Frequency domain search window for non-terrestrial network positioning reference signals

Abstract

Techniques for wireless positioning are disclosed. In an aspect, a network entity may determine a frequency domain search window corresponding to an expected Doppler shift offset and an expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty for at least one positioning reference signal (PRS) resource associated with at least one non-terrestrial transmit receive point (NT-TRP) for a positioning session. The network entity may measure the at least one PRS resource in the frequency domain search window during the positioning session.

Description

Background Art 1. Technical Field

[0001] Aspects of the present disclosure relate generally to wireless communications.

[0002] 2. Description of related technologies

[0003] Wireless communication systems have evolved over many generations, including first generation analog wireless telephone service (1G), second generation (2G) digital wireless telephone service (including transitional 2.5G and 2.75G networks), third generation (3G) high speed data, wireless service with Internet capabilities, and fourth generation (4G) service (e.g., Long Term Evolution (LTE) or WiMax). There are many different types of wireless communication systems in use today, including cellular systems and personal communications service (PCS) systems. Examples of known cellular systems include the cellular analog Advanced Mobile Phone System (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 the like.

[0004] The fifth generation (5G) wireless standard, known as New Radio (NR), enables higher data transfer speeds, a greater number of connections, and better coverage, among other improvements. According to the Next Generation Mobile Networks Alliance, the 5G standard is designed to provide higher data rates, more accurate positioning (e.g., based on reference signals for positioning (RS-P), such as downlink, uplink, or sidelink positioning reference signals (PRS)), and other technical enhancements compared to previous standards. These enhancements, along with the use of higher frequency bands, advances in PRS processes and technologies, and high-density deployment of 5G, enable high-precision positioning based on 5G. Summary of the invention

[0005] The following presents a simplified summary of the invention related to one or more aspects disclosed herein. Therefore, the following summary of the invention should neither be considered as an exhaustive overview related to all conceived aspects, nor should it be considered to identify key or decisive elements related to all conceived aspects or to delineate the scope associated with any particular aspect. Therefore, the sole purpose of the following summary of the invention is to present certain concepts related to one or more aspects of the mechanisms disclosed herein in a brief form before the detailed embodiments presented below.

[0006] On the one hand, a method of wireless communication performed by a network entity includes: determining a frequency domain search window corresponding to an expected Doppler shift offset and an expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty for at least one positioning reference signal (PRS) resource associated with at least one non-terrestrial transmit receive point (NT-TRP) used for a positioning session; and measuring the at least one PRS resource in the frequency domain search window during the positioning session.

[0007] In one aspect, a method of wireless communication performed by a first network entity includes: transmitting information to a second network entity, the information being used to determine a frequency domain search window corresponding to an expected Doppler shift offset and an expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty for at least one positioning reference signal (PRS) resource associated with at least one non-terrestrial transmit receive point (NT-TRP) measured by the second network entity during a positioning session; and receiving a measurement report including information corresponding to one or more measurements performed by the second network entity on the at least one PRS resource.

[0008] In one aspect, a network entity includes: a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor, the at least one processor being communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: determine a frequency domain search window corresponding to an expected Doppler shift offset and an expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty for at least one positioning reference signal (PRS) resource associated with at least one non-terrestrial transmit receive point (NT-TRP) for a positioning session; and measure the at least one PRS resource in the frequency domain search window during the positioning session.

[0009] In one aspect, a first network entity includes: a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor, the at least one processor being communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: transmit information to a second network entity via the at least one transceiver, the information being used to determine a frequency domain search window corresponding to an expected Doppler shift offset and an expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty for at least one positioning reference signal (PRS) resource associated with at least one non-terrestrial transmit receive point (NT-TRP) measured by the second network entity during a positioning session; and receive, via the at least one transceiver, a measurement report including information corresponding to one or more measurements performed by the second network entity on the at least one PRS resource.

[0010] In one aspect, a network entity includes: a component for determining a frequency domain search window corresponding to an expected Doppler shift offset and an expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty for at least one positioning reference signal (PRS) resource associated with at least one non-terrestrial transmit receive point (NT-TRP) used for a positioning session; and a component for measuring the at least one PRS resource in the frequency domain search window during the positioning session.

[0011] In one aspect, a first network entity includes: a component for transmitting information to a second network entity, the information being used to determine a frequency domain search window corresponding to an expected Doppler shift offset and an expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty for at least one positioning reference signal (PRS) resource associated with at least one non-terrestrial transmit receive point (NT-TRP) measured by the second network entity during a positioning session; and a component for receiving a measurement report including information corresponding to one or more measurements performed by the second network entity on the at least one PRS resource.

[0012] In one aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium stores computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a network entity, cause the network entity to: determine a frequency domain search window corresponding to an expected Doppler shift offset and an expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty for at least one positioning reference signal (PRS) resource associated with at least one non-terrestrial transmit receive point (NT-TRP) for a positioning session; and measure the at least one PRS resource in the frequency domain search window during the positioning session.

[0013] In one aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium stores computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a first network entity, cause the first network entity to: transmit information to a second network entity for determining a frequency domain search window corresponding to an expected Doppler shift offset and an expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty for at least one positioning reference signal (PRS) resource associated with at least one non-terrestrial transmit receive point (NT-TRP) measured by the second network entity during a positioning session; and receive a measurement report including information corresponding to one or more measurements performed by the second network entity on the at least one PRS resource.

[0014] Other objects and advantages associated with the various aspects disclosed herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art based on the drawings and detailed description. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0015] The accompanying drawings are presented to aid in describing various aspects of the present disclosure and are provided solely for illustration and not limitation of the various aspects.

[0016] Figure 1An example wireless communication system in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0017] Figure 2A , Figure 2B and Figure 2C Example wireless network structures according to aspects of the present disclosure are illustrated.

[0018] Figure 3A , Figure 3B and Figure 3C is a simplified block diagram of several sample aspects of components that may be employed in a user equipment (UE), a base station, and a network entity, respectively, and configured to support communications as taught herein.

[0019] Figure 4 Examples of various positioning methods supported in New Radio (NR) according to aspects of the present disclosure are illustrated.

[0020] Figure 5 is a diagram illustrating an example frame structure according to aspects of the present disclosure.

[0021] Figure 6 An example non-terrestrial network (NTN) environment that may be used with transparent payloads and in NTN positioning operations in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is depicted.

[0022] Figure 7 An example NTN environment is depicted that may be used with regeneration payloads and in NTN positioning operations in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0023] Figure 8 is a table showing examples of satellite platforms that may be used as non-terrestrial transmit-receive points (NT-TRPs) in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0024] Fig. 9 Depicted are example scenarios in which a positioning determination based on a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) positioning method is cross-checked with a positioning determination based on an NTN positioning method in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0025] Fig.10 Depicted are examples of time-based positioning reference signal (PRS) search windows in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0026] Fig.11

[0013] Example procedures for exchanging information between a base station and a location server in an uplink positioning reference signal (UL-PRS) positioning procedure in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure are shown.

[0027] Fig.12 is a table illustrating examples of information elements (IEs) for determining parameters of a time-based search window according to aspects of the present disclosure.

[0028] Fig.13 is a diagram illustrating system geometry for Doppler shift calculation for a non-geostationary satellite system in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0029] Fig.14 is a graph illustrating an example Doppler shift scenario with a 2 gigahertz (GHz) signal at 600 kilometers (km) on the downlink and uplink in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0030] Fig.15 is a graph illustrating an example Doppler shift scenario with a 2 GHz signal at 1500 km on the downlink and uplink in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0031] Fig.16 Examples of autocorrelation responses of PRS received under different Doppler shift conditions are shown.

[0032] Fig.17 Depicted are examples of configurations of frequency domain search windows using expected Doppler shift offsets and expected Doppler shift offset uncertainties in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0033] Fig.18 An example method of wireless communication performed by a network entity according to aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0034] Fig.19 An example method of wireless communication performed by a first network entity according to aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0035] Various aspects of the present disclosure are provided in the following description and related drawings for various examples provided for illustrative purposes. Alternative aspects may be designed without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. In addition, well-known elements of the present disclosure will not be described in detail or will be omitted to avoid making the relevant details of the present disclosure difficult to understand.

[0036] The words "exemplary" and / or "example" are used herein to mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration." Any aspect described herein as "exemplary" and / or "example" is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects. Likewise, the term "aspects of the disclosure" does not require that all aspects of the disclosure include the discussed feature, advantage, or mode of operation.

[0037] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that any of a variety of different techniques and technologies may 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 may be represented by voltage, current, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or magnetic particles, light fields or optical particles, or any combination thereof, which depends in part on the specific application, in part on the desired design, in part on the corresponding technology, etc.

[0038] In addition, many aspects are described in terms of a sequence of actions to be performed by, for example, an element of a computing device. It will be appreciated that the various actions described herein may be performed by a specific circuit (e.g., an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC)), by program instructions executed by one or more processors, or by a combination of the two. Additionally, the sequence of actions described herein may be considered to be fully embodied in any form of non-transient computer-readable storage medium, in which a corresponding computer instruction set is stored, which, when executed, will cause or command the associated processor of the device to perform the functionality described herein. Therefore, various aspects of the present disclosure may be embodied in a variety of different forms, all of which have been contemplated to be within the scope of the claimed subject matter. In addition, for each of the various aspects described herein, the corresponding form of any such aspect may be described herein as, for example, "logic configured to perform the described actions".

[0039] As used herein, unless otherwise specified, the terms "user equipment" (UE) and "base station" are not intended to be specific or otherwise limited to any specific radio access technology (RAT). In general, a UE may be any wireless communication device (e.g., a mobile phone, a router, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a consumer asset location device, a wearable device (e.g., a smart watch, glasses, an augmented reality (AR) / virtual reality (VR) head-mounted device, etc.), a vehicle (e.g., a car, a motorcycle, a bicycle, etc.), an Internet of Things (IoT) device, etc.) used by a user to communicate over a wireless communication network. A UE may be mobile or may be stationary (e.g., at certain times) and may communicate with a radio access network (RAN). As used herein, the term "UE" may be interchangeably referred to as an "access terminal" or "AT", "client device", "wireless device", "subscriber device", "subscriber terminal", "subscriber station", "user terminal" or "UT", "mobile device", "mobile terminal", "mobile station" or variations thereof. In general, a UE may communicate with a core network via a RAN, and through the core network, the UE may be connected to external networks such as the Internet and to other UEs. Of course, other mechanisms for the UE to connect to the core network and / or the Internet are also possible, 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 specification, etc.), etc.

[0040] A base station may operate according to one of several RATs to communicate with a UE, depending on the network in which the base station is deployed, and may alternatively be referred to as an access point (AP), a network node, a Node B, an evolved Node B (eNB), a next generation eNB (ng-eNB), a new radio (NR) Node B (also referred to as a gNB or gNodeB), etc. A base station may be primarily used to support wireless access for UEs, including supporting data, voice, and / or signaling connections for supported UEs. In some systems, a base station may provide only edge node signaling functions, while in other systems, it may provide additional control and / or network management functions. The communication link by which a UE may transmit a signal to a base station is referred to as an uplink (UL) channel (e.g., a reverse traffic channel, a reverse control channel, an access channel, etc.). The communication link by which a base station may transmit a signal to a UE is referred to as a downlink (DL) or forward link channel (e.g., a paging channel, a control channel, a broadcast channel, a forward traffic channel, etc.). As used herein, the term "traffic channel (TCH)" may refer to an uplink / reverse traffic channel or a downlink / forward traffic channel.

[0041] The term "base station" may refer to a single physical transmit receive point (TRP) or multiple physical TRPs that may or may not be co-located. For example, where the term "base station" refers to a single physical TRP, the physical TRP may be an antenna of the base station corresponding to a cell (or several cell sectors) of the base station. Where the term "base station" refers to multiple co-located physical TRPs, the physical TRP may be an antenna array of the base station (e.g., as in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system or where the base station employs beamforming). Where the term "base station" refers to multiple non-co-located physical TRPs, the physical TRP may be a distributed antenna system (DAS) (a network of spatially separated antennas connected to a common source via a transmission medium) or a remote radio head (RRH) (a remote base station connected to a serving base station). Alternatively, the non-co-located physical TRP may be a serving base station that receives measurement reports from a UE and an adjacent base station whose reference radio frequency (RF) signal the UE is measuring. As used herein, since a TRP is a point by which a base station transmits and receives wireless signals, references to transmitting from a base station or receiving at a base station should be understood to refer to a specific TRP of a base station.

[0042] In some specific implementations of supporting UE positioning, the base station may not support wireless access for the UE (e.g., may not support data, voice and / or signaling connections for the UE), but may instead send a reference signal to be measured by the UE to the UE and / or may receive and measure a signal sent by the UE. Such a base station may be referred to as a positioning tower (e.g., in the case of sending a signal to the UE) and / or as a position measurement unit (e.g., in the case of receiving and measuring a signal from the UE).

[0043] An "RF signal" includes an electromagnetic wave of a given frequency that transmits information through 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 a transmitter and a receiver may be referred to as a "multipath" RF signal. As used herein, an RF signal may also be referred to as a "wireless signal" or simply a "signal" where it is clear from the context that the term "signal" refers to a wireless signal or an RF signal.

[0044] Figure 1An example wireless communication system 100 according to various aspects of the present 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 as "BS") and various UEs 104. The base stations 102 may include macrocell base stations (high-power cellular base stations) and / or small cell base stations (low-power cellular base stations). In one aspect, the macrocell base stations may include eNBs and / or ng-eNBs (where the wireless communication system 100 corresponds to an LTE network), or gNBs (where the wireless communication system 100 corresponds to an NR network), or a combination of the two, and the small cell base stations may include femtocells, picocells, microcells, etc.

[0045] The base stations 102 may collectively form a RAN and interface with a core network 170 (e.g., an evolved packet core (EPC) or a 5G core (5GC)) through a backhaul link 122, and interface with one or more location servers 172 (e.g., a location management function (LMF) or a secure user plane location (SUPL) location platform (SLP)) through the core network 170. The location server 172 may be part of the core network 170 or may be external to the core network 170. The location server 172 may be integrated with the base station 102. The UE 104 may communicate with the location server 172 directly or indirectly. For example, the UE 104 may communicate with the location server 172 via the base station 102 currently serving the UE 104. The UE 104 may also communicate with the location server 172 via another path, such as via an application server (not shown), via another network, such as via a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point (AP) (e.g., AP 150 described below), etc. For signaling purposes, communication between UE 104 and location server 172 may be represented as an indirect connection (e.g., through core network 170, etc.) or a direct connection (e.g., as shown via direct connection 128), with intermediate nodes (if any) omitted from the signaling diagram for clarity.

[0046] Among other functions, the base station 102 may perform functions related to one or more of the following: delivering 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, positioning, and delivery of warning messages. The base stations 102 may communicate with each other directly or indirectly (e.g., through EPC / 5GC) via a backhaul link 134, which may be wired or wireless.

[0047] Base station 102 may communicate wirelessly with UE 104. Each of base stations 102 may provide communication coverage for a corresponding geographic coverage area 110. In one aspect, one or more cells may 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, which is referred to as a carrier frequency, component carrier, carrier, frequency band, etc.), and may be associated with an identifier (e.g., a physical cell identifier (PCI), an enhanced cell identifier (ECI), a virtual cell identifier (VCI), a cell global identifier (CGI), etc.) used to distinguish cells operating via the same or different carrier frequencies. In some cases, different cells may be configured according to different protocol types (e.g., machine type communication (MTC), narrowband IoT (NB-IoT), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), or other protocol types) that may provide access to different types of UEs. Since a cell is supported by a specific base station, the term "cell" may refer to either or both of a logical communication entity and a base station supporting the logical communication entity, depending on the context. In addition, since the TRP is generally the physical transmission point of the cell, the terms "cell" and "TRP" may be used interchangeably. In some cases, the term "cell" may also refer to a geographic coverage area (e.g., a sector) of a base station, as long as a carrier frequency can be detected and used for communication within a portion of the geographic coverage area 110.

[0048] Although the geographic coverage areas 110 of neighboring macrocell base stations 102 may partially overlap (e.g., in a handover region), some of the geographic coverage areas 110 may substantially overlap with the larger geographic coverage area 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 macrocell base stations 102. A network that includes both small cell base stations and macrocell base stations may be referred to as a heterogeneous network. A heterogeneous network may also include a home eNB (HeNB) that may provide services to a restricted group referred to as a closed subscriber group (CSG).

[0049] The communication link 120 between the base station 102 and the UE 104 may include uplink (also referred to as a reverse link) transmissions from the UE 104 to the base station 102 and / or downlink (DL) (also referred to as a forward link) transmissions from the base station 102 to the UE 104. The communication link 120 may use MIMO antenna technology, including spatial multiplexing, beamforming, and / or transmit diversity. The communication link 120 may be over one or more carrier frequencies. The allocation of carriers may be asymmetric for the downlink and uplink (e.g., more or fewer carriers may be allocated to the downlink than to the uplink).

[0050] The wireless communication system 100 may further include a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point (AP) 150 in communication with a WLAN station (STA) 152 via a communication link 154 in an unlicensed spectrum (e.g., 5 gigahertz (GHz)). When communicating in the unlicensed spectrum, the WLAN STA 152 and / or the WLAN AP 150 may perform a clear channel assessment (CCA) or listen before talk (LBT) procedure prior to communication to determine whether a channel is available.

[0051] The small cell base station 102' can operate in licensed and / or unlicensed spectrum. When operating in the unlicensed spectrum, the small cell base station 102' can adopt LTE or NR technology and use the same 5GHz unlicensed spectrum used by the WLAN AP 150. The small cell base station 102' using LTE / 5G in the unlicensed spectrum can improve the coverage of the access network and / or increase the capacity of the access network. NR in the unlicensed spectrum can be referred to as NR-U. LTE in the unlicensed spectrum can be referred to as LTE-U, License Assisted Access (LAA) or MulteFire.

[0052] The wireless communication system 100 may further include a millimeter wave (mmW) base station 180, which can operate in mmW frequencies and / or near mmW frequencies to communicate with UE 182. Extremely high frequency (EHF) is a part of RF in the electromagnetic spectrum. EHF has a range of 30GHz to 300GHz, with a wavelength between 1 mm and 10 mm. The radio waves in this band may be referred to as millimeter waves. Near mmW can be extended downward to a frequency of 3GHz, with a wavelength of 100 mm. The super high frequency (SHF) band extends between 3GHz and 30GHz, which is also referred to as centimeter waves. Communications using mmW / near mmW radio frequency bands have high path loss and relatively short range. The mmW base station 180 and UE 182 can compensate for extremely high path loss and short range by using beamforming (sending and / or receiving) through the mmW communication link 184. In addition, it should be understood that in an alternative configuration, one or more base stations 102 may also use mmW or near mmW and beamforming for transmission. Therefore, it should be understood that the foregoing illustrations are merely examples and should not be construed as limiting the various aspects disclosed herein.

[0053] Transmit beamforming is a technique for focusing an RF signal 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). With 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, thereby providing a faster (in terms of data rate) and stronger RF signal to the receiving device. In order to change the directionality of the RF signal when transmitting, the network node can control the phase and relative amplitude of the RF signal at each of the one or more transmitters that broadcast the RF signal. For example, a network node can use an array of antennas (referred to as a "phased array" or "antenna array") that produces RF beams that can be "steered" to point in different directions without actually moving the antenna. Specifically, the RF current from the transmitter is fed to each antenna in the correct phase relationship so that the radio waves from the separate antennas are added together to increase the radiation in the desired direction while canceling to suppress the radiation in the undesired direction.

