Random access preamble for positioning indication

Abstract

Techniques for wireless communications are disclosed. In one aspect, a user equipment (UE) receives an indication of a random access (RA) channel (RACH) preamble from a base station (BS). The RACH preamble is a member of a first set of RACH preambles reserved for positioning purposes, the first set of RACH preambles being different from a second set of RACH preambles reserved for communications purposes, and the first and second sets of RACH preambles being associated with the BS. The UE detects a positioning event while in a radio resource control (RRC) idle or RRC inactive state. The UE transmits the RACH preamble to the BS. The UE receives, from the BS, a RA response for positioning purposes that is different from a RA response for communications purposes, the RA response for positioning purposes including a random access preamble identifier that maps to the RACH preamble.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The aspects of this disclosure generally relate to wireless communications. Background Technology

[0002] Wireless communication systems have evolved through multiple generations, including first-generation analog radiotelephony (1G), second-generation (2G) digital radiotelephony (including temporary 2.5G and 2.75G networks), third-generation (3G) high-speed data, wireless services supporting the Internet, and fourth-generation (4G) services (e.g., LTE, 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.

[0003] The fifth-generation (5G) wireless standard, known as New Radio (NR), demands higher data transmission speeds, more connections, better coverage, and other improvements. According to the Next Generation Mobile Networks Alliance (NGC), the 5G standard aims to provide tens of megabits per second (Mbps) of data to each of tens of thousands of users, and 1 gigabit per second (Gbps) to dozens of employees in an office. To support large-scale sensor deployments, it should support hundreds of thousands of simultaneous connections. Therefore, the spectral efficiency of 5G mobile communications should be significantly improved compared to the current 4G standard. Furthermore, signaling efficiency should be improved, and latency should be significantly reduced compared to the current standard. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The following is a simplified summary relating to one or more aspects disclosed herein. Therefore, this summary should not be considered a broad overview relating to all anticipated aspects, nor should it be considered as identifying key or critical elements relating to all anticipated aspects, or depicting the scope relating to any particular aspect. Thus, the sole purpose of this summary is to present certain concepts relating to one or more aspects of the mechanisms disclosed herein in a simplified form before the detailed descriptions presented below.

[0005] According to various aspects disclosed herein, at least one aspect includes a method for wireless communication performed by a UE. The method includes receiving from a BS an indication of a random access (RA) channel (RACH) preamble, wherein the RACH preamble is a member of a first set of RACH preambles reserved for positioning purposes, wherein the first set of RACH preambles differs from a second set of RACH preambles reserved for communication purposes, and wherein both the first set and the second set of RACH preambles are associated with the BS. The method further includes detecting a positioning event when in a Radio Resource Control (RRC) idle or RRC inactive state. The method also includes transmitting the RACH preamble to the BS. The method further includes receiving from the BS an RA response for positioning purposes, distinct from an RA response for communication purposes, the RA response for positioning purposes including a random access preamble identifier mapped to the RACH preamble.

[0006] According to various aspects disclosed herein, at least one aspect includes a UE. The user equipment includes a memory, at least one transceiver, and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and at least one transceiver, configured to: receive from a BS an indication of a first set of RACH preambles reserved for positioning purposes, which is different from a second set of RACH preambles reserved for communication purposes, the first set and the second set of RACH preambles being associated with the BS; detect a positioning event when in an RRC idle or RRC inactive state; cause at least one transceiver to transmit the RACH preamble to the BS; and receive from the BS an RA response for positioning purposes, different from an RA response for communication purposes, the RA response for positioning purposes including a random access preamble identifier mapped to the RACH preamble.

[0007] According to various aspects disclosed herein, at least one aspect includes a UE. The user equipment includes components for receiving an indication of a RACH preamble from a BS, wherein the RACH preamble is a member of a first set of RACH preambles reserved for positioning purposes, wherein the first set of RACH preambles differs from a second set of RACH preambles reserved for communication purposes, and wherein both the first set and the second set of RACH preambles are associated with the BS. The UE also includes components for detecting a positioning event when in an RRC idle or RRC inactive state. The UE also includes components for sending the RACH preamble to the BS. The UE also includes components for receiving from the BS a positioning-purpose RA response different from a communication-purpose RA response, the positioning-purpose RA response including a random access preamble identifier mapped to the RACH preamble.

[0008] According to various aspects disclosed herein, at least one aspect includes a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a set of instructions. The non-transitory computer-readable medium includes instructions for receiving from a BS an indication of a first set of RACH preambles reserved for positioning purposes, which is different from a second set of RACH preambles reserved for communication purposes, and which are associated with the BS. The non-transitory computer-readable medium also includes instructions for detecting a positioning event when in an RRC idle or RRC inactive state. The non-transitory computer-readable medium also includes instructions for sending a RACH preamble to the BS. The non-transitory computer-readable medium also includes instructions for receiving from the BS a positioning-purpose RA response different from a RA response for communication purposes, the positioning-purpose RA response including a random access preamble identifier mapped to the RACH preamble.

[0009] Based on the accompanying drawings and detailed description, other objects and advantages associated with the aspects disclosed herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Attached Figure Description

[0010] The accompanying drawings are provided to help describe various aspects of this disclosure, and are provided merely to illustrate these aspects and not to limit them.

[0011] Figure 1 An example wireless communication system according to aspects of this disclosure is shown.

[0012] Figure 2A and Figure 2B An example wireless network architecture according to aspects of this disclosure is shown.

[0013] Figures 3A to 3C This is a simplified block diagram of several example aspects of components that can be used in user equipment (UE), base station (BS), and network entities respectively and configured to support communications as taught herein.

[0014] Figure 4 A contention-based random access (CBRA) procedure between a UE and a BS is illustrated according to aspects of this disclosure.

[0015] Figure 5 Different Radio Resource Control (RRC) states available in a new radio (NR) according to aspects of this disclosure are shown.

[0016] Figure 6 The traditional MSG2 preamble is shown.

[0017] Figure 7 Wireless communication methods according to some aspects of this disclosure are shown.

[0018] Figure 8 The random access (RA) channel (RACH) preamble in the MSG2 for positioning, according to some aspects of this disclosure, is shown.

[0019] Figure 9 and Figure 10 An example method of wireless communication according to aspects of this disclosure is shown. Detailed Implementation

[0020] The aspects of this disclosure are provided in the following description and related drawings, which point to various examples provided for illustrative purposes. Alternative aspects may be devised without departing from the scope of this disclosure. Furthermore, well-known elements of this disclosure will not be described in detail or will be omitted so as not to obscure the relevant details of this disclosure.

[0021] 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 preferred or superior to other aspects. Similarly, the term “aspects of this disclosure” does not require that all aspects of this disclosure include the features, advantages, or modes of operation discussed.

[0022] Those skilled in the art will understand that any of a variety of different techniques and skills can be used to represent the information and signals described below. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referenced throughout the description below can be represented by voltage, current, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, light fields or particles, or any combination thereof, depending in part on the specific application, in part on the required design, and in part on the appropriate technology, etc.

[0023] Furthermore, many aspects are described according to sequences of actions to be performed by elements of, for example, computing devices. It should be understood that the various actions described herein can be performed by specific circuitry (e.g., an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC)), program instructions executed by at least one processor, or a combination of both. Moreover, the sequences of actions described herein can be considered fully embodied in any form of non-transitory computer-readable storage medium in which a corresponding set of computer instructions is stored, which, when executed, will cause or instruct the associated processor of the device to perform the functions described herein. Therefore, various aspects of this disclosure can be embodied in a variety of different forms, all of which are contemplated within the scope of the claimed subject matter. Additionally, for each aspect described herein, a corresponding form of any such aspect may be described herein as, for example, “logically configured” to perform the described actions.

[0024] As used herein, unless otherwise stated, the terms “User Equipment” (UE) and “Base Station” are not intended to be specific to or otherwise limited to any particular Radio Access Technology (RAT). Generally, a UE can be any wireless communication device used by a user to communicate over a wireless communication network (e.g., mobile phone, router, tablet computer, laptop computer, commercial consumer asset tracking 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 may (e.g., at certain times) be stationary and can communicate with a Radio Access Network (RAN). As used herein, the term “UE” is 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. Typically, 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 IEEE 802.11, etc.), and so on.

[0025] A base station can operate based on one of several RATs (Radio Access Points) communicating with the UE, depending on the network in which it is deployed, and may be alternatively referred to as an Access Point (AP), Network Node, NodeB, Evolved NodeB (eNB), Next Generation eNB (ng-eNB), New Radio (NR) NodeB (also referred to as gNB or gNodeB), etc. The base station is primarily used to support the UE's radio access, including supporting the data, voice, and / or signaling connections of 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 signals to the base station is referred to as an uplink (UL) channel (e.g., reverse traffic channel, reverse control channel, access channel, etc.). The communication link through which the base station signals to the UE is referred to as a downlink (DL) or forward link channel (e.g., paging channel, control channel, broadcast channel, forward traffic channel, etc.). As used herein, the term Traffic Channel (TCH) may refer to an uplink / reverse or downlink / forward traffic channel.

[0026] The term "base station" can refer to a single physical transmit-receive point (TRP) or multiple physical TRPs that may or may not be located in the same location. For example, when the term "base station" refers to a single physical TRP, the physical TRP can be the antenna of a base station corresponding to a cell (or several cell sectors) of the base station. When the term "base station" refers to multiple physical TRPs located in the same location, the physical TRP can be the antenna array of the base station (e.g., in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system or where the base station employs beamforming). When the term "base station" refers to multiple physical TRPs not located in the same location, the physical TRP can be a distributed antenna system (DAS) (a network of spatially separated antennas connected via a transmission medium to a common source) or a remote radio head (RRH) (a remote base station connected to a serving base station). Alternatively, physical TRPs not located in the same location can be the serving base station from which the UE receives measurement reports and a neighboring base station from which the UE is measuring its reference RF signal. Because a TRP is the point where a base station transmits and receives radio signals, as used herein, references to transmissions from or receptions at a base station should be understood to refer to a specific TRP of the base station.

[0027] In some aspects supporting UE positioning, the base station may not support the UE's radio access (e.g., it may not support the UE's data, voice, and / or signaling connections), but may instead transmit reference signals to the UE for measurement by the UE, and / or receive and measure signals transmitted by the UE. Such a base station may be referred to as a positioning beacon (e.g., when transmitting signals to the UE) and / or as a location measurement unit (e.g., when receiving and measuring signals from the UE).

[0028] An “RF signal” comprises an electromagnetic wave of a given frequency that transmits information across space between a transmitter and a receiver. As used herein, a transmitter may send a single “RF signal” or multiple “RF signals” to a receiver. However, due to the propagation characteristics of RF signals through multipath channels, a receiver may receive multiple “RF signals” corresponding to each transmitted RF signal. The same transmitted RF signal on different paths between the transmitter and receiver can be referred to as a “multipath” RF signal.

[0029] Figure 1An exemplary wireless communication system 100 is illustrated. The wireless communication system 100 (which may also be referred to as a wireless wide area network (WWAN)) may include various base stations 102 and various UEs 104. Base station 102 may include macro cell base stations (high-power cellular base stations) and / or small cell base stations (low-power cellular base stations). In one aspect, the macro cell base station may include an eNB and / or ng-eNB in ​​which the wireless communication system 100 corresponds to an LTE network, or a gNB in ​​which the wireless communication system 100 corresponds to an NR network, or a combination of both, and the small cell base station may include femtocells, picocells, microcells, etc.

[0030] Base station 102 can collectively form a RAN and interface with core network 170 (e.g., evolved packet core (EPC) or 5G core (5GC)) via backhaul link 122, and interface with one or more location servers 172 (which may be part of core network 170 or external to core network 170) via core network 170. Among other functions, base station 102 can perform functions related to one or more of the following: transmitting user data, radio channel encryption and decryption, integrity protection, header compression, mobility control functions (e.g., handover, dual connectivity), inter-cell interference coordination, connection establishment and release, load balancing, distribution of non-access stratum (NAS) messages, NAS node selection, synchronization, RAN sharing, multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS), subscriber and device tracking, RAN information management (RIM), paging, location, and warning message delivery. Base station 102 can communicate with each other directly or indirectly (e.g., via EPC / 5GC) via backhaul link 134, which can be wired or wireless.

