Multiple selection windows for sidelink positioning resource pools

Abstract

Techniques for wireless positioning are disclosed. In an aspect, a user equipment (UE) can receive a first configuration from a configuration entity, such as an anchor UE, the first configuration defining a plurality of selection windows for sidelink (SL) positioning, each selection window defining a set of resources within a positioning resource pool (RPP) for transmission or reception of at least one sidelink positioning reference signal (SL-PRS). The UE can perform SL positioning using one of the plurality of selection windows for SL positioning. This can include identifying candidate resources within the RPP during a sensing window; determining that the SL-PRS should be transmitted or received; identifying a selection window from among the plurality of selection windows; selecting one or more resources for transmitting or receiving the SL-PRS from among the resources within the first selection window; and transmitting or receiving the SL-PRS on the selected resource.

Description

Background Art 1. Technical Field

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

[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) services (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 transmission 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 a reference signal for positioning (RS-P), such as a downlink, uplink, or sidelink positioning reference signal (PRS)), and other technical enhancements compared to previous standards.

[0005] In addition, leveraging the increased data rates and reduced latency of 5G, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication technologies are being implemented to support autonomous driving applications, such as wireless communications between vehicles, between vehicles and roadside infrastructure, between vehicles and pedestrians, and so on. Summary of the invention

[0006] 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.

[0007] On the one hand, a method for wireless positioning performed by a user equipment (UE) includes: receiving a first configuration from a configuration entity, the first configuration defining a plurality of selection windows for sidelink (SL) positioning, each selection window defining a set of resources within a positioning resource pool (RPP) for sending or receiving at least one sidelink positioning reference signal (SL-PRS); and performing SL positioning using one of the plurality of selection windows for SL positioning.

[0008] On the one hand, a method of wireless positioning performed by a configuration entity includes: identifying a UE; and transmitting a first configuration to the UE, the first configuration defining a plurality of selection windows for SL positioning, each selection window defining a set of resources within an RPP for sending or receiving at least one SL-PRS.

[0009] On the one hand, a UE 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: receive a first configuration from a configuration entity via the at least one transceiver, the first configuration defining a plurality of selection windows for SL positioning, each selection window defining a set of resources within an RPP for sending or receiving at least one SL-PRS; and perform SL positioning using one of the plurality of selection windows for SL positioning using the at least one transceiver.

[0010] On the one hand, a configuration 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: identify a UE; and transmit a first configuration to the UE via the at least one transceiver, the first configuration defining a plurality of selection windows for SL positioning, each selection window defining a set of resources within an RPP for sending or receiving at least one SL-PRS.

[0011] 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

[0012] 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.

[0013] Figure 1 An example wireless communication system in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0014] Figure 2A , Figure 2B and Figure 2CExample wireless network structures according to aspects of the present disclosure are illustrated.

[0015] 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.

[0016] Figure 4 An example of a wireless communication system supporting unicast sidelink establishment according to aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0017] Figure 5 Resource pools according to aspects of the present disclosure are illustrated.

[0018] Figure 6 A resource pool for side-link communication (SL-RP) according to aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0019] Figure 7 Resource pools for sidelink positioning (SL-RPP) according to aspects of the present disclosure are illustrated.

[0020] Figure 8 A method for coordinated reservation of SL RPP according to aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0021] Fig. 9 A process for autonomously selecting a subframe for SL data transmission according to aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0022] Fig.10 A segment selection window for SL data transmission according to aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0023] Fig.11 Another example of multiple selection windows for SL-RPP according to aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0024] Fig.12 Another example of multiple selection windows for SL-RPP according to aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0025] Fig.13 Another example of multiple selection windows for SL-RPP according to aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0026] Fig.14 Another example of multiple selection windows for SL-RPP according to aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0027] Fig.15is a flow diagram of an example process performed by a UE associated with multiple selection windows for a sidelink positioning resource pool in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0028] Fig.16 is a flow diagram of an example process performed by a configuration entity associated with multiple selection windows for a sidelink positioning resource pool in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0029] Techniques for wireless positioning are disclosed. In one aspect, a user equipment (UE) is capable of receiving a first configuration from a configuration entity such as an anchor UE, the first configuration defining a plurality of selection windows for sidelink (SL) positioning, each selection window defining a set of resources within a positioning resource pool (RPP) for transmission or reception of at least one sidelink positioning reference signal (SL-PRS). The UE is capable of performing SL positioning using one of the plurality of selection windows for SL positioning. This can include: identifying candidate resources within the RPP during a sensing window; determining that an SL-PRS should be transmitted or received; identifying a selection window from among the plurality of selection windows; selecting one or more resources for transmitting or receiving the SL-PRS from among the resources within the first selection window; and transmitting or receiving the SL-PRS on the selected resources.

[0030] 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.

[0031] 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.

[0032] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that any of a variety of different techniques and methods 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, and so on.

[0033] 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. In addition, the sequence of actions described herein may be considered to be fully embodied in any form of non-transitory 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 functions 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."

[0034] As used herein, the terms "user equipment" (UE), "vehicle UE" (V-UE), "pedestrian UE" (P-UE), and "base station" are not intended to be dedicated to or otherwise limited to any particular radio access technology (RAT), unless otherwise specified. In general, a UE can be any wireless communication device used by a user to communicate over a wireless communication network (e.g., a vehicle onboard computer, a vehicle navigation device, a mobile phone, a router, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, an asset locating device, a wearable device (e.g., a smart watch, glasses, augmented reality (AR) / virtual reality (VR) headset, etc.), a vehicle (e.g., a car, a motorcycle, a bicycle, etc.), an Internet of Things (IoT) device, etc.). A UE can be mobile or (e.g., at certain times) can be fixed and can communicate with a radio access network (RAN). As used herein, the term “UE” may be interchangeably referred to as a “mobile device,” “access terminal” or “AT,” “client device,” “wireless device,” “subscriber equipment,” “subscriber terminal,” “subscriber station,” “user terminal” or UT, “mobile terminal,” “mobile station,” or variations thereof.

[0035] A V-UE is a type of UE and may be any vehicle-mounted wireless communication device, such as a navigation system, an alarm system, a head-up display (HUD), an onboard computer, an in-vehicle infotainment system, an automated driving system (ADS), an advanced driver assistance system (ADAS), etc. Alternatively, a V-UE may be a portable wireless communication device (e.g., a cellular phone, a tablet computer, etc.) carried by a driver of a vehicle or an occupant in the vehicle. The term "V-UE" may refer to an in-vehicle wireless communication device or the vehicle itself, depending on the context. A P-UE is a type of UE and may be a portable wireless communication device carried by a pedestrian (i.e., a user who is not driving or riding a vehicle). In general, a UE may communicate with a core network via a RAN, and through the core network, the UE may be connected to an external network such as the Internet and to other UEs. Of course, other mechanisms for connecting to a core network and / or the Internet are also possible for a UE, such as through a wired access network, a wireless local area network (WLAN) network (e.g., based on the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11, etc.), etc.