[0054] The transmit beams can be quasi-co-located, which means that they appear to the receiver (e.g., UE) to have the same parameters, regardless of whether the network node's own transmit antenna is physically co-located. In NR, there are four types of quasi-co-location (QCL) relationships. Specifically, a given type of QCL relationship means that certain parameters about the second reference RF signal on the 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 sent 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 sent 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 sent on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL type D, the receiver may use the source reference RF signal to estimate spatial reception parameters of a second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel.

[0055] In receive beamforming, the receiver uses receive beams to amplify RF signals detected on a given channel. For example, the receiver may increase the gain setting of the 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 perform 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 the beam gain in that direction is the highest compared to the beam gain in that direction of all other receive beams available to the receiver. 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.

[0056] The transmit beam and the receive beam may be spatially correlated. The spatial relationship means that parameters of a second beam (e.g., a transmit beam or a receive beam) for a second reference signal may be derived based on information about a first beam (e.g., a receive beam or a transmit beam) for a first reference signal. For example, a UE may 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 may then form a transmit beam for transmitting an uplink reference signal (e.g., a sounding reference signal (SRS)) to the base station based on the parameters of the receive beam.

[0057] Note that depending on the entity forming the "downlink" beam, the beam can be a transmit beam or a receive beam. For example, if the base station is forming a downlink beam to send a reference signal to the UE, the downlink beam is a transmit beam. However, if the UE is forming a downlink beam, the downlink beam is a receive beam that receives a downlink reference signal. Similarly, depending on the entity forming the "uplink" beam, the beam can be a transmit beam or a receive beam. For example, if the base station is forming an uplink beam, it is an uplink receive beam, while if the UE is forming an uplink beam, it is an uplink transmit beam.

[0058] The electromagnetic spectrum is typically subdivided into various categories, bands, channels, etc. based on frequency / wavelength. In 5G NR, two initial operating bands have been identified as frequency range designations FR1 (410 MHz-7.125 GHz) and FR2 (24.25 GHz-52.6 GHz). It should be understood that, although a portion of FR1 is greater than 6 GHz, FR1 is often (interchangeably) referred to as the "sub-6 GHz" band in various documents and articles. A similar naming issue sometimes occurs with respect to FR2, which is often (interchangeably) referred to as the "millimeter wave" band in documents and articles, although different from the extremely high frequency (EHF) band (30 GHz-300 GHz) identified as the "millimeter wave" band by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

[0059] Frequencies between FR1 and FR2 are generally referred to as mid-band frequencies. Recent 5G NR research has identified the operating bands for these mid-band frequencies as frequency range designation FR3 (7.125GHz-24.25GHz). The bands falling within FR3 can inherit FR1 characteristics and / or FR2 characteristics, so the features of FR1 and / or FR2 can be effectively extended to mid-band frequencies. In addition, higher frequency bands are currently being explored to extend 5G NR operations to more than 52.6GHz. For example, three higher operating bands have been identified as frequency range designations FR4a or FR4-1 (52.6GHz–71GHz), FR4 (52.6GHz–114.25GHz), and FR5 (114.25GHz–300GHz). Each of these higher frequency bands falls within the EHF band.

[0060] In view of the above aspects, unless otherwise specifically stated, it should be understood that if used in this document, the term "below 6 GHz" and the like can broadly refer to frequencies that can be less than 6 GHz, can be within FR1, or can include mid-band frequencies. In addition, unless otherwise specifically stated, it should be understood that if the term "millimeter wave" and the like are used in this document, they can broadly refer to frequencies that can include mid-band frequencies, can be within FR2, FR4, FR4-a or FR4-1 and / or FR5, or can be within the EHF band.

[0061] In a multi-carrier system (such as 5G), one of the carrier frequencies is referred to as the "primary carrier" or "anchor carrier" or "primary serving cell" or "PCell", and the remaining carrier frequencies are referred to as "secondary carriers" or "secondary serving cells" or "SCells". In carrier aggregation, the anchor carrier is a carrier operating on the primary frequency (e.g., FR1) used by the UE 104 / 182 and the cell in which the 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 in a licensed frequency (however, this is not always the case). A secondary carrier is a carrier operating on a second frequency (e.g., FR2) that can be configured once an RRC connection is established between the UE 104 and the anchor carrier, and which can be used to provide additional radio resources. In some cases, the secondary carrier can be a carrier in an unlicensed frequency. The secondary carrier may contain only necessary signaling information and signals, for example, since the primary uplink carrier and the primary downlink carrier are usually UE-specific, those UE-specific signaling information and signals may not be present in the secondary carrier. This means that different UEs 104 / 182 in a cell may have different downlink primary carriers. The same is true for the uplink primary carrier. The network is able to change the primary carrier of any UE 104 / 182 at any time. This is done, for example, to balance the load on different carriers. Since a "serving cell" (whether PCell or SCell) corresponds to a carrier frequency / component carrier on which a base station communicates, the terms "cell", "serving cell", "component carrier", "carrier frequency", etc. are used interchangeably.

[0062] For example, still refer to Figure 1 , one of the frequencies used by macrocell base station 102 may be an anchor carrier (or "PCell"), and the other frequencies used by macrocell base station 102 and / or mmW base station 180 may be secondary carriers ("SCells"). Simultaneous transmission and / or reception of multiple carriers enables UE 104 / 182 to significantly increase its data transmission and / or reception rate. For example, two 20 MHz aggregated carriers in a multi-carrier system would theoretically result in a doubling of the data rate (i.e., 40 MHz) compared to the data rate obtained with a single 20 MHz carrier.

[0063] The wireless communication system 100 may also include a UE 164, which may communicate with the macrocell base station 102 via a communication link 120 and / or communicate with the mmW base station 180 via a mmW communication link 184. For example, the macrocell base station 102 may support a PCell and one or more SCells for the UE 164, and the mmW base station 180 may support one or more SCells for the UE 164.

[0064] In some cases, UE 164 and UE 182 are capable of sidelink communication. A UE with sidelink capability (SL-UE) can communicate with base station 102 via communication link 120 using a Uu interface (i.e., an air interface between UE and base station). SL-UEs (e.g., UE 164, UE 182) can also communicate directly with each other via a wireless sidelink 160 using a PC5 interface (i.e., an air interface between UEs with sidelink capability). A wireless sidelink (or just "sidelink") is an adaptation of a core cellular network (e.g., LTE, NR) standard that allows direct communication between two or more UEs without communicating through a base station. Sidelink communications can be unicast or multicast and can be used for device-to-device (D2D) media sharing, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communications, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2X) communications (e.g., cellular V2X (cV2X) communications, enhanced V2X (eV2X) communications, etc.), emergency rescue applications, etc. One or more SL-UEs in a group of SL-UEs utilizing sidelink communications may be located within the geographic coverage area 110 of the base station 102. Other SL-UEs in such a group may be outside the geographic coverage area 110 of the base station 102, or may be unable to receive transmissions from the base station 102 for other reasons. In some cases, each group of SL-UEs communicating via sidelink communications may utilize a one-to-many (1:M) system, where each SL-UE transmits to each other SL-UE in the group. In some cases, the base station 102 facilitates the scheduling of resources for the sidelink communications. In other cases, the sidelink communications are performed between the SL-UEs without involving the base station 102.

[0065] In one aspect, the sidelink 160 may operate on a wireless communication medium of interest, which may be shared with other vehicles and / or infrastructure access points and other wireless communications between other RATs. A "medium" may include one or more time, frequency, and / or spatial communication resources associated with wireless communications between one or more transmitter / receiver pairs (e.g., covering one or more channels across one or more carriers). In one aspect, the medium of interest may correspond to at least a portion of an unlicensed band shared between various RATs. Although different licensed bands have been reserved for certain communication systems (e.g., by government entities such as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the United States), these systems (particularly those that employ small cell access points) have recently expanded operations into unlicensed bands such as the unlicensed National Information Infrastructure (U-NII) band used by wireless local area network (WLAN) technology (most notably the IEEE 802.11x WLAN technology commonly referred to as "Wi-Fi"). Example systems of this type include different variants of CDMA systems, TDMA systems, FDMA systems, orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA) systems, single carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) systems, and the like.

[0066] Note that although Figure 1 Only two of these UEs are illustrated as SL-UEs (i.e., UEs 164 and 182), but any of the illustrated UEs may be SL-UEs. In addition, although only UE 182 is described as being capable of beamforming, any of the illustrated UEs (including UE 164) may be capable of beamforming. In the case where SL-UEs are capable of beamforming, they may beamform toward each other (i.e., toward other SL-UEs), toward other UEs (e.g., UE 104), toward base stations (e.g., base stations 102, 180, small cells 102', access point 150), etc. Therefore, in some cases, UE 164 and UE 182 may utilize beamforming via side link 160.

[0067] exist Figure 1 In the example of FIG. 1 , the UE illustrated (for simplicity, in Figure 1Any UE in the embodiment of the present invention (shown as UE 114 and UE 116 in FIG. 1 ) can receive signal 124 from one or more earth orbiting space vehicles (SV) 112 (e.g., satellites). In one aspect, SV 112 can be part of a satellite positioning system that UE 114 and / or UE 116 (or any other UE) can use as an independent source of location information. A satellite positioning system typically includes a transmitter system (e.g., SV 112) that is positioned so that a receiver (e.g., UE 114 and / or UE 116) can determine its position 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 that is marked with a repeating pseudo-random noise (PN) code of a set number of chips. Although typically located in SV 112, the transmitter may sometimes be located on a ground-based control station, base station 102, and / or other UE 104. A UE (eg, UE 114 and / or UE 116 ) may include one or more dedicated receivers specifically designed to receive signal 124 in order to derive geographic location information from SV 112 .

[0068] In a satellite positioning system, the use of signal 124 may be enhanced by various satellite-based augmentation systems (SBAS) that may be associated with or otherwise enabled for use with one or more global and / or regional navigation satellite systems. For example, SBAS may include augmentation systems that provide integrity information, differential corrections, etc., such as Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS), European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS), Multifunction Satellite Augmentation System (MSAS), Global Positioning System (GPS) Assisted Geographic Augmented Navigation, or GPS and Geographic Augmented Navigation System (GAGAN), etc. Thus, as used herein, a satellite positioning system may include any combination of one or more global and / or regional navigation satellites associated with such one or more satellite positioning systems.

[0069] In one aspect, SV 112 may additionally or alternatively be part of one or more non-terrestrial networks (NTNs). In the NTN, SV 112 is connected to an earth station (ES) 118 (also referred to as a ground station, NTN gateway, or gateway), which in turn is connected to an element in the 5G network, such as an improved base station 102 (without a ground antenna) or a network node in a 5GC (e.g., core network 170). This element in turn will provide access to other elements in the 5G network, and ultimately provide access to entities outside the 5G network (such as Internet web servers and other user devices). In this way, instead of or in addition to communication signals from a ground base station 102, UE 114 and / or UE 116 can receive communication signals (e.g., signal 124) from SV 112. The radio link between a UE (e.g., UE 114, UE 116) and a SV 112 is referred to as a "service link" (e.g., service link 124). The radio link between SV 112 and earth station 118 is referred to as a “feeder link” (eg, feeder link 126 ).

[0070] NTN can also be used to enhance 5G service reliability by providing service continuity for machine-to-machine (M2M) and / or IoT devices or passengers on a mobile platform (e.g., a passenger vehicle such as an aircraft, a ship, a high-speed train, a bus, etc.), or ensuring service availability anywhere (especially for critical communications). NTN can also enable 5G network scalability by providing efficient multicast / broadcast resources for data delivery toward the network edge or even UEs (e.g., UE 114 and / or UE 116).

[0071] exist Figure 1 In the example of , SV 112 communicates with UE 114 (representing a UE in an area not served by the terrestrial 5G network) outside the coverage area of ​​base station 102, and communicates with UE 116 (representing a UE not fully served by the terrestrial 5G network) within the coverage area of ​​base station 102. Therefore, depending on the service provided by base station 102 to UE 116, SV 112 can act as a serving base station for UE 114 and act as a primary cell or a secondary cell for UE 116.

[0072] Note that although Figure 1 Only a single SV 112 and a single earth station 118 are illustrated, but it should be understood that this is merely an example and there may be any number of SVs 112 connected to any number of earth stations 118 .

[0073] The wireless communication system 100 may further 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 of FIG. 1 , UE 190 has a D2D P2P link 192 with one of UEs 104 connected to one of base stations 102 (e.g., UE 190 can indirectly obtain cellular connectivity through the D2D P2P link), and has a D2D P2P link 194 with WLAN STA 152 connected to WLAN AP 150 (UE 190 can indirectly obtain WLAN-based Internet connectivity through the D2D P2P link). In one example, D2D P2P links 192 and 194 can be supported by any well-known D2D RAT, such as LTE Direct (LTE-D), WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), etc.

[0074] Figure 2A An example wireless network structure 200 is illustrated. For example, the 5GC 210 (also referred to as the Next Generation Core (NGC)) can be functionally viewed as a control plane (C-plane) function 214 (e.g., UE registration, authentication, network access, gateway selection, etc.) and a user plane (U-plane) function 212 (e.g., UE gateway function, access to data networks, IP routing, etc.), which operate in conjunction to form a core network. The user plane interface (NG-U) 213 and the control plane interface (NG-C) 215 connect the gNB 222 to the 5GC 210, and specifically to the user plane function 212 and the control plane function 214, respectively. In an additional configuration, the ng-eNB 224 can also be connected to the 5GC 210 via the NG-C 215 to the control plane function 214 and the NG-U 213 to the user plane function 212. In addition, the ng-eNB 224 can communicate directly with the gNB 222 via the 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 ng-eNBs 224 and gNBs 222. Either the gNB 222 or the ng-eNB 224 (or both) may communicate with one or more UEs 204 (e.g., any of the UEs described herein).

[0075] Another optional aspect may include a location server 230 that can communicate with the 5GC 210 to provide location assistance for the UE 204. The location server 230 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 can each correspond to a single server. The location server 230 can be configured to support one or more location services for the UE 204 that can be connected to the location server 230 via the core network, the 5GC 210, and / or via the Internet (not illustrated). In addition, the location server 230 can be integrated into a component of the core network, or alternatively can be external to the core network (e.g., a third-party server, such as an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) server or a service server).

[0076] Figure 2B Another example wireless network structure 240 is illustrated. 5GC 260 (which may correspond to Figure 2AThe 5GC 210 in the 5GC 210 can be functionally viewed as a control plane function provided by an access and mobility management function (AMF) 264, and a user plane function provided by a user plane function (UPF) 262, which operate in conjunction to form a 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 a session management function (SMF) 266, a transparent proxy service for routing SM messages, access authentication and access authorization, transmission of short message service (SMS) messages between the UE 204 and a short message service function (SMSF) (not shown), and security anchor functionality (SEAF). The AMF 264 also interacts with an authentication server function (AUSF) (not shown) and the UE 204, and receives an intermediate key established as a result of the UE 204 authentication process. In the case of authentication based on the UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) Subscriber Identity Module (USIM), the AMF 264 retrieves security material from the AUSF. The functionality of the AMF 264 also includes security context management (SCM). The SCM receives keys from the SEAF, which it uses to derive access network specific keys. The functionality of the AMF 264 also includes location service management for regulatory services, for the transmission of location service messages between the UE 204 and the Location Management Function (LMF) 270 (which acts as a location server 230), for the transmission of location service messages between the NG-RAN 220 and the LMF 270, for the allocation of Evolved Packet System (EPS) bearer identifiers for interoperation with EPS, and UE 204 mobility event notifications. In addition, the AMF 264 also supports functionality for non-3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project) access networks.

[0077] The functions of UPF 262 include: acting as an anchor point for intra-RAT / inter-RAT mobility (when 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, service steering), lawful interception (user plane collection), service usage reporting, user plane quality of service (QoS) handling (e.g., uplink / downlink rate enforcement, reflective QoS marking in downlink), uplink service 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 transmitting and forwarding one or more "end markers" to the source RAN node. UPF 262 can also support the delivery of location service messages between UE 204 and a location server (such as SLP 272) on the user plane.

[0078] The functions of SMF 266 include session management, UE Internet Protocol (IP) address allocation and management, selection and control of user plane functions, traffic steering configuration for routing traffic to the correct destination at UPF 262, partial control of policy enforcement and QoS, and downlink data notification. The interface through which SMF 266 communicates with AMF 264 is called the N11 interface.

[0079] Another optional aspect may include an LMF 270 that can communicate with the 5GC 260 to provide location assistance for 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 can each correspond to a single server. The LMF 270 can be configured to support one or more location services for the UE 204, which can be connected to the LMF 270 via the core network, the 5GC 260, and / or via the Internet (not illustrated). SLP 272 may support similar functionality as LMF 270, but LMF 270 may communicate with AMF 264, NG-RAN 220, and UE 204 on a control plane (e.g., using interfaces and protocols intended to carry signaling messages rather than voice or data), and SLP 272 may communicate with UE 204 and external clients (e.g., third-party servers 274) on a user plane (e.g., using protocols intended to carry voice and / or data, such as Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and / or IP).

[0080] Yet another optional aspect may include a third-party server 274 that may communicate with the LMF 270, SLP 272, 5GC 260 (e.g., via AMF 264 and / or UPF 262), NG-RAN 220, and / or UE 204 to obtain location information (e.g., location estimate) of the UE 204. Thus, in some cases, the third-party server 274 may be referred to as a location service (LCS) client or external client. The third-party server 274 may be implemented as multiple separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules distributed across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternatively may each correspond to a single server.

[0081] The user plane interface 263 and the control plane interface 265 connect the 5GC 260, and specifically the UPF 262 and the AMF 264, respectively, to one or more gNBs 222 and / or ng-eNBs 224 in the NG-RAN 220. The interface between the gNB 222 and / or ng-eNB 224 and the AMF 264 is referred to as the "N2" interface, and the interface between the gNB 222 and / or ng-eNB 224 and the UPF 262 is referred to as the "N3" interface. The gNBs 222 and / or ng-eNBs 224 of the NG-RAN 220 may communicate directly with each other via a backhaul connection 223 referred to as an "Xn-C" interface. One or more of the gNBs 222 and / or ng-eNBs 224 may communicate with one or more UEs 204 via a wireless interface referred to as a "Uu" interface.

[0082] The functionality of the gNB 222 may be divided between a gNB central unit (gNB-CU) 226, one or more gNB distributed units (gNB-DU) 228, and one or more gNB radio units (gNB-RU) 229. The gNB-CU 226 is a logical node that includes base station functions other than those specifically assigned to the gNB-DU 228, including delivery of user data, mobility control, radio access network sharing, positioning, session management, and the like. More specifically, the gNB-CU 226 generally hosts the radio resource control (RRC), service data adaptation protocol (SDAP), and packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) protocols of the gNB 222. The gNB-DU 228 is a logical node that generally hosts the radio link control (RLC) and medium access control (MAC) layers of the gNB 222. Its operation is controlled by the gNB-CU 226. One gNB-DU 228 may support one or more cells, and one cell is supported by only one gNB-DU 228. The interface 232 between the gNB-CU 226 and one or more gNB-DUs 228 is referred to as the "F1" interface. The physical (PHY) layer functionality of the gNB 222 is typically hosted by one or more independent gNB-RUs 229, which perform functions such as power amplification and signal transmission / reception. The interface between the gNB-DU 228 and the gNB-RU 229 is referred to as the "Fx" interface. Thus, the UE 204 communicates with the gNB-CU 226 via the RRC layer, the SDAP layer, and the PDCP layer, communicates with the gNB-DU 228 via the RLC layer and the MAC layer, and communicates with the gNB-RU 229 via the PHY layer.

