 216 may be directly connected to components in 5G CN 240 (e.g., such as...). Figure 2 The AMF 215 (shown by the dashed line) does not pass through N3IWF 250. For example, a direct connection between WLAN 216 and 5GCN 240 can occur if WLAN 216 is a trusted WLAN to 5GCN 240, and a Trusted WLAN Interoperability (TWIF) function that can be used as an internal component of WLAN 216 can be employed. Figure 2 (Not shown in the image) to achieve this. Note that although in Figure 2 Only one WLAN 216 is shown, but some embodiments may include multiple WLANs 216.

[0047] The access node may include any of a variety of network entities that enable communication between UE 105 and AMF 215. This may include gNB 210, ng-eNB 214, WLAN 216, and / or other types of cellular base stations. However, the access node providing the functionality described herein may additionally or alternatively include entities that enable communication with… Figure 2 The entity communicating with any of the various RATs (which may include non-cellular technologies) not described herein. Therefore, as used in the embodiments described below, the term "access node" may include, but is not limited to, gNB 210, ng-eNB 214, or WLAN 216.

[0048] In some embodiments, an access node (such as gNB 210, ng-eNB 214, or WLAN 216) (alone or in combination with other components of the 5G NR positioning system 200) may be configured to: in response to a request for location information received from LMF 220, obtain location measurements of uplink (UL) signals received from UE 105 and / or obtain DL location measurements obtained by UE 105 for downlink (DL) signals received by UE 105 from one or more access nodes. As mentioned, although Figure 2 The description depicts access nodes 210, 214, and 216 configured to communicate according to 5G NR, LTE, and Wi-Fi communication protocols, respectively. However, access nodes configured to communicate according to other communication protocols can be used, such as, for example, a B node using the Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) protocol for Universal Mobile Telecommunications Service (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN), an eNB using the LTE protocol for Evolved UTRAN (E-UTRAN), or using the protocol for WLAN. The protocol's Bluetooth beacon station. For example, in a 4G Evolved Packet System (EPS) providing LTE radio access to UE 105, the RAN may include an E-UTRAN, which may include base stations containing eNBs supporting LTE radio access. The core network for the EPS may include an Evolved Packet Core (EPC). Thus, the EPS may include an E-UTRAN plus an EPC, where... Figure 2 In this context, E-UTRAN corresponds to NG-RAN 235 and EPC corresponds to 5GCN 240. The methods and techniques described herein for obtaining the municipal location of UE 105 are applicable to other networks of this type.

[0049] The gNB 210 and ng-eNB 214 can communicate with the AMF 215, and for positioning functionality, the AMF 215 communicates with the LMF 220. The AMF 215 supports the mobility of UE 105, including cell changes and handovers from access nodes 210, 214, or 216 of the first RAT to access nodes 210, 214, or 216 of the second RAT. The AMF 215 can also participate in supporting signaling connections to UE 105 and may support data and voice bearers for UE 105. The LMF 220 supports the use of the CP positioning solution to locate UE 105 when it accesses NG-RAN 235 or WLAN 216, and supports various positioning procedures and methods, including UE-assisted / UE-based and / or network-based procedures / methods, such as A-GNSS, Observed Time Difference of Arrival (OTDOA) (which may be referred to as Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA) in NR), Real-Time Kinematics (RTK), Precise Point Positioning (PPP), Differential GNSS (DGNSS), Enhanced Cellular ID (ECID), Angle of Arrival (AoA), Angle of Departure (AoD), WLAN positioning, Round-Trip Propagation Delay (RTT), Multi-Cell RTT, and / or other positioning procedures and methods. The LMF 220 can also process location service requests for UE 105 received, for example, from AMF 215 or GMLC 225. The LMF 220 can be connected to AMF 215 and / or GMLC 225. In some embodiments, the network (such as 5GCN 240) may additionally or alternatively implement other types of location support modules, such as an evolved Serving Mobility Location Center (E-SMLC) or a SUPL Location Platform (SLP). It should be noted that in some embodiments, at least a portion of the location functionality (including determining the location of UE 105) may be performed at UE 105 (e.g., by measuring downlink PRS (DL-PRS) signals transmitted by radio nodes (such as gNB 210, ng-eNB 214, and / or WLAN 216) and / or using auxiliary data, for example, provided to UE 105 by LMF 220).

[0050] Gateway Mobile Location Center (GMLC) 225 can support location requests for UE 105 received from external client 230 and can forward such location requests to AMF 215 for forwarding to LMF 220. A location response from LMF 220 (e.g., containing a location estimate for UE 105) can similarly be returned to GMLC 225 directly or via AMF 215, and GMLC 225 can then return the location response (e.g., containing the location estimate) to external client 230.

[0051] Network Open Function (NEF) 245 may be included in 5GCN 240. NEF 245 can support the secure opening of capabilities and events related to 5GCN 240 and UE 105 to external client 230. These capabilities and events can therefore be referred to as Access Functions (AF) and enable the secure provisioning of information from external client 230 to 5GCN 240. NEF 245 may be connected to AMF 215 and / or GMLC 225 for the purpose of obtaining the location of UE 105 (e.g., municipal location) and providing that location to external client 230.

[0052] like Figure 2 As further explained, the LMF 220 can communicate with the gNB 210 and / or the ng-eNB 214 using NR Location Protocol Annex (NRPPa) as defined in 3GPP Technical Specification (TS) 38.445. NRPPa messages can be transmitted between the gNB 210 and LMF 220 and / or between the ng-eNB 214 and LMF 220 via the AMF 215. Figure 2 As further explained, LMF 220 and UE 105 can communicate using the LTE Positioning Protocol (LPP) as defined in 3GPP TS 37.355. Here, LPP messages can be passed between UE 105 and LMF 220 via AMF 215 and UE 105's serving gNB 210-1 or serving ng-eNB 214. For example, LPP messages can be passed between LMF 220 and AMF 215 using messages for service-based operations (e.g., based on Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP)), and can be passed between AMF 215 and UE 105 using the 5G NAS protocol. The LPP protocol can be used to support positioning of UE 105 using UE-assisted and / or UE-based positioning methods (such as A-GNSS, RTK, TDOA, multi-cell RTT, AoD, and / or ECID). The NRPPa protocol can be used to support the location of UE 105 using network-based location methods such as ECID, AoA, and uplink TDOA (UL-TDOA) and / or can be used by LMF220 to obtain location-related information from gNB 210 and / or ng-eNB 214, such as defining parameters of DL-PRS transmissions from gNB 210 and / or ng-eNB 214.

[0053] In the case where UE 105 accesses WLAN 216, LMF 220 can use NRPPa and / or LPP to obtain the location of UE 105 in a manner similar to that described just for UE 105 accessing gNB 210 or ng-eNB 214. Thus, NRPPa messages can be transmitted between WLAN 216 and LMF 220 via AMF 215 and N3IWF 250 to support network-based location of UE 105 and / or to transmit other location information from WLAN 216 to LMF 220. Alternatively, NRPPa messages can be transmitted between N3IWF 250 and LMF 220 via AMF 215 to support network-based location of UE 105 based on location-related information and / or location measurements known or accessible to N3IWF 250 and transmitted from N3IWF 250 to LMF 220 using NRPPa. Similarly, LPP and / or LPP messages can be transmitted between UE 105 and LMF 220 via AMF 215, N3IWF250, and UE 105’s serving WLAN 216 to support UE-assisted or UE-based positioning of UE 105 by LMF 220.

[0054] In the 5G NR positioning system 200, the positioning method can be classified as "UE-assisted" or "UE-based." This depends on where the request to determine the location of UE 105 originates. For example, if the request originates from the UE (e.g., from an application or "app" executed by the UE), the positioning method can be classified as UE-based. On the other hand, if the request originates from an external client 230 or other devices or services within the AF, LMF 220, or 5G network, the positioning method can be classified as UE-assisted (or "network-based").

[0055] Using a UE-assisted positioning method, UE 105 can obtain location measurements and send these measurements to a location server (e.g., LMF 220) for calculating a location estimate for UE 105. For RAT-dependent positioning methods, location measurements may include one or more of the following for one or more access points: Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI), Round-Trip Time (RTT), Reference Received Power (RSRP), Reference Received Quality (RSRQ), Reference Time Difference (RSTD), Time of Arrival (TOA), AoA, Receive Time-Transmit Time Difference (Rx-Tx), Differential AoA (DAoA), AoD, or Timing Advance (TA). Additionally or alternatively, similar measurements may be performed on sidelink signals transmitted by other UEs, whose locations are known, and these other UEs may be used as anchor points for locating UE 105. Location measurements may additionally or alternatively include measurements for RAT-independent positioning methods, such as GNSS (e.g., GNSS pseudorange, GNSS code phase, and / or GNSS carrier phase with respect to GNSS satellite 110), WLAN, etc.