[0036] 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 primarily be used to support wireless access for a UE, including supporting data, voice, and / or signaling connections for the supported UE. 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 a UL / reverse or DL / forward traffic channel.

[0037] The term "base station" may refer to a single physical transmit receive point (TRP) or to 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 a neighboring base station whose reference radio frequency (RF) signal the UE is measuring. Because, as used herein, 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.

[0038] In some 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 instead may send reference RF signals to the UE for measurement by the UE, and / or may receive and measure signals sent by the UE. Such a base station may be referred to as a positioning beacon (e.g., in the case of sending RF signals to the UE) and / or as a positioning measurement unit (e.g., in the case of receiving and measuring RF signals from the UE).

[0039] 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 either a wireless signal or an RF signal.

[0040] 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 102 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 both, and the small cell base stations may include femtocells, picocells, microcells, etc.

[0041] 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 through 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., the AP 150 described below), and the like. For signaling purposes, communications 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.

[0042] Among other functions, the base station 102 may perform functions related to one or more of the following: delivery of user data, radio channel encryption and decryption, integrity protection, header compression, mobility control functions (e.g., handover, dual connectivity), inter-cell interference coordination, connection setup 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) over a backhaul link 134, which may be wired or wireless.

[0043] 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. Because a cell is supported by a specific base station, the term "cell" may refer to one or both of a logical communication entity and a base station supporting it, depending on the context. In some cases, the term "cell" may also refer to a geographic coverage area (eg, a sector) of a base station, as long as a carrier frequency can be detected and used for communications within some portion of the geographic coverage area 110.

[0044] 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 areas 110. For example, a small cell base station 102′ (labeled “SC” for “small cell”) may have a geographic coverage area 110′ that substantially overlaps with the geographic coverage areas 110 of one or more 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), which may provide services to a restricted group called a closed subscriber group (CSG).

[0045] The communication link 120 between the base station 102 and the UE 104 may include uplink (also referred to as reverse link) transmissions from the UE 104 to the base station 102 and / or downlink (DL) (also referred to as 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).

[0046] The wireless communication system 100 may also include a WLAN access point (AP) 150 that communicates with a wireless local area network (WLAN) station (STA) 152 in an unlicensed spectrum (e.g., 5 GHz) via a communication link 154. 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.

[0047] 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.

[0048] The wireless communication system 100 may also include a mmW base station 180, which may operate in millimeter wave (mmW) frequencies and / or near mmW frequencies to communicate with UE 182. Extremely high frequency (EHF) is part of RF in the electromagnetic spectrum. EHF has a range of 30 GHz to 300 GHz, and a wavelength between 1 mm and 10 mm. The radio waves in this band may be referred to as millimeter waves. Near mmW may extend downward to a frequency of 3 GHz, where the wavelength is 100 mm. The super high frequency (SHF) band extends between 3 GHz and 30 GHz, and 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 the UE 182 may utilize beamforming (transmitting and / or receiving) on ​​the mmW communication link 184 to compensate for the extremely high path loss and short range. 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.

[0049] 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, the 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 antennas. 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.

[0050] 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.

[0051] 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.

[0052] 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.

[0053] 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, and if the UE is forming an uplink beam, it is an uplink transmit beam.

[0054] The electromagnetic spectrum is typically subdivided into various categories, bands, channels, etc. based on frequency / wavelength. In 5GNR, 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 portions of FR1 are greater than 6 GHz, FR1 is often (interchangeably) referred to as the "below 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).

[0055] 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, and therefore the features of FR1 and / or FR2 can be effectively extended to mid-band frequencies. In addition, currently higher frequency bands are 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.

[0056] In view of the above aspects, unless otherwise specifically stated, it should be understood that if used in this article, the term "below 6 GHz" and the like can be broadly referred to as 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 article, they can be broadly referred to as 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.

[0057] 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) utilized 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 is configurable and can be used to provide additional radio resources once an RRC connection is established between the UE 104 and the anchor carrier. 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 signaling information and signals specific to the UE 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. Because 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. can be used interchangeably.

[0058] For example, still refer to Figure 1 , one of the frequencies utilized by the macrocell base station 102 may be an anchor carrier (or "PCell"), and the other frequencies utilized by the macrocell base station 102 and / or the mmW base station 180 may be secondary carriers ("SCells"). Simultaneous transmission and / or reception of multiple carriers enables the 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.

[0059] exist Figure 1 In the example of FIG. 1 , the UE illustrated (for simplicity, in Figure 1Any of the UEs 104 (shown as a single UE 104 in FIG. 1 ) can receive a signal 124 from one or more earth orbiting space vehicles (SVs) 112 (e.g., satellites). In one aspect, the SV 112 can be part of a satellite positioning system that the UE 104 can use as an independent source of location information. A satellite positioning system typically includes a transmitter system (e.g., SV 112) positioned to enable a receiver (e.g., UE 104) to 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 of a repeating pseudo-random noise (PN) code marked with a set number of chips. Although typically located in the SV 112, the transmitter can sometimes be located on a ground-based control station, base station 102, and / or other UEs 104. The UE 104 may include one or more dedicated receivers that are specifically designed to receive the signal 124 in order to derive geographic location information from the SV 112.

[0060] 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.

[0061] In one aspect, SV 112 may additionally or alternatively be part of one or more non-terrestrial networks (NTNs). In an NTN, SV 112 is connected to an earth station (also referred to as a ground station, NTN gateway, or gateway), which in turn is connected to an element in a 5G network, such as an improved base station 102 (without a ground antenna) or a network node in a 5GC. 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, a UE 104 can receive communication signals (e.g., signal 124) from a SV 112.

[0062] In particular, leveraging the increased data rates and reduced latency of NR, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication technology is being implemented to support intelligent transportation system (ITS) applications, such as wireless communications between vehicles (vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V)), between vehicles and roadside infrastructure (vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I)), and between vehicles and pedestrians (vehicle-to-pedestrian (V2P)). The goal is to enable vehicles to sense the environment around them and communicate that information to other vehicles, infrastructure, and personal mobile devices. Such vehicle communications will enable safety, mobility, and environmental advances that current technology cannot provide. Once fully implemented, the technology is expected to reduce non-fault vehicle collisions by 80%.

[0063] Still reference Figure 1 , the wireless communication system 100 may include a plurality of V-UEs 160 that may communicate with a base station 102 over a communication link 120 using a Uu interface (i.e., an air interface between a UE and a base station). The V-UEs 160 may also communicate directly with each other over a wireless side link 162, with a roadside unit (RSU) 164 (roadside access point) over a wireless side link 166, or with a sidelink-capable UE 104 over a wireless side link 168 using a PC5 interface (i.e., an air interface between sidelink-capable UEs). A wireless side link (or simply "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 may be unicast or multicast and may be used for device-to-device (D2D) media sharing, V2V communications, V2X communications (e.g., cellular V2X (cV2X) communications, enhanced V2X (eV2X) communications, etc.), emergency rescue applications, etc. One or more V-UEs in a group of V-UEs 160 utilizing sidelink communication may be within the geographic coverage area 110 of the base station 102. Other V-UEs 160 in such a group may be outside the geographic coverage area 110 of the base station 102, or otherwise unable to receive transmissions from the base station 102. In some cases, each group of V-UEs 160 communicating via sidelink communication may utilize a one-to-many (1:M) system, where each V-UE 160 transmits to each other V-UE 160 in the group. In some cases, the base station 102 facilitates the scheduling of resources for sidelink communication. In other cases, the sidelink communication is performed between the V-UEs 160 without involving the base station 102.

