User equipment implementation to reduce positioning acquisition effort

Abstract

Techniques for wireless positioning are disclosed. In an aspect, a user equipment (UE) receives, from a location server, positioning assistance data comprising at least a first expected measurement value and a first expected measurement uncertainty value, the first expected measurement value and the first expected measurement uncertainty value defining a first search window during which the UE is expected to measure a first plurality of positioning reference signal (PRS) resources transmitted by a first transmission reception point (TRP); determines a common best symbol hypothesis for a first set of PRS resources of the first plurality of PRS resources, where the best symbol hypothesis is a symbol within the first search window during which a signal strength of each PRS resource of the first set of PRS resources is maximum; and measures each PRS resource of a second set of PRS resources of the first plurality of PRS resources only during the best symbol hypothesis.

Description

Background Technology 1. Technical Field

[0002] All aspects of this disclosure relate to wireless communications.

[0003] 2. Relevant Technical Descriptions

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

[0005] The fifth-generation (5G) wireless standard, known as New Radio (NR), demands higher data transmission speeds, a greater number of connections, and better coverage, among other improvements. According to the Next Generation Mobile Networks Alliance (NGC), the 5G standard is designed to provide tens of megabits per second of data to each of tens of thousands of users, or 1 gigabit per second to dozens of workers on an office floor. 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

[0006] The following is a simplified summary of the invention relating to one or more aspects disclosed herein. Therefore, this summary should not be considered an exhaustive overview relating to all contemplated aspects, nor should it be considered to identify key or decisive elements relating to all contemplated aspects or to depict the scope associated with any particular aspect. Thus, the sole purpose of this summary is to present, in a concise form, certain concepts relating to one or more aspects involving the mechanisms disclosed herein, prior to the detailed embodiments presented below.

[0007] In one aspect, a wireless positioning method performed by a user equipment (UE) includes: receiving positioning assistance data from a location server, the positioning assistance data including at least a first expected measurement value and a first expected measurement uncertainty value, the first expected measurement value and the first expected measurement uncertainty value defining a first search window during which the UE is expected to measure a first plurality of positioning reference signal (PRS) resources transmitted by a first transmit receiving point (TRP); determining a common optimal symbol hypothesis for a first set of PRS resources among the first plurality of PRS resources, wherein the optimal symbol hypothesis is a symbol within the first search window during which the signal strength of each PRS resource in the first set of PRS resources is maximized; and measuring each PRS resource in a second set of PRS resources among the first plurality of PRS resources only during the optimal symbol hypothesis period.

[0008] In one aspect, a user equipment (UE) includes: a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: receive positioning assistance data from a location server via the at least one transceiver, the positioning assistance data including at least a first expected measurement value and a first expected measurement uncertainty value, the first expected measurement value and the first expected measurement uncertainty value defining a first search window during which the UE is expected to measure a first plurality of positioning reference signal (PRS) resources transmitted by a first transmit receiving point (TRP); determine a common optimal symbol hypothesis for a first set of PRS resources among the first plurality of PRS resources, wherein the optimal symbol hypothesis is a symbol within the first search window during which the signal strength of each PRS resource in the first set of PRS resources is maximized; and measure each PRS resource in a second set of PRS resources among the first plurality of PRS resources only during the optimal symbol hypothesis period.

[0009] In one aspect, a user equipment (UE) includes: means for receiving positioning assistance data from a location server, the positioning assistance data including at least a first expected measurement value and a first expected measurement uncertainty value, the first expected measurement value and the first expected measurement uncertainty value defining a first search window during which the UE is expected to measure a first plurality of positioning reference signal (PRS) resources transmitted by a first transmit receiving point (TRP); means for determining a common optimal symbol hypothesis for a first set of PRS resources among the first plurality of PRS resources, wherein the optimal symbol hypothesis is a symbol within the first search window during which the signal strength of each PRS resource in the first set of PRS resources is maximized; and means for measuring each PRS resource in a second set of PRS resources among the first plurality of PRS resources only during the optimal symbol hypothesis period.

[0010] In one aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a user equipment (UE), cause the UE to: receive positioning assistance data from a location server, the positioning assistance data including at least a first expected measurement value and a first expected measurement uncertainty value, the first expected measurement value and the first expected measurement uncertainty value defining a first search window during which the UE is expected to measure a first plurality of positioning reference signal (PRS) resources transmitted by a first transmit receiving point (TRP); determine a common optimal symbol hypothesis for a first set of PRS resources among the first plurality of PRS resources, wherein the optimal symbol hypothesis is a symbol within the first search window during which the signal strength of each PRS resource in the first set of PRS resources is maximized; and measure each PRS resource in a second set of PRS resources among the first plurality of PRS resources only during the optimal symbol hypothesis period.

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

[0012] The accompanying drawings are provided to help describe various aspects of this disclosure, and are provided for illustrative purposes only and not to limit the scope of the aspects.

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

[0014] Figure 2A and Figure 2B Example wireless network architectures according to various aspects of this disclosure are shown.

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

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

[0017] Figure 4B This is a schematic diagram illustrating an example downlink positioning reference signal (DL-PRS) configuration of two transmit receiver points (TRPs) operating in the same positioning frequency layer according to various aspects of this disclosure.

[0018] Figure 5 This is a graph showing the channel impulse response of a multipath channel between a receiver device and a transmitter device according to various aspects of this disclosure.

[0019] Figure 6 The present invention illustrates a positioning process based on Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA) in an example wireless communication system according to various aspects of the present disclosure.

[0020] Figure 7A and Figure 7B Various information elements (IEs) are shown for providing the UE with auxiliary data for the DL-PRS for the positioning session.

[0021] Figure 8A and Figure 8B Various IEs are shown for defining DL-PRS for location sessions.

[0022] Figure 9A and Figure 9B Various IEs are shown for providing the location of the TRP set to the UE.

[0023] Figure 10 This is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of determining timing assumptions for reference signal time difference (RSTD) measurements.

[0024] Figure 11 This is a table showing the maximum symbolic assumptions that the UE needs to consider.

[0025] Figure 12 This is a schematic diagram illustrating an example co-location scenario of the UE-based positioning process.

[0026] Figure 13 Example wireless positioning methods according to various aspects of this disclosure are shown. Detailed Implementation

[0027] Various aspects of this disclosure are provided in the following description and accompanying drawings of various examples provided for illustrative purposes. Alternative aspects may be designed without departing from the scope of this disclosure. Furthermore, 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.

[0028] The terms “exemplary” and / or “example” are used herein to mean “serving as an example, instance, or illustration.” Any aspect described herein as “exemplary” and / or “example” is not necessarily to be construed as superior to or better than 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.

[0029] Those skilled in the art will understand that any of a variety of different techniques and methods can be used to represent the information and signals described below. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be mentioned throughout the following description can be represented by voltage, current, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or magnetic particles, light fields or optical particles, or any combination thereof, depending in part on the specific application, in part on the desired design, in part on the corresponding technology, and so on.

[0030] Furthermore, numerous aspects are described according to a sequence of actions to be performed by elements of, for example, a computing device. It will be appreciated that the various actions described herein can be performed by specific circuitry (e.g., an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC)), by program instructions executed by one or more processors, or by a combination of both. Additionally, the sequence of actions described herein can be considered entirely embodied in any form of non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a corresponding set of computer instructions that, when executed, will cause or instruct the associated processor of the device to perform the functionality described herein. Therefore, various aspects of this disclosure can be embodied in a variety of different forms, all of which are contemplated within the scope of the claimed subject matter. Furthermore, for each aspect described herein, the corresponding form of any such aspect can be described herein as, for example, "logic configured to perform the described actions."

[0031] As used herein, unless otherwise stated, the terms “User Equipment” (UE) and “Base Station” are not intended to be specific or otherwise limited to any particular Radio Access Technology (RAT). Generally, a UE can be any wireless communication device used by a user to communicate over a wireless communication network (e.g., mobile phone, router, tablet computer, laptop computer, consumer asset positioning device, wearable device (e.g., smartwatch, glasses, augmented reality (AR) / virtual reality (VR) headset, etc.), vehicle (e.g., car, motorcycle, bicycle, etc.), Internet of Things (IoT) device, etc.). A UE can be mobile or can (e.g., at certain times) be stationary and can communicate with a Radio Access Network (RAN). As used herein, the term “UE” can be interchangeably referred to as “Access Terminal” or “AT”, “Client Equipment”, “Wireless Equipment”, “Subscriber Equipment”, “Subscriber Terminal”, “Subscriber Station”, “User Terminal” or “UT”, “Mobile Equipment”, “Mobile Terminal”, “Mobile Station”, or variations thereof. Generally, a UE can communicate with the core network via the RAN, and through the core network, the UE can connect to external networks such as the Internet and to 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) network (e.g., based on the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standard, etc.).

[0032] A base station may operate according to one of several RATs to communicate with the UE, depending on the network in which it is deployed, and may alternatively be referred to as an Access Point (AP), Network Node, Node B, Evolved Node B (eNB), Next Generation eNB (ng-eNB), New Radio (NR) Node B (also referred to as gNB or gNodeB), etc. The base station may primarily be used to support the UE's radio access, including supporting data, voice, and / or signaling connections for the supported UE. In some systems, a base station may only provide edge node signaling functions, while in others, it may provide additional control and / or network management functions. The communication link through which the UE can signal to the base station is called an uplink (UL) channel (e.g., reverse traffic channel, reverse control channel, access channel, etc.). The communication link through which the base station can signal to the UE is called a downlink (DL) or forward link channel (e.g., paging channel, control channel, broadcast channel, forward traffic channel, etc.). As used herein, the term Traffic Channel (TCH) may refer to an uplink / reverse or downlink / forward traffic channel.

[0033] The term "base station" can refer to a single physical transmit / receive point (TRP) or multiple physical TRPs that may be co-located or non-co-located. For example, when the term "base station" refers to a single physical TRP, the physical TRP can be an antenna of the base station corresponding to a cell (or several cell sectors) of the base station. When the term "base station" refers to multiple co-located physical TRPs, the physical TRP can be an antenna array of the base station (e.g., as in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system or where the base station employs beamforming). When the term "base station" refers to multiple non-co-located physical TRPs, the physical TRPs 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 headend (RRH) (a remote base station connected to a serving base station). Alternatively, a non-co-located physical TRP can be the serving base station from which the UE receives measurement reports and a neighboring base station where the UE is measuring its reference radio frequency (RF) signal. Because, as used herein, a TRP is a point by which a base station transmits and receives radio signals, references to transmission from or reception at a base station should be understood to refer to a specific TRP of the base station.

[0034] In some specific implementations supporting UE positioning, the base station may not support the UE's radio access (e.g., it may not support data, voice, and / or signaling connections for the UE), but may instead transmit reference signals to the UE for measurement, and / or receive and measure signals transmitted by the UE. Such a base station may be referred to as a positioning tower (e.g., in the case of transmitting signals to the UE) and / or as a location measurement unit (e.g., in the case of receiving and measuring signals from the UE).

[0035] An “RF signal” refers to an electromagnetic wave of a given frequency that transmits information across the space between a transmitter and a receiver. As used herein, a transmitter may transmit a single “RF signal” or multiple “RF signals” to a receiver. However, due to the propagation characteristics of RF signals through multipath channels, a receiver may receive multiple “RF signals” corresponding to each transmitted RF signal. The same transmitted RF signal on different paths between the transmitter and receiver can be referred to as a “multipath” RF signal. As used herein, where the context clearly indicates that the term “signal” refers to a wireless signal or RF signal, an RF signal may also be referred to as a “wireless signal” or simply a “signal.”

[0036] Figure 1An example wireless communication system 100 according to various aspects of this disclosure 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 (labeled "BS") and various UEs 104. Base station 102 may include macro cell base stations (high-power cellular base stations) and / or small cell base stations (low-power cellular base stations). In one aspect, the macro cell base station may include an eNB and / or an ng-eNB (where the wireless communication system 100 corresponds to an LTE network), or a gNB (where the wireless communication system 100 corresponds to an NR network), or a combination of both, and the small cell base station may include femtocells, picocells, microcells, etc.

[0037] Base station 102 can collectively form a RAN and interface with core network 170 (e.g., evolved packet core (EPC) or 5G core (5GC)) via backhaul link 122, and interface with one or more location servers 172 (e.g., location management function (LMF) or secure user plane location (SUPL) location platform (SLP)) via core network 170. Location server 172 can be part of core network 170 or can be external to core network 170. Location server 172 can be integrated with base station 102. UE 104 can communicate with location server 172 directly or indirectly. For example, UE 104 can communicate with location server 172 via base station 102 currently serving UE 104. UE 104 can also communicate with location server 172 via another path, such as via application server (not shown), via another network, such as via wireless local area network (WLAN) access point (AP) (e.g., AP 150 described below), etc. For signaling purposes, communication between UE 104 and location server 172 can be represented as an indirect connection (e.g., via core network 170, etc.) or a direct connection (e.g., as shown via direct connection 128), wherein intermediate nodes (if present) are omitted from the signaling diagram for clarity.

[0038] In addition to other functions, base station 102 may perform functions associated with one or more of the following: transmitting user data, radio channel encryption and decryption, integrity protection, header compression, mobility control functions (e.g., handover, dual connectivity), inter-cell interference coordination, connection establishment and release, load balancing, distribution of non-access stratum (NAS) messages, NAS node selection, synchronization, RAN sharing, multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS), subscriber and equipment tracking, RAN information management (RIM), paging, location, and delivery of warning messages. Base stations 102 may communicate with each other directly or indirectly (e.g., via EPC / 5GC) on backhaul link 134, which may be wired or wireless.

[0039] Base station 102 can wirelessly communicate with UE 104. Each base station in base station 102 can provide communication coverage for a corresponding geographic coverage area 110. In one aspect, one or more cells can be supported by base station 102 in each geographic coverage area 110. A “cell” is a logical communication entity used to communicate with a base station (e.g., on a frequency resource, referred to as a carrier frequency, component carrier, carrier, frequency band, etc.) and can be associated with an identifier (e.g., Physical Cell Identifier (PCI), Enhanced Cell Identifier (ECI), Virtual Cell Identifier (VCI), Cell Global Identifier (CGI), etc.) used to distinguish cells operating via the same or different carrier frequencies. In some cases, different cells can be configured according to different protocol types that can provide access for different types of UEs (e.g., Machine Type Communication (MTC), Narrowband IoT (NB-IoT), Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB), or other protocol types). Because a cell is supported by a specific base station, the term “cell” can refer to either or both of the logical communication entity and the base station supporting it, depending on the context. Furthermore, since the TRP is typically the physical transmission point of a cell, the terms "cell" and "TRP" are used interchangeably. In some cases, the term "cell" can also refer to the geographic coverage area of ​​a base station (e.g., a sector), as long as the carrier frequency can be detected and used for communication within a portion of the geographic coverage area 110.

