System optimization using antenna information's angle of arrival and angle of departure.

Abstract

Various techniques for wireless positioning are disclosed. In one aspect, a user equipment (UE) determines one or more angle-based measurements of one or more reference signal resources transmitted by or received at the UE on one or more antennas of the UE, and reports the one or more angle-based measurements, the beam pattern associated with the one or more reference signal resources, the type of the one or more antennas, the location of the one or more antennas on the UE, the orientation of the one or more antennas, or any combination thereof, to a positioning entity.

Description

[0001] Cross-references to related applications

[0002] This patent application claims priority to Greek patent application No. 20200100620, filed on October 14, 2020, entitled “ANGLE OF ARRIVAL AND ANGLEOF DEPARTURE SYSTEM OPTIMIZATION BY USING ANTENNA INFORMATION”, which has been assigned to the assignee of this application and is hereby expressly incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

[0003] Public background

[0004] 1. Public domain

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

[0006] 2. Relevant Technical Descriptions

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

[0008] The fifth-generation (5G) wireless standard (known as New Radio (NR)) delivers higher data transmission speeds, a greater number of connections, better coverage, and other improvements. According to the Next Generation Mobile Networks Alliance (NGC), compared to previous standards, the 5G standard is designed to provide higher data rates, more accurate positioning (e.g., based on Location Reference Signals (RS-P), such as downlink, uplink, or sidelink Location Reference Signals (PRS)), and other technological enhancements. These enhancements, along with the use of higher frequency bands, advancements in the PRS process and technology, and the high-density deployment of 5G, enable high-precision positioning based on 5G.

[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 method for performing wireless communication positioning by a user equipment (UE) includes: determining one or more angle-based measurements of one or more reference signal resources transmitted by or received at the UE on one or more antennas of the UE; and reporting to a positioning entity the one or more angle-based measurements, the beam pattern associated with the one or more reference signal resources, the type of the one or more antennas, the location of the one or more antennas on the UE, the orientation of the one or more antennas, or any combination thereof.

[0012] In one aspect, a user equipment (UE) includes: a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: determine one or more angle-based measurements of one or more reference signal resources transmitted by or received at the UE on one or more antennas of the UE; and report, via the at least one transceiver, to a positioning entity the one or more angle-based measurements, the beam pattern associated with the one or more reference signal resources, the type of the one or more antennas, the location of the one or more antennas on the UE, the orientation of the one or more antennas, or any combination thereof.

[0013] In one aspect, a user equipment (UE) includes: means for determining one or more angle-based measurements of one or more reference signal resources transmitted by or received at the UE on one or more antennas of the UE; and means for reporting to a positioning entity the one or more angle-based measurements, the beam pattern associated with the one or more reference signal resources, the type of the one or more antennas, the location of the one or more antennas on the UE, the orientation of the one or more antennas, or any combination thereof.

[0014] In one aspect, a non-transient computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a user equipment (UE), cause the UE to: determine one or more angle-based measurements of one or more reference signal resources transmitted by or received at the UE on one or more antennas of the UE; and report to a positioning entity the one or more angle-based measurements, the beam pattern associated with the one or more reference signal resources, the type of the one or more antennas, the location of the one or more antennas on the UE, the orientation of the one or more antennas, or any combination thereof.

[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 The 3C and 3C are simplified block diagrams of several sample aspects of components that can be adopted in user equipment (UE), base stations, and network entities and configured to support communications as taught herein.

[0021] Figure 4 This is a diagram illustrating the communication between an example base station and an example UE according to various aspects of this disclosure.

[0022] Figure 5 The example format of the antenna placement and calibration information element (IE) that the device can report for angle-based positioning purposes is explained.

[0023] Figure 6 An example Long Term Evolution (LTE) Location Protocol (LPP) call flow used by the UE and the location server to perform location operations is explained.

[0024] Figure 7 The present disclosure explains the definition of a coordinate system by means of the x, y, z axes, spherical angles, and spherical unit vectors.

[0025] Figure 8AThe rotation sequence that associates the global coordinate system (GCS) with the local coordinate system (LCS) according to various aspects of this disclosure is explained.

[0026] Figure 8B The definitions of spherical coordinates and unit vectors in both GCS and LCS are explained according to various aspects of this disclosure.

[0027] Figure 9 Example methods for wireless positioning based on various aspects of this disclosure are explained.

[0028] Detailed description

[0029] 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.

[0030] 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.

[0031] 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.

[0032] 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."

[0033] 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.

[0034] 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.

[0035] The term "base station" can refer to a single physical transmit / receive point (TRP) or multiple physical TRPs that may or may not be co-located. For example, when the term "base station" refers to a single physical TRP, the physical TRP 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 co-located physical TRPs, the physical TRP may be an antenna array of the base station (e.g., as in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system or where the base station employs beamforming). When the term "base station" refers to multiple non-co-located physical TRPs, the physical TRP may be a distributed antenna system (DAS) (a network of spatially separated antennas connected via a transmission medium to a shared source) or a remote radio headend (RRH) (a remote base station connected to a serving base station). Alternatively, non-co-located physical TRPs may be the serving base station from which the UE receives measurement reports and neighboring base stations where the UE is measuring its reference radio frequency (RF) signal. 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.

[0036] 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).

[0037] 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.

[0038] 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.

[0039] 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 directly or indirectly with the location server 172. For example, the UE 104 can communicate with the location server 172 via the base station 102 currently serving the UE 104. UE 104 may also communicate with 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 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.

[0040] 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).

[0041] 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 an identifier (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.

[0042] 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).

[0043] 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).

[0044] 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.

[0045] 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.

[0046] 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.

[0047] 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.

[0048] Transmit beams can be quasi-co-located, meaning they appear to the receiver (e.g., UE) with identical parameters, regardless of whether the network node's transmit antennas 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. Thus, 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.

[0049] 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.

[0050] 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.

[0051] 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.

[0052] 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 different 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.

[0053] 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.

[0054] 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.

[0055] 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 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.

[0056] 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.

[0057] The wireless communication system 100 may further include a UE 164, which can communicate with the macrocell base station 102 on the communication link 120 and / or with the mmW base station 180 on the mmW communication link 184. For example, the macrocell base station 102 may support PCell and one or more SCells for the UE 164, and the mmW base station 180 may support one or more SCells for the UE 164.

[0058] In some scenarios, UE 164 and UE 182 may be able to perform sidelink communication. 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.

[0059] On one hand, the sidelink 160 may operate on a wireless communication medium of interest that may be shared with other vehicles and / or infrastructure access points and other RATs for wireless communication. “Medium” may 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.

[0060] 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. Thus, in some cases, UEs 164 and 182 can utilize beamforming on sidelink 160.

[0061] 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.

[0062] 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.

[0063] 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.

[0064] The wireless communication system 100 may further include one or more UEs (such as UE 190) that are indirectly connected to one or more communication networks via one or more device-to-device (D2D) peer-to-peer (P2P) links (referred to as “side links”). Figure 1 In the example, UE 190 has a D2D P2P link 192 with a UE 104 connected to a base station 102 (e.g., UE 190 can indirectly obtain cellular connectivity from this link), and a D2D P2P link 194 with a WLANSTA 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.

[0065] 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).

[0066] 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).

[0067] 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.

[0068] 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.

[0069] 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.

[0070] Another optional aspect may include LMF 270, which can communicate with 5GC 260 to provide location assistance to UE 204. LMF 270 may be implemented as multiple separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules extending across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternatively, each may correspond to a single server. LMF 270 may be configured to support one or more location services for UE 204, which can connect to LMF 270 via the core network, 5GC 260, and / or via the Internet (not explained). SLP 272 can support similar functions 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 rather than voice or data), SLP 272 can communicate with UE 204 and external clients (e.g., third-party server 274) on the user plane (e.g., using protocols designed to carry voice and / or data, such as Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and / or IP).

[0071] Another optional aspect may include a third-party server 274, which can communicate with LMF 270, SLP 272, 5GC 260 (e.g., via AMF 264 and / or UPF 262), NG-RAN 220, and / or UE 204 to obtain location information (e.g., location estimation) of UE 204. Thus, in some cases, the third-party server 274 may be referred to as a Location Services (LCS) client or an external client. The third-party server 274 may be implemented as multiple separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules extending across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternatively, each may correspond to a single server.

[0072] 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.

[0073] The functionality of the gNB 222 is divided among the gNB Central Unit (gNB-CU) 226, one or more gNB Distributed Units (gNB-DU) 228, and one or more gNB Radio Units (gNB-RU) 229. The gNB-CU 226 is a logical node that includes base station functions such as transmitting user data, mobility control, radio access network sharing, positioning, and session management, in addition to those functions specifically allocated to the gNB-DU 228. More specifically, the gNB-CU 226 generally manages the radio resource control (RRC), serving data adaptation protocol (SDAP), and packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) of the gNB 222. The gNB-DU 228 is a logical node that generally manages the radio link control (RLC) and media access control (MAC) layers of the gNB 222. Its operation is controlled by the gNB-CU 226. One gNB-DU 228 can support one or more cells, while a cell is supported by only one gNB-DU 228. The interface 232 between gNB-CU 226 and one or more gNB-DU 228 is referred to as the "F1" interface. The physical (PHY) layer functionality of gNB 222 is typically managed by one or more independent gNB-RU 229s, which perform functions such as power amplification and signal transmission / reception. The interface between gNB-DU 228 and gNB-RU 229 is referred to as the "Fx" interface. Thus, UE 204 communicates with gNB-CU 226 via the RRC, SDAP, and PDCP layers, with gNB-DU 228 via the RLC and MAC layers, and with gNB-RU 229 via the PHY layer.

[0074] Figure 3A , 3BThe 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 Several example components (represented by corresponding boxes) in the NG-RAN 220 and / or 5GC 210 / 260 infrastructure (such as private networks) depicted herein support file transfer operations as taught herein. It will be appreciated that these components may be implemented in different types of devices (e.g., in ASICs, in System-on-Chip (SoCs), etc.) in different implementations. The illustrated components may also be incorporated into other devices in a communication system. For example, other devices in the system may include components similar to those described to provide similar functionality. Furthermore, a given device may include one or more of these components. For example, a device may include multiple transceiver components that enable the device to operate on multiple carriers and / or communicate via different technologies.

[0075] 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.

[0076] 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.

[0077] 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.

[0078] 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.

[0079] 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.

[0080] 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.

[0081] 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.

[0082] 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.). Therefore, memories 340, 386, and 396 can 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, enable 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 3BThe possible locations of the positioning component 388 are explained. The positioning component 388 may be, for example, part of one or more WWAN transceivers 350, memory 386, one or more processors 384, or any combination thereof, or may be a self-contained component. Figure 3C The possible locations of the positioning component 398 are explained. The positioning component 398 may be, for example, part of one or more network transceivers 390, memory 396, one or more processors 394, or any combination thereof, or may be a self-contained component.

[0083] UE 302 may include one or more sensors 344 coupled to one or more processors 332 to provide means for sensing or detecting motion and / or orientation information independent of motion data derived from signals received by one or more WWAN transceivers 310, one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320, and / or satellite signal receivers 330. As an example, sensor 344 may include accelerometers (e.g., microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) devices), gyroscopes, geomagnetic sensors (e.g., compasses), altimeters (e.g., barometric altimeters), and / or any other type of motion detection sensor. Furthermore, sensor 344 may include multiple different types of devices and combine their outputs to provide motion information. For example, sensor 344 may use a combination of multi-axis accelerometers and orientation sensors to provide the ability to calculate position in two-dimensional (2D) and / or three-dimensional (3D) coordinate systems.