[0064] In one aspect, the sidelinks 162, 166, 168 may operate over a wireless communication medium of interest that may be shared with other vehicles and / or infrastructure access points and other wireless communications between other RATs. The "medium" may include one or more time, frequency, and / or spatial communication resources (e.g., covering one or more channels across one or more carriers) associated with wireless communications between one or more transmitter / receiver pairs.

[0065] In one aspect, the sidelinks 162, 166, 168 may be cV2X links. The first generation of cV2X has been standardized in LTE, and the next generation is expected to be defined in NR. cV2X is a cellular technology that also enables device-to-device communications. In the United States and Europe, cV2X is expected to operate in the licensed ITS bands below 6 GHz. Other frequency bands may be allocated in other countries. Thus, as a specific example, the medium of interest utilized by the sidelinks 162, 166, 168 may correspond to at least a portion of the licensed ITS bands below 6 GHz. However, the present disclosure is not limited to this frequency band or cellular technology.

[0066] In one aspect, the side links 162, 166, 168 may be dedicated short-range communication (DSRC) links. DSRC is a unidirectional or bidirectional short-range to medium-haul wireless communication protocol that uses the Wireless Access in Vehicular Environment (WAVE) protocol (also known as IEEE 802.11p) for V2V, V2I, and V2P communications. IEEE 802.11p is an approved modification to the IEEE 802.11 standard and operates in the licensed ITS band at 5.9 GHz (5.85 GHz-5.925 GHz) in the United States. In Europe, IEEE 802.11p operates in the ITS G5A band (5.875 GHz-5.905 MHz). Other frequency bands may be allocated in other countries. The V2V communications briefly described above occur on a safety channel, which is typically a 10 MHz channel dedicated to safety purposes in the United States. The remainder of the DSRC band (total bandwidth is 75 MHz) is intended for other services of interest to drivers, such as road regulations, toll collection, parking automation, etc. Thus, as a specific example, the medium of interest utilized by the sidelinks 162, 166, 168 may correspond to at least a portion of the licensed ITS band at 5.9 GHz.

[0067] Alternatively, the medium of interest may correspond to at least a portion of an unlicensed frequency band shared among the various RATs. Although different licensed frequency 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 employing small cell access points) have recently expanded operations into unlicensed frequency bands such as the Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure (U-NII) band used by wireless local area network (WLAN) technologies (most notably the IEEE 802.11x WLAN technology commonly referred to as "Wi-Fi"). Example systems of this type include different variations of CDMA systems, TDMA systems, FDMA systems, orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA) systems, single carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) systems, and the like.

[0068] Communication between V-UEs 160 is referred to as V2V communication, communication between V-UEs 160 and one or more RSUs 164 is referred to as V2I communication, and communication between V-UEs 160 and one or more UEs 104 (where these UEs 104 are P-UEs) is referred to as V2P communication. V2V communication between V-UEs 160 may include, for example, information about the position, speed, acceleration, heading, and other vehicle data of these V-UEs 160. V2I information received at V-UEs 160 from one or more RSUs 164 may include, for example, road rules, parking automation information, etc. V2P communication between V-UEs 160 and UEs 104 may include information about, for example, the position, speed, acceleration, and heading of the V-UEs 160 and the position, speed (for example, in the case where the UE 104 is carried by a user on a bicycle) and heading of the UEs 104.

[0069] Note that although Figure 1 Only two of the UEs are illustrated as V-UEs (V-UE 160), but any of the illustrated UEs (e.g., UE 104, 152, 182, 190) may be V-UEs. In addition, although only these V-UEs 160 and a single UE 104 have been illustrated as being connected via a side link, Figure 1Any of the illustrated UEs, whether V-UEs, P-UEs, etc., may be capable of sidelink communications. Furthermore, although only UE 182 is described as being capable of beamforming, any of the illustrated UEs (including V-UE 160) may be capable of beamforming. In the event that V-UE 160 is capable of beamforming, they may beamform toward each other (i.e., toward other V-UEs 160), toward RSU 164, toward other UEs (e.g., UE 104, 152, 182, 190), etc. Thus, in some cases, V-UE 160 may utilize beamforming on sidelinks 162, 166, and 168.

[0070] The wireless communication system 100 may also include one or more UEs (such as UE 190) indirectly connected to one or more communication networks via one or more device-to-device (D2D) peer-to-peer (P2P) 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., through which UE 190 can indirectly obtain cellular connectivity) and a D2D P2P link 194 with WLAN STA 152 connected to WLAN AP 150 (through which UE 190 can indirectly obtain WLAN-based Internet connectivity). 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. As another example, D2D P2P links 192 and 194 may be side links, as described above with reference to side links 162 , 166 , and 168 .

[0071] Figure 2AAn 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 may 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 may communicate directly with the gNB 222 via the backhaul connection 223. In some configurations, a 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).

[0072] 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 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. The location server 230 may be configured to support one or more location services for the UE 204 that may 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 may be integrated into a component of the core network, or alternatively may be external to the core network (e.g., a third-party server, such as an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) server or a service server).

[0073] 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 a security anchor function (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 functions for non-3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project) access networks.

[0074] 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, traffic steering), lawful interception (user plane collection), traffic usage reporting, user plane quality of service (QoS) handling (e.g., uplink / downlink rate enforcement, reflective QoS marking in downlink), uplink traffic verification (service data flow (SDF) to QoS flow mapping), transport level packet marking in uplink and downlink, downlink packet buffering and downlink data notification triggering, and transmitting and forwarding one or more "end markers" to the source RAN node. UPF 262 can also support the transmission of location service messages between UE 204 and a location server (such as SLP 272) on the user plane.

[0075] 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.

[0076] 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 convey 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).

[0077] 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.

[0078] 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.

[0079] The functionality of the gNB 222 is 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 functionality other than those functions specifically assigned to the gNB-DU 228, including transmission of user data, mobility control, radio access network sharing, positioning, session management, and the like. More specifically, the gNB-CU 226 typically 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 typically 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 can 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 functions of the gNB 222 are 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, SDAP layer, and PDCP layer, communicates with the gNB-DU 228 via the RLC layer and MAC layer, and communicates with the gNB-RU 229 via the PHY layer.