[0031] Base station 102 can wirelessly communicate with UE 104. Each of base stations 102 can provide communication coverage for its respective geographic coverage area 110. In one aspect, one or more cells may be supported by base station 102 in each coverage area 110. A “cell” is a logical communication entity used to communicate with a base station (e.g., via certain frequency resources, referred to as carrier frequency, component carrier, carrier, frequency band, etc.) and may be associated with an identifier (e.g., Physical Cell Identifier (PCI), Virtual Cell Identifier (VCI), Cell Global Identifier (CGI)) used to distinguish cells operating via the same or different carrier frequencies. In some cases, different cells may be configured according to different protocol types that can provide access for different types of UEs (e.g., Machine Type Communication (MTC), Narrowband IoT (NB-IoT), Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB), or others). Because a cell is supported by a specific base station, the term “cell” may refer to one or both of the logical communication entity and the base station that supports it, depending on the context. In some cases, the term “cell” may also refer to the geographic coverage area (e.g., sector) of a base station, provided that the carrier frequency can be detected and used for communication within certain portions of the geographic coverage area 110.

[0032] While the geographic coverage areas 110 of adjacent macro cell base stations 102 may partially overlap (e.g., in handover areas), some geographic coverage areas 110 may substantially overlap with larger geographic coverage areas 110. For example, a small cell base station (SC) 102' may have a coverage area 110' that substantially overlaps with the coverage areas 110 of one or more macro cell base stations 102. A network that includes both small and macro cell base stations can be referred to as a heterogeneous network. A heterogeneous network may also include home eNBs (HeNBs) that can provide service to restricted groups called Closed Subscriber Groups (CSGs).

[0033] 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 (also known as forward link) transmission from base station 102 to UE 104. The communication link 120 may use MIMO antenna techniques, including spatial multiplexing, beamforming, and / or transmit diversity. The communication link 120 may use one or more carrier frequencies. Carrier allocation may be asymmetric relative to the downlink and uplink (e.g., more or fewer carriers may be allocated to the downlink than to the uplink).

[0034] The wireless communication system 100 may also include a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point (AP) 150, which communicates with a WLAN station (STA) 152 via a communication link 154 in unlicensed spectrum (e.g., 5 GHz). When communicating in unlicensed spectrum, the WLAN STA 152 and / or WLAN AP 150 may perform a free channel assessment (CCA) or listen-before-talk (LBT) process before communication to determine whether the channel is available.

[0035] The SC 102' can operate in licensed and / or unlicensed spectrum. When operating in unlicensed spectrum, the SC 102' can employ LTE or NR technologies and use the same 5GHz unlicensed spectrum as the WLAN AP 150. The SC 102' employing LTE / 5G in unlicensed spectrum can enhance coverage and / or increase the capacity of the access network. 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.

[0036] The wireless communication system 100 may further include a millimeter-wave (mmW) base station 180, which can operate at millimeter-wave and / or near-millimeter-wave frequencies when communicating with the UE 182. Extremely high frequency (EHF) is a radio frequency segment of the electromagnetic spectrum. EHF ranges from 30 GHz to 300 GHz, with wavelengths between 1 mm and 10 mm. Radio waves in this band are referred to as millimeter waves. Near-millimeter waves can extend down to frequencies of 3 GHz with wavelengths of 100 mm. Ultra-high frequency (SHF) bands extend between 3 GHz and 30 GHz, also known as centimeter waves. Communication using millimeter-wave / near-millimeter-wave radio bands has high path loss and relatively short range. The millimeter-wave base station 180 and the UE 182 can utilize beamforming (transmit and / or receive) on the millimeter-wave communication link 184 to compensate for the extremely high path loss and short range. Furthermore, it should be understood that in alternative configurations, one or more base stations 102 may also use millimeter-wave or near-millimeter-wave frequencies and beamforming for transmission. Therefore, it should be understood that the foregoing illustrations are merely examples and should not be construed as limiting the various aspects disclosed herein.

[0037] Transmit beamforming is a technique used to focus RF signals in a specific direction. Traditionally, when a network node (e.g., a base station) broadcasts an RF signal, it broadcasts the signal in all directions (omnidirectional). Using transmit beamforming, the network node determines the location of a given target device (e.g., a UE) relative to the transmitting network node and projects a stronger downlink RF signal in that specific direction, 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 (called a "phased array" or "antenna array") that generates a beam of RF waves that can be "guided" to point in different directions without actually moving the antennas. Specifically, RF currents from the transmitters are fed to the individual antennas with the correct phase relationship, such that the radio waves from the individual antennas are phased to increase radiation in the desired direction while canceling out radiation in undesired directions.

[0038] Transmit beams can be quasi-co-located, meaning they appear to have the same parameters at the receiver (e.g., UE), regardless of whether the transmit antennas of the network nodes themselves are physically co-located. In NR, there are four types of quasi-co-located (QCL) relationships. Specifically, a given type of QCL relationship means that certain parameters about the target reference RF signal on the target beam can be derived from information about the source reference RF signal on the source beam. 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 target 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 target 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 target reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL type D, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the spatial reception parameters of the target reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel.

[0039] In receive beamforming, a receiver uses a receive beam to amplify the RF signal detected on a given channel. For example, the receiver may increase the gain setting and / or adjust the phase setting of the antenna array in a specific direction to amplify (e.g., increase the gain level of the RF signal) the RF signal received from that direction. Therefore, when it is said that a receiver beamforms in a certain direction, it means that the beam gain in that direction is higher than the beam gain along other directions, or that the beam gain in that direction is the highest compared to the beam gains 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.

[0040] The receive beam can be spatially dependent. Spatial dependency means that parameters for the transmit beam for the second reference signal can be derived from information about the receive beam used for the first reference signal. For example, a UE can use a specific receive beam to receive one or more reference downlink reference signals (e.g., Position Reference Signal (PRS), Tracking Reference Signal (NRS), Phase Tracking Reference Signal (PTRS), Cell Specific Reference Signal (CRS), Channel State Information Reference Signal (CSI-RS), Primary Synchronization Signal (PSS), Secondary Synchronization Signal (SSS), Synchronization Signal Block (SSB), etc.) from a base station. The UE can then form a transmit beam based on the parameters of the receive beam to transmit one or more uplink reference signals (e.g., Uplink Position Reference Signal (UL-PRS), Sounding Reference Signal (SRS), Demodulation Reference Signal (DMRS), PTRS, etc.) to that base station.

[0041] Note that a "downlink" beam can be either a transmit or receive beam, depending on the entity forming it. For example, if a base station is forming a downlink beam to transmit a reference signal to a UE, then the downlink beam is a transmit beam. However, if a UE is forming a downlink beam, then it is a receive beam used to receive downlink reference signals. Similarly, an "uplink" beam can be either a transmit or receive beam, depending on the entity forming it. For example, if a base station is forming an uplink beam, then it is an uplink receive beam, and if a UE is forming an uplink beam, then it is an uplink transmit beam.

[0042] In 5G, the spectrum in which radio nodes (e.g., base stations 102 / 180, UE 104 / 182) operate is divided into multiple frequency ranges: FR1 (from 450 to 6000 MHz), FR2 (from 24250 to 52600 MHz), FR3 (above 52600 MHz), and FR4 (between FR1 and FR2). In multi-carrier systems such as 5G, one of the carrier frequencies is referred to as the “primary carrier” or “anchor carrier” or “primary serving cell” or “PCell,” and the remaining carrier frequencies are referred to as “secondary carriers” or “secondary serving cells” or “SCell.” In carrier aggregation, the anchor carrier is the carrier operating on the primary frequency (e.g., FR1) used by UE 104 / 182 and the cell in which UE 104 / 182 performs the initial radio resource control (RRC) connection establishment procedure or initiates the RRC connection re-establishment procedure. The primary carrier carries all public and UE-specific control channels and can be a carrier in a licensed frequency (however, not always). A secondary carrier is a carrier operating on a second frequency (e.g., FR2). Once an RRC connection is established between UE 104 and the anchor carrier, the secondary carrier can be configured and used to provide additional radio resources. In some cases, the secondary carrier may be a carrier on an unlicensed frequency. The secondary carrier may contain only the necessary signaling information and signals; for example, since the primary uplink and downlink carriers are typically UE-specific, UE-specific signaling information and signals may not be present in the secondary carrier. 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. This is done, for example, to balance the load on different carriers. Because a “serving cell” (whether PCell or SCell) corresponds to the carrier frequency / component carrier on which a base station is communicating, the terms “cell,” “serving cell,” “component carrier,” “carrier frequency,” etc., are used interchangeably.

[0043] For example, still refer to Figure 1 One of the frequencies used by the macro cell base station 102 can be an anchor carrier (or "PCell"), and the other frequencies used by the macro cell base station 102 and / or the millimeter-wave base station 180 can be secondary carriers ("SCell"). Simultaneous transmission and / or reception on multiple carriers allows the UE 104 / 182 to significantly increase its data transmission and / or reception rates. For example, compared to the rate achieved by a single 20MHz carrier, the aggregation of two 20MHz carriers in a multi-carrier system will theoretically result in a doubling of the data rate (i.e., 40MHz).

[0044] The wireless communication system 100 may also include a UE 164, which can communicate with the macro cell base station 102 via communication link 120 and / or with the millimeter-wave base station 180 via millimeter-wave communication link 184. For example, the macro cell base station 102 may support PCells and one or more SCells for the UE 164, and the millimeter-wave base station 180 may support one or more SCells for the UE 164.

[0045] The wireless communication system 100 may also include one or more UEs, such as UE 190, which 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, in which one of UEs 104 is connected to one of base stations 102 (e.g., UE 190 can indirectly obtain cellular connectivity through it), and a D2D P2P link 194, in which WLAN STA 152 is connected to WLAN AP 150 (UE 190 can indirectly obtain WLAN-based internet connectivity through it). In one example, D2D P2P links 192 and 194 can be connected by any well-known D2D RAT (e.g., LTE Direct (LTE-D), WiFi Direct (WiFi-D)). (etc.) support.

[0046] Figure 2A An example wireless network architecture 200 is illustrated. For example, a 5GC 210 (also known as a Next-Generation Core (NGC)) can be functionally viewed as control plane functions 214 (e.g., UE registration, authentication, network access, gateway selection, etc.) and user plane functions 212 (e.g., UE gateway functions, data network access, IP routing, etc.), which cooperate to form the core network. A user plane interface (NG-U) 213 and a control plane interface (NG-C) 215 connect a gNB 222 to the 5GC 210, and specifically to control plane functions 214 and user plane functions 212. In an additional configuration, an eNB 224 can also connect to the 5GC 210 via NG-C 215 to control plane function 214 and NG-U 213 to user plane function 212. Furthermore, the ng-eNB 224 can communicate directly with the gNB 222 via a backhaul connection 223. In some configurations, the new RAN 220 may have only one or more gNB222s, while other configurations include one or more of both ng-eNB 224 and gNB 222. The gNB 222 or ng-eNB 224 can be used with UE 204 (e.g., Figure 1The UE 204 may communicate with any UE depicted in the diagram. Another optional aspect may include a location server 230, which may communicate with the 5GC 210 to provide location assistance to the UE 204. The location server 230 may be implemented as multiple separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules distributed across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternatively, each server may correspond to a single server. The location server 230 may be configured to support one or more location services for the UE 204, which may be connected to the location server 230 via the core network, the 5GC 210, and / or via the Internet (not shown). Furthermore, the location server 230 may be integrated into a component of the core network, or alternatively, may be external to the core network.

[0047] Figure 2B Another example wireless network architecture 250 is shown. For example, 5GC 260 can be functionally viewed as a control plane function provided by Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) 264 and a user plane function provided by User Plane Function (UPF) 262, which cooperate to form the core network (i.e., 5GC 260). User plane interface 263 and control plane interface 265 connect ng-eNB 224 to 5GC 260 and specifically to UPF 262 and AMF 264, respectively. In an additional configuration, gNB 222 can also connect to 5GC 260 via control plane interface 265 to AMF 264 and user plane interface 263 to UPF 262. Furthermore, ng-eNB 224 can communicate directly with gNB 222 via backhaul connection 223, with or without a direct gNB connection to 5GC 260. In some configurations, the new RAN 220 may have only one or more gNB 222s, while other configurations include one or more of both ng-eNB 224 and gNB 222. The gNB 222 or ng-eNB 224 can be used with UE 204 (e.g., Figure 1 (Any UE) communication as depicted in the diagram. The base station of the new RAN 220 communicates with the AMF 264 via the N2 interface and with the UPF 262 via the N3 interface.