[0084] Additionally, UE 302 includes a user interface 346, which provides means for providing instructions to the user (e.g., audible and / or visual instructions) and / or for receiving user input (e.g., when the user actuates a sensing device (such as a keypad, touchscreen, microphone, etc.)). Although not shown, base station 304 and network entity 306 may also include user interfaces.

[0085] 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.

[0086] 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 decoded 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.

[0087] At UE 302, receiver 312 receives signals via its corresponding antenna 316. Receiver 312 recovers the information modulated onto the RF carrier and provides this information to one or more processors 332. Transmitter 314 and receiver 312 implement Layer 1 functionality associated with various signal processing functions. Receiver 312 can perform spatial processing on this information to recover any spatial stream destined for UE 302. If multiple spatial streams are destined for UE 302, they can be combined by receiver 312 into a single OFDM symbol stream. Receiver 312 then uses a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) to transform the OFDM symbol stream from the time domain to the frequency domain. The frequency domain signal consists of a separate OFDM symbol stream for each subcarrier of the OFDM signal. Symbols on each subcarrier, along with a reference signal, are recovered and demodulated by determining the signal constellation points most likely to be transmitted by base station 304. These soft decisions can be based on a channel estimate calculated by a channel estimator. These soft decisions are then decoded and deinterleaved to recover the original data and control signals transmitted by base station 304 over the physical channel. This data and control signals are then provided to one or more processors 332 that implement Layer 3 (L3) and Layer 2 (L2) functionality.

[0088] 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.

[0089] 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.

[0090] The channel estimate derived by the channel estimator from the reference signal or feedback transmitted by the base station 304 can be used by the transmitter 314 to select an appropriate coding and modulation scheme and to facilitate spatial processing. The spatial stream generated by the transmitter 314 can be provided to different antennas 316. The transmitter 314 can use the corresponding spatial stream to modulate the RF carrier for transmission.

[0091] Uplink transmissions are handled at base station 304 in a manner similar to that described in conjunction with the receiver function at UE 302. Receiver 352 receives signals via its corresponding antenna 356. Receiver 352 recovers the information modulated onto the RF carrier and provides that information to one or more processors 384.

[0092] 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.

[0093] For convenience, UE 302, base station 304 and / or network entity 306 are in Figure 3A , 3B The 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.

[0094] 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.

[0095] Figure 3A , 3B The various components of 3C can be implemented in various ways. In some implementations, Figure 3A , Figure 3B and Figure 3C The components 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 310-346 may be implemented by the processor and 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 350-388 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 390-398 may be implemented by the processor and 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 understood, such operations, actions, and / or functions can actually be performed by specific components or combinations of components (such as processors 332, 384, 394, transceivers 310, 320, 350 and 360, memory 340, 386 and 396, positioning components 342, 388 and 398, etc.) of UE 302, base station 304, network entity 306, etc.

[0096] 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).

[0097] 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.

[0098] For DL-AoD positioning, the positioning entity uses measurement reports from the UE regarding received signal strength measurements of multiple downlink transmit beams to determine the angles between the UE and the transmitting base stations(s). The positioning entity can then estimate the UE's location based on the determined angles and the known locations of the transmitting base stations(s).

[0099] 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 UL-TDOA is based on uplink reference signals (e.g., probe reference signals (SRS)) transmitted by the UE to multiple base stations. Specifically, the UE transmits one or more uplink reference signals, which are measured by a reference base station and multiple non-reference base stations. Each base station then reports the reception time (referred to as relative time of arrival (RTOA)) of the reference signals to a positioning entity (e.g., a location server) that knows the location and relative timing of the base stations involved. Based on the received-receive (Rx-Rx) time difference between the reported RTOA of the reference base station and the reported RTOA of each non-reference base station, the known location of the base stations, and their known timing offsets, the positioning entity can use the TDOA to estimate the UE's location.

[0100] 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 measurements and the angles(s) of the receive beams(s) to determine the angles(s) between the UE and(s) base stations(s). Based on the determined angles(s) and the known locations(s) of the base stations(s), the positioning entity can subsequently estimate the location of the UE.

[0101] 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 arrival time (ToA) of the received RTT-related signal and the transmission time of the transmitted RTT-related signal. This time difference is called the receive-to-transmit (Rx-Tx) time difference. The Rx-Tx time difference measurement can be performed or adjusted to include only the time difference between the nearest time slot boundary of the received signal and the transmitted signal. Two entities can then send their Rx-Tx time difference measurements to a location server (e.g., LMF 270), which calculates the round-trip time (i.e., RTT) between the two entities based on 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 location of the second entities (e.g., using polygonal measurements). RTT and multi-RTT methods can be combined with other positioning technologies (such as UL-AoA and DL-AoD) to improve location accuracy.

[0102] 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. Subsequently, the UE's location is estimated based on this information and the known locations of the base stations(s).

[0103] To assist in positioning operations, 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: an identifier of the base station (or the cell / TRP) from which the measurement reference signal originates, reference signal configuration parameters (e.g., including the number of consecutive time slots of the PRS, the periodicity of the consecutive time slots of the PRS, silence sequences, frequency hopping sequences, reference signal identifier, reference signal bandwidth, etc.), and / or other parameters applicable to a particular positioning method. Alternatively, auxiliary data may originate directly from the base station itself (e.g., in periodically broadcast overhead messages, etc.). In some cases, the UE may be able to detect neighboring network nodes without using auxiliary data.

[0104] 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.

[0105] Location estimation can be referred to by other names, such as location estimate, location, positioning, location lock, lock, 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).

[0106] Figure 4 This is a diagram 400 illustrating communication between base station (BS) 402 (which may correspond to any base station described herein) and UE 404 (which may correspond to any UE described herein). See reference... Figure 4Base station 402 can transmit beamformed signals to UE 404 on one or more transmit beams 402a, 402b, 402c, 402d, 402e, 402f, 402g, 402h, each of which has a beam identifier that can be used by UE 404 to identify the corresponding beam. When base station 402 uses a single antenna element array (e.g., a single antenna panel corresponding to a single TRP) to beamform towards UE 404, base station 402 can perform "beam sweeping" by transmitting a first beam 402a, then beam 402b, etc., until finally transmitting beam 402h. Alternatively, base station 402 can transmit beams 402a–402h in a pattern, such as beam 402a, then beam 402h, then beam 402b, then beam 402g, etc. In the case where base station 402 uses multiple antenna panels (e.g., multiple TRPs) to beamform toward UE 404, each antenna panel can perform beam sweeping of a subset of beams 402a–402h. Alternatively, each beam in beams 402a–402h can correspond to a single antenna or antenna panel.

[0107] UE 404 can receive beamformed signals from base station 402 on one or more receive beams 404a, 404b, 404c, 404d. Note that, for simplicity, Figure 4 The beams described herein refer to either the transmit beam or the receive beam, depending on whether either base station 402 or UE 404 is transmitting or receiving. Therefore, UE 404 can also transmit beamshaped signals to base station 402 on one or more beams 404a–404d, and base station 402 can receive beamshaped signals from UE 404 on one or more beams 402a–402h.

[0108] On one hand, base station 402 and UE 404 can perform beam training to align their transmit and receive beams. For example, depending on environmental conditions and other factors, base station 402 and UE 404 can determine optimal transmit and receive beams as 402d and 404b, or as 402e and 404c, respectively. The direction of the optimal transmit beam for base station 402 can be the same as or different from the direction of the optimal receive beam, and similarly, the direction of the optimal receive beam for UE 404 can be the same as or different from the direction of the optimal transmit beam. However, it should be noted that aligning the transmit and receive beams is not necessary for performing AoD or AoA positioning procedures.

[0109] Although NR currently supports DL-AoD and UL-AoA positioning, but not UL-AoD (the angle of the uplink transmit beam used to transmit a reference signal to base station 402) or DL-AoA (the angle of the downlink receive beam used to receive a reference signal from base station 402), these positioning techniques are expected to be supported in future 5G NR releases. To perform the UL-AoD positioning procedure, UE 404 transmits uplink reference signals (e.g., UL-PRS, SRS, DMRS, etc.) to base station 402 on one or more of beams 404a–404d (where each beam has a different weight). The different beam weights will result in different received signal strengths (e.g., RSRP, RSRQ, SINR, etc.) at base station 402. Furthermore, the channel impulse response will be lower for transmit beams farther from the actual line-of-sight (LOS) path 410 between base station 402 and UE 404 than for transmit beams closer to the LOS path 410. Similarly, for transmit beams further away from LOS path 410, the received signal strength will be lower than that for transmit beams closer to LOS path 410.

[0110] exist Figure 4 In the example, if UE 404 transmits reference signals to base station 402 on uplink transmit beams 404a, 404b, and 404c, transmit beam 404b may be optimally aligned with LOS path 410, while transmit beams 404a and 404c may not be optimally aligned with LOS path 410. Thus, compared to beams 404a and 404c, beam 404b will have a stronger channel impulse response and higher received signal strength at base station 402. Base station 402 can report the channel impulse response and received signal strength of each measured transmit beam 404a, 404b, and 404c to UE 404 (or other positioning entity), or alternatively, report the identity of the transmit beam with the strongest channel impulse response and highest received signal strength. Figure 4 (Beam 404b in the example). In either case, UE 404 (or other location entity) can estimate the AoD of the transmit beam (transmit beam 404b in this case) at base station 402, which has the highest received signal strength and the strongest channel impulse response at base station 402.

[0111] In one aspect of AoD-based positioning, base station 402 and UE 404 can execute an RTT procedure to determine the distance between base station 402 and UE 404. Thus, UE 404 (or a location server or other positioning entity) can determine the direction to base station 402 (using UL-AoD positioning) and the distance to base station 402 (using RTT positioning) to estimate the location of UE 404. Note that the AoD with the highest received signal strength and strongest channel impulse response is not necessarily located on LOS path 410, such as... Figure 4 As shown. However, for AoD-based positioning purposes, this is assumed. Using UL-AoD measurements to base station 402, knowledge of the geographic location of base station 402, and optionally the distance between UE 404 and base station 402 (as determined using RTT), the positioning entity (UE 404 or others) can estimate the location of UE 404 as a determined distance from base station 402 along a determined angle.

[0112] To execute the DL-AoA positioning procedure, base station 402 transmits downlink reference signals (e.g., PRS, TRS, PTRS, CRS, CSI-RS, etc.) to UE 404 on one or more downlink transmit beams 402a-402h. UE 404 receives the downlink reference signals on one or more downlink receive beams 404a-404d. UE 404 determines the angle of the optimal receive beams 404a-404d for receiving one or more reference signals from base station 402 as the DL-AoA from itself to base station 402. Specifically, each of the receive beams 404a-404d will result in a different received signal strength (e.g., RSRP, RSRQ, SINR, etc.) for one or more reference signals at UE 404. Furthermore, for the received beams 404a–404d that are further away from the actual LOS path 410 between base station 402 and UE 404, the channel impulse response of one or more reference signals will be smaller than that of the received beams 404a–404d that are closer to the LOS path 410. Similarly, for the received beams 404a–404d that are further away from the LOS path 410, the received signal strength will be lower than that of the received beams 404a–404d that are closer to the LOS path 410. Thus, base station 404 identifies the received beams 404a–404d that result in the highest received signal strength and the strongest channel impulse response, and estimates the angle from itself to base station 402 as the DL-AoA of the received beams 404a–404d. Note that, as with AoD-based positioning, the AoA of the received beams 404a–404d that result in the highest received signal strength and the strongest channel impulse response is not necessarily located on the LOS path 410. However, this is assumed for the purposes of AoA-based positioning.