[0056] Using a UE-based positioning method, UE 105 can obtain a location measurement (e.g., which may be the same as or similar to the location measurement of a UE-assisted positioning method), and can further calculate the location of UE 105 (e.g., with the aid of auxiliary data received from a location server (such as LMF 220, SLP) or broadcast by gNB 210, ng-eNB 214 or WLAN 216).

[0057] Using a network-based positioning method, one or more base stations (e.g., gNB 210 and / or ng-eNB 214), one or more access points (e.g., APs in WLAN 216), or N3IWF 250 may obtain location measurements (e.g., RSSI, RTT, RSRP, RSRQ, AOA, or TOA) of signals transmitted by UE 105, and / or may receive measurements obtained by UE 105 or, in the case of N3IWF 250, by APs in WLAN 216, and may send these measurements to a location server (e.g., LMF 220) for calculating a location estimate for UE 105.

[0058] The positioning of UE 105 can also be classified as UL-based, DL-based, or DL-UL-based depending on the type of signal used for positioning. For example, if positioning is based solely on signals received by UE 105 (e.g., from a base station or other UE), the positioning can be classified as DL-based. On the other hand, if positioning is based solely on signals transmitted by UE 105 (which may be received by, for example, a base station or other UE), the positioning can be classified as UL-based. DL-UL-based positioning includes positioning based on signals transmitted and received by UE 105, such as RTT-based positioning. Side-link (SL)-assisted positioning includes signals communicated between UE 105 and one or more other UEs. According to some embodiments, the UL, DL, or DL-UL positioning described herein can enable SL signaling to be used as a supplement to or replacement of SL, DL, or DL-UL signaling.

[0059] Depending on the positioning type (e.g., UL-based, DL-based, or DL-UL-based), the type of reference signal used may differ. For example, for DL-based positioning, these signals may include PRS (e.g., DL-PRS transmitted by the base station or SL-PRS transmitted by other UEs), which can be used for TDOA, AoD, and RTT measurements. Other reference signals that can be used for positioning (UL, DL, or DL-UL) may include: probe reference signal (SRS), channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), synchronization signals (e.g., synchronization signal block (SSB) synchronization signal (SS)), physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH), demodulation reference signal (DMRS), etc. Furthermore, reference signals may be transmitted in Tx beams and / or received in Rx beams (e.g., using beamforming techniques), which can affect angle measurements such as AoD. Examples of how PRS (and / or other RF signals) can be used for location based on OTDOA, AoD, and RTT are given below. Figure 3-5 To describe. It can be noted that, although Figure 3-5 The example shown illustrates and discusses the base station (which can correspond to...) Figure 2 gNB 210 and / or ng-eNB 214 and / or Figure 1 (Base station 120), but positioning technology can use the specific TRP of the base station to provide accurate positioning.

[0060] Figure 3This is an explanation of how OTDOA-based positioning (also known as downlink time difference of arrival (DL-TDOA)) can be made according to some embodiments. In short, OTDOA-based positioning is a positioning made based on the known location of the base stations (e.g., base stations 310-1, 310-2, and 310-3, collectively referred to herein as base station 310), the known time at which the base stations transmit the corresponding reference signals (e.g., PRS), and the time difference in which the UE 105 receives the reference signals from each base station.

[0061] In OTDOA-based positioning, the location server can provide the UE P105 with OTDOA auxiliary data regarding a reference base station (which may be referred to as a "reference cell" or "reference resource") and one or more neighboring base stations relative to that reference base station (which may be referred to as "neighboring cells" or "adjacent cells," and may be individually referred to as a "target cell" or "target resource"). For example, the auxiliary data may provide the center channel frequency of each base station, various PRS configuration parameters (e.g., N...). PRS T PRS The data includes silent sequences, frequency hopping sequences, PRS IDs, PRS bandwidths, base station (cell) global IDs, PRS signal characteristics associated with directional PRS, and / or other base station-related parameters applicable to OTDOA or some other positioning method. OTDOA-based positioning by UE 105 can be facilitated by indicating the serving base station for UE 105 (e.g., where a reference base station is indicated as the serving base station) in the OTDOA auxiliary data. In some aspects, the OTDOA auxiliary data may also include "Expected Reference Signal Time Difference (RSTD)" parameters along with uncertainties in these expected RSTD parameters, which provide UE 105 with information about the RSTD values ​​that UE 105 is expected to measure between the reference base station and each neighboring base station at its current location. The expected RSTD, along with the associated uncertainties, can define a search window for UE 105 within which it is expected to measure RSTD values. OTDOA auxiliary information may also include PRS configuration information parameters, which allow UE 105 to determine when a PRS positioning opportunity occurs on signals received from neighboring base stations relative to a reference base station, and to determine the PRS sequence transmitted from each base station in order to measure TOA or RSTD. TOA measurement may be an RSRP (Reference Signal Received Power) measurement of the average power of resource elements (REs) carrying PRS (or other reference signals).

[0062] Using RSTD measurements, the known absolute or relative transmission timing of each base station, and the known locations of the physical transmit antennas(s) of the reference base station and neighboring base stations, the UE location can be calculated (e.g., by UE 105 or a location server). More specifically, the RSTD of the neighboring base station “k” relative to the reference base station “Ref” can be given as the difference in TOA measurements of the signals from each base station (i.e., TOA). k –TOA Ref The TOA value can be measured modulo a subframe duration (1 ms) to remove the influence of measuring different subframes at different times. Figure 3 For example, the first base station 310-1 can be designated as the reference base station, and the second and third base stations (P110-2 and 310-3) are neighboring base stations. If UE 105 receives reference signals from the first base station 310-1, the second base station 310-2, and the third base station 310-3 at times T1, T2, and T2 respectively, then the RSTD measurement for the second base station 310-2 will be determined as T2-T1, and the RSTD measurement for the third base station 310-3 will be determined as T3-T1. The RSTD measurement can be used by UE 105 and / or sent to a location server to determine the location of UE 105 using (i) the RSTD measurement, (ii) the known absolute or relative transmission timing of each base station, (iii) the known locations of base stations 310(s) relative to the reference base station and neighboring base stations, and / or (iv) directional PRS characteristics (such as transmission direction). Geometrically, information (i)-(iv) allows for determining the possible locations of UE 105 for each RSTD (where each RSTD results in a hyperbola, as shown in the image). Figure 3 (as shown in the figure), and the position of the UE105 is determined based on the intersection of the possible positions for all RSTDs.

[0063] Figure 4 This is an explanation of how RTT-based positioning (or multi-RTT-based positioning) can be performed according to some embodiments. In short, RTT-based positioning includes a location where the UE 105's location is based on a base station (e.g., base station 410, which may again correspond to...). Figure 2 The location method is determined by the known locations of the gNB 210 and / or ng-eNB 214, and the known distance between the UE 105 and the base station. RTT measurements between the UE 105 and each base station are used to determine the distance between the UE 105 and the corresponding base station, and multilateral positioning can be used to determine the location of the UE 105.

[0064] In RTT-based positioning, the location server can coordinate RTT measurements between UE 105 and each base station. Information provided to UE 105 can be included in RTT auxiliary data. This can include, for example, reference signal (e.g., PRS) timing and other signal characteristics, base station (cell) ID, and / or other cell-related parameters applicable to multi-RTT or some other positioning method. Depending on the desired functionality, RTT measurements can be made (and initiated) by either UE 105 or base station 410.

[0065] RTT measurement uses over-the-air (OTA) delay to measure distance. The initiating device (e.g., UE 105 or base station 410) transmits a first reference signal at a first time T1, which propagates to the responding device. At a second time T2, the first reference signal arrives at the responding device. The OTA delay (i.e., the propagation time taken for the first reference signal to travel from the initiating device to the responding device) is the difference between T1 and T2. The responding device then transmits a second reference signal at a third time T3, and the second reference signal is received and measured by the initiating device at a fourth time T4. RSRP measurement can be used to determine the TOA for times T2 and T4. Therefore, the distance d between the initiating device and the responding device can be determined using the following equation:

[0066]

[0067] (As will be understood, distance d divided by the RF propagation speed c equals the OTA delay). Therefore, a precise determination of the distance between the initiating and responding devices can be made.

[0068] The RTT measurements between UE 105 and base station 410 thus allow for the use of multilateral positioning to determine the location of UE 105. Specifically, the RTT measurements between UE 105 and the first base station 410-1, the second base station 210-2, and the third base station 410-3 (RTT1, RTT2, and RTT3, respectively) result in the determination of the distance between UE 105 and each of the base stations 410. These distances can be used to plot circles around the known locations of base stations 410 (where circle 1 corresponds to base station 410-1, circle 2 corresponds to base station 410-2, and circle 3 corresponds to base station 410-3). The location of UE 105 can be determined as the intersection of these circles.

[0069] Figure 5 This is an explanation of how AoD-based positioning (or DL-AoD) can be performed according to some embodiments. In short, AoD-based positioning is a positioning based on reference signals (e.g., PRS) received by UE 505 and transmitted by certain beams of base station 510 and the corresponding coverage areas covered by these beams.