[0083] The deployment of a communication system (such as a 5G NR system) can be arranged in a variety of ways using various components or constituent parts. In a 5G NR system or network, a network node, a network entity, a mobility element of a network, a RAN node, a core network node, a network element, or a network equipment (such as a base station or one or more units (or one or more components) that perform base station functionality) can be implemented in an aggregated or decomposed architecture. For example, a base station (such as a Node B (NB), an evolved NB (eNB), an NR base station, a 5GNB, an access point (AP), a transmit receive point (TRP), or a cell, etc.) can be implemented as an aggregated base station (also referred to as a standalone base station or a single-chip base station) or a decomposed base station.

[0084] A converged base station may be configured to utilize a radio protocol stack physically or logically integrated within a single RAN node. A decomposed base station may be configured to utilize a protocol stack physically or logically distributed between two or more units, such as one or more central or centralized units (CUs), one or more distributed units (DUs), or one or more radio units (RUs). In some aspects, a CU may be implemented within a RAN node, and one or more DUs may be co-located with the CU, or alternatively, may be geographically or virtually distributed in one or more other RAN nodes. A DU may be implemented to communicate with one or more RUs. Each of a CU, a DU, and a RU may also be implemented as a virtual unit, i.e., a virtual central unit (VCU), a virtual distributed unit (VDU), or a virtual radio unit (VRU).

[0085] Base station type operations or network designs may take into account the aggregated nature of base station functionality. For example, a disaggregated base station may be used in an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) network, an open radio access network (O-RAN (network configurations such as those initiated by the O-RAN Alliance)), or a virtualized radio access network (vRAN, also known as a cloud radio access network (C-RAN)). Decomposition may include distributing functionality across two or more units at various physical locations, as well as virtually distributing functionality of at least one unit, which may enable flexibility in network design. Individual units of a disaggregated base station or disaggregated RAN architecture may be configured for wired or wireless communication with at least one other unit.

[0086] Figure 2C An example disaggregated base station architecture 250 is illustrated in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The disaggregated base station architecture 250 may include one or more central units (CUs) 280 (e.g., gNB-CUs 226) that may communicate directly with a core network 267 (e.g., 5GC 210, 5GC 260) via a backhaul link, or indirectly with the core network 267 through one or more disaggregated base station units, such as a near real-time (near-RT) RAN intelligent controller (RIC) 259 via an E2 link or a non-real-time (non-RT) RIC 257 associated with a service management and orchestration (SMO) framework 255, or both. The CU 280 may communicate with one or more distributed units (DUs) 285 (e.g., gNB-DUs 228) via respective midhaul links, such as an F1 interface. The DUs 285 may communicate with one or more radio units (RUs) 287 (e.g., gNB-RUs 229) via respective fronthaul links. The RU 287 can communicate with a corresponding UE 204 via one or more radio frequency (RF) access links. In some implementations, a UE 204 can be served by multiple RUs 287 simultaneously.

[0087] Each of the units (i.e., CU 280, DU 285, RU 287, and near-RT RIC 259, non-RT RIC 257, and SMO framework 255) may include or be coupled to one or more interfaces configured to receive or send signals, data, or information (collectively, signals) via a wired or wireless transmission medium. Each of the units or an associated processor or controller that provides instructions to the communication interface of these units may be configured to communicate with one or more of the other units via a transmission medium. For example, these units may include a wired interface configured to receive or send signals to one or more of the other units via a wired transmission medium. Additionally, these units may include a wireless interface that may include a receiver, transmitter, or transceiver (such as a radio frequency (RF) transceiver) configured to receive or send signals, or both, to one or more of the other units on a wireless transmission medium.

[0088] In some aspects, CU 280 may host one or more higher layer control functions. Such control functions may include radio resource control (RRC), packet data convergence protocol (PDCP), service data adaptation protocol (SDAP), etc. Each control function may be implemented using an interface configured to communicate signals with other control functions hosted by CU 280. CU280 may be configured to handle user plane functionality (i.e., central unit-user plane (CU-UP)), control plane functionality (i.e., central unit-control plane (CU-CP)), or a combination thereof. In some specific implementations, CU 280 may be logically split into one or more CU-UP units and one or more CU-CP units. When implemented in an O-RAN configuration, the CU-UP unit may communicate bidirectionally with the CU-CP unit via an interface (such as an E1 interface). As needed, CU 280 may be implemented to communicate with DU 285 for network control and signaling.

[0089] DU 285 may correspond to a logical unit that includes one or more base station functions for controlling the operation of one or more RUs 287. In some aspects, DU 285 may host one or more of a radio link control (RLC) layer, a medium access control (MAC) layer, and one or more high physical (PHY) layers (such as modules for forward error correction (FEC) encoding and decoding, scrambling, modulation and demodulation, etc.) at least in part according to a functional split such as those defined by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). In some aspects, DU 285 may further host one or more low PHY layers. Each layer (or module) may be implemented using an interface that is configured to communicate signals with other layers (and modules) hosted by DU 285 or with control functions hosted by CU 280.

[0090] The lower layer functionality may be implemented by one or more RUs 287. In some deployments, a RU 287 controlled by a DU 285 may correspond to a logical node that hosts RF processing functions or low PHY layer functions (such as performing Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), Inverse FFT (iFFT), digital beamforming, physical random access channel (PRACH) extraction and filtering, etc.), or both, based at least in part on a functional split (such as a lower layer functional split). In such an architecture, the RU 287 may be implemented to handle over-the-air (OTA) communications with one or more UEs 204. In some implementations, real-time and non-real-time aspects of control plane and user plane communications with the RU 287 may be controlled by the corresponding DU 285. In some scenarios, this configuration may enable the implementation of the DU 285 and the CU 280 in a cloud-based RAN architecture (such as a vRAN architecture).

[0091] The SMO framework 255 may be configured to support RAN deployment and provisioning of non-virtualized network elements and virtualized network elements. For non-virtualized network elements, the SMO framework 255 may be configured to support the deployment of dedicated physical resources for RAN coverage requirements, which may be managed via an operation and maintenance interface (such as an O1 interface). For virtualized network elements, the SMO framework 255 may be configured to interact with a cloud computing platform (such as an open cloud (O-Cloud) 269) to perform network element lifecycle management (such as instantiating virtualized network elements) via a cloud computing platform interface (such as an O2 interface). Such virtualized network elements may include, but are not limited to, CU 280, DU 285, RU 287, and near-RT RIC 259. In some specific implementations, the SMO framework 255 may communicate with hardware aspects of the 4G RAN (such as an open eNB (O-eNB) 261) via the O1 interface. Additionally, in some specific implementations, the SMO framework 255 may communicate directly with one or more RUs 287 via the O1 interface. The SMO framework 255 may also include a non-RT RIC 257 configured to support the functionality of the SMO framework 255 .

[0092] The non-RT RIC 257 may be configured to include logic functions that enable non-real-time control and optimization of RAN elements and resources, artificial intelligence / machine learning (AI / ML) workflows including model training and updating, or policy-based guidance of applications / features in the near-RT RIC 259. The non-RT RIC 257 may be coupled to or communicate with the near-RT RIC 259 (such as via an A1 interface). The near-RT RIC 259 may be configured to include logic functions that enable near-real-time control and optimization of RAN elements and resources via data collection and actions through an interface (such as via an E2 interface) that connects one or more CUs 280, one or more DUs 285, or both, and the O-eNB with the near-RT RIC 259.

[0093] In some implementations, in order to generate an AI / ML model to be deployed in the near-RT RIC 259, the non-RT RIC 257 may receive parameters or external enrichment information from an external server. Such information may be utilized by the near-RT RIC 259 and may be received from a non-network data source or from a network function at the SMO framework 255 or the non-RT RIC 257. In some examples, the non-RT RIC 257 or the near-RT RIC 259 may be configured to tune RAN behavior or performance. For example, the non-RT RIC 257 may monitor long-term trends and patterns of performance and employ AI / ML models to perform corrective actions through the SMO framework 255 (such as via reconfiguration of O1) or via the creation of RAN management policies (such as A1 policies).

[0094] Figure 3A , Figure 3B and Figure 3C The examples 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 Figure 2A and Figure 2B Several example components (represented by corresponding boxes) in the NG-RAN 220 and / or 5GC 210 / 260 infrastructure depicted in the 5GC 210 / 260 (such as a dedicated network) are shown to support operations as described herein. It should be understood that these components can be implemented in different types of devices with different specific implementations (e.g., in an ASIC, in a system on a chip (SoC), etc.). The illustrated components can also be incorporated into other devices in the communication system. For example, other devices in the system may include components similar to those described as providing similar functionality. Moreover, a given device may include one or more of these components. For example, a device may include multiple transceiver components that enable the device to operate on multiple carriers and / or communicate via different technologies.

[0095] UE 302 and base station 304 each include one or more wireless wide area network (WWAN) transceivers 310 and 350, respectively, which provide means (e.g., means for transmitting, means for receiving, means for measuring, means for tuning, means for preventing transmitting, etc.) for communicating via one or more wireless communication networks (not shown), such as NR networks, LTE networks, GSM networks, etc. WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 may each be connected to one or more antennas 316 and 356, respectively, for communicating with other network nodes (such as other UEs, access points, base stations (e.g., eNBs, gNBs), 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 particular spectrum). The 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 the specified RAT, and conversely, receive and decode the signals 318 and 358 (e.g., messages, indications, information, pilots, etc.). Specifically, the WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 include: one or more transmitters 314 and 354 for transmitting and encoding the signals 318 and 358, respectively, and one or more receivers 312 and 352 for receiving and decoding the signals 318 and 358, respectively.

[0096] At least in some cases, the UE 302 and the base station 304 each further include one or more short-range 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 for communicating over the wireless communication medium of interest via at least one designated RAT (e.g., WiFi, LTE-D, The short-range transceivers 320 and 360 are components (e.g., components for sending, components for receiving, components for measuring, components for tuning, components for preventing sending, etc.) for communicating with other network nodes (such as other UEs, access points, base stations, etc.) using a PC5, dedicated short-range communication (DSRC), wireless access for vehicle environments (WAVE), near field communication (NFC), ultra-wideband (UWB), etc.). The short-range transceivers 320 and 360 can be configured in different ways to send and encode signals 328 and 368 (e.g., messages, indications, information, etc.) according to a specified RAT, and conversely, receive and decode signals 328 and 368 (e.g., messages, indications, information, pilots, etc.). Specifically, the short-range transceivers 320 and 360 include: one or more transmitters 324 and 364 for sending 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 a specific example, the short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 may be WiFi transceivers, Transceiver, and / or transceiver, NFC transceiver UWB transceiver or vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and / or vehicle-to-everything (V2X) transceiver.

[0097] At least in some cases, the UE 302 and the base station 304 also include satellite signal receivers 330 and 370. The satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 may be connected to one or more antennas 336 and 376, respectively, and may provide components for receiving and / or measuring satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378, respectively. In the case where the satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 are satellite positioning system receivers, the 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. In the case where the satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 are non-terrestrial network (NTN) receivers, the satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378 may be communication signals (e.g., carrying control and / or user data) originating from a 5G network. The satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 may include any suitable hardware and / or software for receiving and processing satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378, respectively. Satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 may request appropriate information and operations from other systems and, at least in some cases, perform calculations using measurements obtained by any suitable satellite positioning system algorithm to determine the positions of UE 302 and base station 304, respectively.

[0098] The base station 304 and the network entity 306 each include one or more network transceivers 380 and 390, respectively, which provide means (e.g., means for transmitting, means for receiving, etc.) for communicating with other network entities (e.g., other base stations 304, other network entities 306). For example, the 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, the 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 communicate with other network entities 306 via one or more wired or wireless core network interfaces.

[0099] The transceiver may be configured to communicate over a wired or wireless link. A transceiver (whether a wired transceiver or a wireless transceiver) includes a transmitter circuit system (e.g., transmitters 314, 324, 354, 364) and a receiver circuit system (e.g., receivers 312, 322, 352, 362). In some implementations, the transceiver may be an integrated device (e.g., implementing the transmitter circuit system and the receiver circuit system in a single device), in some implementations may include separate transmitter circuit systems and separate receiver circuit systems, or may be implemented in other ways in other implementations. The transmitter circuit system and the receiver circuit system of a wired transceiver (e.g., network transceivers 380 and 390 in some implementations) may be coupled to one or more wired network interface ports. The 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 the corresponding device (e.g., UE 302, base station 304) to perform transmit "beamforming", as described herein. Similarly, the wireless receiver circuitry (e.g., receiver 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 the corresponding device (e.g., UE 302, base station 304) to perform receive beamforming, as described herein. In one aspect, the transmitter circuitry and the receiver circuitry may share the same multiple antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366) so that the corresponding device can only receive or only transmit at a given time, rather than both receive and transmit at the same time. The wireless transceivers (eg, WWAN transceivers 310 and 350, short-range transceivers 320 and 360) may also include a network listening module (NLM) or the like for performing various measurements.

[0100] As used herein, various wireless transceivers (e.g., transceivers 310, 320, 350, and 360 in some implementations, and network transceivers 380 and 390) and wired transceivers (e.g., network transceivers 380 and 390 in some implementations) may be generally characterized as a "transceiver," "at least one transceiver," or "one or more transceivers." Thus, whether a particular transceiver is a wired transceiver or a wireless transceiver may be inferred based on the type of communication being performed. For example, backhaul communications between network devices or servers typically involve signaling via a wired transceiver, while wireless communications between a UE (e.g., UE 302) and a base station (e.g., base station 304) will typically involve signaling via a wireless transceiver.

[0101] 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 include one or more processors 332, 384, and 394, respectively, 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 sending, 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 circuit systems, or various combinations thereof.

[0102] UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 include memory circuitry implementing memory 340, 386, and 396 (e.g., each including a memory device) for maintaining information (e.g., information indicating reserved resources, thresholds, parameters, etc.). Thus, memory 340, 386, and 396 may provide means for storing, means for retrieving, means for maintaining, etc. In some cases, UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 may include positioning components 342, 388, and 398, respectively. Positioning components 342, 388, and 398, respectively, may be hardware circuits that are part of or coupled to processors 332, 384, and 394, respectively, which, when executed, cause UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 to perform the functionality described herein. In other aspects, the positioning components 342, 388, and 398 can be external to the processors 332, 384, and 394 (e.g., part of a modem processing system, integrated with another processing system, etc.). Alternatively, the positioning components 342, 388, and 398 can be memory modules stored in the memories 340, 386, and 396, respectively, which when executed by the processors 332, 384, and 394 (or a modem processing system, another processing system, etc.), cause the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 to perform the functionality described herein. Figure 3A Possible locations for a location component 342 are illustrated, which may be, for example, part of one or more WWAN transceivers 310, memory 340, one or more processors 332, or any combination thereof, or may be a standalone component. Figure 3B Possible locations for a location component 388 are illustrated, which may be, for example, part of one or more WWAN transceivers 350, memory 386, one or more processors 384, or any combination thereof, or may be a standalone component. Figure 3C Possible locations for a location component 398 are illustrated, which may be, for example, part of one or more network transceivers 390, memory 396, one or more processors 394, or any combination thereof, or may be a stand-alone component.

[0103] UE 302 may include one or more sensors 344 coupled to one or more processors 332 to provide a means for sensing or detecting movement and / or orientation information that is independent of motion data derived from signals received by one or more WWAN transceivers 310, one or more short-range transceivers 320, and / or satellite signal receivers 330. As an example, sensor 344 may include an accelerometer (e.g., a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) device), a gyroscope, a geomagnetic sensor (e.g., a compass), an altimeter (e.g., a barometric altimeter), and / or any other type of motion detection sensor. In addition, 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 a multi-axis accelerometer and an orientation sensor to provide the ability to calculate positioning in a two-dimensional (2D) and / or three-dimensional (3D) coordinate system.

[0104] In addition, the UE 302 includes a user interface 346, which provides means for providing indications to the user (e.g., audible and / or visual indications) and / or for receiving user input (e.g., when the user actuates a sensing device such as a keypad, touch screen, microphone, etc.). Although not shown, the base station 304 and the network entity 306 may also include a user interface.

[0105] Referring to the one or more processors 384 in more detail, in a downlink, IP packets from the network entity 306 may be provided to the processor 384. The one or more processors 384 may implement functionality for an RRC layer, a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, a radio link control (RLC) layer, and a medium access control (MAC) layer. One or more processors 384 may provide: RRC layer functionality associated with broadcasting of 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 delivery of upper layer PDUs, error correction through automatic repeat request (ARQ), concatenation, segmentation and reassembly of RLC service data units (SDUs), re-segmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functionality associated with mapping between logical channels and transport channels, scheduling information reporting, error correction, priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.

[0106] The transmitter 354 and the receiver 352 may implement layer 1 (L1) functionality associated with various signal processing functions. Layer 1, including the physical (PHY) layer, may include: error detection on the transport channel, forward error correction (FEC) coding / decoding of the transport channel, interleaving, rate matching, mapping to the physical channel, modulation / demodulation of the physical channel, and MIMO antenna processing. The transmitter 354 handles 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 may then be split into parallel streams. Each stream may then be mapped to an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) subcarrier, multiplexed with a reference signal (e.g., a pilot) in the time and / or frequency domain, and then combined together using an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) to produce a physical channel carrying a time domain OFDM symbol stream. The OFDM symbol stream is spatially pre-decoded to generate multiple spatial streams. Channel estimates from a channel estimator may be used to determine coding and modulation schemes and for spatial processing. Channel estimates may be derived from a reference signal and / or channel condition feedback sent by the UE 302. Each spatial stream may then be provided to one or more different antennas 356. The transmitter 354 may modulate an RF carrier with a corresponding spatial stream for transmission.

[0107] At the UE 302, the receiver 312 receives the signal through its corresponding antenna 316. The receiver 312 recovers the information modulated onto the RF carrier and provides the information to one or more processors 332. The transmitter 314 and the receiver 312 implement layer 1 functionality associated with various signal processing functions. The receiver 312 can perform spatial processing on the information to recover any spatial streams destined for the UE 302. If multiple spatial streams are destined for the UE 302, they can be combined into a single OFDM symbol stream by the receiver 312. The receiver 312 then converts the OFDM symbol stream from the time domain to the frequency domain using a fast Fourier transform (FFT). The frequency domain signal includes a separate OFDM symbol stream for each subcarrier of the OFDM signal. The symbols on each subcarrier and the reference signal are recovered and demodulated by determining the signal constellation point that is most likely to be sent by the base station 304. These soft decisions can be based on channel estimates calculated by a channel estimator. The soft decisions are then decoded and deinterleaved to recover the data and control signals originally sent by the 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.