[0113] Similar to the UL-AoD positioning procedure, UE 404 can also estimate its distance from base station 402 by performing an RTT positioning procedure with base station 402 or more coarsely based on the timing advance of UE 404. The timing advance is roughly based on the propagation delay between the base station and the UE, and thus can provide a coarse estimate of the distance between base station 402 and UE 404.

[0114] When UE 404 is estimating its location (i.e., the UE is the location entity), it needs to obtain the geographic location of base station 402. UE 404 can obtain its location from, for example, base station 402 itself or a location server (e.g., location server 230, LMF 270, SLP272). Using the distance to base station 402 (based on RTT or timing advance), the angle between UE 404 and base station 402 (based on the AoA of the optimal receive beams 404a–404d), and the known geographic location of base station 402, UE 404 is able to estimate its location.

[0115] Alternatively, when another location entity (such as base station 402 or a location server) is estimating the location of UE 404, UE 404 reports the DL-AoA of the receive beams 404a–404d that result in the highest received signal strength and strongest channel impulse response for the reference signal received from base station 402, or all received signal strengths and channel impulse responses for all receive beams 404a–404d (this allows the location entity to determine the optimal receive beams 404a–404d). UE 404 may additionally report the distance to base station 402. The location entity can then estimate the location of UE 404 based on the distance of UE 404 to base station 402, the AoA of the identified receive beams 404a–404d, and the known geographic location of base station 402.

[0116] Note that although UL-AoD and DL-AoA positioning technologies have been described above, the DL-AoD (angle of the downlink transmit beam used to transmit the reference signal to UE 404) and UL-AoA (angle of the uplink receive beam used to receive the reference signal from UE 404) positioning technologies are the same, except that the roles of base station 402 and UE 404 are reversed. These technologies are described in the current NR specification and therefore will not be described in detail here.

[0117] Direction finding is an important location feature. Many wireless systems, including The 5.1 specification, the Ultra Wideband (UWB) 802.15.4z specification, the IEEE 802.11az specification (referred to as "Wi-Fi"), and the 5G NR Release 16 standard (the current set of 5G NR standards) have provided standard support to facilitate the estimation of AoA and / or AoD for positioning. AoA and AoD estimation algorithms (collectively referred to as angle estimation algorithms) are typically designed independently of the antenna type (e.g., directional vs. omnidirectional) of the devices (e.g., base stations and UEs) that can utilize these algorithms. This means that these algorithms are generally designed to be effective for any type of antenna and any antenna placement (e.g., the distance between antennas may differ for UEs and base stations). However, angle estimation accuracy is tightly coupled to the type of antenna and / or the placement of the antennas on the device. Thus, for example, AoA and AoD estimation algorithms can be optimized in very different ways for directional versus omnidirectional antennas, and for antennas placed close together versus those placed far apart. Thus, using a general algorithm instead of an optimized algorithm based on antenna information can lead to a significant degradation in the accuracy of angle estimation.

[0118] This disclosure provides techniques for optimizing angle estimation algorithms using antenna information such as antenna type, antenna placement, antenna beamwidth, and antenna coordinates. This disclosure further proposes standard changes to provide antenna beamwidth information for the IEEE 802.11az and 5G NR Release 17 standards (as well as other standards that support angle-based measurements). This information is important for optimizing angle estimation algorithms, and particularly AoD estimation algorithms. Note that although the following description primarily refers to the IEEE 802.11az and 5G NR Release 17 standards, these standards are merely examples, and the techniques described herein are equally applicable to other wireless standards that support angle-based positioning.

[0119] To optimize the angle estimation algorithm (for AoA or AoD), the device (e.g., base station or UE) receiving (for AoA) or transmitting (for AoD) reference signals needs to know the antenna type and antenna placement. First, the antenna type is considered, referring to whether the antenna is omnidirectional or directional (i.e., capable of beamforming). For an omnidirectional antenna, the beamwidth is considered to be 360 ​​degrees. For a directional antenna, the beamwidth is W degrees (less than 360 degrees). The beamwidth determines the optimal distance between the antennas of the device (i.e., the device can have multiple antennas, and these antennas are spaced a certain distance apart). For example, the optimal antenna spacing is "D". opt "It can be given as D" opt =λ*180 / W, where λ is the wavelength of the reference signal transmitted or received by the antenna. For an omnidirectional antenna, D opt =λ / 2 (i.e., λ*180 / 360). For a directional antenna with a beamwidth of 40 degrees, Dopt = 4.5λ (i.e., λ*180 / 40). For a directional antenna with a beamwidth of 120 degrees, D opt =1.5λ (i.e., λ*180 / 120).

[0120] Antenna placement, in this context, refers to the coordinates (e.g., x, y, z) of each antenna on the device. Coordinates can specify the antenna's center point, length and width, area, or any combination thereof. These coordinates can be relative to a fixed point on the device or to a reference antenna among multiple antennas. The device may report the coordinates of its antennas, or the type of device (e.g., manufacturer and model) and / or the number and type of antennas (e.g., manufacturer and model). In the latter case, the locating entity can use a lookup table to determine the antenna coordinates.

[0121] The coordinates of the antenna placement parameters can be used to calculate the antenna spacing between antennas. If the actual antenna spacing "D" is greater than D... opt This could lead to ambiguity in angle estimation. However, if the actual antenna spacing "D" is less than D... opt This reduces the angle estimation resolution. Therefore, the actual antenna spacing "D" is equal to the optimal antenna spacing "D". opt "Would be preferred. However, this may not be the case. Knowing the beamwidth will give D..." opt Knowing the antenna coordinates will give D. If the two parameters are not equal, this information will indicate whether the angle estimation algorithm needs to be designed to also resolve ambiguity, and what angle estimation resolution can be achieved.

[0122] Figure 5 This section explains an example format for an antenna placement and calibration information element (IE) that a device can report for angle-based positioning purposes, as defined in the IEEE 802.11az standard. Specifically, Figure 5 The explanation details the placement and calibration of the two 48-bit antennas for the first and last antennas of the device (where the reported device has N). Tx_selThere are one antenna (represented as "N_Tx_sel" in the diagram). If the device has more than two antennas (e.g., a Wi-Fi client may have two omnidirectional antennas, while a Wi-Fi access point (including the UE, which is also a Wi-Fi access point) may have four omnidirectional antennas), the antenna placement and calibration IE for the other antennas will be the same as the IE described. Each antenna placement and calibration IE includes a 10-bit x-coordinate field 502, a 10-bit y-coordinate field 504, a 10-bit z-coordinate field 506, a 10-bit shared phase adjustment field 508, and an 8-bit delay field 510. The UE or access point may provide this information to a positioning entity (e.g., location server 230, LMF 270, SLP 272) or other entities that perform angle estimation algorithms.

[0123] The x-coordinate field 502, y-coordinate field 504, and z-coordinate field 506 provide the coordinates of the corresponding antennas on the device, and thus provide the antenna placement of the corresponding antennas on the device. However, the beamwidth of the antennas is not currently reported. This disclosure proposes adding a new field (e.g., after the delay field 510) to report the antenna beamwidth for each corresponding antenna. Such a beamwidth field could, for example, be a 9-bit field that conveys values ​​from 1 degree to 360 degrees in 1-degree increments. As another example, the beamwidth field could be greater than nine bits to improve angular resolution to greater than one degree. Alternatively, if resolution in one-degree increments is not required, the beamwidth field could be less than nine bits.

[0124] Using the information from the proposed antenna placement and calibration IE, the positioning entity can optimize the angle estimation algorithm based on the antenna type (assuming it is omnidirectional for the IEEE 802.11az standard) and antenna placement.

[0125] Referring to positioning in 5G NR, positioning procedures in 5G NR are modeled as transactions of the LTE Positioning Protocol (LPP). LPP procedures include individual operations of one of the following types: (1) exchanging positioning capabilities; (2) transmitting auxiliary data; (3) transmitting location information (positioning measurements and / or location estimation); (4) error handling; or (5) abort.

[0126] Figure 6 The example LPP procedure 600 between the UE 604, which performs the location operation, and the location server (described as LMF 670) is explained. Figure 6As explained, the location of UE 604 is supported by the exchange of LPP messages between UE 604 and LMF 670. LPP messages can be exchanged between UE 604 and LMF 670 via the serving base station of UE 604 (explained as serving gNB 602) and the core network (not shown). LPP procedure 600 can be used to locate UE 604 to support various location-related services, such as navigation for UE 604 (or its user), route planning, providing accurate location to the PSAP in connection with an emergency call from UE 604 to a Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP), or for some other reason. LPP procedure 600 can also be referred to as a location session, and multiple location sessions can exist for different types of location methods (e.g., Downlink Time Difference of Arrival (DL-TDOA), Round Trip Time (RTT), Enhanced Cellular Identity (E-CID), etc.).

[0127] Initially, in phase 610, UE 604 may receive a request for its positioning capabilities from LMF 670 (e.g., an LPP request capability message). In phase 620, UE 604 provides its positioning capabilities relative to the LPP protocol to LMF 670 by sending an LPP provision capability message instructing UE 604 to use positioning methods supported by LPP and the characteristics of those methods. In some respects, the capabilities indicated in the LPP provision capability message may indicate that UE 604 supports angle-based positioning, and may also indicate that UE 604 supports angle-based positioning capabilities.

[0128] Upon receiving the LPP provision capability message, LMF 670 determines the angle-based positioning method to be used (e.g., AoD or AoA) based on UE 604's support for angle-based positioning as indicated in phase 620, and identifies a set of one or more Transmit-Receive Points (TRPs) for UE 604 to measure downlink positioning reference signals from or transmit uplink positioning reference signals to. In phase 630, LMF 670 sends an LPP provision assistance data message identifying the set of TRPs to UE 604.

[0129] In some implementations, in response to an LPP request auxiliary data message sent by UE 604 to LMF 670 ( Figure 6 (Not shown in the diagram), the LPP Request for Auxiliary Data Message at stage 630 can be sent from LMF 670 to UE 604. The LPP Request for Auxiliary Data Message may include the identifier of UE 604's serving TRP and a request for the configuration of Positioning Reference Signals (PRS) for adjacent TRPs.

[0130] At stage 640, LMF 670 sends a request for location information to UE 604. This request can be an LPP request for location information message. This message typically includes information elements defining the type of location information, the expected location estimation accuracy, and the response time (i.e., the expected waiting time). Note that low waiting time requirements allow for longer response times, while high waiting time requirements demand shorter response times. However, long response times are referred to as high waiting times, and short response times are referred to as low waiting times.

[0131] Note that in some implementations, if, for example, UE 604 receives a request for location information at stage 640 and then sends a request for auxiliary data to LMF 670 (e.g., in the LPP request for auxiliary data message, without...), Figure 6 (As shown in the figure), the LPP provide auxiliary data message sent at stage 630 can be sent after the LPP request location information at 640.

