Interaction between uplink positioning reference signal, discontinuous reception, and wake-up signal

Abstract

A technique for wireless communication is disclosed. In one aspect, a DRX active time for a user equipment (UE) configured to switch to the DRX mode in a discontinuous reception (DRX) mode, and one or more UL-PRS resources for transmitting the UL-PRS timing based on the overlap at least partially between the uplink positioning reference signal (UL-PRS) timing and the DRX off time following the DRX active time in the DRX cycle.

Description

[0001] Cross-references to related applications

[0002] This patent application claims U.S. Provisional Application No. 63 / 062,155, filed August 6, 2020, entitled "INTERACTION BETWEEN UPLINK POSITIONING REFERENCE SIGNALS (UL-PRS), DISCONTINUOS RECEPTION (DRX), AND WAKEUP SIGNALS (WUS)," and U.S. Provisional Application No. 63 / 062,155, filed August 2, 2021, entitled "INTERACTION BETWEEN UPLINK POSITIONING REFERENCE SIGNALS (UL-PRS), DISCONTINUOS RECEPTION (DRX), AND WAKEUP SIGNALS (WUS)." The benefits of U.S. non-provisional application No. 17 / 391,837, entitled “Interaction between uplink positioning reference signal (UL-PRS), discontinuous reception (DRX), and wake-up signal (WUS),” are assigned to the assignee of this application and are expressly incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

[0003] Public background

[0004] 1. Public domain

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

[0006] 2. Relevant Technical Descriptions

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

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

[0009] Overview

[0010] The following is a simplified overview relating to one or more aspects disclosed herein. Therefore, this overview should not be considered an exhaustive overview relating to all aspects of the conception, nor should it be considered to identify key or decisive elements relating to all aspects of the conception or to depict the scope associated with any particular aspect. Accordingly, the sole purpose of the following overview is to present, in a simplified form, certain concepts relating to one or more aspects of the mechanism disclosed herein before the detailed description given below.

[0011] In one aspect, a wireless communication method performed by a user equipment (UE) configured to operate in a discontinuous reception (DRX) mode includes: a DRX active time of a DRX cycle switching to the DRX mode; and one or more UL-PRS resources for transmitting the UL-PRS timing based on an uplink positioning reference signal (UL-PRS) timing that at least partially overlaps with a DRX off time following the DRX active time in the DRX cycle.

[0012] In one aspect, a user equipment (UE) configured to operate in discontinuous reception (DRX) mode includes: a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: switch to a DRX active time of a DRX cycle in the DRX mode; and transmit one or more UL-PRS resources via the at least one transceiver based on an uplink positioning reference signal (UL-PRS) timing that at least partially overlaps with a DRX off time following the DRX active time in the DRX cycle.

[0013] In one aspect, a user equipment (UE) configured to operate in discontinuous reception (DRX) mode includes: means for a DRX active time of a DRX cycle for switching to the DRX mode; and means for transmitting one or more UL-PRS resources based on an uplink positioning reference signal (UL-PRS) timing that at least partially overlaps with a DRX off time following the DRX active time in the DRX cycle.

[0014] In one aspect, a non-transient computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a user equipment (UE) configured to operate in discontinuous reception (DRX) mode, cause the UE to: switch to a DRX active time of a DRX cycle in the DRX mode; and transmit one or more UL-PRS resources based on an uplink positioning reference signal (UL-PRS) timing that at least partially overlaps with a DRX off time following the DRX active time in the DRX cycle.

[0015] Other objectives and advantages associated with the aspects disclosed herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art based on the accompanying drawings and detailed description. Brief description of the attached diagram

[0017] The accompanying drawings are provided to help describe various aspects of this disclosure, and the drawings are provided for illustrative purposes only and not for limiting the aspects.

[0018] Figure 1 Example wireless communication systems based on various aspects of this disclosure are explained.

[0019] Figure 2A and 2B Example wireless network architectures based on various aspects of this disclosure are explained.

[0020] Figure 3A , 3B 3C is a simplified block diagram of several exemplary components that can be adopted in user equipment (UE), base stations, and network entities and configured to support communications as taught herein.

[0021] Figure 4A This is a diagram illustrating example frame structures based on various aspects of this disclosure.

[0022] Figure 4B This is a diagram illustrating various downlink channels within example downlink time slots according to various aspects of this disclosure.

[0023] Figure 4C This is a diagram illustrating various uplink channels within example uplink time slots according to various aspects of this disclosure.

[0024] Figures 5A to 5C Example discontinuous reception (DRX) configurations based on various aspects of this disclosure are explained.

[0025] Figure 6 It is a simplified timing diagram of the wake-up signal and the start time of the discontinuous reception mode.

[0026] Figure 7 The example downlink control information (DCI) format used for the wake-up signal (WUS) is explained.

[0027] Figures 8A to 8C Examples of possible overlap between the uplink positioning reference signal and the start time of the discontinuous reception mode according to various aspects of this disclosure are explained.

[0028] Figure 9 This is a diagram illustrating the rules for uplink positioning reference signals, discontinuous reception modes, and interactions between WUS according to various aspects of this disclosure.

[0029] Figure 10 An example scenario was described where the WUS had indicated that the next discontinuous reception cycle should be skipped, but the UE woke up to monitor the physical downlink control channel for instructions on how to transmit the uplink positioning signal.

[0030] Figure 11 Example wireless communication methods based on various aspects of this disclosure are explained.

[0031] Detailed description

[0032] Various aspects of this disclosure are provided below in the description and accompanying drawings of various examples provided for illustrative purposes. Alternative aspects may be designed without departing from the scope of this disclosure. Furthermore, elements well-known in this disclosure will not be described in detail or will be omitted so as not to obscure the relevant details of this disclosure.

[0033] The terms “exemplary” and / or “example” are used herein to mean “serving as an example, instance, or illustration.” Any aspect described herein as “exemplary” and / or “example” is not necessarily to be construed as superior to or better than the others. Similarly, the term “aspects of this disclosure” does not require that all aspects of this disclosure include the features, advantages, or modes of operation discussed.

[0034] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the information and signals described below can be represented using any of a variety of different techniques and arts. For example, the data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referred to throughout the following description may be represented by voltage, current, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or magnetic particles, optical fields or optical particles, or any combination thereof, depending in part on the specific application, in part on the desired design, in part on the corresponding technology, etc.

[0035] Furthermore, many aspects are described in the form of sequences of actions performed by elements of, for example, computing devices. It will be appreciated that the various actions described herein can be performed by special-purpose circuitry (e.g., application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs)), by program instructions being executed by one or more processors, or by a combination of both. Additionally, the sequences of actions described herein can be considered to be fully embodied in any form of non-transient computer-readable storage medium storing a corresponding set of computer instructions that, upon execution, will cause an associated processor of the device to perform the functions described herein. Thus, various aspects of this disclosure can be embodied in several different forms, all of which are contemplated to fall within the scope of the claimed subject matter. Furthermore, for each aspect described herein, a corresponding form of any such aspect may be described herein as, for example, "logic configured to perform the described actions."

[0036] As used herein, the terms “User Equipment” (UE) and “Base Station” are not intended to be specific to or otherwise limited to any particular Radio Access Technology (RAT) unless otherwise stated. Generally, a UE can be any wireless communication device used by a user to communicate over a wireless communication network (e.g., mobile phone, router, tablet computer, laptop computer, consumer asset positioning device, wearable device (e.g., smartwatch, glasses, augmented reality (AR) / virtual reality (VR) headset, etc.), vehicle (e.g., car, motorcycle, bicycle, etc.), Internet of Things (IoT) device, etc.). A UE can be mobile or can (e.g., at certain times) be stationary and can communicate with a Radio Access Network (RAN). As used herein, the term “UE” can be interchangeably referred to as “Access Terminal” or “AT”, “Client Equipment”, “Wireless Equipment”, “Subscriber Equipment”, “Subscriber Terminal”, “Subscriber Station”, “User Terminal” or “UT”, “Mobile Equipment”, “Mobile Terminal”, “Mobile Station”, or variations thereof. Generally, a UE can communicate with the core network via the RAN, and through the core network, the UE can connect to external networks (such as the Internet) and other UEs. Of course, other mechanisms for connecting to the core network and / or the Internet are also possible for the UE, such as through a wired access network, a wireless local area network (WLAN) (e.g., based on the IEEE 802.11 standard), and so on.

[0037] A base station may operate according to one of several RATs to communicate with a UE, depending on the network in which it is deployed, and may be alternatively referred to as an Access Point (AP), Network Node, B-Node, Evolved B-Node (eNB), Next Generation eNB (ng-eNB), New Radio (NR) B-Node (also referred to as gNB or gNodeB), etc. A base station may primarily be used to support radio access by the UE, including supporting data, voice, and / or signaling connections with the supported UE. In some systems, the base station may provide purely edge node signaling functions, while in others, it may provide additional control and / or network management functions. The communication link through which the UE can signal to the base station is called an uplink (UL) channel (e.g., reverse traffic channel, reverse control channel, access channel, etc.). The communication link through which the base station can signal to the UE is called a downlink (DL) or forward link channel (e.g., paging channel, control channel, broadcast channel, forward traffic channel, etc.). As used herein, the term traffic channel (TCH) may refer to an uplink / reverse traffic channel or a downlink / forward traffic channel.

[0038] The term "base station" can refer to a single physical transmit / receive point (TRP) or multiple physical TRPs that may or may not be located in the same place. For example, when the term "base station" refers to a single physical TRP, the physical TRP may be a base station antenna corresponding to a cell (or several cell sectors) of the base station. When the term "base station" refers to multiple physical TRPs located in the same place, the physical TRP may be an antenna array of the base station (e.g., in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system or in the case of beamforming at the base station). When the term "base station" refers to multiple physical TRPs not located in the same place, the physical TRP may be a distributed antenna system (DAS) (a network of spatially separated antennas connected to a common source via a transmission medium) or a remote radio headend (RRH) (a remote base station connected to a serving base station). Alternatively, physical TRPs not located in the same place may be the serving base station from which the UE receives measurement reports and neighboring base stations from which the UE is measuring its reference radio frequency (RF) signal. Since a TRP is the point from which a base station transmits and receives wireless signals, as used herein, references to transmissions from or receptions at a base station should be understood as references to the specific TRP of that base station.

[0039] In some implementations that support UE positioning, the base station may not support the UE's radio access (e.g., it may not support data, voice, and / or signaling connections regarding the UE), but may instead transmit reference signals to the UE for measurement, and / or receive and measure signals transmitted by the UE. Such a base station may be referred to as a positioning tower (e.g., in the case of transmitting signals to the UE) and / or as a location measurement unit (e.g., in the case of receiving and measuring signals from the UE).

[0040] An “RF signal” refers to an electromagnetic wave of a given frequency that transmits information across the space between a transmitter and a receiver. As used herein, a transmitter may transmit a single “RF signal” or multiple “RF signals” to a receiver. However, due to the propagation characteristics of individual RF signals through a multipath channel, a receiver may receive multiple “RF signals” corresponding to each transmitted RF signal. The same RF signal transmitted on different paths between the transmitter and receiver can be referred to as a “multipath” RF signal. As used herein, an RF signal may also be referred to as a “wireless signal” or simply a “signal,” where the context clearly indicates that the term “signal” refers to a wireless signal or an RF signal.

[0041] Figure 1An example wireless communication system 100 according to various aspects of this disclosure is described. The wireless communication system 100 (which may also be referred to as a wireless wide area network (WWAN)) may include various base stations 102 (labeled "BS") and various UEs 104. Base station 102 may include macrocell base stations (high-power cellular base stations) and / or small cell base stations (low-power cellular base stations). In one aspect, the macrocell base station may include an eNB and / or an ng-eNB (where the wireless communication system 100 corresponds to an LTE network), or a gNB (where the wireless communication system 100 corresponds to an NR network), or a combination of both, and the small cell base station may include femtocells, picocells, microcells, etc.

[0042] Each base station 102 can collectively form a RAN and interface with the core network 170 (e.g., an evolved packet core (EPC) or a 5G core (5GC)) via backhaul link 122, and access one or more location servers 172 (e.g., location management function (LMF) or secure user plane positioning (SUPL) location platform (SLP)) via the core network 170. The location server 172 can be part of the core network 170 or external to the core network 170. The location server 172 can be integrated with the base station 102. The UE 104 can communicate with the location server 172 directly or indirectly. For example, the UE 104 can communicate with the location server 172 via the base station 102 currently serving the UE 104. The UE 104 can also communicate with the location server 172 via another path (such as via an application server (not shown)), via another network (such as via a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point (AP) (e.g., AP 150 described below)), etc. For signaling purposes, communication between UE 104 and location server 172 may be represented as an indirect connection (e.g., via core network 170, etc.) or a direct connection (e.g., as shown via direct connection 128), wherein intermediary nodes (if any) are omitted from the signaling diagram for clarity.

[0043] In addition to other functions, base station 102 may also perform functions related to one or more of the following: transmitting user data, radio channel cryptography and decoding, integrity protection, header compression, mobility control functions (e.g., handover, dual connectivity), inter-cell interference coordination, connection establishment and release, load balancing, distribution of Non-Access Stratum (NAS) messages, NAS node selection, synchronization, RAN sharing, Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (MBMS), subscriber and equipment tracking, RAN Information Management (RIM), paging, location, and delivery of alarm messages. Base stations 102 may communicate with each other directly or indirectly (e.g., via EPC / 5GC) through backhaul link 134 (which may be wired or wireless).

[0044] Base station 102 can wirelessly communicate with UE 104. Each base station 102 can provide communication coverage for its respective geographical coverage area 110. In one aspect, one or more cells can be supported by base station 102 in each geographical coverage area 110. A “cell” is a logical communication entity used to communicate with a base station (e.g., on a frequency resource, it is referred to as a carrier frequency, component carrier, carrier, frequency band, etc.) and can be associated with identifiers (e.g., Physical Cell Identifier (PCI), Enhanced Cell Identifier (ECI), Virtual Cell Identifier (VCI), Cell Global Identifier (CGI), etc.) to distinguish cells operating via the same or different carrier frequencies. In some cases, different cells can be configured according to different protocol types that can provide access to different types of UEs (e.g., Machine Type Communication (MTC), Narrowband IoT (NB-IoT), Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB), or others). Since cells are supported by specific base stations, the term “cell” can refer to either or both of the logical communication entity and the base station supporting that logical communication entity, depending on the context. Additionally, since the TRP is typically the physical transmission point of a cell, the terms "cell" and "TRP" are used interchangeably. In some cases, the term "cell" can also refer to the geographical coverage area (e.g., sector) of a base station, in the sense that the carrier frequency can be detected and used for communication within a portion of a geographical coverage area 110.

[0045] While the geographic coverage areas 110 of adjacent macrocell base stations 102 may partially overlap (e.g., in handover areas), some geographic coverage areas 110 may substantially overlap with larger geographic coverage areas 110. For example, a small cell base station 102' ("SC" labeled "small cell") may have geographic coverage areas 110' that substantially overlap with the geographic coverage areas 110 of one or more macrocell base stations 102. A network that includes both small cell and macrocell base stations may be referred to as a heterogeneous network. A heterogeneous network may also include home eNBs (HeNBs) that provide service to a restricted group known as a Closed Subscriber Group (CSG).

[0046] The communication link 120 between base station 102 and UE 104 may include uplink (also known as reverse link) transmission from UE 104 to base station 102 and / or downlink (DL) (also known as forward link) transmission from base station 102 to UE 104. The communication link 120 may use MIMO antenna technologies, including spatial multiplexing, beamforming, and / or transmit diversity. The communication link 120 may use one or more carrier frequencies. Carrier allocation may be asymmetric with respect to the downlink and uplink (e.g., more or fewer carriers may be allocated to the downlink compared to the uplink).

[0047] The wireless communication system 100 may further include a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point (AP) 150 communicating with a WLAN station (STA) 152 via a communication link 154 in unlicensed spectrum (e.g., 5 GHz). When communicating in unlicensed spectrum, the WLAN STA 152 and / or WLAN AP 150 may perform a clear channel assessment (CCA) or listen-before-speak (LBT) procedure to determine channel availability before communication.

[0048] Small cell base station 102' can operate in licensed and / or unlicensed spectrum. When operating in unlicensed spectrum, small cell base station 102' can employ LTE or NR technology and use the same 5 GHz unlicensed spectrum as used by WLAN AP 150. Small cell base station 102' employing LTE / 5G in unlicensed spectrum can enhance access network coverage and / or increase access network capacity. NR in unlicensed spectrum may be referred to as NR-U. LTE in unlicensed spectrum may be referred to as LTE-U, Licensed Assisted Access (LAA), or MulteFire.