[0080] The deployment of a communication system (such as a 5G NR system) can be arranged with various components or components in a variety of ways. 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) performing a base station function) can be implemented in an aggregated or decomposed architecture. For example, a base station (such as a B node (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 called a stand-alone base station or a single-chip base station) or a decomposed base station.

[0081] 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).

[0082] Base station type operations or network designs may take into account the aggregated nature of base station functions. For example, a disaggregated base station may be used in an integrated access 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 functions across two or more units at various physical locations, as well as virtually distributing the functions 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.

[0083] Figure 2CAn 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.

[0084] 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 referred to as signals) via a wired or wireless transmission medium. Each of these 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) that is configured to receive or send signals or both to one or more of the other units on a wireless transmission medium.

[0085] 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. CU 280 may be configured to handle user plane functions (i.e., central unit-user plane (CU-UP)), control plane functions (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.

[0086] 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 the following: 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 or modulation and demodulation, etc.) at least in part according to a functional partitioning such as that defined by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). In some aspects, DU 285 may also 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.

[0087] The lower layer functions may be implemented by one or more RUs 287. In some deployments, the RU 287 controlled by the 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 functional splitting (such as lower layer functional splitting). 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 specific 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).

[0088] 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 .

[0089] 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 in communication 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.

[0090] 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 adjust 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).

[0091] Figure 3A , Figure 3B and Figure 3C 1 and 2. The exemplary embodiment of the present invention may be incorporated into a UE 302 (which may correspond to any UE described herein), a base station 304 (which may correspond to any base station described herein), and a network entity 306 (which may correspond to or embody any network function described herein, including a location server 230 and a LMF 270, or alternatively may be independent of the location server 230 and the LMF 270. 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 functions. In addition, 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.

[0092] 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 certain set of time / frequency resources in a specific spectrum). The WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 may be configured in various ways according to the specified RAT to send and encode signals 318 and 358 (e.g., messages, indications, information, etc.), and vice versa, to receive and decode 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 sending and encoding signals 318 and 358, respectively, and one or more receivers 312 and 352 for receiving and decoding signals 318 and 358, respectively.

[0093] At least in some cases, the UE 302 and the base station 304 each further include one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360, respectively. The short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 can be connected to one or more antennas 326 and 366, respectively, and provide for communicating over the wireless communication medium of interest via at least one designated RAT (e.g., WiFi, LTE-D, , , Z- , PC5, dedicated short-range communication (DSRC), wireless access for vehicle environments (WAVE), near field communication (NFC), ultra-wideband (UWB), etc.) and other network nodes (such as other UEs, access points, base stations, etc.) for communicating (e.g., components for sending, components for receiving, components for measuring, components for tuning, components for preventing sending, etc.). The short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 can be configured in various ways according to the specified RAT to send and encode signals 328 and 368 (e.g., messages, indications, information, etc.), respectively, and conversely, to receive and decode signals 328 and 368 (e.g., messages, indications, information, pilots, etc.), respectively. Specifically, the short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 respectively 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 Z- transceiver, NFC transceiver, UWB transceiver or vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and / or vehicle-to-everything (V2X) transceiver.

[0094] 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 means 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. 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 location of UE 302 and base station 304, respectively.

[0095] 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 sending, 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.

[0096] 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 (e.g., transmitters 314, 324, 354, 364) and a receiver circuit (e.g., receivers 312, 322, 352, 362). In some implementations, the transceiver may be an integrated device (e.g., implementing the transmitter circuit and the receiver circuit in a single device), may include separate transmitter circuits and separate receiver circuits in some implementations, or may be implemented in other ways in other implementations. The transmitter circuit and the receiver circuit 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., receivers 312, 322, 352, 362) may include or be coupled to multiple antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such as antenna arrays, which allow 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 wireless transceivers 320 and 360) may also include a network listening module (NLM) or the like for performing various measurements.

[0097] 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 or 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.

[0098] 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 functions related to, for example, wireless communication, and for providing other processing functions. Thus, processors 332, 384, and 394 can 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 can 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 circuits, or various combinations thereof.

[0099] 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.). Memories 340, 386, and 396 may thus 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 sidelink positioning modules 342, 388, and 398, respectively. Sidelink positioning modules 342, 388, and 398 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 functions described herein. In other aspects, the sidelink positioning modules 342, 388, and 398 can be external to the processors 332, 384, and 394 (e.g., as part of a modem processing system, integrated with another processing system, etc.). Alternatively, the sidelink positioning modules 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 functions described herein. Figure 3A Possible locations for the sidelink positioning module 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 the side link positioning module 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 side link positioning module 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.

[0100] 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 wireless 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.

[0101] In addition, the UE 302 includes a user interface 346 that provides means for providing indications to a user (e.g., audible and / or visual indications) and / or for receiving user input (e.g., when a 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.

[0102] 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 functions 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 functions 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 functions associated with header compression / decompression, security (encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification), and handover support functions; RLC layer functions associated with transmission of upper layer PDUs, error correction 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 functions associated with mapping between logical channels and transport channels, scheduling information reporting, error correction, priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.

[0103] The transmitter 354 and the receiver 352 may implement layer 1 (L1) functions 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 physical channels, modulation / demodulation of physical channels, 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 decoded and modulated symbols may then be separated 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 reference signals and / or channel state 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.

[0104] 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 functions 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 the destination of multiple spatial streams is 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 most likely signal constellation point 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) functions.

[0105] 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.

[0106] Similar to the functions described in conjunction with downlink transmissions performed by the base station 304, the one or more processors 332 provide: RRC layer functions associated with system information (e.g., MIB, SIB) acquisition, RRC connection, and measurement reporting; PDCP layer functions associated with header compression / decompression and security (encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification); RLC layer functions associated with transmission of upper layer PDUs, error correction through ARQ, concatenation, segmentation and reassembly of RLC SDUs, re-segmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functions associated with mapping between logical channels and transport channels, multiplexing of MAC SDUs 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.

[0107] 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.

[0108] 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.

[0109] 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.

[0110] 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 functions in different designs. In particular, 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 specific implementation of UE 302 may omit WWAN transceiver 310 (e.g., a wearable device or tablet or PC or laptop may have Wi-Fi and / or Bluetooth capabilities but no cellular capabilities), or may omit short-range wireless transceiver 320 (e.g., only cellular, etc.), or may omit satellite signal receiver 330, or may omit sensor 344, etc. In another example, in Figure 3B In the case of a wireless network, a specific 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 wireless 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.

[0111] 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 a communication interface 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.

[0112] 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 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 function. For example, some or all of the functions represented by blocks 310 to 346 may be implemented by the processor and memory components of UE 302 (e.g., by executing appropriate codes and / or by appropriate configuration of the processor components). Similarly, some or all of the functions represented by blocks 350 to 388 may be implemented by the processor and memory components of base station 304 (e.g., by executing appropriate codes and / or by appropriate configuration of the processor components). In addition, some or all of the functions represented by blocks 390 to 398 may be implemented by the processor and memory components of network entity 306 (e.g., by executing appropriate codes and / or by appropriate configuration of the processor components). For simplicity, various operations, actions and / or functions are described herein as being performed by "UE", "by base station", "by 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, side link positioning components 342, 388 and 398, etc.).