[0048] The AMF 264's functions include registration management, connection management, reachability management, mobility management, lawful interception, transmission of Session Management (SM) messages between UE 204 and the Session Management Function (SMF), transparent proxy service for routing SM messages, access authentication and access authorization, transmission of Short Message Service (SMS) messages between UE 204 and the Short Message Service Function (SMSF) (not shown), and the Security Anchor Function (SEAF). The 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 the case of UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) Subscriber Identity Module (USIM)-based authentication, the AMF 264 retrieves security material from the AAUSF. The AMF 264's functions also include Security Context Management (SCM). The SCM receives keys from the SEAF, which is used by the SEAF to derive network-specific keys for access. The AMF 264 also includes functions for location service management for regulatory services, transmission of location service messages between UE 204 and Location Management Function (LMF) 270 (which acts as location server 230), transmission of location service messages between new RAN 220 and LMF 270, Evolved Packet System (EPS) bearer identifier allocation for interoperability with EPS, and UE 204 mobility event notification. Furthermore, the AMF 264 also supports functions for non-3GPP access networks.

[0049] 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 for interconnection to a data network (not shown), providing packet routing and forwarding, packet inspection, user plane policy rule enforcement (e.g., gating, redirection, flow control), lawful interception (user plane collection), traffic usage reporting, user plane Quality of Service (QoS) processing (e.g., uplink / downlink rate enforcement, reflected QoS marking in downlink), uplink traffic verification (Service Data Flow (SDF) to QoS flow mapping), transport-level packet marking in 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 can also support the transmission of location service messages on the user plane between UE 204 and a location server (e.g., Secure User Plane Location (SUPL) Location Platform (SLP) 272).

[0050] The functions of SMF 266 include session management, UE Internet Protocol (IP) address allocation and management, selection and control of user plane functions, configuration of flow control at UPF 262 to route traffic to appropriate destinations, partial policy enforcement and QoS control, and downlink data notification. The interface through which SMF 266 communicates with AMF 264 is called the N11 interface.

[0051] Another optional aspect may include LMF 270, which can communicate with 5GC 260 to provide location assistance to UE 204. LMF 270 can be implemented as multiple separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules distributed across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternatively, each server corresponds to a single server. LMF 270 can 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 shown). SLP 272 can support similar functionality to LMF 270, but LMF 270 can communicate with AMF 264, the new RAN 220, and UE 204 on the control plane (e.g., using interfaces and protocols designed to transmit signaling messages rather than voice or data), while SLP 272 can communicate with UE 204 and external clients on the user plane. Figure 2B (not shown) Communication (e.g., using protocols designed to carry voice and / or data, such as Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and / or IP).

[0052] Figure 3A , Figure 3B and Figure 3C Several example components (represented by corresponding blocks) are shown that can be incorporated into UE 302 (which may correspond to any UE described herein), base station 304 (which may correspond to any base station described herein), and network entity 306 (which may correspond to or embody any network functions described herein, including location server 230 and LMF 270) to support the file transfer operations taught herein. It should be understood that these components can be implemented in different aspects (e.g., in an ASIC, in a system-on-a-chip (SoC), etc.) in different types of devices. The components shown can also be incorporated into other devices in a communication system. For example, other devices in the system may include components similar to those described to provide similar functionality. Additionally, a given device may contain one or more 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.

[0053] UE 302 and base station 304 each include Wireless Wide Area Network (WWAN) transceivers 310 and 350, respectively, providing means (e.g., transmission components, reception components, measurement components, tuning components, transmission avoidance components, etc.) for communication via one or more wireless communication networks (not shown) (e.g., NR networks, LTE networks, GSM networks, etc.). WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 can be connected to one or more antennas 316 and 356, respectively, for communication with other network nodes such as other UEs, access points, base stations (e.g., eNB, gNB), on a wireless communication medium of interest (e.g., certain time / frequency resource sets in a specific spectrum) via at least one designated RAT (e.g., NR, LTE, GSM, etc.). WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 can be configured differently, depending on the designated RAT, 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 include one or more transmitters 314 and 354 for transmitting and encoding signals 318 and 358, respectively, and one or more receivers 312 and 352 for receiving and decoding signals 318 and 358, respectively.

[0054] UE 302 and base station 304 also include, at least in some cases, wireless local area network (WLAN) transceivers 320 and 360, respectively. WLAN transceivers 320 and 360 can be connected to one or more antennas 326 and 366, respectively, and provide communication over the wireless communication medium of interest via at least one designated RAT (e.g., WiFi, LTE-D, etc.). The WLAN transceivers 320 and 360 are configured to communicate with other network nodes such as other UEs, access points, base stations, etc. (e.g., components for transmitting, components for receiving, components for measuring, components for tuning, components for avoiding transmission, etc.). The WLAN transceivers 320 and 360 can be configured, depending on the specified RAT, 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, the WLAN transceivers 320 and 360 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.

[0055] Transceiver circuitry including at least one transmitter and at least one receiver may, in some aspects, comprise an integrated device (e.g., transmitter and receiver circuitry embodied as a single communication device), in some aspects comprise separate transmitter and receiver devices, or may be embodied in other ways in other aspects. In one aspect, the transmitter may include or be coupled to multiple antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such as an antenna array, which allows the corresponding device to perform transmit “beamforming” as described herein. Similarly, the receiver may include or be coupled to multiple antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such as an antenna array, which allows the corresponding device to perform receive beamforming as described herein. In one aspect, the transmitter and receiver may share the same multiple antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such that the corresponding device can only receive or transmit at a given time, rather than simultaneously receiving or transmitting both. The wireless communication equipment of UE302 and / or base station 304 (e.g., one or both of transceivers 310 and 320 and / or 350 and 360) may also include network eavesdropping modules (NLMs) for performing various measurements.

[0056] UE 302 and base station 304, at least in some cases, also include Satellite Positioning System (SPS) receivers 330 and 370. SPS receivers 330 and 370 may be connected to one or more antennas 336 and 376, respectively, and may each provide components for receiving and / or measuring SPS signals 338 and 378, such as Global Positioning System (GPS) signals, Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS) signals, Galileo signals, BeiDou signals, Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (NAVIC), Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS), etc. SPS receivers 330 and 370 may include any suitable hardware and / or software for receiving and processing SPS signals 338 and 378, respectively. SPS receivers 330 and 370 request appropriate information and operation from other systems and perform calculations required to determine the location of UE 302 and base station 304 using measurements obtained through any suitable SPS algorithm.

[0057] Base station 304 and network entity 306 each include at least one network interface 380 and 390, providing components for communicating with other network entities (e.g., components for transmitting, components for receiving, etc.). For example, network interfaces 380 and 390 (e.g., one or more network access ports) can be configured to communicate with one or more network entities via a wired or wireless backhaul connection. In some aspects, network interfaces 380 and 390 can be implemented as transceivers supporting wired or wireless signal-based communication. For example, such communication may involve sending and receiving messages, parameters, and / or other types of information.

[0058] UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 also include other components that can be used in conjunction with the operations disclosed herein. UE 302 includes processor circuitry implementing processing system 332, which provides functions such as those related to wireless positioning and other processing functions. Base station 304 includes processing system 384, which provides functions such as those related to wireless positioning disclosed herein and other processing functions. Network entity 306 includes processing system 394, which provides functions such as those related to wireless positioning disclosed herein and other processing functions. Therefore, processing systems 332, 384, and 394 can provide components for processing, such as components for determining, components for calculating, components for receiving, components for transmitting, components for indicating, etc. In one aspect, the processing systems 332, 384, and 394 may include, for example, at least one processor, which in each aspect may be a general-purpose processor, a multi-core processor, an ASIC, a digital signal processor (DSP), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), or other programmable logic devices or processing circuits or various combinations thereof.

[0059] UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 include memory circuitry that implements memory components 340, 386, and 396 (e.g., each including a memory device) for maintaining information (e.g., information indicating reserved resources, thresholds, parameters, etc.). Therefore, memory components 340, 386, and 396 can provide components for storage, retrieval, maintenance, etc. In some cases, UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 may include positioning components 342, 388, and 398, respectively. Positioning components 342, 388, and 398 may be part of or coupled to processing systems 332, 384, and 394, respectively, causing UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 to perform the functions described herein when executed. In other respects, positioning components 342, 388, and 398 may be located external to processing systems 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 memory components 340, 386, and 396, respectively, which, when executed by processing systems 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 functions described herein. Figure 3APossible locations of the positioning component 342 are shown. The positioning component 342 may be part of the WWAN transceiver 310, memory component 340, processing system 332, or any combination thereof, or it may be a standalone component. Figure 3B Possible locations of the positioning component 388 are shown. The positioning component 388 may be part of the WWAN transceiver 350, the memory component 386, the processing system 384, or any combination thereof, or it may be a standalone component. Figure 3C Possible locations of the positioning component 398 are shown. The positioning component 398 may be part of a network interface(s) 390, a memory component 396, a processing system 394, or any combination thereof, or may be a standalone component.

[0060] UE 302 may include one or more sensors 344 coupled to processing system 332 to provide components for sensing or detecting motion and / or orientation information independent of motion data derived from signals received from WWAN transceiver 310, WLAN transceiver 320, and / or SPS receiver 330. As an example, the sensors(multiple) 344 may include accelerometers (e.g., microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) devices), gyroscopes, geomagnetic sensors (e.g., compasses), altimeters (e.g., barometric altimeters), and / or any other type of motion detection sensor. Furthermore, sensors 344 may include multiple different types of devices and combine their outputs to provide motion information. For example, sensors(multiple) 344 may use a combination of multi-axis accelerometers and orientation sensors to provide the ability to calculate position in 2D and / or 3D coordinate systems.

[0061] In addition, UE 302 includes a user interface 346, which provides components for providing instructions to the user (e.g., auditory and / or visual instructions) and / or for receiving user input (e.g., when the user actuates a sensing device such as a keyboard, touchscreen, microphone, etc.). Although not shown, base station 304 and network entity 306 may also include user interfaces.

[0062] Referring more specifically to processing system 384, in the downlink, IP packets from network entity 306 can be provided to processing system 384. Processing system 384 can implement functions for the RRC layer, Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer, Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, and Media Access Control (MAC) layer. The processing system 384 can provide RRC layer functions associated with broadcasting system information (e.g., Master Information Block (MIB), System Information Block (SIB)), RRC connection control (e.g., RRC connection paging, RRC connection establishment, RRC connection modification, and RRC connection release), inter-RAT mobility, and measurement configuration for UE measurement reporting; PDCP layer functions associated with header compression / decompression, security (encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification), and handover support functions; RLC layer functions associated with transmission of upper-layer PDUs, error correction via Automatic Repeat Request (ARQ), linking, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC Service Data Units (SDUs), resegmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functions associated with mapping between logical channels and transport channels, scheduling information reporting, error correction, priority processing, and logical channel priority ordering.

[0063] Transmitter 354 and receiver 352 can implement Layer 1 (L1) functions associated with various signal processing functions. Layer 1, including the physical (PHY) layer, can include error correction on the transport channel, forward error correction (FEC) encoding / decoding of the transport channel, interleaving, rate matching, mapping to the physical channel, modulation / demodulation of the physical channel, and MIMO antenna processing. Transmitter 354 processes the mapping to the signal constellation based on various modulation schemes (e.g., binary phase shift keying (BPSK), quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK), M-phase shift keying (M-PSK), M-quadrature amplitude modulation (M-QAM)). The encoded and decoded symbols and modulated symbols can then be divided into parallel streams. Each stream can then be mapped to orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) subcarriers, multiplexed with a reference signal (e.g., pilot) in the time and / or frequency domains, and then combined using inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) to produce a physical channel carrying the time-domain OFDM symbol stream. The OFDM symbol stream is spatially pre-coded and decoded to generate multiple spatial streams. Channel estimates from the channel estimator are used to determine the coding and modulation schemes, as well as for spatial processing. The channel estimates can be derived from the reference signal 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 modulate an RF carrier with its respective spatial stream for transmission.