[0049] The wireless communication system 100 may further include a millimeter-wave (mmW) base station 180, which can operate in mmW and / or near-mmW frequencies to communicate with the UE 182. Extremely high frequency (EHF) is a portion of the electromagnetic spectrum that contains radio frequency (RF). EHF has a range of 30 GHz to 300 GHz and wavelengths between 1 mm and 10 mm. Radio waves in this band are referred to as millimeter waves. Near-mmW extends down to a 3 GHz frequency with a 100 mm wavelength. Ultra-high frequency (SHF) bands extend between 3 GHz and 30 GHz, and are also referred to as centimeter waves. Communication using mmW / near-mmW RF bands has high path loss and relatively short range. The mmW base station 180 and the UE 182 can utilize beamforming (transmit and / or receive) on the mmW communication link 184 to compensate for the extremely high path loss and short range. Furthermore, it will be appreciated that in alternative configurations, one or more base stations 102 may also use mmW or near-mmW and beamforming for transmission. Accordingly, it will be understood that the foregoing explanations are merely illustrative and should not be construed as limiting the aspects disclosed herein.

[0050] Transmit beamforming is a technique for focusing RF signals in a specific direction. Conventionally, when a network node (e.g., a base station) broadcasts an RF signal, it broadcasts the signal in all directions (omnidirectionally). Using transmit beamforming, the network node determines where a given target device (e.g., a UE) is located (relative to the transmitting network node) and projects a stronger downlink RF signal in that specific direction, thus providing the receiving device with a faster (in terms of data rate) and stronger RF signal. To change the directivity of the RF signal during transmission, the network node can control the phase and relative amplitude of the RF signal at each of one or more transmitters broadcasting the RF signal. For example, the network node can use an antenna array (referred to as a "phased array" or "antenna array") that generates a beam of RF waves, which can be "guided" to different directions without actually moving the antennas. Specifically, RF currents from the transmitters are fed to the individual antennas with the correct phase relationship so that radio waves from the separate antennas add together in the desired direction to increase radiation, while simultaneously canceling each other out in the undesired direction to suppress radiation.

[0051] Transmit beams can be quasi-co-located, meaning they appear to the receiver (e.g., the UE) to have the same parameters regardless of whether the transmit antennas of the network node are physically co-located. In NR, there are four types of quasi-co-location (QCL) relationships. Specifically, a given type of QCL relationship means that certain parameters of the second reference RF signal on the second beam can be derived from information about the source reference RF signal on the source beam. Therefore, if the source reference RF signal is QCL type A, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, and delay spread of the second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL type B, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift and Doppler spread of the second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL type C, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift and average delay of the second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is of type QCL D, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the spatial reception parameters of the second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel.

[0052] In receive beamforming, a receiver uses a receive beam to amplify an RF signal detected on a given channel. For example, a receiver may increase the gain setting of an antenna array and / or adjust the phase setting of the antenna array in a specific direction to amplify the RF signal received from that direction (e.g., increase its gain level). Thus, when a receiver is referred to as beamforming in a certain direction, it means that the beam gain in that direction is higher than the beam gain in other directions, or that the beam gain in that direction is the highest compared to the beam gain of all other receive beams available to the receiver in that direction. This results in a stronger received signal strength (e.g., Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP), Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ), Signal-to-Interference-plus-Noise Ratio (SINR), etc.) of the RF signal received from that direction.

[0053] The transmit and receive beams can be spatially correlated. Spatial correlation means that the parameters of the second beam (e.g., the transmit or receive beam) used for the second reference signal can be derived from information about the first beam (e.g., the receive or transmit beam) of the first reference signal. For example, a UE can use a specific receive beam to receive a reference downlink reference signal (e.g., a synchronization signal block (SSB)) from a base station. The UE can then form a transmit beam based on the parameters of the receive beam to transmit an uplink reference signal (e.g., a probe reference signal (SRS)) to that base station.

[0054] Note that, depending on the entity forming the "downlink" beam, the beam can be either a transmit beam or a receive beam. For example, if a base station is forming a downlink beam to transmit a reference signal to a UE, then the downlink beam is a transmit beam. However, if a UE is forming a downlink beam, then the downlink beam is a receive beam for receiving downlink reference signals. Similarly, depending on the entity forming the "uplink" beam, the beam can be either a transmit beam or a receive beam. For example, if a base station is forming an uplink beam, then the uplink beam is an uplink receive beam, while if a UE is forming an uplink beam, then the uplink beam is an uplink transmit beam.

[0055] The electromagnetic spectrum is typically subdivided into various classes, bands, channels, etc., based on frequency / wavelength. In 5G NR, two initial operating bands have been designated as frequency ranges FR1 (410MHz–7.125GHz) and FR2 (24.25GHz–52.6GHz). It should be understood that although a portion of FR1 is greater than 6GHz, FR1 is generally (interchangeably) referred to as the “sub-6GHz band” in various documents and articles. Similar naming issues sometimes arise with FR2, although it differs from the Very High Frequency (EHF) band (30GHz–300GHz) designated as the “millimeter wave” band by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), FR2 is generally (interchangeably) referred to as the millimeter wave band in various documents and articles.

[0056] The frequencies between FR1 and FR2 are generally referred to as intermediate frequency (IF) bands. Recent 5G NR studies have designated the operating bands of these IF bands as the frequency range designation FR3 (7.125 GHz – 24.25 GHz). Bands falling within FR3 can inherit FR1 and / or FR2 characteristics, thus effectively extending the features of FR1 and / or FR2 into the IF band. Additionally, higher frequency bands are currently being explored to extend 5G NR operation above 52.6 GHz. For example, three higher operating frequency bands have been designated as the frequency range designations FR4a or FR4-1 (52.6 GHz – 71 GHz), FR4 (52.6 GHz – 114.25 GHz), and FR5 (114.25 GHz – 300 GHz). Each of these higher frequency bands falls within the EHF band.

[0057] In light of the foregoing, unless otherwise stated, it should be understood that, as used herein, the term "sub-6GHz" and the like can broadly refer to frequencies less than 6GHz, within FR1, or including intermediate frequency band frequencies. Furthermore, unless otherwise stated, it should be understood that, as used herein, the term "millimeter wave" and the like can broadly refer to frequencies that can include intermediate frequency band frequencies, within FR2, FR4, FR4-a or FR4-1 and / or FR5, or within the EHF band.

[0058] In multi-carrier systems (such as 5G), one of the carrier frequencies is referred to as the "primary carrier," "anchor carrier," "primary serving cell," or "PCell," and the remaining carrier frequencies are referred to as "secondary carriers," "secondary serving cells," or "SCell." In carrier aggregation, the anchor carrier is a carrier operating on the primary frequency (e.g., FR1) utilized by UE 104 / 182 and on the cell in which UE 104 / 182 performs an initial radio resource control (RRC) connection establishment procedure or initiates an RRC connection re-establishment procedure. The primary carrier carries all shared control channels as well as control channels that vary from UE to UE, and can be a carrier on a licensed frequency (however, this is not always the case). The secondary carrier is a carrier operating on a second frequency (e.g., FR2), which can be configured once an RRC connection is established between UE 104 and the anchor carrier, and can be used to provide additional radio resources. In some cases, the secondary carrier can be a carrier on an unlicensed frequency. Secondary carriers may contain only the necessary signaling information and signals. For example, signaling information and signals that vary from UE to UE may not be present in the secondary carrier, since both the primary uplink and downlink carriers are typically UE-specific. This means that different UEs 104 / 182 within a cell can have different downlink primary carriers. The same applies to the uplink primary carrier. The network can change the primary carrier of any UE 104 / 182 at any time. For example, this is done to balance the load on different carriers. Since a “serving cell” (whether PCell or SCell) corresponds to the carrier frequency / component carrier that a base station is using for communication, the terms “cell,” “serving cell,” “component carrier,” “carrier frequency,” etc., can be used interchangeably.

[0059] For example, still refer to Figure 1One of the frequencies utilized by the macrocell base station 102 can be an anchor carrier (or "PCell"), and other frequencies utilized by the macrocell base station 102 and / or mmW base station 180 can be secondary carriers ("SCell"). Simultaneous transmission and / or reception on multiple carriers allows the UE 104 / 182 to significantly increase its data transmission and / or reception rates. For example, two 20MHz aggregated carriers in a multi-carrier system would theoretically result in twice the data rate (i.e., 40MHz) compared to the data rate obtained from a single 20MHz carrier.

[0060] The wireless communication system 100 may further include a UE 164, which can communicate with a macrocell base station 102 on a communication link 120 and / or with an mmW base station 180 on an mmW communication link 184. For example, the macrocell base station 102 may support PCells and one or more SCells for the UE 164, and the mmW base station 180 may support one or more SCells for the UE 164.

[0061] In some scenarios, UE 164 and UE 182 may be able to communicate via sidelink. A sidelink-capable UE (SL-UE) can communicate with base station 102 via communication link 120 using the Uu interface (i.e., the air interface between the UE and the base station). SL-UEs (e.g., UE 164, UE 182) can also communicate directly with each other via radio sidelink 160 using the PC5 interface (i.e., the air interface between sidelink-capable UEs). A radio sidelink (or simply "sidelink") is an adaptation to core cellular (e.g., LTE, NR) standards that allows direct communication between two or more UEs without the need for the communication to pass through a base station. Sidelink communication can be unicast or multicast and can be used for device-to-device (D2D) media sharing, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication (e.g., cellular V2X (cV2X) communication, enhanced V2X (eV2X) communication, emergency rescue applications, etc. One or more SL-UEs in a group of SL-UEs utilizing sidelink communication may be within the geographical coverage area 110 of base station 102. Other SL-UEs in this group may be outside the geographical coverage area 110 of base station 102, or may be unable to receive transmissions from base station 102 for other reasons. In some cases, the groups of SL-UEs communicating via sidelink communication may utilize a one-to-many (1:M) system, where each SL-UE transmits to every other SL-UE in the group. In some cases, base station 102 facilitates the scheduling of resources for sidelink communication. In other cases, sidelink communication is performed between the SL-UEs without involving base station 102.

[0062] On one hand, the sidelink 160 can operate on a wireless communication medium of interest that can be shared with other vehicles and / or infrastructure access points and other RATs for wireless communication. "Medium" can include one or more time, frequency, and / or space communication resources (e.g., covering one or more channels across one or more carriers) associated with wireless communication between one or more transmitter / receiver pairs. On another hand, the medium of interest may correspond to at least a portion of unlicensed frequency bands shared among various RATs. While different licensed frequency bands have been reserved for certain communication systems (e.g., by government entities such as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) of the United States), these systems, particularly those employing small cell access points, have recently extended their operation to unlicensed frequency bands, such as the unlicensed National Information Infrastructure (U-NII) bands used by Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) technologies (most notably the IEEE 802.11xWLAN technology commonly referred to as "Wi-Fi"). Example systems of this type include various variants of CDMA, TDMA, FDMA, Orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA), Single-Carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA), and so on.

[0063] Note that, although Figure 1 Only two of these UEs are referred to as SL-UEs (i.e., UEs 164 and 182), but any UE referred to as such can be an SL-UE. Furthermore, although only UE 182 is described as capable of beamforming, any UE referred to (including UE 164) can be capable of beamforming. When SL-UEs are capable of beamforming, they can beamform towards each other (i.e., towards other SL-UEs), towards other UEs (e.g., UE 104), towards base stations (e.g., base stations 102, 180, small cell 102', access point 150), etc. Therefore, in some cases, UEs 164 and 182 can utilize beamforming on sidelink 160.

[0064] exist Figure 1 In the examples, any of the UEs being explained (for simplicity) Figure 1A single UE 104 (shown as a single UE) may receive signal 124 from one or more Earth-orbiting spacecraft (SV) 112 (e.g., satellites). In one aspect, SV 112 may be part of a satellite positioning system that allows UE 104 to use as an independent source of location information. Satellite positioning systems typically include transmitter systems (e.g., SV 112) positioned such that a receiver (e.g., UE 104) can determine its location on or above the Earth based at least in part on positioning signals (e.g., signal 124) received from these transmitters. Such transmitters typically transmit signals marked with a set number of repeating pseudo-random noise (PN) codes. While transmitters are typically located in SV 112, they may sometimes be located at ground-based control stations, base stations 102, and / or other UEs 104. UE 104 may include one or more dedicated receivers specifically designed to receive signal 124 from SV 112 to derive geographic location information.

[0065] In satellite positioning systems, the use of signal 124 can be amplified through various satellite-based augmentation systems (SBAS), which may be associated with or otherwise enabled to work with one or more global and / or regional navigation satellite systems. For example, SBAS may include augmentation systems that provide integrity information, differential correction, etc., such as Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS), European Geostationary Navigation Coverage Service (EGNOS), Multifunctional Satellite Augmentation System (MSAS), GPS-assisted Geographic Augmentation Navigation or GPS and Geographic Augmentation Navigation System (GAGAN), etc. Therefore, as used herein, a satellite positioning system may include any combination of one or more global and / or regional navigation satellites associated with such one or more satellite positioning systems.

[0066] On one hand, SV 112 may additionally or alternatively be part of one or more non-terrestrial networks (NTNs). In the NTN, SV 112 is connected to an earth station (also referred to as a ground station, NTN gateway, or gateway), which in turn is connected to elements in the 5G network, such as the modified base station 102 (without a ground antenna) or network nodes in the 5GC. This element will then provide access to other elements in the 5G network and ultimately to entities outside the 5G network, such as internet web servers and other user equipment. In this way, UE 104 can receive communication signals (e.g., signal 124) from SV 112 as a replacement or supplement to receiving communication signals from ground base station 102.

[0067] The wireless communication system 100 may further include one or more UEs (such as UE 190) that are indirectly connected to one or more communication networks via one or more device-to-device (D2D) peer-to-peer (P2P) links (referred to as "side links"). Figure 1 In the example, UE 190 has a D2D P2P link 192 with a UE 104 connected to a base station 102 (e.g., UE 190 can indirectly obtain cellular connectivity from this link), and a D2D P2P link 194 with a WLAN STA 152 connected to a WLAN AP 150 (UE 190 can indirectly obtain WLAN-based Internet connectivity from this link). In one example, D2D P2P links 192 and 194 can use any known D2D RAT (such as LTE Direct (LTE-D), WiFi Direct (WiFi-D)). (etc.) to support.

[0068] Figure 2A Example wireless network architecture 200 is explained. For example, 5GC 210 (also known as Next Generation Core (NGC)) can be functionally considered as control plane (C-plane) functions 214 (e.g., UE registration, authentication, network access, gateway selection, etc.) and user plane (U-plane) functions 212 (e.g., UE gateway functions, access to data networks, IP routing, etc.), which operate collaboratively to form the core network. User plane interface (NG-U) 213 and control plane interface (NG-C) 215 connect gNB 222 to 5GC 210, specifically to user plane function 212 and control plane function 214, respectively. In an additional configuration, ng-eNB 224 can also connect to 5GC 210 via NG-C 215 to control plane function 214 and NG-U 213 to user plane function 212. Furthermore, ng-eNB 224 can communicate directly with gNB 222 via backhaul connection 223. In some configurations, the next-generation RAN (NG-RAN) 220 may have one or more gNBs 222, while other configurations include one or more ng-eNBs 224 and one or more gNBs 222. The gNB 222 or ng-eNB 224 (or both) may communicate with one or more UEs 204 (e.g., any UE described herein).

[0069] Another optional aspect may include location server 230, which can communicate with 5GC 210 to provide location assistance to UE 204. Location server 230 may be implemented as multiple separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules extending across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternatively, each may correspond to a single server. Location server 230 may be configured to support one or more location services for UE 204, which UE 204 can connect to via the core network, 5GC 210, and / or via the Internet (not explained). Furthermore, location server 230 may be integrated into a component of the core network, or alternatively, it may be external to the core network (e.g., a third-party server, such as an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) server or a business server).

[0070] Figure 2B Another example wireless network architecture, 250.5GC 260, was explained (which can correspond to...). Figure 2AThe 5GC 210 in the document can be functionally viewed as a control plane function (provided by the Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) 264) and a user plane function (provided by the User Plane Function (UPF) 262), which operate collaboratively to form the core network (i.e., 5GC 260). The functions of AMF 264 include registration management, connection management, reachability management, mobility management, lawful interception, session management (SM) message transmission between one or more UEs 204 (e.g., any UE described herein) and session management function (SMF) 266, transparent proxy service for routing SM messages, access authentication and access authorization, short message service (SMS) message transmission between UE 204 and short message service function (SMSF) (not shown), and security anchor functionality (SEAF). AMF 264 also interacts with the authentication server function (AUSF) (not shown) and UE 204, and receives an intermediate key established as a result of the UE 204 authentication process. In cases where authentication is based on the UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) Subscriber Identity Module (USIM), the AMF 264 retrieves security material from the AMF. The AMF 264 also includes Security Context Management (SCM). The SCM receives a key from the SEAF, which it uses to derive a key that varies depending on the access network. The AMF 264's functionality also includes: location service management for regulatory services, location service message transmission between the UE 204 and the Location Management Function (LMF) 270 (which acts as a location server 230), location service message transmission between the NG-RAN 220 and the LMF 270, EPS bearer identifier allocation for interoperability with the Evolved Packet System (EPS), and UE 204 mobility event notification. Additionally, the AMF 264 supports functionality for non-3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) access networks.