[0113] 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).

[0114] Figure 4 An example of a wireless communication system 400 that supports wireless unicast sidelink establishment according to aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated. In some examples, the wireless communication system 400 can implement aspects of the wireless communication systems 100, 200, and 250. The wireless communication system 400 may include a first UE 402 and a second UE 404, which may be examples of any UE described herein. As a specific example, the UEs 402 and 404 may correspond to Figure 1 V-UE 160, Figure 1 UE 190 and UE 104 connected via side link 192, or Figure 2A and Figure 2B UE 204 in.

[0115] exist Figure 4 In the example of , UE 402 may attempt to establish a unicast connection with UE 404 via a side link, which may be a V2X side link between UE 402 and UE 404. As a specific example, the established side link connection may correspond to Figure 1 side links 162 and / or 168 in, or Figure 2A and Figure 2B The side link 242 in the side link. The side link connection can be established in an omni frequency range (e.g., FR1) and / or a mmW frequency range (e.g., FR2). In some cases, UE 402 can be referred to as an initiator UE, which initiates the side link connection procedure, and UE 404 can be referred to as a target UE, which is the target of the side link connection procedure performed by the initiator UE.

[0116] In order to establish the unicast connection, access stratum (AS) (a functional layer in the UMTS and LTE protocol stacks between the RAN and the UE, which is responsible for transmitting data over a wireless link and managing radio resources, and is part of layer 2) parameters may be configured and negotiated between the UE 402 and the UE 404. For example, a transmission and reception capability match may be negotiated between the UE 402 and the UE 404. Each UE may have different capabilities (e.g., transmission and reception capabilities, 64 quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM), transmission diversity, carrier aggregation (CA) capabilities, supported communication bands, etc.). In some cases, different services may be supported at the upper layers of the corresponding protocol stacks of the UE 402 and the UE 404. Additionally, a security association for a unicast connection may be established between the UE 402 and the UE 404. Unicast services may benefit from link-level security protection (e.g., integrity protection). Security requirements may be different for different wireless communication systems. For example, a V2X system and a Uu system may have different security requirements (e.g., the Uu system does not include confidentiality protection). Additionally, IP configuration (eg, IP version, address, etc.) for the unicast connection may be negotiated between UE 402 and UE 404 .

[0117] In some cases, UE 404 may create a service announcement (e.g., a service capability message) that is sent over a cellular network (e.g., cV2X) to assist in establishing a sidelink connection. Conventionally, UE 402 may identify and locate candidates for sidelink communication based on an unencrypted basic service message (BSM) broadcast by a nearby UE (e.g., UE 404). The BSM may include location information, security and identity information about the corresponding UE, and vehicle information (e.g., speed, handling, size, etc.). However, for different wireless communication systems (e.g., D2D or V2X communication), a discovery channel may not be configured so that UE 402 can detect the BSM. Therefore, the service announcement (e.g., discovery signal) sent by UE 404 and other nearby UEs may be an upper layer signal and is broadcast (e.g., in an NR sidelink broadcast). In some cases, UE 404 may include one or more parameters for itself in the service announcement, including connection parameters and / or capabilities it possesses. UE 402 may then monitor and receive the broadcasted service announcement to identify potential UEs for corresponding sidelink connections. In some cases, UE 402 may identify potential UEs based on the capabilities indicated by each UE in its corresponding service announcement.

[0118] The service announcement may include a method for assisting UE 402 (eg, or any initiator UE) to identify the UE ( Figure 4 4 (in the example of UE 404). For example, the service announcement may include channel information where the direct communication request can be transmitted. In some cases, the channel information may be RAT-specific (e.g., specific to LTE or NR) and may include a resource pool within which the UE 402 sends the communication request. Additionally, if the destination address is different from the current address (e.g., the address of the streaming provider or UE that sends the service announcement), the service announcement may include a specific destination address of the UE (e.g., a layer 2 destination address). The service announcement may also include a network layer or a transmission layer for the UE 402 to send the communication request on. For example, the network layer (also known as "layer 3" or "L3") or the transmission layer (also known as "layer 4" or "L4") may indicate the port number of the application for the UE to send the service announcement. In some cases, IP addressing may not be required if the signaling (e.g., PC5 signaling) directly carries a protocol (e.g., real-time transport protocol (RTP)) or gives a locally generated random protocol. Additionally, the service announcement may include the protocol type used for credential establishment and QoS-related parameters.

[0119] After identifying potential sidelink connection targets ( Figure 4 404 in the example), then the initiating UE ( Figure 4404) may send a connection request 415 to the identified target UE 404. In some cases, the connection request 415 may be a first RRC message (e.g., an "RRCDirectConnectionSetupRequest" message) sent by the UE 402 to request a unicast connection with the UE 404. For example, the unicast connection may utilize a PC5 interface for a sidelink, and the connection request 415 may be an RRC connection establishment request message. Additionally, the UE 402 may use a sidelink signaling radio bearer 405 to transmit the connection request 415.

[0120] After receiving the connection request 415, the UE 404 may determine whether to accept or reject the connection request 415. The UE 404 may base the determination on the transmit / receive capabilities, the ability to accommodate the unicast connection made through the sidelink, the specific service indicated for the unicast connection, the content to be sent through the unicast connection, or a combination thereof. For example, if the UE 402 wants to use a first RAT to send or receive data, but the UE 404 does not support the first RAT, the UE 404 may reject the connection request 415. Additionally or alternatively, the UE 404 may reject the connection request 415 based on the inability to accommodate the unicast connection made through the sidelink due to limited radio resources, scheduling issues, etc. Therefore, the UE 404 may send an indication of whether to accept or reject the request in a connection response 420. Similar to the UE 402 and the connection request 415, the UE 404 may use the sidelink signaling radio bearer 410 to transmit the connection response 420. Additionally, the connection response 420 may be a second RRC message (eg, an “RRCDirectConnectionResponse” message) sent by the UE 404 in response to the connection request 415.

[0121] In some cases, the sidelink signaling radio bearers 405 and 410 may be the same sidelink signaling radio bearer, or may be separate sidelink signaling radio bearers. Therefore, a radio link control (RLC) layer acknowledgement mode (AM) may be used for the sidelink signaling radio bearers 405 and 410. UEs supporting unicast connections may listen on logical channels associated with these sidelink signaling radio bearers. In some cases, the AS layer (i.e., Layer 2) may pass information directly through RRC signaling (e.g., control plane) rather than the V2X layer (e.g., data plane).

[0122] If the connection response 420 indicates that the UE 404 accepted the connection request 415, the UE 402 may then send a connection setup 425 message on the sidelink signaling radio bearer 405 to indicate that the unicast connection setup is complete. In some cases, the connection setup 425 may be a third RRC message (e.g., an "RRCDirectConnectionSetupComplete" message). Each of the connection request 415, the connection response 420, and the connection setup 425 may use basic capabilities when sent from one UE to another UE to enable each UE to receive and decode the corresponding transmission (e.g., RRC message).