[0070] In AoD-based positioning, the location server can provide AoD auxiliary data to the UE 505. This auxiliary data (which can be based on the approximate location of the UE 505) can provide information about the reference signals of the nearby base station 510, including the center channel frequency of each base station, various PRS configuration parameters (e.g., N...). PRS T PRS The silence sequence, frequency hopping sequence, PRS ID, PRS bandwidth, beam ID, base station (cell) global ID, PRS signal characteristics associated with directional PRS, and / or other base station-related parameters applicable to AoD or some other positioning method.

[0071] Using this information, UE 505 and / or the location server can determine the UE's location via beams(s) used by UE 505 to detect PRS(s) from each base station 510. More specifically, the PRS(s) from base station 510 are transmitted via beams centered along angular regions or slots 530. Thus, each slot can correspond to a PRS(s) from a different corresponding beam. Slots 530 from different base stations 510 can form an angular grid that can be used to determine the location of UE 505. For example, as Figure 3 As explained, slot 530-1 of base station 510-1 intersects slot 530-2 of base station 510-2 to form an angular grid. UE 505 can measure (e.g., using RSRP measurements) the PRS of different beams of each base station 510. These measurements can be used by UE 505 or sent to a location server to determine the location of UE 505 from the corresponding slot intersection 550, where slot 530-1 corresponding to the PRS of the first base station 510-1 intersects slot 530-2 corresponding to the PRS of the second base station 510-2. Similar measurements can be made from additional base stations (not shown) to provide additional accuracy. Additionally or alternatively, measurements from multiple beams of a single base station 510 can enable interpolation for higher resolution positioning.

[0072] although Figure 3-5 Traditionally, positioning methods in 5G NR use base stations (as shown in the figure) as anchor points to determine the location of target UE 603. However, 5G NR is exploring the possibility of using other UEs as anchor points as a supplement or replacement for base stations, as previously discussed. Figure 1 As indicated by UE 145. Figure 6 More detailed examples are provided.

[0073] Figure 6 This is a simplified diagram illustrating how an anchor UE 605, according to one embodiment, can be used to locate a target UE 603 ​​in a 5G NR network. Arrows between the various components illustrate communication links. Figure 2As explained herein, this can involve wireless and / or wired communication technologies and may include one or more intermediary components. For simplicity, gNB (e.g., corresponding to...) Figure 2 The gNBs (210) are simply labeled gNB1-gNB4, and a single anchor UE 605 is described. While only one anchor UE 605 may be available in some instances, two or more anchor UEs 605 may be used in other instances. Furthermore, in some instances, the anchor UE 605 may include a unique type of anchor point for positioning and / or a gNB that is not used as an anchor point. (Again, as used herein, the term "anchor point" refers to a device having a known location for determining the location of the target UE 603.)

[0074] To determine the location of target UE 603 ​​(e.g., using any of the previously described positioning techniques), target UE 603 ​​can measure radio signals transmitted from different anchor points: gNB1-gNB3 and anchor UE 605. For example... Figure 4 As indicated, the target UE 603 ​​can communicate with and / or obtain measurements from gNB1-gNB3 using the Uu (network) interface 630. Measurements can be made based on location-related reference signals (such as PRS (e.g., DL-PRS)) from the gNBs. Regarding the anchor UE 605, the target UE 603 ​​can communicate using the SL interface 650 or, as described in more detail below, the Uu interface 640, which mimics the Uu interface 630 used for PRS transmission and reception between the UE and the gNB. As previously mentioned, and the SL interface 650 allows direct (D2D) communication between the target UE 603 ​​and the anchor UE 605, and can be used in a manner similar to the Uu interface 630, allowing the target UE 603 ​​to obtain location-related measurements for determining the location of the target UE 603. Thus, the anchor UE 605 can be configured to provide location-related reference signals (e.g., SL-PRS or DL-PRS) and / or similar reference signals, which can be transmitted in a manner similar to that of the gNBs. In this regard, anchor UE 605 can also communicate with LMF 220 via gNB4 using Uu interface 630. In this example, gNB4 may include a serving gNB for anchor UE 605.

[0075] Using anchor UE 605 in the positioning of target UE 603 ​​is similar to... Figure 3-5The base station will be used for OTDOA-based, RTT-based, and AoD-based positioning. However, specific details regarding the use of anchor UE 605 have not yet been determined. There is no definition for SL-based or SL-assisted measurements in the LPP report. Furthermore, it is unclear what type of report the target UE 603 ​​will provide. Additionally, it is not yet determined how spatial relationships can be configured for the target UE 603 ​​or anchor UE to transmit PRS (e.g., UL-PRS) via SL interface 650.

[0076] When anchor UE 605 provides positioning, according to embodiments, spatial relationships regarding UL-PRS can be defined. These spatial relationships primarily indicate which UL beams the target UE 603 ​​can use to transmit the UL-PRS; that is, it is a form of UL beam indication. If the target UE 603 ​​is capable of beamforming, the UL beams can be derived from the DL beam management protocol and can indicate spatial relationships with reference signals (e.g., DL-PRS, SSB, or other UL-PRS), where the target UE 603 ​​can use the Tx beam closest to the Rx beam used to receive the DL reference signal to transmit the UL-PRS.

[0077] Spatial relation is a configuration type used, for example, in the Detection Reference Signal (SRS) protocol. Traditionally, using SRS, a serving gNB (e.g., gNB1) can configure a target UE 603 ​​with a spatial relation for transmitting a UL SRS via the Uu interface 630. This configuration can be done via Radio Resource Control (RRC) from the serving gNB (instead of the LMF 220) to the target UE 603. According to embodiments herein, the serving gNB can provide a spatial relation configuration (e.g., as an Information Element (IE) within the RRC) for the target UE 603 ​​to use when transmitting a UL-PRS via the SL interface 650 or the Uu interface 640. Optionally, the gNB can also provide path loss (PL) for the PRS. Path loss can be provided, for example, as a substitute for or supplement to the spatial relation. Once configured, the target UE 603 ​​can use the beam selected based on the spatial relation configuration to provide the PRS to the anchor UE 605.

[0078] Depending on the desired functionality, spatial relationships can be configured in any of a few ways. One option is, for example, that the serving gNB can leave spatial relationships as unconfigured or undefined. There will be situations where, for example, this might be the default, such as when the target UE 603 ​​is operating in frequency range 1 (FR1) (e.g., the target UE 603 ​​has an omnidirectional antenna for its frequency) and / or if the UE cannot perform beamforming. The result of this configuration could be that the target UE 603 ​​transmits PRS in omnidirectional mode.

[0079] When the target UE 603 ​​receives a location-related reference signal (e.g., DL-PRS) from the anchor UE 605 via the SL interface 650 before transmitting the UL-PRS, the spatial relationship can be configured to use the location-related reference signal as a reference. As previously indicated, if the target UE 603 ​​is configured to use the location-related reference signal as a reference signal, then after the target UE 603 ​​receives the location-related reference signal via a certain Rx beam, the target UE 603 ​​can use that Rx beam as a reference to transmit the UL-PRS via the corresponding Tx beam that is closest to the Rx beam (e.g., in shape and / or angle) among the Tx beams available to the target UE 603.

[0080] Another option for spatial relationship configuration is to use a synchronization signal block (SSB) transmitted by the gNB as a reference for the UL-PRS of the target UE 603. According to some embodiments, the specific SSB used for spatial relationship configuration may include a non-cell-defined or out-of-grid SSB. The SSB may be transmitted by the gNB located near the relative position (e.g., angle) between the anchor UE 605 and the target UE 603. Figure 6 For example, gNB4 can be selected as the gNB from which its SSB can be used as a reference signal for spatial relationships, because gNB4 is closest to the angle between anchor UE 605 and target UE 603.

[0081] According to some embodiments, anchor UE 605 can operate in either "transparent mode" or "advanced mode". In transparent mode, anchor UE 605 generally operates similarly to a gNB, creating a Uu interface 640 through which target UE 603 ​​can send and receive location-related data (e.g., PRS) with anchor UE 605. This may be advantageous in situations where target UE 603 ​​is incompatible with advanced mode (e.g., including older hardware and / or running older software). In advanced mode, anchor UE 605 can communicate directly with target UE 603 ​​on SL interface 650. Accordingly, communication / protocols may be transmitted (used by SL interface 650) or not (used by Uu interface 630).

[0082] The mode type can affect how the target UE 603 ​​is configured. Specifically, conventionally in the Uu interface 630, the DL-PRS transmitted by the gNB is configured by the LMF 220, while the UL-PRS transmitted by the target UE 603 ​​is configured by the serving gNB (e.g., gNB1). Therefore, when the anchor UE 605 operates in transparent mode, the serving gNB of the target UE 603 ​​may need to know applicable information about the anchor UE 605 when using the option of using the DL-PRS or SSB as a reference for the spatial relationship configuration of the target UE 603. This information about the anchor UE 605 may include, for example, location-related information about the anchor UE 605 (e.g., which beam(s) of the serving gNB(s) it uses). (For options where the spatial relationship is unconfigured / undefined, no reference signal is used. And thus, the serving gNB of the target UE 603 ​​may not need additional information about the anchor UE 605.)