[0132] At stage 650, UE 604 utilizes the auxiliary information received at stage 630 and any additional data received at stage 640 (e.g., desired location accuracy or maximum response time) to perform angle-based measurements (e.g., AoA and / or AoD) for an angle-based positioning method. For example, for UL-AoD, UE 604 may transmit SRS to the TRP identified in the auxiliary information on the time and / or frequency resources specified by gNB 602. For DL-AoA, UE 604 may receive PRS from one or more TRPs identified in the auxiliary information on the time and / or frequency resources specified in the auxiliary information. UE 604 may also determine the optimal receive beam for receiving the PRS.

[0133] At stage 660, UE 604 may send an LPP (Location Provided by Request) message to LMF 670, which conveys the angle-based measurements obtained at or before the expiration of any maximum response time (e.g., the maximum response time provided by LMF 670 at stage 640). The LPP message at stage 660 may also include one or more times the angle-based measurements were obtained, and the identity of the TRP(s) used for the angle-based measurements. The LPP message may further include antenna information as described herein. Note that the time between the request for location information at 640 and the response at 660 is the “response time” and indicates the waiting time for the positioning session.

[0134] LMF 670 uses angle-based positioning techniques to calculate the estimated location of UE 604, based at least in part on measurements received in the LPP location information message at stage 660.

[0135] This disclosure provides techniques for reporting UE antenna placement and beam pattern information for NR positioning. During a positioning session (e.g., when the UE has received an LPP request location information message and expects to respond with an LPP provide location information message), the UE may send its antenna placement (in local or global coordinates) and the beam pattern of each antenna and / or each antenna panel to a positioning server (e.g., LMF). As discussed further below, the UE may also send the orientation of its antennas to the positioning server.

[0136] As a first option, the UE can report its UE capabilities (e.g., in UE capability reports). Figure 6 This information can be provided in the LPP capability provision message at address 610. Alternatively, the UE can provide this information in a secondary data request (e.g., an LPP request for secondary data message). Figure 6 This information can be provided in a location information message (not shown in the image). For example, when a UE requests auxiliary data, it can inform the location server of the antenna pattern (e.g., beamwidth) and antenna location (i.e., antenna placement) of its active antennas. For example, a UE may have two to four antennas (e.g., antenna panels), some or all of which may be active for angle-based positioning sessions. As a third option, the UE can provide this information in a location information message (e.g., in the image). Figure 6 The location information message provided by the LPP at 660 includes the antenna pattern and antenna position of its active antennas. More specifically, when the UE reports its location measurement, it can also inform the location server of the antenna pattern and antenna position of the active antenna panel when the UE performs the location measurement.

[0137] On one hand, the UE can dynamically report antenna placement, orientation, and / or beam information (e.g., in uplink control information (UCI) or MAC control elements (MAC-CE)). Alternatively, the UE can report these parameters semi-statically (e.g., in RRC signaling or LPP messages). The UE can report these parameters to the serving base station, a location server (e.g., LMF), or to another UE connected to the reporting UE on a sidelink.

[0138] The previous description generally applies to both receiving downlink reference signals from one or more base stations at the UE (for DL-AoA) and transmitting uplink reference signals to one or more base stations at the UE (for UL-AoD). That is, the aforementioned angle-based positioning technology can be either DL-AoA or UL-AoD positioning technology. Specifically, for UL-AoD positioning technology, reports of the line of sight (i.e., direction) and beamwidth can be associated with each SRS resource separately.

[0139] More specifically, in 5G NR, the uplink positioning reference signal is typically the SRS. Therefore, the reference signal transmitted by the UE for UL-AoD positioning will be the SRS. The set of resource elements used for SRS transmission (in 5G, a resource element consists of an OFDM symbol in the time domain and a subcarrier or frequency modulation in the frequency domain) is called an "SRS resource" and can be identified by the parameter "SRS-ResourceId". This set of resource elements can span multiple coherent physical resource blocks (PRBs) in the frequency domain and N (e.g., one or more) coherent symbols within a time slot in the time domain. Within a given OFDM symbol, the SRS resource occupies a coherent PRB. 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").

[0140] SRS resources can correspond to uplink transmit beams. That is, the UE can transmit each SRS resource on different uplink transmit beams. In other words, each uplink transmit beam can carry different SRS resources. Therefore, line-of-sight and beamwidth reports can be associated with and reported for each SRS resource separately.

[0141] The following parameters can be used to define the line-of-sight and beamwidth of the SRS resource (i.e., the beam carrying the SRS resource). As mentioned above, these parameters can be reported to the location server (e.g., LMF) via LPP. For example, these parameters can be provided in an LPP request for auxiliary data message or an LPP provide location information message. These parameters can be other than the antenna placement parameters described above.

[0142] The first parameter is the SRS azimuth parameter. This parameter specifies the azimuth angle in the line-of-sight direction in which SRS resources(s) associated with the SRS resource identifier(s) in the SRS resource set(s) (e.g., "SRS-ResourceSetId(SRS-ResourceSetId)") are transmitted. The azimuth angle is measured clockwise from geographic north. The value of this parameter can be reported in increments of, for example, 0.5 degrees, and ranges, for example, from 0 to 359.5 degrees.

[0143] Second, the SRS elevation parameter. This parameter specifies the elevation angle along the line-of-sight direction in which the SRS resources(s) associated with the SRS resource identifier in the SRS resource set are transmitted. The elevation angle is the angle between the horizontal plane and the line-of-sight direction at the antenna reference point location, measured in the vertical plane. Positive angles point upwards (above the horizontal plane), and negative angles point downwards (below the horizontal plane). If this field is absent, the same applies along the line-of-sight direction in the vertical plane. The value of this parameter can be reported in increments of, for example, 0.5 degrees, and the range is, for example, from -90 to +90 degrees.

[0144] Third, the SRS-HPBW-Az parameter. This parameter specifies the half-power beamwidth (HPBW) in the horizontal (azimuth) plane of the beam in which the SRS resources(s) associated with the SRS resource identifier in the SRS resource set are transmitted. HPBW-Az is the angle between the half-power points of the main lobe in the horizontal (azimuth) plane. The value of this parameter can be reported in increments of, for example, 0.5 degrees, and ranges, for example, from 0 to 120 degrees.

[0145] Fourth, the SRS-HPBW-El parameter. This parameter specifies the HPBW in the vertical (elevation) plane of the beam, in which the SRS resources(s) associated with the SRS resource identifier in the SRS resource set are transmitted. HPBW-El is the angle between the half-power points of the main lobe in the vertical (elevation) plane. The value of this parameter can be reported in increments of, for example, 0.5 degrees, and ranges, for example, from 0 to 120 degrees.

[0146] On one hand, the UE can report measured / estimated / derived / calculated angle values ​​(e.g., DL-AoA, UL-AoD) to the positioning entity (e.g., serving base station, location server 230, LMF 270, SLP 272, etc.) in its Local Coordinate System (LCS) or Global Coordinate System (GCS). The coordinate system is defined by x, y, z axes, spherical angles, and spherical unit vectors, such as... Figure 7 As shown in the image. Figure 7 The definitions of spherical angles and spherical unit vectors in Cartesian coordinate system 700 are explained according to various aspects of this disclosure. Figure 7 In this context, θ is the zenith angle in the Cartesian coordinate system 70°, and It's the azimuth. Furthermore, It is a given direction, and and These are spherical basis vectors. Note that θ = 0 points to the zenith, and θ = 90 points to the horizon. The field components in the direction are determined by F θ Give, The field components in the direction are from Provided.

[0147] The Global Cross Section (GCS) is defined for systems comprising multiple base stations and UEs. Array antennas for the UEs (or base stations) can be defined within the Low-Cost Cross Section (LCS). The GCS has an absolute reference frame (e.g., in terms of absolute latitude and longitude), while the LCS has a relative reference frame (e.g., relative to a vehicle, base station, antenna array, etc.). The LCS is used as a reference to define the vector far-field (i.e., mode and polarization) of each antenna element in the array. It is assumed that the far-field in the LCS is known by formula. The placement of the antenna array within the GCS is defined by the transformation between the GCS and LCS of the antenna array. The orientation of the antenna array relative to the GCS is generally defined by a rotation sequence (described in publicly available 3GPP Technical Specifications (TS) 38.900 and TS 38.901, which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety). Since this orientation generally differs from the GCS orientation, it is necessary to map the vector field of the array elements from the LCS to the GCS. This mapping depends on the array orientation and is given by equations in 3GPP TS 38.900. Note that any arbitrary mechanical orientation of the array can be achieved by rotating the LCS relative to the GCS.

[0148] exist Figure 8A and 8B In, there are coordinates and unit vector GCS and having "original" coordinates and the "original" unit vector The LCS is defined as having a common origin. Figure 8A This explains the GCS coordinates (x, y, z) and LCS coordinates according to various aspects of this disclosure. Figure 800A shows the associated rotation sequence. More specifically, Figure 8A The text explains the arbitrary three-dimensional (3D) rotation of the LCS relative to the GCS, given by angles α, β, and γ. The set of angles α, β, and γ can also be referred to as the orientation of the antenna array relative to the GCS. Specifically, α (alpha) specifies the quadrant angle used to transform the LCS to the GCS. The value of this parameter can be reported in increments of, for example, 1 degree, and ranges from, for example, 0 to 359 degrees. β (beta) specifies the downtilt angle used to transform the LCS to the GCS. The value of this parameter can be reported in increments of, for example, 1 degree, and ranges from, for example, 0 to 359 degrees. γ (gamma) specifies the tilt angle used to transform the LCS to the GCS. The value of this parameter can be reported in increments of, for example, 1 degree, and ranges from, for example, 0 to 359 degrees. In one aspect, the UE may be able to determine angles α, β, and γ based on orientation data from its accelerometer, gyroscope, magnetometer, and / or other orientation sensors.

[0149] Any arbitrary 3D rotation can be specified by rotating up to three elements, and follows the rules of rotation. Figure 8AThe framework, assuming this order around z, and A series of rotations. Dashed and double-dashed lines indicate that the rotations are intrinsic, meaning they are the result of one (·) or two (··) intermediate rotations. In other words, The axis is the original y-axis after the first rotation around the z-axis, and The axis is the first rotation about the z-axis and the rotation about the z-axis. The original x-axis after the second rotation.

[0150] The first rotation α around z sets the antenna quadrant angle (i.e., the sector pointing direction of the base station antenna element). β around... The second rotation sets the antenna downtilt angle. Finally, γ rotates around... The third rotation sets the antenna tilt angle. After all three rotations, the orientation of the x, y, and z axes can be expressed as... and These three axes represent the final orientation of the LCS and, for notation purposes, are denoted as x′, y′, and z′ axes (local or “original” coordinate system). Note that the transformation from the LCS to the GCS depends only on the angles α, β, and γ. Angle α is called the quadrant angle, β is called the downtilt angle, and γ is called the tilt angle.

[0151] Figure 8B Figure 800B illustrates the definitions of spherical coordinates and unit vectors in both the GCS and LCS according to various aspects of this disclosure. Figure 8B The coordinate directions and unit vectors of the GCS coordinates (x, y, z) and LCS coordinates (x', y', z') are shown. Note that the vector field of the antenna array element is defined in the LCS.

[0152] On the one hand, the reporting of beamwidth, orientation, line-of-sight direction, and position (placement) of different antennas or antenna panels (or SRS resources) can be done differentially or relative, thereby reducing signaling overhead. For example, an antenna or antenna panel can be a reference antenna, and the UE can report the absolute values ​​of these parameters for that antenna. The UE can then report the parameter values ​​for the remaining antennas relative to the absolute values ​​used for the reference antenna. For example, if the beamwidth of the reference antenna is 39.5 degrees and the beamwidth of the second antenna is 41 degrees, the UE can report the beamwidth parameter of the reference antenna as 39.5 degrees and the beamwidth parameter of the second antenna as +1.5 degrees.