[0108] In the uplink, one or more processors 332 provide demultiplexing between transport and logical channels, packet reassembly, decryption, header decompression, and control signal processing to recover IP packets from the core network. One or more processors 332 are also responsible for error detection.

[0109] Similar to the functionality described in conjunction with downlink transmissions performed by the base station 304, the one or more processors 332 provide: RRC layer functionality associated with system information (e.g., MIB, SIB) acquisition, RRC connection, and measurement reporting; PDCP layer functionality associated with header compression / decompression and security (encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification); RLC layer functionality associated with delivery of upper layer PDUs, error correction through ARQ, concatenation, segmentation and reassembly of RLC SDUs, re-segmentation 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 through hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ), priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.

[0110] Channel estimates derived by the channel estimator from a reference signal or feedback sent by the base station 304 may be used by the transmitter 314 to select appropriate coding and modulation schemes and to facilitate spatial processing. The spatial streams generated by the transmitter 314 may be provided to different antennas 316. The transmitter 314 may modulate an RF carrier with a corresponding spatial stream for transmission.

[0111] The uplink transmissions are processed at the base station 304 in a manner similar to that described in conjunction with the receiver functionality at the UE 302. The receiver 352 receives the signal through its respective antenna 356. The receiver 352 recovers the information modulated onto the RF carrier and provides the information to one or more processors 384.

[0112] In the uplink, one or more processors 384 provide demultiplexing between transport and logical channels, packet reassembly, decryption, header decompression, control signal processing to recover IP packets from UE 302. IP packets from one or more processors 384 may be provided to the core network. One or more processors 384 are also responsible for error detection.

[0113] For convenience, UE 302, base station 304 and / or network entity 306 may Figure 3A , Figure 3B and Figure 3C, is shown as including various components that can be configured according to the various examples described herein. However, it should be understood that the illustrated components may have different functionality in different designs. Specifically, FIG. 3A to FIG. 3C The various components in are optional in alternative configurations, and various aspects include configurations that may vary due to design choice, cost, use of the device, or other considerations. For example, in Figure 3A In the case of a wearable device or a tablet or a PC or a laptop computer, a specific implementation of the UE 302 may omit the WWAN transceiver 310 (e.g., a wearable device or a tablet or a PC or a laptop computer may have Wi-Fi and / or Bluetooth capabilities but no cellular capabilities), may omit the short-range transceiver 320 (e.g., only cellular, etc.), may omit the satellite signal receiver 330, may omit the sensor 344, etc. In another example, in Figure 3B In the case of a wireless LAN, a particular implementation of the base station 304 may omit the WWAN transceiver 350 (e.g., a Wi-Fi "hotspot" access point without cellular capabilities), or may omit the short-range transceiver 360 (e.g., cellular only, etc.), or may omit the satellite receiver 370, etc. For the sake of brevity, illustrations of various alternative configurations are not provided herein, but will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art.

[0114] Various components of the UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 may be communicatively coupled to one another via data buses 334, 382, ​​and 392, respectively. In an aspect, the data buses 334, 382, ​​and 392 may form or be part of communication interfaces for the UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306, respectively. For example, where different logical entities are embodied in the same device (e.g., gNB and location server functionality incorporated into the same base station 304), the data buses 334, 382, ​​and 392 may provide for communication between the different logical entities.

[0115] Figure 3A , Figure 3B and Figure 3C The components of can be implemented in various ways. In some specific implementations, Figure 3A , Figure 3B and Figure 3CThe components of may 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 be combined with at least one memory component for storing information or executable code used by the circuit to provide the functionality. For example, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 310 to 346 may be implemented by a processor and memory component of UE 302 (e.g., by executing appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of the processor component). Similarly, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 350 to 388 may be implemented by a processor and memory component of base station 304 (e.g., by executing appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of the processor component). Moreover, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 390 to 398 may be implemented by a processor and memory component of network entity 306 (e.g., by executing appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of the processor component). For simplicity, various operations, actions and / or functions are described herein as being performed "by a UE", "by a base station", "by a network entity", etc. However, it should be understood that such operations, actions and / or functions may actually be performed by specific components or combinations of components of the UE 302, base station 304, network entity 306, etc. (such as processors 332, 384, 394, transceivers 310, 320, 350 and 360, memories 340, 386 and 396, positioning components 342, 388 and 398, etc.).

[0116] In some designs, the network entity 306 may be implemented as a core network component. In other designs, the network entity 306 may be operated differently from a network operator or cellular network infrastructure (e.g., NG RAN 220 and / or 5GC 210 / 260). For example, the network entity 306 may be a component of a dedicated network that may be configured to communicate with the UE 302 via the base station 304 or independently of the base station 304 (e.g., via a non-cellular communication link such as WiFi).

[0117] NR supports a variety of 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. Figure 4Examples of various positioning methods according to various aspects of the present disclosure are illustrated. In the OTDOA or DL-TDOA positioning process illustrated in scenario 410, the UE measures the difference between the arrival times (ToA) of reference signals (e.g., positioning reference signals (PRS)) received from paired base stations (referred to as reference signal time difference (RSTD) or arrival time difference (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 positions of the base stations involved and the RSTD measurements, a positioning entity (e.g., a UE for UE-based positioning or a location server for UE-assisted positioning) can estimate the position of the UE.

[0118] For DL-AoD positioning illustrated in scenario 420, the positioning entity uses measurement reports from the UE regarding received signal strength measurements of multiple downlink transmit beams to determine the angle between the UE and the transmitting base station. The positioning entity can then estimate the position of the UE based on the determined angle and the known position of the transmitting base station.

[0119] 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 is based on uplink reference signals (e.g., sounding reference signals (SRS)) sent by the UE to multiple base stations. Specifically, the UE sends one or more uplink reference signals, which are measured by a reference base station and multiple non-reference base stations. Each base station then reports the reception time of the reference signal (referred to as relative time of arrival (RTOA)) to a positioning entity (e.g., a location server) that knows the location and relative timing of the base stations involved. Based on the receive-to-receive (Rx-Rx) time difference between the reported RTOA of the reference base station and the reported RTOA of each non-reference base station, the known location of the base stations, and their known timing offsets, the positioning entity can use TDOA to estimate the position of the UE.

[0120] 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 station. Based on the determined angle and the known location of the base station, the positioning entity can then estimate the location of the UE.

[0121] Downlink and uplink based positioning methods include: enhanced cell ID (E-CID) positioning and multiple round trip time (RTT) positioning (also referred to as "multi-cell RTT" and "multi-RTT"). In the RTT procedure, a first entity (e.g., a base station or UE) sends a first RTT-related signal (e.g., a PRS or SRS) to a second entity (e.g., a UE or a base station), and the second entity sends a second RTT-related signal (e.g., an SRS or PRS) back to the first entity. Each entity measures the time difference between the arrival time (ToA) of the received RTT-related signal and the transmission time of the transmitted RTT-related signal. The time difference is called the received-to-transmit (Rx-Tx) time difference. The Rx-Tx time difference measurement can be performed or adjusted to include only the time difference between the nearest time slot boundary of the received signal and the transmitted signal. The two entities may then transmit their Rx-Tx time difference measurements to a location server (e.g., LMF 270), which calculates the round trip propagation time (i.e., RTT) between the two entities based on the two Rx-Tx time difference measurements (e.g., calculated as the sum of the two Rx-Tx time difference measurements). Alternatively, one entity may transmit its Rx-Tx time difference measurements to the other entity, which then calculates the RTT. The distance between the two entities may be determined based on the RTT and a known signal speed (e.g., the speed of light). For multi-RTT positioning illustrated in scenario 430, a first entity (e.g., a UE or a base station) performs an RTT positioning process with multiple second entities (e.g., multiple base stations or UEs) to enable the location of the first entity to be determined (e.g., using multilateration) based on the distance to the second entity and the known location of the second entity. RTT and multi-RTT methods may be combined with other positioning techniques (such as UL-AoA and DL-AoD) to improve location accuracy, as illustrated in scenario 440.

[0122] 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 timing and signal strength of the detected neighboring base stations. The UE's position is then estimated based on this information and the known locations of the base stations.

[0123] To assist the positioning operation, the location server (e.g., location server 230, LMF 270, SLP 272) may provide assistance data to the UE. For example, the assistance data may include: an identifier of the base station (or cell / TRP of the base station) from which the reference signal is measured, reference signal configuration parameters (e.g., the number of consecutive time slots including PRS, the periodicity of consecutive time slots including PRS, the silent 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, the assistance data may originate directly from the base station itself (e.g., in an overhead message broadcast periodically, etc.). In some cases, the UE itself may be able to detect neighboring network nodes without using assistance data.

[0124] In the case of OTDOA or DL-TDOA positioning procedures, the assistance data may also include an expected RSTD value and associated uncertainty, or a search window around the expected RSTD. In some cases, the value range of the expected RSTD may be + / -500 microseconds (μs). In some cases, when any resource used for positioning measurements is in FR1, the value range of the uncertainty of the expected RSTD may be + / -32μs. In other cases, when all resources used for positioning measurements are in FR2, the value range of the uncertainty of the expected RSTD may be + / -8μs.

[0125] The position estimate may be referred to by other names, such as a position estimate, a position, a fix, a position fix, a fix, etc. The position estimate may be geodetic and include coordinates (e.g., latitude, longitude, and possibly altitude), or may be municipal and include a street address, a postal address, or some other verbal description of the location. The position estimate may be further defined relative to some other known location or in absolute terms (e.g., using latitude, longitude, and possibly altitude). The position estimate may include an expected error or uncertainty (e.g., by including an area or volume within which the location is expected to be contained with some specified or default confidence level).

[0126] Various frame structures may be used to support downlink and uplink transmissions between network nodes (eg, base stations and UEs). Figure 5 5 is a diagram illustrating an example frame structure according to aspects of the present disclosure. The frame structure may be a downlink or uplink frame structure. Other wireless communication technologies may have different frame structures and / or different channels.

[0127] LTE (and in some cases NR) utilizes orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) on the downlink and single carrier frequency division multiplexing (SC-FDM) on the uplink. However, unlike LTE, NR also has the option of using OFDM on the uplink. OFDM and SC-FDM divide the system bandwidth into multiple (K) orthogonal subcarriers, which are also often called tones, frequency bins, etc. Each subcarrier can be modulated with data. In general, 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 spacing of the subcarriers can be 15 kilohertz (kHz), and the minimum resource allocation (resource block) can be 12 subcarriers (or 180kHz). Thus, for a system bandwidth of 1.25 megahertz (MHz), 2.5 MHz, 5 MHz, 10 MHz, or 20 MHz, the nominal fast Fourier transform (FFT) size may be equal to 128, 256, 512, 1024, or 2048, respectively. The system bandwidth may also be divided into subbands. For example, a subband may cover 1.08 MHz (i.e., 6 resource blocks), and there may be 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16 subbands for a system bandwidth of 1.25 MHz, 2.5 MHz, 5 MHz, 10 MHz, or 20 MHz, respectively.

[0128] LTE supports a single parameter set (subcarrier spacing (SCS), symbol length, etc.). In contrast, NR may support multiple parameter sets (μ), for example, 15kHz (μ=0), 30kHz (μ=1), 60kHz (μ=2), 120kHz (μ=3), and 240kHz (μ=4) or larger subcarrier spacings may be available. In each subcarrier spacing, there are 14 symbols per slot. For 15kHz SCS (μ=0), there is one slot per subframe, 10 slots per frame, the slot duration is 1 millisecond (ms), the symbol duration is 66.7 microseconds (μs), and the maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) with a 4K FFT size is 50. For 30kHz SCS (μ=1), there are two slots per subframe, 20 slots per frame, the slot duration is 0.5ms, the symbol duration is 33.3μs, and the maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) with a 4K FFT size is 100. For 60kHz SCS (μ=2), there are four slots per subframe, 40 slots per frame, the slot duration is 0.25ms, the symbol duration is 16.7μs, and the maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) with a 4K FFT size is 200. For 120kHz SCS (μ=3), there are eight slots per subframe, 80 slots per frame, the slot duration is 0.125ms, the symbol duration is 8.33μs, and the maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) with a 4K FFT size is 400. For 240kHz SCS (μ=4), there are 16 slots per subframe, 160 slots per frame, the slot duration is 0.0625ms, the symbol duration is 4.17μs, and the maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) with a 4K FFT size is 800.

[0129] exist Figure 5 In the example of , a parameter set of 15 kHz is used. Therefore, in the time domain, a 10 ms frame is divided into 10 equally sized subframes, each subframe is 1 ms, and each subframe includes one time slot. Figure 5 , 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.

[0130] A resource grid may be used to represent a time slot, each of which includes one or more time-concurrent resource blocks (RBs) (also referred to as physical RBs (PRBs)) in the frequency domain. The resource grid is further divided into a plurality of resource elements (REs). An RE may correspond to one symbol length in the time domain and one subcarrier in the frequency domain. Figure 5In the parameter set of , for a normal cyclic prefix, an RB may contain 12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain and seven consecutive symbols in the time domain, for a total of 84 REs. For an extended cyclic prefix, an RB may contain 12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain and six 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.

[0131] 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 5 Example locations of REs (labeled "R") carrying reference signals are illustrated.

[0132] A set of resource elements (REs) used for transmission of a PRS is referred to as a "PRS resource". A set of resource elements may span multiple PRBs in the frequency domain and "N" (such as 1 or more) consecutive symbols within a slot in the time domain. In a given OFDM symbol in the time domain, a PRS resource occupies consecutive PRBs in the frequency domain.

[0133] The transmission of PRS resources within a given PRB has a specific comb size (also referred to as "comb density"). The comb size "N" represents the subcarrier spacing (or frequency / tone spacing) within each symbol of the PRS resource configuration. Specifically, for comb size "N", the PRS is transmitted in every Nth subcarrier of a symbol of the PRB. For example, for comb-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 of the PRS resource. Currently, comb sizes of comb-2, comb-4, comb-6, and comb-12 are supported for DL-PRS. Figure 5 An example PRS resource configuration for comb-4 (which spans four symbols) is illustrated. That is, the positions of shaded REs (labeled as "R") indicate the PRS resource configuration of comb-4.

[0134] Currently, DL-PRS resources can span 2, 4, 6, or 12 consecutive symbols in a slot using a full frequency domain staggered pattern. DL-PRS resources can be configured in any downlink or flexible (FL) symbol configured by higher layers in a slot. There may be a constant energy per resource element (EPRE) for all REs of a given DL-PRS resource. 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 5 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}.

[0135] A "PRS resource set" is a set of PRS resources used to send a PRS signal, where each PRS resource has a PRS resource ID. In addition, the PRS resources in the PRS resource set are associated with the same TRP. A PRS resource set is identified by a PRS resource set ID and is associated with a specific TRP (identified by the TRP ID). In addition, the PRS resources in the PRS resource set have the same periodicity, a common muting pattern 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 of the first PRS instance to the same first repetition of the same first PRS resource of the next PRS instance. The periodicity may have a length selected 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 may have a length selected from {1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 16, 32} slots.

[0136] The PRS resource ID in a PRS resource set is associated with a single beam (or beam ID) transmitted from a single TRP (where a TRP may transmit one or more beams). That is, each PRS resource in a PRS resource set may be transmitted on a different beam, and therefore, a "PRS resource" (or simply "resource") may also be referred to as a "beam". Note that this does not have any implication on whether the UE knows the TRP and beam on which the PRS is transmitted.

[0137] A "PRS instance" or "PRS opportunity" is an instance of a periodically repeated time window (such as a group of one or more consecutive time slots) in which a PRS is expected to be sent. A PRS opportunity may also be referred to as a "PRS positioning opportunity", "PRS positioning instance", "positioning opportunity", "positioning instance", "positioning repetition", or simply "opportunity", "instance" or "repetition".

[0138] A "positioning frequency layer" (also referred to simply as a "frequency layer") is a set of one or more PRS resource sets with the same values ​​for certain parameters across one or more TRPs. Specifically, the set 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 PRS), the same point A, the same value of the downlink PRS bandwidth, the same starting PRB (and center frequency), and the same comb size. The point A parameter takes the value of the parameter "ARFCN-ValueNR" (where "ARFCN" stands for "absolute radio frequency channel number") and is an identifier / code that specifies a pair of physical radio channels used for transmission and reception. The downlink PRS bandwidth can have a granularity of four PRBs, and the minimum value is 24 PRBs and the maximum value is 272 PRBs. Currently, up to four frequency layers have been defined, and up to two PRS resource sets can be configured per TRP per frequency layer.

[0139] The concept of frequency layer is somewhat similar to the concept of component carrier and bandwidth part (BWP), but the difference is that component carrier and BWP are used by one base station (or macro cell base station and small cell base station) to send data channels, while frequency layer is used by several (usually three or more) base stations to send PRS. The UE can indicate the number of frequency layers that the UE can support when the UE transmits its positioning capabilities to the network (such as during an LTE Positioning Protocol (LPP) session). For example, the UE can indicate whether it can support one or four positioning frequency layers.

[0140] It should be noted that the terms "positioning reference signal" and "PRS" generally refer to specific reference signals used for positioning in NR and LTE systems. However, as used herein, the terms "positioning reference signal" and "PRS" may 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. In addition, the terms "positioning reference signal" and "PRS" may refer to a downlink positioning reference signal, an uplink positioning reference signal, or a sidelink positioning reference signal, unless otherwise indicated by the context. If further distinction is needed between the types of PRS, the downlink positioning reference signal may be referred to as a "DL-PRS", the uplink positioning reference signal (e.g., an SRS used for positioning, i.e., PTRS) may be referred to as a "UL-PRS", and the sidelink positioning reference signal may be referred to as a "SL-PRS". In addition, for signals (e.g., DMRS) that can be sent in the downlink, uplink, and / or sidelink, these signals may be preceded by "DL," "UL," or "SL" to distinguish the direction. For example, "UL-DMRS" may be different from "DL-DMRS."

[0141] On the one hand, Figure 5 The reference signal carried on the RE marked with "R" in the figure can be an SRS. The SRS sent by the UE can be used by the base station to obtain channel state information (CSI) for the transmitting UE. CSI describes how the RF signal propagates from the UE to the base station and represents the combined effect of scattering, attenuation, and power attenuation with distance. The system uses SRS for resource scheduling, link adaptation, massive MIMO, beam management, etc.

[0142] The set of REs used for transmission of SRS is called "SRS resource" and can be identified by the parameter "SRS-ResourceId". The set of resource elements can span multiple PRBs in the frequency domain and 'N' (e.g., one or more) consecutive symbols within a time slot in the time domain. In a given OFDM symbol, an SRS resource occupies one or more consecutive PRBs. An "SRS resource set" is a set of SRS resources used for transmission of SRS signals and is identified by an SRS resource set ID ("SRS-ResourceSetId").

[0143] The transmission of SRS resources within a given PRB has a specific comb size (also referred to as "comb density"). The comb size 'N' represents the subcarrier spacing (or frequency / tone spacing) within each symbol of the SRS resource configuration. Specifically, for comb size 'N', the SRS is transmitted in every Nth subcarrier of a symbol of the PRB. For example, for comb-4, for each symbol of the SRS resource configuration, REs corresponding to every fourth subcarrier (such as subcarriers 0, 4, 8) are used to transmit the SRS of the SRS resource. Figure 5 In the example of FIG. 1 , the illustrated SRS is comb-4 on four symbols. That is, the position of the shaded SRS RE indicates the SRS resource configuration of comb-4.