[0040] While the geographic coverage areas 110 of adjacent macro cell base stations 102 may partially overlap (e.g., in handover areas), some of the geographic coverage areas 110 may substantially overlap with larger geographic coverage areas 110. For example, a small cell base station 102' (labeled "SC" for "small cell") may have a geographic coverage area 110' that substantially overlaps with the geographic coverage areas 110 of one or more macro cell base stations 102. A network that includes both small cell base stations and macro cell base stations can be referred to as a heterogeneous network. A heterogeneous network may also include home eNBs (HeNBs) that can provide service to restricted groups referred to as closed subscriber groups (CSGs).

[0041] The communication link 120 between base station 102 and UE 104 may include uplink (also known as reverse link) transmission from UE 104 to base station 102 and / or downlink (DL) (also known as forward link) transmission from base station 102 to UE 104. The communication link 120 may use MIMO antenna technologies, including spatial multiplexing, beamforming, and / or transmit diversity. The communication link 120 may use one or more carrier frequencies. Carrier allocation may be asymmetric relative to the downlink and uplink (e.g., more or fewer carriers may be allocated to the downlink compared to the uplink).

[0042] The wireless communication system 100 may also include a WLAN access point (AP) 150 that communicates with a wireless local area network (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.

[0043] Small cell base station 102' can operate in licensed and / or unlicensed spectrum. When operating in unlicensed spectrum, small cell base station 102' can employ LTE or NR technology and use the same 5 GHz unlicensed spectrum as WLAN AP 150. Small cell base station 102' employing LTE / 5G in unlicensed spectrum can improve the 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.

[0044] The wireless communication system 100 may also include a millimeter-wave (mmW) base station 180, which can operate at mmW and / or near-mmW frequencies to communicate with the UE 182. Extremely high frequency (EHF) is a portion of the electromagnetic spectrum that contains radio frequency (RF). EHF has a range of 30 GHz to 300 GHz, with wavelengths between 1 mm and 10 mm. Radio waves in this band are referred to as millimeter waves. Near-mmW 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, and are also referred to as centimeter waves. Communication using mmW / near-mmW RF bands has high path loss and relatively short range. The mmW base station 180 and the UE 182 can utilize beamforming (transmission and / or reception) on the mmW communication link 184 to compensate for the extremely high path loss and short range. Furthermore, it should be understood that in alternative configurations, one or more base stations 102 may also use mmW or near-mmW and beamforming for transmission. Accordingly, it should be understood that the foregoing examples are merely illustrative and should not be construed as limiting the aspects disclosed herein.

[0045] 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 (omnidirectionally). Using transmit beamforming, the network node determines where a given target device (e.g., a UE) is located (relative to the transmitting network node) and projects a stronger downlink RF signal in that specific direction, thus providing the receiving device with a faster (in terms of data rate) and stronger RF signal. To change the directivity of the RF signal during transmission, the network node can control the phase and relative amplitude of the RF signal at each of one or more transmitters broadcasting the RF signal. For example, the network node can use an antenna array (called a "phased array" or "antenna array") that creates RF beams that can be "manipulated" to be pointed 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 radio waves from the separate antennas are added together to increase radiation in the desired direction while canceling out radiation in undesired directions.

[0046] Transmission beams can be quasi-co-located, meaning they appear to the receiver (e.g., the UE) as having the same parameters regardless of whether the network node's own transmission antennas 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 of a second reference RF signal on a second beam can be derived based on information about the source reference RF signal on the source beam. Therefore, if the source reference RF signal is QCL type A, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, and delay spread of the second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL type B, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift and Doppler spread of the second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL type C, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift and average delay of the second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is of type QCL D, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the spatial reception parameters of the second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel.

[0047] In receive beamforming, a receiver uses a receive beam to amplify an RF signal detected on a given channel. For example, the receiver may increase the gain setting of an antenna array in a particular direction and / or adjust the phase setting of the antenna array in a particular direction to amplify the RF signal received from that direction (e.g., increase its gain level). Therefore, when a receiver is said to be beamforming in a certain direction, it means that the beam gain in that direction is high relative to the beam gain along other directions, or that the beam gain in that direction is the highest compared to the beam gain of all other receive beams available to the receiver in that direction. This results in a stronger received signal strength (e.g., reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR), etc.) of the RF signal received from that direction.

[0048] The transmit and receive beams can be spatially correlated. Spatial correlation means that parameters for a second beam (e.g., transmit or receive beam) for a second reference signal can be derived based on information about a first beam (e.g., receive or transmit beam) for a first reference signal. For example, a UE can use a specific receive beam to receive a reference downlink reference signal (e.g., a synchronization signal block (SSB)) from a base station. The UE can then form a transmit beam for transmitting an uplink reference signal (e.g., a sounding reference signal (SRS)) to that base station based on the parameters of the receive beam.

[0049] It should be noted that, depending on the entity forming the "downlink" beam, the beam can be either a transmission beam or a reception beam. For example, if the base station is forming a downlink beam to transmit a reference signal to the UE, the downlink beam is a transmission beam. However, if the UE is forming a downlink beam, it is a reception beam for receiving downlink reference signals. Similarly, depending on the entity forming the "uplink" beam, the beam can be either a transmission beam or a reception beam. For example, if the base station is forming an uplink beam, it is an uplink reception beam, while if the UE is forming an uplink beam, it is an uplink transmission beam.

[0050] In 5G, the spectrum in which wireless nodes (e.g., base stations 102 / 180, UEs 104 / 182) operate is divided into several frequency ranges: FR1 (from 450MHz to 6000MHz), FR2 (from 24250MHz to 52600MHz), FR3 (above 52600MHz), and FR4 (between FR1 and FR2). The mmW band typically includes the FR2, FR3, and FR4 frequency ranges. Therefore, the terms “mmW” and “FR2” or “FR3” or “FR4” are generally used interchangeably.

[0051] In multi-carrier systems (such as 5G), one of the carrier frequencies is referred to as the "primary carrier," "anchor carrier," "primary serving cell," or "PCell," and the remaining carrier frequencies are referred to as "secondary carriers," "secondary serving cells," or "SCell." In carrier aggregation, the anchor carrier is the carrier operating on the primary frequency (e.g., FR1) utilized by UE 104 / 182 and the cell, where UE 104 / 182 performs an initial Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection establishment procedure or initiates an RRC connection re-establishment procedure. The primary carrier carries all common and UE-specific control channels and can be a carrier on a licensed frequency (however, this is not always the case). The secondary carrier is the carrier operating on a second frequency (e.g., FR2), where it can be configured and used to provide additional radio resources once an RRC connection is established between UE 104 and the anchor carrier. In some cases, the secondary carrier can be a carrier on an unlicensed frequency. Secondary carriers may contain only necessary signaling information and signals. For example, since the primary uplink and downlink carriers are typically UE-specific, those UE-specific signaling information and signals may not exist 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 communicates in that "serving cell," the terms "cell," "serving cell," "component carrier," and "carrier frequency" are used interchangeably.

[0052] 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 other frequencies used by the macro cell base station 102 and / or the mmW base station 180 can be secondary carriers ("SCell"). Simultaneous transmission and / or reception on multiple carriers allows the UE 104 / 182 to significantly increase its data transmission and / or reception rates. For example, compared to the data rate obtained by a single 20MHz carrier, two aggregated 20MHz carriers in a multi-carrier system would theoretically result in a doubling of the data rate (i.e., 40MHz).

[0053] The wireless communication system 100 may also include a UE 164, which can communicate with the macro cell base station 102 via communication link 120 and / or with the mmW base station 180 via mmW communication link 184. For example, the macro cell base station 102 may support PCells and one or more SCells for the UE 164, and the mmW base station 180 may support one or more SCells for the UE 164.

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

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

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

[0057] 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 with one of UEs 104 connected to one of the base stations 102 (e.g., UE 190 can indirectly obtain cellular connectivity through this D2D P2P link), and has a D2D P2P link 194 with a WLAN STA 152 connected to WLAN AP 150 (UE 190 can indirectly obtain WLAN-based Internet connectivity through this D2D P2P link). In one example, D2D P2P links 192 and 194 can be supported using any known D2DRAT, such as LTE Direct (LTE-D) or WiFi Direct (WiFi-D). etc.

[0058] Figure 2AAn example wireless network architecture 200 is illustrated. For example, the 5GC 210 (also known as the Next Generation Core (NGC)) can functionally be viewed as control plane (C-plane) functions 214 (e.g., UE registration, authentication, network access, gateway selection, etc.) and user plane (U-plane) functions 212 (e.g., UE gateway functions, access to data networks, IP routing, etc.), which cooperate to form the core network. A user plane interface (NG-U) 213 and a control plane interface (NG-C) 215 connect the gNB 222 to the 5GC 210, specifically to user plane functions 212 and control plane functions 214, respectively. In another configuration, the ng-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 next-generation RAN (NG-RAN) 220 may have one or more gNBs 222, while other configurations include one or more of both ng-eNBs 224 and gNBs 222. Either gNB 222 or ng-eNB 224 (or both) may communicate with one or more UEs 204 (e.g., any of the UEs described herein).

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

[0060] Figure 2B Another example wireless network architecture 250.5GC 260 is shown (which can correspond to...). Figure 2AThe 5GC260 can be functionally considered as a control plane function provided by the Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) 264 and a user plane function provided by the User Plane Function (UPF) 262, which work together to form the core network (i.e., 5GC 260). The functions of the AMF 264 include: registration management, connection management, reachability management, mobility management, lawful interception, transmission of session management (SM) messages between one or more UEs 204 (e.g., any UE described herein) and the Session Management Function (SMF) 266, transparent proxy service for routing SM messages, access authentication and access authorization, transmission of short message service (SMS) messages between the UE 204 and the Short Message Service Function (SMSF) (not shown), and Secure Anchoring Functionality (SEAF). The AMF 264 also interacts with the Authentication Server Function (AUSF) (not shown) and the UE 204, and receives an intermediate key established as a result of the UE 204's authentication process. In the case of UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) Subscriber Identity Module (USIM) authentication, AMF 264 extracts security material from the AUSF. AMF 264 also includes Security Context Management (SCM). The SCM receives a key from the SEAF, which it uses to derive access network-specific keys. AMF 264 functionality also includes location service management for regulatory services, transmission of location service messages between UE 204 and Location Management Function (LMF) 270 (which acts as location server 230), transmission of location service messages between NG-RAN 220 and LMF 270, Evolved Packet System (EPS) bearer identifier allocation for EPS interoperability, and UE 204 mobility event notification. Furthermore, AMF 264 also supports functionality for non-3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) access networks.

[0061] The functions of UPF 262 include: acting as an anchor point for intra / inter-RAT mobility (where applicable), acting as an 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, traffic orientation), lawful eavesdropping (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 between UE 204 and a location server (such as SLP 272) on the user plane.

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

[0063] Another optional aspect may include an LMF 270, which can communicate with the 5GC 260 to provide location assistance to the UE 204. The LMF 270 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 can correspond to a single server. The LMF 270 can be configured to support one or more location services for the UE 204, which can connect to the LMF 270 via the core network 5GC 260 and / or via the Internet (not shown). The SLP 272 can support similar functionality to the LMF 270, but while the LMF 270 can communicate with the AMF 264, NG-RAN 220, and UE 204 on the control plane (e.g., using interfaces and protocols designed to deliver signaling messages rather than voice or data), the SLP 272 can communicate with the 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).

[0064] User plane interface 263 and control plane interface 265 connect 5GC 260, and specifically connect UPF 262 and AMF 264 to one or more gNB 222 and / or ng-eNB 224 in NG-RAN 220. The interface between gNB 222 and / or ng-eNB 224 and AMF 264 is referred to as the "N2" interface, while the interface between gNB 222 and / or ng-eNB 224 and UPF 262 is referred to as the "N3" interface. The gNB 222 and / or ng-eNB 224 of NG-RAN 220 can communicate directly with each other via backhaul connection 223, referred to as the "Xn-C" interface. One or more of gNB 222 and / or ng-eNB 224 can communicate with one or more UEs 204 via a radio interface referred to as the "Uu" interface.

[0065] The functionality of gNB 222 is divided between gNB Central Unit (gNB-CU) 226 and one or more gNB Distributed Units (gNB-DU) 228. The interface 232 between gNB-CU 226 and one or more gNB-DU 228 is referred to as the "F1" interface. gNB-CU 226 is a logical node that includes base station functions such as transmitting user data, mobility control, radio access network sharing, location, session management, etc., in addition to those functions specifically allocated to gNB-DU 228. More specifically, gNB-CU 226 houses the Radio Resource Control (RRC), Serving Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP), and Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) protocols of gNB 222. gNB-DU 228 is a logical node that houses the Radio Link Control (RLC), Media Access Control (MAC), and Physical (PHY) layers of gNB 222. Its operation is controlled by gNB-CU 226. One gNB-DU 228 can support one or more cells, and a cell is supported by only one gNB-DU 228. Therefore, UE 204 communicates with gNB-CU 226 via RRC, SDAP, and PDCP layers, and with gNB-DU 228 via RLC, MAC, and PHY layers.

[0066] Figure 3A , Figure 3B and Figure 3C Several exemplary components (represented by corresponding boxes) are shown, which may 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 function described herein, including location server 230 and LMF 270, or alternatively may be independent of UE 302). Figure 2A and Figure 2B The NG-RAN 220 and / or 5GC 210 / 260 infrastructures depicted herein (such as private networks) are used to support file transfer operations as taught herein. It should be understood that these components can be implemented in different specific implementations in different types of devices (e.g., in ASICs, in System-on-Chip (SoCs), etc.). 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 as providing similar functionality. Furthermore, a given device may contain one or more of these components. For example, a device may include multiple transceiver components that enable the device to operate on multiple carriers and / or communicate via different technologies.

[0067] UE 302 and base station 304 each include one or more Wireless Wide Area Network (WWAN) transceivers 310 and 350, which provide means (e.g., means for transmission, means for reception, means for measurement, means for tuning, means for blocking transmission, etc.) for communication via one or more wireless communication networks (not shown), such as NR networks, LTE networks, GSM networks, etc. WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 may each be connected to one or more antennas 316 and 356 for communication with other network nodes (e.g., other UEs, access points, base stations (e.g., eNB, gNB), etc.) via at least one designated RAT (e.g., NR, LTE, GSM, etc.) on a wireless communication medium of interest (e.g., a set of time / frequency resources in a specific spectrum). WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 can be configured in different ways to transmit and encode signals 318 and 358 (e.g., messages, indications, information, etc.) according to a specified RAT, and conversely, to receive and decode signals 318 and 358 (e.g., messages, indications, information, pilots, etc.). Specifically, WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 each include: one or more transmitters 314 and 354 for transmitting and encoding signals 318 and 358, respectively, and one or more receivers 312 and 352 for receiving and decoding signals 318 and 358, respectively.