[0083] The serving gNB for target UE 603 ​​can obtain information about anchor UE 605 in various ways. In some embodiments, for example, the serving gNB for target UE 603 ​​can obtain this information from the serving gNB (e.g., gNB4) of anchor UE 605 via Xn interface 660, which, as previously mentioned, serves as a communication interface between different gNBs in NG-RAN 235. In some embodiments, this information about anchor UE 605 can be passed from the serving gNB of anchor UE 605 to LMF 220, which can then pass the information to the serving gNB of target UE 603. However, in some instances, the serving gNB of target UE 603 ​​can be the same as the serving gNB of anchor UE 605, in which case the serving gNB will already have the required information. Once the serving gNB of target UE 603 ​​has the information about anchor UE 605, it can accordingly configure target UE 603 ​​with the appropriate spatial relationship configuration for UL-PRS.

[0084] In advanced mode, target UE 603 ​​can know that anchor UE 605 is actually a UE and not a gNB. In this scenario, other spatial relationship reference signals and / or PL references can be used for UL-PRS transmission. For example, if communication between target UE 603 ​​and anchor UE 605 via SL interface 650 is already active, these spatial relationship reference signals and / or PL references may include Physical Sidelink Control Channel (PSCCH), Physical Sidelink Shared Channel (PSSCH), Physical Sidelink Broadcast Channel (PSBCH), Sidelink Channel State Information Reference Signal (SL-CSI RS), Physical Sidelink Feedback Channel (PSFCH), etc. According to some embodiments, additional UE identity (e.g., the 24-bit identity used in the SL) can be used to identify which source to use from multiple potential SL channels.

[0085] Using the techniques described herein to communicate spatial relationships for SL-assisted positioning may involve LPP and / or NRPPa communication. Specifically, the general procedure for an LPP session may include establishing an LPP session, exchanging positioning capabilities (e.g., using RequestCapabilities and ProvideCapabilities Information Elements (IEs)), transmitting auxiliary data (e.g., using RequestAssistanceData and ProvideAssistanceData IEs), and transmitting location information (e.g., positioning measurements and / or positioning estimates via RequestLocationInformation and ProvideLocationInformation IEs). As an example of a spatial relationship, the anchor UE 605 may first report TA or timing-related information to its serving gNB (gNB4) via the Uu interface 630. According to the first option, the serving gNB for anchor UE 605 can subsequently send the information and / or space-related information to LMF 220 via NRPPa, and LMF 220 can send the information to the serving gNB (gNB1) of the target UE via NRPPa, which can relay the information to the target UE 603 ​​via Uu interface 630. According to the second option, the serving gNB for anchor UE 605 can directly send the information and / or space-related information received from anchor UE 605 to the serving gNB of the target UE via Xn interface 660 (e.g., with guidance from LMF 220, such as via LMF scheduling), and the serving gNB of the target UE can relay the information to the target UE 603 ​​via Uu interface 630. Alternatively, anchor UE 605 can directly report TA or timing-related information to LMF 220 (e.g., via LPP), and LMF 220 can relay the information to the target UE 603 ​​directly (e.g., via LPP) or via the serving gNB of the target UE (e.g., via NRPPa).

[0086] Figure 7 This is a flowchart of a method 700 according to an embodiment, in which a first UE transmits a UL-PRS for determining the location of the first UE. In some aspects, method 700 describes a method corresponding to, as previously discussed... Figure 6 The method described is executed by the first UE of the target UE 603, wherein the second UE corresponds to Figure 6 The anchor UE 605. Alternative embodiments may execute functions in a different order, execute functions in parallel, and / or may be rearranged. Figure 7 The function flow explained in the text. Used for execution. Figure 7The functional devices described in the boxes shown can be executed by the hardware and / or software components of the UE. Figure 9 The example components of the UE have been explained, and will be described in more detail below.

[0087] At block 710, functionality includes receiving configuration for UL-PRS at a first UE, wherein (i) the configuration is received from a base station and the first spatial relationship of the configuration is: undefined, defined as a location-related reference signal received by the first UE from a second UE, or defined as an SSB sent to the first UE; or (ii) the configuration is received from the second UE or from the serving gNB of the first UE, wherein the configuration uses a signal sent by the second UE to the first UE via a side link (SL) interface to define a second spatial relationship. As mentioned, the second UE can operate in transparent mode or advanced mode, resulting in a Uu interface or an SL interface with the first UE, respectively. Thus, according to some embodiments, the location-related reference signal can be received via a Uu interface between the first UE and the second UE (e.g., as DL-PRS) or via an SL interface between the first UE and the second UE (e.g., as SL-PRS). Means for performing the functionality at block 710 may include a UE (such as...) Figure 9 The wireless communication interface 930, bus 905, memory 960, processing unit 910, digital signal processor (DSP) 920 and / or other components of UE 105, as explained in the text and described in more detail below.

[0088] At block 720, functionality includes determining how to transmit the UL-PRS, at least in part, based on this configuration. According to some embodiments, determining how to transmit the UL-PRS includes determining whether to use a Tx beam to transmit the UL-PRS, and, if it is determined that a Tx beam should be used to transmit the UL-PRS, determining which Tx beam to use. As previously indicated, the configuration may further include a PL reference for the UL-PRS, and determining how to transmit the UL-PRS (e.g., transmit power) may be further based on this PL reference. Furthermore, as indicated in the embodiments above, determining which Tx beam to use may be based on an Rx beam used to receive a reference signal defined by a first spatial relationship. Therefore, according to some embodiments of method 700, where the first spatial relationship of the configuration is defined as the location-related reference signal of the second UE (e.g., DL-PRS when the second UE is in transparent mode), the first UE can receive the location-related reference signal of the second UE via the Rx beam, and determining how to transmit the UL-PRS at block 720 includes determining which Tx beam closest to the Rx beam is used from among the plurality of Tx beams configured for transmitting signals by the first UE to transmit the UL-PRS. Similarly, according to some embodiments of method 700, where the first spatial relationship of the configuration is defined as the SSB of the first gNB, the first UE can receive the SSB of the first gNB via the Rx beam, and determining how to transmit the UL-PRS at block 720 includes determining which Tx beam closest to the Rx beam is used from among the plurality of Tx beams configured for transmitting signals by the first UE to transmit the UL-PRS.

[0089] As previously described, in advanced mode (e.g., option (ii) of box 710), the first UE may already be communicating with the second UE via the SL interface and thus can receive configuration directly from the second UE. As mentioned, in such instances where the configuration is received from the serving gNB of the second UE or the first UE, one or more aspects of the SL interface used by the first UE as a second spatial relationship, PL reference, or both include PSCCH, PSSCH, PSBCH, SL-CSI RS, or PSFCH. According to some embodiments, the configuration further includes the UE identity of the second UE. This can help the first UE identify the appropriate SL interface from a potential pool of multiple SL interfaces.

[0090] The means for performing the functionality at block 720 may include a UE (such as...) Figure 9 The UE 105 includes a bus 905, a memory 960, a processing unit 910, a DSP 920, and / or other components, as explained in the text and described in more detail below.

[0091] The functionality at block 730 includes the first UE transmitting the UL-PRS based on determining how to transmit it. Again, this may involve beamforming, where the Tx beam is selected to be closest to the Rx beam (e.g., in the angle). Alternatively, if the first spatial relationship of this configuration (e.g., as received at block 710) is undefined, the first UE can use omnidirectional mode to transmit the UL-PRS. The means for performing the functionality at block 730 may include a UE (such as...) Figure 9 The wireless communication interface 930, bus 905, memory 960, processing unit 910, digital signal processor (DSP) 920 and / or other components of UE 105, as explained in the text and described in more detail below.

[0092] Figure 8 This is a flowchart of a method 800 for configuring a first UE to transmit an uplink positioning reference signal (UL-PRS) for determining the location of the first UE. In some aspects, method 800 describes a method corresponding to the previously mentioned... Figure 6 The described method for the serving base station of the first UE, gNB1 (such as the serving gNB for target UE 603), wherein the second UE corresponds to Figure 6 The anchor UE 605. Alternative embodiments may execute functions in a different order, execute functions in parallel, and / or may be rearranged. Figure 8 The function flow explained in the text. Used for execution. Figure 8 The functional devices described in the box shown can be implemented by the hardware and / or software components of the base station. Figure 10 The example components of the base station have been explained, and will be described in more detail below.

[0093] At block 810, functionality includes determining spatial relationships for the UL-PRS at a base station. Determining the spatial relationships for the UL-PRS at the base station is as follows: As mentioned, several options may be available for defining the spatial relationships depending on the specific circumstances. In some embodiments, determining the spatial relationships may include obtaining location-related information about the second UE from the serving base station of the second UE. This location-related information may, for example, include beam and / or other information from the serving base station indicating the location of the second UE. According to some embodiments, this may be obtained via an Xn interface and / or a location server. Means for performing the functionality at block 810 may include a base station (such as...) Figure 10 The wireless communication interface 1030, bus 1005, memory 1060, processing unit 1010, digital signal processor (DSP) 1020 and / or other components of the base station 120, as explained in the text and described in more detail below.