[0071] The functions of UPF 262 include: acting as an anchor point for intra / inter-RAT mobility (where applicable), acting as an external Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session point interconnecting to a data network (not shown), providing packet routing and forwarding, packet inspection, user plane policy rule enforcement (e.g., strobing, redirection, traffic steering), lawful interception (user plane collection), traffic usage reporting, quality of service (QoS) handling for the user plane (e.g., uplink / downlink rate enforcement, reflective QoS marking in the downlink), uplink traffic verification (Service Data Flow (SDF) to QoS flow mapping), transport-level packet marking in the uplink and downlink, downlink packet buffering and downlink data notification triggering, and sending and forwarding one or more "end markers" to the source RAN node. UPF 262 may also support the transmission of location service messages between UE 204 and a location server (such as SLP 272) on the user plane.

[0072] The functions of SMF 266 include session management, UE Internet Protocol (IP) address allocation and management, selection and control of user plane functions, traffic bootstrapping configuration at UPF 262 for routing traffic to the correct destination, partial control of policy enforcement and QoS, and downlink data notification. The interface used by SMF 266 to communicate with AMF 264 is called the N11 interface.

[0073] Another optional aspect may include an LMF 270, which can communicate with the 5GC 260 to provide location assistance to the UE 204. The LMF 270 can be implemented as multiple separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules extending across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternatively, each may correspond to a single server. The LMF 270 can be configured to support one or more location services for the UE 204, which can connect to the LMF 270 via the core network, the 5GC 260, and / or via the Internet (not explained). SLP 272 supports similar functionality to LMF 270, but while LMF 270 can communicate with AMF 264, NG-RAN 220, and UE 204 on the control plane (e.g., using interfaces and protocols designed to convey signaling messages but not voice or data), SLP 272 can communicate with UE 204 and external clients on the user plane (e.g., using protocols designed to carry voice and / or data, such as Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and / or IP). Figure 2B (Not shown in the image) Communication.

[0074] User plane interface 263 and control plane interface 265 connect 5GC 260 (and in particular UPF 262 and AMF 264, respectively) to one or more gNB 222 and / or ng-eNB 224 in NG-RAN 220. The interface between gNB 222 and / or ng-eNB 224 and AMF 264 is referred to as the "N2" interface, while the interface between gNB 222 and / or ng-eNB 224 and UPF 262 is referred to as the "N3" interface. The gNB 222 and / or ng-eNB 224 of NG-RAN 220 can communicate directly with each other via backhaul connection 223, which is referred to as the "Xn-C" interface. One or more of gNB 222 and / or ng-eNB 224 can communicate with one or more UEs 204 on a radio interface, which is referred to as the "Uu" interface.

[0075] The functionality of gNB 222 is divided between gNB Central Unit (gNB-CU) 226 and one or more gNB Distributed Units (gNB-DU) 228. The interface 232 between gNB-CU 226 and one or more gNB-DU 228 is referred to as the "F1" interface. gNB-CU 226 is a logical node that includes base station functions such as transmitting user data, mobility control, radio access network sharing, positioning, and session management, in addition to those functions specifically allocated to gNB-DU 228. More specifically, gNB-CU 226 manages the radio resource control (RRC), serving data adaptation protocol (SDAP), and packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) protocols of gNB 222. gNB-DU 228 is a logical node that manages the radio link control (RLC), media access control (MAC), and physical (PHY) layers of gNB 222. Its operation is controlled by gNB-CU 226. One gNB-DU 228 can support one or more cells, while a cell is supported by only one gNB-DU 228. Therefore, UE 204 communicates with gNB-CU 226 via RRC, SDAP, and PDCP layers, and with gNB-DU 228 via RLC, MAC, and PHY layers.

[0076] Figure 3A , 3B The explanation of 3C includes UE 302 (which may correspond to any UE described herein), base station 304 (which may correspond to any base station described herein), and network entity 306 (which may correspond to or embody any network function described herein, including location server 230 and LMF 270, or alternatively may be independent of UE 302). Figure 2A and 2B The example components (represented by corresponding boxes) in the NG-RAN 220 and / or 5GC 210 / 260 infrastructure (such as private networks) depicted herein support file transfer operations as taught herein. It will be appreciated that these components can be implemented in different types of devices (e.g., in ASICs, in System-on-Chip (SoCs), etc.) in different implementations. The illustrated components can also be incorporated into other devices in a communication system. For example, other devices in the system may include components similar to those described to provide similar functionality. Furthermore, a given device may include one or more of these components. For example, a device may include multiple transceiver components that enable the device to operate on multiple carriers and / or communicate via different technologies.

[0077] UE 302 and base station 304 each include one or more wireless wide area network (WWAN) transceivers 310 and 350, respectively, to provide means (e.g., means for transmitting, means for receiving, means for measuring, means for tuning, means for suppressing transmission, etc.) for communicating via one or more wireless communication networks (not shown) (such as NR networks, LTE networks, GSM networks, etc.). WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 may each be connected to one or more antennas 316 and 356 for communicating with other network nodes (such as other UEs, access points, base stations (e.g., eNB, gNB)) over a wireless communication medium of interest (e.g., a time / frequency resource set in a specific spectrum) via at least one designated RAT (e.g., NR, LTE, GSM, etc.). WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 can be configured, according to a specified RAT, in various ways to transmit and encode signals 318 and 358 (e.g., messages, indications, information, etc.), and conversely, to receive and decode signals 318 and 358 (e.g., messages, indications, information, pilots, etc.). Specifically, WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 each include one or more transmitters 314 and 354 for transmitting and encoding signals 318 and 358, respectively, and each includes one or more receivers 312 and 352 for receiving and decoding signals 318 and 358, respectively.

[0078] In at least some cases, UE 302 and base station 304 each further include one or more short-range radio transceivers 320 and 360, respectively. The short-range radio transceivers 320 and 360 can be connected to one or more antennas 326 and 366, respectively, and provide access via at least one designated RAT (e.g., WiFi, LTE-D, etc.). A means for communicating with other network nodes (such as other UEs, access points, base stations, etc.) over a wireless communication medium of interest (e.g., means for transmitting, means for receiving, means for measuring, means for tuning, means for suppressing transmission, etc.) such as PC5, Dedicated Short Range Communication (DSRC), Wireless Access in Vehicle Environments (WAVE), Near Field Communication (NFC), etc.). Short-range transceivers 320 and 360 can be configured, according to a specified RAT, in various ways to transmit and encode signals 328 and 368 (e.g., messages, indications, information, etc.), and conversely, to receive and decode signals 328 and 368 (e.g., messages, indications, information, pilots, etc.). Specifically, short-range transceivers 320 and 360 each include one or more transmitters 324 and 364 for transmitting and encoding signals 328 and 368, respectively, and one or more receivers 322 and 362 for receiving and decoding signals 328 and 368, respectively. As specific examples, the short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 can be WiFi transceivers, transceiver and / or Transceivers, NFC transceivers, or vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and / or vehicle-to-everything (V2X) transceivers.

[0079] In at least some cases, UE 302 and base station 304 also include satellite signal receivers 330 and 370. Satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 may be connected to one or more antennas 336 and 376, respectively, and may be provided with means for receiving and / or measuring satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378, respectively. When satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 are satellite positioning system receivers, satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378 may be Global Positioning System (GPS) signals, Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS) signals, Galileo signals, BeiDou signals, Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (NAVIC), Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS), etc. When satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 are non-terrestrial network (NTN) receivers, satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378 may be communication signals originating from a 5G network (e.g., carrying control and / or user data). Satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 may include any suitable hardware and / or software for receiving and processing satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378, respectively. Satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 may request information and operations from other systems as appropriate, and in at least some cases perform calculations to determine the respective locations of UE 302 and base station 304 using measurements obtained by any suitable satellite positioning system algorithm.

[0080] Base station 304 and network entity 306 each include one or more network transceivers 380 and 390, respectively, to provide means (e.g., means for transmitting, means for receiving, etc.) for communicating with other network entities (e.g., other base stations 304, other network entities 306). For example, base station 304 may use one or more network transceivers 380 to communicate with other base stations 304 or network entities 306 on one or more wired or wireless backhaul links. As another example, network entity 306 may use one or more network transceivers 390 to communicate with one or more base stations 304 on one or more wired or wireless backhaul links, or to communicate with other network entities 306 on one or more wired or wireless core network interfaces.

[0081] Transceivers can be configured to communicate over wired or wireless links. A transceiver (whether wired or wireless) includes a transmitter circuitry (e.g., transmitters 314, 324, 354, 364) and a receiver circuitry (e.g., receivers 312, 322, 352, 362). In some implementations, the transceiver may be an integrated device (e.g., implementing the transmitter and receiver circuitry in a single device), in some implementations it may include separate transmitter and receiver circuitry, or in other implementations it may be implemented in a different manner. The transmitter and receiver circuitry of a wired transceiver (e.g., in some implementations, network transceivers 380 and 390) may be coupled to one or more wired network interface ports. Wireless transmitter circuitry (e.g., transmitters 314, 324, 354, 364) may include or be coupled to multiple antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such as antenna arrays, which permit the corresponding device (e.g., UE 302, base station 304) to perform transmit beamforming as described herein. Similarly, wireless receiver circuitry (e.g., receivers 312, 322, 352, 362) may include or be coupled to multiple antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such as antenna arrays, which permit the corresponding device (e.g., UE 302, base station 304) to perform receive beamforming as described herein. In one aspect, the transmitter and receiver circuitry may share the same multiple antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366) so that the corresponding device can only receive or transmit at a given time, rather than both simultaneously. Wireless transceivers (e.g., WWAN transceivers 310 and 350, short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360) may also include network listening modules (NLMs) for performing various measurements.

[0082] As used herein, various wireless transceivers (e.g., transceivers 310, 320, 350, and 360, and network transceivers 380 and 390 in some implementations) and wired transceivers (e.g., network transceivers 380 and 390 in some implementations) can generally be characterized as "transceiver," "at least one transceiver," or "one or more transceivers." Thus, whether a particular transceiver is a wired or wireless transceiver can be inferred from the type of communication performed. For example, backhaul communication between network devices or servers generally involves signaling via a wired transceiver, while wireless communication between a UE (e.g., UE 302) and a base station (e.g., base station 304) generally involves signaling via a wireless transceiver.

[0083] UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 also include other components that can be used in conjunction with operations as disclosed herein. UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 each include one or more processors 332, 384, and 394 for providing functionality related to, for example, wireless communication, and for providing other processing functionality. Processors 332, 384, and 394 can therefore provide means for processing, such as means for determining, means for calculating, means for receiving, means for transmitting, means for indicating, etc. In one aspect, processors 332, 384, and 394 may include, for example, one or more general-purpose processors, multi-core processors, central processing units (CPUs), ASICs, digital signal processors (DSPs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), other programmable logic devices or processing circuitry systems, or various combinations thereof.

[0084] UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 include memory circuitry that respectively implements memories 340, 386, and 396 (e.g., each including a memory device) for maintaining information (e.g., information indicating reserved resources, thresholds, parameters, etc.). Memories 340, 386, and 396 thus provide means for storage, means for retrieval, means for maintenance, etc. In some cases, UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 may respectively include positioning components 342, 388, and 398. Positioning components 342, 388, and 398 may be hardware circuitry as part of or coupled to processors 332, 384, and 394, which, when executed, cause UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 to perform the functionality described herein. In other respects, positioning components 342, 388, and 398 may be external to processors 332, 384, and 394 (e.g., part of a modem processing system, integrated with another processing system, etc.). Alternatively, positioning components 342, 388, and 398 may be memory modules stored in memories 340, 386, and 396, respectively, which, when executed by processors 332, 384, and 394 (or a modem processing system, another processing system, etc.), enable UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 to perform the functionality described herein. Figure 3A The possible locations of the positioning component 342 are described. The positioning component 342 may be, for example, part of one or more WWAN transceivers 310, memory 340, one or more processors 332, or any combination thereof, or may be a self-contained component. Figure 3B The possible locations of the positioning component 388 are described. The positioning component 388 may be, for example, part of one or more WWAN transceivers 350, memory 386, one or more processors 384, or any combination thereof, or may be a self-contained component. Figure 3C The possible locations of the positioning component 398 are described. The positioning component 398 may be, for example, part of one or more network transceivers 390, memory 396, one or more processors 394, or any combination thereof, or may be a self-contained component.

[0085] UE 302 may include one or more sensors 344 coupled to one or more processors 332 to provide means for sensing or detecting motion and / or orientation information independent of motion data derived from signals received by one or more WWAN transceivers 310, one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320, and / or satellite signal receivers 330. As an example, sensors 344 may include accelerometers (e.g., microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) devices), gyroscopes, geomagnetic sensors (e.g., compasses), altimeters (e.g., barometric altimeters), and / or any other type of motion detection sensor. Furthermore, sensors 344 may include multiple different types of devices and combine their outputs to provide motion information. For example, sensor 344 may use a combination of multi-axis accelerometers and orientation sensors to provide the ability to calculate position in two-dimensional (2D) and / or three-dimensional (3D) coordinate systems.

[0086] Additionally, UE 302 includes a user interface 346, which provides means for providing instructions to the user (e.g., audible and / or visual instructions) and / or for receiving user input (e.g., when the user actuates sensing devices such as keypads, touchscreens, microphones, etc.). Although not shown, base station 304 and network entity 306 may also include user interfaces.

[0087] Referring more specifically to one or more processors 384, in the downlink, IP packets from network entity 306 may be provided to processor 384. One or more processors 384 may implement functionality for the RRC layer, Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer, Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, and Media Access Control (MAC) layer. One or more processors 384 may provide RRC layer functionality associated with system information (e.g., Master Information Block (MIB), System Information Block (SIB)) broadcasting, RRC connection control (e.g., RRC connection paging, RRC connection establishment, RRC connection modification, and RRC connection release), inter-RAT mobility, and measurement configuration for UE measurement reporting; PDCP layer functionality associated with header compression / decompression, security (cryptography, cryptographic decoding, integrity protection, integrity verification), and handover support functions; RLC layer functionality associated with upper-layer PDU delivery, error correction via Automatic Repeat Request (ARQ), concatenation, segmentation and reassembly of RLC Service Data Units (SDUs), resegmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functionality associated with mapping between logical channels and transport channels, scheduling information reporting, error correction, priority handling, and logical channel priority ordering.

[0088] Transmitter 354 and receiver 352 implement Layer 1 (L1) functionality associated with various signal processing functions. Layer-1, including the physical (PHY) layer, may include error detection on the transport channel, forward error correction (FEC) decoding / decoding of the transport channel, interleaving, rate matching, mapping to the physical channel, modulation / demodulation of the physical channel, and MIMO antenna processing. Transmitter 354 processes the mapping to the signal constellation based on various modulation schemes (e.g., binary phase shift keying (BPSK), quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK), M-phase shift keying (M-PSK), M-quadrature amplitude modulation (M-QAM)). The encoded and modulated symbols can then be split into parallel streams. Each stream can then be mapped to an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) subcarrier, multiplexed with a reference signal (e.g., a pilot) in the time and / or frequency domains, and subsequently combined using an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) to produce a physical channel carrying a time-domain OFDM symbol stream. The OFDM symbol stream is spatially precoded to generate multiple spatial streams. Channel estimates from the channel estimator can be used to determine the coding and modulation schemes, as well as for spatial processing. The channel estimates can be derived from reference signals transmitted by UE 302 and / or channel condition feedback. Each spatial stream can then be provided to one or more different antennas 356. Transmitter 354 can use the corresponding spatial stream to modulate an RF carrier for transmission.

[0089] At UE 302, receiver 312 receives signals via its respective antenna(s) 316. Receiver 312 recovers the information modulated onto the RF carrier and provides this information to one or more processors 332. Transmitter 314 and receiver 312 implement Layer 1 functionality associated with various signal processing functions. Receiver 312 can perform spatial processing on this information to recover any spatial stream destined for UE 302. If multiple spatial streams are destined for UE 302, they can be combined by receiver 312 into a single OFDM symbol stream. Receiver 312 then uses a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) to transform the OFDM symbol stream from the time domain to the frequency domain. The frequency domain signal consists of a separate OFDM symbol stream for each subcarrier of the OFDM signal. Symbols on each subcarrier, along with a reference signal, are recovered and demodulated by determining the signal constellation points most likely to be transmitted by base station 304. These soft decisions can be based on a channel estimate calculated by a channel estimator. These soft decisions are then decoded and deinterleaved to recover the original data and control signals transmitted by base station 304 over the physical channel. This data and control signals are then provided to one or more processors 332 that implement Layer 3 (L3) and Layer 2 (L2) functionality.