[0144] Currently, SRS resources with comb sizes of Comb-2, Comb-4, or Comb-8 can span 1, 2, 4, 8, or 12 consecutive symbols within a slot. The following are the symbol-by-symbol frequency offsets for the currently supported SRS comb modes. 1-Symbol Comb-2: {0}; 2-Symbol Comb-2: {0,1}; 2-Symbol Comb-4: {0,2}; 4-Symbol Comb-2: {0,1,0,1}; 4-Symbol Comb-4: {0,2,1,3} (as in Figure 5 in the example); 8-symbol comb-4: {0,2,1,3,0,2,1,3}; 12-symbol comb-4: {0,2,1,3,0,2,1,3,0,2,1,3}; 4-symbol comb-8: {0,4,2,6}; 8-symbol comb-8: {0,4,2,6,1,5,3,7}; and 12-symbol comb-8: {0,4,2,6,1,5,3,7,0,4,2,6}.

[0145] In general, as mentioned, the UE sends the SRS to enable the receiving base station (serving base station or neighboring base station) to measure the channel quality (i.e., CSI) between the UE and the base station. However, the SRS may also be specifically configured as an uplink positioning reference signal for uplink-based positioning procedures, such as uplink time difference of arrival (UL-TDOA), round trip time (RTT), uplink angle of arrival (UL-AoA), etc. As used herein, the term "SRS" may refer to an SRS configured for channel quality measurement or an SRS configured for positioning purposes. When it is necessary to distinguish between two types of SRS, the former may be referred to as "SRS for communication" and / or the latter may be referred to as "SRS for positioning" or "positioning SRS" in this article.

[0146] Several enhancements to the previous definition of SRS have been proposed for "SRS for positioning" (also known as "UL-PRS"), such as a new interleaving pattern within the SRS resource (in addition to a single symbol / comb-2), a new comb type for SRS, a new sequence for SRS, a larger number of SRS resource sets per component carrier, and a larger number of SRS resources per component carrier. In addition, the parameters "SpatialRelationInfo" and "PathLossReference" are to be configured based on downlink reference signals or SSBs from neighboring TRPs. Furthermore, one SRS resource may be sent outside the active BWP, and one SRS resource may span multiple component carriers. Moreover, the SRS may be configured in the RRC connected state and sent only within the active BWP. In addition, there may be no frequency hopping, no repetition factor, a single antenna port, and new lengths for the SRS (e.g., 8 and 12 symbols). There may also be open-loop power control and no closed-loop power control, and comb-8 (i.e., SRS sent every eighth subcarrier in the same symbol) may be used. Finally, the UE may transmit from multiple SRS resources through the same transmit beam for UL-AoA. All of these are features outside the current SRS framework, which is configured through RRC higher layer signaling (and potentially triggered or activated through MAC Control Element (MAC-CE) or Downlink Control Information (DCI)).

[0147] As described above, an NTN is a network or network segment that uses RF resources on a satellite or unmanned aircraft system (UAS) platform. According to aspects of the present disclosure, one or more of the satellites and / or UAS platforms may be a non-terrestrial transmit receive point (NT-TRP) that transmits and / or measures PRS used in positioning determination. Figure 6 and Figure 7 An example of an NTN environment providing access to one or more UEs is depicted in FIG.

[0148] Figure 6An example NTN environment 600 is depicted that can be used with a transparent payload and in an NTN positioning operation in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. In the case of a transparent payload, the NT-TRP 602 performs RF filtering, frequency conversion, and amplification on a waveform signal received from a gateway 604 via a feeder link 606. Thus, the original waveform signal received from the gateway 604 is repeated by the NT-TRP 602 and sent to one or more UEs 608 via one or more service links 610. Additionally or in the alternative, the NT-TRP 602 may be configured to send DL-PRS on one or more DL-PRS resources and / or receive UL-PRS (e.g., SRS) on one or more UL-PRS resources in accordance with making a positioning determination with the UE 608. In certain aspects, the UE 608 may be configured to make a positioning determination by communicating with the NT-TRP 602 via the service link 610, communicating with one or more ground network entities (e.g., base stations, location servers, UEs, etc.), or any combination thereof.

[0149] like Figure 6 As shown, the NT-TRP 602 generates one or more beams over a given service area defined by a field of view 612 of the NT-TRP 602. In certain aspects, the beams are used to transmit DL-PRS from the NT-TRP 602 to the UE 608 or to receive UL-PRS transmitted by the UE 608. Each of these beams has a beam footprint 614, which generally has a corresponding elliptical shape. In certain aspects, the field of view 612 depends on the design of the onboard antenna of the NT-TRP 602 and the minimum elevation angle of the NT-TRP 602 (e.g., the minimum angle at which the NT-TRP 602 can be seen by the UE).

[0150] Figure 7 An example NTN environment 700 is depicted that can be used with a regenerative payload and in an NTN positioning operation in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. In the case of a regenerative payload, the NT-TRP 702 performs RF filtering, frequency conversion, and amplification, as well as demodulation / decoding, switching, and / or routing and coding / modulation on a payload received by it before transmitting the payload to one or more UEs 704 via one or more service links 706. In some aspects, the NT-TRP 702 communicates directly with a gateway 722 via a feeder link 708. Additionally or in an alternative, the NT-TRP 702 communicates with another satellite or UAS platform 710 via an inter-satellite link (ISL) 712. In some aspects, the satellite or UAS platform 710 can communicate directly with the gateway 722 via an additional feeder link 714.

[0151] Additionally or in the alternative, the NT-TRP 702 may be configured to send DL-PRS on one or more DL-PRS resources and / or receive UL-PRS (e.g., SRS) on one or more UL-PRS resources in reliance on making a positioning determination with the UE 704. In certain aspects, the UE 704 may be configured to make a positioning determination by communicating with the NT-TRP 702 via the serving link 706, communicating with one or more ground network entities (e.g., base stations, location servers, UEs, etc.), or any combination thereof.

[0152] like Figure 7 As shown, the NT-TRP 702 generates one or more beams over a given service area defined by a field of view 716 of the NT-TRP 702. The beams may be used to transmit DL-PRS from the NT-TRP 702 to the UE 704 or to receive UL-PRS transmitted by the UE 10704. Each of these beams has a beam footprint 718, which generally has a corresponding elliptical shape. In certain aspects, the field of view 716 depends on the design of the onboard antenna of the NT-TRP 702 and the minimum elevation angle of the NT-TRP 702 (e.g., the minimum angle at which the NT-TRP 702 can be seen by the UE).

[0153] In an example NTN environment, the beam coverage area may move on the earth as the corresponding NT-TRP moves on the earth (e.g., as the corresponding NT-TRP orbits the earth). Alternatively, the beam coverage area may be stationary in a service area located at a fixed location on the earth. In the latter example, the NT-TRP may implement a beam pointing mechanism (e.g., a mechanical or electronic steering feature) to compensate for the movement of the NT-TRP.

[0154] Figure 8 800 is a table showing examples of satellite platforms that may be used as NT-TRPs in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. Table 800 provides the name of each platform, the altitude range associated with each platform, the orbit associated with each platform, and the typical beam footprint size of each platform.

[0155] The NTN positioning method may be used alone or in combination with other positioning methods to determine the position of the UE. In certain instances, the NTN positioning method may be used to verify positioning determinations made using other positioning methods. In this regard, network operators may find it necessary to cross-check the position reported by the UE in order to meet regulatory requirements (e.g., lawful interception, emergency calls, public warning systems, etc.). In such instances, the position reported by the UE using one positioning method may be cross-checked with the position of the UE determined using the NTN positioning method.

[0156] Fig. 9An example scenario 900 is depicted in which a positioning determination based on a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) positioning method is cross-checked with a positioning determination based on an NTN positioning method in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. In this example, a network entity 902 performs a positioning operation with a UE 904 to determine a position of the UE 904. To this end, the UE 904 performs a GNSS positioning method and reports the position of the UE 904 based on the GNSS positioning method to the network entity 902 in a GNSS report 906. A further determination of the position of the UE 904 is performed based on an exchange of NTN positioning information associated with the performance of the NTN positioning method. The network entity 902 may use the results of the NTN positioning operation to refine and / or verify the position of the UE 904 reported in the GNSS report 906. It is assumed that the UE 904 has both GNSS positioning and NTN positioning capabilities to perform Fig. 9 The positioning operation shown in .

[0157] An entity performing a positioning operation in which the entity measures a PRS is typically configured with a time-based search window that indicates a time when the entity can expect to receive a PRS from a reference TRP or a neighboring TRP. During a positioning session in which the UE is designated as a target device for measuring PRS, the UE is configured by a location server (e.g., LMF) with a time-based search window during which the UE searches for PRS. The time-based search window configuration may be transmitted to the UE as positioning assistance data (AD) in an LPP message.

[0158] Fig.10An example of a time-based PRS search window according to various aspects of the present disclosure is depicted. In this example, a target device may assume that the start of a subframe of a PRS for a TRP is received within a time-based search window centered at an expected RSTD time corresponding to ((T_REF+N milliseconds)+(nr-DL-PRS-ExpectedRSTD×4Ts, spanning from –(nr-DL-PRS-ExpectedRSTD-Uncertainty×R) to +(nr-DL-PRS-ExpectedRSTD-Uncertainty×R), where T_REF is the reception time of the start of a subframe of a PRS for ancillary data reference TRP at a target device antenna connector, and N may be based on the nr-DL-PRS-SFN0-Offset information element (IE), the dl-PRS-Periodicity-and-ResourceSetSlotOffset IE, and the dl-PRS-ResourceSlotOffset The resolution R is calculated based on the information in the IE. If all PRS resources are in FR2, the value of the resolution R is equal to Ts. Otherwise, the resolution R is equal to 4Ts, where Ts = 1 / (15000*2048) seconds.

[0159] Fig.11 An example procedure 1100 for exchanging information between a base station 1102 (e.g., an NG-RAN node) and a location server 1104 (e.g., an LMF) in a UL-PRS (e.g., SRS) positioning procedure is shown in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. In this example, the location server 1104 initiates the procedure by transmitting a measurement request message 1106 to the base station 1102, indicating the TRP for which PRS measurement is requested in the TRP measurement request list IE. The base station 1102 uses the information included in the measurement request message to configure PRS resource measurements for the indicated TRPs. If the base station 1102 has successfully measured at least one of the requested measurements for at least one of the TRPs, the base station 1102 replies with a measurement response message 1108, which includes the PRS measurements of the successfully measured TRPs in the TRP measurement response list IE.

[0160] SRS can be used in uplink positioning determination. To this end, SRS is designed to cover the full bandwidth of resource elements spread across different symbols so as to cover all subcarriers. Similar to PRS, SRS is also designed to have a comb-based pattern. Therefore, UEs can be multiplexed on the same transmit symbol by assigning different comb patterns.

[0161] The NR Positioning Protocol A (NRPPa) is used to exchange SRS configuration parameters between the base station 1102 and the location server 1104. The configuration information includes parameters used by the base station 1102 to set a time-based search window during which the base station 1102 can expect to receive the SRS indicated in the TRP Measurement Request List IE from the UE. Fig.12 Examples of IEs for determining parameters of such a time-based search window are shown in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0162] The problem with using NT-TRP for positioning is that there is a significant Doppler shift (and therefore frequency offset) in the signal transmitted by the NT-TRP, especially when the NT-TRP is a satellite orbiting the Earth. Table 1 provides a summary of the Doppler shift and frequency shift variation for different altitudes of such satellites.

[0163]

[0164] Table 1

[0165] Fig.13 is a diagram 1300 illustrating system geometry for Doppler shift calculation for a non-geostationary satellite system in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. Fig.13 The scenario illustrated in assumes a Cartesian coordinate system such that the mobile satellite and the receiver (e.g., UE, ground base station) are in the yz plane. The Doppler shift experienced by the stationary receiver can be calculated as a function of time as follows:

[0166]

[0167] where f0 is the carrier frequency, d(t) is the distance vector between the satellite and the receiver, and x SAT (t) is the vector of the satellite's position. These vectors can be expressed as:

[0168] d(t)=[0(R E +h)sin(ω SAT t)(R E +h)cos(ω SAT t)-R E ] T

[0169] x SAT (t) = [0(R E +h)sin(ω SAT t)(R E +h)cos(ω SAT t)] T

[0170] Where RE is the radius of the Earth, h is the satellite altitude, and ω SAT t is the satellite angular velocity.

[0171] After doing some math, the Doppler shift as a function of elevation angle can be calculated in closed form as follows:

[0172]

[0173] The angular velocity is where G is the gravitational constant and M E is the mass of the Earth.

[0174] If the receiver (e.g., UE) is placed on an aircraft or high-speed train, there will be an additional term of Doppler shift caused by its own speed. In the case of non-geostationary satellites, the Doppler shift due to satellite motion is much higher than the Doppler shift caused by receiver motion. However, for geostationary earth orbit (GEO) satellites and high altitude platform stations (HAPS), the Doppler shift component is mainly caused by the motion of the receiver.

[0175] Fig.14 1400 is a graph illustrating an example Doppler shift scenario with a 2 GHz signal at 600 km on the downlink and uplink in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. Graph 1400 illustrates graphs for both a stationary UE and a UE in motion (both moving in the same direction as the satellite and in the opposite direction from the satellite).

[0176] Fig.15 15 is a graph 1500 illustrating an example Doppler shift scenario with a 2 GHz signal at 1500 km on the downlink and uplink in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. Graph 1500 illustrates graphs for both a stationary UE and a UE in motion (both moving in the same direction as the satellite and moving in the opposite direction from the satellite).

[0177] Graphs 1400 and 1500 illustrate the worst case impact of a UE moving at 1000 km / h and in the same direction as a satellite (which is a non-geostationary satellite). The boundaries of the graphs can be defined by adding the Doppler shift due to satellite motion and the Doppler shift due to UE motion. Graphs 1400 and 1500 clearly show the boundaries of the Doppler shift that depends on the sense of motion between the satellite and the UE.

[0178] The arrival time of a PRS (eg, DL-PRS, UL-PRS, SRS) is determined at the receiving entity by time correlation of the received PRS with a locally generated copy of the PRS. Fig.16Examples of such autocorrelation responses for PRS received under different Doppler shift conditions are shown. Graph 1602 shows that a clearly defined time correlation peak 1604 can be obtained under zero Doppler conditions. However, as shown in graph 1606, peak detection for the same PRS becomes ambiguous under high Doppler shift conditions due to the presence of side lobes 1608 and 1610. This ambiguity is particularly problematic under high Doppler shift conditions associated with the NT-TRP used in NTN positioning.

[0179] To resolve the ambiguity that occurs with PRS detection under such high Doppler shift conditions, certain aspects of the present disclosure relate to using a frequency domain search window for PRS detection. A network entity may limit its PRS detection to PRS that occur in a frequency range determined from the frequency domain search window. Thus, a peak of a PRS received under such high Doppler shift conditions may be detected without the corresponding peak detection ambiguity that is typically associated with high Doppler shift conditions. According to aspects of the present disclosure, a frequency domain search window may be used with a time-based search window to provide a two-dimensional search window for PRS detection.

[0180] Certain aspects of the present disclosure relate to wireless communications performed by a network entity, wherein a frequency domain search window is determined for at least one PRS resource associated with at least one NT-TRP used during an NTN positioning session. In certain aspects, the frequency domain search window corresponds to an expected Doppler shift offset and an expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty. In certain aspects, the values ​​of the expected Doppler shift offset and the expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty are provided to the network entity from a location server (e.g., LMF) when positioning an AD. In certain aspects, the values ​​of the expected Doppler shift offset and the expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty are determined by the network entity based on ephemeris information associated with the NT-TRP. The ephemeris information may be pre-programmed in the network entity, received from another network entity (e.g., UE, location server, NT-TRP, etc.), or any combination thereof. On the one hand, PRS resources are measured in a frequency domain search window during a positioning session.

[0181] According to certain aspects of the present disclosure, the PRS may be resampled based on the expected Doppler shift offset.A plurality of hypotheses for detecting a peak of the at least one PRS within a frequency domain search window may be constructed based on the resampling of the at least one PRS.

[0182] Depending on the orbit of the NT-TRP, different frequency ranges and resolutions for expected Doppler shift offset and expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty can be used. According to certain aspects of the present disclosure, the NT-TRP is an earth-orbiting satellite with a low earth orbit (LEO), a medium earth orbit (MEO), or a geostationary earth orbit (GEO). The expected Doppler shift offset, the expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty, or both the expected Doppler shift offset and the expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty are based on the orbit of the earth-orbiting satellite. In certain aspects, the expected Doppler shift offset, the expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty, or both the expected Doppler shift offset and the expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty are based on 1) the altitude of at least one NT-TRP, 2) the frequency of the PRS resource, or 3) any combination thereof.

[0183] Other types of aircraft can be used for NT-TRP.In some aspects, NT-TRP can be an unmanned aircraft, a manned aircraft or a lighter-than-air aircraft.

[0184] Various measurement units may be used to specify the expected Doppler shift offset and the expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty. In some aspects, the expected Doppler shift offset and the expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty may be specified as absolute frequency values. Additionally or in an alternative, the measurement unit may be specified as parts per million (ppm). When specified as ppm, the expected Doppler shift offset and the expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty may be signaled for each NT-TRP to be measured. From the perspective of the UE, the UE may read the value of the ppm unit indicated in the DL-PRS auxiliary data and use the value to calculate the band-specific search window in units of frequency (e.g., Hertz (Hz), kilohertz (kHz), megahertz (MHz), gigahertz (GHz), etc.). From the perspective of a base station (e.g., NG-RAN), the base station may read the value of the ppm unit indicated in the SRS measurement request and calculate the band-specific search window in units of frequency. On the one hand, the expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty is indicated by the positioning AD as a parts per million (PPM) value relative to the expected Doppler shift offset.

[0185] Additionally or in an alternative, the expected Doppler shift offset and the expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty may be specified as directional units indicating the orientation of the NT-TRP relative to the network entity (e.g., azimuth and elevation relative to a coordinate system local to the NT-TRP). In one aspect, the reference direction may be specified as the direction of the center of the beam serving the network entity relative to the NT-TRP and the standard deviation (or uncertainty) of the direction. The network entity may determine the expected Doppler shift offset based on the reference direction and the ephemeris information associated with the NT-TRP. Furthermore, the network may determine the expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty based on the directional uncertainty.

[0186] The expected Doppler shift offset and the expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty may be used to form various configurations of the frequency domain search window. Fig.17 Depicted are examples of configurations of frequency domain search windows using expected Doppler shift offsets and expected Doppler shift offset uncertainties in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. In configuration 1702, frequency domain search window 1704 is a symmetrical arrangement of expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty 1706 around expected Doppler shift offset 1708. In configuration 1710, frequency domain search window 1712 is an asymmetrical arrangement of expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty 1706 around expected Doppler shift offset 1708, wherein the lower edge of frequency domain search window 1712 is offset from expected frequency shift offset 1708 by an amount Δf. Similarly, in configuration 1714, frequency domain search window 1716 is an asymmetrical arrangement of expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty 1706 around expected Doppler shift offset 1708, wherein the upper edge of frequency domain search window 1716 is offset from expected frequency shift offset 1708 by an amount Δf. In configuration 1718, the lower edge of frequency domain search window 1720 is adjacent to and includes expected Doppler shift offset 1708. In configuration 1722, the upper edge of frequency domain search window 1724 is adjacent to and includes expected Doppler shift offset 1708.