[0094] At block 820, functionality includes including spatial relationships in the configuration for the first UE based on determining spatial relationships for UL-PRS, wherein the spatial relationships in the configuration are: undefined, defined as positioning-related reference signals received by the first UE from the second UE via the SL interface, or defined as synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) sent to the first UE. According to some embodiments, the base station may further include path loss PL for UL-PRS in the configuration for the first UE. Means for performing the functionality at block 820 may include a base station (such as...) Figure 10 The base station 120 (described in the text and described in more detail below) includes a bus 1005, a memory 1060, processing units 1010, a digital signal processor (DSP) 1020, and / or other components.

[0095] The functionality at block 830 includes transmitting the configuration from the base station to the first UE. As mentioned, according to some embodiments, the base station transmits the configuration to the UE via RRC. In some instances, this may be transmitted as part of standard RRC communication between the UE and the base station. Means for performing the functionality at block 830 may include the base station (such as...) Figure 10 The wireless communication interface 1030, bus 1005, memory 1060, processor(s) 1010, digital signal processor (DSP) 1020 and / or other components of the base station 120, as explained in the text and described in more detail below.

[0096] Figure 9 An embodiment of UE 105 has been explained, which can be implemented as described above (e.g., in conjunction with...). Figure 1-7 The described location is utilized. For example, UE 105 can perform... Figure 7 The method shown herein has one or more functions. It should be noted that... Figure 9 This is intended only to provide a general explanation of the various components, which may be appropriately utilized by any or all of them. Note that in some instances, [the components are...]. Figure 9 The components described can be localized to a single physical device and / or distributed among various networked devices that can be located in different physical locations. Furthermore, as previously mentioned, the functionality of the UE discussed in the previously described embodiments can be provided by… Figure 9 To perform the operation, one or more of the hardware and / or software components shown are used.

[0097] UE 105 is shown as including hardware elements electrically coupled (or otherwise communicable) via bus 905. The hardware elements may include processors 910, which may include, but are not limited to, one or more general-purpose processors (e.g., application processors), one or more special-purpose processors (such as digital signal processor (DSP) chips, graphics accelerator processors, application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), etc.), and / or other processing structures or means. Processor 910 may include one or more processing units, which may be housed in a single integrated circuit (IC) or multiple ICs. Figure 9 As shown, some embodiments may have a separate DSP 920 depending on the desired functionality. Wireless communication-based location determination and / or other determinations may be provided in the processor 910 and / or the wireless communication interface 930 (discussed below). UE 105 may also include one or more input devices 970 and one or more output devices 915, the input devices 970 including, but not limited to: one or more keyboards, touchscreens, touchpads, microphones, buttons, dial pads, switches, etc.; the output devices 915 including, but not limited to: one or more displays (e.g., touchscreens), light-emitting diodes (LEDs), speakers, etc.

[0098] UE 105 may also include a wireless communication interface 930, which may include, but is not limited to, a modem, a network card, an infrared communication device, a wireless communication device, and / or a chipset (such as...). Devices, such as IEEE 802.11 devices, IEEE 802.15.4 devices, Wi-Fi devices, WiMAX devices, WAN devices, and / or various cellular devices, etc., enable the UE 105 to communicate with other devices as described in the above embodiments. The wireless communication interface 930 may permit the transmission of data and signaling with a network TRP (e.g., via an eNB, gNB, ng-eNB, access point, various base stations, and / or other access node types, and / or other network components), computer systems, and / or any other electronic devices communicatively coupled to a TRP as described herein. Communication may be performed via one or more wireless communication antennas 932 that transmit and / or receive wireless signals 934. According to some embodiments, the wireless communication antenna 932 may include a plurality of discrete antennas, antenna arrays, or any combination thereof. The antenna 932 may be able to transmit and receive wireless signals using beams (e.g., Tx beams and Rx beams). Beamforming may be performed using digital and / or analog beamforming techniques with appropriate digital and / or analog circuitry systems. The wireless communication interface 930 may include such a circuit system.

[0099] Depending on the desired functionality, the wireless communication interface 930 may include separate receivers and transmitters, or any combination of transceivers, transmitters, and / or receivers, to communicate with base stations (e.g., ng-eNBs and gNBs) and other terrestrial transceivers (such as wireless devices and access points). UE 105 can communicate with various data networks, which may include a variety of network types. For example, a wireless wide area network (WWAN) may be a CDMA network, a Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) network, a Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) network, an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) network, a Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) network, a WiMAX (IEEE 802.16) network, and so on. A CDMA network may implement one or more RATs, such as CDMA2000, WCDMA, etc. CDMA2000 includes IS-95, IS-2000, and / or IS-856 standards. A TDMA network may implement GSM, Digital Advanced Mobile Phone Systems (D-AMPS), or some other RAT. OFDMA networks can employ LTE, Advanced LTE, 5G NR, and more. 5G NR, LTE, Advanced LTE, GSM, and WCDMA are described in documents from 3GPP. Cdma2000 is described in documents from an organization called "3rd Generation Partnership Project 2" (3GPP2). 3GPP and 3GPP2 documents are publicly available. WLANs can also be IEEE 802.11x networks, while Wireless Personal Area Networks (WPANs) can be Bluetooth networks, IEEE 802.15x, or some other type of network. The technologies described herein can also be used in any combination of WWAN, WLAN, and / or WPAN.

[0100] UE 105 may further include sensors 940. Sensors 940 may include, but are not limited to, one or more inertial sensors and / or other sensors (e.g., accelerometers, gyroscopes, cameras, magnetometers, altimeters, microphones, proximity sensors, light sensors, barometers, etc.), some of which may be used to obtain measurements and / or other information related to positioning.

[0101] Embodiments of UE 105 may also include a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receiver 980, which is capable of receiving signals 984 from one or more GNSS satellites using an antenna 982 (which may be the same as antenna 932). Positioning based on GNSS signal measurements may be used to supplement and / or incorporate the techniques described herein. The GNSS receiver 980 may use conventional techniques to extract the positioning of UE 105 from GNSS satellites 110 of GNSS systems such as Global Positioning System (GPS), Galileo, GLONASS, Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS) over Japan, IRNSS over India, BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) over China, etc. In addition, the GNSS receiver 980 can be used with various augmentation systems (e.g., satellite-based augmentation systems (SBAS)) that can be associated with or otherwise enabled to be used with one or more global and / or regional navigation satellite systems, such as, for example, the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS), the European Geostationary Navigation Coverage Service (EGNOS), the Multifunctional Satellite Augmentation System (MSAS), and the Geographic Augmentation Navigation System (GAGAN).

[0102] It can be noted that, although in Figure 9 The GNSS receiver 980 is described herein as a distinct component, but embodiments are not limited thereto. As used herein, the term "GNSS receiver" can include hardware and / or software components configured to acquire GNSS measurements (measurements from GNSS satellites). Thus, in some embodiments, the GNSS receiver may include a measurement engine executed by one or more processors (as software), such as processors 910, DSP 920, and / or processors within a wireless communication interface 930 (e.g., in a modem). The GNSS receiver may also optionally include a positioning engine that can use GNSS measurements from the measurement engine to determine the GNSS receiver's location using an extended Kalman filter (EKF), weighted least squares (WLS), a hatch filter, a particle filter, etc. The positioning engine may also be executed by one or more processors (such as processors 910 or DSP 920).

[0103] UE 105 may further include memory 960 and / or be in communication with memory 960. Memory 960 may include, but is not limited to, local and / or network-accessible storage, disk drives, drive arrays, optical storage devices, solid-state storage devices (such as random access memory (RAM) and / or read-only memory (ROM)), which may be programmable, flash-updatable, etc. Such storage devices may be configured to implement any suitable data storage, including but not limited to various file systems, database structures, etc.

[0104] The memory 960 of UE 105 may also include software elements ( Figure 9 (Not shown in the text), these software elements include operating systems, device drivers, executable libraries, and / or other code (such as one or more applications). These software elements may include computer programs provided by various embodiments, and / or may be designed to implement methods provided by other embodiments, and / or configure systems provided by other embodiments, as described herein. By way of example only, one or more procedures described with respect to the methods discussed above may be implemented as code and / or instructions in memory 960 executable by UE 105 (and / or processor 910 or DSP 920 within UE 105). In one aspect, such code and / or instructions may then be used to configure and / or adapt a general-purpose computer (or other device) to perform one or more operations according to the described methods.

[0105] Figure 10 The implementation of base station 120 has been explained, which can be as described above (e.g., in conjunction with...). Figure 1-8 The location described is being utilized. For example, base station 120 can perform... Figure 8 The method shown herein has one or more functions. It should be noted that... Figure 10 This is intended only to provide a general explanation of the various components, and any or all of these components may be used appropriately. In some embodiments, base station 120 may correspond to gNB, ng-eNB, and / or (more generally) TRP.