[0090] In the uplink, one or more processors 332 provide demultiplexing, packet reassembly, cipher decoding, header decompression, and control signal processing between the transport and logical channels to recover IP packets from the core network. One or more processors 332 are also responsible for error detection.

[0091] Similar to the functionality described in conjunction with downlink transmissions performed by base station 304, one or more processors 332 provide RRC layer functionality associated with system information (e.g., MIB, SIB) capture, RRC connectivity, and measurement reporting; PDCP layer functionality associated with header compression / decompression and security (cryptography, cryptographic decoding, integrity protection, integrity verification); RLC layer functionality associated with upper-layer PDU delivery, error correction via ARQ, concatenation, segmentation and reassembly of RLC SDUs, resegmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functionality associated with mapping between logical channels and transport channels, multiplexing MAC SDUs onto transport blocks (TBs), demultiplexing MAC SDUs from TBs, scheduling information reporting, error correction via Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ), priority handling, and logical channel priority ordering.

[0092] The channel estimate derived by the channel estimator from the reference signal or feedback transmitted by the base station 304 can be used by the transmitter 314 to select appropriate coding and modulation schemes, and to facilitate spatial processing. The spatial stream generated by the transmitter 314 can be provided to different antennas 316. The transmitter 314 can use the corresponding spatial stream to modulate the RF carrier for transmission.

[0093] Uplink transmissions are handled at base station 304 in a manner similar to that described in conjunction with the receiver function at UE 302. Receiver 352 receives signals via its respective antenna(s) 356. Receiver 352 recovers the information modulated onto the RF carrier and provides that information to one or more processors 384.

[0094] In the uplink, one or more processors 384 provide demultiplexing, packet reassembly, cipher decoding, header decompression, and control signal processing between the transport and logical channels to recover IP packets from UE 302. IP packets from the one or more processors 384 can be provided to the core network. The one or more processors 384 are also responsible for error detection.

[0095] For convenience, UE 302, base station 304 and / or network entity 306 are in Figure 3A , 3BThe components shown in 3C are various and can be configured according to the various examples described herein. However, it will be understood that the components described may have different functionalities in different designs. Specifically, Figures 3A to 3C The various components are optional in the replacement configuration, and various aspects include configurations that can vary due to design choices, cost, equipment usage, or other considerations. For example, in Figure 3A In this scenario, a specific implementation of UE 302 may omit WWAN transceiver 310 (e.g., wearable devices, tablets, PCs, or laptops may have Wi-Fi and / or Bluetooth capabilities but no cellular capabilities), or short-range wireless transceiver 320 (e.g., cellular only), or satellite signal receiver 330, or sensor 344, etc. In another example, in Figure 3B In such cases, a particular implementation of base station 304 may omit WWAN transceiver 350 (e.g., a Wi-Fi "hotspot" access point without cellular capabilities), or short-range wireless transceiver 360 (e.g., cellular only), or satellite receiver 370, etc. For the sake of brevity, explanations of various alternative configurations are not provided herein, but will be readily understood by those skilled in the art.

[0096] Various components of UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 can be communicatively coupled to each other on data buses 334, 382, ​​and 392, respectively. In one aspect, data buses 334, 382, ​​and 392 can form or be part of the communication interfaces of UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306, respectively. For example, when different logical entities are implemented in the same device (e.g., gNB and location server functionality are incorporated into the same base station 304), data buses 334, 382, ​​and 392 can provide communication between them.

[0097] Figure 3A , 3B The various components of 3C can be implemented in various ways. In some implementations, Figure 3A , 3BThe various components of 3C can be implemented in one or more circuits, such as, for example, one or more processors and / or one or more ASICs (which may include one or more processors). Here, each circuit may use and / or incorporate at least one memory component for storing information or executable code used by that circuit to provide this functionality. For example, some or all of the functionalities represented by blocks 310 to 346 may be implemented by the processor and / or memory components of UE 302 (e.g., by executing appropriate code and / or by appropriately configuring the processor components). Similarly, some or all of the functionalities represented by blocks 350 to 388 may be implemented by the processor and memory components of base station 304 (e.g., by executing appropriate code and / or by appropriately configuring the processor components). Furthermore, some or all of the functionalities represented by blocks 390 to 398 may be implemented by the processor and / or memory components of network entity 306 (e.g., by executing appropriate code and / or by appropriately configuring the processor components). For simplicity, various operations, actions, and / or functions are described herein as being performed "by the UE," "by the base station," "by the network entity," etc. However, as will be appreciated, such operations, actions, and / or functions may actually be performed by specific components or combinations of components of the UE 302, base station 304, network entity 306, etc., such as processors 332, 384, 394, transceivers 310, 320, 350, and 360, memories 340, 386, and 396, positioning components 342, 388, and 398, etc.

[0098] In some designs, network entity 306 may be implemented as a core network component. In other designs, network entity 306 may be a network operator or operation different from the cellular network infrastructure (e.g., NG RAN 220 and / or 5GC 210 / 260). For example, network entity 306 may be a component of a private network that may be configured to communicate with UE 302 via base station 304 or independently of base station 304 (e.g., on a non-cellular communication link, such as WiFi).

[0099] NR supports several cellular network-based positioning technologies, including downlink-based positioning methods, uplink-based positioning methods, and downlink-and-uplink-based positioning methods. Downlink-based positioning methods include: Observed Time Difference of Arrival (OTDOA) in LTE, Downlink Time Difference of Arrival (DL-TDOA) in NR, and Downlink Angle of Departure (DL-AoD) in NR. In an OTDOA or DL-TDOA positioning procedure, the UE measures the difference between the times of arrival (ToA) of reference signals (e.g., positioning reference signals (PRS)) received from paired base stations (referred to as Reference Signal Time Difference (RSTD) or Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA) measurements) and reports these differences to the positioning entity. More specifically, the UE receives identifiers (IDs) of a reference base station (e.g., a serving base station) and multiple non-reference base stations in auxiliary data. The UE then measures the RSTD between the reference base station and each non-reference base station. Based on the known locations of the base stations involved and the RSTD measurements, the positioning entity (e.g., a UE for UE-based positioning or a location server for UE-assisted positioning) can estimate the UE's location.

[0100] For DL-AoD positioning, the positioning entity uses beam reports from the UE regarding received signal strength measurements of multiple downlink transmitted beams to determine the angle between the UE and the transmitting base stations(s). The positioning entity can then estimate the UE's location based on the determined angle and the known location of the transmitting base stations.

[0101] Uplink-based positioning methods include uplink time difference of arrival (UL-TDOA) and uplink angle of arrival (UL-AoA). UL-TDOA is similar to DL-TDOA, but it is based on uplink reference signals (e.g., detection reference signals (SRS)) transmitted by the UE. For UL-AoA positioning, one or more base stations measure the received signal strength of one or more uplink reference signals (e.g., SRS) received from the UE on one or more uplink receive beams. The positioning entity uses the signal strength measurement and the angle of the receive beam to determine the angle between the UE and (the) base stations. Based on the determined angle and the known location of the base stations, the positioning entity can then estimate the location of the UE.

[0102] Downlink and uplink-based positioning methods include Enhanced Cellular ID (E-CID) positioning and Multiple Round-Trip Time (RTT) positioning (also known as "Multi-Cellular RTT" and "Multi-RTT"). In an RTT procedure, a first entity (e.g., a base station or a UE) transmits a first RTT-related signal (e.g., PRS or SRS) to a second entity (e.g., a UE or a base station), and the second entity transmits a second RTT-related signal (e.g., SRS or PRS) back to the first entity. Each entity measures the time difference between the time of arrival (ToA) of the received RTT-related signal and the transmission time of the transmitted RTT-related signal. This time difference is called the receive-to-transmit (Rx-Tx) time difference. The Rx-Tx time difference measurement can be performed, or can be adjusted, to include only the time difference between the nearest subframe boundary of the received and transmitted signals. Both entities can then send their Rx-Tx time difference measurements to a location server (e.g., LMF 270), which calculates the round-trip time (RTT) between the two entities based on these two Rx-Tx time difference measurements (e.g., calculated as the sum of the two Rx-Tx time difference measurements). Alternatively, one entity can send its Rx-Tx time difference measurement to another entity, which then calculates the RTT. The distance between the two entities can be determined based on the RTT and a known signal speed (e.g., the speed of light). For multi-RTT positioning, a first entity (e.g., a UE or base station) performs an RTT positioning procedure with multiple second entities (e.g., multiple base stations or UEs) such that the location of the first entity can be determined based on the distance to the second entities and the known locations of the second entities (e.g., using multipoint positioning). RTT and multi-RTT methods can be combined with other positioning technologies (such as UL-AoA and DL-AoD) to improve location accuracy.

[0103] The E-CID positioning method is based on Radio Resource Management (RRM) measurements. In E-CID, the UE reports the serving cell ID, timing advance (TA), and the identifiers, estimated timings, and signal strengths of detected neighboring base stations. The UE's location is then estimated based on this information and the known locations of the base stations.

[0104] To assist in the positioning operation, a location server (e.g., location server 230, LMF 270, SLP 272) may provide auxiliary data to the UE. For example, auxiliary data may include: the identifier of the base station (or the cell / TRP of the base station) from which the reference signal is measured, reference signal configuration parameters (e.g., the number of consecutive positioning subframes, the periodicity of the positioning subframes, the silence sequence, the frequency hopping sequence, the reference signal identifier, the reference signal bandwidth, etc.), and / or other parameters applicable to a particular positioning method. Alternatively, auxiliary data may be derived directly from the base station itself (e.g., in periodically broadcast overhead messages, etc.). In some cases, the UE may be able to detect neighboring network nodes without using auxiliary data.

[0105] In the case of OTDOA or DL-TDOA positioning procedures, auxiliary data may further include the expected RSTD value and associated uncertainty, or a search window around the expected RSTD. In some cases, the expected RSTD value may range from + / - 500 microseconds (μs). In some cases, when any resources used for positioning measurements are in FR1, the expected RSTD uncertainty may range from + / - 32 μs. In other cases, when all resources used for positioning measurements are in FR2, the expected RSTD uncertainty may range from + / - 8 μs.

[0106] Location estimation can be referred to by other names, such as location estimation, location, positioning, location locking, locking, etc. Location estimation can be geodetic and include coordinates (e.g., latitude, longitude, and possible elevation), or it can be municipal and include street addresses, postal addresses, or some other verbal description of location. Location estimation can be further defined relative to some other known location or in absolute terms (e.g., using latitude, longitude, and possible elevation). Location estimation can include expected errors or uncertainties (e.g., by including the area or volume that the location is expected to be included with a specified or default confidence level).

[0107] Various frame structures can be used to support downlink and uplink transmissions between network nodes (e.g., base stations and UEs). Figure 4A Figure 400 illustrates an example frame structure according to various aspects of this disclosure. This frame structure can be a downlink or uplink frame structure. Other wireless communication technologies may have different frame structures and / or different channels.

[0108] LTE, and in some cases NR, utilizes OFDM on the downlink and single-carrier frequency division multiplexing (SC-FDM) on the uplink. However, unlike LTE, NR also has the option to use OFDM on the uplink. OFDM and SC-FDM divide the system bandwidth into multiple (K) orthogonal subcarriers, which are often referred to as frequency modulation, frequency slots, etc. Each subcarrier can be modulated with data. Generally, modulation symbols are transmitted in the frequency domain for OFDM and in the time domain for SC-FDM. The spacing between adjacent subcarriers can be fixed, and the total number of subcarriers (K) can depend on the system bandwidth. For example, the subcarrier spacing can be 15 kHz, and the minimum resource allocation (resource block) can be 12 subcarriers (or 180 kHz). Therefore, for system bandwidths of 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10, or 20 MHz, the nominal FFT size can be equal to 128, 256, 512, 1024, or 2048, respectively. The system bandwidth can also be divided into subbands. For example, a subband can cover 1.08MHz (i.e., 6 resource blocks), and for system bandwidths of 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10, or 20MHz, there can be 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16 subbands, respectively.

[0109] LTE supports single-parameter design (subcarrier spacing (SCS), symbol length, etc.). In contrast, NR supports multiple parameter designs (μ), for example, subcarrier spacings of 15kHz (μ=0), 30kHz (μ=1), 60kHz (μ=2), 120kHz (μ=3), and 240kHz (μ=4) or larger can be available. Within each subcarrier spacing, there are 14 symbols per time slot. For a 15kHz SCS (μ=0), there is one time slot per subframe, 10 time slots per frame, a time slot duration of 1 millisecond (ms), a symbol duration of 66.7 microseconds (μs), and a maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) of 4K FFT size is 50. For a 30kHz SCS (μ=1), there are two time slots per subframe, 20 time slots per frame, a time slot duration of 0.5ms, a symbol duration of 33.3μs, and a maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) of 4K FFT size of 100. For a 60kHz SCS (μ=2), there are four time slots per subframe, 40 time slots per frame, a time slot duration of 0.25ms, a symbol duration of 16.7μs, and a maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) of 4K FFT size of 200. For a 120kHz SCS (μ=3), there are eight time slots per subframe, 80 time slots per frame, a time slot duration of 0.125ms, a symbol duration of 8.33μs, and a maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) of 4K FFT size of 400. For a 240kHz SCS (μ=4), there are 16 time slots per subframe and 160 time slots per frame. The time slot duration is 0.0625ms, the symbol duration is 4.17μs, and the maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) with a 4K FFT size is 800.

[0110] exist Figure 4A In the example, a 15kHz parameter design is used. Therefore, in the time domain, a 10ms frame is divided into 10 equal-sized subframes, each 1ms in size, and each subframe includes one time slot. Figure 4A In the diagram, time is represented horizontally (on the X-axis), where time increases from left to right, while frequency is represented vertically (on the Y-axis), where frequency increases (or decreases) from bottom to top.

[0111] A resource grid can be used to represent time slots, each time slot comprising one or more concurrent resource blocks (RBs) (also known as physical RBs (PRBs)) in the frequency domain. The resource grid is further divided into multiple resource elements (REs). An RE corresponds to one symbol length in the time domain and one subcarrier in the frequency domain. Figure 4AIn the parameter design, for a normal cyclic prefix, the RB can contain 12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain and 7 consecutive symbols in the time domain, for a total of 84 REs. For an extended cyclic prefix, the RB can contain 12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain and 6 consecutive symbols in the time domain, for a total of 72 REs. The number of bits carried by each RE depends on the modulation scheme.

[0112] Some REs may carry reference (pilot) signals (RS). These reference signals may include positioning reference signals (PRS), tracking reference signals (TRS), phase tracking reference signals (PTRS), cell-specific reference signals (CRS), channel state information reference signals (CSI-RS), demodulation reference signals (DMRS), primary synchronization signals (PSS), secondary synchronization signals (SSS), synchronization signal blocks (SSB), probe reference signals (SRS), etc., depending on whether the interpreted frame structure is used for uplink or downlink communication. Figure 4A Example locations of REs carrying reference signals (labeled "R") are explained.

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

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

[0115] Currently, DL-PRS resources can span 2, 4, 6, or 12 consecutive symbols within a single time slot using a full-frequency interleaved mode. DL-PRS resources can be configured in any downlink or flexible (FL) symbol configured by a higher layer within a time slot. For all REs of a given DL-PRS resource, there may be a constant energy per resource element (EPRE). The following are the symbol-by-symbol frequency offsets for comb sizes 2, 4, 6, and 12 on 2, 4, 6, and 12 symbols. 2-symbol comb-2: {0,1}; 4-symbol comb-2: {0,1,0,1}; 6-symbol comb-2: {0,1,0,1,0,1}; 12-symbol comb-2: {0,1,0,1,0,1,0,1,0,1,0,1}; 4-symbol comb-4: {0,2,1,3} (as in...). Figure 4A In the example); 12-code comb-4: {0,2,1,3,0,2,1,3,0,2,1,3}; 6-code comb-6: {0,3,1,4,2,5}; 12-code comb-6: {0,3,1,4,2,5,0,3,1,4,2,5}; and 12-code comb-12: {0,6,3,9,1,7,4,10,2,8,5,11}.