[0123] Additionally, identifiers may be used for each of the connection request 415, the connection response 420, and the connection establishment 425. For example, these identifiers may indicate which UE 402 / 304 is sending which message, and / or which UE 402 / 304 the message is intended for. For physical (PHY) layer channels, RRC signaling and any subsequent data transmission may use the same identifier (e.g., layer 2 ID). However, for logical channels, these identifiers may be separate for RRC signaling and data transmission. For example, on logical channels, RRC signaling and data transmission may be handled differently and have different acknowledgement (ACK) feedback messaging. In some cases, for RRC messaging, physical layer ACKs may be used to ensure that the corresponding messages are correctly sent and received.

[0124] One or more information elements may be included in the connection request 415 and / or the connection response 420 for UE 402 and / or UE 404, respectively, to enable negotiation of corresponding AS layer parameters for the unicast connection. For example, UE 402 and / or UE404 may include a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) parameter in the corresponding unicast connection establishment message to set the PDCP context for the unicast connection. In some cases, the PDCP context may indicate whether PDCP duplication is used for the unicast connection. Additionally, UE 402 and / or UE 404 may include an RLC parameter when establishing the unicast connection to set the RLC context for the unicast connection. For example, the RLC context may indicate whether the RLC layer for unicast communication uses AM (e.g., uses a reordering timer (t-reordering)) or uses an unacknowledged mode (UM).

[0125] Additionally, UE 402 and / or UE 404 may include medium access control (MAC) parameters to set up a MAC context for the unicast connection. In some cases, the MAC context may enable a resource selection algorithm for the unicast connection, a hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) feedback scheme (e.g., ACK or negative ACK (NACK) feedback), parameters of the HARQ feedback scheme, carrier aggregation, or a combination thereof. Additionally, UE 402 and / or UE 404 may include PHY layer parameters to set up a PHY layer context for the unicast connection when establishing the unicast connection. For example, the PHY layer context may indicate a transmission format (unless a transmission profile is included for each UE 402 / 304) and a radio resource configuration (e.g., bandwidth part (BWP), parameter set, etc.) for the unicast connection. These information elements may be supported for different frequency range configurations (e.g., FRI and FR2).

[0126] In some cases, a security context may also be set for the unicast connection (e.g., after sending the connection establishment 425 message). Before a security association (e.g., a security context) is established between UE 402 and UE 404, the sidelink signaling radio bearers 405 and 410 may not be protected. After the security association is established, the sidelink signaling radio bearers 405 and 410 may be protected. Therefore, the security context may enable secure data transmission through the unicast connection and the sidelink signaling radio bearers 405 and 410. Additionally, IP layer parameters (e.g., local link IPv4 or IPv6 addresses) may also be negotiated. In some cases, the IP layer parameters may be negotiated by an upper layer control protocol that runs after establishing RRC signaling (e.g., establishing a unicast connection). As described above, UE 404 may base its decision on whether to accept or reject the connection request 415 on the specific service indicated for the unicast connection and / or the content (e.g., upper layer information) to be sent through the unicast connection. The specific service and / or content may also be indicated by an upper layer control protocol running after the RRC signaling is established.

[0127] After establishing the unicast connection, UE 402 and UE 404 may communicate using the unicast connection via side link 430, wherein side link data 435 is sent between the two UEs 402 and 404. Side link 430 may correspond to Figure 1 Side links 162 and / or 168 in, and / or Figure 2A and Figure 2B4. In some cases, the sidelink data 435 may include RRC messages sent between the two UEs 402 and 404. In order to maintain the unicast connection on the sidelink 430, UE 402 and / or UE 404 may send a keep-alive message (e.g., an "RRCDirectLinkAlive" message, a fourth RRC message, etc.). In some cases, the keep-alive message may be triggered periodically or on demand (e.g., event-triggered). Therefore, the triggering and sending of the keep-alive message may be invoked by UE 402 or by both UE 402 and UE 404. Additionally or alternatively, a MAC control element (CE) (e.g., defined on the sidelink 430) may be used to monitor the state of the unicast connection on the sidelink 430 and maintain the connection. When the unicast connection is no longer needed (e.g., UE 402 travels far enough away from UE 404), UE 402 and / or UE 404 may initiate a release procedure to drop the unicast connection on side link 430. Therefore, subsequent RRC messages may not be sent between UE 402 and UE 404 on the unicast connection.

[0128] Figure 5 A resource pool 500 is illustrated. The minimum resource allocation of the resource pool in the frequency domain is a subchannel. Each subchannel includes multiple (e.g., 10, 15, 20, 25, 50, 75, or 100) physical resource blocks (PRBs). The resource allocation of the resource pool in the time domain is in the entire time slot. Each time slot contains multiple (e.g., 14) orthogonal frequency domain multiplexing (OFDM) symbols.

[0129] Figure 6 A conventional resource pool 600 for sidelink communication is illustrated. Sidelink communication occupies one time slot and one or more subchannels. Some time slots are not available for sidelink, and some time slots contain feedback resources. Sidelink communication can be preconfigured (e.g., preloaded on the UE) or configured (e.g., by the base station via RRC configuration). Sidelink communication can be (pre)configured to occupy less than 14 symbols in a time slot. The first symbol of a time slot is repeated on the previous symbol for automatic gain control (AGC) stabilization. Figure 6 The example time slot shown contains a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) portion and a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) portion, with the gap symbol following the PSCCH.

[0130] Figure 7 A resource pool for sidelink or other positioning (referred to herein as a "positioning resource pool" (RPP) 700) is illustrated in accordance with some aspects of the present disclosure. Figure 7 In the RPP 700, the RPP 700 occupies one or more subchannels in the frequency domain and one time slot in the time domain and contains resources that can be allocated for sidelink transmissions. Figure 7 In , each time slot includes fourteen OFDM symbols, OFDM symbol 1 is reserved for AGC, and OFDM symbol 14 is reserved as a gap symbol. Figure 7 , RPP occupies all remaining symbols 2-13.

[0131] In some aspects, the size and shape of the RPP is defined by an RPP configuration. The RPP configuration may specify the properties of the RPP, including but not limited to: the location of the RPP in the time domain, such as a time slot, a symbol offset into a time slot, the number of consecutive symbols occupied by the RPP in a time slot, periodicity, etc.; the location of the RPP in the frequency domain, such as a starting frequency (e.g., a starting component carrier), a bandwidth within or across multiple component carriers, etc. In some aspects, each RPP may be associated with a geographic area or a distance from a reference location.