[0064] At UE 302, receiver 312 receives signals through its respective antennas(multiple) 316. Receiver 312 recovers the information modulated onto the RF carrier and provides this information to processing system 332. Transmitter 314 and receiver 312 implement Layer 1 functions associated with various signal processing functions. Receiver 312 can perform spatial processing on the 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 includes a separate OFDM symbol stream for each subcarrier of the OFDM signal. By determining the most probable signal constellation point transmitted by base station 304, the symbols and reference signals on each subcarrier are recovered and demodulated. These soft decisions can be based on channel estimates calculated by a channel estimator. The soft decisions are then decoded and deinterleaved to recover the data and control signals originally transmitted by base station 304 on the physical channel. The data and control signals are then provided to the processing system 332, which implements layer 3 (L3) and layer 2 (L2) functions.

[0065] In the uplink, processing system 332 provides demultiplexing, packet reassembly, decryption, header decompression, and control signal processing between the transport and logical channels to recover IP packets from the core network. Processing system 332 is also responsible for error detection.

[0066] Similar to the functions described by the downlink transmission of base station 304, processing system 332 provides RRC layer functions associated with system information (e.g., MIB, SIB) acquisition, RRC connection, and measurement reporting; PDCP layer functions associated with header compression / decompression and security (encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification); RLC layer functions associated with transmission of upper-layer PDUs, 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 functions associated with mapping between logical channels and transport channels, multiplexing of MAC SDUs on transport blocks (TBs), demultiplexing of MAC SDUs from TBs, scheduling information reporting, error correction via Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ), priority processing, and logical channel priority.

[0067] The channel estimate derived by the channel estimator from the reference signal transmitted by base station 304 or feedback can be used by transmitter 314 to select appropriate encoding / decoding and modulation schemes and facilitate spatial processing. The spatial stream generated by transmitter 314 can be provided to different antennas (multiple) 316. Transmitter 314 can use the corresponding spatial stream to modulate the RF carrier for transmission.

[0068] Uplink transmissions are processed at base station 304 in a manner similar to that described in conjunction with the receiver function at UE 302. Receiver 352 receives signals through its respective antennas (multiple) 356. Receiver 352 recovers the information modulated onto the RF carrier and provides this information to processing system 384.

[0069] In the uplink, processing system 384 provides demultiplexing, packet reassembly, decryption, header decompression, and control signal processing between the transport and logical channels to recover IP packets from UE 302. IP packets from processing system 384 can then be provided to the core network. Processing system 384 is also responsible for error detection.

[0070] For convenience, Figures 3A-3C In this document, UE 302, base station 304, and / or network entity 306 are shown as including various components that can be configured according to the various examples described herein. However, it should be understood that the boxes shown may have different functions in different designs.

[0071] Various components of UE 302, base station 304 and network entity 306 can communicate with each other via data buses 334, 382 and 392 respectively. Figures 3A-3C The components can be implemented in various ways. In some aspects, Figures 3A-3C The components can be implemented in one or more circuits (e.g., at least one processor and / or one or more ASICs, which may include at least one processor). Here, each circuit may use and / or incorporate at least one memory component for storing information or executable code used by the circuit to provide that function. For example, some or all of the functions represented by boxes 310 to 346 can be implemented by the processor and memory components of UE 302 (e.g., by executing appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of the processor components). Similarly, some or all of the functions represented by boxes 350 to 388 can be implemented by the processor and memory components of base station 304 (e.g., by executing appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of the processor components). Furthermore, some or all of the functions represented by boxes 390 to 398 can be implemented by the processor and memory components of network entity 306 (e.g., by executing appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of the processor components). For simplicity, various operations, actions, and / or functions are described herein as being performed "by the UE", "by the base station", "by the positioning entity", etc. However, as will be understood, such operations, actions and / or functions can actually be performed by specific components or combinations of components of the UE, base station, positioning entity, etc. (e.g., processing systems 332, 384, 394, transceivers 310, 320, 350 and 360, memory components 340, 386 and 396, positioning components 342, 388 and 398, etc.).

[0072] Figure 4 The contention-based random access (CBRA) procedure 400 between UE 104 and BS 102 is illustrated. At 402, UE 104 sends an RA preamble, referred to as "MSG1," to BS 102. At 404, BS 102 sends an RA response, referred to as "MSG2," to UE 104. At 406, UE 104 sends a PUSCH transmission, referred to as "MSG3," to BS 102. There are several different types of MSG3; one type is an RRC connection request, which can be an RRC establishment request or an RRC recovery request. At 408, BS 102 sends a contention resolution message, referred to as "MSG4," to UE 104. If MSG3 includes an RRC connection request, MSG4 includes RRC configuration parameters. In CBRA, the UE randomly selects an RA preamble from a preamble pool shared with other UEs in the cell. If multiple UEs select / transmit the same preamble (MSG1), then all of these UEs decode the same MSG2 content and transmit MSG3 on the same UL time / frequency resources. In the next step (MSG4), the network resolves the contention.

[0073] Following the random access procedure, the UE is in the RRC connected state. The RRC protocol is used on the air interface between the UE and the base station. The main functions of the RRC protocol include connection establishment and release, broadcasting system information, radio bearer establishment, reconfiguration and release, RRC connection mobility procedures, paging notification and release, and outer loop power control. In LTE, the UE can be in one of two RRC states (connected or idle), but in NR, the UE can be in one of three RRC states (connected, idle, or inactive). Different RRC states have different radio resources associated with them, which the UE can use when in a given state. Note that the different RRC states are usually written in uppercase, as mentioned above; however, this is not mandatory, and these states can also be written in lowercase.

[0074] Figure 5Figure 500 illustrates the different RRC states (also known as RRC modes) available in the NR according to aspects of this disclosure. When the UE is powered on, it is initially in the RRC disconnect / idle state 510, during which the UE's presence is generally unknown to the network at the cell level (at the tracking area level, the location of a UE in the RRC idle state is known to the network, and the tracking area consists of cell groups), and the base station has no context for the UE. After a random access procedure, it moves to the RRC connected state 520, during which the network maintains the UE's context, and there is activity on the physical link during this period. If the UE is inactive for a short period, it can suspend its session by transitioning to the RRC inactive state 530, during which the network maintains the UE's context, but there is no activity on the physical link during this period. The UE can resume its session by performing a random access procedure to transition back to the RRC connected state 520. Therefore, regardless of whether the UE is in the RRC idle state 510 or the RRC inactive state 530, the UE needs to perform a random access procedure to transition to the RRC connected state 520.

[0075] Operations performed in RRC Idle State 510 include Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) selection, broadcasting of system information, cell reselection mobility, paging of mobile termination data (initiated and managed by the 5GC), and discontinuous reception (DRX) of core network paging (configured by the Non-Access Stratum (NAS)). Operations performed in RRC Connected State 520 include 5GC (e.g., 5GC260) and new RAN (e.g., new RAN 220) connection establishment (control plane and user plane), UE context storage at the new RAN and UE, the new RAN learning the cell to which the UE belongs, unicast data transmission to / from the UE, and network-controlled mobility. Operations performed in RRC Inactive State 530 include broadcasting of system information, cell reselection for mobility, paging (initiated by the new RAN), RAN-based Notification Area (RNA) management (by the new RAN), DRX for RAN paging (configured by the new RAN), 5GC and new RAN connection establishment for the UE (control plane and user plane), storage of UE context at the new RAN and UE, and the new RAN learning the RNA to which the UE belongs.

[0076] Figure 4The RA process shown can be triggered by many events, including: initial access from the RRC idle state; RRC connection reconstruction process; arrival of UL data during the RRC_CONNECTED state when the UL synchronization state is out of sync; transition from the RRC inactive state; request for on-demand system information; and other events. However, in traditional networks, when a UE is in the RRC_CONNECTED state, it must request on-demand PRS configuration. There is no mechanism to allow a UE in the RRC inactive or RRC idle state to request on-demand PRS configuration. To address this technical deficiency, the following technical solution is proposed.

[0077] For each time-frequency Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) opportunity, 64 random access (RA) channel (RACH) preambles are defined in NR. Each preamble consists of a cyclic prefix (CP) that appears once, followed by a preamble sequence that can be repeated multiple times.

[0078] Figure 6 It is the traditional MSG2 preamble 600. The MSG2 preamble 600 includes the following fields:

[0079] • 4-bit backoff indicator 602;

[0080] • A 4-bit random access preamble identifier (RAPID) 604, which is mapped to a preamble index contained in MSG1;

[0081] • 11-bit timing advance (TA) 606, used by the UE for transmission to the BS;

[0082] • 27-bit uplink (UL) license 608; and

[0083] • 16-bit Temporary Cell Radio Network Temporary Identifier (C-RNTI) 610. This is a temporary identity assigned to the UE and becomes permanent after a successful RACH procedure.

[0084] In some aspects of this disclosure, one or more of the RACH preambles are reserved for positioning, and the MSG2 preamble, MSG4 preamble, or both are modified, as will be explained in more detail below.

[0085] Figure 7 A wireless communication method 700 according to some aspects of this disclosure is shown.

[0086] At 702, BS 102 may send information to UE 104 identifying a RACH preamble reserved for location purposes. In some embodiments, BS 102 may broadcast this information in a System Information Block (SIB), such as a location-specific SIB (Pos-SIB). In some aspects, BS 102 may configure UE 104 with a RACH preamble (e.g., for Contention-Free Random Access (CFRA) mode) or a RACH preamble group (e.g., for CBRA mode). Alternatively, UE 104 may already have this information configured.

[0087] In some respects, BS 102 may provide the following new fields to UE 104, for example, via SIB or location SIB:

[0088] • A new field, RA-ResponseWindowPos, defines the response window used for positioning, replacing the response window defined by the existing field RA-ResponseWindow for MSG2 transmission.

[0089] • A new field, RA-ContentionResolutionTimerPos, defines a contention-resolving timer value for positioning, replacing the contention-resolving timer value for MSG4 transmission defined by the existing field RA-ContentionResolutionTimer.

[0090] Compared to the standard random access procedure, the values ​​in these new fields indicate different communication delays in the network used for location operations. For example, the new field RA-ContentionResolutionTimerPos takes into account additional, location-related interactions between BS 102 and LMF 270 or other location servers, which BS 102 needs to complete before sending a response back to UE 104. Therefore, the value of the new field RA-ContentionResolutionTimerPos may be greater than the value of the existing field RA-ContentionResolutionTimer, because non-location-related RACH requests do not require such interactions between BS 102 and LMF 270.

[0091] In 704, UE 104 detects a location event when it is in an RRC idle or RRC inactive state. In some respects, the location event requires UE 104 to make an on-demand location request.

[0092] At 706, UE 104 sends MSG1 for positioning to BS 102. MSG1 for positioning includes a RACH preamble reserved for positioning purposes. When UE 104 uses the RACH preamble reserved for positioning, BS 102 knows that a Mobile Initiated (MO) Positioning Request (LR) event (MO-LR) has occurred.

[0093] In step 708, BS 102 generates parameters that will be included in the MSG2 used for positioning; these parameters are referred to herein as MSG2 positioning parameters. The MSG2 positioning parameters may differ from those included in the MSG2 not used for positioning (e.g., the MSG2 used for data). In some respects, the bandwidth of the RACH preamble used in the MSG2 used for positioning may be wider than the bandwidth of the RACH preamble used in the MSG2 used for data. Other differences will be discussed below. Figure 8 A more detailed description is provided below.

[0094] In 710, if UE 104 is configured with the new field RA-ResponseWindowPos, UE 104 will use this value to determine how long it will wait to receive MSG2 from BS 102. Otherwise, UE 104 can set its waiting time based on the existing field RA-ResponseWindow.

[0095] At 712, BS 102 sends MSG2, which includes the MSG2 positioning parameters, to UE 104 for positioning.