[0153] Note that while the preceding description primarily concerns the IEEE 802.11az and 5G NR version 17 standards, these standards are merely examples, and the techniques described herein are equally applicable to other wireless technologies that support angle-based positioning. For instance, the techniques described above are also applicable to… UWB and any other wireless technology in which a UE transmits or receives reference signals for positioning.

[0154] Figure 9 An example method 900 for wireless positioning according to various aspects of this disclosure has been explained. In one aspect, method 900 can be performed by a UE (e.g., any of the UEs described herein).

[0155] At 910, the UE determines one or more angle-based measurements of one or more reference signal resources transmitted by or received at the UE on one or more antennas of the UE. In one aspect, operation 910 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 as means for performing the operation.

[0156] At 920, the UE reports one or more angle-based measurements, beam patterns (e.g., beamwidths) associated with one or more reference signal resources, the type of one or more antennas, the location of the one or more antennas on the UE, the orientation of the one or more antennas, or any combination thereof, to a positioning entity (e.g., a location server, a serving base station, another UE connected on a side link, etc.). In one aspect, operation 920 may be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 310, one or more processors 332, a memory 340, and / or a positioning component 342, any or all of which may be considered means for performing the operation.

[0157] As will be understood, the technical advantage of method X00 is that the positioning entity can optimize the angle estimation algorithm based on one or more angle-based measurements, beamwidth associated with one or more reference signal resources, the type of one or more antennas, the location of the one or more antennas on the UE, and / or the orientation of the one or more antennas.

[0158] 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.

[0159] Examples of implementations are described in the following numbered clauses.

[0160] Clause 1. A method for wireless communication positioning by a user equipment (UE), comprising: determining one or more angle-based measurements of one or more reference signal resources transmitted by or received at the UE on one or more antennas of the UE; and reporting to a positioning entity the one or more angle-based measurements, the beam pattern associated with the one or more reference signal resources, the type of the one or more antennas, the location of the one or more antennas at the UE, the orientation of the one or more antennas, or any combination thereof.

[0161] Clause 2. The method as described in Clause 1, wherein the one or more angle-based measurements include uplink departure angle (UL-AoD) measurement.

[0162] Clause 3. The method of Clause 2, wherein the one or more reference signal resources include one or more probe reference signal (SRS) resources.

[0163] Clause 4. The method of Clause 3, wherein the UL-AoD measurement includes: the azimuth angle of the line of sight transmitting the one or more SRS resources, and the elevation angle of the line of sight transmitting the one or more SRS resources.

[0164] Clause 5. The method of Clause 4, wherein the report includes: reporting the azimuth angle to the positioning entity in the SRS azimuth field and reporting the elevation angle to the positioning entity in the SRS elevation field.

[0165] Clause 6. The method of any of Clauses 4 to 5, wherein: the azimuth is reported as a value from 0 to 359.5 degrees, with a step of 0.5 degrees, and the elevation is reported as a value from -90 to +90 degrees, with a step of 0.5 degrees.

[0166] Clause 7. The method of any of Clauses 3 to 6, wherein the beam pattern includes: half-power beamwidth (HPBW) in the horizontal plane of the beam for transmitting the one or more SRS resources, and HPBW in the vertical plane of the beam for transmitting the one or more SRS resources.

[0167] Clause 8. The method of Clause 7, wherein the report includes: reporting the HPBW in the horizontal plane to the positioning entity in the SRS-HPBW-Az field, and reporting the HPBW in the vertical plane to the positioning entity in the SRS-HPBW-E1 field.

[0168] Clause 9. The method of any of Clauses 7 to 8, wherein: the HPBW in the horizontal plane is reported as a value from 0 to 120 degrees, with a step size of 0.5 degrees, and the HPBW in the vertical plane is reported as a value from 0 to 120 degrees, with a step size of 0.5 degrees.

[0169] Clause 10. The method of any of Clauses 1 to 9, wherein the orientation of the one or more antennas is reported in the local coordinate system (LCS) of the UE.

[0170] Clause 11. The method of Clause 10, wherein reporting the orientation of the one or more antennas comprises: reporting the quadrant angle (α) of the one or more antennas for transforming the LCS to the global coordinate system (GCS), reporting the downtilt angle (β) of the one or more antennas for transforming the LCS to the GCS, and reporting the tilt angle (γ) of the one or more antennas for transforming the LCS to the GCS.

[0171] Clause 12. The method of any of Clauses 1 to 11, wherein the one or more angle-based measurements, the beam pattern associated with the one or more reference signal resources, the type of the one or more antennas, the location of the one or more antennas on the UE, the orientation of the one or more antennas, or any combination thereof, are reported in: UE positioning capability reports, requests for auxiliary data, location information messages, or any combination thereof.

[0172] Clause 13. The method of any of Clauses 1 to 12, wherein the one or more angle-based measurements, the beam pattern associated with the one or more reference signal resources, the type of the one or more antennas, the location of the one or more antennas on the UE, the orientation of the one or more antennas, or any combination thereof, are reported in: Uplink Control Information (UCI), Media Access Control-Control Element (MAC-CE), Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling, one or more Long Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP) messages, or any combination thereof.

[0173] Clause 14. The method of any of Clauses 1 to 13, wherein the positioning entity includes: a location server, a serving base station of the UE, or another UE connected to the UE on a side link.

[0174] Clause 15. The method of Clause 1, wherein the one or more angle-based measurements include downlink angle of arrival (DL-AoA) measurement.

[0175] Clause 16. The method of Clause 15, wherein the one or more reference signal resources include one or more positioning reference signal (PRS) resources.

[0176] Clause 17. The method of Clause 16, wherein the DL-AoA measurement includes: the azimuth angle of the line of sight receiving the one or more PRS resources, and the elevation angle of the line of sight receiving the one or more PRS resources.

[0177] Clause 18. The method of any of Clauses 16 to 17, wherein the beam pattern comprises: half-power beamwidth (HPBW) in a horizontal plane of the beam for receiving the one or more PRS resources, and HPBW in a vertical plane of the beam for receiving the one or more PRS resources.

[0178] Clause 19. The method of any of Clauses 1 to 18, wherein the beam pattern associated with the one or more reference signal resources and the location of the one or more antennas are reported in one or more antenna placement and calibration information elements (IEs).

[0179] Clause 20. The method of Clause 19, wherein the location of the one or more antennas includes the x, y, z coordinates of the one or more antennas.

[0180] Clause 21. The method of any of Clauses 19 to 20, wherein the beam pattern includes values ​​from 1 degree to 360 degrees.

[0181] Clause 22. The method of any one of Clauses 1 to 21, wherein the report comprises: reporting the one or more angle-based measurements relative to a reference antenna of the one or more antennas, the beam pattern associated with the one or more reference signal resources, the location of the one or more antennas, the orientation of the one or more antennas, or any combination thereof.

[0182] Clause 23. The method of Clause 22, wherein: the one or more antennas include a plurality of antennas, the one or more angle-based measurements include angle-based measurements associated with each of the plurality of antennas, the beam pattern associated with the one or more reference signal resources includes beam patterns associated with each of the plurality of antennas, the location of the one or more antennas includes the location of each of the plurality of antennas, and the orientation of the one or more antennas includes the orientation of each of the one or more antennas.

[0183] Clause 24. The method of Clause 23, wherein the report comprises: reporting the absolute value of the angle-based measurement, the beam pattern, the position, the orientation, or any combination thereof for the reference antenna; and reporting the value of the angle-based measurement, the beam pattern, the position, the orientation, or any combination thereof for the remaining antennas of the plurality of antennas relative to the absolute value for the reference antenna.

[0184] Clause 25. The method of any of Clauses 1 to 24, wherein the type of the one or more antennas includes an omnidirectional antenna.

[0185] Clause 26. The method of any of Clauses 1 to 24, wherein the type of the one or more antennas includes a directional antenna capable of beamforming.

[0186] Clause 27. The method of any one of Clauses 1 to 26 further includes: transmitting the one or more reference signal resources on the one or more antennas of the UE.

[0187] Clause 28. The method of any one of Clauses 1 to 26 further includes: receiving the one or more reference signal resources on the one or more antennas of the UE.

[0188] Clause 29. The method of any of Clauses 1 to 28, wherein the beam pattern includes a beamwidth associated with the one or more reference signal resources.

[0189] Clause 30. The method of any of Clauses 1 to 29, wherein: the UE operates according to a radio access technology (RAT), the one or more reference signal resources are configured according to the RAT, and the RAT includes: LTE, 5G NR, Wi-Fi, UWB, or Bluetooth.

[0190] Clause 31. A user equipment (UE) comprising: a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: determine one or more angle-based measurements of one or more reference signal resources transmitted by or received at the UE on one or more antennas of the UE; and report, via the at least one transceiver, to a positioning entity the one or more angle-based measurements, the beam pattern associated with the one or more reference signal resources, the type of the one or more antennas, the location of the one or more antennas on the UE, the orientation of the one or more antennas, or any combination thereof.

[0191] Clause 32. The UE as described in Clause 31, wherein the one or more angle-based measurements include uplink departure angle (UL-AoD) measurements.

[0192] Clause 33. The UE as in Clause 32, wherein the one or more reference signal resources include one or more probe reference signal (SRS) resources.

[0193] Clause 34. The UE as in Clause 33, wherein the UL-AoD measurement includes: the azimuth angle of the line-of-sight direction in which the one or more SRS resources are transmitted, and the elevation angle of the line-of-sight direction in which the one or more SRS resources are transmitted.

[0194] Clause 35. The UE as in Clause 34, wherein the at least one processor is configured to report including the at least one processor being configured to: report the azimuth angle to the positioning entity in the SRS azimuth field via the at least one transceiver, and report the elevation angle to the positioning entity in the SRS elevation field via the at least one transceiver.

[0195] Clause 36. The UE of any of Clauses 34 to 35, wherein: the azimuth angle is reported as a value from 0 to 359.5 degrees, with a step of 0.5 degrees, and the elevation angle is reported as a value from -90 to +90 degrees, with a step of 0.5 degrees.

[0196] Clause 37. The UE of any of Clauses 33 to 36, wherein the beam pattern includes: half-power beamwidth (HPBW) in the horizontal plane of the beam for transmitting the one or more SRS resources, and HPBW in the vertical plane of the beam for transmitting the one or more SRS resources.

[0197] Clause 38. The UE as in Clause 37, wherein the at least one processor is configured to report including the at least one processor being configured to: report the HPBW in the horizontal plane to the positioning entity via the at least one transceiver in the SRS-HPBW-Az field, and report the HPBW in the vertical plane to the positioning entity via the at least one transceiver in the SRS-HPBW-E1 field.

[0198] Clause 39. The UE of any of Clauses 37 to 38, wherein the HPBW in the horizontal plane is reported as a value from 0 to 120 degrees, wherein the step is 0.5 degrees, and the HPBW in the vertical plane is reported as a value from 0 to 120 degrees, wherein the step is 0.5 degrees.

[0199] Clause 40. For any UE of Clauses 31 to 39, wherein the orientation of the one or more antennas is reported in the UE’s Local Coordinate System (LCS).