[0116] A “PRS resource set” is a group of PRS resources used for the transmission of PRS signals, where each PRS resource has a PRS resource ID. Furthermore, PRS resources in a PRS resource set are associated with the same TRP. A PRS resource set is identified by a PRS resource set ID and associated with a specific TRP (identified by the TRP ID). Additionally, PRS resources in a PRS resource set share the same periodicity, a common silent mode configuration, and the same repetition factor (such as “PRS-ResourceRepetitionFactor”) across time slots. Periodicity is the time from the first repetition of the first PRS resource in the first PRS instance to the same first repetition of the same first PRS resource in the next PRS instance. The periodicity can have a length chosen from the following: 2^μ*{4,5,8,10,16,20,32,40,64,80,160,320,640,1280,2560,5120,10240} time slots, where μ=0,1,2,3. The repetition factor can have a length chosen from {1,2,4,6,8,16,32} time slots.

[0117] In a PRS resource set, a PRS resource ID is associated with a single beam (or beam ID) transmitted from a single TRP (where a TRP can transmit one or more beams). That is, each PRS resource in a PRS resource set can be transmitted on a different beam, and thus, a "PRS resource" (or simply "resource") can also be referred to as a "beam". Note that this does not imply whether the UE is aware of the TRP and beam transmitting the PRS.

[0118] A “PRS instance” or “PRS timing” is an instance of a periodically repeating time window (such as a group of one or more consecutive time slots) in which a PRS is expected to be transmitted. A PRS timing may also be referred to as a “PRS positioning timing,” “PRS positioning instance,” “positioning timing,” “positioning instance,” “positioning repetition,” or simply “timing,” “instance,” or “repetition.”

[0119] A “positioning frequency layer” (also simply “frequency layer”) is a collection of one or more PRS resource sets with identical values ​​for certain parameters across one or more TRPs. Specifically, the collection of PRS resource sets has the same subcarrier spacing and cyclic prefix (CP) type (meaning all parameter designs supported for the Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) are also supported by the PRS), the same point A, the same downlink PRS bandwidth, the same starting PRB (and center frequency), and the same comb size. The point A parameter uses the value of the parameter “ARFCN-ValueNR” (where “ARFCN” stands for “Absolute Radio Channel Number”) and is an identifier / code specifying the pair of physical radio channels used for transmission and reception. The downlink PRS bandwidth can have a granularity of 4 PRBs, with a minimum of 24 PRBs and a maximum of 272 PRBs. Currently, up to four frequency layers have been defined, and up to two PRS resource sets can be configured per frequency layer per TRP.

[0120] The concept of a frequency layer is somewhat similar to that of component carriers and bandwidth portions (BWPs), but the difference is that component carriers and BWPs are used by a single base station (or macrocell base station and small cell base station) to transmit data channels, while a frequency layer is used by several (often three or more) base stations to transmit PRS (Positioning Signals). A UE can indicate the number of frequency layers it can support when sending its positioning capabilities to the network (such as during an LTE Positioning Protocol (LPP) session). For example, a UE can indicate whether it can support one or four positioning frequency layers.

[0121] Figure 4B This is Figure 430, illustrating various downlink channels within an example downlink time slot. Figure 4BIn this diagram, time is represented horizontally (on the X-axis), increasing from left to right, while frequency is represented vertically (on the Y-axis), increasing (or decreasing) from bottom to top. Figure 4B In the example, a parameter design of 15kHz is used. Therefore, in the time domain, the interpreted time slot length is 1 millisecond (ms), divided into 14 symbols.

[0122] In NR, the channel bandwidth or system bandwidth is divided into multiple bandwidth portions (BWPs). A BWP is a set of adjacent RBs selected from a subset of shared RBs designed for a given carrier with given parameters. Generally, a maximum of four BWPs can be specified in both the downlink and uplink. That is, a UE can be configured to have up to four BWPs in the downlink and up to four BWPs in the uplink. Only one BWP (uplink or downlink) can be active at a given time, meaning that the UE can only receive or transmit on one BWP at a time. In the downlink, the bandwidth of each BWP should be equal to or greater than the bandwidth of the SSB, but it may or may not contain the SSB.

[0123] Reference Figure 4B The Primary Synchronization Signal (PSS) is used by the UE to determine subframe / symbol timing and physical layer identity. The Secondary Synchronization Signal (SSS) is used by the UE to determine the physical layer cell identity group number and radio frame timing. Based on the physical layer identity and physical layer cell identity group number, the UE can determine the PCI. Based on the PCI, the UE can determine the location of the aforementioned DL-RS. The Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH) carrying the Primary Information Block (MIB) can be logically grouped with the PSS and SSS to form the SSB (also known as SS / PBCH). The MIB provides the number of RBs in the downlink system bandwidth and the System Frame Number (SFN). The Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) carries user data, broadcast system information not transmitted via the PBCH (such as System Information Block (SIB)), and paging messages.

[0124] The Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) carries downlink control information (DCI) within one or more Control Channel Elements (CCEs). Each CCE includes one or more RE Group (REG) bundles (which can span multiple symbols in the time domain). Each REG bundle includes one or more REGs, and each REG corresponds to 12 resource elements (one resource block) in the frequency domain and one OFDM symbol in the time domain. The physical resource set used to carry the PDCCH / DCI is called the Control Resource Set (CORESET) in NR. In NR, the PDCCH is confined to a single CORESET and transmitted along with its own DMRS. This enables UE-specific beamforming for the PDCCH.

[0125] exist Figure 4B In the example, each BWP has one CORESET, and this CORESET spans three symbols in the time domain (although it can be only one or two symbols). Unlike the LTE control channel, which occupies the entire system bandwidth, in NR, the PDCCH channel is localized to a specific region in the frequency domain (i.e., the CORESET). Therefore, Figure 4B The frequency components of the PDCCH shown are interpreted in the frequency domain as fewer than a single BWP. Note that although the interpreted CORESETs are contiguous in the frequency domain, they do not need to be contiguous. Additionally, a CORESET can span fewer than three symbols in the time domain.

[0126] The DCI within the PDCCH carries information about uplink resource allocation (persistent and non-persistent) and a description of the downlink data transmitted to the UE (referred to as uplink grant and downlink grant, respectively). More specifically, the DCI indicates the resources scheduled for downlink data channels (e.g., PDSCH) and uplink data channels (e.g., Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH)). Multiple (e.g., up to 8) DCIs can be configured in the PDCCH, and these DCIs can have one of several formats. For example, different DCI formats exist for uplink scheduling, downlink scheduling, uplink transmit power control (TPC), etc. The PDCCH can be transmitted by 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16 CCEs to accommodate different DCI payload sizes or coding rates.

[0127] The following are the currently supported DCI formats. Format 0_0: Backoff for PUSCH scheduling; Format 0_1: No backoff for PUSCH scheduling; Format 1_0: Backoff for PDSCH scheduling; Format 1-1: No backoff for PDSCH scheduling; Format 2_0: Notify the UE group of the slot format; Format 2_1: Notify the UE group of (PRB) and (OFDM) symbols where the UE can assume there are no transmissions for that UE; Format 2_2: Transmit TPC commands for PUCCH and PUSCH; and Format 2_3: Transmit SRS request groups and TPC commands for SRS transmissions. Note that the backoff format is the default scheduling option, has non-configurable fields, and supports basic NR operations. In contrast, the non-backoff format is flexible and adaptable to NR features.

[0128] As will be understood, the UE needs to be able to demodulate (also known as "decode") the PDCCH in order to read the DCI and thereby obtain the scheduling of resources allocated to the UE on the PDSCH and PUSCH. If the UE fails to demodulate the PDCCH, the UE will not know the location of the PDSCH resources, and it will continue to try to demodulate the PDCCH using different sets of PDCCH candidates during subsequent PDCCH monitoring. If the UE fails to demodulate the PDCCH after a certain number of attempts, the UE declares a radio link failure (RLF). To overcome the PDCCH demodulation problem, a search space is configured for efficient PDCCH detection and demodulation.

[0129] Typically, the UE will not attempt to demodulate every PDCCH candidate that might be scheduled in a time slot. To reduce the constraints on the PDCCH scheduler and to minimize the number of blind demodulation attempts made by the UE, a search space is configured. The search space is indicated by a set of adjacent CCEs that the UE intends to monitor in order to find scheduling assignments / grants associated with a particular component carrier. There are two types of search spaces used for PDCCH to control each component carrier: the shared search space (CSS) and the UE-specific search space (USS).

[0130] The shared search space is shared across all UEs, while the UE-specific search space is used per UE (i.e., the UE-specific search space is specific to the particular UE). For the shared search space, DCI Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) is scrambled using the System Information Radio Network Temporary Identifier (SI-RNTI), Random Access RNTI (RA-RNTI), Temporary Cell RNTI (TC-RNTI), Paging RNTI (P-RNTI), Interruption RNTI (INT-RNTI), Slot Format Indication RNTI (SFI-RNTI), TPC-PUCCH-RNTI, TPC-PUSCH-RNTI, TPC-SRS-RNTI, Cell RNTI (C-RNTI), or Configured Scheduling RNTI (CS-RNTI) for all shared protocols. For the UE-specific search space, DCICRC is scrambled using C-RNTI or CS-RNTI, as these are specific to the individual UE.

[0131] The UE uses four UE-specific search space clustering levels (1, 2, 4, and 8) and two shared search space clustering levels (4 and 8) to demodulate the PDCCH. Specifically, for the UE-specific search space, clustering level '1' has a size of six PDCCH candidates and six CCEs per time slot. Clustering level '2' has a size of six PDCCH candidates and 12 CCEs per time slot. Clustering level '4' has a size of two PDCCH candidates and 8 CCEs per time slot. Clustering level '8' has a size of two PDCCH candidates and 16 CCEs per time slot. For the shared search space, clustering level '4' has a size of four PDCCH candidates and 16 CCEs per time slot. Clustering level '8' has a size of two PDCCH candidates and 16 CCEs per time slot.

[0132] Each search space comprises a coherent set of CCEs that can be assigned to a PDCCH (referred to as PDCCH candidates). The UE demodulates all PDCCH candidates in both search spaces (USS and CSS) to discover a DCI for that UE. For example, the UE can demodulate a DCI to obtain scheduled uplink grant information on the PUSCH and downlink resources on the PDSCH. Note that the clustering level is the number of REs carrying PDCCH DCI messages in the CORESET, expressed in the form of CCEs. There is a one-to-one mapping between the clustering level and the number of CCEs per clustering level. That is, for clustering level '4', there are four CCEs. Thus, as shown above, if the clustering level is '4' and the number of PDCCH candidates in a time slot is '2', the size of the search space is '8' (i.e., 4 x 2 = 8).

[0133] On the one hand, carrying Figure 4A The reference signal on the RE marked "R" can be the SRS. The SRS transmitted by the UE can be used by the base station to obtain Channel State Information (CSI) for transmitting the UE. The CSI describes how the RF signal propagates from the UE to the base station and represents the combined effects of scattering, fading, and power attenuation with distance. The system uses the SRS for resource scheduling, link adaptation, massive MIMO, beam management, etc.

[0134] The set of REs used for SRS transmission is called an "SRS resource" and is identified by the parameter "SRS-ResourceId (SRS-ResourceId)". The set of resource elements can span multiple PRBs in the frequency domain and 'N' (e.g., one or more) consecutive symbols within a time slot in the time domain. In a given OFDM symbol, an SRS resource occupies one or more consecutive PRBs. An "SRS resource set" is a group of SRS resources used for SRS signal transmission and is identified by the SRS resource set ID ("SRS-ResourceSetId").

[0135] The transmission of SRS resources within a given PRB has a specific comb tooth size (also known as "comb tooth density"). The comb tooth size 'N' represents the subcarrier spacing (or frequency / frequency modulation spacing) within each symbol of the SRS resource configuration. Specifically, for a comb tooth size 'N', the SRS is transmitted in every Nth subcarrier of a symbol in the PRB. For example, for comb tooth -4, for each symbol of the SRS resource configuration, the RE corresponding to every fourth subcarrier (such as subcarriers 0, 4, 8) is used to transmit the SRS of the SRS resource. Figure 4A In the example, the SRS being interpreted is comb tooth-4 on four symbols. That is, the position of the shaded SRS RE indicates the SRS resource configuration of comb tooth-4.

[0136] Currently, SRS resources with comb tooth sizes of 2, 4, or 8 can span 1, 2, 4, 8, or 12 consecutive symbols within a time slot. The following are the symbol-by-symbol frequency offsets for the currently supported SRS comb tooth patterns. 1-symbol comb tooth-2: {0}; 2-symbol comb tooth-2: {0,1}; 2-symbol comb tooth-4: {0,2}; 4-symbol comb tooth-2: {0,1,0,1}; 4-symbol comb tooth-4: {0,2,1,3} (e.g., in...) Figure 4A (in the example); 8-code comb-4: {0,2,1,3,0,2,1,3}; 12-code comb-4: {0,2,1,3,0,2,1,3,0,2,1,3}; 4-code comb-8: {0,4,2,6}; 8-code comb-8: {0,4,2,6,1,5,3,7}; and 12-code comb-8: {0,4,2,6,1,5,3,7,0,4,2,6}.

[0137] Generally, as mentioned above, the UE transmits SRS so that the receiving base station (serving base station or neighboring base station) can measure the channel quality (i.e., CSI) between the UE and the base station. However, SRS can also be specifically configured as an uplink positioning reference signal for use in uplink-based positioning procedures, such as uplink time difference of arrival (UL-TDOA), round-trip time (RTT), uplink angle of arrival (UL-AoA), etc. As used herein, the term "SRS" can refer to an SRS configured for channel quality measurement or an SRS configured for positioning purposes. When it is necessary to distinguish between the two types of SRS, the former may be referred to herein as "SRS-for-communication" and / or the latter as "SRS-for-positioning".

[0138] Several enhancements to the previously defined SRS have been proposed for “SRS for Positioning” (also known as “UL-PRS”), such as new interleaving patterns within SRS resources (other than a single symbol / comb-2), new comb types for SRS, new sequences of SRS, larger sets of SRS resources per component carrier, and larger numbers of SRS resources per component carrier. Additionally, the parameters “SpatialRelationInfo” and “PathLossReference” are configured based on downlink reference signals or SSBs from adjacent TRPs. Furthermore, an SRS resource can be transmitted outside the active BWP, and an SRS resource can span multiple component carriers. Moreover, SRS can be configured in RRC connected states and transmitted only within the active BWP. Furthermore, frequency hopping, repetition factors, single antenna ports, and new SRS lengths (e.g., 8 and 12 symbols) may not be present. It is also possible to have open-loop power control but no closed-loop power control, and to use comb-8 (i.e., SRS transmitted every eighth subcarrier in the same symbol). Finally, the UE can transmit via the same transmit beam from multiple SRS resources for UL-AoA. All of these are features outside the current SRS framework, which is configured via higher-layer RRC signaling (and potentially triggered or activated via MAC control elements (MAC-CE) or DCI).

[0139] Note that the terms "location reference signal" and "PRS" generally refer to specific reference signals used for positioning in NR and LTE systems. However, as used herein, the terms "location reference signal" and "PRS" can also refer to any type of reference signal that can be used for positioning, such as, but not limited to, PRS, TRS, PTRS, CRS, CSI-RS, DMRS, PSS, SSS, SSB, SRS, UL-PRS, etc., as defined in LTE and NR. Additionally, the terms "location reference signal" and "PRS" can refer to downlink or uplink positioning reference signals, unless otherwise indicated by the context. If further distinction is needed regarding the type of PRS, downlink positioning reference signals may be referred to as "DL-PRS," while uplink positioning reference signals (e.g., positioning SRS, PTRS) may be referred to as "UL-PRS." Furthermore, for signals that can be transmitted in both uplink and downlink (e.g., DMRS, PTRS), these signals may be prefixed with "UL" or "DL" to distinguish direction. For example, "UL-DMRS" can be distinguished from "DL-DMRS."

[0140] Figure 4C This is diagram 450 illustrating various uplink channels within an example uplink timeslot. In Figure 4C In this diagram, time is represented horizontally (on the X-axis), increasing from left to right, while frequency is represented vertically (on the Y-axis), increasing (or decreasing) from bottom to top. Figure 4C In the example, a parameter design of 15kHz is used. Therefore, in the time domain, the interpreted time slot length is 1 millisecond (ms), divided into 14 symbols.

[0141] The Random Access Channel (RACH) (also known as the Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH)) can be configured within one or more time slots within a frame. A PRACH may include six consecutive RB pairs within a time slot. The PRACH allows the UE to perform initial system access and achieve uplink synchronization. The Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) may be located at the edge of the uplink system bandwidth. The PUCCH carries uplink control information (UCI), such as scheduling requests, CSI reports, channel quality indicators (CQI), precoding matrix indicators (PMI), rank indicators (RI), and HARQ ACK / NACK feedback. The Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) carries data and may additionally be used to carry buffer status reports (BSR), power clearance reports (PHR), and / or UCI.