[0187] Certain aspects of the present disclosure take into account secondary aspects of Doppler shift conditions. Such secondary aspects include how Doppler shift conditions change over time. For example, the expected Doppler frequency offset value may drift over the duration of a positioning session. In certain aspects, the expected Doppler frequency offset drift and / or the expected Doppler frequency offset drift rate are determined according to an indication in a positioning AD (e.g., in the case of a UE) or a measurement request message (e.g., in the case of a base station). In certain aspects, the expected Doppler frequency shift drift and the expected Doppler frequency shift drift rate can be used as parameters for dynamically shifting the position of a frequency domain search window in the frequency domain during a positioning session and / or determining a new value of the expected Doppler frequency shift during a subsequent positioning session.

[0188] In some aspects, the network entity may determine a valid duration corresponding to the duration for which the frequency domain search window is valid. The valid duration may correspond to the maximum time during which the network entity can propagate the expected Doppler frequency shift offset without significantly deviating from the current value of the expected Doppler frequency shift offset. The valid duration may be 1) indicated in a positioning AD received by the network entity, 2) determined by the network entity according to the ephemeris information corresponding to at least one NT-TRP, or 3) any combination thereof. In some aspects, the network entity 1) transmits a request for a new positioning AD based on the expiration of the valid duration, 2) transmits an error message indicating a positioning error cause corresponding to the expiration of the valid duration, or 3) any combination thereof. In some aspects, the request for a new positioning AD may include a request for a new value of the expected Doppler frequency offset and / or the expected Doppler frequency offset uncertainty. In some aspects, the positioning error cause may be indicated by the ExpectedFrequencyOffsetValidityExpired parameter in the TargetDeviceErrorCauses IE.

[0189] Fig.18 An example method 1800 of wireless communication performed by a network entity in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated. At operation 1802, the network entity determines a frequency domain search window corresponding to an expected Doppler shift offset and an expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty for at least one positioning reference signal (PRS) resource associated with at least one non-terrestrial transmit receive point (NT-TRP) for a positioning session. In one aspect, operation 1802 may be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 310, one or more processors 332, memory 340, and / or positioning component 342, any or all of which may be considered as means for performing the operation. In one aspect, operation 1802 may be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 350, one or more processors 384, memory 386, and / or positioning component 388, any or all of which may be considered as means for performing the operation.

[0190] At operation 1804, the network entity measures at least one PRS resource in a frequency domain search window during the positioning session. In an aspect, operation 1804 may be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 310, one or more processors 332, memory 340, and / or positioning component 342, any or all of which may be considered as means for performing the operation.

[0191] As will be appreciated, a technical advantage of method 1800 is the addition of a frequency domain search window to perform NTN positioning operations under high Doppler shift conditions. By using a frequency domain search window, the ambiguity associated with detecting the peak of the PRS received under such conditions is minimized, thereby improving the accuracy of the NTN positioning determination.

[0192] Fig.19 An example method 1900 of wireless communication performed by a first network entity according to various aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated. At operation 1902, the first network entity transmits information to a second network entity for determining a frequency domain search window corresponding to an expected Doppler shift offset and an expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty for at least one positioning reference signal (PRS) resource associated with at least one non-terrestrial transmit receive point (NT-TRP) measured by the second network entity during a positioning session. In one aspect, operation 1902 may be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 310, one or more processors 332, memory 340, and / or positioning component 342, any or all of which may be considered as means for performing the operation. In one aspect, operation 1902 may be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 350, one or more processors 384, memory 386, and / or positioning component 388, any or all of which may be considered as means for performing the operation. In one aspect, operation 1902 may be performed by one or more network transceivers 390, one or more processors 394, memory 396, and / or positioning component 398, any or all of which may be considered means for performing the operation.

[0193] At operation 1904, the first network entity receives a measurement report including information corresponding to one or more measurements performed by the second network entity on at least one PRS resource. In an aspect, operation 1904 may be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 310, one or more processors 332, memory 340, and / or positioning component 342, any or all of which may be considered as means for performing the operation. In an aspect, operation 1904 may be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 350, one or more processors 384, memory 386, and / or positioning component 388, any or all of which may be considered as means for performing the operation. In an aspect, operation 1904 may be performed by one or more network transceivers 390, one or more processors 394, memory 396, and / or positioning component 398, any or all of which may be considered as means for performing the operation.

[0194] As will be appreciated, a technical advantage of method 1900 is the addition of a frequency domain search window to perform NTN positioning operations under high Doppler shift conditions. By using a frequency domain search window, the ambiguity associated with detecting the peak of the PRS received under such conditions is minimized, thereby improving the accuracy of the NTN positioning determination.

[0195] In the above detailed description, it can be seen that different features are grouped together in each example. This disclosure should not be understood as an intention that the example clauses have more features than the features explicitly mentioned in each clause. On the contrary, various aspects of the present disclosure may include less than all the features of the disclosed individual example clauses. Therefore, the following clauses should be considered to be incorporated into the description accordingly, wherein each clause itself can be used as a separate example. Although each dependent clause may refer to a specific combination of one clause with other clauses in a clause, the aspects of the dependent clause are not limited to a specific combination. It should be understood that other example clauses may also include a combination of the subject matter of the dependent clause aspect with any other dependent clause or independent clause or any feature with other dependent clauses and independent clauses. Various aspects disclosed herein explicitly include these combinations, unless it is clearly expressed or can be easily inferred that a specific combination is not intended to be used (e.g., contradictory aspects, such as defining an element as both an electrical insulator and an electrical conductor). In addition, it is also expected that various aspects of the clause may be included in any other independent clause, even if the clause is not directly dependent on the independent clause.

[0196] Specific implementation examples are described in the following numbered clauses:

[0197] Clause 1. A method of wireless communication performed by a network entity, comprising: determining a frequency domain search window corresponding to an expected Doppler frequency shift offset and an expected Doppler frequency shift offset uncertainty for at least one positioning reference signal (PRS) resource associated with at least one non-terrestrial transmit receive point (NT-TRP) used for a positioning session; and measuring the at least one PRS resource in the frequency domain search window during the positioning session.

[0198] Clause 2. The method according to clause 1 further comprises: resampling the at least one PRS resource based on the expected Doppler shift offset to detect a peak of the at least one PRS resource in the frequency domain search window.

[0199] Clause 3. The method of clause 2, further comprising constructing a plurality of hypotheses for detecting the peak of the at least one PRS in the frequency domain search window based on the resampling of the at least one PRS resource.

[0200] Clause 4. The method of any of clauses 1 to 3, further comprising sending a measurement report including information corresponding to one or more measurements made on the at least one PRS resource.

[0201] Clause 5. A method according to any one of clauses 1 to 4, wherein the frequency domain search window is determined as: a symmetrical arrangement of the expected Doppler frequency shift offset uncertainty around the expected Doppler frequency shift offset; an asymmetrical arrangement of the expected Doppler frequency shift offset uncertainty around the expected Doppler frequency shift offset; an arrangement of the expected Doppler frequency shift offset uncertainty wherein the lowest offset of the expected Doppler frequency shift offset uncertainty is adjacent to the expected Doppler frequency shift offset; or an arrangement of the expected Doppler frequency shift offset uncertainty wherein the highest offset of the expected Doppler frequency shift offset uncertainty is adjacent to the expected Doppler frequency shift offset.

[0202] Clause 6. A method according to any one of clauses 1 to 5, wherein determining the frequency domain search window comprises: receiving positioning assistance data (AD) indicating the value of the expected Doppler frequency shift offset and the expected Doppler frequency shift offset uncertainty; receiving ephemeris information associated with at least one NT-TRP for determining the expected Doppler frequency shift offset and the expected Doppler frequency shift offset uncertainty; or any combination thereof.

[0203] Clause 7. A method according to Clause 6, wherein the ephemeris information associated with the at least one NT-TRP is received, and the method further comprises: receiving direction information for the at least one NT-TRP; and determining the expected Doppler shift offset and the expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty based on the direction information and the ephemeris information.

[0204] Clause 8. A method according to any one of clauses 6 to 7, wherein: the expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty is indicated by the position determination AD as a parts per million (ppm) value relative to the expected Doppler shift offset.

[0205] Clause 9. The method according to any one of clauses 1 to 8 further includes: determining an expected Doppler frequency offset drift corresponding to an expected Doppler frequency drift of the expected Doppler frequency shift offset during the positioning session; determining an expected Doppler frequency offset drift rate corresponding to an expected Doppler frequency drift rate of the expected Doppler frequency shift offset during the positioning session; or any combination thereof.

[0206] Clause 10. The method according to clause 9, wherein: the expected Doppler frequency offset drift is determined based on an indication in the positioning AD; the expected Doppler frequency offset drift rate is determined based on an indication in the positioning AD; or any combination thereof.

[0207] Clause 11. The method according to any one of clauses 1 to 10 further includes: determining a valid duration corresponding to the duration during which the frequency domain search window is valid, wherein the valid duration is indicated in a positioning AD received by the network entity, the valid duration is determined by the network entity based on ephemeris information corresponding to the at least one NT-TRP, or any combination thereof.

[0208] Clause 12. The method according to clause 11 further includes: transmitting a request for a new positioning AD based on the expiration of the valid duration; transmitting an error message indicating a positioning error cause corresponding to the expiration of the valid duration; or any combination thereof.

[0209] Clause 13. A method according to any one of clauses 1 to 12, wherein: the at least one NT-TRP is an earth-orbiting satellite having a low earth orbit (LEO), a medium earth orbit (MEO) or a geostationary earth orbit (GEO), and the expected Doppler shift offset, the expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty, or both the expected Doppler shift offset and the expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty are based on the orbit of the earth-orbiting satellite.

[0210] Clause 14. The method of any one of clauses 1 to 12, wherein the at least one NT-TRP comprises: an unmanned aerial vehicle; a manned aerial vehicle; or a lighter-than-air aerial vehicle.

[0211] Clause 15. A method according to any one of clauses 1 to 14, wherein: the expected Doppler shift offset, the expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty, or both the expected Doppler shift offset and the expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty are based on the height of the at least one NT-TRP; the frequency of the at least one PRS resource; or any combination thereof.

[0212] Clause 16. The method of any one of clauses 1 to 15, further comprising: receiving a positioning AD indicating a time search window corresponding to an expected time and an expected time uncertainty for receiving the at least one PRS resource.

[0213] Clause 17. The method according to any one of clauses 1 to 16 further includes: measuring one or more signals of a global navigation satellite system (GNSS), wherein measuring the at least one PRS resource in the frequency domain search window is temporally close to measuring the one or more signals of the GNSS; and reporting measurement data associated with the measurement of the one or more signals of the GNSS and the measurement of the at least one PRS resource.

[0214] Clause 18. A method according to any one of clauses 1 to 17, wherein: the network entity is a base station; determining the frequency domain search window includes receiving a positioning AD indicating a value of the expected Doppler frequency shift offset and the expected Doppler frequency shift offset uncertainty; and the at least one PRS resource is an uplink PRS (UL-PRS) resource.

[0215] Clause 19. A method of wireless communication performed by a first network entity, comprising: transmitting information to a second network entity, the information being used to determine a frequency domain search window corresponding to an expected Doppler shift offset and an expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty for at least one positioning reference signal (PRS) resource associated with at least one non-terrestrial transmit receive point (NT-TRP) measured by the second network entity during a positioning session; and receiving a measurement report including information corresponding to one or more measurements performed by the second network entity on the at least one PRS resource.

[0216] Clause 20. A method according to Clause 19, wherein the frequency domain search window is based on: a symmetrical arrangement of the expected Doppler frequency shift offset uncertainty around the expected Doppler frequency shift offset; an asymmetrical arrangement of the expected Doppler frequency shift offset uncertainty around the expected Doppler frequency shift offset; an arrangement of the expected Doppler frequency shift offset uncertainty wherein the lowest offset of the expected Doppler frequency shift offset uncertainty is adjacent to the expected Doppler frequency shift offset; or an arrangement of the expected Doppler frequency shift offset uncertainty wherein the highest offset of the expected Doppler frequency shift offset uncertainty is adjacent to the expected Doppler frequency shift offset.

[0217] Clause 21. A method according to any one of clauses 19 to 20, wherein transmitting the information to the second network entity comprises: transmitting positioning assistance data (AD) indicating the value of the expected Doppler shift offset and the expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty; transmitting ephemeris information associated with the at least one NT-TRP for use by the second network entity to determine the expected Doppler shift offset and the expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty; transmitting direction information associated with the at least one NT-TRP for use by the second network entity to determine the expected Doppler shift offset and the expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty; or any combination thereof.

[0218] Clause 22. The method of clause 21, wherein: the positioning AD transmitted to the second network entity indicates the expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty as a parts per million (ppm) value relative to the expected Doppler shift offset.

[0219] Clause 23. A method according to any one of clauses 19 to 22, wherein transmitting the information to the second network entity includes: transmitting a positioning AD, wherein the positioning AD indicates an expected Doppler frequency shift drift corresponding to an expected Doppler frequency shift of the expected Doppler frequency shift offset during the positioning session; an expected Doppler frequency shift drift rate corresponding to an expected Doppler frequency shift rate of the expected Doppler frequency shift offset during the positioning session; or any combination thereof.

[0220] Clause 24. A method according to any one of clauses 19 to 23, wherein transmitting the information to the second network entity further comprises: transmitting a positioning AD, the positioning AD indicating a valid duration corresponding to a duration during which the information used to determine the frequency domain search window is valid.

[0221] Clause 25. The method according to Clause 24 further includes: receiving a request for a new positioning AD based on the expiration of the valid duration; receiving an error message indicating a positioning error cause corresponding to the expiration of the valid duration; or any combination thereof.

[0222] Clause 26. A method according to any one of clauses 19 to 25, wherein: the at least one NT-TRP is an earth-orbiting satellite having a low earth orbit (LEO), a medium earth orbit (MEO) or a geostationary earth orbit (GEO), and the expected Doppler shift offset, the expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty, or both the expected Doppler shift offset and the expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty are based on the orbit of the earth-orbiting satellite.

[0223] Clause 27. The method of any one of clauses 19 to 25, wherein the at least one NT-TRP comprises: an unmanned aerial vehicle; a manned aerial vehicle; or a lighter-than-air aerial vehicle.

[0224] Clause 28. The method of any one of clauses 19 to 27, wherein the expected Doppler shift offset is based on: a height of the at least one NT-TRP; a frequency of the at least one PRS resource; or any combination thereof.

[0225] Clause 29. The method of any one of clauses 19 to 28, further comprising: receiving a positioning AD indicating a time search window corresponding to an expected time and an expected time uncertainty for receiving the at least one PRS resource.

[0226] Clause 30. A network entity comprising: a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor, the at least one processor being communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: determine a frequency domain search window corresponding to an expected Doppler shift offset and an expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty for at least one positioning reference signal (PRS) resource associated with at least one non-terrestrial transmit receive point (NT-TRP) for a positioning session; and measure the at least one PRS resource in the frequency domain search window during the positioning session.

[0227] Clause 31. A network entity according to clause 30, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: resample the at least one PRS resource based on the expected Doppler shift offset to detect a peak of the at least one PRS resource in the frequency domain search window.

[0228] Clause 32. The network entity of clause 31, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to construct a plurality of hypotheses for detecting the peak of the at least one PRS in the frequency domain search window based on the resampling of the at least one PRS resource.

[0229] Clause 33. A network entity as described in any of clauses 30 to 32, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: send, via the at least one transceiver, a measurement report including information corresponding to one or more measurements made on the at least one PRS resource.

[0230] Clause 34. A network entity according to any one of clauses 30 to 33, wherein the frequency domain search window is determined as: a symmetrical arrangement of the expected Doppler frequency shift offset uncertainty around the expected Doppler frequency shift offset; an asymmetrical arrangement of the expected Doppler frequency shift offset uncertainty around the expected Doppler frequency shift offset; an arrangement of the expected Doppler frequency shift offset uncertainty wherein the lowest offset of the expected Doppler frequency shift offset uncertainty is adjacent to the expected Doppler frequency shift offset; or an arrangement of the expected Doppler frequency shift offset uncertainty wherein the highest offset of the expected Doppler frequency shift offset uncertainty is adjacent to the expected Doppler frequency shift offset.

[0231] Clause 35. A network entity according to any one of clauses 30 to 34, wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine the frequency domain search window includes the at least one processor being configured to: receive positioning assistance data (AD) indicating the value of the expected Doppler frequency shift offset and the expected Doppler frequency shift offset uncertainty via the at least one transceiver; receive ephemeris information associated with the at least one NT-TRP via the at least one transceiver for determining the expected Doppler frequency shift offset and the expected Doppler frequency shift offset uncertainty; or any combination thereof.

[0232] Clause 36. A network entity according to clause 35, wherein the ephemeris information associated with the at least one NT-TRP is received, and the at least one processor is further configured to: receive direction information for the at least one NT-TRP via the at least one transceiver; and determine the expected Doppler shift offset and the expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty based on the direction information and the ephemeris information.

[0233] Clause 37. A network entity according to any of clauses 35 to 36, wherein: the expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty is indicated by the positioning AD as a parts per million (ppm) value relative to the expected Doppler shift offset.

[0234] Clause 38. A network entity according to any one of clauses 30 to 37, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: determine an expected Doppler frequency offset drift corresponding to an expected Doppler frequency shift of the expected Doppler frequency shift offset during the positioning session; determine an expected Doppler frequency offset drift rate corresponding to an expected Doppler frequency shift rate of the expected Doppler frequency shift offset during the positioning session; or any combination thereof.

[0235] Clause 39. A network entity according to clause 38, wherein: the expected Doppler frequency offset drift is determined based on an indication in a positioning AD; the expected Doppler frequency offset drift rate is determined based on an indication in the positioning AD; or any combination thereof.

[0236] Clause 40. A network entity according to any one of clauses 30 to 39, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: determine a valid duration corresponding to a duration during which the frequency domain search window is valid, wherein the valid duration is indicated in a positioning AD received by the network entity, the valid duration is determined by the network entity based on ephemeris information corresponding to the at least one NT-TRP, or any combination thereof.

[0237] Clause 41. A network entity according to clause 40, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: transmit a request for a new positioning AD via the at least one transceiver based on the expiration of the valid period; transmit an error message indicating a positioning error cause corresponding to the expiration of the valid period via the at least one transceiver; or any combination thereof.

[0238] Clause 42. A network entity according to any one of clauses 30 to 41, wherein: the at least one NT-TRP is an earth-orbiting satellite having a low earth orbit (LEO), a medium earth orbit (MEO) or a geostationary earth orbit (GEO), and the expected Doppler shift offset, the expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty, or both the expected Doppler shift offset and the expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty are based on the orbit of the earth-orbiting satellite.