[0096] At 714, UE 104 sends MSG3 for positioning to BS 102. Figure 7 In this context, MSG3 includes an RRC connection request. When the network places UE 104 in an RRC inactive state, the network configures an inactive RNTI (I-RNTI) for UE 104, and UE 104 notifies the network of this RNTI as part of the RRC connection request signaling within MSG3. In some embodiments, MSG3 for location also includes a setup clause indicating that the setup is for location purposes. Alternatively, in some embodiments, the network may configure a second I-RNTI for location of UE 104, and UE 104 notifies the network of this second I-RNTI signaling within MSG3 for location to indicate the reason for location.

[0097] In 716, BS 102 generates parameters that will be included in MSG4 in response to MSG3 used for positioning; these parameters are referred to herein as MSG4 positioning parameters. MSG4 positioning parameters may differ from parameters included in MSG4 not used for positioning. In some aspects, MSG4 used for positioning may include MAC-CE that triggers SRS transmission, PRS measurement, or both.

[0098] In 718, if UE 104 is configured with the new field RA-ContentionResolutionTimerPos, UE 104 will use this value to determine how long it will wait to receive MSG4 from BS 102. Otherwise, UE 104 can set its waiting time based on the existing field RA-ContentionResolutionTimer.

[0099] At 720, BS 102 sends MSG4, which includes the MSG4 positioning parameters, to UE 104 for positioning. Figure 7 In MSG4, RRC configuration is included.

[0100] although Figure 7 A four-step RACH procedure is illustrated, but in an alternative embodiment, a two-step procedure can be used. In a two-step RACH procedure, UE 104 sends an MSGA to BS 102, which is a combination of MSG1 and MSG3, and BS 102 sends an MSGB to UE 104, which is a combination of MSG2 and MSG4, and may include both MSG2 and MSG4 parameters.

[0101] Figure 8 The RACH preamble in MSG2 for positioning is shown according to some aspects of this disclosure. Figure 8 Various ways in which the MSG2 RACH preamble used for positioning can differ from the MSG2 RACH preamble not used for positioning (e.g., for data) are shown.

[0102] The backoff value is 800. In some respects, the backoff value used for location differs from the backoff value used for data. In some respects, the backoff value used for location is greater than the backoff value used for data communication, for example, to allow network time to reserve location resources for the serving cell and neighboring cells. In some respects, the backoff value used for location is also a function of the load of neighboring cells, not just the load of the serving cell. For example, BS 102 can periodically communicate with neighboring base stations to understand the load and then derive an overall backoff indicator based on the accumulated network load. In some respects, such as if the network has already reserved some location resources, the backoff value used for location can be less than the backoff value used for data.

[0103] The RAPID field is 802. In some respects, the RAPID field is mapped to a preamble index indicated for positioning.

[0104] Timing Advance (TA) field 804. In some respects, the width of the TA field used for positioning can be increased compared to the width of the TA field used for data communication to allow for finer-grained timing advance, thereby improving positioning accuracy.

[0105] UL Authorization Field 806. In some respects, UL Authorization Fields for positioning may include Incremental Transmission Power Control (TPC) commands; for example, regular TPC is used for data communication, while incremental TPC is used for SRS positioning.

[0106] The preamble bandwidth is 808. In some respects, the RACH preamble used for positioning can use a wider bandwidth than the RACH preamble used for data communication, which facilitates more refined TA reporting.

[0107] In some respects, different DCIs use a new RNTI (e.g., Pos-RA-RNTI) for positioning to scramble for transmitting MSG2 corresponding to the RACH preamble reserved for positioning. In some respects, MSG2 can be transmitted in CORESET 0.

[0108] In some aspects, such as for on-demand, low-latency scenarios, if a UE in an RRC inactive state has already stored a PRS or SRS configuration and the RACH preamble is dedicated to the UE, then MSG2 or MSG4 can also contain a MAC-CE that triggers SRS transmission or PRS measurement. In contrast, conventional call flows do not trigger SRS transmission or PRS measurement until after MSG4.

[0109] The above modifications and parameters can be used individually or in combination.

[0110] Figure 9 This is a flowchart of an example procedure 900 associated with a random access preamble used for location indication. In some respects, Figure 9 One or more process frames can be executed by a BS (e.g., BS 102). In some respects, Figure 9 One or more process frames can be executed by another device or group of devices that are separate from or include the BS. Additionally or alternatively, Figure 9 One or more process frames may be executed by one or more components of device 304, such as processing system 384, memory 386, transceiver 350, transceiver 360 and / or network interface 380.

[0111] like Figure 9As shown, process 900 may include sending to the UE an indication of a random access channel (RACH) preamble from a first set of RACH preambles reserved for positioning purposes, which is different from a second set of RACH preambles reserved for communication purposes, and the first set and the second set of RACH preambles are associated with the BS (block 902). For example, the BS may send to the UE an indication of a random access channel (RACH) preamble from a first set of RACH preambles reserved for positioning purposes, which is different from the second set of RACH preambles reserved for communication purposes, and as described above, the first set and the second set of RACH preambles are associated with the BS.

[0112] like Figure 9 As further illustrated, process 900 may include receiving a RACH preamble reserved for location from the UE (block 904). For example, as described above, the BS may receive a RACH preamble reserved for location from the UE.

[0113] like Figure 9 As further illustrated, process 900 may include generating a location-specific RA response, distinct from the RA response for communication purposes, which includes a random access preamble identifier mapped to a RACH preamble reserved for location (box 906). For example, the BS may generate a location-specific RA response, distinct from the RA response for communication purposes, which includes a random access preamble identifier mapped to a RACH preamble reserved for location, as described above.

[0114] like Figure 9 As further illustrated, process 900 may include sending a RA response to the UE for positioning purposes (block 908). For example, as described above, the BS may send an RA response to the UE for positioning purposes.

[0115] Process 900 may include additional aspects, such as any single aspect or any combination of aspects described below and / or in conjunction with one or more other processes described elsewhere herein.

[0116] In some respects, generating an RA response for positioning purposes that differs from the RA response for communication purposes includes generating an RA response that includes a backoff value different from the backoff value for communication purposes.

[0117] In some respects, generating an RA response for positioning purposes that differs from an RA response for communication purposes includes generating an RA response that includes a timing advance field with a wider width than the timing advance field for communication purposes.

[0118] In some respects, generating an RA response for positioning purposes that differs from an RA response for communication purposes includes generating an RA response that includes an uplink (UL) permission indicating a transmission power different from that used for communication purposes.

[0119] In some respects, generating a RA response for positioning purposes that differs from a RA response for communication purposes includes generating a RA response that includes a RACH preamble with a wider bandwidth than a RACH preamble for communication purposes.

[0120] In some respects, generating a location-specific RA response that differs from a communication-specific RA response includes generating a RA response that includes downlink control information (DCI) scrambled with a location-specific radio network temporary identifier (RNTI) that is different from the RNTI used for communication purposes.

[0121] In some respects, generating an RA response for positioning purposes, which differs from an RA response for communication purposes, includes generating an RA response that includes a Media Access Control (MAC) element (CE) that triggers a Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) measurement, a Detection Reference Signal (SRS) transmission, or both.

[0122] In some respects, sending a RA response for location purposes involves using a different response window for location purposes than that used for communication purposes.

[0123] In some respects, the RACH preamble reserved for positioning includes receiving MSG1.

[0124] In some respects, receiving a RACH preamble reserved for positioning includes receiving the RACH preamble from a UE that is in an RRC idle state or an RRC inactive state.

[0125] In some respects, sending a RA response includes sending MSG2.

[0126] In some aspects, process 900 includes receiving an RRC connection request from the UE indicating the location reason and sending an RRC configuration to the UE.

[0127] In some respects, the RRC connection request indicating the reason for location includes establishment terms indicating the location.

[0128] In some aspects, process 900 includes sending an indication to the UE of an inactive radio network temporary identifier (I-RNTI) for location, wherein the RRC connection request indicating the reason for location includes the I-RNTI for location.

[0129] In some respects, RRC connection requests indicating the cause of the problem include RRC recovery requests.

[0130] In some respects, RRC connection requests include MSG3.

[0131] In some respects, the RRC configuration includes MSG4.

[0132] In some respects, receiving an RA response for positioning purposes that differs from the RA response for communication purposes includes receiving an RA response that includes a backoff value different from the backoff value for communication purposes.

[0133] although Figure 9 An example box of process 900 is shown, but in some aspects, process 900 may include more than Figure 9 The boxes depicted may be more boxes, fewer boxes, different boxes, or boxes arranged differently. Additionally or alternatively, two or more boxes of process 900 may be executed in parallel.

[0134] Figure 10 This is a flowchart of an example procedure 1000 associated with a random access preamble used for location indication. In some respects, Figure 10 One or more process frames can be executed by the UE (e.g., UE 104). In some respects, Figure 10 One or more process frames can be executed by another device or group of devices that are separate from or include the UE. Additionally or alternatively, Figure 10 One or more process blocks may be executed by one or more components of device 302, such as processing system 332, memory 340, transceiver 310, transceiver 320 and / or user interface 346.

[0135] like Figure 10 As shown, process 1000 may include receiving from the BS an indication of a random access channel (RACH) preamble from a first set of RACH preambles reserved for positioning purposes, which is different from a second set of RACH preambles reserved for communication purposes, and the first set and the second set of RACH preambles are associated with the BS (box 1010). For example, the UE may receive from the BS an indication of a random access channel (RACH) preamble from a first set of RACH preambles reserved for positioning purposes, which is different from the second set of RACH preambles reserved for communication purposes, and as described above, the first set and the second set of RACH preambles are associated with the BS.

[0136] like Figure 10 As further illustrated, process 1000 may include detecting a location event when in an RRC idle or RRC inactive state (block 1020). For example, as described above, the UE may detect a location event when in an RRC idle or RRC inactive state.

[0137] like Figure 10 As further illustrated, process 1000 may include sending a RACH preamble reserved for location to the BS (block 1030). For example, as described above, the UE may send a RACH preamble reserved for location to the BS.

[0138] like Figure 10 As further illustrated, process 1000 may include receiving from the BS a positioning-purpose RA response different from the RA response for communication purposes, the positioning-purpose RA response including a random access preamble identifier mapped to a RACH preamble reserved for positioning (box 1040). For example, the UE may receive from the BS a positioning-purpose RA response different from the communication-purpose RA response, the positioning-purpose RA response including a random access preamble identifier mapped to a RACH preamble reserved for positioning, as described above.

[0139] Process 1000 may include additional aspects, such as any single aspect or any combination of aspects described below and / or in conjunction with one or more other processes described elsewhere herein.

[0140] In some respects, receiving an RA response for positioning purposes that differs from that for communication purposes includes receiving an RA response that includes a timing advance field with a wider width than the timing advance field for communication purposes.

[0141] In some respects, receiving an RA response for positioning purposes that differs from an RA response for communication purposes includes receiving an RA response that includes an uplink (UL) permission indicating a transmission power different from that for communication purposes.

[0142] In some respects, receiving a RA response for positioning purposes that differs from a RA response for communication purposes includes receiving a RA response that includes a RACH preamble with a wider bandwidth than a RACH preamble for communication purposes.

[0143] In some respects, receiving a location-specific RA response that differs from a RA response for communication purposes includes receiving a RA response that includes downlink control information (DCI) scrambled with a radio network temporary identifier (RNTI) for location purposes that is different from the RNTI for communication purposes.

[0144] In some respects, receiving a positioning-purpose RA response differs from receiving a RA response for communication purposes. This includes receiving a RA response that includes triggering a Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) measurement, a Detection Reference Signal (SRS) transmission, or both of these, via a Media Access Control (MAC) element (CE).

[0145] In some respects, receiving a RA response for positioning purposes includes receiving a RA response for positioning purposes during a different window than a response window for communication purposes.

[0146] In some respects, sending the RACH preamble reserved for positioning includes sending MSG1.

[0147] In some respects, receiving a RA response includes receiving MSG2.

[0148] In some aspects, process 1000 includes sending a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) transmission indicating the location cause to the BS, and receiving an RRC configuration from the BS.

[0149] In some respects, the RRC connection request indicating the reason for location includes establishment terms indicating the location.

[0150] In some aspects, process 1000 includes receiving an indication from the BS of an inactive radio network temporary identifier (I-RNTI) for location, wherein the RRC connection request indicating the reason for location includes the I-RNTI for location.

[0151] In some respects, RRC connection requests include MSG3.

[0152] In some respects, the RRC configuration includes MSG4.