[0068] In at least some cases, UE 302 and base station 304 each further include one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360, respectively. The short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 can be connected to one or more antennas 326 and 366, respectively, and provide the capability to communicate over the wireless communication medium of interest via at least one designated RAT (e.g., WiFi, LTE-D, etc.). A means for communicating with other network nodes (such as other UEs, access points, base stations, etc.) using PC5, Dedicated Short-Range Communication (DSRC), Wireless Access for Vehicle Environments (WAVE), Near Field Communication (NFC), etc.) and other network nodes (such as other UEs, access points, base stations, etc.). This means includes means for transmission, means for reception, means for measurement, means for tuning, means for blocking transmission, etc. Short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 can be configured in various ways to transmit and encode signals 328 and 368 (e.g., messages, indications, information, etc.) according to a specified RAT, and conversely, to receive and decode signals 328 and 368 (e.g., messages, indications, information, pilots, etc.). Specifically, short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 each include: one or more transmitters 324 and 364 for transmitting and encoding signals 328 and 368 respectively, and one or more receivers 322 and 362 for receiving and decoding signals 328 and 368 respectively. As specific examples, the short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 can be WiFi transceivers, transceiver and / or Transceiver, NFC transceiver, or vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and / or vehicle-to-everything (V2X) transceiver.

[0069] In at least some cases, UE 302 and base station 304 also include satellite signal receivers 330 and 370. Satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 may be connected to one or more antennas 336 and 376, respectively, and may be provided with means for receiving and / or measuring satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378, respectively. Where satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 are satellite positioning system receivers, satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378 may be Global Positioning System (GPS) signals, Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS) signals, Galileo signals, BeiDou signals, Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (NAVIC), Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS), etc. Where satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 are non-terrestrial network (NTN) receivers, satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378 may be communication signals originating from a 5G network (e.g., carrying control and / or user data). Satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 may include any suitable hardware and / or software for receiving and processing satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378, respectively. Satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 can request appropriate information and operations from other systems, and in at least some cases, use measurements obtained by any appropriate satellite positioning system algorithm to perform calculations to determine the locations of UE 302 and base station 304, respectively.

[0070] Base station 304 and network entity 306 each include one or more network transceivers 380 and 390, which provide means (e.g., means for transmission, means for reception, etc.) for communicating with other network entities (e.g., other base stations 304, other network entities 306). For example, base station 304 may employ one or more network transceivers 380 to communicate with other base stations 304 or network entities 306 via one or more wired or wireless backhaul links. As another example, network entity 306 may employ one or more network transceivers 390 to communicate with one or more base stations 304 via one or more wired or wireless backhaul links, or to communicate with other network entities 306 via one or more wired or wireless core network interfaces.

[0071] Transceivers can be configured to communicate over wired or wireless links. A transceiver (whether wired or wireless) includes transmitter circuitry (e.g., transmitters 314, 324, 354, 364) and receiver circuitry (e.g., receivers 312, 322, 352, 362). In some embodiments, the transceiver may be an integrated device (e.g., implementing transmitter and receiver circuitry in a single device), in some embodiments it may include separate transmitter and receiver circuitry, or in other embodiments it may be implemented in a different manner. The transmitter and receiver circuitry of a wired transceiver (e.g., network transceivers 380 and 390 in some embodiments) may be coupled to one or more wired network interface ports. Wireless transmitter circuitry (e.g., transmitters 314, 324, 354, 364) may include or be coupled to multiple antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such as antenna arrays, which allow corresponding devices (e.g., UE 302, base station 304) to perform transmission "beamforming" as described herein. Similarly, wireless receiver circuitry (e.g., receivers 312, 322, 352, 362) may include or be coupled to multiple antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such as antenna arrays, which allow corresponding devices (e.g., UE 302, base station 304) to perform receive beamforming as described herein. In one aspect, transmitter and receiver circuitry may share the same multiple antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such that corresponding devices may perform only reception or only transmission at a given time, rather than both reception and transmission at the same time. Wireless transceivers (e.g., WWAN transceivers 310 and 350, short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360) may also include network listening modules (NLMs) for performing various measurements.

[0072] As used herein, various wireless transceivers (e.g., transceivers 310, 320, 350, and 360 in some embodiments, and network transceivers 380 and 390) and wired transceivers (e.g., network transceivers 380 and 390 in some embodiments) can generally be characterized as "transceiver," "at least one transceiver," or "one or more transceivers." Therefore, whether a particular transceiver is a wired or wireless transceiver can be inferred from the type of communication performed. For example, backhaul communication between network devices or servers typically involves signaling via a wired transceiver, while wireless communication between a UE (e.g., UE 302) and a base station (e.g., base station 304) typically involves signaling via a wireless transceiver.

[0073] UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 also include other components that can be used in conjunction with the operations disclosed herein. UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 each include one or more processors 332, 384, and 394 for providing functionality related to, for example, wireless communication, and for providing other processing functionality. Thus, processors 332, 384, and 394 may provide means for processing, such as means for determining, means for calculating, means for receiving, means for transmitting, means for indicating, etc. In one aspect, processors 332, 384, and 394 may include, for example, one or more general-purpose processors, multi-core processors, central processing units (CPUs), ASICs, digital signal processors (DSPs), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), other programmable logic devices or processing circuitry, or various combinations thereof.

[0074] UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 include memory circuitry that respectively implements memories 340, 386, and 396 (e.g., each including a memory device) for maintaining information (e.g., information indicating reserved resources, thresholds, parameters, etc.). Memories 340, 386, and 396 thus provide means for storage, means for retrieval, means for maintenance, etc. In some cases, UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 may respectively include positioning components 342, 388, and 398. Positioning components 342, 388, and 398 may be hardware circuitry that is part of or coupled to processors 332, 384, and 394, which, when executed, enable UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 to perform the functionality described herein. In other aspects, positioning components 342, 388, and 398 may be external to processors 332, 384, and 394 (e.g., part of a modem processing system, integrated with another processing system, etc.). Alternatively, positioning components 342, 388, and 398 may be memory modules stored in memories 340, 386, and 396, respectively, which, when executed by processors 332, 384, and 394 (or modem processing system, another processing system, etc.), enable UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 to perform the functionality described herein. Figure 3A Possible locations of the positioning component 342 are shown. The positioning component may be part of, for example, one or more WWAN transceivers 310, memory 340, one or more processors 332, or any combination thereof, or may be a standalone component. Figure 3B Possible locations of the positioning component 388 are shown. The positioning component may be part of, for example, one or more WWAN transceivers 350, memory 386, one or more processors 384, or any combination thereof, or may be a standalone component. Figure 3C Possible locations of the positioning component 398 are shown. The positioning component may be part of, for example, one or more network transceivers 390, memory 396, one or more processors 394, or any combination thereof, or may be a standalone component.

[0075] UE 302 may include one or more sensors 344 coupled to one or more processors 332 to provide means for sensing or detecting motion and / or orientation information independent of motion data derived from signals received by one or more WWAN transceivers 310, one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320, and / or satellite signal receivers 330. As an example, sensor 344 may include accelerometers (e.g., microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) devices), gyroscopes, geomagnetic sensors (e.g., compasses), altimeters (e.g., barometric altimeters), and / or any other type of motion detection sensor. Furthermore, sensor 344 may include multiple different types of devices and combine their outputs to provide motion information. For example, sensor 344 may use a combination of multi-axis accelerometers and orientation sensors to provide the ability to calculate position in two-dimensional (2D) and / or three-dimensional (3D) coordinate systems.

[0076] Additionally, UE 302 includes a user interface 346 that provides means for providing instructions to a user (e.g., audible and / or visual instructions) and / or for receiving user input (e.g., when the user actuates a sensing device (such as a keypad, touchscreen, microphone, etc.)). Although not shown, base station 304 and network entity 306 may also include user interfaces.

[0077] Referring more specifically to one or more processors 384, in the downlink, IP packets from network entity 306 can be provided to processor 384. One or more processors 384 can implement functionality for the RRC layer, Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer, Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, and Media Access Control (MAC) layer. One or more processors 384 may provide: RRC layer functionality associated with broadcasting system information (e.g., Master Information Block (MIB), System Information Block (SIB)), RRC connection control (e.g., RRC connection paging, RRC connection establishment, RRC connection modification, and RRC connection release), inter-RAT mobility, and measurement configuration for UE measurement reporting; PDCP layer functionality associated with header compression / decompression, security (encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification), and handover support functions; RLC layer functionality associated with upper-layer PDU transmission, error correction via Automatic Repeat Request (ARQ), concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC Service Data Units (SDUs), resegmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functionality associated with mapping between logical channels and transport channels, scheduling information reporting, error correction, priority processing, and logical channel priority ordering.

[0078] Transmitter 354 and receiver 352 can implement Layer 1 (L1) functionality associated with various signal processing functions. Layer 1, including the physical (PHY) layer, can include: error detection on the transport channel, forward error correction (FEC) decoding / decoding of the transport channel, interleaving, rate matching, mapping to the physical channel, modulation / demodulation of the physical channel, and MIMO antenna processing. Transmitter 354 processes the mapping to the signal constellation based on various modulation schemes (e.g., binary phase shift keying (BPSK), quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK), M-phase shift keying (M-PSK), M-quadrature amplitude modulation (M-QAM)). The coded 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 a time-domain OFDM symbol stream. The OFDM symbol stream is spatially precoded to generate multiple spatial streams. Channel estimates from the channel estimator can be used to determine the decoding and modulation schemes, as well as for spatial processing. The channel estimates can be derived based on reference signals transmitted by UE 302 and / or channel condition feedback. Each spatial stream can then be provided to one or more different antennas 356. The transmitter 354 can use the corresponding spatial stream to modulate an RF carrier for transmission.

[0079] At UE 302, receiver 312 receives signals via its corresponding antenna 316. Receiver 312 recovers the information modulated onto the RF carrier and provides this information to one or more processors 332. Transmitter 314 and receiver 312 implement Layer 1 functionality associated with various signal processing functions. Receiver 312 can perform spatial processing on this information to recover any spatial stream destined for UE 302. If multiple spatial streams are destined for UE 302, they can be combined by receiver 312 into a single OFDM symbol stream. Receiver 312 then uses a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) to transform the OFDM symbol stream from the time domain to the frequency domain. The frequency domain signal includes a separate OFDM symbol stream for each subcarrier of the OFDM signal. Symbols on each subcarrier, along with a reference signal, are recovered and demodulated by determining the signal constellation points most likely to be transmitted by base station 304. These soft decisions can be based on channel estimates calculated by a channel estimator. The soft decision is then decoded and deinterleaved to recover the data and control signals originally transmitted by base station 304 on the physical channel. The data and control signals are then provided to one or more processors 332, which implement layer 3 (L3) and layer 2 (L2) functionality.

[0080] In the uplink, one or more processors 332 provide demultiplexing, packet reassembly, decryption, header decompression, and control signal processing between the transport and logical channels to recover IP packets from the core network. One or more processors 332 are also responsible for error detection.

[0081] Similar to the functionality described in conjunction with downlink transmissions performed by base station 304, one or more processors 332 provide: RRC layer functionality associated with system information (e.g., MIB, SIB) acquisition, RRC connectivity, and measurement reporting; PDCP layer functionality associated with header compression / decompression and security (encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification); RLC layer functionality associated with upper-layer PDU transmission, error correction via ARQ, concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC SDUs, resegmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functionality associated with mapping between logical channels and transport channels, multiplexing of MAC SDUs onto 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 ordering.

[0082] The channel estimate derived by the channel estimator from the reference signal or feedback transmitted by the base station 304 can be used by the transmitter 314 to select an appropriate decoding and modulation scheme and facilitates spatial processing. The spatial stream generated by the transmitter 314 can be provided to different antennas 316. The transmitter 314 can use the corresponding spatial stream to modulate an RF carrier for transmission.

[0083] 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 via its corresponding antenna 356. Receiver 352 recovers the information modulated onto the RF carrier and provides the information to one or more processors 384.

[0084] In the uplink, one or more processors 384 provide demultiplexing, packet reassembly, decryption, header decompression, and control signal processing between the transport channel and the logical channel to recover IP packets from UE 302. IP packets from one or more processors 384 can be provided to the core network. One or more processors 384 are also responsible for error detection.

[0085] For convenience, UE 302, base station 304 and / or network entity 306 are in Figure 3A , Figure 3B and Figure 3CThe text is shown as including various components that can be configured according to the various examples described herein. However, it should be understood that the components shown may have different functionalities in different designs. In particular, Figures 3A to 3C Various components are optional in alternative configurations, and various aspects include configurations that can vary due to design choices, cost, equipment usage, or other considerations. For example, in Figure 3A In certain cases, specific implementations of UE 302 may omit WWAN transceiver 310 (e.g., wearable devices, tablets, PCs, or laptops may have Wi-Fi and / or Bluetooth capabilities but no cellular capabilities), or may omit short-range wireless transceiver 320 (e.g., cellular only), or may omit satellite signal receiver 330, or may omit sensor 344, etc. In another example, in Figure 3B In certain cases, specific implementations of base station 304 may omit WWAN transceiver 350 (e.g., a Wi-Fi "hotspot" access point without cellular capabilities), or short-range wireless transceiver 360 (e.g., cellular only), or satellite receiver 370, etc. For the sake of brevity, examples of various alternative configurations are not provided herein, but will be readily understood by those skilled in the art.

[0086] The various components of UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 can be communicatively coupled to each other via data buses 334, 382, ​​and 392, respectively. In one aspect, data buses 334, 382, ​​and 392 can form or be part of the communication interfaces of UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306, respectively. For example, when different logical entities are contained within the same device (e.g., gNB and location server functionality integrated into the same base station 304), data buses 334, 382, ​​and 392 can provide communication between them.

[0087] Figure 3A , Figure 3B and Figure 3C The components can be implemented in various ways. In some specific implementations, Figure 3A , Figure 3B and Figure 3CThe components can be implemented in one or more circuits, such as, for example, one or more processors and / or one or more ASICs (which may include one or more processors). Here, each circuit may use and / or combine at least one memory component for storing information or executable code used by the circuit to provide that functionality. For example, some or all of the functionalities 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 functionalities 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 functionalities 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 network entity," etc. However, as should be understood, such operations, actions and / or functions may actually be performed by specific components or combinations of components of the UE 302, base station 304, network entity 306, etc., such as processors 332, 384, 394, transceivers 310, 320, 350 and 360, memory 340, 386 and 396, positioning components 342, 388 and 398, etc.