[0200] Clause 41. The UE as in Clause 40, wherein the at least one processor is configured to report the orientation of the one or more antennas includes the at least one processor being configured to: report the quadrant angle (α) of the one or more antennas via the at least one transceiver for converting the LCS to the global coordinate system (GCS), report the downtilt angle (β) of the one or more antennas via the at least one transceiver for converting the LCS to the GCS, and report the tilt angle (γ) of the one or more antennas via the at least one transceiver for converting the LCS to the GCS.

[0201] Clause 42. For any UE of any of Clauses 31 to 41, wherein the one or more angle-based measurements, the beam pattern associated with the one or more reference signal resources, the type of the one or more antennas, the location of the one or more antennas on the UE, the orientation of the one or more antennas, or any combination thereof, are reported in: UE positioning capability reports, requests for auxiliary data, location information messages, or any combination thereof.

[0202] Clause 43. For any UE of Clauses 31 to 42, wherein the one or more angle-based measurements, the beam pattern associated with the one or more reference signal resources, the type of the one or more antennas, the location of the one or more antennas on the UE, the orientation of the one or more antennas, or any combination thereof, are reported in: Uplink Control Information (UCI), Media Access Control-Control Element (MAC-CE), Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling, one or more Long Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP) messages, or any combination thereof.

[0203] Clause 44. The UE of any of Clauses 31 to 43, wherein the location entity includes: a location server, the serving base station of the UE, or another UE connected to the UE on a side link.

[0204] Clause 45. As in Clause 31, the UE wherein the one or more angle-based measurements include downlink angle of arrival (DL-AoA) measurements.

[0205] Clause 46. The UE as described in Clause 45, wherein the one or more reference signal resources include one or more positioning reference signal (PRS) resources.

[0206] Clause 47. The UE as in Clause 46, wherein the DL-AoA measurement includes: the azimuth angle of the line-of-sight direction in which the one or more PRS resources are received, and the elevation angle of the line-of-sight direction in which the one or more PRS resources are received.

[0207] Clause 48. The UE of any of Clauses 46 to 47, wherein the beam pattern includes: half-power beamwidth (HPBW) in the horizontal plane of the beam for receiving the one or more PRS resources, and HPBW in the vertical plane of the beam for receiving the one or more PRS resources.

[0208] Clause 49. For any of the UEs in Clauses 31 to 48, wherein the beam pattern associated with the one or more reference signal resources and the location of the one or more antennas are reported in one or more antenna placement and calibration information elements (IEs).

[0209] Clause 50. As in Clause 49, the location of the one or more antennas includes the x, y, z coordinates of the one or more antennas.

[0210] Clause 51. The UE of any of Clauses 49 to 50, wherein the beam pattern includes values ​​from 1 degree to 360 degrees.

[0211] Clause 52. The UE of any of Clauses 31 to 51, wherein the at least one processor is configured to report including the at least one processor being configured to: report the one or more angle-based measurements, the beam pattern associated with the one or more reference signal resources, the location of the one or more antennas, the orientation of the one or more antennas, or any combination thereof, via the at least one transceiver relative to a reference antenna of the one or more antennas.

[0212] Clause 53. The UE as in Clause 52, wherein: the one or more antennas include a plurality of antennas, the one or more angle-based measurements include angle-based measurements associated with each of the plurality of antennas, the beam pattern associated with the one or more reference signal resources includes beam patterns associated with each of the plurality of antennas, the location of the one or more antennas includes the location of each of the plurality of antennas, and the orientation of the one or more antennas includes the orientation of each of the one or more antennas.

[0213] Clause 54. The UE as in Clause 53, wherein the at least one processor is configured to report including the at least one processor being configured to: report, via the at least one transceiver, the absolute value of the angle-based measurement, the beam pattern, the position, the orientation, or any combination thereof for the reference antenna; and via the at least one transceiver, report, relative to the absolute value for the reference antenna, the value of the angle-based measurement, the beam pattern, the position, the orientation, or any combination thereof for the remaining antennas among the plurality of antennas.

[0214] Clause 55. The UE of any of Clauses 31 to 54, wherein the type of the one or more antennas includes an omnidirectional antenna.

[0215] Clause 56. The UE of any of Clauses 31 to 54, wherein the type of the one or more antennas includes a directional antenna capable of beamforming.

[0216] Clause 57. A UE as described in any of Clauses 31 to 56, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to transmit the one or more reference signal resources on the one or more antennas of the UE via the at least one transceiver.

[0217] Clause 58. A UE as described in any of Clauses 31 to 56, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to receive the one or more reference signal resources on the one or more antennas of the UE via the at least one transceiver.

[0218] Clause 59. The UE of any of Clauses 31 to 58, wherein the beam pattern includes a beamwidth associated with the one or more reference signal resources.

[0219] Clause 60. A UE as described in any of Clauses 31 to 59, wherein the UE operates according to a Radio Access Technology (RAT), the one or more reference signal resources are configured according to the RAT, and the RAT includes: LTE, 5G NR, Wi-Fi, Ultra Wideband (UWB), or Bluetooth.

[0220] Clause 61. A user equipment (UE) comprising: means for determining one or more angle-based measurements of one or more reference signal resources transmitted by or received at the UE on one or more antennas of the UE; and means for reporting to a positioning entity the one or more angle-based measurements, a beam pattern associated with the one or more reference signal resources, the type of the one or more antennas, the location of the one or more antennas at the UE, the orientation of the one or more antennas, or any combination thereof.

[0221] Clause 62. The UE as described in Clause 61, wherein the one or more angle-based measurements include uplink departure angle (UL-AoD) measurements.

[0222] Clause 63. The UE as in Clause 62, wherein the one or more reference signal resources include one or more probe reference signal (SRS) resources.

[0223] Clause 64. The UE as in Clause 63, wherein the UL-AoD measurement includes: the azimuth angle of the line-of-sight direction in which the one or more SRS resources are transmitted, and the elevation angle of the line-of-sight direction in which the one or more SRS resources are transmitted.

[0224] Clause 65. The UE as in Clause 64, wherein the means for reporting includes: means for reporting the azimuth angle to the positioning entity in the SRS azimuth field, and means for reporting the elevation angle to the positioning entity in the SRS elevation field.

[0225] Clause 66. The UE of any of Clauses 64 to 65, wherein the azimuth angle is reported as a value from 0 to 359.5 degrees, wherein the step is 0.5 degrees, and the elevation angle is reported as a value from -90 to +90 degrees, wherein the step is 0.5 degrees.

[0226] Clause 67. The UE of any of Clauses 63 to 66, wherein the beam pattern includes: half-power beamwidth (HPBW) in the horizontal plane of the beam for transmitting the one or more SRS resources, and HPBW in the vertical plane of the beam for transmitting the one or more SRS resources.

[0227] Clause 68. The UE as in Clause 67, wherein the means for reporting includes: means for reporting the HPBW in the horizontal plane to the positioning entity in the SRS-HPBW-Az field, and means for reporting the HPBW in the vertical plane to the positioning entity in the SRS-HPBW-E1 field.

[0228] Clause 69. The UE of any of Clauses 67 to 68, wherein the HPBW in the horizontal plane is reported as a value from 0 to 120 degrees, wherein the step size is 0.5 degrees, and the HPBW in the vertical plane is reported as a value from 0 to 120 degrees, wherein the step size is 0.5 degrees.

[0229] Clause 70. For any of the UEs in Clauses 61 to 69, the orientation of the one or more antennas is reported in the UE's Local Coordinate System (LCS).

[0230] Clause 71. The UE of Clause 70, wherein the means for reporting the orientation of the one or more antennas includes: means for reporting the quadrant angle (α) of the one or more antennas for converting the LCS to a global coordinate system (GCS), means for reporting the downtilt angle (β) of the one or more antennas for converting the LCS to the GCS, and means for reporting the tilt angle (γ) of the one or more antennas for converting the LCS to the GCS.

[0231] Clause 72. For any UE of Clauses 61 to 71, wherein the one or more angle-based measurements, the beam pattern associated with the one or more reference signal resources, the type of the one or more antennas, the location of the one or more antennas on the UE, the orientation of the one or more antennas, or any combination thereof, are reported in: UE positioning capability reports, requests for auxiliary data, location information messages, or any combination thereof.

[0232] Clause 73. For any UE of Clauses 61 to 72, wherein the one or more angle-based measurements, the beam pattern associated with the one or more reference signal resources, the type of the one or more antennas, the location of the one or more antennas on the UE, the orientation of the one or more antennas, or any combination thereof, are reported in: Uplink Control Information (UCI), Media Access Control-Control Element (MAC-CE), Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling, one or more Long Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP) messages, or any combination thereof.

[0233] Clause 74. The UE of any of Clauses 61 to 73, wherein the location entity includes: a location server, the serving base station of the UE, or another UE connected to the UE on a side link.

[0234] Clause 75. As in Clause 61, the UE wherein the one or more angle-based measurements include downlink angle of arrival (DL-AoA) measurements.

[0235] Clause 76. As in Clause 75, the one or more reference signal resources include one or more positioning reference signal (PRS) resources.

[0236] Clause 77. The UE as in Clause 76, wherein the DL-AoA measurement includes: the azimuth angle of the line-of-sight direction in which the one or more PRS resources are received, and the elevation angle of the line-of-sight direction in which the one or more PRS resources are received.

[0237] Clause 78. The UE of any of Clauses 76 to 77, wherein the beam pattern includes: half-power beamwidth (HPBW) in the horizontal plane of the beam for receiving the one or more PRS resources, and HPBW in the vertical plane of the beam for receiving the one or more PRS resources.

[0238] Clause 79. For any of the UEs in Clauses 61 to 78, the beam pattern associated with the one or more reference signal resources and the location of the one or more antennas are reported in one or more antenna placement and calibration information elements (IEs).

[0239] Clause 80. As in Clause 79, the location of the one or more antennas includes the x, y, z coordinates of the one or more antennas.

[0240] Clause 81. The UE of any of Clauses 79 to 80, wherein the beam pattern includes values ​​from 1 degree to 360 degrees.

[0241] Clause 82. The UE of any of Clauses 61 to 81, wherein the means for reporting includes: means for reporting the one or more angle-based measurements, the beam pattern associated with the one or more reference signal resources, the location of the one or more antennas, the orientation of the one or more antennas, or any combination thereof, relative to a reference antenna of the one or more antennas.

[0242] Clause 83. The UE as in Clause 82, wherein: the one or more antennas include a plurality of antennas, the one or more angle-based measurements include angle-based measurements associated with each of the plurality of antennas, the beam pattern associated with the one or more reference signal resources includes beam patterns associated with each of the plurality of antennas, the location of the one or more antennas includes the location of each of the plurality of antennas, and the orientation of the one or more antennas includes the orientation of each of the one or more antennas.

[0243] Clause 84. The UE as in Clause 83, wherein the means for reporting includes: means for reporting the absolute value of the angle-based measurement, the beam pattern, the position, the orientation, or any combination thereof for the reference antenna; and means for reporting the value of the angle-based measurement, the beam pattern, the position, the orientation, or any combination thereof for the remaining antennas of the plurality of antennas relative to the absolute value for the reference antenna.

[0244] Clause 85. The UE of any of Clauses 61 to 84, wherein the type of the one or more antennas includes an omnidirectional antenna.

[0245] Clause 86. The UE of any of Clauses 61 to 84, wherein the type of the one or more antennas includes a directional antenna capable of beamforming.

[0246] Clause 87. The UE of any one of Clauses 61 to 86 further includes: means for transmitting the one or more reference signal resources on the one or more antennas of the UE.