[0142] Even when no traffic is being transmitted from the network to the UE, the UE is expected to monitor every downlink subframe on the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH). This means that even when there is no traffic, the UE must always be "on" or active, because the UE cannot know exactly when the network will transmit data to it. However, being constantly active consumes a considerable amount of power for the UE.

[0143] To address this issue, the UE can implement Discontinuous Reception (DRX) and / or Connected Mode Discontinuous Reception (CDRX) technologies. DRX and CDRX are mechanisms by which the UE enters a "sleep" mode during certain time periods and "wakes up" during other time periods. During the wake-up or active period, the UE checks for any data from the network, and if no data is received, it returns to sleep mode.

[0144] To implement DRX and CDRX, the UE and network need to be synchronized. In the worst-case scenario, the network might attempt to send data to the UE while it is in sleep mode, and the UE might wake up when there is no data to receive. To prevent such scenarios, the UE and network should have a well-defined agreement regarding when the UE can be in sleep mode and when it should wake up / be active. This agreement has been standardized in various specifications. Note that DRX includes CDRX, and therefore, references to DRX refer to both DRX and CDRX unless otherwise indicated.

[0145] The network (e.g., the serving cell) can use an RRC connection reconfiguration message (for CDRX) or an RRC connection setup message (for DRX) to configure the UE to have DRX / CDRX timing. The network can signal the following DRX configuration parameters to the UE: (1) DRX cycle: the duration of an 'on' time plus an 'off' time. This value is not explicitly specified in the RRC message; instead, it is calculated using the subframe / slot time and the "long DRX cycle start offset". (2) On Duration Timer: the duration of the 'on' time within a DRX cycle, indicated by the parameter "drx-onDurationTimer". (3) DRX Inactive Timer: how long the UE should remain 'on' after receiving the PDCCH. When this timer is active, the UE remains 'on', which extends the on period into the period that would otherwise be 'off'. (4) DRX Retransmission Timer: The maximum number of consecutive PDCCH subframes / slots that the UE should remain active to await incoming retransmissions after the first available retransmission time. (5) Short DRX Cycle: A DRX cycle that can be implemented during the 'off' period of a long DRX cycle. (6) DRX Short Cycle Timer: The number of consecutive subframes / slots that should follow a short DRX cycle after the DRX inactivity timer expires.

[0146] Figures 5A to 5C The example DRX configurations based on various aspects of this disclosure are explained. Figure 5A The example DRX configuration 500A is explained, which is configured with a long DRX cycle (the time from the start of one start duration to the start of the next start duration) and does not receive a PDCCH during this cycle. Figure 5B The example DRX configuration 500B, which features a long DRX cycle and receives a PDCCH during the start duration 510 of the illustrated second DRX cycle, is explained. Note that the start duration 510 ends at time 512. However, based on the length of the DRX inactivity timer and the time the PDCCH is received, the UE wake-up / activation time (“active time”) is extended to time 514. Specifically, upon receiving a PDCCH, the UE starts a DRX inactivity timer and remains in an active state until the timer expires (the timer is reset each time a PDCCH is received during the active time).

[0147] Figure 5C The example DRX configuration 500C is explained, which is configured with a long DRX cycle and receives the PDCCH and DRX command MAC control element (MAC-CE) during the 520-second duration of the second DRX cycle described. Note that since the PDCCH is received at time 522 and the DRX inactive timer subsequently expires at time 524, the active time that begins during the 520-second duration will normally end at time 524, as described above. Figure 5B The subject of discussion. However, in Figure 5C In the example, based on the time of the DRX command MAC-CE that received the instruction UE to terminate the DRX inactive timer and start the duration timer, the active time is shortened to time 526.

[0148] More specifically, the active time of the DRX cycle is the period during which the UE is considered to be monitoring the PDCCH. The active time can include the following periods: the start-up duration timer is running; the DRX inactivity timer is running; the DRX retransmission timer is running; the MAC contention resolution timer is running; a scheduling request has been sent on the PUCCH and is pending; uplink permission for a pending HARQ retransmission may occur and data exists in the corresponding HARQ buffer; or a new transmission indicating the Cell Radio Network Temporary Identifier (C-RNTI) addressed to the UE has not been received after successfully receiving a Random Access Response (RAR) with a preamble not selected by the UE. Furthermore, in non-contention-based random access, after receiving the RAR, the UE should be active until a new transmission indicating the C-RNTI addressed to the UE is received.

[0149] In legacy UEs, monitoring is expected to be performed on all DRX enable durations in their CDRX mode. However, in NR, the network (e.g., the serving base station) can send a Wake-Up Signal (WUS) to the UE during a monitoring period prior to the DRX enable duration. More specifically, a UE configured for DRX mode operation can be configured to monitor WUS outside of DRX active periods. The WUS monitoring time set (Mo) is associated with each DRX cycle. The WUS indicates whether the UE's MAC entity should start a DRX enable duration timer for the next DRX cycle. However, WUS does not affect other timers (e.g., "bwp-inactivityTimer", "dataInactivityTimer", and "sCellDeactivationTimer"). WUS is defined by a DCI format 2_6 with a CRC scrambled with power-saving RNTI (PS-RNTI). WUS can be shared by a group of UEs and monitored centrally in a shared search space. WUS can be configured only on the primary cell (PCell) or the primary subcell group (SCG) cell (PSCell) and can indicate sleep behavior (skipping DRX activation time) for up to five subcell groups (SCells).

[0150] Figure 6 This is a simplified timing diagram 600 for the wake-up signal and DRX mode activation time. Figure 6 In the example, the UE can be configured to monitor WUS received outside of DRX on times 620 and 640. For example... Figure 6As shown, a WUS can be transmitted corresponding to each DRX activation time, where WUS 610 corresponds to DRX activation time 620 and is transmitted / received before DRX activation time 620, and WUS 630 corresponds to DRX activation time 640 and is transmitted / received before DRX activation time 640. The UE can be configured to monitor the WUS during appropriate WUS monitoring times. WUS 610 and 630 indicate to the UE whether the UE should implement the corresponding (e.g., the next in time) DRX activation times 620 and 640.

[0151] Figure 7 The example DC1 format 700 for WUS is explained. (Reference) Figure 7 The WUS 700 includes a Wake-up (WU) indication 710, a corresponding content portion 720, and a Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) 730. The WUS 700 can be shared by a group of UEs, where each UE in the group is assigned a UE-specific field in the WUS 700. Specifically, each combination of the WU indication 710 and the content 720 can correspond to a specific UE, allowing the WUS 700 to be shared with multiple UEs. The WUS 700 can be a PDCCH message defined in DCI format 2_6 with a CRC 730 scrambled with PS-RNTI. Each of the WU indications 710 can be a single bit that indicates to the corresponding UE to wake up for a corresponding (e.g., the next) DRX on time and thus monitor the PDCCH during that DRX on time, or to skip (e.g., ignore) the corresponding DRX on time and thus not monitor the PDCCH during the scheduled DRX on time.

[0152] In addition to providing a PS-RNTI for scrambling CRC 730, the following can be provided for monitoring DCI format 2_6: First, one or more Type 3-PDCCH shared search space (CSS) sets can be provided for monitoring DCI format 2_6 with PS-RNTI. More specifically, more than one search space set can be configured for DCI format 2_6. Second, the payload size of DCI format 2_6 and the position of wake-up indication bits for indicating the location of fields that vary from UE to UE can be provided for monitoring DCI format 2_6. Third, a group of SCells (up to 5) for indicating sleep behavior outside of active time can be provided for monitoring DCI format 2_6. Note that the group of SCells for indicating sleep behavior during active time (by scheduling DCI) is configured separately. Fourth, a time offset (e.g., indicated by the parameter "ps_Offset") indicating the time when the UE begins positioning for monitoring DCI format 2_6 before the time slot at the start of the DRX cycle can be provided for monitoring DCI format 2_6. Note that the parameter "ps_Offset" can have a value selected from {0.125ms, 0.25ms, 0.375ms...15ms}.

[0153] Currently, 5G only supports periodic PRS transmissions. The UE is expected to measure all PRS times regardless of the DRX cycle, which consumes significant power. If the UE needs to measure all PRS times, it needs to power on its RF receive chain and / or RF transmit chain for each time, which also consumes significant power. An RF chain (whether receive or transmit) is a cascade of electronic components configured to receive incoming analog signals (in the case of an RF receive chain) or transmit outgoing analog signals (in the case of an RF transmit chain). These electronic components include amplifiers (e.g., low-noise amplifiers (LNAs) for the RF receive chain and power amplifiers (PAs) for the RF transmit chain), filters, mixers, attenuators, and detectors. Each RF receive chain is coupled at one end to at least one antenna (e.g., antennas 316) and at the other end to an analog-to-digital converter (ADC). Each RF transmit chain is coupled at one end to an antenna (e.g., antennas 316) and at the other end to a digital-to-analog converter (DAC).

[0154] Based on the above observations, techniques for power saving when measuring and / or transmitting PRS when the UE is configured to operate in DRX mode would be beneficial. Previous solutions have focused on power saving techniques for DL-PRS. For example, the UE can be configured (statically and / or dynamically) to perform measurement actions according to the relative timing of PRS and DRX on-time, as shown in Table 1 below. Table 1 indicates the following overlap conditions of DL-PRS relative to DRX on-time: DL-PRS entirely within DRX on-time (entirely outside DRX off-time), partially within DRX on-time (partially overlapping DRX on-time and partially overlapping DRX off-time), and entirely outside DRX on-time (entirely within DRX off-time). The configuration information reflected by the measurement actions that the UE can perform as indicated in Table 1 allows the UE to perform actions according to Table 1 or a portion of Table 1 based on the overlap conditions of PRS and DRX on-time.

[0155]

[0156] Table 1

[0157] This disclosure discusses operations related to UL-PRS when the UE is configured to skip the next DRX cycle.

[0158] Figures 8A to 8C The various relative timings of the UL-PRS and DRX activation times, which may occur depending on the scheduling of the UL-PRS and the scheduling of the DRX cycle, are explained according to various aspects of this disclosure. Figures 8A to 8C In the diagram, the horizontal axis represents time. In each figure, the UE has been configured to transmit two repetitions of two UL-PRS resources 812, 814 in at least one UL-PRS timing 810 (for simplicity, only the first repetition is labeled). Similar to DL-PRS timing, UL-PRS can also be referred to as instances or repetitions. The DRX cycle time is the time from the start of the DRX start time window 820 to the start of the next DRX start time window 830.

[0159] like Figure 8A As shown, in the complete overlap of UL-PRS and DRX activation times, the scheduled UL-PRS timing 810 occurs entirely within the scheduled DRX activation time window 820. Therefore, UL-PRS timing 810 and DRX activation time window 820 completely overlap. DRX activation time can refer to the DRX activation duration (configured by the DRX activation duration timer) or the DRX active time (as discussed above, having a more dynamic active time range, for example, not determined at the start of the UL-PRS timing).

[0160] like Figure 8BAs shown, in the partial overlap between UL-PRS and DRX activation times, the scheduled UL-PRS timing 810 partially overlaps with the DRX activation time window 820. One portion of the UL-PRS timing 810 overlaps with a portion of the DRX activation time window 820, while another portion of the UL-PRS timing 810 overlaps with a portion of the DRX deactivation time window 840. Figure 8C As shown, in the zero-overlap relationship between UL-PRS and DRX activation time, the scheduled UL-PRS timing 810 does not overlap with the DRX activation time window 820 at all, but instead completely overlaps with the DRX deactivation time window 840.

[0161] The baseline scenario is that the UL-PRS resources during the UL-PRS timing are transmitted entirely within the DRX active time period, such as... Figure 8A As shown in the diagram. Any non-periodic (i.e., on-demand) UL-PRS is expected to be delivered regardless of DRX. The problem arises when the UL-PRS timing is entirely outside of or only partially overlaps with DRX activation time, such as... Figure 8B and 8C As explained in [the document]. The following table is limited to a DRX group in [the context of the table]. Figures 8A to 8C The table below explains UE behavior in overlapping scenarios. Specifically, the left column of Table 2 lists the overlapping conditions, while the right column indicates whether and how the UE is expected to transmit UL-PRS under these conditions. The UL-PRS transmission configurations defined in Table 2 apply independently to periodic (P), semi-persistent (SP), and aperiodic (A) UL-PRS.

[0162]

[0163] Table 2

[0164] Note that a periodic UL-PRS is a UL-PRS that the UE has been configured to transmit periodically. A semi-persistent UL-PRS has its time / frequency resources pre-configured to the UE (e.g., they may be periodically occurring resources), and the UE only does so when the transmission of the UL-PRS is triggered or activated. A non-periodic UL-PRS (A UL-PRS) has its time / frequency resources configured to the UE when the UE is expected to transmit the UL-PRS. A non-periodic UL-PRS can also be referred to as an "on-demand" UL-PRS.

[0165] For the second option (in the second row), the UE may select a subset of UL-PRS resources (e.g., UL-PRS resources 812, 814) within a UL-PRS timing (e.g., UL-PRS timing 810) based on resource sets and / or frequency layers and / or TRP numbers and PRS repetition factors, spatial multiplexing, etc. For example, given a UL-PRS resource set represented as “AABBCC”, the UE may transmit UL-PRS resources marked as “AABBC”. As another example, given a UL-PRS resource set represented as “ABCABC”, the UE may transmit at least one UL-PRS resource set marked as “ABC”.

[0166] Alternatively, the UE may select a subset of UL-PRS resources that fall within the DRX activation duration and / or DRX active time within the UL-PRS timing. Note that, as mentioned above, the active time range is more dynamic and may not be determined at the start of the UL-PRS timing.

[0167] When WUS is configured, additional rules can be limited to handle UL-PRS when the UE is configured for DRX mode. Figure 9 This is a diagram 900 illustrating the rules for interaction between UL-PRS, DRX mode, and WUS according to various aspects of this disclosure. In stage 910, the UE determines whether the received / detected WUS indicates that the next DRX cycle should be skipped. If the WUS indicates that the UE should monitor the PDCCH for the next DRX cycle (e.g., WU = 0), then in stage 920, the UE transmits UL-PRS as defined in Table 2 above (e.g., UL-PRS timing 810). However, if the WUS indicates that the UE should skip the next DRX cycle (e.g., WU = 1), then the UE transmits UL-PRS (stage 930) or skips the UL-PRS transmission (stage 940). Whether the UE transmits or skips the transmission may be based on configuration from the network (e.g., serving base station), may be defined in applicable standards, etc.

[0168] If the UE will transmit UL-PRS, it can be configured to monitor the PDCCH of the next DRX cycle (phase 960) or not monitor the PDCCH of the next DRX cycle (phase 950). Referring more specifically to phase 960, although the WUS has instructed the UE not to wake up for the next DRX cycle, the UE can be configured to monitor at least a portion of the PDCCH of the next DRX cycle because it may be transmitting UL-PRS in a network-triggered situation. In this case, the PDCCH (specifically, DCI) can indicate whether UL-PRS should be transmitted. How UL-PRS is transmitted (e.g., transmitting all opportunities or a subset of UL-PRS resources for an opportunity) can be indicated by RRC signaling or relevant standards. Alternatively, the PDCCH (specifically, DCI) can also indicate how UL-PRS is transmitted.

[0169] Figure 10 Example scenario 1000, based on various aspects of this disclosure, is explained, where the WUS has indicated that the next DRX cycle should be skipped, but the UE wakes up to monitor the PDCCH for instructions on how to transmit the UL-PRS. Figure 10 In this configuration, the UE has been configured to transmit two repetitions of two UL-PRS resources 1012 and 1014 in at least one UL-PRS timing 1010 (for simplicity, only the first repetition is marked). The DRX cycle time is the time from the start of the DRX start time window 1020 to the start of the next DRX start time window 1030.

[0170] like Figure 10 As shown, the UL-PRS timing 1010 and the DRX activation time window 1020 only partially overlap. Additionally, the UE receives a PDCCH instruction 1040 at or near the beginning of the DRX activation time window 1020, instructing the UE on how to handle the UL-PRS timing 1010. Although WUS has configured the UE to skip this DRX cycle, the UE wakes up to at least monitor the PDCCH instruction 1040. Figure 9 As shown, the PDCCH indication 1040 can be within a finite time domain and / or finite frequency domain having a (specific) DCI containing instructions for UL-PRS transmission. This can be extended to aperiodic (A) and / or semi-persistent (SP) UL-PRS by reusing the DL-PRS triggering design when the WUS instructs the UE to skip the next DRX cycle (specified elsewhere). The same design can also extend to UL-PRS. The indication can be to transmit or not to transmit. If transmission is triggered, how to transmit can be indicated by RRC signaling or relevant standards, as described above. Alternatively, the PDCCH indication 1040 can be indicated by... Figure 9 The rules listed herein specify how UL-PRS should be transmitted, for the absence of PDCCH monitoring.