[0088] In some designs, network entity 306 can be implemented as a core network component. In other designs, network entity 306 may operate differently from the network operator or cellular network infrastructure (e.g., NG RAN 220 and / or 5GC 210 / 260). For example, network entity 306 may be a component of a private network that can be configured to communicate with UE 302 via base station 304 or independently of base station 304 (e.g., via a non-cellular communication link such as WiFi).

[0089] NR supports several cellular network-based positioning technologies, including downlink-based positioning methods, uplink-based positioning methods, and downlink-and-uplink-based positioning methods. Downlink-based positioning methods include: Observed Time Difference of Arrival (OTDOA) in LTE, Downlink Time Difference of Arrival (DL-TDOA) in NR, and Downlink Angle of Departure (DL-AoD) in NR. During OTDOA or DL-TDOA positioning, the UE measures the difference between the times of arrival (ToA) of reference signals (e.g., positioning reference signals (PRS)) received from paired base stations (referred to as Reference Signal Time Difference (RSTD) or Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA) measurements) and reports these differences to the positioning entity. More specifically, the UE receives identifiers (IDs) of a reference base station (e.g., a serving base station) and multiple non-reference base stations in auxiliary data. The UE then measures the RSTD between the reference base station and each non-reference base station. Based on the known locations of the base stations involved and the RSTD measurements, the positioning entity can estimate the UE's location.

[0090] For DL-AoD positioning, the positioning entity uses beam reports from the UE regarding received signal strength measurements of multiple downlink transmission beams to determine the angle between the UE and the transmitting base station. The positioning entity can then estimate the UE's location based on the determined angle and the known location of the transmitting base station.

[0091] Uplink-based positioning methods include uplink time difference of arrival (UL-TDOA) and uplink angle of arrival (UL-AoA). UL-TDOA is similar to DL-TDOA, but it is based on uplink reference signals (e.g., sounding reference signals (SRS)) transmitted by the UE. For UL-AoA positioning, one or more base stations measure the received signal strength of one or more uplink reference signals (e.g., SRS) received from the UE on one or more uplink receive beams. The positioning entity uses the signal strength measurements and the angle of the receive beams to determine the angle between the UE and the base stations. Based on the determined angle and the known location of the base stations, the positioning entity can then estimate the UE's location.

[0092] Downlink and uplink-based positioning methods include Enhanced Cell ID (E-CID) positioning and Multiple Round Trip Time (RTT) positioning (also known as "Multi-Cell RTT"). During RTT, the initiator (base station or UE) transmits an RTT measurement signal (e.g., PRS or SRS) to the responder (UE or base station), which then transmits an RTT response signal (e.g., SRS or PRS) back to the initiator. The RTT response signal includes the difference between the ToA of the RTT measurement signal and the transmission time of the RTT response signal (referred to as the receive-transmit (Rx-Tx) time difference). The initiator calculates the difference between the transmission time of the RTT measurement signal and the ToA of the RTT response signal (referred to as the transmit-receive (Tx-Rx) time difference). The propagation time (also known as "time of flight") between the initiator and the responder can be calculated from the Tx-Rx and Rx-Tx time differences. Based on the propagation time and the known speed of light, the distance between the initiator and the responder can be determined. For multi-RTT positioning, the UE performs RTT procedures with multiple base stations so that the UE's location can be determined based on the known locations of each base station (e.g., using multilateral positioning). RTT and multi-RTT methods can be combined with other positioning technologies (such as UL-AoA and DL-AoD) to improve location accuracy.

[0093] The E-CID positioning method is based on Radio Resource Management (RRM) measurements. In E-CID, the UE reports the serving cell ID, timing advance (TA), and the identifiers, estimated timings, and signal strengths of detected neighboring base stations. The UE's location is then estimated based on this information and the known locations of the base stations.

[0094] To assist in the positioning operation, a location server (e.g., location server 230, LMF 270, SLP 272) may provide auxiliary data to the UE. For example, auxiliary data may include: the identifier of the base station (or the cell / TRP of the base station) from which the reference signal is measured, reference signal configuration parameters (e.g., the number of consecutive positioning subframes, the periodicity of the positioning subframes, the silence sequence, the frequency hopping sequence, the reference signal identifier, the reference signal bandwidth, etc.), and / or other parameters applicable to a particular positioning method. Alternatively, auxiliary data may be derived directly from the base station itself (e.g., in periodically broadcast overhead messages, etc.). In some cases, the UE may be able to detect neighboring network nodes without using auxiliary data.

[0095] Ancillary data may also include expected measurements and associated uncertainties (e.g., expected RSTD measurements and RSTD uncertainties), or a search window around the expected measurement. In some cases, the range of expected measurement values ​​may be + / - 500 microseconds (μs). In some cases, when any resources used for positioning measurements are in FR1, the range of expected measurement uncertainty may be + / - 32 μs. In other cases, when all resources used for positioning measurements are in FR2, the range of expected measurement uncertainty may be + / - 8 μs.

[0096] Location estimation can be referred to by other names, such as location estimate, location, positioning, location lock, lock, etc. Location estimation can be geodetic and include coordinates (e.g., latitude, longitude, and possible elevation), or it can be municipal and include street addresses, postal addresses, or some other verbal description of location. Location estimation can be further defined relative to some other known location or in absolute terms (e.g., using latitude, longitude, and possible elevation). Location estimation can include expected errors or uncertainties (e.g., by including the area or volume that the location is expected to be included with a specified or default confidence level).

[0097] Various frame structures can be used to support downlink and uplink transmissions between network nodes (e.g., base stations and UEs). Figure 4A This is a schematic diagram 400 illustrating an example frame structure according to various aspects of this disclosure. This frame structure can be a downlink or uplink frame structure. Other wireless communication technologies may have different frame structures and / or different channels.

[0098] LTE, and in some cases NR, utilizes OFDM on the downlink and single-carrier frequency division multiplexing (SC-FDM) on the uplink. However, unlike LTE, NR has the option to also use OFDM on the uplink. OFDM and SC-FDM divide the system bandwidth into multiple (K) orthogonal subcarriers, which are often referred to as frequency modulation, frequency slots, etc. Each subcarrier can be modulated with data. Typically, modulation symbols are transmitted in the frequency domain using OFDM and in the time domain using SC-FDM. The spacing between adjacent subcarriers can be fixed, and the total number of subcarriers (K) can depend on the system bandwidth. For example, the subcarrier spacing can be 15 kHz, and the minimum resource allocation (resource block) can be 12 subcarriers (or 180 kHz). Therefore, for system bandwidths of 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10, or 20 MHz, the nominal FFT size can be equal to 128, 256, 512, 1024, or 2048, respectively. The system bandwidth can also be divided into multiple subbands. For example, a subband can cover 1.08MHz (i.e., 6 resource blocks), and for system bandwidths of 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10, or 20MHz, there can be 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16 subbands, respectively.

[0099] LTE supports a single set of parameters (subcarrier spacing (SCS), symbol length, etc.). In contrast, NR can support multiple sets of parameters (μ), for example, subcarrier spacings of 15kHz (μ=0), 30kHz (μ=1), 60kHz (μ=2), 120kHz (μ=3), and 240kHz (μ=4) or larger can be available. Within each subcarrier spacing, there are 14 symbols per time slot. For a 15kHz SCS (μ=0), there is one time slot per subframe, 10 time slots per frame, a time slot duration of 1 millisecond (ms), a symbol duration of 66.7 microseconds (μs), and a maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) of 4K FFT size. For a 30kHz SCS (μ=1), there are two time slots per subframe, 20 time slots per frame, a time slot duration of 0.5ms, a symbol duration of 33.3μs, and a maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) of 4K FFT size. For a 60kHz SCS (μ=2), there are four time slots per subframe, 40 time slots per frame, a time slot duration of 0.25ms, a symbol duration of 16.7μs, and a maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) of 4K FFT size. For a 120kHz SCS (μ=3), there are eight time slots per subframe, 80 time slots per frame, a time slot duration of 0.125ms, a symbol duration of 8.33μs, and a maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) of 4K FFT size. For a 240kHz SCS (μ=4), there are 16 time slots per subframe, 160 time slots per frame, a time slot duration of 0.0625ms, a symbol duration of 4.17μs, and a maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) of 4K FFT size.

[0100] exist Figure 4A In the example, a parameter set of 15kHz is used. Therefore, in the time domain, a 10ms frame is divided into 10 equal-sized subframes, each 1ms in size, and each subframe includes one time slot. Figure 4A In the diagram, time is represented horizontally (on the X-axis), where time increases from left to right, while frequency is represented vertically (on the Y-axis), where frequency increases (or decreases) from bottom to top.

[0101] A resource grid can be used to represent time slots, each time slot comprising one or more concurrent resource blocks (RBs) (also known as physical RBs (PRBs)) in the frequency domain. The resource grid is further divided into multiple resource elements (REs). An RE can correspond to a symbol length in the time domain and a subcarrier in the frequency domain. Figure 4AIn the parameter set, for a normal cyclic prefix, the RB can contain 12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain and 7 consecutive symbols in the time domain, for a total of 84 REs. For an extended cyclic prefix, the RB can contain 12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain and 6 consecutive symbols in the time domain, for a total of 72 REs. The number of bits carried by each RE depends on the modulation scheme.

[0102] Some REs may carry reference (pilot) signals (RS). These reference signals may include positioning reference signals (PRS), tracking reference signals (TRS), phase tracking reference signals (PTRS), cell-specific reference signals (CRS), channel state information reference signals (CSI-RS), demodulation reference signals (DMRS), primary synchronization signals (PSS), secondary synchronization signals (SSS), synchronization signal blocks (SSB), sounding reference signals (SRS), etc., depending on whether the illustrated frame structure is used for uplink or downlink communication. Figure 4A An example location of the RE carrying the reference signal is shown (labeled "R").

[0103] Downlink PRS (DL-PRS) has been defined for NR positioning, enabling the UE to detect and measure more neighboring TRPs. Several configurations are supported to enable various deployments (e.g., indoor, outdoor, below 6 GHz, mmW). Furthermore, UE-assisted positioning (where network entities estimate the location of the target UE) and UE-based positioning (where the target UE estimates its own location) are also supported. The following table illustrates the various types of reference signals that can be used for the various positioning methods supported in NR.

[0104]

[0105] Table 1

[0106] The set of resource elements (REs) used for PRS transmission is called a "PRS resource". The resource element set can span multiple PRBs in the frequency domain and span "N" (such as one or more) coherent symbols within a time slot in the time domain. In a given OFDM symbol in the time domain, the PRS resource occupies a coherent PRB in the frequency domain.

[0107] The transmission of PRS resources within a given PRB has a specific comb size (also known as "comb density"). The comb size "N" represents the subcarrier spacing (or frequency / frequency modulation spacing) within each symbol of the PRS resource configuration. Specifically, for a comb size "N", the PRS is transmitted in every Nth subcarrier of a symbol within the PRB. For example, for comb size-4, for each symbol of the PRS resource configuration, the RE corresponding to every fourth subcarrier (such as subcarriers 0, 4, 8) is used to transmit the PRS resource. Currently, comb sizes for comb sizes-2, comb size-4, comb size-6, and comb size-12 are supported by DL-PRS. Figure 4A An example PRS resource configuration for comb-4 (which spans 4 symbols) is shown. That is, the location of the shaded RE (marked as "R") indicates the PRS resource configuration for comb-4.

[0108] Currently, DL-PRS resources can span 2, 4, 6, or 12 coherent symbols within a time slot using a full-frequency-domain interleaved mode. DL-PRS resources can be configured in any downlink or flexible (FL) symbol configured by a higher layer within a time slot. For all REs of a given DL-PRS resource, there may be a constant energy per resource element (EPRE). The following are the symbol-by-symbol frequency offsets for comb sizes 2, 4, 6, and 12 on 2, 4, 6, and 12 symbols. 2-symbol comb-2: {0,1}; 4-symbol comb-2: {0,1,0,1}; 6-symbol comb-2: {0,1,0,1,0,1}; 12-symbol comb-2: {0,1,0,1,0,1,0,1,0,1,0,1}; 4-symbol comb-4: {0,2,1,3} (as in...). Figure 4A In the example); 12-symbol comb-4: {0,2,1,3,0,2,1,3,0,2,1,3}; 6-symbol comb-6: {0,3,1,4,2,5}; 12-symbol comb-6: {0,3,1,4,2,5,0,3,1,4,2,5}; and 12-symbol comb-12: {0,6,3,9,1,7,4,10,2,8,5,11}.

[0109] A “PRS resource set” is a set of PRS resources used to transmit PRS signals, where each PRS resource has a PRS resource ID. Furthermore, PRS resources in a PRS resource set are associated with the same TRP. A PRS resource set is identified by a PRS resource set ID and associated with a specific TRP (identified by a TRP ID). Additionally, PRS resources in a PRS resource set share the same periodicity, a common silent mode configuration, and the same repetition factor (such as “PRS-ResourceRepetitionFactor”) across time slots. The periodicity is the time from the first repetition of the first PRS resource in the first PRS instance to the same first repetition of the same first PRS resource in the next PRS instance. The periodicity can have a length chosen from the following: 2^μ*{4,5,8,10,16,20,32,40,64,80,160,320,640,1280,2560,5120,10240} time slots, where μ = 0,1,2,3. The repetition factor can have a length selected from {1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 16, 32} time slots.

[0110] In a PRS resource set, a PRS resource ID is associated with a single beam (or beam ID) transmitted from a single TRP (where a TRP can transmit one or more beams). That is, each PRS resource in a PRS resource set can be transmitted on a different beam, and therefore, a "PRS resource" (or simply a "resource") can also be referred to as a "beam". It should be noted that this does not imply whether the UE is aware of the TRP and beam transmitting the PRS.

[0111] A “PRS instance” or “PRS timing” is an instance of a periodically repeating time window (such as a group of one or more consecutive time slots) in which PRS is expected to be transmitted. A PRS timing may also be referred to as a “PRS positioning timing,” “PRS positioning instance,” “positioning timing,” “positioning instance,” “positioning repetition,” or simply “timing,” “instance,” or “repetition.”