[0153] although Figure 10 An example box of process 1000 is shown, but in some aspects, process 1000 may include more than Figure 10 The boxes depicted may be more boxes, fewer boxes, different boxes, or boxes arranged differently. Additionally or alternatively, two or more boxes of process 1000 may be executed in parallel.

[0154] According to various aspects disclosed herein, at least one aspect includes a wireless communication method performed by a base station (BS). The wireless communication method includes transmitting to a user equipment (UE) an indication of a random access channel (RACH) preamble, wherein the RACH preamble is a member of a first set of RACH preambles reserved for positioning purposes, wherein the first set of RACH preambles differs from a second set of RACH preambles reserved for communication purposes, and wherein the first set and the second set of RACH preambles are associated with the BS. The method also includes receiving the RACH preamble reserved for positioning from the UE. The method further includes generating an RA response for positioning purposes, which differs from an RA response for communication purposes, the RA response for positioning purposes including a random access preamble identifier mapped to the RACH preamble. The method also includes transmitting the RA response for positioning purposes to the UE.

[0155] In some respects, generating an RA response for positioning purposes that differs from the RA response for communication purposes includes generating an RA response that includes a backoff value different from the backoff value for communication purposes.

[0156] In some respects, generating an RA response for positioning purposes that differs from an RA response for communication purposes includes generating an RA response that includes a timing advance field with a wider width than the timing advance field for communication purposes.

[0157] In some respects, generating an RA response for positioning purposes that differs from an RA response for communication purposes includes generating an RA response that includes an uplink (UL) permission indicating a transmission power different from that used for communication purposes.

[0158] In some respects, generating a RA response for positioning purposes that differs from a RA response for communication purposes includes generating a RA response that includes a RACH preamble with a wider bandwidth than a RACH preamble for communication purposes.

[0159] In some respects, generating a location-specific RA response that differs from a communication-specific RA response includes generating a RA response that includes downlink control information (DCI) scrambled with a location-specific radio network temporary identifier (RNTI) that is different from the RNTI used for communication purposes.

[0160] In some respects, generating an RA response for positioning purposes, which differs from an RA response for communication purposes, includes generating an RA response that includes triggering a Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) measurement, a Detection Reference Signal (SRS) transmission, or both of these, through a Media Access Control (MAC) element (CE).

[0161] In some respects, sending a RA response for location purposes involves using a different response window for location purposes than that used for communication purposes.

[0162] In some respects, receiving the RACH preamble includes receiving MSG1.

[0163] In some respects, receiving the RACH preamble includes receiving the MSGA, which includes the RACH preamble reserved for location and radio resource control (RRC) connection requests.

[0164] In some respects, receiving a RACH preamble includes receiving a RACH preamble from a UE that is in a Radio Resource Control (RRC) idle or RRC inactive state.

[0165] In some respects, sending a RA response includes sending MSG2.

[0166] In some respects, sending an RA response includes sending an MSGB that includes the RA response and Radio Resource Control (RRC) configuration.

[0167] In some aspects, the method also includes receiving a radio resource control (RRC) connection request from the UE indicating the location reason; and sending an RRC configuration to the UE.

[0168] In some respects, the RRC connection request indicating the reason for location includes establishment terms indicating the location.

[0169] In some aspects, the method also includes sending an indication to the UE of an inactive radio network temporary identifier (I-RNTI) for location, wherein the RRC connection request indicating the reason for location includes the I-RNTI for location.

[0170] In some respects, RRC connection requests indicating the cause of the problem include RRC recovery requests.

[0171] In some respects, RRC connection requests include MSG3.

[0172] In some respects, the RRC configuration includes MSG4.

[0173] According to various aspects disclosed herein, at least one aspect includes a BS. The BS includes a memory, at least one transceiver, and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, and is configured to: cause the at least one transceiver to transmit an indication of a RACH preamble to a UE, wherein the RACH preamble is a member of a first set of RACH preambles reserved for positioning purposes, wherein the first set of RACH preambles differs from a second set of RACH preambles reserved for communication purposes, and wherein the first set and the second set of RACH preambles are associated with the BS; receive the RACH preamble from the UE; generate an RA response for positioning purposes that differs from an RA response for communication purposes, the RA response for positioning purposes including a random access preamble identifier mapped to the RACH preamble; and cause the at least one transceiver to transmit the RA response for positioning purposes to the UE.

[0174] In some respects, when generating an RA response for positioning purposes that differs from the RA response for communication purposes, at least one processor is configured to generate an RA response that includes a backoff value different from the backoff value for communication purposes.

[0175] In some respects, when generating an RA response for positioning purposes that differs from an RA response for communication purposes, at least one processor is configured to generate an RA response including a timing advance field with a wider width than the timing advance field for communication purposes.

[0176] In some respects, when generating an RA response for positioning purposes that differs from the RA response for communication purposes, at least one processor is configured to generate an RA response that includes an uplink (UL) permission indicating a transmission power different from the transmission power for communication purposes.

[0177] In some respects, when generating an RA response for positioning purposes that differs from the RA response for communication purposes, at least one processor is configured to generate an RA response including a RACH preamble with a wider bandwidth than the RACH preamble for communication purposes.

[0178] In some respects, when generating an RA response for location purposes that differs from an RA response for communication purposes, at least one processor is configured to generate an RA response that includes downlink control information (DCI) scrambled with a radio network temporary identifier (RNTI) for location purposes that is different from the RNTI for communication purposes.

[0179] In some respects, when generating an RA response for positioning purposes that differs from an RA response for communication purposes, at least one processor is configured to generate an RA response that includes triggering a Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) measurement, a Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) transmission, or both of these Media Access Control (MAC) control element (CE).

[0180] In some respects, when at least one transceiver sends an RA response for positioning purposes, at least one processor is configured to use a positioning-purpose response window that is different from the response window used for communication purposes.

[0181] In some respects, when the RACH preamble is received, at least one processor is configured to receive MSG1.

[0182] In some respects, when a RACH preamble is received, at least one processor is configured to receive an MSGA that includes the RACH preamble and a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection request.

[0183] In some respects, when a RACH preamble is received, at least one processor is configured to receive the RACH preamble from a UE that is in an RRC idle state or an RRC inactive state.

[0184] In some respects, when at least one transceiver is made to send an RA response, at least one processor is configured to make at least one transceiver send MSG2.

[0185] In some aspects, when at least one transceiver is made to transmit an RA response, at least one processor is configured to make at least one transceiver transmit an MSGB including the RA response and Radio Resource Control (RRC) configuration.

[0186] In some respects, at least one processor is also configured to receive a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection request from the UE indicating the location reason and to send an RRC configuration to the UE.

[0187] In some respects, the RRC connection request indicating the reason for location includes establishment terms indicating the location.

[0188] In some aspects, at least one processor is also configured to cause at least one transceiver to send an indication of an inactive radio network temporary identifier (I-RNTI) for location to the UE, wherein the RRC connection request indicating the reason for location includes the I-RNTI for location.

[0189] In some respects, RRC connection requests indicating the cause of the problem include RRC recovery requests.

[0190] In some respects, the RRC connection request includes MSG3.

[0191] In some respects, the RRC configuration includes MSG4.

[0192] According to various aspects disclosed herein, at least one aspect includes a BS. The BS includes components for sending an indication of a RACH preamble to a UE, the RACH preamble being derived from a first set of RACH preambles reserved for positioning purposes, which is different from a second set of RACH preambles reserved for communication purposes, the first set and the second set of RACH preambles being associated with the BS; components for receiving the RACH preamble from the UE; components for generating an RA response for positioning purposes that is different from an RA response for communication purposes, the RA response for positioning purposes including a random access preamble identifier mapped to the RACH preamble; and components for sending the RA response for positioning purposes to the UE.

[0193] According to various aspects disclosed herein, at least one aspect includes a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a set of instructions. The non-transitory computer-readable medium includes instructions for sending an indication of a RACH preamble to a UE, wherein the RACH preamble is a member of a first set of RACH preambles reserved for positioning purposes, wherein the first set of RACH preambles differs from a second set of RACH preambles reserved for communication purposes, and wherein the first set and the second set of RACH preambles are associated with a BS. The non-transitory computer-readable medium includes instructions for receiving a RACH preamble from the UE, generating a positioning-purpose RA response different from a communication-purpose RA response, and sending the positioning-purpose RA response to the UE, wherein the positioning-purpose RA response includes a random access preamble identifier mapped to the RACH preamble.

[0194] Those skilled in the art will understand 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, which may be referenced throughout the above description, can be represented by voltage, current, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, light fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

[0195] Furthermore, those skilled in the art will understand that the various illustrative logic blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithmic steps described in connection with the aspects disclosed herein can be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or a combination of both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability between hardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above in general terms of their functionality. Whether these functions are implemented as hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints imposed on the system as a whole. Those skilled in the art may implement the described functions in different ways for each specific application, but such decisions should not be construed as departing from the scope of this disclosure.

[0196] The various illustrative logic blocks, modules, and circuits described in conjunction with the aspects disclosed herein can be implemented or performed using general-purpose processors, DSPs, ASICs, FPGAs, or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but alternatively, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. The processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, such as a DSP and a microprocessor, a combination of multiple microprocessors, a combination of one or more microprocessors with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

[0197] The methods, sequences, and / or algorithms described in conjunction with the aspects disclosed herein can be directly embodied in hardware, software modules executed by a processor, or a combination of both. The software modules can reside in random access memory (RAM), flash memory, read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), registers, hard disks, removable disks, CD-ROMs, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. Example storage media are coupled to a processor such that the processor can read information from and write information to the storage medium. Alternatively, the storage medium can be integrated into the processor. The processor and storage medium can reside in an ASIC. The ASIC can reside in a user terminal (e.g., a UE). Alternatively, the processor and storage medium can reside as discrete components in the user terminal.

[0198] In one or more example aspects, the described functionality may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, these functions may be stored as one or more instructions or code on or transmitted over a computer-readable medium. A computer-readable medium includes both computer storage media and communication media, with communication media including any medium that facilitates the transfer of a computer program from one place to another. A storage medium may be any available medium that a computer can access. By way of example and not limitation, such a computer-readable medium may include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disc storage, disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store the required program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer. Furthermore, any connection is appropriately referred to as a computer-readable medium. For example, if software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technology (such as infrared, radio, and microwave), then coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technology (such as infrared, radio, and microwave) is included in the definition of medium. The disks and optical discs used in this article include compact optical discs (CDs), laser discs, optical discs, digital versatile optical discs (DVDs), floppy disks, and Blu-ray discs, where disks typically reproduce data magnetically, while optical discs reproduce data optically using lasers. Combinations of these should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0199] While the foregoing disclosure illustrates illustrative aspects of this disclosure, it should be noted that various changes and modifications may be made herein without departing from the scope of the disclosure as defined by the appended claims. The functions, steps, and / or actions of the method claims according to the aspects of the disclosure described herein do not need to be performed in any particular order. Furthermore, although elements of this disclosure may be described or claimed in the singular, the plural form may be considered unless a limitation on the singular is explicitly stated.

[0200] Examples of implementation methods are described in the following numbered clauses:

[0201] Article 1. A wireless communication method performed by a base station (BS), the method comprising: transmitting to a user equipment (UE) an indication of a random access channel (RACH) preamble, wherein the RACH preamble is a member of a first set of RACH preambles reserved for positioning purposes, wherein the first set of RACH preambles is different from a second set of RACH preambles reserved for communication purposes, and wherein the first set of RACH preambles and the second set of RACH preambles are associated with the BS; receiving the RACH preamble from the UE; generating an RA response for positioning purposes different from an RA response for communication purposes, the RA response for positioning purposes including a random access preamble identifier mapped to the RACH preamble; and transmitting the RA response for positioning purposes to the UE.

[0202] Article 2. According to the method of Article 1, generating an RA response for a positioning purpose that is different from the RA response for a communication purpose includes generating an RA response that includes a backoff value different from the backoff value for a communication purpose.

[0203] Article 3. The method according to any of Articles 1-2, wherein generating an RA response for positioning purposes that is different from an RA response for communication purposes includes generating an RA response including a timing advance field having a wider width than a timing advance field for communication purposes.