[0106] Base station 120 is shown to include hardware elements that can be electrically coupled (or otherwise communicated) via bus 1005. The hardware elements may include processors 1010, which may include, but are not limited to, one or more general-purpose processors, one or more special-purpose processors (such as DSP chips, graphics accelerator processors, ASICs, etc.), and / or other processing architectures or devices. Figure 10 As shown, some embodiments may have a separate DSP 1020 depending on the desired functionality. According to some embodiments, location determination and / or other determination based on wireless communication may be provided in the processor 1010 and / or the wireless communication interface 1030 (discussed below). The base station 120 may also include one or more input devices and one or more output devices, the input devices including, but not limited to, a keyboard, display, mouse, microphone, buttons, dial pad, switch, etc.; the output devices including, but not limited to, a display, light-emitting diodes (LEDs), speakers, etc.

[0107] Base station 120 may also include wireless communication interface 1030, which may include, but is not limited to, modems, network cards, infrared communication devices, wireless communication devices and / or chipsets (such as... Devices such as IEEE 802.11 devices, IEEE 802.15.4 devices, Wi-Fi devices, WiMAX devices, cellular communication facilities, etc., enable base station 120 to communicate as described herein. Wireless communication interface 1030 may permit the transmission (e.g., delivery and reception) of data and signaling to UEs, other base stations / TRPs (e.g., eNB, gNB, and ng-eNB), and / or other network components, computer systems, and / or any other electronic devices described herein. Communication may be performed via one or more wireless communication antennas 1032 that transmit and / or receive wireless signals 1034.

[0108] Base station 120 may also include network interface 1080, which may include support for wired communication technologies. Network interface 1080 may include a modem, network interface card, chipset, etc. Network interface 1080 may include one or more input and / or output communication interfaces to allow data exchange with networks, communication network servers, computer systems, and / or any other electronic devices described herein.

[0109] In many embodiments, base station 120 may further include memory 1060. Memory 1060 may include, but is not limited to, local and / or network-accessible storage, disk drives, drive arrays, optical storage devices, solid-state storage devices (such as RAM and / or ROM), which may be programmable, flash-updatable, etc. Such storage devices may be configured to implement any suitable data storage, including but not limited to various file systems, database structures, etc.

[0110] The memory 1060 of base station 120 may also include software elements ( Figure 10 (Not shown in the text), these software elements include operating systems, device drivers, executable libraries, and / or other code (such as one or more applications). These software elements may include computer programs provided by various embodiments, and / or may be designed to implement methods provided by other embodiments, and / or configure systems provided by other embodiments, as described herein. By way of example only, one or more procedures described with respect to the methods discussed above may be implemented as code and / or instructions in memory 1060 executable by base station 120 (and / or processors 1010 or DSP 1020 within base station 120). In some embodiments, such code and / or instructions may be used to configure and / or adapt a general-purpose computer (or other device) to perform one or more operations according to the described methods.

[0111] Figure 11 This is a block diagram of an embodiment of computer system 1100, which can be used, in whole or in part, to provide one or more network components as described in the embodiments herein (e.g., Figure 1 Location server 160 or Figure 2 and 6 The function of the LMF220. It should be noted that... Figure 11 This is merely intended to provide a general explanation of the various components, which can be appropriately utilized by any or all of them. Therefore, Figure 11 It broadly explains how individual system components can be implemented in a relatively separate or relatively more integrated manner. Additionally, it can be noted that... Figure 11 The components of the explanation can be localized into a single device and / or distributed among various networked devices that can be deployed in different geographical locations.

[0112] Computer system 1100 is shown to include hardware elements electrically coupled (or otherwise communicative) via bus 1105. The hardware elements may include processors 1110, which may include, but are not limited to, one or more general-purpose processors, one or more special-purpose processors (such as digital signal processing chips, graphics accelerators, etc.), and / or other processing architectures, configured to perform one or more methods described herein. Computer system 1100 may also include: one or more input devices 1115, which may include, but are not limited to, a mouse, keyboard, camera, microphone, etc.; and one or more output devices 1120, which may include, but are not limited to, display devices, printers, etc.

[0113] Computer system 1100 may further include one or more non-transient storage devices 1125 (and / or in communication with said one or more non-transient storage devices 1125), which may include, but are not limited to, local and / or network-accessible storage, and / or may include, but are not limited to, disk drives, drive arrays, optical storage devices, solid-state storage devices (such as RAM and / or ROM), which may be programmable, flash-updatable, etc. Such storage devices may be configured to implement any suitable data storage, including but not limited to various file systems, database structures, etc. Such data storage may include databases and / or other data structures for storing and managing messages and / or other information to be transmitted via a central hub to one or more devices, as described herein.

[0114] Computer system 1100 may also include a communication subsystem 1130, which may include wireless communication technologies managed and controlled by wireless communication interface 1133, as well as wired technologies (such as Ethernet, coaxial communication, Universal Serial Bus (USB), etc.). Wireless communication interface 1133 may include one or more wireless transceivers that can transmit and receive wireless signals 1155 (e.g., signals according to 5G NR or LTE) via wireless antenna 1150. Thus, communication subsystem 1130 may include modems, network interface cards (wireless or wired), infrared communication devices, wireless communication devices, and / or chipsets, etc., which enable computer system 1100 to communicate with any device (including user equipment (UE), base station and / or other TRP, and / or any other electronic device described herein) on any or all of the communication networks described herein. Therefore, communication subsystem 1130 can be used to receive and transmit data as described in the embodiments herein.

[0115] In many embodiments, computer system 1100 will further include working memory 1135, which may include RAM or ROM devices as described above. Software elements shown to be located within working memory 1135 may include operating system 1140, device drivers, executable libraries, and / or other code (such as one or more applications 1145), which may include computer programs provided by various embodiments and / or may be designed to implement methods provided by other embodiments and / or configure systems provided by other embodiments, as described herein. By way of example only, one or more procedures described with respect to the methods discussed above may be implemented as code and / or instructions executable by a computer (and / or a processor within a computer); in one aspect, such code and / or instructions may then be used to configure and / or adapt a general-purpose computer (or other device) to perform one or more operations according to the described methods.

[0116] These sets of instructions and / or code may be stored on a non-transient computer-readable storage medium (such as storage device(s) 1125 described above). In some cases, the storage medium may be incorporated into a computer system (such as computer system 1100). In other embodiments, the storage medium may be separate from the computer system (e.g., a removable medium, such as an optical disc), and / or may be provided in an installation package so that the storage medium can be used to program, configure, and / or adapt a general-purpose computer storing the instructions / code. These instructions may take the form of executable code (which can be executed by computer system 1100) and / or may take the form of source code and / or installable code, which takes the form of executable code when compiled and / or installed on computer system 1100 (e.g., using various general-purpose compilers, installers, compression / decompression utilities, etc.).

[0117] It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that substantial modifications can be made to suit specific requirements. For example, custom hardware may be used, and / or specific elements may be implemented in hardware, software (including portable software such as applets), or both. Furthermore, connectivity to other computing devices (such as network input / output devices) may be employed.

[0118] Referring to the accompanying drawings, components that may include memory may include non-transient machine-readable media. As used herein, the terms "machine-readable media" and "computer-readable media" refer to any storage medium that participates in providing data that enables a machine to operate in a particular manner. In the embodiments provided above, various machine-readable media may be involved in providing instructions / code to a processor and / or / other devices for execution. Additionally or alternatively, machine-readable media may be used to store and / or carry such instructions / code. In many implementations, computer-readable media are physical and / or tangible storage media. Such media can take many forms, including but not limited to non-volatile and volatile media. Common forms of computer-readable media include, for example: magnetic and / or optical media, any other physical media with a hole pattern, RAM, programmable ROM (PROM), erasable PROM (EPROM), FLASH-EPROM, any other memory chip or memory cartridge, or any other medium from which a computer can read instructions and / or code.

[0119] The methods, systems, and devices discussed herein are examples. Various procedures or components may be appropriately omitted, substituted, or added to the various embodiments. For example, features described with reference to certain embodiments may be combined in various other embodiments. Different aspects and elements of embodiments may be combined in a similar manner. Various components of the accompanying drawings provided herein may be embodied in hardware and / or software. Moreover, technology evolves, and therefore many elements are examples that do not limit the scope of this disclosure to those particular examples.

[0120] Primarily for reasons of common use, referring to such signals as bits, information, values, elements, symbols, characters, variables, items, quantities, numbers, etc., has proven convenient in some cases. However, it should be understood that all such terms, or similar terms, are to be associated with the appropriate physical quantity and are merely convenient labels. Unless otherwise specifically stated, as is apparent from the foregoing discussion, it should be understood that throughout this specification, discussions using terms such as “processing,” “calculating,” “determining,” “identifying,” “ascertaining,” “identifying,” “associating,” “measuring,” “performing,” etc., refer to the actions or processes of a particular device (such as a dedicated computer or similar dedicated electronic computing device). Therefore, in the context of this specification, a dedicated computer or similar dedicated electronic computing device is capable of manipulating or transforming signals of physical, electronic, electrical, or magnetic quantities typically represented in the memory, registers, or other information storage, transmission, or display devices of that dedicated computer or similar dedicated electronic computing device.