[0112] A “positioning frequency layer” (also simply “frequency layer”) is a collection of one or more PRS resource sets with identical values ​​for certain parameters across one or more TRPs. Specifically, the collection of PRS resource sets has the same subcarrier spacing and cyclic prefix (CP) type (meaning that all parameter sets supported for the Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) are also supported by the PRS), the same point A, the same downlink PRS bandwidth, the same starting PRB (and center frequency), and the same comb size. The point A parameter uses the value of the parameter “ARFCN-ValueNR” (where “ARFCN” stands for “Absolute Radio Channel Number”) and is an identifier / code specifying the pair of physical radio channels used for transmission and reception. The downlink PRS bandwidth can have a granularity of 4 PRBs, with a minimum of 24 PRBs and a maximum of 272 PRBs. Currently, up to four frequency layers have been defined, and up to two PRS resource sets can be configured per frequency layer per TRP.

[0113] The concept of frequency layers is somewhat similar to that of component carriers and bandwidth portions (BWPs), but the difference is that component carriers and BWPs are used by a single base station (or macrocell base station and small cell base station) to transmit data channels, while frequency layers are used by several (usually three or more) base stations to transmit PRS (Positioning Signals). A UE can indicate the number of frequency layers it can support when sending its positioning capabilities to the network (such as during an LTE Positioning Protocol (LPP) session). For example, a UE can indicate whether it can support one or four positioning frequency layers.

[0114] Figure 4B This is a schematic diagram 450 illustrating an example PRS configuration for two TRPs (labeled "TRP2" and "TRP3") operating in the same positioning frequency layer (labeled "Positioning Frequency Layer 1") according to various aspects of this disclosure. For a positioning session, auxiliary data indicative of the shown PRS configuration may be provided to the UE. Figure 4B In the example, a first TRP (“TRP1”) is associated (e.g., for transmission) with two PRS resource sets labeled “PRS Resource Set 1” and “PRS Resource Set 2”, and a second TRP (“TRP2”) is associated with one PRS resource set labeled “PRS Resource Set 3”. Each PRS resource set includes at least two PRS resources. Specifically, the first PRS resource set (“PRS Resource Set 1”) includes PRS resources labeled “PRS Resource 1” and “PRS Resource 2”, the second PRS resource set (“PRS Resource Set 2”) includes PRS resources labeled “PRS Resource 3” and “PRS Resource 4”, and the third PRS resource set (“PRS Resource Set 3”) includes PRS resources labeled “PRS Resource 5” and “PRS Resource 6”.

[0115] It should be noted that the terms "location reference signal" and "PRS" generally refer to specific reference signals used for positioning in NR and LTE systems. However, as used herein, the terms "location reference signal" and "PRS" can also refer to any type of reference signal that can be used for positioning, such as, but not limited to, PRS, TRS, PTRS, CRS, CSI-RS, DMRS, PSS, SSS, SSB, SRS, UL-PRS, etc., as defined in LTE and NR. Furthermore, the terms "location reference signal" and "PRS" can refer to downlink or uplink positioning reference signals, unless otherwise indicated by the context. If further distinction is needed regarding the type of PRS, downlink positioning reference signals may be referred to as "DL-PRS," while uplink positioning reference signals (e.g., SRS, PTRS used for positioning) may be referred to as "UL-PRS." Additionally, for signals that can be transmitted in both uplink and downlink (e.g., DMRS, PTRS), these signals may be prefixed with "UL" or "DL" to distinguish direction. For example, "UL-DMRS" can be distinguished from "DL-DMRS."

[0116] Figure 5 This is a graph 500 illustrating the channel impulse response of a multipath channel between a receiver device (e.g., any UE or base station described herein) and a transmitter device (e.g., any other UE or base station described herein) according to various aspects of this disclosure. The channel impulse response (also known as the channel energy response) represents the variation of the strength of the RF signal (e.g., PRS) received through the multipath channel with time delay. Therefore, the horizontal axis is in units of time (e.g., milliseconds), and the vertical axis is in units of signal strength (e.g., decibels). It should be noted that a multipath channel is a channel between a transmitter and a receiver where the RF signal travels along multiple paths or multipaths due to transmission of the RF signal across multiple beams and / or due to the propagation characteristics of the RF signal (e.g., reflection, refraction, etc.).

[0117] exist Figure 5 In the example, the receiver detects / measures multiple (four) channel tap clusters. Each channel tap represents a multipath along which the RF signal travels between the transmitter and receiver. That is, a channel tap represents the arrival of the RF signal on a multipath. Each channel tap cluster indicates that the corresponding multipath is substantially along the same path. Different clusters may exist because the RF signals are transmitted on different transmission beams (and therefore at different angles), or because of the propagation characteristics of the RF signals (e.g., possibly along different paths due to reflection), or both.

[0118] A cluster of all channel taps for a given RF signal represents the multipath channel (or simply channel) between the transmitter and receiver. Figure 5Below the channel shown, the receiver receives a first cluster of two RF signals at the channel tap at time T1, a second cluster of five RF signals at the channel tap at time T2, a third cluster of five RF signals at the channel tap at time T3, and a fourth cluster of four RF signals at the channel tap at time T4. Figure 5 In the example, since the first RF signal cluster arrives first at time T1, it is assumed to correspond to the RF signal transmitted on the transmission beam aligned with the line-of-sight (LOS) or shortest path. The third cluster at time T3 contains the strongest RF signal and could correspond to, for example, the RF signal transmitted on a transmission beam aligned with the non-line-of-sight (NLOS) path. It should be noted that although... Figure 5 Clusters with two to five channel taps are shown, but it should be understood that clusters may have more or fewer channel taps than the number shown.

[0119] Figure 6 A positioning process based on Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA) in an example wireless communication system 600 according to various aspects of this disclosure is illustrated. The TDOA-based positioning process can be an observed Time Difference of Arrival (OTDOA) positioning process in LTE, or a downlink Time Difference of Arrival (DL-TDOA) positioning process in 5G NR. Figure 6 In the example, UE 604 (e.g., any of the UEs described herein) is attempting to calculate its location estimate (referred to as "UE-based" positioning) or assisting another entity (e.g., a base station or core network component, another UE, a location server, a third-party application, etc.) in calculating its location estimate (referred to as "UE-assisted" positioning). UE 604 may communicate with (e.g., send and receive information from) one or more of a plurality of base stations 602 (e.g., any combination of base stations described herein), which are designated as "BS1" 602-1, "BS2" 602-2, and "BS3" 602-3, respectively.

[0120] To support location estimation, base station 602 can be configured to broadcast location reference signals (e.g., PRS, TRS, CRS, CSI-RS, etc.) to UE 604 within its coverage area, enabling UE 604 to measure the characteristics of such reference signals. During TDOA-based positioning, UE 604 measures the time difference (referred to as Reference Signal Time Difference (RSTD) or TDOA) between specific downlink reference signals (e.g., PRS, TRS, CRS, CSI-RS, etc.) transmitted by different base stations 602 pairs, and reports these RSTD measurements to a location server (e.g., location server 230, LMF 270, SLP 272) or calculates the location estimate itself from these RSTD measurements.

[0121] Generally speaking, in the reference cell (e.g., by Figure 6 The example base station 602-1 supports cells and one or more neighboring cells (e.g., by...). Figure 6 RSTD is measured between the cells supported by base stations 602-2 and 602-3 in the example. For any single location use for TDOA, the reference cell remains the same for all RSTDs measured by UE 604 and will typically correspond to the serving cell of UE 604 or another nearby cell with good signal strength at UE 604. On the other hand, neighboring cells are typically cells supported by base stations different from the reference cell and may have good or poor signal strength at UE 604. Location calculations may be based on the measured RSTDs and knowledge of the location of the relevant base stations 602 and relative transmission timing (e.g., whether base stations 602 are accurately synchronized or whether each base station 602 transmits with a known time offset relative to other base stations 602).

[0122] To assist TDOA-based positioning operations, a location server (e.g., location server 230, LMF 270, SLP272) may provide UE 604 with auxiliary data for a reference cell and neighboring cells relative to the reference cell. For example, the auxiliary data may include identifiers (e.g., PCI, VCI, CGI, etc.) for each cell in the cell set that UE 604 intends to measure (here, the cells supported by base station 602). The auxiliary data may also provide the center channel frequency for each cell, various reference signal configuration parameters (e.g., the number of coherent positioning slots, the periodicity of positioning slots, silence sequences, frequency hopping sequences, reference signal identifiers, reference signal bandwidth), and / or other cell-related parameters applicable to the TDOA-based positioning process. The auxiliary data may also indicate the serving cell of UE 604 as the reference cell.

[0123] In some cases, the auxiliary data may also include "expected RSTD" parameters and the uncertainty of those parameters, which provide UE 604 with information about the RSTD values ​​between the reference cell and each neighboring cell that UE 604 is expected to measure at its current location. The expected RSTD and associated uncertainty can define a search window for UE 604 within which it is expected to measure RSTD values. In some cases, the expected RSTD value range may be + / - 500 microseconds (μs). In some cases, when any resources used for positioning measurements are in FR1, the expected RSTD uncertainty range may be + / - 32 μs. In other cases, when all resources used for positioning measurements are in FR2, the expected RSTD uncertainty range may be + / - 8 μs.

[0124] TDOA auxiliary information may also include positioning reference signal configuration information parameters, which allow UE 604 to determine when the positioning reference signal timing will appear on the signals received from each neighboring cell relative to the positioning reference signal timing used for the reference cell, and to determine the reference signal sequence transmitted from each cell to measure the reference signal arrival time (ToA) or RSTD.

[0125] On the one hand, while location servers (e.g., location server 230, LMF 270, SLP 272) may send auxiliary data to UE 604, alternatively, the auxiliary data may originate directly from base station 602 itself (e.g., in periodically broadcast overhead messages, etc.). Alternatively, UE 604 may detect neighboring base stations on its own without using auxiliary data.

[0126] UE 604 (e.g., based in part on auxiliary data, if provided) can measure and (optionally) report the RSTD between reference signals received from base station 602. Using RSTD measurements, the known absolute or relative transmission timing of each base station 602, and the known locations of the reference and neighboring base stations 602, the network (e.g., location server 230 / LMF 270 / SLP 272, base station 602) or UE 604 can estimate the location of UE 604. More specifically, the RSTD of neighboring cell "k" relative to the reference cell "Ref" can be represented as (ToA_k - ToA_Ref). Figure 6 In the example, the RSTD measured between the reference cell of base station 602-1 and the cells of neighboring base stations 602-2 and 602-3 can be represented as T2-T1 and T3-T1, where T1, T2, and T3 represent the ToA of the reference signals from base stations 602-1, 602-2, and 602-3, respectively. UE 604 (if it is not a location entity) can then send the RSTD measurements to a location server or other location entity. The location of UE 604 (determined by UE 604 or the location server) can be determined using (i) the RSTD measurements, (ii) the known absolute or relative transmission timing of each base station 602, (iii) the known location of base station 602, and / or (iv) the characteristics of the directional reference signal (such as the direction of transmission).

[0127] On one hand, position estimation can specify the position of UE 604 in a two-dimensional (2D) coordinate system; however, the aspects disclosed herein are not limited to this and can also be applied to determining the position estimate using a three-dimensional (3D) coordinate system when additional dimensions are desired. Additionally, although Figure 6One UE 604 and three base stations 602 are shown, but as should be understood, there may be more UEs 604 and more base stations 602.

[0128] Still referencing Figure 6 When UE 604 uses RSTD to obtain a location estimate, the location server may provide UE 604 with necessary additional data (e.g., the location of base station 602 and relative transmission timing). In some embodiments, the location estimate of UE 604 may be obtained (e.g., by UE 604 itself or by the location server) from RSTD and from other measurements performed by UE 604 (e.g., measurements of signal timing from Global Positioning System (GPS) or other Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) satellites). In these embodiments (referred to as hybrid positioning), RSTD measurements may contribute to obtaining the location estimate of UE 604, but may not fully determine the location estimate.

[0129] The auxiliary data used to configure the UE for measuring PRS positioning methods can identify up to four frequency layers, 64 TRPs per frequency layer, two PRS resource sets per TRP, and 64 PRS resources per PRS resource set. Currently, when the number of PRS resources configured by the UE in the auxiliary data exceeds its measurement and processing capabilities, the UE assumes that the PRS resources in the auxiliary data are sorted in descending order of measurement priority. That is, the UE can assume that the four frequency layers are sorted according to priority, the 64 TRPs per frequency layer are sorted according to priority, the two PRS resource sets per TRP of the frequency layer are sorted according to priority, and the 64 PRS resources in each PRS resource set of each TRP of each frequency layer are sorted according to priority.

[0130] Figure 7A and Figure 7B Various information elements (IEs) are shown for providing the UE with auxiliary data for the DL-PRS for the location session. These IEs are defined in 3GPP Technical Specification (TS) 37.355, which has been publicly released and is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Specifically, the location server uses “NR-DL-PRS-AssistanceData” IE 710 to provide the UE with DL-PRS auxiliary data. Figure 7AAs shown, the “NR-DL-PRS-AssistanceData” IE 710 includes a “nr-DL-PRS-ReferenceInfo” field pointing to the “DL-PRS-ID-Info” IE and a “nr-DL-PRS-AssistanceDataList” field pointing to the size “nrMaxFreqLayers” sequence of the “NR-DL-PRS-AssistanceDataPerFreq” IE. The “nr-DL-PRS-ReferenceInfo” field specifies the ID of the auxiliary data reference TRP. It should be noted that, at least for the DL-TDOA positioning procedure, “nr-DL-PRS-ReferenceInfo” has the highest priority for the reference TRP indicated for each frequency layer. The “nr-DL-PRS-AssistanceDataList” field specifies the DL-PRS resources used for each frequency layer.

[0131] like Figure 7A As further shown, the “NR-DL-PRS-AssistanceDataPerFreq” IE 730 includes a “nr-DL-PRS-AssistanceDataPerFreq” field, which points to the “nrMaxTRPsPerFreq” sequence of the “NR-DL-PRS-AssistanceDataPerTRP” IE. The “nr-DL-PRS-AssistanceDataPerFreq” field specifies the DL-PRS resource used to locate the TRP within the frequency layer. Therefore, as Figure 7B As shown, the “NR-DL-PRS-AssistanceDataPerTRP” IE 750 includes a “dl-PRS-ID” field with values ​​from 0 to 255 and a “nr-DL-PRS-Info” field pointing to the “NR-DL-PRS-Info” IE. The “dl-PRS-ID” field, along with the DL-PRS resource set ID and DL-PRS resource ID, is used to uniquely identify a DL-PRS resource and is associated with a single TRP. The “nr-DL-PRS-Info” field specifies the PRS configuration of the TRP.