[0247] Clause 88. The UE of any one of Clauses 61 to 86 further includes: means for receiving the one or more reference signal resources on the one or more antennas of the UE.

[0248] Clause 89. The UE of any of Clauses 61 to 88, wherein the beam pattern includes a beamwidth associated with the one or more reference signal resources.

[0249] Clause 90. A UE as described in any of Clauses 61 to 89, wherein the UE operates according to a Radio Access Technology (RAT), the one or more reference signal resources are configured according to the RAT, and the RAT includes: LTE, 5G NR, Wi-Fi, Ultra Wideband (UWB), or Bluetooth.

[0250] Clause 91. A non-transient computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a user equipment (UE), cause the UE to: determine one or more angle-based measurements of one or more reference signal resources transmitted by or received at the UE on one or more antennas of the UE; and report to a positioning entity the one or more angle-based measurements, the beam pattern associated with the one or more reference signal resources, the type of the one or more antennas, the location of the one or more antennas on the UE, the orientation of the one or more antennas, or any combination thereof.

[0251] Clause 92. A non-transient computer-readable medium as described in Clause 91, wherein the one or more angle-based measurements include an uplink departure angle (UL-AoD) measurement.

[0252] Clause 93. A non-transient computer-readable medium as described in Clause 92, wherein the one or more reference signal resources include one or more probe reference signal (SRS) resources.

[0253] Clause 94. A non-transient computer-readable medium as described in Clause 93, wherein the UL-AoD measurement includes: the azimuth angle of the line of sight through which the one or more SRS resources are transmitted, and the elevation angle of the line of sight through which the one or more SRS resources are transmitted.

[0254] Clause 95. A non-transient computer-readable medium as described in Clause 94, wherein computer-executable instructions that cause the UE to report when executed by the UE include computer-executable instructions that cause the UE to perform the following actions when executed by the UE: report the azimuth angle to the positioning entity in the SRS azimuth field, and report the elevation angle to the positioning entity in the SRS elevation field.

[0255] Clause 96. A non-transient computer-readable medium such as any of Clauses 94 to 95, wherein the azimuth angle is reported as a value from 0 to 359.5 degrees, wherein the step is 0.5 degrees, and the elevation angle is reported as a value from -90 to +90 degrees, wherein the step is 0.5 degrees.

[0256] Clause 97. A non-transient computer-readable medium such as any of Clauses 93 to 96, wherein the beam pattern includes: half-power beamwidth (HPBW) in a horizontal plane of the beam for transmitting the one or more SRS resources, and HPBW in a vertical plane of the beam for transmitting the one or more SRS resources.

[0257] Clause 98. A non-transient computer-readable medium as described in Clause 97, wherein computer-executable instructions that cause the UE to report when executed by the UE include computer-executable instructions that cause the UE to perform the following actions when executed by the UE: report the HPBW in the horizontal plane to the positioning entity in the SRS-HPBW-Az field, and report the HPBW in the vertical plane to the positioning entity in the SRS-HPBW-E1 field.

[0258] Clause 99. A non-transient computer-readable medium such as that of any of Clauses 97 to 98, wherein the HPBW in the horizontal plane is reported as a value from 0 to 120 degrees, wherein the step size is 0.5 degrees, and the HPBW in the vertical plane is reported as a value from 0 to 120 degrees, wherein the step size is 0.5 degrees.

[0259] Clause 100. A non-transient computer-readable medium such as any of Clauses 91 to 99, wherein the orientation of the one or more antennas is reported in the local coordinate system (LCS) of the UE.

[0260] Clause 101. A non-transient computer-readable medium as described in Clause 100, wherein computer-executable instructions which, when executed by the UE, cause the UE to report the orientation of the one or more antennas include computer-executable instructions which, when executed by the UE, cause the UE to perform the following operations: report the quadrant angle (α) of the one or more antennas for converting the LCS to the global coordinate system (GCS), report the downtilt angle (β) of the one or more antennas for converting the LCS to the GCS, and report the tilt angle (γ) of the one or more antennas for converting the LCS to the GCS.

[0261] Clause 102. A non-transient computer-readable medium such as any of Clauses 91 to 101, wherein the one or more angle-based measurements, the beam pattern associated with the one or more reference signal resources, the type of the one or more antennas, the location of the one or more antennas on the UE, the orientation of the one or more antennas, or any combination thereof, are reported in: UE positioning capability reports, requests for auxiliary data, location information messages, or any combination thereof.

[0262] Clause 103. A non-transient computer-readable medium such as any of Clauses 91 to 102, wherein the one or more angle-based measurements, the beam pattern associated with the one or more reference signal resources, the type of the one or more antennas, the location of the one or more antennas on the UE, the orientation of the one or more antennas, or any combination thereof, are reported in: Uplink Control Information (UCI), Media Access Control-Control Element (MAC-CE), Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling, one or more Long Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP) messages, or any combination thereof.

[0263] Clause 104. A non-transient computer-readable medium such as any of Clauses 91 to 103, wherein the positioning entity includes: a location server, a serving base station of the UE, or another UE connected to the UE on a side link.

[0264] Clause 105. A non-transient computer-readable medium as described in Clause 91, wherein the one or more angle-based measurements include a downlink angle of arrival (DL-AoA) measurement.

[0265] Clause 106. A non-transient computer-readable medium as described in Clause 105, wherein the one or more reference signal resources include one or more positioning reference signal (PRS) resources.

[0266] Clause 107. A non-transient computer-readable medium as described in Clause 106, wherein the DL-AoA measurement includes: an azimuth angle in the line-of-sight direction from which the one or more PRS resources are received, and an elevation angle in the line-of-sight direction from which the one or more PRS resources are received.

[0267] Clause 108. A non-transient computer-readable medium such as any of Clauses 106 to 107, wherein the beam pattern includes: a half-power beamwidth (HPBW) in a horizontal plane of the beam for receiving the one or more PRS resources, and an HPBW in a vertical plane of the beam for receiving the one or more PRS resources.

[0268] Clause 109. A non-transient computer-readable medium such as any of Clauses 91 to 108, wherein the beam pattern associated with the one or more reference signal resources and the location of the one or more antennas are reported in one or more antenna placement and calibration information elements (IEs).

[0269] Clause 110. A non-transient computer-readable medium as described in Clause 109, wherein the location of the one or more antennas includes the x, y, z coordinates of the one or more antennas.

[0270] Clause 111. A non-transient computer-readable medium such as any of Clauses 109 to 110, wherein the beam pattern includes values ​​from 1 degree to 360 degrees.

[0271] Clause 112. A non-transient computer-readable medium such as any of Clauses 91 to 111, wherein computer-executable instructions that cause the UE to report when executed by the UE include computer-executable instructions that cause the UE to perform the following actions when executed by the UE: reporting one or more angle-based measurements relative to a reference antenna of the one or more antennas, the beam pattern associated with the one or more reference signal resources, the location of the one or more antennas, the orientation of the one or more antennas, or any combination thereof.

[0272] Clause 113. A non-transient computer-readable medium as described in Clause 112, wherein the one or more antennas include a plurality of antennas, the one or more angle-based measurements include angle-based measurements associated with each of the plurality of antennas, the beam pattern associated with the one or more reference signal resources includes beam patterns associated with each of the plurality of antennas, the location of the one or more antennas includes the location of each of the plurality of antennas, and the orientation of the one or more antennas includes the orientation of each of the one or more antennas.

[0273] Clause 114. A non-transient computer-readable medium as described in Clause 113, wherein computer-executable instructions that cause the UE to report when executed by the UE include computer-executable instructions that cause the UE to perform the following actions when executed by the UE: reporting the absolute value of the angle-based measurement, the beam pattern, the position, the orientation, or any combination thereof for the reference antenna; and reporting the value of the angle-based measurement, the beam pattern, the position, the orientation, or any combination thereof for the remaining antennas of the plurality of antennas relative to the absolute value for the reference antenna.

[0274] Clause 115. A non-transient computer-readable medium such as any of Clauses 91 to 114, wherein the type of the one or more antennas includes an omnidirectional antenna.

[0275] Clause 116. A non-transient computer-readable medium such as any of Clauses 91 to 114, wherein the type of the one or more antennas includes a directional antenna capable of beamforming.

[0276] Clause 117. A non-transient computer-readable medium as described in any of Clauses 91 to 116 further includes computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the UE, cause the UE to perform the following actions: transmitting the one or more reference signal resources on the one or more antennas of the UE.

[0277] Clause 118. A non-transient computer-readable medium as described in any of Clauses 91 to 116 further includes computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the UE, cause the UE to perform the following actions: receiving the one or more reference signal resources on the one or more antennas of the UE.

[0278] Clause 119. A non-transient computer-readable medium such as any of Clauses 91 to 118, wherein the beam pattern includes a beamwidth associated with the one or more reference signal resources.

[0279] Clause 120. A non-transient computer-readable medium such as any of Clauses 91 to 119, wherein the UE operates according to a radio access technology (RAT), the one or more reference signal resources are configured according to the RAT, and the RAT includes: LTE, 5G NR, Wi-Fi, UWB, or Bluetooth.

[0280] 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.

[0281] 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 hardware-software interchangeability, the various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps are described above in a generalized form 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.

[0282] 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.

[0283] 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.

[0284] 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 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.

[0285] While the foregoing disclosure has illustrated illustrative aspects of this disclosure, it should be noted that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the scope of this disclosure as defined by the appended claims. The functions, steps, and / or actions in the method claims according to the aspects of this disclosure described herein need not be performed in any particular order. Furthermore, although elements of this disclosure may be described or claimed in the singular, pluralism is also contemplated unless explicitly stated to be limited to the singular.

Claims

1. A method for wireless communication positioning by a user equipment (UE), comprising: Determine one or more angle-based measurements of one or more reference signal resources transmitted by or received at the UE on one or more antennas of the UE; as well as The system reports to a positioning entity outside the UE the one or more angle-based measurements, the beam pattern associated with the one or more reference signal resources, the type of the one or more antennas, the location of the one or more antennas on the UE, the orientation of the one or more antennas, or any combination thereof.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more angle-based measurements include uplink departure angle (UL-AoD) measurement.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the one or more reference signal resources include one or more probe reference signal (SRS) resources.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the UL-AoD measurement comprises: The azimuth angle of the line-of-sight direction for transmitting the one or more SRS resources, and The elevation angle of the line-of-sight direction for transmitting the one or more SRS resources.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the report comprises: Report the azimuth angle to the positioning entity in the SRS azimuth field, and Report the elevation angle to the positioning entity in the SRS elevation angle field.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein: The azimuth angle is reported as a value from 0 to 359.5 degrees, with a step size of 0.5 degrees, and The elevation angle is reported as a value from -90 to +90 degrees, with a step of 0.5 degrees.