[0121] As used herein, the terms “and” and “or” can include a variety of meanings, which are also contemplated to depend at least in part on the context in which such terms are used. Generally, “or,” when used in relation to a list such as A, B, or C, is intended to mean A, B, and C (in the inclusive sense) and A, B, or C (in the exclusive sense). Additionally, the term “one or more” as used herein can be used to describe any feature, structure, or property in the singular form, or can be used to describe some combination of features, structures, or properties. However, it should be noted that this is merely an illustrative example, and the claimed subject matter is not limited to this example. Furthermore, the term “at least one of” when used in relation to a list such as A, B, or C can be interpreted as meaning any combination of A, B, and / or C, such as A, AB, AA, AAB, AABBCCC, etc.

[0122] Several embodiments have been described, and various modifications, substitutions, constructions, and equivalents may be used without departing from the scope of this disclosure. For example, the above elements may be components of a larger system, where other rules may take precedence over the application of the various embodiments or otherwise modify the application of the various embodiments. Furthermore, several steps may be taken before, during, or after considering the above elements. Accordingly, the above description does not limit the scope of this disclosure.

[0123] In view of this specification, various embodiments may include different combinations of features. Examples of implementations are described in the following numbered clauses.

[0124] Clause 1. A method for transmitting an uplink positioning reference signal (UL-PRS) by a first user equipment (UE) to determine the location of the first UE, the method comprising: at the first UE, receiving a configuration for the UL-PRS, wherein: (i) the configuration is received from a base station and a first spatial relation of the configuration is: undefined, defined as a positioning-related reference signal received by the first UE from a second UE, or defined as a synchronization signal block (SSB) sent to the first UE; or (ii) the configuration is received from the second UE or from the serving gNB of the first UE, wherein the configuration uses a signal sent by the second UE to the first UE via a side link (SL) interface to define a second spatial relation; determining how to transmit the UL-PRS based at least in part on the configuration; and the first UE transmitting the UL-PRS based on the determination of how to transmit the UL-PRS.

[0125] Clause 2. The method of Clause 1, wherein determining how to transmit the UL-PRS includes: determining whether to use a transmit (Tx) beam to transmit the UL-PRS; and, if it is determined that the Tx beam is to be used to transmit the UL-PRS, determining which Tx beam to use.

[0126] Clause 3. The method of any of Clauses 1-2, wherein if the first spatial relationship of the configuration is undefined, the UL-PRS is transmitted by the first UE in omnidirectional mode.

[0127] Clause 4. The method of any one of Clauses 1-2, wherein the first spatial relationship of the configuration is defined as the location-related reference signal of the second UE; the first UE receives the location-related reference signal of the second UE via a receive (Rx) beam; and determining how to transmit the UL-PRS includes determining which Tx beam closest to the Rx beam is used from a plurality of Tx beams configured for transmitting the signal by the first UE to transmit the UL-PRS.

[0128] Clause 5. The method of any of Clauses 1-4, wherein the positioning-related reference signal is received via the Uu interface between the first UE and the second UE.

[0129] Clause 6. The method of any of Clauses 1-4, wherein the positioning-related reference signal is received via the SL interface between the first UE and the second UE.

[0130] Clause 7. The method of any one of Clauses 1-2 and 5-6, wherein the first spatial relationship of the configuration is defined as the SSB of the first gNB; the first UE receives the SSB of the first gNB via an Rx beam; and determining how to transmit the UL-PRS includes determining which Tx beam closest to the Rx beam is used from among a plurality of Tx beams from which the first UE is configured to transmit a signal to transmit the UL-PRS.

[0131] Clause 8. The method of any one of Clauses 1-7, wherein the configuration further includes a path loss (PL) reference for the UL-PRS, and determines how the UL-PRS is transmitted further based on the PL reference.

[0132] Clause 9. The method of any of Clauses 1-8, wherein the configuration is received from the second UE or from the serving gNB of the first UE, and is used by the first UE as one or more aspects of the SL interface of the second spatial relationship, the PL reference, or both, including: Physical Side Link Control Channel (PSCCH), Physical Side Link Shared Channel (PSSCH), Physical Side Link Broadcast Channel (PSBCH), Side Link Channel State Information Reference Signal (SL-CSI RS), or Physical Side Link Feedback Channel (PSFCH), or any combination thereof.

[0133] Clause 10. The method of any one of Clauses 1-9, wherein the configuration further includes the UE identity of the second UE.

[0134] Clause 11. A method of configuring a first user equipment (UE) to transmit an uplink positioning reference signal (UL-PRS) to a second UE for determining the location of the first UE, the method comprising: determining a spatial relationship for the UL-PRS at a base station; including the spatial relationship in a configuration for the first UE based on the determined spatial relationship for the UL-PRS, wherein the spatial relationship of the configuration is: undefined, defined as a positioning-related reference signal received by the first UE from the second UE via a side link (SL) interface, or defined as a synchronization signal block (SSB) sent to the first UE; and transmitting the configuration from the base station to the first UE.

[0135] Clause 12. The method of Clause 11, wherein the base station transmits the configuration for the first UE to the UE via Radio Resource Control (RRC).

[0136] Clause 13. The method of any one of Clauses 11-12 further includes: including path loss (PL) for the UL-PRS in the configuration for the first UE.

[0137] Clause 14. The method of any one of Clauses 11-13, wherein determining the spatial relationship for the UL-PRS includes obtaining location-related information about the second UE from the serving base station of the second UE.

[0138] Clause 15. The method of Clause 14, wherein the location-related information is obtained from the serving base station of the second UE via the Xn interface, a location server, or both.

[0139] Clause 16. A first user equipment (UE) for transmitting an uplink positioning reference signal (UL-PRS) to determine the location of the first UE, the first UE comprising: a transceiver; a memory; and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the transceiver and the memory, wherein the one or more processors are configured to: receive via the transceiver a configuration for the UL-PRS, wherein: (i) the configuration is received from a base station and a first spatial relationship of the configuration is: undefined, defined as a positioning-related reference signal received by the first UE from a second UE, or defined as a synchronization signal block (SSB) sent to the first UE; or (ii) the configuration is received from the second UE or from the serving gNB of the first UE, wherein the configuration uses a signal sent by the second UE to the first UE via a side link (SL) interface to define a second spatial relationship; determine how to transmit the UL-PRS based at least in part on the configuration; and transmit the UL-PRS via the transceiver based on the determination of how to transmit the UL-PRS.

[0140] Clause 17. As in Clause 16 for the first UE, wherein, in order to determine how to transmit the UL-PRS, the one or more processors are configured to: determine whether to use a transmit (Tx) beam to transmit the UL-PRS; and if so, determine which Tx beam to use.

[0141] Clause 18. The first UE as in any of Clauses 16-17, wherein the one or more processors are configured to transmit the UL-PRS in omnidirectional mode via the transceiver if the first spatial relationship of the configuration is undefined.

[0142] Clause 19. The first UE as described in any of Clauses 16-18, wherein the one or more processors are configured to receive the location-related reference signal of the second UE via a receiving (Rx) beam when the first spatial relationship of the configuration is defined as the location-related reference signal of the second UE; and in order to determine how to transmit the UL-PRS, the one or more processors are configured to: determine from the plurality of Tx beams configured for transmitting the signal of the first UE the Tx beam closest to the Rx beam to transmit the UL-PRS.

[0143] Clause 20. For the first UE as described in any of Clauses 16-19, the one or more processors are configured to receive the positioning-related reference signal via a Uu interface between the first UE and the second UE.

[0144] Clause 21. For the first UE as described in any of Clauses 16-20, the one or more processors are configured to receive the positioning-related reference signal via the SL interface between the first UE and the second UE.

[0145] Clause 22. For any of Clauses 16-21, the one or more processors are configured to: receive the SSB of the first gNB via an Rx beam, provided that a first spatial relationship of the configuration is defined in the SSB of the first gNB; and in order to determine how to transmit the UL-PRS, the one or more processors are configured to: determine which Tx beam closest to the Rx beam is used from among the plurality of Tx beams from which the first UE is configured to transmit the signal to transmit the UL-PRS.

[0146] Clause 23. The first UE as in any of Clauses 16-22, wherein the one or more processors are configured to determine how to transmit the UL-PRS based on the PL reference, provided that the configuration further includes a path loss (PL) reference for the UL-PRS.

[0147] Clause 24. The first UE as described in any of Clauses 16-23, wherein the one or more processors are configured to: receive the configuration from the second UE or the serving gNB of the first UE; and use one or more aspects of the SL interface as the second spatial relationship, the PL reference, or both, wherein the one or more aspects of the SL interface include: Physical Sidelink Control Channel (PSCCH), Physical Sidelink Shared Channel (PSSCH), Physical Sidelink Broadcast Channel (PSBCH), Sidelink Channel State Information Reference Signal (SL-CSI RS), or Physical Sidelink Feedback Channel (PSFCH), or any combination thereof.