[0132] Figure 8A and Figure 8BVarious information elements (IEs) used to define the DL-PRS for a location session are shown. These IEs are defined in 3GPP TS 37.355. The “NR-DL-PRS-Info” IE 810 defines the downlink PRS configuration and includes the “nrMaxSetsPerTrp” sequence of the “NR-DL-PRS-ResourceSet” IE. For example, the “NR-DL-PRS-ResourceSet” IE 830 includes a “nr-DL-PRS-ResourceSetID” field pointing to the “NR-DL-PRS-ResourceSetID” IE and a “dl-PRS-ResourceList” field pointing to the “nrMaxResourcesPerSet” sequence of the “NR-DL-PRS-Resource” IE. “NR-DL-PRS-ResourceSetID” defines the identifier of the DL-PRS resource set for the TRP. The “NR-DL-PRS-Resource” IE 850 includes a “nr-DL-PRS-ResourceID” field pointing to the “NR-DL-PRS-ResourceID” IE and a “dl-PRS-SequenceID” field with values ​​from 0 to 4095. The “NR-DL-PRS-ResourceID” IE defines the identifier of the DL-PRS resource in the DL-PRS resource set of the TRP. The “dl-PRS-SequenceID” field specifies the sequence ID, which is used to initialize parameters used by the pseudo-random generator to generate the DL-PRS sequence to be transmitted on a given DL-PRS resource.

[0133] Figure 9A and Figure 9BVarious information elements (IEs) used to provide the UE with the location of a TRP set are illustrated. These IEs are defined in 3GPP TS 37.355. Specifically, the location server uses the “NR-TRP-LocationInfo” IE 910 to provide the UE with the antenna reference point coordinates of the TRP set. For each TRP, the antenna reference point (ARP) location can be provided for each associated PRS resource ID for each PRS resource set. The “NR-TRP-LocationInfo” IE 910 includes the “nrMaxFreqLayers” sequence of the “NR-TRP-LocationInfoPerFreqLayer” IE. The “NR-TRP-LocationInfoPerFreqLayer” IE 930 includes a “referencePoint” field pointing to the “ReferencePoint” IE and a “trp-LocationInfoList” field pointing to the “nrMaxTRPsPerFreq” sequence of the “TRP-LocationInfoElement” IE. The “referencePoint” field specifies the reference point used to define the TRP location in the “trp-LocationInfoList” IE. If this field is missing, the reference point is the same as the previous entry in the “NR-TRP-LocationInfoPerFreqLayer” IE list. The “trp-LocationInfoList” field provides the antenna reference point location for the DL-PRS resource used for TRP.

[0134] For example, the “TRP-LocationInfoElement” IE 950 includes a “trp-Location” field pointing to the “RelativeLocation” IE and a “trp-DL-PRS-ResourceSets” field pointing to the “nrMaxSetsPerTrp” sequence of the “DL-PRS-ResourceSets-TRP-Element” IE. The “trp-Location” field provides the location of the TRP relative to the “referencePoint” location. If this field is missing, the TRP location is the same as the “referencePoint” location unless an “associated-dl-PRS-ID” field is present, in which case the “trp-Location” is taken from the associated TRP indicated by the “associated-dl-PRS-ID”. If the “associated-DL-PRS-ID” field is present, it specifies the “dl-PRS-ID” of the associated TRP, from which the “trp-location” information is obtained. The “trp-DL-PRS-ResourceSets” field provides the antenna reference point location of the DL-PRS resource set associated with this TRP. If this field is missing, the antenna reference point location of the DL-PRS resource set is consistent with the "trp-Location" location.

[0135] The “DL-PRS-ResourceSets-TRP-Element” IE 970 includes a “dl-PRS-ResourceSetARP” field pointing to the “RelativeLocation” IE and a “dl-PRS-Resource-ARP-List” field pointing to the “nrMaxResourcesPerSet” sequence of the “DL-PRS-Resource-ARP-Element” IE. The “dl-PRS-ResourceSetARP” field provides the antenna reference point location of the DL-PRS resource set relative to the “trp-Location” location. If this field is missing, the antenna reference point location of the DL-PRS resource set is consistent with the “trp-Location” location. The “dl-PRS-Resource-ARP-List” field provides the antenna reference point locations of the DL-PRS resources associated with this resource set of the TRP. If this field is missing, the antenna reference point location of the DL-PRS resources is consistent with the “dl-PRS-ResourceSetARP” location.

[0136] The “DL-PRS-Resource-ARP-Element” IE 990 includes a “dl-PRS-Resource-ARP-location” field that points to a sequence of “RelativeLocation” IEs. The “dl-PRS-Resource-ARP-location” field provides the antenna reference point location of the DL-PRS resource associated with the TRP’s DL-PRS resource set relative to the “dl-PRS-ResourceSetARP” location. If this field is missing, the antenna reference point location of the DL-PRS resource is the same as the “dl-PRS-ResourceSetARP” location. The “RelativeLocation” IE provides the location relative to a known reference location (e.g., an ARP location).

[0137] Reconsider the positioning based on TDOA, as mentioned above. Figure 6 Each TRP defines the expected RSTD and the expected RSTD uncertainty. Figure 10 This is a schematic diagram 1000 illustrating an example of determining timing assumptions for RSTD measurements. Figure 10 In the example, for a PRS hypothesis window (or search window) of 200 μs (i.e., 100 μs + 100 μs = 200 μs), the expected RSTD is 10 μs, and the expected RSTD uncertainty is 100 μs. For example... Figure 10 As shown, this results in a total timing assumption of four symbols, or a four-symbol assumption (i.e., the symbol at which the UE can find PRS resources for measurement to calculate RSTD). Therefore, the PRS search window spans four symbols, which for a 15kHz SCS is four times 71.35μs (66.67μs plus a 4.69μs cyclic prefix (CP)), equaling 285.4μs. The UE needs to find the PRS resource in each of the four symbol assumptions. For the four-symbol assumption, the UE requires four times the processing power and power compared to a single-symbol assumption search. Therefore, this assumption increases the UE's processing and power capabilities for each measured PRS resource.

[0138] Figure 11 Table 1100 shows the maximum symbol assumptions that a UE needs to consider in 5G NR. It should be noted that the parameter set with μ = 0 also applies to LTE. As shown in Table 1100 and as stated above, the expected RSTD is 500 μs for all parameter sets; the expected RSTD uncertainty is 32 μs for parameter sets 0, 1, and 2; and the expected RSTD uncertainty is 8 μs for parameter sets 3 and 4. As shown in Table 1100, the maximum number of symbols in the search space increases based on the parameter set.

[0139] This disclosure provides a hypothesis search technique to reduce the workload of location data collection. Consider the following example scenario for a single TRP. Figure 4B As shown, a TRP can be associated with multiple PRS resource sets and multiple PRS resources. In this example, there are N PRS resources, denoted as "PRS1" to "PRSN". The UE can measure the N PRS resources using a certain number of PRS instances, depending on its capabilities. For example, the UE may only be able to measure two or four PRS resources per PRS instance; therefore, for N=8, the UE will measure the PRS resources using four or two PRS instances respectively. Furthermore, as... Figure 10 In the example, the expected RSTD and expected uncertainty span four sign assumptions, resulting in a UE search space of {-1,0,1,2}, similarly... Figure 10 In the example.

[0140] Referring now to the proposed search technique, for the first M PRS resources (where M is less than N), the UE will search the entire search space to determine the optimal symbol hypothesis. The optimal symbol hypothesis is the symbol that the UE is most likely to find (and be able to measure) for the PRS resource used to calculate the RSTD measurement. In other words, the optimal symbol hypothesis is the symbol in the search window during which the signal strength of each of the M PRS resources is maximized. For example, the optimal symbol hypothesis is the symbol hypothesis that maximizes the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the peak channel energy response (CER) of the PRS resource. The UE can determine the optimal symbol hypothesis by trying to measure each of the first M PRS resources in each symbol of the search window, or in other words, by determining the signal strength of each of the first M PRS resources in each symbol of the search window. As mentioned above, depending on the UE's capabilities and the number of PRS resources, the UE can measure the M PRS resources through one or more PRS instances (or timings). The search window is the same for each PRS instance.

[0141] If the UE determines the optimal sign hypothesis (denoted as sign hypothesis i) common to all M PRS resources, then for the remaining PRS resources (here, N minus M PRS resources), the UE can only measure the single sign hypothesis i for each of the remaining PRS resources. It should be noted that M can be as small as 1. That is, the UE can find the optimal sign hypothesis for the first PRS resource and then apply that hypothesis to the remaining PRS resources.

[0142] If none of the PRS resources have a common optimal sign hypothesis, the UE will continue searching for other PRS resources in full search window mode until it finds M PRS resources with a common optimal sign hypothesis. If the UE finds M PRS resources with a common optimal sign hypothesis i after searching M plus X PRS resources, then for all remaining PRS resources (here, N minus M minus X PRS resources), the UE will use the single sign hypothesis i to measure the remaining PRS resources.

[0143] On one hand, the optimal sign assumption can be extended to co-located TRPs. For UE-assisted localization procedures, two TRPs are considered co-located if they have the same PCI (e.g., "NR-PhysicalCellID"), CGI (e.g., "NR-CellGlobalID"), and ARFCN ("NR-ARFCN"), and have the same or similar (i.e., within a threshold) expected RSTD and RSTD uncertainty. Therefore, for TRPs received in assisted data that have the same PCI, CGI, and ARFCN, and the same or similar expected RSTD and uncertainty, the UE can use the optimal sign assumption to measure the PRS resources received from these TRPs.

[0144] For the UE-based positioning process, the TRP location information for each TRP is provided to the UE (e.g., as referenced above). Figure 9A and Figure 9B (As shown and described). In these cases, if the TRP is located within a radius R of the reference TRP, these TRPs are considered co-located. The radius can be based on the subcarrier spacing, which sets an upper limit on the value of R. Therefore, R is a threshold distance from the reference TRP.

[0145] As should be understood, although the techniques described above are relative to RSTD measurement, the techniques described herein are applicable to any type of location procedure in which the UE measures its PRS. For example, for an RTT location procedure, the UE can use the techniques described herein to locate and measure the PRS from the base station. Similarly, the base station can use the techniques described herein to locate and measure the SRS from the UE.

[0146] Figure 12 This is a schematic diagram 1200 illustrating an example co-location scenario based on the UE's positioning process. Figure 12In the example, there are multiple TRPs, labeled "TRP1" through "TRP7". As part of the TDOA-based positioning process, the UE (not shown) may be measuring these TRPs. TRP1 is the reference TRP used for RSTD measurement. TRP2, TRP3, and TRP4 are co-located with TRP1 because they are within a radius R of TRP1. Therefore, the UE can use the same optimal sign assumption to measure the PRS resources received from TRP1, TRP2, TRP3, and TRP4.

[0147] The techniques disclosed herein offer various technical advantages. For example, by determining the optimal symbol hypothesis, the UE can perform fewer hypothesis searches. Ultimately, only one hypothesis is needed to perform PRS resource acquisition for multiple TRPs. Furthermore, using a common optimal symbol hypothesis improves processing efficiency and reduces power consumption. Additionally, the time to report all measurements can be reduced, thereby improving the overall latency of the positioning session (i.e., the start-to-end time of acquiring a positioning lock).

[0148] Figure 13 An example wireless positioning method 1300 according to various aspects of this disclosure is illustrated. In one aspect, method 1300 can be performed by a UE (e.g., any UE described herein).

[0149] At 1310, the UE receives positioning assistance data from a location server. This positioning assistance data includes at least a first expected measurement value (e.g., an expected RSTD value) and a first expected measurement uncertainty value (e.g., an expected RSTD uncertainty value). These values ​​define a first search window during which the UE is expected to measure a first plurality of PRS resources transmitted by a first TRP. In one aspect, operation 1310 may be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 310, one or more processors 332, a memory 340, and / or a positioning component 342, any or all of which may be considered as means for performing the operation.

[0150] At 1320, the UE determines a common optimal symbol hypothesis for a first set of PRS resources among a first plurality of PRS resources, wherein the optimal symbol hypothesis is the symbol within a first search window during which the signal strength of each PRS resource in the first PRS resource set is maximized. In one aspect, operation 1320 may be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 310, one or more processors 332, memory 340, and / or positioning components 342, any or all of which may be considered as means for performing the operation.

[0151] At 1330, the UE measures each PRS resource in the second PRS resource set only during the optimal symbol assumption. In one aspect, operation 1330 can be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 310, one or more processors 332, memory 340, and / or positioning components 342, any or all of which can be considered as means for performing the operation.

[0152] As should be understood, the technical advantages of Method 1300 include improved processing efficiency and reduced power consumption, as well as reduced latency.

[0153] As can be seen in the specific implementation described above, different features are grouped together in the examples. This manner of disclosure should not be construed as an intention to include more features in the example clauses than are expressly mentioned in each clause. Rather, aspects of this disclosure may include fewer features than those in the individual example clauses disclosed. Therefore, the following clauses should be regarded accordingly as included in the specification, wherein each clause may be considered as a separate example. Although each dependent clause may refer in the clause to a particular combination with one of the other clauses, the aspect of the dependent clause is not limited to that particular combination. It should be understood that other example clauses may also include combinations of aspects of the dependent clause with the subject matter of any other dependent or independent clause, or combinations of any feature with other dependent and independent clauses. The aspects disclosed herein expressly include these combinations unless expressly stated or readily inferred that a particular combination is not expected (e.g., contradictory aspects, such as defining an element as both an insulator and a conductor). Furthermore, it is contemplated that aspects of a clause may be included in any other independent clause, even if that clause does not directly depend on the independent clause.

[0154] Specific implementation examples are described in the following numbered clauses:

[0155] Clause 1. A wireless positioning method performed by a user equipment (UE), comprising: receiving positioning assistance data from a location server, the positioning assistance data including at least a first expected measurement value and a first expected measurement uncertainty value, the first expected measurement value and the first expected measurement uncertainty value defining a first search window, during the first search window, during which the UE is expected to measure a first plurality of positioning reference signal (PRS) resources transmitted by a first transmit receiving point (TRP); determining a common optimal symbol hypothesis for a first set of PRS resources among the first plurality of PRS resources, wherein the optimal symbol hypothesis is a symbol within the first search window, during the symbol period, the signal strength of each PRS resource in the first set of PRS resources is maximized; and measuring each PRS resource in a second set of PRS resources among the first plurality of PRS resources only during the optimal symbol hypothesis period.

[0156] Clause 2. The method according to Clause 1, wherein determining the optimal symbol hypothesis comprises: measuring the signal strength of at least each PRS resource in the first PRS resource set during each symbol of the first search window; and determining the symbol within the first search window, during which the signal strength of each PRS resource in the first PRS resource set is maximized.