[0132] The RPP 700 includes resources 702 where a sidelink UE may transmit or receive a sidelink positioning reference signal (SL-PRS). The SL-PRS design uses a comb-based pattern for FFT-based processing at the receiver. The DL-PRS is uninterleaved or partially interleaved for small range or time of arrival (ToA) uncertainty and reduced overhead for each SL-PRS resource. The SL-PRS is associated with a specific RPP that enables broadband and periodic opportunities for SL-PRS transmission and reception across multiple UEs decoupled from the physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) allocation. Intra-slot repetition allows for combining gain if desired. Inter-UE coordination of the RPP allows dynamic PRS and data multiplexing while minimizing SL-PRS conflicts.

[0133] A gNB or other base station may assign one or more RPP configurations to a UE directly or via another UE operating as a relay or repeater. In some aspects, a UE may assign one or more RPP configurations to another UE. For example, a relay UE may assign one or more RPP configurations to a remote UE that the relay UE is serving.

[0134] Figure 8 A method 800 for coordinated reservation of SL RPP according to aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated. Figure 8 8, a first relay UE 802 serves a remote UE 804 and a remote UE 806, and a second relay UE 808 serves a remote UE 810 and a remote UE 812. The number of relay UEs and the number of remote UEs served by each relay UE may vary; these numbers are illustrative and non-limiting. Each of the UEs is configured with a set of predefined RPPs. The multiple predefined RPPs may be preloaded on the UE or configured by the serving base station, for example, via the RCC.

[0135] In method 800, the UE determines that an RPP among the plurality of predefined RPPs should be reserved. Figure 8 In the example shown, relay UE 802 receives a request for an RPP from a predefined plurality of RPPs from remote UE 804. Remote UE 804 may issue a general request for any available RPP, in which case relay UE 802 may select one of the RPPs from the set of predefined RPPs. Alternatively, remote UE 804 may request a specific RPP, in which case relay UE 802 may select the specific RPP, or relay UE 802 may select a different RPP, such as when the requested RPP is unavailable due to being reserved by another remote UE or for some other reason.

[0136] In response, the relay UE 802 sends a reservation message for reserving the specified RPP. The reservation message may be sent via a broadcast, groupcast, or multicast message. The reservation message may be sent via a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH), a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH), or a combination thereof. In one aspect, the reservation message is sent to the remote UE 806 and the relay UE 808, and the relay UE 808 relays the message to the remote UE 810 and the remote UE 812. Alternatively, the reservation message is sent to the relay UE 808, the remote UE 806, the remote UE 810, and the remote UE 812 simultaneously. Alternatively, the relay UE 802 may transmit a group of unicast messages to neighboring UEs.

[0137] The reservation message may include additional information, such as, but not limited to, the following information. The reservation message may indicate that the reserved RPP will be used to transmit a sidelink positioning reference signal (SL-PRS). The reservation message may specify a specific SL-PRS resource within the RPP to be used. The reservation message may identify the remote UE that will use the reserved RPP. The reservation message may include an RPP identifier. The reservation message may include a region identifier that specifies one or more geographic regions to which the reservation applies.

[0138] The reservation message may include a priority indication that specifies the priority of the positioning operation relative to other types of operations that may also use the resources of the RPP. For example, if the priority of the positioning operation is higher than the priority of data or reference signal transmission by the neighboring UE, the neighboring UE is expected to avoid scheduling; otherwise, the neighboring UE may also be scheduled.

[0139] The reservation request may include or imply a request that the UE receiving the reservation request (and UEs within the designated zone, if applicable) reduce interference during the reserved RPP, for example, by rate matching, silencing, puncturing, reducing transmit power, or a combination thereof, during the reserved RPP and within designated SL-PRS resources, if applicable. Figure 8 In the example shown, relay UE 808, remote UE 806, remote UE 810, and remote UE 812 may respond to the reservation request, for example, by modifying intended transmissions to reduce interference to remote UE 806 during the reserved RPP.

[0140] In some aspects, the reservation message may include timing information associated with the reservation, such as, but not limited to, the timing information associated with the reservation includes a start time of the RPP, a stop time of the RPP, a time offset of the RPP, a periodicity of the RPP, an indicator that the RPP is non-repeating (e.g., this is a single request), or a combination thereof. Figure 8 In the illustrated example, the relay UE 600A transmits the reservation message, but alternatively, the remote UE 804 may transmit the reservation message.

[0141] exist Figure 8 , the relay UE 802 then transmits a configuration message to the remote UE 804. The configuration message identifies the RPP to be used by the remote UE 804, and may also specify a subset of SL-PRS resources within the RPP to be used by the remote UE 804. In some aspects, the SL-PRS resources within the reserved RPP may be identified by an index. If a time domain index is used, the time domain index may be associated with the RPP. The SL-PRS resources to be used by the remote UE 804 may include all or a portion of the SL-PRS resources within the reserved RPP.

[0142] Figure 8 The process for reserving a specified RPP is illustrated, but how does the UE select the specified RPP? One method, called "autonomous selection", uses a set of rules that, if followed by all UEs, results in almost conflict-free transmission or use of shared resources for SL data transmission. Fig. 9 An example is illustrated in .

[0143] Fig. 9 A process 900 for autonomously selecting a subframe for SL data transmission according to aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated. Fig. 9 In , the UE continuously monitors some previous number of subframes during what is called a sensing window 902. Fig. 9 In , the sensing window 902 is 1000 subframes, but other numbers of subframes may be used instead. During the sensing window 902, the UE attempts to identify shared subframes that may be candidates for the UE to use for SL data transmission.

[0144] exist Fig. 9 In the example shown, at time T0, the UE determines that SL data transmission is required. This can be the result of an internal request, such as from an application on the UE, or an external request, such as from the other side link UE. Internally, the UE has a processing time T1, which means that the UE cannot send SL data earlier than time T1 from the request, and the application requires that SL data be sent no later than time T2 from the request. This creates a time window 904 from which subframes must be selected.

[0145] exist Fig. 9 In the example shown, the UE selects Fig. 9 906, marked as subframe "N" in the sensing window, in which the first transmission block (TB) of SL data is transmitted. In some aspects, subframe N may be randomly selected from among the subframes identified as candidate subframes during the sensing window 902. In some aspects, the UE may randomly select any of the subframes within the window 904. In NR vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2X) SL communications, for example, it is allowed to transmit an initial TB without a previous reservation based on a sensing and resource selection procedure, and to reserve side link resources for transmission of subsequent TBs, for example, via side link control information (SCI) associated with the transmission of the previous TB. Thus, in some aspects, the initial transmission 906 is performed without a previous reservation, i.e., subframe N is selected based on the sensing and resource selection procedure, but later transmissions 908, 910, etc. are reserved in advance, for example, at or near the time of the initial transmission 906. For example, the side link control information (SCI) associated with the transmission of one TB may include a reservation for the transmission of the next TB. In some aspects, subsequent transmissions 908 and 910 may be reserved via separate PSSCH transmissions.