7. The method of claim 3, wherein the beam pattern includes: The half-power beamwidth (HPBW) in the horizontal plane of the beam used to transmit the one or more SRS resources, and HPBW in the vertical plane of the beam used to transmit the one or more SRS resources.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the report comprises: The HPBW in the horizontal plane is reported to the positioning entity in the SRS-HPBW-Az field, and The HPBW in the vertical plane is reported to the positioning entity in the SRS-HPBW-El field.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein: The HPBW in the horizontal plane is reported as a value from 0 to 120 degrees, with a step size of 0.5 degrees, and The HPBW in the vertical plane is reported as a value from 0 to 120 degrees, with a step size of 0.5 degrees.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the orientation of the one or more antennas is reported in the local coordinate system (LCS) of the UE.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein reporting the orientation of the one or more antennas comprises: The report specifies the quadrant angles of one or more antennas. α For use in transforming the LCS to the global coordinate system GCS, The report specifies the downtilt angle of one or more antennas. β For use in converting the LCS to the GCS, and The report specifies the tilt angle of one or more antennas. γ This is used to convert the LCS to the GCS.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more angle-based measurements, the beam pattern associated with the one or more reference signal resources, the type of the one or more antennas, the location of the one or more antennas on the UE, the orientation of the one or more antennas, or any combination thereof, are reported in the following: UE positioning capability report Request for auxiliary data, Provide location information message, or Any combination thereof.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more angle-based measurements, the beam pattern associated with the one or more reference signal resources, the type of the one or more antennas, the location of the one or more antennas on the UE, the orientation of the one or more antennas, or any combination thereof, are reported in the following: Uplink Control Information (UCI) Media Access Control - Control Element MAC-CE Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling, One or more LTE Location Protocol (LPP) messages, or Any combination thereof.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the positioning entity comprises: Location server, The UE's serving base station, or Another UE connected to the UE on the side link.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more angle-based measurements include downlink angle of arrival (DL-AoA) measurement.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the one or more reference signal resources include one or more positioning reference signal (PRS) resources.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the DL-AoA measurement comprises: The azimuth angle of the line-of-sight direction of the one or more PRS resources is received, and The elevation angle of the line-of-sight direction received from the one or more PRS resources.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the beam pattern includes: The half-power beamwidth (HPBW) in the horizontal plane of the beam used to receive the one or more PRS resources, and HPBW in the vertical plane of the beam used to receive the one or more PRS resources.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein the beam pattern associated with the one or more reference signal resources and the location of the one or more antennas are reported in one or more antenna placement and calibration information elements (IEs).

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the location of the one or more antennas includes the x, y, z coordinates of the one or more antennas.

21. The method of claim 19, wherein the beam pattern comprises values ​​from 1 degree to 360 degrees.

22. The method of claim 1, wherein the report comprises: The one or more angle-based measurements, the beam pattern associated with the one or more reference signal resources, the location of the one or more antennas, the orientation of the one or more antennas, or any combination thereof, are reported relative to a reference antenna of the one or more antennas.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein: The one or more antennas include multiple antennas. The one or more angle-based measurements include angle-based measurements associated with each of the plurality of antennas. The beam pattern associated with the one or more reference signal resources includes the beam pattern associated with each of the plurality of antennas. The location of the one or more antennas includes the location of each of the plurality of antennas, and The orientation of the one or more antennas includes the orientation of each of the one or more antennas.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the report comprises: The report includes the absolute values ​​of the angle-based measurements, beam pattern, position, orientation, or any combination thereof used for the reference antenna; as well as The angle-based measurements, beam patterns, positions, orientations, or any combination thereof for the remaining antennas among the plurality of antennas are reported relative to the absolute values ​​used for the reference antenna.

25. The method of claim 1, wherein the type of the one or more antennas includes an omnidirectional antenna.

26. The method of claim 1, wherein the type of said one or more antennas includes a directional antenna capable of beamforming.

27. The method of claim 1, further comprising: The one or more reference signal resources are transmitted on the one or more antennas of the UE.

28. The method of claim 1, further comprising: The UE receives the one or more reference signal resources on the one or more antennas.

29. The method of claim 1, wherein the beam pattern includes a beamwidth associated with the one or more reference signal resources.

30. The method of claim 1, wherein: The UE operates according to Radio Access Technology (RAT). The one or more reference signal resources are configured according to the RAT, and The RAT includes: LTE, 5G NR (5th Generation New Radio) Wi-Fi Ultra-wideband (UWB), or Bluetooth.

31. A user equipment (UE), comprising: Memory; At least one transceiver; as well as At least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: Determine one or more angle-based measurements of one or more reference signal resources transmitted by or received at the UE on one or more antennas of the UE; as well as The at least one transceiver reports to a positioning entity outside the UE the one or more angle-based measurements, the beam pattern associated with the one or more reference signal resources, the type of the one or more antennas, the location of the one or more antennas on the UE, the orientation of the one or more antennas, or any combination thereof.

32. The UE of claim 31, wherein the one or more angle-based measurements include uplink departure angle (UL-AoD) measurement.

33. The UE of claim 32, wherein the one or more reference signal resources include one or more probe reference signal (SRS) resources.

34. The UE of claim 33, wherein the UL-AoD measurement comprises: The azimuth angle of the line-of-sight direction for transmitting the one or more SRS resources, and The elevation angle of the line-of-sight direction for transmitting the one or more SRS resources.

35. The UE of claim 34, wherein the at least one processor is configured to report including that the at least one processor is configured to: The azimuth angle is reported to the positioning entity via the at least one transceiver in the SRS azimuth field, and The elevation angle is reported to the positioning entity in the SRS elevation angle field via the at least one transceiver.

36. The UE as claimed in claim 34, wherein: The azimuth angle is reported as a value from 0 to 359.5 degrees, with a step size of 0.5 degrees, and The elevation angle is reported as a value from -90 to +90 degrees, with a step of 0.5 degrees.

37. The UE of claim 33, wherein the beam pattern includes: The half-power beamwidth (HPBW) in the horizontal plane of the beam used to transmit the one or more SRS resources, and HPBW in the vertical plane of the beam used to transmit the one or more SRS resources.

38. The UE of claim 37, wherein the at least one processor is configured to report including the at least one processor being configured to: The HPBW in the horizontal plane is reported to the positioning entity via the at least one transceiver in the SRS-HPBW-Az field, and The HPBW in the vertical plane is reported to the positioning entity via the at least one transceiver in the SRS-HPBW-El field.

39. The UE of claim 37, wherein: The HPBW in the horizontal plane is reported as a value from 0 to 120 degrees, with a step size of 0.5 degrees, and The HPBW in the vertical plane is reported as a value from 0 to 120 degrees, with a step size of 0.5 degrees.

40. The UE of claim 31, wherein the orientation of the one or more antennas is reported in the local coordinate system (LCS) of the UE.

41. The UE of claim 40, wherein the at least one processor is configured to report the orientation of the one or more antennas, comprising the at least one processor being configured to: The quadrant angles of the one or more antennas are reported via the at least one transceiver. α For use in transforming the LCS to the global coordinate system GCS, The downtilt angle of the one or more antennas is reported via the at least one transceiver. β For use in converting the LCS to the GCS, and The tilt angle of the one or more antennas is reported via the at least one transceiver. γ This is used to convert the LCS to the GCS.

42. The UE of claim 31, wherein the one or more angle-based measurements, the beam pattern associated with the one or more reference signal resources, the type of the one or more antennas, the location of the one or more antennas on the UE, the orientation of the one or more antennas, or any combination thereof, are reported in the following: UE positioning capability report Request for auxiliary data, Provide location information message, or Any combination thereof.

43. The UE of claim 31, wherein the one or more angle-based measurements, the beam pattern associated with the one or more reference signal resources, the type of the one or more antennas, the location of the one or more antennas on the UE, the orientation of the one or more antennas, or any combination thereof, are reported in the following: Uplink Control Information (UCI) Media Access Control - Control Element MAC-CE Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling, One or more LTE Location Protocol (LPP) messages, or Any combination thereof.

44. The UE of claim 31, wherein the positioning entity comprises: Location server, The UE's serving base station, or Another UE connected to the UE on the side link.

45. The UE of claim 31, wherein the one or more angle-based measurements include downlink angle of arrival (DL-AoA) measurements.

46. ​​The UE of claim 45, wherein the one or more reference signal resources include one or more positioning reference signal (PRS) resources.

47. The UE of claim 46, wherein the DL-AoA measurement comprises: The azimuth angle of the line-of-sight direction of the one or more PRS resources is received, and The elevation angle of the line-of-sight direction received from the one or more PRS resources.

48. The UE of claim 46, wherein the beam pattern includes: The half-power beamwidth (HPBW) in the horizontal plane of the beam used to receive the one or more PRS resources, and HPBW in the vertical plane of the beam used to receive the one or more PRS resources.

49. The UE of claim 31, wherein the beam pattern associated with the one or more reference signal resources and the location of the one or more antennas are reported in one or more antenna placement and calibration information elements (IEs).

50. The UE of claim 49, wherein the location of the one or more antennas includes the x, y, z coordinates of the one or more antennas.

51. The UE of claim 49, wherein the beam pattern includes values ​​from 1 degree to 360 degrees.

52. The UE of claim 31, wherein the at least one processor is configured to report including that the at least one processor is configured to: The one or more angle-based measurements, the beam pattern associated with the one or more reference signal resources, the location of the one or more antennas, the orientation of the one or more antennas, or any combination thereof, are reported via the at least one transceiver relative to a reference antenna of the one or more antennas.

53. The UE as claimed in claim 52, wherein: The one or more antennas include multiple antennas. The one or more angle-based measurements include angle-based measurements associated with each of the plurality of antennas. The beam pattern associated with the one or more reference signal resources includes the beam pattern associated with each of the plurality of antennas. The location of the one or more antennas includes the location of each of the plurality of antennas, and The orientation of the one or more antennas includes the orientation of each of the one or more antennas.

54. The UE of claim 53, wherein the at least one processor is configured to report including the at least one processor being configured to: Report, via the at least one transceiver, the absolute values ​​of the angle-based measurements, the beam pattern, the position, the orientation, or any combination thereof for the reference antenna; and The angle-based measurements, beam patterns, positions, orientations, or any combination thereof for the remaining antennas among the plurality of antennas are reported via the at least one transceiver, relative to the absolute value for the reference antenna.

55. The UE of claim 31, wherein the type of said one or more antennas includes an omnidirectional antenna.

56. The UE of claim 31, wherein the type of said one or more antennas includes a directional antenna capable of beamforming.

57. The UE of claim 31, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: The one or more reference signal resources are transmitted on the one or more antennas of the UE via the at least one transceiver.

58. The UE of claim 31, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: The one or more reference signal resources are received on the one or more antennas of the UE via the at least one transceiver.

59. The UE of claim 31, wherein the beam pattern includes a beamwidth associated with the one or more reference signal resources.

60. The UE of claim 31, wherein: The UE operates according to Radio Access Technology (RAT). The one or more reference signal resources are configured according to the RAT, and The RAT includes: LTE, 5G NR (5th Generation New Radio) Wi-Fi Ultra-wideband (UWB), or Bluetooth.

61. A user equipment (UE), comprising: A means for determining one or more angle-based measurements of one or more reference signal resources transmitted by or received at the UE on one or more antennas of the UE; as well as A means for reporting to a positioning entity outside the UE the one or more angle-based measurements, the beam pattern associated with the one or more reference signal resources, the type of the one or more antennas, the location of the one or more antennas on the UE, the orientation of the one or more antennas, or any combination thereof.

62. A non-transient computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions, which, when executed by a user equipment (UE), cause the UE to: Determine one or more angle-based measurements of one or more reference signal resources transmitted by or received at the UE on one or more antennas of the UE; and The system reports to a positioning entity outside the UE the one or more angle-based measurements, the beam pattern associated with the one or more reference signal resources, the type of the one or more antennas, the location of the one or more antennas on the UE, the orientation of the one or more antennas, or any combination thereof.

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