[0157] Clause 3. The method according to Clause 2, wherein measuring the signal strength of at least each PRS resource in the first PRS resource set comprises: measuring the signal strength of a PRS resource among the first plurality of PRS resources that has a greater signal strength than each PRS resource in the first PRS resource set.

[0158] Clause 4. The method according to any one of Clauses 2 to 3 further comprises: reporting measurements associated with the first TRP based on measurements performed on the first PRS resource set during each symbol of the first search window and measurements performed on the second PRS resource set only during the best symbol hypothesis.

[0159] Clause 5. The method according to any one of Clauses 2 to 4, wherein the signal strength of each PRS resource in the first PRS resource set is measured by one or more PRS instances.

[0160] Clause 6. The method according to any one of Clauses 1 to 5, wherein the first PRS resource set comprises a PRS resource.

[0161] Clause 7. The method according to any one of Clauses 1 to 6, wherein the positioning assistance data further includes the configuration of the first plurality of PRS resources.

[0162] Clause 8. The method according to any one of Clauses 1 to 7, wherein: the first plurality of PRS resources comprises N PRS resources, the first PRS resource set comprises M PRS resources, and the second PRS resource set comprises N minus M PRS resources.

[0163] Clause 9. The method according to any one of Clauses 1 to 7, wherein: the first plurality of PRS resources comprises N PRS resources, the first set of PRS resources comprises M PRS resources, M plus X PRSs are measured to determine the optimal sign hypothesis, and the second set of PRS resources comprises N minus M minus X PRS resources.

[0164] Clause 10. The method according to any one of Clauses 1 to 9, wherein: the positioning assistance data further includes a second expected measurement value and a second expected measurement uncertainty value, the second expected measurement value and the second expected measurement uncertainty value defining a second search window, during which the UE is expected to measure a second plurality of PRS resources transmitted by a second TRP; the method further includes: measuring each of the second plurality of PRS resources only during the best sign assumption.

[0165] Clause 11. The method according to Clause 10, wherein the second plurality of PRS resources are measured only during the period of the best symbol assumption, based on the co-addressing of the second TRP with the first TRP.

[0166] Clause 12. The method according to Clause 11, wherein the first TRP and the second TRP are considered co-located based on the fact that the second TRP is located within a threshold radius of the first TRP.

[0167] Clause 13. The method according to any one of Clauses 11 to 12, wherein: the first TRP and the second TRP are considered co-located based on the fact that the first TRP and the second TRP have the same Physical Cell Identifier (PCI), Cell Global Identifier (CGI), and Absolute Radio Channel Number (ARFCN), and the second expected measurement value and the second expected measurement uncertainty value are respectively within the thresholds of the first expected measurement value and the first expected measurement uncertainty value.

[0168] Clause 14. The method according to any one of Clauses 10 to 13, wherein: the first expected measurement value and the first expected measurement uncertainty value are a first expected reference signal time difference (RSTD) value and a first expected RSTD uncertainty value for a positioning process involving the time difference of arrival (TDOA) of the first TRP and the second TRP, and the second expected measurement value and the second expected measurement uncertainty value are a second expected RSTD value and a second expected RSTD uncertainty value for the TDOA positioning process.

[0169] Clause 15. The method according to any one of Clauses 1 to 13, wherein the first expected measurement and the first expected measurement uncertainty are expected time of arrival (ToA) values ​​and expected ToA uncertainty values ​​for a round-trip time (RTT) positioning process involving at least the first TRP.

[0170] Clause 16. A user equipment (UE) comprising: a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: receive positioning assistance data from a location server via the at least one transceiver, the positioning assistance data including at least a first expected measurement value and a first expected measurement uncertainty value, the first expected measurement value and the first expected measurement uncertainty value defining a first search window, during which the UE is expected to measure a first plurality of positioning reference signal (PRS) resources transmitted by a first transmit receiving point (TRP); determine a common optimal symbol hypothesis for a first set of PRS resources among the first plurality of PRS resources, wherein the optimal symbol hypothesis is a symbol within the first search window, during which the signal strength of each PRS resource in the first set of PRS resources is maximized; and measure each PRS resource in a second set of PRS resources among the first plurality of PRS resources only during the optimal symbol hypothesis.

[0171] Clause 17. The UE according to Clause 16, wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine the optimal symbol assumption includes the at least one processor being configured to: measure the signal strength of at least each PRS resource in the first PRS resource set during each symbol of the first search window; and determine the symbol within the first search window, wherein the signal strength of each PRS resource in the first PRS resource set is maximized during the symbol.

[0172] Clause 18. The UE according to Clause 17, wherein the at least one processor is configured to measure the signal strength of at least each PRS resource in the first PRS resource set, the at least one processor is configured to: measure the signal strength of PRS resources that are greater than the signal strength of each PRS resource in the first PRS resource set.

[0173] Clause 19. The UE pursuant to any one of Clauses 17 to 18, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to report measurements associated with the first TRP based on measurements performed on the first PRS resource set during each symbol of the first search window and measurements performed on the second PRS resource set only during the best symbol assumption.

[0174] Clause 20. The UE according to any one of Clauses 17 to 19, wherein the signal strength of each PRS resource in the first PRS resource set is measured by one or more PRS instances.

[0175] Clause 21. The UE pursuant to any one of Clauses 16 to 20, wherein the first PRS resource set comprises a PRS resource.

[0176] Clause 22. The UE pursuant to any one of Clauses 16 to 21, wherein the positioning assistance data further includes the configuration of the first plurality of PRS resources.

[0177] Clause 23. The UE according to any one of Clauses 16 to 22, wherein: the first plurality of PRS resources comprises N PRS resources, the first set of PRS resources comprises M PRS resources, and the second set of PRS resources comprises N minus M PRS resources.

[0178] Clause 24. The UE according to any one of Clauses 16 to 22, wherein: the first plurality of PRS resources comprises N PRS resources, the first set of PRS resources comprises M PRS resources, M plus X PRSs are measured to determine the optimal sign hypothesis, and the second set of PRS resources comprises N minus M minus X PRS resources.

[0179] Clause 25. The UE according to any one of Clauses 16 to 24, wherein: the positioning assistance data further includes a second expected measurement value and a second expected measurement uncertainty value, the second expected measurement value and the second expected measurement uncertainty value defining a second search window, during which the UE is expected to measure a second plurality of PRS resources transmitted by a second TRP; the at least one processor is further configured to measure each of the second plurality of PRS resources only during the best sign assumption.

[0180] Clause 26. The UE as described in Clause 25, wherein the second plurality of PRS resources are measured only during the period of the best symbol assumption, based on the co-location of the second TRP with the first TRP.

[0181] Clause 27. The UE as described in Clause 26, wherein the first TRP and the second TRP are considered co-located based on the fact that the second TRP is located within a threshold radius of the first TRP.

[0182] Clause 28. A UE pursuant to any one of Clauses 26 to 27, wherein: the first TRP and the second TRP are considered co-located based on the fact that the first TRP and the second TRP have the same Physical Cell Identifier (PCI), Cell Global Identifier (CGI), and Absolute Radio Channel Number (ARFCN), and the second expected measurement value and the second expected measurement uncertainty value are respectively within the thresholds of the first expected measurement value and the first expected measurement uncertainty value.

[0183] Clause 29. The UE according to any one of Clauses 25 to 28, wherein: the first expected measurement value and the first expected measurement uncertainty value are a first expected reference signal time difference (RSTD) value and a first expected RSTD uncertainty value for a positioning process involving the time difference of arrival (TDOA) of the first TRP and the second TRP, and the second expected measurement value and the second expected measurement uncertainty value are a second expected RSTD value and a second expected RSTD uncertainty value for the TDOA positioning process.

[0184] Clause 30. For any UE pursuant to any one of Clauses 16 to 28, the first expected measurement value and the first expected measurement uncertainty value are expected time of arrival (ToA) values ​​and expected ToA uncertainty values ​​for a round-trip time (RTT) positioning process involving at least the first TRP.

[0185] Clause 31. A user equipment (UE) comprising: means for receiving positioning assistance data from a location server, the positioning assistance data including at least a first expected measurement value and a first expected measurement uncertainty value, the first expected measurement value and the first expected measurement uncertainty value defining a first search window during which the UE is expected to measure a first plurality of positioning reference signal (PRS) resources transmitted by a first transmit receiving point (TRP); means for determining a common optimal sign hypothesis for a first set of PRS resources among the first plurality of PRS resources, wherein the optimal sign hypothesis is a sign within the first search window during which the signal strength of each PRS resource in the first set of PRS resources is maximized; and means for measuring each PRS resource in a second set of PRS resources among the first plurality of PRS resources only during the optimal sign hypothesis period.

[0186] Clause 32. The UE according to Clause 31, wherein the means for determining the optimal symbol hypothesis comprises: means for measuring the signal strength of at least each PRS resource in the first PRS resource set during each symbol of the first search window; and means for determining the symbol within the first search window, wherein the signal strength of each PRS resource in the first PRS resource set is maximized during the symbol.

[0187] Clause 33. The UE according to Clause 32, wherein the means for measuring the signal strength of at least each PRS resource in the first PRS resource set comprises: means for measuring the signal strength of a PRS resource among the first plurality of PRS resources that has a greater signal strength than each PRS resource in the first PRS resource set.

[0188] Clause 34. The UE according to any one of Clauses 32 to 33 further includes: means for reporting measurements associated with the first TRP based on measurements performed on the first PRS resource set during each symbol of the first search window and measurements performed on the second PRS resource set only during the best symbol assumption.

[0189] Clause 35. The UE according to any one of Clauses 32 to 34, wherein the signal strength of each PRS resource in the first PRS resource set is measured by one or more PRS instances.

[0190] Clause 36. The UE pursuant to any one of Clauses 31 to 35, wherein the first PRS resource set comprises a PRS resource.

[0191] Clause 37. The UE pursuant to any one of Clauses 31 to 36, wherein the positioning assistance data further includes the configuration of the first plurality of PRS resources.

[0192] Clause 38. The UE according to any one of Clauses 31 to 37, wherein: the first plurality of PRS resources comprises N PRS resources, the first PRS resource set comprises M PRS resources, and the second PRS resource set comprises N minus M PRS resources.

[0193] Clause 39. The UE according to any one of Clauses 31 to 37, wherein: the first plurality of PRS resources comprises N PRS resources, the first set of PRS resources comprises M PRS resources, M plus X PRSs are measured to determine the optimal sign hypothesis, and the second set of PRS resources comprises N minus M minus X PRS resources.

[0194] Clause 40. The UE according to any one of Clauses 31 to 39, wherein: the positioning assistance data further includes a second expected measurement value and a second expected measurement uncertainty value, the second expected measurement value and the second expected measurement uncertainty value defining a second search window during which the UE is expected to measure a second plurality of PRS resources transmitted by a second TRP; the UE further includes: means for measuring each of the second plurality of PRS resources only during the best sign assumption.

[0195] Clause 41. The UE as described in Clause 40, wherein the second plurality of PRS resources are measured only during the period of the best symbol assumption, based on the co-location of the second TRP with the first TRP.

[0196] Clause 42. The UE as described in Clause 41, wherein the first TRP and the second TRP are considered co-located based on the fact that the second TRP is located within a threshold radius of the first TRP.

[0197] Clause 43. A UE pursuant to any one of Clauses 41 to 42, wherein: the first TRP and the second TRP are considered co-located based on the fact that the first TRP and the second TRP have the same Physical Cell Identifier (PCI), Cell Global Identifier (CGI), and Absolute Radio Channel Number (ARFCN), and the second expected measurement value and the second expected measurement uncertainty value are respectively within the thresholds of the first expected measurement value and the first expected measurement uncertainty value.

[0198] Clause 44. The UE according to any one of Clauses 40 to 43, wherein: the first expected measurement value and the first expected measurement uncertainty value are a first expected reference signal time difference (RSTD) value and a first expected RSTD uncertainty value for a positioning process involving the time difference of arrival (TDOA) of the first TRP and the second TRP, and the second expected measurement value and the second expected measurement uncertainty value are a second expected RSTD value and a second expected RSTD uncertainty value for the TDOA positioning process.

[0199] Clause 45. For any UE pursuant to any one of Clauses 31 to 43, the first expected measurement value and the first expected measurement uncertainty value are expected time of arrival (ToA) values ​​and expected ToA uncertainty values ​​for a round-trip time (RTT) positioning process involving at least the first TRP.

[0200] Clause 46. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions, which, when executed by a user equipment (UE), cause the UE to: receive positioning assistance data from a location server, the positioning assistance data including at least a first expected measurement value and a first expected measurement uncertainty value, the first expected measurement value and the first expected measurement uncertainty value defining a first search window, during which the UE is expected to measure a first plurality of positioning reference signal (PRS) resources transmitted by a first transmit receiving point (TRP); determine a common optimal symbol hypothesis for a first set of PRS resources among the first plurality of PRS resources, wherein the optimal symbol hypothesis is a symbol within the first search window, during which the signal strength of each PRS resource in the first set of PRS resources is maximized; and measure each PRS resource in a second set of PRS resources among the first plurality of PRS resources only during the period of the optimal symbol hypothesis.

[0201] Clause 47. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to Clause 46, wherein the computer-executable instructions that, when executed, cause the UE to determine the optimal symbol hypothesis, include computer-executable instructions that, when executed, cause the UE to: measure the signal strength of at least each PRS resource in the first PRS resource set during each symbol of the first search window; and determine, within the first search window, the symbol during which the signal strength of each PRS resource in the first PRS resource set is maximized.

[0202] Clause 48. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to Clause 47, wherein the computer-executable instructions that, when executed, cause the UE to measure the signal strength of at least each PRS resource in the first PRS resource set include computer-executable instructions that, when executed, cause the UE to: measure the signal strength of more PRS resources among the first plurality of PRS resources than the signal strength of each PRS resource in the first PRS resource set.

[0203] Clause 49. A non-transitory computer-readable medium pursuant to any one of Clauses 47 to 48, wherein one or more of the instructions further cause the UE to: report measurements associated with the first TRP based on measurements performed on the first PRS resource set during each symbol of the first search window and measurements performed on the second PRS resource set only during the best symbol assumption.

[0204] Clause 50. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of Clauses 47 to 49, wherein the signal strength of each PRS resource in the first PRS resource set is measured by one or more PRS instances.

[0205] Clause 51. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of Clauses 46 to 50, wherein the first PRS resource set comprises a PRS resource.

[0206] Clause 52. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of Clauses 46 to 51, wherein the positioning assistance data further includes the configuration of the first plurality of PRS resources.