[0171] Specifically, refer back to Figure 9 In phase 950, if the UE is configured not to monitor the PDCCH for the next DRX cycle, the UE may only transmit periodic (P) UL-PRS and the activated semi-persistent (SP) UL-PRS. In this case, aperiodic (A) UL-PRS is not supported because the triggering condition is not met. In this case, one or more RRC flags received from the base station can control the transmission of UL-PRS. For example, if an RRC parameter such as “ps-SP_UL-PRS_Transmit(ps-SP_UL-PRS_transmit)” is configured (e.g., set to '1'), the UE does not transmit SP UL-PRS. Alternatively, if an RRC parameter such as “ps-P_UL-PRS_Transmit(ps-P_UL-PRS_transmit)” is configured (e.g., set to '1'), the UE does not transmit P UL-PRS. As another alternative, instead of separate flags for SP UL-PRS and P UL-PRS, an RRC flag such as "ps-UL-PRS-Transmit" controls both P UL-PRS and SP UL-PRS. When configured (e.g., set to '1'), the UE does not transmit either P UL-PRS or SP UL-PRS.

[0172] exist Figure 9 Following the decision explained herein, the UE transmits (or suppresses transmission) the next UL-PRS opportunity (all or part of the UL-PRS resources for that opportunity) in accordance with applicable rules.

[0173] Figure 11 An example wireless communication method 1100 according to various aspects of this disclosure has been described. In one aspect, method 1100 can be performed by a UE (e.g., any UE described herein) configured to operate in DRX mode.

[0174] At 1110, the UE switches to the DRX active time of the DRX cycle in this DRX mode. In one aspect, operation 1110 may be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 310, one or more processors 332, memory 340 and / or positioning components 342, any or all of these components may be considered as means for performing the operation.

[0175] At 1120, the UE transmits one or more UL-PRS resources (e.g., SRS for positioning) for the UL-PRS timing, based on the at least partial overlap between the UL-PRS timing and the DRX off time following the DRX active time in the DRX cycle. In one aspect, operation 1120 may be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 310, one or more processors 332, memory 340, and / or positioning components 342, any or all of which may be considered means for performing the operation.

[0176] As will be understood, the technical advantage of Method 1100 lies in improved power consumption when transmitting UL-PRS during DRX cycles.

[0177] In the detailed description above, it can be seen that different features are grouped together in the examples. This manner of disclosure should not be construed as an intention to have more features than those explicitly mentioned in each clause. Rather, aspects of this disclosure may include fewer features than those of the individual example clauses disclosed. Therefore, the appended clauses should thus be considered as incorporated into this description, where each clause may be a separate example. Although each dependent clause may refer in its respective clause to a specific combination with one of the other clauses, the aspects of that dependent clause are not limited to that specific combination. It will be appreciated that other example clauses may also include combinations of aspects of the dependent clause with the subject matter of any other dependent or independent clause, or any feature combined with other dependent and independent clauses. The aspects disclosed herein expressly include these combinations unless explicitly stated or readily inferred that a particular combination is not intended (e.g., contradictory aspects, such as defining an element as both an insulator and a conductor). Furthermore, it is intended that aspects of a clause may be included in any other independent clause, even if that clause is not directly subordinate to that independent clause.

[0178] Examples of implementations are described in the following numbered clauses.

[0179] Clause 1. A wireless communication method performed by a user equipment (UE) configured to operate in a discontinuous reception (DRX) mode, comprising: a DRX active time of a DRX cycle switching to the DRX mode; and transmitting one or more UL-PRS resources based on an uplink positioning reference signal (UL-PRS) timing that at least partially overlaps with a DRX off time following the DRX active time in the DRX cycle.

[0180] Clause 2. The method of Clause 1, wherein the one or more UL-PRS resources transmitting the UL-PRS timing include all UL-PRS resources that transmit the UL-PRS timing based on the partial overlap of the UL-PRS time with the DRX active time and the DRX off time or the complete overlap of the UL-PRS time with the DRX off time.

[0181] Clause 3. The method of Clause 1, wherein the one or more UL-PRS resources transmitting the UL-PRS timing include a subset of UL-PRS resources that transmit the UL-PRS timing based on the partial overlap between the UL-PRS timing and the DRX active time and the DRX off time.

[0182] Clause 4. The method of Clause 3, wherein the UL-PRS resource subset is selected based on the UL-PRS resource set to which the UL-PRS resource subset belongs, the frequency layer to which the UL-PRS resource subset belongs, the number of transmit / receive points (TRPs) to which the UL-PRS resource subset is transmitted, one or more repetition factors of the UL-PRS resource subset, spatial multiplexing of the UL-PRS resource subset, or any combination thereof.

[0183] Clause 5. The method of any of Clauses 3 to 4, wherein the subset of UL-PRS resources includes only UL-PRS resources that overlap with the active time of the DRX.

[0184] Clause 6. The method of any of Clauses 1 to 5, wherein the one or more UL-PRS resources are persistent, semi-persistent, or non-periodic.

[0185] Clause 7. The method of any of Clauses 1 to 6 further includes: receiving a wake-up signal (WUS) indicating whether the UE is expected to monitor the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) during the next DRX cycle or to skip the next DRX cycle.

[0186] Clause 8. The method of Clause 7, wherein the WUS based on indicating that the UE is expected to monitor the PDCCH during the next DRX cycle: the one or more UL-PRS resources transmitting the UL-PRS timing include all UL-PRS resources transmitting the UL-PRS timing based on the partial overlap of the UL-PRS timing with the DRX active time and the DRX off time or complete overlap with the DRX off time, or the one or more UL-PRS resources transmitting the UL-PRS timing include a subset of UL-PRS resources transmitting the UL-PRS timing based on the partial overlap of the UL-PRS timing with the DRX active time and the DRX off time.

[0187] Clause 9. The method of Clause 8, wherein the control signal in the PDCCH indicates whether the UE is expected to transmit the full UL-PRS resources of the UL-PRS time or a subset of the UL-PRS resources of the UL-PRS time.

[0188] Clause 10. The method of any of Clauses 7 to 9, wherein the one or more UL-PRS resources of the UL-PRS timing are transmitted based on a WUS indicating that the UE is expected to skip the next DRX cycle.

[0189] Clause 11. The method of Clause 10 further includes: suppressing monitoring of the PDCCH during the next DRX cycle, and the one or more UL-PRS resources include periodic UL-PRS resources or activated semi-persistent UL-PRS resources.

[0190] Clause 12. The method of Clause 11 further includes: receiving, via Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling, an indication that the UE is expected to transmit the periodic UL-PRS resource or the activated semi-persistent UL-PRS resource.

[0191] Clause 13. The method of any of Clauses 10 to 12 further includes: monitoring a subset of resources on which the PDCCH is transmitted during the next DRX cycle; and decoding downlink control information (DCI) in the subset of resources, the DCI indicating how the UE is expected to transmit the one or more UL-PRS resources at the UL-PRS timing.

[0192] Clause 14. The method of Clause 13, wherein the DCI applies to non-periodic UL-PRS resources in the one or more UL-PRS resources at the time of the UL-PRS.

[0193] Clause 15. The method of any of Clauses 1 to 14, wherein the DRX active time includes the time of the following: the DRX enable duration timer is running, the DRX inactive timer is running, the DRX retransmission timer is running, the Media Access Control (MAC) contention resolution timer is running, a scheduling request has been sent on the Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) and is pending, uplink grant for pending Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) retransmission may occur and data exists in the corresponding HARQ buffer, a PDCCH indicating a new transmission of the Cell Radio Network Temporary Identifier (C-RNTI) addressed to the UE has not been received after a successful reception of a Random Access Response (RAR) with a preamble not selected by the UE, or any combination thereof.

[0194] Clause 16. A user equipment (UE) configured to operate in discontinuous reception (DRX) mode, comprising: a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: switch to a DRX active time of a DRX cycle in the DRX mode; and transmit one or more UL-PRS resources via the at least one transceiver based on an uplink positioning reference signal (UL-PRS) timing that at least partially overlaps with a DRX off time following the DRX active time in the DRX cycle.

[0195] Clause 17. The UE of Clause 16, wherein the at least one processor configured to transmit the one or more UL-PRS resources of the UL-PRS timing includes at least one processor configured to: transmit all UL-PRS resources of the UL-PRS timing based on the partial overlap of the UL-PRS timing with the DRX active time and the DRX off time or the complete overlap with the DRX off time.

[0196] Clause 18. The UE of Clause 16, wherein the at least one processor configured to transmit the one or more UL-PRS resources of the UL-PRS timing includes at least one processor configured to: transmit a subset of the UL-PRS resources of the UL-PRS timing based on the partial overlap between the UL-PRS timing and the DRX active time and the DRX off time.

[0197] Clause 19. The UE as in Clause 18, wherein the subset of UL-PRS resources is selected based on the UL-PRS resource set to which the subset of UL-PRS resources belongs, the frequency layer to which the subset of UL-PRS resources belongs, the number of Transmit / Receive Points (TRPs) to which the subset of UL-PRS resources is transmitted, one or more repetition factors of the subset of UL-PRS resources, spatial multiplexing of the subset of UL-PRS resources, or any combination thereof.

[0198] Clause 20. For any UE of Clauses 18 to 19, wherein the subset of UL-PRS resources includes only the UL-PRS resources that overlap with the DRX active time.

[0199] Clause 21. The UE of any of Clauses 16 to 20, wherein the one or more UL-PRS resources are persistent, semi-persistent, or non-periodic.

[0200] Clause 22. The UE of any of Clauses 16 to 21, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to receive, via the at least one transceiver, a wake-up signal (WUS) indicating whether the UE is expected to monitor the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) during the next DRX cycle or to skip the next DRX cycle.

[0201] Clause 23. The UE as in Clause 22, wherein the WUS, based on an indication that the UE is expected to monitor the PDCCH during the next DRX cycle: the at least one processor configured to transmit the one or more UL-PRS resources of the UL-PRS timing via the at least one transceiver includes at least one processor configured to: transmit all UL-PRS resources of the UL-PRS timing via the at least one transceiver based on the partial overlap of the UL-PRS timing with the DRX active time or the DRX off time, or the at least one processor configured to transmit the one or more UL-PRS resources of the UL-PRS timing via the at least one transceiver includes at least one processor configured to: transmit a subset of the UL-PRS resources of the UL-PRS timing via the at least one transceiver based on the partial overlap of the UL-PRS timing with the DRX active time and the DRX off time.

[0202] Clause 24. The UE as in Clause 23, wherein the control signal in the PDCCH indicates whether the UE is expected to transmit the full UL-PRS resources of the UL-PRS time or a subset of the UL-PRS resources of the UL-PRS time.

[0203] Clause 25. For any UE of Clauses 22 to 24, wherein the one or more UL-PRS resources of the UL-PRS timing are transmitted based on the WUS indicating that the UE is expected to skip the next DRX cycle.

[0204] Clause 26. The UE as in Clause 25, wherein: the UE does not monitor the PDCCH during the next DRX cycle, and the one or more UL-PRS resources include periodic UL-PRS resources or activated semi-persistent UL-PRS resources.

[0205] Clause 27. The UE as in Clause 26, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: receive via radio resource control (RRC) signaling an indication that the UE is expected to transmit the periodic UL-PRS resource or the activated semi-persistent UL-PRS resource.

[0206] Clause 28. A UE as described in any of Clauses 25 to 27, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: monitor a subset of resources on which the PDCCH is transmitted during the next DRX cycle; and decode downlink control information (DCI) in the subset of resources, the DCI indicating how the UE is expected to transmit the one or more UL-PRS resources at the UL-PRS timing.

[0207] Clause 29. The UE as in Clause 28, wherein the DCI applies to non-periodic UL-PRS resources in one or more UL-PRS resources at the time of the UL-PRS.

[0208] Clause 30. For any UE of any of Clauses 16 to 29, wherein the DRX active time includes the time during which: the DRX enable duration timer is running, the DRX inactive timer is running, the DRX retransmission timer is running, the Media Access Control (MAC) contention resolution timer is running, a scheduling request has been sent on the Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) and is pending, uplink grant for pending Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) retransmission may occur and data exists in the corresponding HARQ buffer, a PDCCH indicating a new transmission of the Cell Radio Network Temporary Identifier (C-RNTI) addressed to the UE has not been received after a successful reception of a Random Access Response (RAR) with a preamble not selected by the UE, or any combination thereof.

[0209] Clause 31. A user equipment (UE) configured to operate in discontinuous reception (DRX) mode, comprising: means for a DRX active time of a DRX cycle for switching to the DRX mode; and means for transmitting one or more UL-PRS resources based on an uplink positioning reference signal (UL-PRS) timing that at least partially overlaps with a DRX off time following the DRX active time in the DRX cycle.

[0210] Clause 32. The UE as in Clause 31, wherein the means for transmitting the one or more UL-PRS resources of the UL-PRS timing includes means for transmitting all UL-PRS resources of the UL-PRS timing based on the partial overlap of the UL-PRS timing with the DRX active time and the DRX off time or the complete overlap with the DRX off time.

[0211] Clause 33. The UE of Clause 31, wherein the means for transmitting the one or more UL-PRS resources of the UL-PRS timing includes means for transmitting a subset of UL-PRS resources of the UL-PRS timing based on the partial overlap between the UL-PRS timing and the DRX active time and the DRX off time.

[0212] Clause 34. The UE as in Clause 33, wherein the UL-PRS resource subset is selected based on the UL-PRS resource set to which the UL-PRS resource subset belongs, the frequency layer to which the UL-PRS resource subset belongs, the number of Transmit / Receive Points (TRPs) to which the UL-PRS resource subset is transmitted, one or more repetition factors of the UL-PRS resource subset, spatial multiplexing of the UL-PRS resource subset, or any combination thereof.

[0213] Clause 35. For any UE of Clauses 33 to 34, wherein the subset of UL-PRS resources includes only the UL-PRS resources that overlap with the DRX active time.

[0214] Clause 36. UE of any of Clauses 31 to 35, wherein the one or more UL-PRS resources are persistent, semi-persistent, or non-periodic.

[0215] Clause 37. The UE of any of Clauses 31 to 36 further includes: means for receiving a wake-up signal (WUS) indicating whether the UE is expected to monitor the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) during the next DRX cycle or to skip the next DRX cycle.

[0216] Clause 38. For a UE as in Clause 37, wherein based on the WUS indicating that the UE is expected to monitor the PDCCH during the next DRX cycle: the means for transmitting the one or more UL-PRS resources of the UL-PRS timing includes means for transmitting all UL-PRS resources of the UL-PRS timing based on the partial overlap of the UL-PRS timing with the DRX active time and the DRX off time or the complete overlap of the UL-PRS timing with the DRX off time, or the means for transmitting the one or more UL-PRS resources of the UL-PRS timing includes means for transmitting a subset of the UL-PRS resources of the UL-PRS timing based on the partial overlap of the UL-PRS timing with the DRX active time and the DRX off time.

[0217] Clause 39. The UE as in Clause 38, wherein the control signal in the PDCCH indicates whether the UE is expected to transmit the full UL-PRS resources of the UL-PRS time or a subset of the UL-PRS resources of the UL-PRS time.

[0218] Clause 40. For any UE of Clauses 37 to 39, wherein the one or more UL-PRS resources of the UL-PRS timing are transmitted based on the WUS indicating that the UE is expected to skip the next DRX cycle.

[0219] Clause 41. The UE as in Clause 40, wherein: the UE does not monitor the PDCCH during the next DRX cycle, and the one or more UL-PRS resources include periodic UL-PRS resources or activated semi-persistent UL-PRS resources.

[0220] Clause 42. The UE as described in Clause 41 further includes: means for receiving, via radio resource control (RRC) signaling, an indication that the UE is expected to transmit the periodic UL-PRS resource or the activated semi-persistent UL-PRS resource.

[0221] Clause 43. The UE of any of Clauses 40 to 42 further includes: means for monitoring a subset of resources on which the PDCCH is transmitted during the next DRX cycle; and means for decoding downlink control information (DCI) in the subset of resources, the DCI indicating how the UE is expected to transmit the one or more UL-PRS resources at the UL-PRS timing.

[0222] Clause 44. The UE as in Clause 43, wherein the DCI applies to non-periodic UL-PRS resources in one or more UL-PRS resources at the time of the UL-PRS.