[0239] Clause 43. The network entity of any of Clauses 30 to 41, wherein the at least one NT-TRP comprises: an unmanned aerial vehicle; a manned aerial vehicle; or a lighter-than-air aerial vehicle.

[0240] Clause 44. A network entity according to any one of clauses 30 to 43, wherein: the expected Doppler shift offset, the expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty, or both the expected Doppler shift offset and the expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty are based on the height of the at least one NT-TRP; the frequency of the at least one PRS resource; or any combination thereof.

[0241] Clause 45. A network entity according to any one of clauses 30 to 44, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: receive a positioning AD via the at least one transceiver, the positioning AD indicating a time search window corresponding to an expected time and an expected time uncertainty for receiving the at least one PRS resource.

[0242] Clause 46. A network entity according to any one of clauses 30 to 45, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: measure one or more signals of a global navigation satellite system (GNSS), wherein measuring the at least one PRS resource in the frequency domain search window is temporally close to measuring the one or more signals of the GNSS; and report measurement data associated with the measurement of the one or more signals of the GNSS and the measurement of the at least one PRS resource via the at least one transceiver.

[0243] Clause 47. A network entity according to any one of clauses 30 to 46, wherein: the network entity is a base station; determining the frequency domain search window includes receiving a positioning AD indicating a value of the expected Doppler frequency shift offset and the expected Doppler frequency shift offset uncertainty; and the at least one PRS resource is an uplink PRS (UL-PRS) resource.

[0244] Clause 48. A first network entity, comprising: a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor, the at least one processor being communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: transmit information to a second network entity via the at least one transceiver, the information being used to determine a frequency domain search window corresponding to an expected Doppler shift offset and an expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty for at least one positioning reference signal (PRS) resource associated with at least one non-terrestrial transmit receive point (NT-TRP) measured by the second network entity during a positioning session; and receive a measurement report via the at least one transceiver including information corresponding to one or more measurements performed by the second network entity on the at least one PRS resource.

[0245] Clause 49. A first network entity according to clause 48, wherein the frequency domain search window is based on: a symmetrical arrangement of the expected Doppler frequency shift offset uncertainty around the expected Doppler frequency shift offset; an asymmetrical arrangement of the expected Doppler frequency shift offset uncertainty around the expected Doppler frequency shift offset; an arrangement of the expected Doppler frequency shift offset uncertainty wherein the lowest offset of the expected Doppler frequency shift offset uncertainty is adjacent to the expected Doppler frequency shift offset; or an arrangement of the expected Doppler frequency shift offset uncertainty wherein the highest offset of the expected Doppler frequency shift offset uncertainty is adjacent to the expected Doppler frequency shift offset.

[0246] Clause 50. A first network entity according to any one of clauses 48 to 49, wherein the at least one processor is configured to transmit the information to the second network entity, including the at least one processor being configured to: transmit positioning assistance data (AD) indicating the value of the expected Doppler shift offset and the expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty via the at least one transceiver; transmit ephemeris information associated with the at least one NT-TRP via the at least one transceiver for determining the expected Doppler shift offset and the expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty; transmit direction information associated with the at least one NT-TRP via the at least one transceiver for determining the expected Doppler shift offset and the expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty; or any combination thereof.

[0247] Clause 51. The first network entity of clause 50, wherein: the positioning AD transmitted to the second network entity indicates the expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty as a parts per million (ppm) value relative to the expected Doppler shift offset.

[0248] Clause 52. A first network entity according to any one of clauses 48 to 51, wherein the at least one processor is configured to transmit the information to the second network entity, including the at least one processor being configured to: transmit a positioning AD, the positioning AD indicating an expected Doppler frequency shift drift corresponding to an expected Doppler frequency shift of the expected Doppler frequency shift offset during the positioning session; an expected Doppler frequency shift drift rate corresponding to an expected Doppler frequency shift rate of the expected Doppler frequency shift offset during the positioning session; or any combination thereof.

[0249] Clause 53. A first network entity according to any one of clauses 48 to 52, wherein the at least one processor is configured to transmit the information to the second network entity, including the at least one processor being configured to: transmit a positioning AD via the at least one transceiver, the positioning AD indicating a valid duration corresponding to the duration during which the information used to determine the frequency domain search window is valid.

[0250] Clause 54. A first network entity according to clause 53, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: receive a request for a new positioning AD via the at least one transceiver based on the expiration of the valid period; receive an error message indicating a positioning error cause corresponding to the expiration of the valid period via the at least one transceiver; or any combination thereof.

[0251] Clause 55. A first network entity according to any one of clauses 48 to 54, wherein: the at least one NT-TRP is an earth-orbiting satellite having a low earth orbit (LEO), a medium earth orbit (MEO) or a geostationary earth orbit (GEO), and the expected Doppler shift offset, the expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty, or both the expected Doppler shift offset and the expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty are based on the orbit of the earth-orbiting satellite.

[0252] Clause 56. The first network entity of any of Clauses 48 to 54, wherein the at least one NT-TRP comprises: an unmanned aerial vehicle; a manned aerial vehicle; or a lighter-than-air aerial vehicle.

[0253] Clause 57. The first network entity of any of clauses 48 to 56, wherein the expected Doppler shift offset is based on: a height of the at least one NT-TRP; a frequency of the at least one PRS resource; or any combination thereof.

[0254] Clause 58. A first network entity according to any one of clauses 48 to 57, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: receive a positioning AD via the at least one transceiver, the positioning AD indicating a time search window corresponding to an expected time and an expected time uncertainty for receiving the at least one PRS resource.

[0255] Clause 59. A network entity comprising: a component for determining a frequency domain search window corresponding to an expected Doppler frequency shift offset and an expected Doppler frequency shift offset uncertainty for at least one positioning reference signal (PRS) resource associated with at least one non-terrestrial transmit receive point (NT-TRP) used for a positioning session; and a component for measuring the at least one PRS resource in the frequency domain search window during the positioning session.

[0256] Clause 60. The network entity of Clause 59, further comprising: means for resampling the at least one PRS resource based on the expected Doppler shift offset to detect a peak of the at least one PRS resource in the frequency domain search window.

[0257] Clause 61. The network entity of clause 60, further comprising means for constructing a plurality of hypotheses for detecting the peak of the at least one PRS in the frequency domain search window based on the resampling of the at least one PRS resource.

[0258] Clause 62. The network entity of any of clauses 59 to 61, further comprising means for sending a measurement report comprising information corresponding to one or more measurements made on the at least one PRS resource.

[0259] Clause 63. A network entity according to any one of clauses 59 to 62, wherein the frequency domain search window is determined as: a symmetrical arrangement of the expected Doppler frequency shift offset uncertainty around the expected Doppler frequency shift offset; an asymmetrical arrangement of the expected Doppler frequency shift offset uncertainty around the expected Doppler frequency shift offset; an arrangement of the expected Doppler frequency shift offset uncertainty wherein the lowest offset of the expected Doppler frequency shift offset uncertainty is adjacent to the expected Doppler frequency shift offset; or an arrangement of the expected Doppler frequency shift offset uncertainty wherein the highest offset of the expected Doppler frequency shift offset uncertainty is adjacent to the expected Doppler frequency shift offset.

[0260] Clause 64. A network entity according to any one of clauses 59 to 63, wherein the component for determining the frequency domain search window includes: a component for receiving positioning assistance data (AD) indicating the value of the expected Doppler frequency shift offset and the expected Doppler frequency shift offset uncertainty; a component for receiving ephemeris information associated with at least one NT-TRP for determining the expected Doppler frequency shift offset and the expected Doppler frequency shift offset uncertainty; or any combination thereof.

[0261] Clause 65. A network entity according to clause 64, wherein the ephemeris information associated with the at least one NT-TRP is received, and the network entity further includes: a component for receiving direction information for the at least one NT-TRP; and a component for determining the expected Doppler shift offset and the expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty based on the direction information and the ephemeris information.

[0262] Clause 66. A network entity according to any of clauses 64 to 65, wherein: the expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty is indicated by the positioning AD as a parts per million (ppm) value relative to the expected Doppler shift offset.

[0263] Clause 67. A network entity according to any one of clauses 59 to 66, further comprising: a component for determining an expected Doppler frequency shift drift corresponding to an expected Doppler frequency shift of the expected Doppler frequency shift offset during the positioning session; a component for determining an expected Doppler frequency shift drift rate corresponding to an expected Doppler frequency shift rate of the expected Doppler frequency shift offset during the positioning session; or any combination thereof.

[0264] Clause 68. A network entity according to clause 67, wherein: the expected Doppler frequency offset drift is determined based on an indication in a positioning AD; the expected Doppler frequency offset drift rate is determined based on an indication in the positioning AD; or any combination thereof.

[0265] Clause 69. A network entity according to any one of clauses 59 to 68, further comprising: a component for determining a valid duration corresponding to the duration during which the frequency domain search window is valid, wherein the valid duration is indicated in a positioning AD received by the network entity, the valid duration is determined by the network entity based on ephemeris information corresponding to the at least one NT-TRP, or any combination thereof.

[0266] Clause 70. The network entity according to Clause 69 further includes: a component for transmitting a request for a new positioning AD based on the expiration of the valid period; a component for transmitting an error message indicating a positioning error cause corresponding to the expiration of the valid period; or any combination thereof.

[0267] Clause 71. A network entity according to any one of clauses 59 to 70, wherein: at least one of the NT-TRPs is an earth-orbiting satellite having a low earth orbit (LEO), a medium earth orbit (MEO) or a geostationary earth orbit (GEO), and the expected Doppler shift offset, the expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty, or both the expected Doppler shift offset and the expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty are based on the orbit of the earth-orbiting satellite.

[0268] Clause 72. The network entity of any of Clauses 59 to 70, wherein the at least one NT-TRP comprises: an unmanned aerial vehicle; a manned aerial vehicle; or a lighter-than-air aerial vehicle.

[0269] Clause 73. A network entity according to any one of clauses 59 to 72, wherein: the expected Doppler shift offset, the expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty, or both the expected Doppler shift offset and the expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty are based on the height of the at least one NT-TRP; the frequency of the at least one PRS resource; or any combination thereof.

[0270] Clause 74. The network entity of any of clauses 59 to 73, further comprising: means for receiving a positioning AD indicating a time search window corresponding to an expected time and an expected time uncertainty for receiving the at least one PRS resource.

[0271] Clause 75. A network entity according to any one of clauses 59 to 74, further comprising: a component for measuring one or more signals of a global navigation satellite system (GNSS), wherein measuring the at least one PRS resource in the frequency domain search window is temporally close to measuring the one or more signals of the GNSS; and a component for reporting measurement data associated with the measurement of the one or more signals of the GNSS and the measurement of the at least one PRS resource.

[0272] Clause 76. A network entity according to any one of clauses 59 to 75, wherein: the network entity is a base station; determining the frequency domain search window includes receiving a positioning AD indicating a value of the expected Doppler frequency shift offset and the expected Doppler frequency shift offset uncertainty; and the at least one PRS resource is an uplink PRS (UL-PRS) resource.

[0273] Clause 77. A first network entity, comprising: a component for transmitting information to a second network entity, wherein the information is used to determine a frequency domain search window corresponding to an expected Doppler shift offset and an expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty for at least one positioning reference signal (PRS) resource associated with at least one non-terrestrial transmit receive point (NT-TRP) measured by the second network entity during a positioning session; and a component for receiving a measurement report including information corresponding to one or more measurements performed by the second network entity on the at least one PRS resource.

[0274] Clause 78. A first network entity according to Clause 77, wherein the frequency domain search window is based on: a symmetrical arrangement of the expected Doppler frequency shift offset uncertainty around the expected Doppler frequency shift offset; an asymmetrical arrangement of the expected Doppler frequency shift offset uncertainty around the expected Doppler frequency shift offset; an arrangement of the expected Doppler frequency shift offset uncertainty wherein the lowest offset of the expected Doppler frequency shift offset uncertainty is adjacent to the expected Doppler frequency shift offset; or an arrangement of the expected Doppler frequency shift offset uncertainty wherein the highest offset of the expected Doppler frequency shift offset uncertainty is adjacent to the expected Doppler frequency shift offset.

[0275] Clause 79. A first network entity according to any one of clauses 77 to 78, wherein the component for transmitting the information to the second network entity includes: a component for transmitting positioning assistance data (AD) indicating the value of the expected Doppler shift offset and the expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty; a component for transmitting ephemeris information associated with the at least one NT-TRP for determining the expected Doppler shift offset and the expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty; a component for transmitting direction information associated with the at least one NT-TRP for determining the expected Doppler shift offset and the expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty; or any combination thereof.

[0276] Clause 80. The first network entity of clause 79, wherein: the positioning AD transmitted to the second network entity indicates the expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty as a parts per million (ppm) value relative to the expected Doppler shift offset.

[0277] Clause 81. A first network entity according to any one of clauses 77 to 80, wherein the component for transmitting the information to the second network entity includes: a component for transmitting a positioning AD, wherein the positioning AD indicates an expected Doppler frequency shift drift corresponding to an expected Doppler frequency shift of the expected Doppler frequency shift offset during the positioning session; a component for transmitting an expected Doppler frequency shift drift rate corresponding to an expected Doppler frequency shift rate of the expected Doppler frequency shift offset during the positioning session; or any combination thereof.

[0278] Clause 82. A first network entity according to any one of clauses 77 to 81, wherein the component for transmitting the information to the second network entity also includes: a component for transmitting a positioning AD, wherein the positioning AD indicates a valid duration corresponding to the duration during which the information used to determine the frequency domain search window is valid.

[0279] Clause 83. The first network entity according to clause 82 further includes: a component for receiving a request for a new positioning AD based on the expiration of the valid period; a component for receiving an error message indicating a positioning error cause corresponding to the expiration of the valid period; or any combination thereof.

[0280] Clause 84. A first network entity according to any one of clauses 77 to 83, wherein: the at least one NT-TRP is an earth-orbiting satellite having a low earth orbit (LEO), a medium earth orbit (MEO) or a geostationary earth orbit (GEO), and the expected Doppler shift offset, the expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty, or both the expected Doppler shift offset and the expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty are based on the orbit of the earth-orbiting satellite.

[0281] Clause 85. The first network entity of any of clauses 77 to 83, wherein the at least one NT-TRP comprises: an unmanned aerial vehicle; a manned aerial vehicle; or a lighter-than-air aerial vehicle.

[0282] Clause 86. The first network entity of any one of clauses 77 to 85, wherein the expected Doppler shift offset is based on: a height of the at least one NT-TRP; a frequency of the at least one PRS resource; or any combination thereof.

[0283] Clause 87. The first network entity according to any of clauses 77 to 86, further comprising: a component for receiving a positioning AD, wherein the positioning AD indicates a time search window corresponding to an expected time and an expected time uncertainty for receiving the at least one PRS resource.

[0284] Clause 88. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a network entity, cause the network entity to: determine a frequency domain search window corresponding to an expected Doppler shift offset and an expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty for at least one positioning reference signal (PRS) resource associated with at least one non-terrestrial transmit receive point (NT-TRP) used for a positioning session; and measure the at least one PRS resource in the frequency domain search window during the positioning session.

[0285] Clause 89. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of Clause 88 further comprises computer executable instructions that, when executed by the network entity, cause the network entity to perform the following operations: resample the at least one PRS resource based on the expected Doppler frequency shift offset to detect a peak of the at least one PRS resource in the frequency domain search window.

[0286] Clause 90. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 89 further comprises computer executable instructions that, when executed by the network entity, cause the network entity to perform the following operations: construct multiple hypotheses for detecting the peak of the at least one PRS in the frequency domain search window based on the resampling of the at least one PRS resource.

[0287] Clause 91. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of clauses 88 to 90, further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the network entity, cause the network entity to perform the following operations: send a measurement report including information corresponding to one or more measurements made on the at least one PRS resource.

[0288] Clause 92. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of clauses 88 to 91, wherein the frequency domain search window is determined as: a symmetrical arrangement of the expected Doppler frequency shift offset uncertainty around the expected Doppler frequency shift offset; an asymmetrical arrangement of the expected Doppler frequency shift offset uncertainty around the expected Doppler frequency shift offset; an arrangement of the expected Doppler frequency shift offset uncertainty wherein the lowest offset of the expected Doppler frequency shift offset uncertainty is adjacent to the expected Doppler frequency shift offset; or an arrangement of the expected Doppler frequency shift offset uncertainty wherein the highest offset of the expected Doppler frequency shift offset uncertainty is adjacent to the expected Doppler frequency shift offset.

[0289] Clause 93. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of clauses 88 to 92, wherein the computer executable instructions that, when executed by the network entity, cause the network entity to determine the frequency domain search window include computer executable instructions that, when executed by the network entity, cause the network entity to perform the following operations: receiving positioning assistance data (AD) indicating the value of the expected Doppler frequency shift offset and the expected Doppler frequency shift offset uncertainty; receiving ephemeris information associated with at least one NT-TRP for determining the expected Doppler frequency shift offset and the expected Doppler frequency shift offset uncertainty; or any combination thereof.

[0290] Clause 94. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to clause 93, wherein the ephemeris information associated with the at least one NT-TRP is received, and the computer-executable instructions also include computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the network entity, cause the network entity to perform the following operations: receive direction information for the at least one NT-TRP; and determine the expected Doppler shift offset and the expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty based on the direction information and the ephemeris information.

[0291] Clause 95. A non-transitory computer-readable medium as described in any of clauses 93 to 94, wherein: the expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty is indicated by the positioning AD as a parts per million (ppm) value relative to the expected Doppler shift offset.

[0292] Clause 96. A non-transitory computer-readable medium as described in any one of clauses 88 to 95, further comprising computer executable instructions that, when executed by the network entity, cause the network entity to: determine an expected Doppler frequency offset drift corresponding to an expected Doppler frequency offset of the expected Doppler frequency shift offset during the positioning session; determine an expected Doppler frequency offset drift rate corresponding to an expected Doppler frequency offset drift rate of the expected Doppler frequency shift offset during the positioning session; or any combination thereof.

[0293] Clause 97. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to Clause 96, wherein: the expected Doppler frequency offset drift is determined based on an indication in the positioning AD; the expected Doppler frequency offset drift rate is determined based on an indication in the positioning AD; or any combination thereof.

[0294] Clause 98. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of clauses 88 to 97, further comprising computer executable instructions that, when executed by the network entity, cause the network entity to perform the following operations: determine a valid duration corresponding to a duration during which the frequency domain search window is valid, wherein the valid duration is indicated in a positioning AD received by the network entity, the valid duration is determined by the network entity based on ephemeris information corresponding to the at least one NT-TRP, or any combination thereof.

[0295] Clause 99. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to Clause 98 further includes computer executable instructions that, when executed by the network entity, cause the network entity to perform the following operations: transmitting a request for a new positioning AD based on the expiration of the valid period; transmitting an error message indicating a positioning error cause corresponding to the expiration of the valid period; or any combination thereof.

[0296] Clause 100. A non-transitory computer-readable medium as described in any of clauses 88 to 99, wherein: at least one of the NT-TRPs is an Earth-orbiting satellite having a low Earth orbit (LEO), a medium Earth orbit (MEO), or a geostationary Earth orbit (GEO), and the expected Doppler shift offset, the expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty, or both the expected Doppler shift offset and the expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty are based on the orbit of the Earth-orbiting satellite.