[0207] Clause 53. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of Clauses 46 to 52, wherein: the first plurality of PRS resources comprises N PRS resources, the first set of PRS resources comprises M PRS resources, and the second set of PRS resources comprises N minus M PRS resources.

[0208] Clause 54. A nontransitory computer-readable medium according to any one of Clauses 46 to 52, wherein: the first plurality of PRS resources comprises N PRS resources, the first set of PRS resources comprises M PRS resources, M plus X PRSs are measured to determine the optimal sign hypothesis, and the second set of PRS resources comprises N minus M minus X PRS resources.

[0209] Clause 55. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of Clauses 46 to 54, wherein: the positioning assistance data further includes a second expected measurement value and a second expected measurement uncertainty value, the second expected measurement value and the second expected measurement uncertainty value defining a second search window during which the UE is expected to measure a second plurality of PRS resources transmitted by a second TRP; the one or more instructions further cause the UE to: measure each of the second plurality of PRS resources only during the best sign assumption.

[0210] Clause 56. The non-transitory computer-readable medium as described in Clause 55, wherein the second plurality of PRS resources are measured only during the period of the optimal symbol assumption, based on the second TRP being co-located with the first TRP.

[0211] Clause 57. A non-transitory computer-readable medium as described in Clause 56, wherein the first TRP and the second TRP are considered co-located based on the fact that the second TRP is located within a threshold radius of the first TRP.

[0212] Clause 58. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of Clauses 56 to 57, wherein: the first TRP and the second TRP are considered co-located based on the fact that the first TRP and the second TRP have the same Physical Cell Identifier (PCI), Cell Global Identifier (CGI), and Absolute Radio Frequency Channel Number (ARFCN), and the second expected measurement value and the second expected measurement uncertainty value are respectively within the thresholds of the first expected measurement value and the first expected measurement uncertainty value.

[0213] Clause 59. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of Clauses 55 to 58, wherein: the first expected measurement value and the first expected measurement uncertainty value are a first expected reference signal time difference (RSTD) value and a first expected RSTD uncertainty value for a time difference of arrival (TDOA) positioning process involving the first TRP and the second TRP, and the second expected measurement value and the second expected measurement uncertainty value are a second expected RSTD value and a second expected RSTD uncertainty value for the TDOA positioning process.

[0214] Clause 60. The non-transitory computer-readable medium pursuant to any one of Clauses 46 to 58, wherein the first expected measurement and the first expected measurement uncertainty are expected time of arrival (ToA) values ​​and expected ToA uncertainties for a round-trip time (RTT) positioning process involving at least the first TRP.

[0215] Those skilled in the art will understand that information and signals can be represented using any of a variety of different techniques and methods. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be mentioned throughout the description above can be represented by voltage, current, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or magnetic particles, light fields or optical particles, or any combination thereof.

[0216] 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 this functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends on the specific application and the design constraints imposed on the system as a whole. Those skilled in the art may implement the described functionality in different ways for each specific application, but such specific implementation decisions should not be construed as departing from the scope of this disclosure.

[0217] The various exemplary logic blocks, modules, and circuits described in conjunction with the aspects disclosed herein can be implemented or performed using a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an ASIC, a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor, but alternatively, the processor can be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. The processor can also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, such as a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors combined with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

[0218] The methods, sequences, and / or algorithms described in conjunction with the aspects disclosed herein can be embodied directly in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or a combination of both. The software module may reside in random access memory (RAM), flash memory, read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), registers, hard disks, removable disks, CD-ROMs, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. Example storage media are coupled to a processor such that the processor can read information from and write information to the storage medium. Alternatively, the storage medium may be integral with the processor. The processor and storage medium may reside in an ASIC. The ASIC may reside in a user terminal (e.g., a UE). Alternatively, the processor and storage medium may reside as discrete components in the user terminal.

[0219] In one or more exemplary aspects, the functionality may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functionality may be stored as one or more instructions or code on or transmitted over a computer-readable medium. A computer-readable medium includes both computer storage media and communication media, including any medium that facilitates the transfer of a computer program from one place to another. A storage medium may be any available medium accessible to a computer. Exemplarily and not limitingly, such a computer-readable medium may include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disc storage devices, disk storage devices or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and is accessible to a computer. Furthermore, any connection is appropriately referred to as a computer-readable medium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave, then coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwave are included within the definition of a medium. The disks and optical discs used in this article include: compact optical discs (CDs), laser discs, optical discs, digital versatile discs (DVDs), floppy disks, and Blu-ray discs. Disks typically reproduce data magnetically, while optical discs use lasers to reproduce data. Combinations of these should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0220] While the foregoing disclosure illustrates exemplary aspects of this disclosure, it should be noted that various changes and modifications may be made herein without departing from the scope of this disclosure as defined by the appended claims. Furthermore, the functions, steps, and / or actions of the method claims according to the aspects of this disclosure described herein need not be performed in any particular order. Moreover, although elements of this disclosure may be described or claimed in the singular, pluralism is also contemplated unless explicitly stated to be limited to the singular.

Claims

1. A wireless positioning method performed by a user equipment (UE), comprising: The UE receives positioning assistance data from a location server, the positioning assistance data including at least a first expected measurement value and a first expected measurement uncertainty value, the first expected measurement value and the first expected measurement uncertainty value defining a first search window, during the first search window, the UE is expected to measure a first plurality of positioning reference signal (PRS) resources transmitted by a first transmit receiving point (TRP); Determine a common optimal symbol hypothesis for a first PRS resource set among the first plurality of PRS resources, wherein the optimal symbol hypothesis is the symbol within the first search window, during which the signal strength of each PRS resource in the first PRS resource set is maximized; and Each PRS resource in the second PRS resource set of the first plurality of PRS resources is measured only during the period of the optimal sign hypothesis.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the optimal sign hypothesis comprises: During each symbol of the first search window, the signal strength of at least each PRS resource in the first PRS resource set is measured; as well as The symbol is determined within the first search window, during which the signal strength of each PRS resource in the first PRS resource set is at its maximum.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein measuring the signal strength of at least each PRS resource in the first PRS resource set comprises: Measure the signal strength of the PRS resources that have a higher signal strength than each PRS resource in the first PRS resource set.

4. The method according to claim 2, further comprising: The measurements associated with the first TRP are reported based on the measurements performed on the first PRS resource set during each symbol in the first search window, and the measurements performed on the second PRS resource set only during the optimal symbol hypothesis.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the signal strength of each PRS resource in the first PRS resource set is measured by one or more PRS instances.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the first PRS resource set comprises a PRS resource.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the positioning assistance data further includes the configuration of the first plurality of PRS resources.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The first plurality of PRS resources includes N PRS resources. The first PRS resource set includes M PRS resources, and The second PRS resource set includes N minus M PRS resources.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The first plurality of PRS resources includes N PRS resources. The first PRS resource set includes M PRS resources. Measure M plus X PRS to determine the optimal sign hypothesis, and The second PRS resource set includes N minus M minus X PRS resources.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The positioning assistance data also includes a second expected measurement value and a second expected measurement uncertainty value, the second expected measurement value and the second expected measurement uncertainty value defining a second search window, during which the UE is expected to measure a second plurality of PRS resources transmitted by the second TRP; The method further includes: Each of the second plurality of PRS resources is measured only during the period of the optimal sign hypothesis.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the second plurality of PRS resources are measured only during the period of the optimal symbol assumption, based on the co-addressability of the second TRP and the first TRP.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the first TRP and the second TRP are considered to be co-located based on the fact that the second TRP is located within a threshold radius of the first TRP.

13. The method according to claim 11, wherein: Based on the fact that the first TRP and the second TRP have the same Physical Cell Identifier (PCI), Cell Global Identifier (CGI), and Absolute Radio Frequency Channel Number (ARFCN), and The second expected measurement value and the second expected measurement uncertainty value are respectively within the threshold values ​​of the first expected measurement value and the first expected measurement uncertainty value, thereby treating the first TRP and the second TRP as co-located.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein: The first expected measurement value and the first expected measurement uncertainty value are the first expected reference signal time difference (RSTD) value and the first expected RSTD uncertainty value for the positioning process involving the time difference of arrival (TDOA) of the first TRP and the second TRP, and The second expected measurement value and the second expected measurement uncertainty value are the second expected RSTD value and the second expected RSTD uncertainty value for the TDOA positioning process.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the first expected measurement value and the first expected measurement uncertainty value are expected time of arrival (ToA) values ​​and expected ToA uncertainty values ​​for a round-trip time (RTT) positioning process involving at least the first TRP.

16. A user equipment (UE), comprising: Memory; At least one transceiver; and At least one processor, communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: The UE receives location assistance data from a location server via the at least one transceiver. The location assistance data includes at least a first expected measurement value and a first expected measurement uncertainty value, the first expected measurement value and the first expected measurement uncertainty value defining a first search window. During the first search window, the UE is expected to measure a first plurality of location reference signal (PRS) resources transmitted by a first transmit receiving point (TRP). Determine a common optimal symbol hypothesis for a first PRS resource set among the first plurality of PRS resources, wherein the optimal symbol hypothesis is the symbol within the first search window, during which the signal strength of each PRS resource in the first PRS resource set is maximized; and Each PRS resource in the second PRS resource set of the first plurality of PRS resources is measured only during the period of the optimal sign hypothesis.

17. The UE of claim 16, wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine the optimal symbol hypothesis, the at least one processor is configured to: During each symbol of the first search window, the signal strength of at least each PRS resource in the first PRS resource set is measured; and The symbol is determined within the first search window, during which the signal strength of each PRS resource in the first PRS resource set is at its maximum.

18. The UE of claim 17, wherein the at least one processor is configured to measure the signal strength of at least each PRS resource in the first PRS resource set, comprising the at least one processor being configured to: Measure the signal strength of the PRS resources that have a higher signal strength than each PRS resource in the first PRS resource set.

19. The UE of claim 17, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: The measurements associated with the first TRP are reported based on the measurements performed on the first PRS resource set during each symbol in the first search window, and the measurements performed on the second PRS resource set only during the optimal symbol hypothesis.

20. The UE of claim 17, wherein the signal strength of each PRS resource in the first PRS resource set is measured by one or more PRS instances.

21. The UE of claim 16, wherein the first PRS resource set comprises a PRS resource.

22. The UE of claim 16, wherein the positioning assistance data further includes the configuration of the first plurality of PRS resources.

23. The UE according to claim 16, wherein: The first plurality of PRS resources includes N PRS resources. The first PRS resource set includes M PRS resources, and The second PRS resource set includes N minus M PRS resources.

24. The UE according to claim 16, wherein: The first plurality of PRS resources includes N PRS resources. The first PRS resource set includes M PRS resources. Measure M plus X PRS to determine the optimal sign hypothesis, and The second PRS resource set includes N minus M minus X PRS resources.

25. The UE according to claim 16, wherein: The positioning assistance data also includes a second expected measurement value and a second expected measurement uncertainty value, the second expected measurement value and the second expected measurement uncertainty value defining a second search window, during which the UE is expected to measure a second plurality of PRS resources transmitted by the second TRP; The at least one processor is further configured to: Each of the second plurality of PRS resources is measured only during the period of the optimal sign hypothesis.

26. The UE of claim 25, wherein the second plurality of PRS resources are measured only during the period of the optimal symbol assumption, based on the co-addressing of the second TRP and the first TRP.

27. The UE of claim 26, wherein the first TRP and the second TRP are considered co-located based on the fact that the second TRP is located within a threshold radius of the first TRP.

28. The UE according to claim 26, wherein: Based on the fact that the first TRP and the second TRP have the same Physical Cell Identifier (PCI), Cell Global Identifier (CGI), and Absolute Radio Frequency Channel Number (ARFCN), and The second expected measurement value and the second expected measurement uncertainty value are respectively within the threshold values ​​of the first expected measurement value and the first expected measurement uncertainty value, thereby treating the first TRP and the second TRP as co-located.

29. The UE according to claim 25, wherein: The first expected measurement value and the first expected measurement uncertainty value are the first expected reference signal time difference (RSTD) value and the first expected RSTD uncertainty value for the positioning process involving the time difference of arrival (TDOA) of the first TRP and the second TRP, and The second expected measurement value and the second expected measurement uncertainty value are the second expected RSTD value and the second expected RSTD uncertainty value for the TDOA positioning process.

30. The UE of claim 16, wherein the first expected measurement value and the first expected measurement uncertainty value are expected time of arrival (ToA) values ​​and expected ToA uncertainty values ​​for a round-trip time (RTT) positioning process involving at least the first TRP.

31. A user equipment (UE), comprising: A means for receiving positioning assistance data from a location server, the positioning assistance data including at least a first expected measurement value and a first expected measurement uncertainty value, the first expected measurement value and the first expected measurement uncertainty value defining a first search window, during which the UE is expected to measure a first plurality of positioning reference signal (PRS) resources transmitted by a first transmit receiving point (TRP); A means for determining a common optimal symbol hypothesis for a first PRS resource set among the first plurality of PRS resources, wherein the optimal symbol hypothesis is a symbol within the first search window, during which the signal strength of each PRS resource in the first PRS resource set is maximum. and A means for measuring each PRS resource in the second PRS resource set of the first plurality of PRS resources only during the period of the optimal symbol assumption.

32. The UE of claim 31, wherein the means for determining the optimal symbol hypothesis comprises: A means for measuring the signal strength of at least each PRS resource in the first PRS resource set during each symbol of the first search window; and A means for determining the symbol within the first search window, wherein the signal strength of each PRS resource in the first PRS resource set is maximum during the period of the symbol.

33. The UE according to claim 31, wherein: The first plurality of PRS resources includes N PRS resources. The first PRS resource set includes M PRS resources, and The second PRS resource set includes N minus M PRS resources.

34. The UE according to claim 31, wherein: The first plurality of PRS resources includes N PRS resources. The first PRS resource set includes M PRS resources. Measure M plus X PRS to determine the optimal sign hypothesis, and The second PRS resource set includes N minus M minus X PRS resources.

35. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions, which, when executed by a user equipment (UE), cause the UE to: The UE receives positioning assistance data from a location server, the positioning assistance data including at least a first expected measurement value and a first expected measurement uncertainty value, the first expected measurement value and the first expected measurement uncertainty value defining a first search window, during the first search window, the UE is expected to measure a first plurality of positioning reference signal (PRS) resources transmitted by a first transmit receiving point (TRP); Determine a common optimal symbol hypothesis for a first PRS resource set among the first plurality of PRS resources, wherein the optimal symbol hypothesis is the symbol within the first search window, during which the signal strength of each PRS resource in the first PRS resource set is maximized; and Each PRS resource in the second PRS resource set of the first plurality of PRS resources is measured only during the period of the optimal sign hypothesis.

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