[0204] Clause 4. The method according to any of Clauses 1-3, wherein generating an RA response for a location purpose that is different from the RA response for a communication purpose includes generating an RA response that includes an uplink (UL) permission indicating a transmission power different from the transmission power for a communication purpose.

[0205] Article 5. The method according to any one of Articles 1-4, wherein generating an RA response for a positioning purpose that is different from an RA response for a communication purpose includes generating an RA response comprising a RACH preamble having a wider bandwidth than the RACH preamble for a communication purpose.

[0206] Article 6. The method according to any one of Articles 1-5, wherein generating an RA response for location purposes that is different from an RA response for communication purposes includes generating an RA response that includes downlink control information (DCI) scrambled with a radio network temporary identifier (RNTI) for location purposes that is different from an RNTI for communication purposes.

[0207] Article 7. The method according to any one of Articles 1-6, wherein generating an RA response for positioning purposes that is different from an RA response for communication purposes includes generating an RA response that includes triggering a Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) measurement, a Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) transmission, or both of these Media Access Control (MAC) control element (CE).

[0208] Article 8. The method according to any of Articles 1-7, wherein sending a RA response for location purposes includes using a different response window for location purposes than that for communication purposes.

[0209] Article 9. The method according to any of Articles 1-8, wherein receiving the RACH preamble includes receiving MSG1.

[0210] Article 10. The method according to any of Articles 1-9, wherein receiving the RACH preamble includes receiving the MSGA comprising the RACH preamble and the Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection request.

[0211] Article 11. The method according to any of Articles 1-10, wherein receiving the RACH preamble includes receiving the RACH preamble from a UE in a Radio Resource Control (RRC) idle or RRC inactive state.

[0212] Article 12. The method of sending an RA response according to any of the provisions of Articles 1-11, wherein sending an RA response includes sending MSG2.

[0213] Clause 13. The method according to any of Clauses 1-12, wherein sending an RA response includes sending an MSGB comprising the RA response and Radio Resource Control (RRC) configuration.

[0214] Article 14. The method pursuant to any of Articles 1-13 further includes: receiving from the UE a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection request indicating the location reason; and sending an RRC configuration to the UE.

[0215] Clause 15. According to the method of Clause 14, the RRC connection request indicating the reason for location includes the establishment clause indicating the location.

[0216] Clause 16. The method pursuant to any of Clauses 14-15 further includes sending to the UE an indication of an inactive radio network temporary identifier (I-RNTI) for location, wherein the RRC connection request indicating the reason for location includes the I-RNTI for location.

[0217] Clause 17. The method pursuant to any of Clauses 14-16, wherein the RRC connection request indicating the cause of location includes an RRC recovery request.

[0218] Clause 18. The method of any of Clauses 14-17, wherein the RRC connection request includes MSG3.

[0219] Clause 19. The method of any of Clauses 14-18, wherein the RRC configuration includes MSG4.

[0220] Article 20. A wireless communication method performed by a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: receiving from a base station (BS) an indication of a random access channel (RACH) preamble, wherein the RACH preamble is a member of a first set of RACH preambles reserved for positioning purposes, wherein the first set of RACH preambles is different from a second set of RACH preambles reserved for communication purposes, and wherein the first set of RACH preambles and the second set of RACH preambles are associated with the BS; detecting a positioning event when in a radio resource control (RRC) idle or RRC inactive state; transmitting the RACH preamble to the BS; and receiving from the BS an RA response for positioning purposes different from an RA response for communication purposes, the RA response for positioning purposes including a random access preamble identifier mapped to the RACH preamble.

[0221] Article 21. The method according to Article 20, wherein receiving an RA response for a positioning purpose that is different from the RA response for a communication purpose includes receiving an RA response that includes a backoff value different from the backoff value for a communication purpose.

[0222] Article 22. The method according to any of Articles 20-21, wherein receiving an RA response for positioning purposes that is different from an RA response for communication purposes includes receiving an RA response including a timing advance field having a wider width than a timing advance field for communication purposes.

[0223] Clause 23. The method according to any of Clauses 20-22, wherein receiving an RA response for a positioning purpose that is different from the RA response for a communication purpose includes receiving an RA response that includes an uplink (UL) permission indicating a transmission power different from the transmission power for a communication purpose.

[0224] Article 24. The method according to any of Articles 20-23, wherein receiving an RA response for a positioning purpose that is different from an RA response for a communication purpose includes receiving an RA response comprising a RACH preamble having a wider bandwidth than the RACH preamble for a communication purpose.

[0225] Article 25. The method according to any one of Articles 20-24, wherein receiving an RA response for a location purpose that is different from an RA response for a communication purpose includes receiving an RA response comprising downlink control information (DCI) scrambled with a radio network temporary identifier (RNTI) for a location purpose that is different from an RNTI for a communication purpose.

[0226] Article 26. The method according to any of Articles 20-25, wherein receiving an RA response for positioning purposes, which is different from an RA response for communication purposes, includes receiving an RA response comprising a Media Access Control (MAC) element (CE) that triggers a Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) measurement, a Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) transmission, or both.

[0227] Article 27. The method according to any of Articles 20-26, wherein receiving a RA response for positioning purposes includes receiving a RA response for positioning purposes during a different period than a response window for communication purposes.

[0228] Article 28. The method according to any of Articles 20-27, wherein sending the RACH preamble includes sending MSG1.

[0229] Article 29. The method pursuant to any of Articles 20-28, wherein sending the RACH preamble comprises sending an MSGA including the RACH preamble and a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection request.

[0230] Article 30. The method of receiving a response to an RA, pursuant to any of Articles 20-29, includes receiving an MSG2.

[0231] Clause 31. The method according to any of Clauses 20-30, wherein receiving a RA response includes receiving an MSGB comprising the RA response and Radio Resource Control (RRC) configuration.

[0232] Article 32. The method pursuant to any of Articles 20-31 further includes: sending a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection request to the BS indicating the cause of location; and receiving an RRC configuration from the BS.

[0233] Clause 33. According to the method of Clause 32, the RRC connection request indicating the reason for location includes the establishment clause indicating the location.

[0234] Article 34. The method pursuant to any of Articles 32-33 further includes receiving an indication from the BS of an inactive radio network temporary identifier (I-RNTI) for location, wherein the RRC connection request indicating the reason for location includes the I-RNTI for location.

[0235] Clause 35. The method pursuant to any of Clauses 32-34, wherein the RRC connection request includes MSG3.

[0236] Clause 36. The method of any of Clauses 32-35, wherein the RRC configuration includes MSG4.

[0237] Article 37. A base station (BS) includes: a memory, at least one transceiver, and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and at least one transceiver, configured to: cause the at least one transceiver to transmit to a user equipment (UE) an indication of a random access channel (RACH) preamble, wherein the RACH preamble is a member of a first set of RACH preambles reserved for positioning purposes, wherein the first set of RACH preambles is different from a second set of RACH preambles reserved for communication purposes, and wherein the first set of RACH preambles and the second set of RACH preambles are associated with the BS; receive the RACH preamble from the UE; generate an RA response for positioning purposes different from an RA response for communication purposes, the RA response for positioning purposes including a random access preamble identifier mapped to the RACH preamble; and cause the at least one transceiver to transmit the RA response for positioning purposes to the UE.

[0238] Clause 38. According to Clause 37 of the BS, where when generating an RA response for a positioning purpose that is different from the RA response for a communication purpose, at least one processor is configured to generate an RA response that includes a backoff value different from the backoff value for a communication purpose.

[0239] Clause 39. A BS pursuant to any of Clauses 37-38, wherein when generating an RA response for positioning purposes that is different from an RA response for communication purposes, at least one processor is configured to generate an RA response including a timing advance field having a wider width than the timing advance field for communication purposes.

[0240] Clause 40. A BS pursuant to any of Clauses 37-39, wherein when generating an RA response for location purposes that is different from the RA response for communication purposes, at least one processor is configured to generate an RA response that includes an uplink (UL) permission indicating a transmit power different from the transmit power for communication purposes.

[0241] Clause 41. A BS pursuant to any of Clauses 37-40, wherein when generating an RA response for a location purpose that is different from an RA response for a communication purpose, at least one processor is configured to generate an RA response including a RACH preamble having a wider bandwidth than the RACH preamble for a communication purpose.

[0242] Clause 42. A BS pursuant to any of Clauses 37-41, wherein when generating an RA response for location purposes that is different from an RA response for communication purposes, at least one processor is configured to generate an RA response including downlink control information (DCI) scrambled with a radio network temporary identifier (RNTI) for location purposes that is different from an RNTI for communication purposes.

[0243] Clause 43. A BS pursuant to any of Clauses 37-42, wherein when generating an RA response for positioning purposes that is different from an RA response for communication purposes, at least one processor is configured to generate an RA response including triggering a Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) measurement, a Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) transmission, or both of these Media Access Control (MAC) control element (CE).

[0244] Clause 44. A BS pursuant to any of Clauses 37-43, wherein when a RA response for location purposes is sent, at least one processor is configured to use a location-purpose response window different from the response window used for communication purposes.

[0245] Clause 45. A BS pursuant to any of Clauses 37-44, wherein at least one processor is configured to receive MSG1 upon receipt of the RACH preamble.

[0246] Article 46. A BS pursuant to any of Articles 37-45, wherein upon receipt of a RACH preamble, at least one processor is configured to receive an MSGA comprising the RACH preamble and a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection request.

[0247] Clause 47. A BS pursuant to any of Clauses 37-46, wherein when a RACH preamble is received, at least one processor is configured to receive the RACH preamble from a UE in an RRC idle state or an RRC inactive state.

[0248] Clause 48. A BS pursuant to any of Clauses 37-47, wherein at least one processor is configured to send MSG2 when a RA response is sent.

[0249] Clause 49. A BS pursuant to any of Clauses 37-48, wherein when a RA response is transmitted, at least one processor is configured to transmit an MSGB including the RA response and Radio Resource Control (RRC) configuration.

[0250] Clause 50. A BS pursuant to any of Clauses 37-49, wherein at least one processor is further configured to receive a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection request from the UE indicating the location reason; and to send an RRC configuration to the UE.

[0251] Clause 51. According to Clause 50 of the BS, the RRC connection request indicating the reason for location includes the establishment clause indicating the location.

[0252] Clause 52. A BS pursuant to any of Clauses 50-51, wherein at least one processor is further configured to send to the UE an indication of an inactive radio network temporary identifier (I-RNTI) for location, wherein the RRC connection request indicating the reason for location includes the I-RNTI for location.

[0253] Clause 53. A BS pursuant to any of Clauses 50-52, wherein an RRC connection request indicating the cause of location includes an RRC recovery request.

[0254] Clause 54. A BS pursuant to any of Clauses 50-53, wherein the RRC connection request includes MSG3.

[0255] Clause 55. BS under any of Clauses 50-54, where the RRC configuration includes MSG4.

[0256] Article 56. A user equipment (UE) comprising: a memory, at least one transceiver, and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and at least one transceiver, configured to: receive from a base station (BS) an indication of a random access channel (RACH) preamble, wherein the RACH preamble is a member of a first set of RACH preambles reserved for positioning purposes, wherein the first set of RACH preambles differs from a second set of RACH preambles reserved for communication purposes, and wherein the first set of RACH preambles and the second set of RACH preambles are associated with the BS; detect a positioning event when in a Radio Resource Control (RRC) idle or RRC inactive state; cause at least one transceiver to transmit the RACH preamble to the BS; and receive from the BS an RA response for positioning purposes that differs from an RA response for communication purposes, the RA response for positioning purposes including a random access preamble identifier mapped to the RACH preamble.

[0257] Clause 57. According to Clause 56, when a RA response for positioning purposes, which is different from a RA response for communication purposes, is received, at least one processor is configured to receive the RA response including a timing advance field with a wider width than the timing advance field for communication purposes.

[0258] Clause 58. A UE pursuant to any of Clauses 56-57, wherein when a location-specific RA response different from a communication-specific RA response is received, at least one processor is configured to receive an RA response including an uplink (UL) permission indicating a transmit power different from that for communication purposes.

[0259] Clause 59. A UE pursuant to any of Clauses 56-58, wherein when a RA response for positioning purposes, different from a RA response for communication purposes, is received, at least one processor is configured to receive an RA response including a RACH preamble having a wider bandwidth than the RACH preamble for communication purposes.