[0223] Clause 45. For any UE of Clauses 31 to 44, the DRX active time includes the time during which: the DRX enable duration timer is running, the DRX inactive timer is running, the DRX retransmission timer is running, the Media Access Control (MAC) contention resolution timer is running, a scheduling request has been sent on the Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) and is pending, uplink grant for pending Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) retransmission may occur and data exists in the corresponding HARQ buffer, a PDCCH indicating a new transmission of the Cell Radio Network Temporary Identifier (C-RNTI) addressed to the UE has not been received after a successful reception of a Random Access Response (RAR) with a preamble not selected by the UE, or any combination thereof.

[0224] Clause 46. A non-transient computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a user equipment (UE) configured to operate in discontinuous reception (DRX) mode, cause the UE to: switch to a DRX active time of a DRX cycle in the DRX mode; and transmit one or more UL-PRS resources based on an uplink positioning reference signal (UL-PRS) timing that at least partially overlaps with a DRX off time following the DRX active time in the DRX cycle.

[0225] Clause 47. A non-transient computer-readable medium as described in Clause 46, wherein the computer-executable instruction that, when executed by the UE, causes the UE to transmit the one or more UL-PRS resources of the UL-PRS timing includes a computer-executable instruction that, when executed by the UE, causes the UE to perform the following operation: transmit all UL-PRS resources of the UL-PRS timing based on the partial overlap or complete overlap of the UL-PRS timing with the DRX active time and the DRX off time.

[0226] Clause 48. A non-transient computer-readable medium as described in Clause 46, wherein the computer-executable instruction that, when executed by the UE, causes the UE to transmit the one or more UL-PRS resources of the UL-PRS timing includes, when executed by the UE, a computer-executable instruction that, when executed by the UE, causes the UE to perform the following operation: transmit a subset of the UL-PRS resources of the UL-PRS timing based on the partial overlap between the UL-PRS timing and the DRX active time and the DRX off time.

[0227] Clause 49. A non-transient computer-readable medium as described in Clause 48, wherein the subset of UL-PRS resources is selected based on the UL-PRS resource set to which the subset of UL-PRS resources belongs, the frequency layer to which the subset of UL-PRS resources belongs, the number of transmit-receive points (TRPs) to which the subset of UL-PRS resources is transmitted, one or more repetition factors of the subset of UL-PRS resources, spatial multiplexing of the subset of UL-PRS resources, or any combination thereof.

[0228] Clause 50. A non-transient computer-readable medium such as any of Clauses 48 to 49, wherein the subset of UL-PRS resources comprises only the UL-PRS resources that overlap with the active time of the DRX.

[0229] Clause 51. A non-transient computer-readable medium such as any of Clauses 46 to 50, wherein the one or more UL-PRS resources are persistent, semi-persistent, or non-periodic.

[0230] Clause 52. The non-transient computer-readable medium of any of claims 46 to 51 further includes, when executed by the UE, computer-executable instructions that cause the UE to perform the following operations: receiving a wake-up signal (WUS) indicating whether the UE is expected to monitor the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) during the next DRX cycle or to skip the next DRX cycle.

[0231] Clause 53. A non-transient computer-readable medium as described in Clause 52, wherein the WUS, based on an instruction indicating that the UE is expected to monitor the PDCCH during the next DRX cycle, includes computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the UE, cause the UE to transmit the one or more UL-PRS resources of the UL-PRS timing, including computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the UE, cause the UE to perform the following actions: transmit all UL-PRS resources of the UL-PRS timing based on a partial overlap or complete overlap of the UL-PRS timing with the DRX active time and the DRX off time; or computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the UE, cause the UE to transmit the one or more UL-PRS resources of the UL-PRS timing, include computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the UE, cause the UE to perform the following actions: transmit a subset of the UL-PRS resources of the UL-PRS timing based on a partial overlap of the UL-PRS timing with the DRX active time and the DRX off time.

[0232] Clause 54. A non-transient computer-readable medium as described in Clause 53, wherein the control signals in the PDCCH indicate whether the UE is expected to transmit the full UL-PRS resources of the UL-PRS time or a subset of the UL-PRS resources of the UL-PRS time.

[0233] Clause 55. A non-transient computer-readable medium such as any of Clauses 52 to 54, wherein the one or more UL-PRS resources of the UL-PRS timing are transmitted based on the WUS indicating that the UE is expected to skip the next DRX cycle.

[0234] Clause 56. A non-transient computer-readable medium as described in Clause 55, wherein: the UE does not monitor the PDCCH during the next DRX cycle, and the one or more UL-PRS resources include periodic UL-PRS resources or activated semi-persistent UL-PRS resources.

[0235] Clause 57. The non-transient computer-readable medium of Clause 56 further includes, when executed by the UE, computer-executable instructions that cause the UE to perform the following actions: receiving, via radio resource control (RRC) signaling, an indication that the UE is expected to transmit the periodic UL-PRS resource or the activated semi-persistent UL-PRS resource.

[0236] Clause 58. A non-transient computer-readable medium such as any of Clauses 55 to 57 further includes, when executed by the UE, computer-executable instructions that cause the UE to perform the following actions: monitor a subset of resources on which the PDCCH is transmitted during the next DRX cycle; and decode downlink control information (DCI) in the subset of resources, the DCI indicating how the UE is expected to transmit the one or more UL-PRS resources at the UL-PRS timing.

[0237] Clause 59. A non-transient computer-readable medium as described in Clause 58, wherein the DCI applies to non-periodic UL-PRS resources in one or more UL-PRS resources at the time of the UL-PRS.

[0238] Clause 60. A non-transient computer-readable medium such as any of Clauses 46 to 59, wherein the DRX active time includes the time during which: the DRX enable duration timer is running; the DRX inactive timer is running; the DRX retransmission timer is running; the Media Access Control (MAC) contention resolution timer is running; a scheduling request has been sent on the Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) and is pending; uplink grant for a pending Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) retransmission may occur and data exists in the corresponding HARQ buffer; a PDCCH indicating a new transmission of the Cell Radio Network Temporary Identifier (C-RNTI) addressed to the UE has not been received after a successful reception of a Random Access Response (RAR) with a preamble not selected by the UE; or any combination thereof.

[0239] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that information and signals can be represented using any of a variety of different techniques and skills. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referred to throughout the above description can be represented by voltage, current, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or magnetic particles, light fields or light particles, or any combination thereof.

[0240] Furthermore, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative logic blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithmic steps described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein can be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or a combination of both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability between hardware and software, the various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps are described above in a generalized manner in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends on the specific application and the design constraints imposed on the overall system. Those skilled in the art may implement the described functionality in different ways for each specific application, but such implementation decisions should not be construed as departing from the scope of this disclosure.

[0241] The various illustrative logic blocks, modules, and circuits described in conjunction with the aspects disclosed herein can be implemented or executed using a general-purpose processor, digital signal processor (DSP), ASIC, field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in alternatives, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. The processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, such as a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors cooperating with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

[0242] The methods, sequences, and / or algorithms described in conjunction with the aspects disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of both. The software module may reside in random access memory (RAM), flash memory, read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), registers, hard disks, removable disks, CD-ROMs, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. Example storage media are coupled to a processor so that the processor can read and write information from / to the storage medium. In alternatives, the storage medium may be integrated into the processor. The processor and storage medium may reside in an ASIC. The ASIC may reside in a user terminal (e.g., a UE). In alternatives, the processor and storage medium may reside as discrete components in the user terminal.

[0243] In one or more examples, the described functionality may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functionality may be stored or transmitted as one or more instructions or codes on or through a computer-readable medium. A computer-readable medium includes both computer storage media and communication media, including any medium that facilitates the transfer of a computer program from one location to another. A storage medium may be any available medium accessible to a computer. By way of example and not limitation, such computer-readable media may include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disc storage, disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and is accessible to a computer. Similarly, any connection is also legitimately referred to as a computer-readable medium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave, then such coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave are included in the definition of medium. As used in this article, disks and discs include compact discs (CDs), laser discs, optical discs, digital multi-purpose discs (DVDs), floppy disks, and Blu-ray discs. Disks typically reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically using lasers. Combinations of these should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0244] Although the foregoing disclosure illustrates illustrative aspects of this disclosure, it should be noted that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the scope of this disclosure as defined by the appended claims. The functions, steps, and / or actions in the method claims according to the aspects of this disclosure described herein need not be performed in any particular order. Furthermore, although elements of this disclosure may be described or claimed in the singular, pluralism is also contemplated unless explicitly stated to be limited to the singular.

Claims

1. A wireless communication method performed by a user equipment (UE) configured to operate in discontinuous reception (DRX) mode, comprising: DRX active time of the DRX cycle when switched to the DRX mode; as well as One or more UL-PRS resources are used to transmit the UL-PRS timing based on the at least partial overlap between the uplink positioning reference signal (UL-PRS) timing and the DRX off time after the DRX active time in the DRX cycle. The one or more UL-PRS resources that transmit the UL-PRS timing include a subset of UL-PRS resources that transmit the UL-PRS timing based on the partial overlap between the UL-PRS timing and the DRX active time and the DRX off time.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the UL-PRS resource subset is selected based on the UL-PRS resource set to which the UL-PRS resource subset belongs, the frequency layer to which the UL-PRS resource subset belongs, the number of transmit-receive points (TRPs) to which the UL-PRS resource subset is transmitted, one or more repetition factors of the UL-PRS resource subset, spatial multiplexing of the UL-PRS resource subset, or any combination thereof.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the subset of UL-PRS resources includes only UL-PRS resources that overlap with the DRX active time.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more UL-PRS resources are persistent, semi-persistent, or non-periodic.

5. A wireless communication method performed by a user equipment (UE) configured to operate in discontinuous reception (DRX) mode, comprising: DRX active time of the DRX cycle when switched to the DRX mode; One or more UL-PRS resources are transmitted based on the uplink positioning reference signal (UL-PRS) timing and the DRX off time after the DRX active time in the DRX cycle, which at least partially overlaps. as well as The system receives a wake-up signal (WUS) indicating whether the UE is expected to monitor the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) during the next DRX cycle or skip the next DRX cycle. The WUS is based on the indication that the UE is expected to monitor the PDCCH during the next DRX cycle: The one or more UL-PRS resources transmitting the UL-PRS timing include all UL-PRS resources that transmit the UL-PRS timing based on a partial overlap or complete overlap with the DRX active time and the DRX off time. The one or more UL-PRS resources that transmit the UL-PRS timing include a subset of UL-PRS resources that transmit the UL-PRS timing based on the partial overlap between the UL-PRS timing and the DRX active time and the DRX off time.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the control signal in the PDCCH indicates whether the UE is expected to transmit all UL-PRS resources of the UL-PRS timing or a subset of UL-PRS resources of the UL-PRS timing.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the one or more UL-PRS resources of the UL-PRS timing are transmitted based on the WUS indicating that the UE is expected to skip the next DRX cycle.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising: Suppress monitoring of the PDCCH during the next DRX cycle, and The one or more UL-PRS resources include periodic UL-PRS resources or activated semi-persistent UL-PRS resources.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising: The UE is instructed via Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling to either transmit the periodic UL-PRS resource or the activated semi-persistent UL-PRS resource.

10. The method of claim 7, further comprising: During the next DRX cycle, monitor the subset of resources on which the PDCCH is transmitted; as well as Decode the downlink control information (DCI) in the resource subset, the DCI indicating how the UE is expected to transmit the one or more UL-PRS resources at the UL-PRS timing.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the DCI is applicable to non-periodic UL-PRS resources among the one or more UL-PRS resources at the UL-PRS timing.

12. The method of claim 5, wherein the DRX active time includes the time during which: the DRX enable duration timer is running, the DRX inactive timer is running, the DRX retransmission timer is running, the Media Access Control (MAC) contention resolution timer is running, a scheduling request has been sent on the Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) and is pending, uplink grant for pending Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) retransmission may occur and data exists in the corresponding HARQ buffer, a PDCCH indicating a new transmission of the Cellular Radio Network Temporary Identifier (C-RNTI) addressed to the UE has not been received after a successful reception of a Random Access Response (RAR) with a preamble not selected by the UE, or any combination thereof.

13. A user equipment (UE) configured to operate in discontinuous reception (DRX) mode, comprising: Memory; At least one transceiver; as well as At least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: The DRX active time of the DRX cycle when switching to the DRX mode; and One or more UL-PRS resources are transmitted via the at least one transceiver based on the at least one overlap between the uplink positioning reference signal (UL-PRS) timing and the DRX off time following the DRX active time in the DRX cycle. The at least one processor configured to transmit the one or more UL-PRS resources of the UL-PRS timing includes at least one processor configured to perform the following operation: transmit a subset of UL-PRS resources of the UL-PRS timing based on the partial overlap between the UL-PRS timing and the DRX active time and the DRX off time.

14. The UE of claim 13, wherein the UL-PRS resource subset is selected based on the UL-PRS resource set to which the UL-PRS resource subset belongs, the frequency layer to which the UL-PRS resource subset belongs, the number of Transmit Receive Points (TRPs) to which the UL-PRS resource subset is transmitted, one or more repetition factors of the UL-PRS resource subset, spatial multiplexing of the UL-PRS resource subset, or any combination thereof.

15. The UE of claim 13, wherein the subset of UL-PRS resources includes only the UL-PRS resources that overlap with the DRX active time.

16. A user equipment (UE) configured to operate in discontinuous reception (DRX) mode: Memory; At least one transceiver; as well as At least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: DRX active time of the DRX cycle when switched to the DRX mode; One or more UL-PRS resources are transmitted via the at least one transceiver based on the at least one overlap between the uplink positioning reference signal (UL-PRS) timing and the DRX off time after the DRX active time in the DRX cycle. as well as The at least one transceiver receives a wake-up signal (WUS) indicating whether the UE is expected to monitor the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) during the next DRX cycle or to skip the next DRX cycle. The WUS is based on the indication that the UE is expected to monitor the PDCCH during the next DRX cycle: The at least one processor configured to transmit the one or more UL-PRS resources of the UL-PRS timing via the at least one transceiver includes at least one processor configured to perform the following operation: transmit all UL-PRS resources of the UL-PRS timing via the at least one transceiver based on whether the UL-PRS timing partially overlaps with the DRX active time or completely overlaps with the DRX off time; The at least one processor configured to transmit the one or more UL-PRS resources of the UL-PRS timing via the at least one transceiver includes at least one processor configured to perform the following operation: transmit a subset of UL-PRS resources of the UL-PRS timing via the at least one transceiver based on the partial overlap between the UL-PRS timing and the DRX active time and the DRX off time.

17. The UE of claim 16, wherein the control signal in the PDCCH indicates whether the UE is expected to transmit all UL-PRS resources of the UL-PRS timing or a subset of UL-PRS resources of the UL-PRS timing.

18. The UE of claim 16, wherein the one or more UL-PRS resources of the UL-PRS timing are transmitted based on the WUS indicating that the UE is expected to skip the next DRX cycle.

19. The UE as claimed in claim 18, wherein: The UE does not monitor the PDCCH during the next DRX cycle, and The one or more UL-PRS resources include periodic UL-PRS resources or activated semi-persistent UL-PRS resources.

20. The UE of claim 19, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: The at least one transceiver receives, via radio resource control (RRC) signaling, an indication that the UE is expected to transmit the periodic UL-PRS resource or the activated semi-persistent UL-PRS resource.

21. The UE of claim 18, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: During the next DRX cycle, monitor the subset of resources on which the PDCCH is transmitted; and Decode the downlink control information (DCI) in the resource subset, the DCI indicating how the UE is expected to transmit the one or more UL-PRS resources at the UL-PRS timing.

22. The UE of claim 21, wherein the DCI is applicable to non-periodic UL-PRS resources in one or more UL-PRS resources during the UL-PRS timing.

23. A user equipment (UE) configured to operate in discontinuous reception (DRX) mode, comprising: A means for the DRX active time of the DRX cycle for switching to the DRX mode; as well as A means for transmitting one or more UL-PRS resources based on an uplink positioning reference signal (UL-PRS) timing that at least partially overlaps with a DRX off time following the DRX active time in the DRX cycle. The means for transmitting the one or more UL-PRS resources of the UL-PRS timing includes means for transmitting a subset of UL-PRS resources of the UL-PRS timing based on the partial overlap between the UL-PRS timing and the DRX active time and the DRX off time.

24. A non-transient computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions, which, when executed by a user equipment (UE) configured to operate in discontinuous reception (DRX) mode, cause the UE to: The DRX active time of the DRX cycle when switching to the DRX mode; and One or more UL-PRS resources are used to transmit the UL-PRS timing based on the at least partial overlap between the uplink positioning reference signal (UL-PRS) timing and the DRX off time after the DRX active time in the DRX cycle. In order to transmit the one or more UL-PRS resources of the UL-PRS timing, the computer-executable instructions, when executed by the UE, cause the UE to transmit a subset of UL-PRS resources of the UL-PRS timing based on the partial overlap between the UL-PRS timing and the DRX active time and the DRX off time.

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