[0148] Clause 25. The first UE as in any of Clauses 16-24, wherein, in order to receive the configuration for the UL-PRS, the one or more processors are configured to: receive the configuration including the UE identity of the second UE.

[0149] Clause 26. A base station for configuring a first user equipment (UE) to transmit an uplink positioning reference signal (UL-PRS) to a second UE for determining the location of the first UE, the base station comprising: a transceiver; a memory; and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the transceiver and the memory, wherein the one or more processors are configured to: determine a spatial relationship for the UL-PRS via the transceiver; include a spatial relationship in a configuration for the first UE based on the determined spatial relationship for the UL-PRS, wherein the spatial relationship of the configuration is: undefined, defined as a positioning-related reference signal received by the first UE from the second UE via a side link (SL) interface, or defined as a synchronization signal block (SSB) sent to the first UE; and transmit the configuration from the base station to the first UE via the transceiver.

[0150] Clause 27. A base station as described in Clause 26, wherein the one or more processors are configured to transmit the configuration for the first UE to the UE via Radio Resource Control (RRC).

[0151] Clause 28. A base station as described in any of Clauses 26-27, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to include path loss (PL) for the UL-PRS in the configuration for the first UE.

[0152] Clause 29. A base station as described in Clause 28, wherein, in order to determine the spatial relationship for the UL-PRS, the one or more processors are configured to obtain location-related information about the second UE from the serving base station of the second UE.

[0153] Clause 30. A base station as described in any of Clauses 26-29, wherein the one or more processors are configured to obtain the location-related information from the serving base station of the second UE via an Xn interface, a location server, or both.

[0154] Clause 31. An apparatus configured to perform any of the methods in Clauses 1-15.

[0155] Clause 32. A non-transient computer-readable medium storing instructions, including code for performing any of the methods in Clauses 1-15.

Claims

1. A method for determining the location of a first user equipment (UE) by transmitting an uplink positioning reference signal (UL-PRS), the method comprising: At the first UE, configuration for the UL-PRS is received, wherein: (i) The configuration is received from the network node and the first spatial relationship of the configuration regarding the transmission of the UL-PRS is defined as the positioning-related reference signal received by the first UE from the second UE via the receiving Rx beam; or (ii) The configuration is received from a third UE or from the serving gNB of the first UE, wherein the configuration regarding the transmission of the UL-PRS uses a signal sent by the third UE to the first UE via the sidelink SL interface to define the second spatial relationship; The method of transmitting the UL-PRS is determined at least in part based on the configuration, wherein the first spatial relationship in response to the configuration is defined as the location-related reference signal received from the second UE, and determining how to transmit the UL-PRS includes determining which of the plurality of transmit Tx beams configured from the first UE to transmit the signal is the Tx beam closest to the Rx beam to transmit the UL-PRS; and The first UE transmits the UL-PRS based on the determination of how to transmit the UL-PRS.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining how to transmit the UL-PRS comprises: Determine whether to use the transmit Tx beam to transmit the UL-PRS; as well as, If it is determined that the Tx beam should be used to transmit the UL-PRS, then determine which Tx beam to use.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein if the first spatial relationship in the configuration is undefined, the UL-PRS is transmitted by the first UE in omnidirectional mode.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the positioning-related reference signal is received via the Uu interface between the first UE and the second UE.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the positioning-related reference signal is received via the SL interface between the first UE and the second UE.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the configuration further includes a path loss PL reference for the UL-PRS, and determining how to transmit the UL-PRS is further based on the PL reference.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the configuration is received from the second UE or from the serving gNB of the first UE, and one or more aspects of the SL interface used by the first UE as the second spatial relationship, PL reference, or both include: Physical Side Link Control Channel (PSCCH) Physical Side Link Shared Channel (PSSCH) Physical Side Link Broadcast Channel (PSBCH) Sidelink Channel State Information Reference Signal (SL-CSIRS), or Physical side link feedback channel PSFCH, or Any combination thereof.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the configuration further includes the UE identity of the second UE.

9. A method for configuring a first user equipment (UE) to transmit an uplink positioning reference signal (UL-PRS) to a second UE for determining the location of the first UE, the method comprising: Determine the spatial relationships used for transmitting the UL-PRS at network nodes; The configuration for the first UE includes the spatial relationship, wherein the spatial relationship of the configuration is defined using a positioning-related reference signal received by the first UE from the second UE via a sidelink SL interface; and The configuration is transmitted from the network node to the first UE.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the network node transmits the configuration for the first UE to the UE via Radio Resource Control (RRC).

11. The method of claim 9, further comprising including path loss PL for the UL-PRS in the configuration for the first UE.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein determining the spatial relationship for the UL-PRS includes obtaining location-related information about the second UE from the serving network node of the second UE.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the location-related information is obtained from the serving network node of the second UE via an Xn interface, a location server, or both.

14. A first user equipment (UE) for transmitting an uplink positioning reference signal (UL-PRS) to determine the location of the first UE, the first UE comprising: transceiver; Memory; as well as One or more processors communicatively coupled to the transceiver and the memory, wherein the one or more processors are configured to: The transceiver receives the configuration for the UL-PRS, wherein: (i) The configuration is received from the network node and the first spatial relationship of the configuration for transmitting the UL-PRS is defined as the positioning-related reference signal received by the first UE from the second UE via the receiving Rx beam, or (ii) The configuration is received from a third UE or from the serving gNB of the first UE, wherein the configuration regarding the transmission of the UL-PRS uses a signal sent by the third UE to the first UE via the sidelink SL interface to define the second spatial relationship; The method of transmitting the UL-PRS is determined at least in part based on the configuration, wherein the first spatial relationship in response to the configuration is defined as the location-related reference signal received from the second UE, and determining how to transmit the UL-PRS includes determining which of the plurality of transmit Tx beams configured from the first UE to transmit the signal is the Tx beam closest to the Rx beam to transmit the UL-PRS; and Based on the determination of how to transmit the UL-PRS, the UL-PRS is transmitted via the transceiver.

15. The first UE as claimed in claim 14, wherein, To determine how to transmit the UL-PRS, the one or more processors are configured to: Determine whether to use the transmit Tx beam to transmit the UL-PRS; and if so, Determine which Tx beam to use.

16. The first UE of claim 14, wherein the one or more processors are configured to transmit the UL-PRS in omnidirectional mode via the transceiver if the first spatial relationship of the configuration is undefined.

17. The first UE as claimed in claim 14, wherein the one or more processors are configured to receive the positioning-related reference signal via a Uu interface between the first UE and the second UE.

18. The first UE as claimed in claim 14, wherein the one or more processors are configured to receive the positioning-related reference signal via the SL interface between the first UE and the second UE.

19. The first UE of claim 14, wherein the one or more processors are configured to determine how to transmit the UL-PRS based on the PL reference, provided that the configuration further includes a path loss PL reference for the UL-PRS.

20. The first UE of claim 14, wherein the one or more processors are configured to: Receive the configuration from the second UE or from the serving gNB of the first UE; and One or more aspects of the SL interface are used as the second spatial relation, PL reference, or both, wherein the one or more aspects of the SL interface include: Physical Side Link Control Channel (PSCCH) Physical Side Link Shared Channel (PSSCH) Physical Side Link Broadcast Channel (PSBCH) Sidelink Channel State Information Reference Signal (SL-CSIRS), or Physical side link feedback channel PSFCH, or Any combination thereof.

21. The first UE as claimed in claim 20, wherein, In order to receive the configuration for the UL-PRS, the one or more processors are configured to receive the configuration including the UE identity of the second UE.

22. A network node for configuring a first user equipment (UE) to transmit an uplink positioning reference signal (UL-PRS) to a second UE for determining the location of the first UE, the network node comprising: transceiver; Memory; as well as One or more processors communicatively coupled to the transceiver and the memory, wherein the one or more processors are configured to: The spatial relationships used for transmitting the UL-PRS are determined via the transceiver. The configuration for the first UE includes the spatial relationship, wherein the spatial relationship of the configuration is defined using a positioning-related reference signal received by the first UE from the second UE via a sidelink SL interface; and The configuration is transmitted from the network node to the first UE via the transceiver.

23. The network node of claim 22, wherein the one or more processors are configured to transmit the configuration for the first UE to the UE via Radio Resource Control (RRC).

24. The network node of claim 22, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to include path loss PL for the UL-PRS in the configuration for the first UE.

25. The network node of claim 22, wherein, in order to determine the spatial relationship for the UL-PRS, the one or more processors are configured to obtain location-related information about the second UE from the serving network node of the second UE.

26. The network node of claim 25, wherein the one or more processors are configured to obtain the location-related information from the serving network node of the second UE via an Xn interface, a location server, or both.

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