[0260] Clause 60. A UE pursuant to any of Clauses 56-59, wherein when a location-specific RA response different from a communication-specific RA response is received, at least one processor is configured to receive the RA response including downlink control information (DCI) scrambled with a location-specific radio network temporary identifier (RNTI) different from the communication-specific RNTI.

[0261] Clause 61. A UE pursuant to any of Clauses 56-60, wherein when a positioning-purpose RA response different from a communication-purpose RA response is received, at least one processor is configured to receive an RA response including triggering a Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) measurement, a Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) transmission, or both.

[0262] Clause 62. A UE pursuant to any of Clauses 56-61, wherein when a RA response for positioning purposes is received, at least one processor is configured to receive the RA response for positioning purposes during a response window for positioning purposes that is different from the response window for communication purposes.

[0263] Clause 63. A UE pursuant to any of Clauses 56-62, wherein at least one processor is configured to transmit MSG1 when the RACH preamble is transmitted.

[0264] Clause 64. A UE pursuant to any of Clauses 56-63, wherein when transmitting a RACH preamble, at least one processor is configured to transmit an MSGA including the RACH preamble and a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection request.

[0265] Clause 65. A UE pursuant to any of Clauses 56-64, wherein at least one processor is configured to receive MSG2 upon receiving an RA response.

[0266] Clause 66. A UE pursuant to any of Clauses 56-65, wherein upon receiving an RA response, at least one processor is configured to receive an MSGB including the RA response and Radio Resource Control (RRC) configuration.

[0267] Clause 67. For a UE pursuant to any of Clauses 56-66, at least one processor is further configured to: send a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) transmission indicating the location reason to the BS; and receive RRC configuration from the BS.

[0268] Clause 68. According to Clause 67 of the UE, the RRC connection request indicating the location reason includes the establishment clause indicating the location.

[0269] Clause 69. For a UE pursuant to any of Clauses 67-68, at least one processor is further configured to receive from the BS an indication of an inactive radio network temporary identifier (I-RNTI) for location, wherein the RRC connection request indicating the reason for location includes the I-RNTI for location.

[0270] Clause 70. For a UE pursuant to any of Clauses 67-69, where the RRC connection request includes MSG3.

[0271] Clause 71. For UEs pursuant to any of Clauses 67-70, where the RRC configuration includes MSG4.

[0272] Article 72. A base station (BS) includes: means for transmitting to a user equipment (UE) an indication of a random access channel (RACH) preamble, wherein the RACH preamble is a member of a first set of RACH preambles reserved for positioning purposes, wherein the first set of RACH preambles is different from a second set of RACH preambles reserved for communication purposes, and wherein the first set of RACH preambles and the second set of RACH preambles are associated with the BS; means for receiving the RACH preamble from the UE; means for generating an RA response for positioning purposes that is different from an RA response for communication purposes, the RA response for positioning purposes including a random access preamble identifier mapped to the RACH preamble; and means for transmitting the RA response for positioning purposes to the UE.

[0273] Article 73. A user equipment (UE) comprising: means for receiving an indication of a random access channel (RACH) preamble from a base station (BS), wherein the RACH preamble is a member of a first set of RACH preambles reserved for positioning purposes, wherein the first set of RACH preambles is different from a second set of RACH preambles reserved for communication purposes, and wherein the first set of RACH preambles and the second set of RACH preambles are associated with the BS; means for detecting a positioning event when in a Radio Resource Control (RRC) idle or RRC inactive state; means for transmitting the RACH preamble to the BS; and means for receiving from the BS an RA response for positioning purposes different from an RA response for communication purposes, the RA response for positioning purposes including a random access preamble identifier mapped to the RACH preamble.

[0274] Article 74. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a set of instructions comprising one or more instructions, which, when executed by at least one processor of a base station (BS), cause the BS to: send an indication to a user equipment (UE) of a random access channel (RACH) preamble, wherein the RACH preamble is a member of a first set of RACH preambles reserved for positioning purposes, wherein the first set of RACH preambles is different from a second set of RACH preambles reserved for communication purposes, and wherein the first set of RACH preambles and the second set of RACH preambles are associated with the BS; receive the RACH preamble from the UE; generate an RA response for positioning purposes different from an RA response for communication purposes, the RA response for positioning purposes including a random access preamble identifier mapped to the RACH preamble; and send the RA response for positioning purposes to the UE.

[0275] Article 75. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a set of instructions comprising one or more instructions, which, when executed by at least one processor of a user equipment (UE), cause the UE to: receive from a base station (BS) an indication of a random access channel (RACH) preamble, wherein the RACH preamble is a member of a first set of RACH preambles reserved for positioning purposes, wherein the first set of RACH preambles is different from a second set of RACH preambles reserved for communication purposes, and wherein the first set of RACH preambles and the second set of RACH preambles are associated with the BS; detect a positioning event when in a Radio Resource Control (RRC) idle or RRC inactive state; transmit the RACH preamble to the BS; and receive from the BS an RA response for positioning purposes different from an RA response for communication purposes, the RA response for positioning purposes including a random access preamble identifier mapped to the RACH preamble.

Claims

1. A method for wireless communication performed by a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: The base station (BS) receives an indication of a random access RA channel RACH preamble, wherein the RACH preamble is a member of a first set of RACH preambles reserved for positioning purposes, wherein the first set of RACH preambles is different from a second set of RACH preambles reserved for communication purposes, and wherein the first set of RACH preambles and the second set of RACH preambles are associated with the BS. Detect location events when the Radio Resource Control (RRC) is idle or inactive. Send the RACH preamble to the BS; as well as The BS receives a RA response for positioning purposes, the RA response for positioning purposes being different from the RA response for data communication purposes in at least an uplink UL clearance, the UL clearance indicating a transmission power for sounding reference signal (SRS) transmission that is different from the transmission power for UL data communication, and the RA response for positioning purposes including a random access preamble identifier mapped to the RACH preamble.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein, Receiving an RA response for positioning purposes that is different from the RA response used for communication purposes includes receiving an RA response that includes a backoff value different from the backoff value used for communication purposes.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein, Receiving a RA response for positioning purposes that differs from a RA response for communication purposes includes receiving a RA response that includes a timing advance field with a wider width than the timing advance field for communication purposes.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein, Receiving a RA response for positioning purposes that is different from a RA response for communication purposes includes receiving a RA response that includes a RACH preamble with a wider bandwidth than a RACH preamble for communication purposes.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein, Receiving a RA response for location purposes that differs from a RA response for communication purposes includes receiving a RA response that includes downlink control information (DCI) scrambled with a radio network temporary identifier (RNTI) for location purposes that is different from the RNTI used for communication purposes.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein, Receiving a positioning-purpose RA response, which differs from a RA response for communication purposes, includes receiving a RA response from a Media Access Control (MAC) element CE that triggers a Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) measurement, a Detection Reference Signal (SRS) transmission, or both.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein, Receiving the RA response for positioning purposes includes receiving the RA response for positioning purposes during a positioning-purpose response window that is different from the response window for communication purposes.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein sending the RACH preamble comprises sending a message including the RACH preamble and a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection request.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the RA response comprises receiving a message including the RA response and a Radio Resource Control (RRC) configuration.

10. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: Send a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection request indicating the location reason to the BS; as well as Receive RRC configuration from the BS.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the RRC connection request indicating the location reason includes establishment terms indicating location.

12. The method of claim 10, further comprising receiving from the BS an indication of an inactive radio network temporary identifier (I-RNTI) for location, wherein the RRC connection request indicating the reason for location includes the I-RNTI for location.

13. A user equipment (UE), comprising: Memory; At least one transceiver; as well as At least one processor, communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, is configured to: The base station (BS) receives an indication of a random access RA channel RACH preamble, wherein the RACH preamble is a member of a first set of RACH preambles reserved for positioning purposes, wherein the first set of RACH preambles is different from a second set of RACH preambles reserved for communication purposes, and wherein the first set of RACH preambles and the second set of RACH preambles are associated with the BS. Detect location events when the Radio Resource Control (RRC) is idle or inactive. The at least one transceiver sends the RACH preamble to the BS; as well as The BS receives a RA response for positioning purposes, the RA response for positioning purposes being different from the RA response for data communication purposes in at least an uplink UL clearance, the UL clearance indicating a transmission power for sounding reference signal (SRS) transmission that is different from the transmission power for UL data communication, and the RA response for positioning purposes including a random access preamble identifier mapped to the RACH preamble.

14. The UE according to claim 13, wherein, When a RA response for positioning purposes, which is different from a RA response for communication purposes, is received, the at least one processor is configured to receive the RA response including a timing advance field with a wider width than the timing advance field for communication purposes.

15. The UE according to claim 13, wherein, When a RA response for positioning purposes, which is different from the RA response for communication purposes, is received, the at least one processor is configured to receive the RA response including a RACH preamble with a wider bandwidth than the RACH preamble for communication purposes.

16. The UE according to claim 13, wherein, When a location-specific RA response is received that is different from the RA response for communication purposes, the at least one processor is configured to receive the RA response including downlink control information (DCI) scrambled with a location-specific RNTI that is different from the radio network temporary identifier (RNTI) for communication purposes.

17. The UE according to claim 13, wherein, When a positioning-purpose RA response is received that is different from a communication-purpose RA response, the at least one processor is configured to receive an RA response including a Media Access Control (MAC) control element CE that triggers a Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) measurement, a Detection Reference Signal (SRS) transmission, or both.

18. The UE according to claim 13, wherein, When the RA response for positioning purposes is received, the at least one processor is configured to receive the RA response for positioning purposes during a positioning-purpose response window that is different from the response window for communication purposes.

19. The UE according to claim 13, wherein, When the at least one transceiver is made to transmit the RACH preamble, the at least one processor is configured to make the at least one transceiver transmit a message including the RACH preamble and a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection request.

20. The UE of claim 13, wherein when the RA response is received, the at least one processor is configured to receive a message including the RA response and a Radio Resource Control (RRC) configuration.

21. The UE of claim 13, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: The at least one transceiver sends a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection request indicating the location reason to the BS; and Receive RRC configuration from the BS.

22. The UE of claim 21, wherein the RRC connection request indicating the location reason includes an establishment clause indicating location.

23. The UE according to claim 21, wherein, The at least one processor is also configured to receive from the BS an indication of an inactive radio network temporary identifier (I-RNTI) for location, wherein the RRC connection request indicating the reason for location includes the I-RNTI for location.

24. A user equipment (UE), comprising: A component for receiving an indication of a random access RA channel RACH preamble from a base station BS, wherein the RACH preamble is a member of a first set of RACH preambles reserved for positioning purposes, wherein the first set of RACH preambles is different from a second set of RACH preambles reserved for communication purposes, and wherein the first set of RACH preambles and the second set of RACH preambles are associated with the BS. A component used to detect location events when the Radio Resource Control (RRC) is idle or inactive. Components used to send the RACH preamble to the BS; as well as Components for receiving a RA response for positioning purposes from the BS, the RA response for positioning purposes being different from the RA response for data communication purposes in at least an uplink UL clearance, the UL clearance indicating a transmission power for sounding reference signal (SRS) transmission that is different from the transmission power for UL data communication, the RA response for positioning purposes including a random access preamble identifier mapped to the RACH preamble.

25. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing an instruction set, the instruction set comprising one or more instructions, which, when executed by at least one processor of a user equipment (UE), cause the UE to: The base station (BS) receives an indication of a random access RA channel RACH preamble, wherein the RACH preamble is a member of a first set of RACH preambles reserved for positioning purposes, wherein the first set of RACH preambles is different from a second set of RACH preambles reserved for communication purposes, and wherein the first set of RACH preambles and the second set of RACH preambles are associated with the BS. Detect location events when the Radio Resource Control (RRC) is idle or inactive. Send the RACH preamble to the BS; as well as The BS receives a RA response for positioning purposes, the RA response for positioning purposes being different from the RA response for data communication purposes in at least an uplink UL clearance, the UL clearance indicating a transmission power for sounding reference signal (SRS) transmission that is different from the transmission power for UL data communication, and the RA response for positioning purposes including a random access preamble identifier mapped to the RACH preamble.

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