[0297] Clause 101. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any one of clauses 88 to 99, wherein the at least one NT-TRP comprises: an unmanned aerial vehicle; a manned aerial vehicle; or a lighter-than-air aerial vehicle.

[0298] Clause 102. A non-transitory computer-readable medium as described in any one of clauses 88 to 101, wherein: the expected Doppler shift offset, the expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty, or both the expected Doppler shift offset and the expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty are based on the height of the at least one NT-TRP; the frequency of the at least one PRS resource; or any combination thereof.

[0299] Clause 103. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any one of clauses 88 to 102 further comprises computer executable instructions that, when executed by the network entity, cause the network entity to perform the following operations: receive a positioning AD, wherein the positioning AD indicates a time search window corresponding to an expected time and an expected time uncertainty for receiving the at least one PRS resource.

[0300] Clause 104. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of clauses 88 to 103, further comprising computer executable instructions that, when executed by the network entity, cause the network entity to: measure one or more signals of a global navigation satellite system (GNSS), wherein measuring the at least one PRS resource in the frequency domain search window is temporally close to measuring the one or more signals of the GNSS; and reporting measurement data associated with the measurements of the one or more signals of the GNSS and the measurements of the at least one PRS resource.

[0301] Clause 105. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of clauses 88 to 104, wherein: the network entity is a base station; determining the frequency domain search window includes receiving a positioning AD indicating a value of the expected Doppler frequency shift offset and the expected Doppler frequency shift offset uncertainty; and the at least one PRS resource is an uplink PRS (UL-PRS) resource.

[0302] Clause 106. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a first network entity, cause the first network entity to: transmit information to a second network entity, the information being used to determine a frequency domain search window corresponding to an expected Doppler shift offset and an expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty for at least one positioning reference signal (PRS) resource associated with at least one non-terrestrial transmit receive point (NT-TRP) measured by the second network entity during a positioning session; and receive a measurement report including information corresponding to one or more measurements performed by the second network entity on the at least one PRS resource.

[0303] Clause 107. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to clause 106, wherein the frequency domain search window is based on: a symmetrical arrangement of the expected Doppler frequency shift offset uncertainty around the expected Doppler frequency shift offset; an asymmetrical arrangement of the expected Doppler frequency shift offset uncertainty around the expected Doppler frequency shift offset; an arrangement of the expected Doppler frequency shift offset uncertainty wherein the lowest offset of the expected Doppler frequency shift offset uncertainty is adjacent to the expected Doppler frequency shift offset; or an arrangement of the expected Doppler frequency shift offset uncertainty wherein the highest offset of the expected Doppler frequency shift offset uncertainty is adjacent to the expected Doppler frequency shift offset.

[0304] Clause 108. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of clauses 106 to 107, wherein the computer executable instructions that, when executed by the first network entity, cause the first network entity to transmit the information to the second network entity include computer executable instructions that, when executed by the first network entity, cause the first network entity to perform the following operations: transmitting positioning assistance data (AD) indicating the value of the expected Doppler shift offset and the expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty; transmitting ephemeris information associated with the at least one NT-TRP for determining the expected Doppler shift offset and the expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty; transmitting direction information associated with the at least one NT-TRP for determining the expected Doppler shift offset and the expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty; or any combination thereof.

[0305] Clause 109. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 108, wherein: the positioning AD transmitted to the second network entity indicates the expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty as a parts per million (ppm) value relative to the expected Doppler shift offset.

[0306] Clause 110. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of clauses 106 to 109, wherein the computer executable instructions that, when executed by the first network entity, cause the first network entity to transmit the information to the second network entity include computer executable instructions that, when executed by the first network entity, cause the first network entity to perform the following operations: transmit a positioning AD, wherein the positioning AD indicates an expected Doppler frequency shift drift corresponding to an expected Doppler frequency shift of the expected Doppler frequency shift offset during the positioning session; an expected Doppler frequency shift drift rate corresponding to an expected Doppler frequency shift rate of the expected Doppler frequency shift offset during the positioning session; or any combination thereof.

[0307] Clause 111. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of clauses 106 to 110, wherein the computer executable instructions that, when executed by the first network entity, cause the first network entity to transmit the information to the second network entity include computer executable instructions that, when executed by the first network entity, cause the first network entity to perform the following operations: transmit a positioning AD, wherein the positioning AD indicates a valid duration corresponding to the duration during which the information used to determine the frequency domain search window is valid.

[0308] Clause 112. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to Clause 111 further includes computer executable instructions that, when executed by the first network entity, cause the first network entity to perform the following operations: receiving a request for a new positioning AD based on the expiration of the valid period; receiving an error message indicating a positioning error cause corresponding to the expiration of the valid period; or any combination thereof.

[0309] Clause 113. A non-transitory computer-readable medium as described in any of clauses 106 to 112, wherein: the at least one NT-TRP is an Earth-orbiting satellite having a low Earth orbit (LEO), a medium Earth orbit (MEO), or a geostationary Earth orbit (GEO), and the expected Doppler shift offset, the expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty, or both the expected Doppler shift offset and the expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty are based on the orbit of the Earth-orbiting satellite.

[0310] Clause 114. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any one of clauses 106 to 112, wherein the at least one NT-TRP comprises: an unmanned aerial vehicle; a manned aerial vehicle; or a lighter-than-air aerial vehicle.

[0311] Clause 115. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any one of clauses 106 to 114, wherein the expected Doppler shift offset is based on: a height of the at least one NT-TRP; a frequency of the at least one PRS resource; or any combination thereof.

[0312] Clause 116. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any one of clauses 106 to 115 further comprises computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the first network entity, cause the first network entity to perform the following operations: receive a positioning AD, the positioning AD indicating a time search window corresponding to an expected time and an expected time uncertainty for receiving the at least one PRS resource.

[0313] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that information and signals may 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 above description may be represented by voltage, current, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or magnetic particles, light fields or optical particles, or any combination thereof.

[0314] In addition, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the various exemplary logic blocks, modules, circuits and algorithmic steps described in conjunction with the various aspects disclosed herein can be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software or a combination of the two. In order to clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various exemplary components, frames, modules, circuits and steps have been generally described in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends on the specific application and the design constraints proposed to the entire system. Those skilled in the art can implement the described functionality in different ways for each specific application, but such specific implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0315] The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in conjunction with the various aspects disclosed herein may 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. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in an alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, such as a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, a combination of one or more microprocessors and a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

[0316] The methods, sequences and / or algorithms described in conjunction with the various aspects disclosed herein may be directly embodied in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. The software module may reside in a random access memory (RAM), a flash memory, a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), a register, a hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An example storage medium is coupled to the processor so that the processor can read information from the storage medium and write information to the storage medium. In an alternative, the storage medium may be integral with the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in an ASIC. The ASIC may reside in a user terminal (e.g., UE). In an alternative, the processor and the storage medium may reside in a user terminal as discrete components.

[0317] In one or more example aspects, the function may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the function may be stored on a computer-readable medium or sent via a computer-readable medium as one or more instructions or codes. Computer-readable media include both computer storage media and communication media, including any medium that facilitates the transfer of a computer program from one place to another. Storage media may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer. Exemplarily and not restrictively, such computer-readable media may include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage devices, disk storage devices or other magnetic storage devices, and any other medium that can also be used to carry or store desired program codes in the form of instructions or data structures and can be accessed by a computer. In addition, any connection is appropriately referred to as a computer-readable medium. For example, if the software is sent from a website, a 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 microwaves, coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwaves are included in the definition of the medium. Disk and disc, as used herein, include compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk and Blu-ray disc, where disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0318] Although the foregoing disclosure shows the exemplary aspects of the present disclosure, it should be noted that various changes and modifications may be made herein without departing from the scope of the present disclosure as defined by the appended claims. In addition, the functions, steps and / or actions of the method claims according to the various aspects of the present disclosure described herein do not need to be performed in any particular order. In addition, although the elements of the present disclosure may be described or claimed in singular form, plural forms may also be considered unless explicitly stated to be limited to the singular form.

Claims

1. A method of wireless communication performed by a network entity, comprising: determining a frequency domain search window corresponding to an expected Doppler shift offset and an expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty for at least one positioning reference signal (PRS) resource associated with at least one non-terrestrial transmit receive point (NT-TRP) for a positioning session; and The at least one PRS resource is measured in the frequency domain search window during the positioning session.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: The at least one PRS resource is resampled based on the expected Doppler frequency shift offset to detect a peak of the at least one PRS resource in the frequency domain search window.

3. The method according to claim 2, further comprising: A plurality of hypotheses for detecting the peak of the at least one PRS in the frequency domain search window are constructed based on the resampling of the at least one PRS resource.

4. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: A measurement report is sent including information corresponding to one or more measurements made on the at least one PRS resource.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the frequency domain search window is determined as: A symmetrical arrangement of the expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty around the expected Doppler shift offset; The expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty is asymmetrically arranged around the expected Doppler shift offset; wherein the lowest offset of the expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty is adjacent to the expected Doppler shift offset; or The arrangement of the expected Doppler shift offset uncertainties wherein the highest offset of the expected Doppler shift offset uncertainties is adjacent to the expected Doppler shift offset.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein determining the frequency domain search window comprises: receiving positioning assistance data (AD) indicating a value of the expected Doppler shift offset and an uncertainty of the expected Doppler shift offset; receiving ephemeris information associated with the at least one NT-TRP for use in determining the expected Doppler shift offset and the expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty; or Any combination of them.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the ephemeris information associated with the at least one NT-TRP is received, and the method further comprises: receiving direction information for the at least one NT-TRP; as well as The expected Doppler shift offset and the expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty are determined based on the direction information and the ephemeris information.

8. The method according to claim 6, wherein: The expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty is indicated by the position determination AD as a parts per million (ppm) value relative to the expected Doppler shift offset.

9. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: determining an expected Doppler frequency shift drift corresponding to an expected Doppler frequency shift of the expected Doppler frequency shift offset during the positioning session; determining an expected Doppler frequency shift drift rate corresponding to an expected Doppler frequency drift rate of the expected Doppler frequency shift offset during the positioning session; or Any combination of them.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein: Determine the expected Doppler frequency shift drift according to the indication in the positioning AD; Determine the expected Doppler frequency shift drift rate according to the indication in the positioning AD; or Any combination of them.

11. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: Determine a valid duration corresponding to the duration over which the frequency domain search window is valid, wherein The validity duration is indicated in a positioning AD received by the network entity, The validity duration is determined by the network entity based on ephemeris information corresponding to the at least one NT-TRP, or Any combination of them.

12. The method according to claim 11, further comprising: transmitting a request for a new positioning AD based on expiration of the validity duration; transmitting an error message indicating a positioning error cause corresponding to said expiration of said validity duration; or Any combination of them.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein: The at least one NT-TRP is an Earth-orbiting satellite having: Low Earth Orbit (LEO), Medium Earth Orbit (MEO), or Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO), and The expected Doppler shift offset, the expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty, or both the expected Doppler shift offset and the expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty are based on an orbit of the Earth-orbiting satellite.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one NT-TRP comprises: Unmanned aerial vehicles; manned aircraft; or A lighter-than-air aircraft.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein: The expected Doppler shift offset, the expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty, or both the expected Doppler shift offset and the expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty are based on the height of the at least one NT-TRP; The frequency of the at least one PRS resource; or Any combination of them.

16. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: A positioning AD is received, the positioning AD indicating a time search window corresponding to an expected time and an expected time uncertainty for receiving the at least one PRS resource.

17. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: measuring one or more signals of a global navigation satellite system (GNSS), wherein measuring the at least one PRS resource in the frequency domain search window is temporally proximate to measuring the one or more signals of the GNSS; as well as Measurement data associated with the measurements of the one or more signals of the GNSS and the measurements of the at least one PRS resource are reported.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein: The network entity is a base station; Determining the frequency domain search window includes receiving a position AD indicating a value of the expected Doppler shift offset and the expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty; and The at least one PRS resource is an uplink PRS (UL-PRS) resource.

19. A method of wireless communication performed by a first network entity, comprising: transmitting information to a second network entity, the information being used to determine a frequency domain search window corresponding to an expected Doppler shift offset and an expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty for at least one positioning reference signal (PRS) resource associated with at least one non-terrestrial transmit receive point (NT-TRP) measured by the second network entity during a positioning session; as well as A measurement report including information corresponding to one or more measurements made by the second network entity on the at least one PRS resource is received.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the frequency domain search window is based on: A symmetrical arrangement of the expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty around the expected Doppler shift offset; The expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty is asymmetrically arranged around the expected Doppler shift offset; wherein the lowest offset of the expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty is adjacent to the expected Doppler shift offset; or The arrangement of the expected Doppler shift offset uncertainties wherein the highest offset of the expected Doppler shift offset uncertainties is adjacent to the expected Doppler shift offset.

21. The method of claim 19, wherein transmitting the information to the second network entity comprises: transmitting positioning assistance data (AD) indicating a value of the expected Doppler shift offset and an uncertainty of the expected Doppler shift offset; transmitting ephemeris information associated with the at least one NT-TRP for use in determining, by the second network entity, the expected Doppler shift offset and the expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty; transmitting direction information associated with the at least one NT-TRP for use in determining, by the second network entity, the expected Doppler shift offset and the expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty; or Any combination of them.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein: The positioning AD transmitted to the second network entity indicates the expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty as a parts per million (ppm) value relative to the expected Doppler shift offset.

23. The method of claim 19, wherein transmitting the information to the second network entity comprises: Transmitting a positioning AD, the positioning AD indicating an expected Doppler frequency shift drift corresponding to an expected Doppler frequency shift of said expected Doppler frequency shift offset during said positioning session; an expected Doppler frequency shift drift rate corresponding to an expected Doppler frequency drift rate of said expected Doppler frequency shift offset during said positioning session; or Any combination of them.

24. The method of claim 19, wherein transmitting the information to the second network entity further comprises: A positioning AD is transmitted, the positioning AD indicating a valid duration corresponding to a duration during which the information used to determine the frequency domain search window is valid.

25. The method according to claim 24, further comprising: receiving a request for a new positioning AD based on expiration of the validity duration; receiving an error message indicating a positioning error cause corresponding to the expiration of the validity duration; or Any combination of them.

26. The method of claim 19, wherein: The at least one NT-TRP is an Earth-orbiting satellite having: Low Earth Orbit (LEO), Medium Earth Orbit (MEO), or Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO), and The expected Doppler shift offset, the expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty, or both the expected Doppler shift offset and the expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty are based on an orbit of the Earth-orbiting satellite.

27. The method of claim 19, wherein the at least one NT-TRP comprises: Unmanned aerial vehicles; manned aircraft; or A lighter-than-air aircraft.

28. The method of claim 19, wherein the expected Doppler shift offset is based on: the height of the at least one NT-TRP; The frequency of the at least one PRS resource; or Any combination of them.

29. The method of claim 19, further comprising: A positioning AD is received, the positioning AD indicating a time search window corresponding to an expected time and an expected time uncertainty for receiving the at least one PRS resource.

30. A network entity, comprising: Memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor, the at least one processor being communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: determining a frequency domain search window corresponding to an expected Doppler shift offset and an expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty for at least one positioning reference signal (PRS) resource associated with at least one non-terrestrial transmit receive point (NT-TRP) for a positioning session; and The at least one PRS resource is measured in the frequency domain search window during the positioning session.

31. The network entity of claim 30, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: The at least one PRS resource is resampled based on the expected Doppler frequency shift offset to detect a peak of the at least one PRS resource in the frequency domain search window.

32. The network entity of claim 31 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: A plurality of hypotheses for detecting the peak of the at least one PRS in the frequency domain search window are constructed based on the resampling of the at least one PRS resource.

33. The network entity of claim 30, wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine the frequency domain search window comprises the at least one processor being configured to: receiving, via the at least one transceiver, positioning assistance data (AD) indicating a value of the expected Doppler shift offset and an uncertainty of the expected Doppler shift offset; receiving, via the at least one transceiver, ephemeris information associated with the at least one NT-TRP for use in determining the expected Doppler shift offset and the expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty; or Any combination of them.

34. The network entity of claim 33, wherein the ephemeris information associated with the at least one NT-TRP is received and the at least one processor is further configured to: receiving, via the at least one transceiver, directional information for the at least one NT-TRP; and The expected Doppler shift offset and the expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty are determined based on the direction information and the ephemeris information.

35. The network entity of claim 30, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: determining an expected Doppler frequency shift drift corresponding to an expected Doppler frequency shift of the expected Doppler frequency shift offset during the positioning session; determining an expected Doppler frequency shift drift rate corresponding to an expected Doppler frequency drift rate of the expected Doppler frequency shift offset during the positioning session; or Any combination of them.

36. The network entity of claim 30, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: Determine a valid duration corresponding to the duration over which the frequency domain search window is valid, wherein The validity duration is indicated in a positioning AD received by the network entity, The validity duration is determined by the network entity based on ephemeris information corresponding to the at least one NT-TRP, or Any combination of them.

37. A first network entity, comprising: Memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor, the at least one processor being communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: transmitting, via the at least one transceiver, to a second network entity information for determining a frequency domain search window corresponding to an expected Doppler shift offset and an expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty for at least one positioning reference signal (PRS) resource associated with at least one non-terrestrial transmit receive point (NT-TRP) measured by the second network entity during a positioning session; as well as A measurement report including information corresponding to one or more measurements performed by the second network entity on the at least one PRS resource is received via the at least one transceiver.

38. The first network entity of claim 37, wherein the at least one processor configured to transmit the information to the second network entity comprises the at least one processor configured to: transmitting, via the at least one transceiver, positioning assistance data (AD) indicating a value of the expected Doppler shift offset and an uncertainty of the expected Doppler shift offset; transmitting, via the at least one transceiver, ephemeris information associated with the at least one NT-TRP for use in determining the expected Doppler shift offset and the expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty; transmitting, via the at least one transceiver, directional information associated with the at least one NT-TRP for use in determining the expected Doppler shift offset and the expected Doppler shift offset uncertainty; or Any combination of them.

39. The first network entity of claim 37, wherein the at least one processor configured to transmit the information to the second network entity comprises the at least one processor configured to: Transmitting a positioning AD, the positioning AD indicating an expected Doppler frequency shift drift corresponding to an expected Doppler frequency shift of said expected Doppler frequency shift offset during said positioning session; an expected Doppler frequency shift drift rate corresponding to an expected Doppler frequency drift rate of said expected Doppler frequency shift offset during said positioning session; or Any combination of them.

40. The first network entity of claim 37, wherein the at least one processor configured to transmit the information to the second network entity comprises the at least one processor configured to: A positioning AD is transmitted via the at least one transceiver, the positioning AD indicating a valid duration corresponding to a duration for which the information used to determine the frequency domain search window is valid.

41. The first network entity of claim 40, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: receiving, via the at least one transceiver, a request for a new location AD based on expiration of the validity duration; receiving, via the at least one transceiver, an error message indicating a positioning error cause corresponding to the expiration of the validity duration; or Any combination of them.

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