[0146] In some aspects, once a subframe 906 has been selected (such as Fig. 9 Subframe N in the SL data), the subsequent TB of SL data will also use the Nth subframe. Fig. 9In the example shown, the next TB of SL data will be sent at each resource reservation period (RPP) (i.e., at subframe 908 and again at subframe 910). That is, later transmissions will be made in subframes N+RRP, N+2*RRP, etc., up to N+(slctr-1)*RPP, where slctr is the maximum slot count. In some aspects, the value of RRP is selected by the UE from a set of valid values ​​provided as part of the access configuration. Example values ​​of RRP may include {20, 40, 100, 200...1000} milliseconds. In some aspects, the value of slctr may be randomly selected from a range depending on the RRP value, for example, for RRP=100, the value is between 5 and 15. In some aspects, these ranges are specified in the MAC specification, and the UE needs to send the RRP value in some control information.

[0147] When the UE is repeating transmissions (906, 908, 910, etc.), the UE continues to monitor subframes during a rolling sensing window of 1000 previous subframes. If the UE detects transmissions from other UEs during specific subframes (such as subframes L, M, P, or Q, etc.) in the sensing window, those subframes should be removed from the candidate subframe set for the next selection.

[0148] This increases the likelihood that all subframes will be eliminated as candidates. In this case, the UE may add back some of the subframes that were previously eliminated as candidates. For example, if the UE detects a transmission from another entity on subframe Q, then that subframe may be eliminated from the candidate list, but if a sufficient number of subframes (e.g., 20%) are not available and the transmission on subframe Q has a low signal strength, then subframe Q may be added back to the candidate subframe list, for example because the other UE is far enough away not to interfere with the transmission made by the first UE. In some aspects, the subframe with the weakest signal is added back, and if more subframes are needed, then subframes with slightly stronger signals are added back, and so on, until a sufficient number of subframes are available.

[0149] After the transmission of the slctr number has been completed, in some aspects, the UE may repeat the process of selecting an initial subframe based on the most recent sensing window 902 (this time it may be subframe L) and repeating the SL data transmission on subframes L+RRP, L+2*RRP, etc. Here, the new value for slctr may also be randomly selected from the configured range of possible values ​​for slctr. Alternatively, the UE may determine that it is better to continue using subframe N.

[0150] Yet another rule may be that the UE stops using autonomously selected subframes (eg, N, N+RRP, etc.) after a threshold number of transmit opportunities have not been used by the UE, where this threshold number may also be part of the access configuration.

[0151] Therefore, in SL mode 2 where a base station is not required, the process of resource allocation follows this sequence: at time TA, when SL data arrives at the transmit buffer, the UE determines the selection window for initial reservation, identifies the available subchannels within the selection window, and selects resources for initial reservation, which occurs at time T R Time T R The initial reservation at time T T1 At time T, resources are reserved for SL data transmission. T1 At time T, the UE determines the selection window for the next transmission, identifies the available subchannels within the selection window, and selects the subchannels to be sent at time T. T2 The resources for the next transmission that appear at time T are reserved, and T1 Data sending is performed at

[0152] An example general configuration for selecting a window size is shown below:

[0153]

[0154]

[0155] The conventional configuration shown above defines a sensing window (sl-SensingWindow-r16) and a list (sl-SelectionWindowList-r16) of eight selection windows (SL-SelectionWindowConfig-r16) with different priorities.

[0156] However, conventional networks only define a set of SL selection windows and do not specify a selection window for SL positioning separately. The requirements for SL positioning may be completely different from the requirements for SL data transmission. For example, the size of the sensing window required to identify resources that can be used for SL positioning may be different from the size of the sensing window required to identify resources that can be used for SL data transmission.

[0157] Thus, techniques for providing multiple selection windows for SL positioning are presented herein. In the case where SL positioning uses a positioning resource pool (RPP), these techniques provide multiple selection windows within the SL-RPP. In some aspects, each selection window in the multiple selection windows may have its own separate configuration.

[0158] An example configuration for selecting a window size according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown below, with new information elements shown in bold:

[0159]

[0160]

[0161] As shown in the example configuration above, several new information elements are defined, listed in the following table:

[0162] Table 1

[0163]

[0164] Thus, a single resource pool for positioning may have multiple selection windows for SL positioning that are configured independently of the selection windows for SL data transmission. In some aspects, each selection window for SL positioning may be configured independently of other selection windows for SL positioning.

[0165] In some aspects, the selection configuration may include one or more of the following fields: a field indicating the type of sensing (e.g., full sensing, partial sensing, or random selection), a field indicating the minimum and maximum number of subchannels that can be used for transmission on the SL-PRS, a field indicating the maximum number of SL-PRS transmissions (including new transmissions and retransmissions), and a field indicating the maximum transmit power for the SL-PRS signal. In some aspects, the selection configuration may specify the length of each selection window. In some aspects, the selection configuration may specify a per-slot probability of selecting one of the available resources within the slot. In some aspects, the selection configuration may indicate the bandwidth of the SL-PRS signal in each window. In some aspects, the selection configuration may indicate the length of consecutive slots that can be used for SL-PRS repetition (e.g., for multi-slot SL-PRS reservation).

[0166] It has been determined that for SL data transmission, allowing the UE to select from the earliest available resource in a selection window significantly reduces packet reception latency and may also improve performance. Therefore, it has been proposed that for SL data transmission, multiple selection windows may be defined. In some aspects, the total resource selection window is segmented into two windows, such as Fig.10 shown.

[0167] Fig.10 The segment selection window for SL data transmission according to various aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated. Fig.10, the resource selection window 1000 is divided into a first segment 1002 and a second segment 1004. The first segment 1002 is used for selection of the first transmission, and the second segment 1004 is used for selection of subsequent transmissions. In this way, the entire resource selection window is segmented into two windows. The window for the initial transmission is smaller, thereby forcing the selection of early resources while still providing randomization of resources to avoid conflicts. Since the reservation is limited to a window of 32 time slots in the future, only the first part of the resource selection has information about resource availability. The remaining part will all be considered as available resources. This tends to select later candidates that are located in the selection window, further increasing latency and affecting performance in high PRR areas.

[0168] It has been agreed that for SL Mode 2 data transmission, the resource pool may be configured or pre-configured to implement only full sensing, only partial sensing, only random resource selection, or a combination of full sensing, partial sensing and random selection. It has been agreed that random resource selection may be used for both periodic transmission and aperiodic transmission.

[0169] However, this may lead to some undesirable inefficiencies in situations where some UEs perform full sensing or partial sensing but other UEs perform random selection. For example, a UE may randomly select a resource that another UE has already selected based on sensing, which leads to a conflict. Similarly, a UE may select a resource based on a determination (based on sensing) that the resource is available, which results in the resource being randomly selected by another UE, again leading to a conflict. In addition, the increase in the number of SL-UEs performing random selection increases the risk of conflicts, which reduces performance.

[0170] One way to overcome this problem is to configure a portion of the resource pool to be used only for random resource selection. In this way, resource conflicts between users performing random resource selection and sensing-based resource selection in a hybrid resource pool can be avoided. Therefore, a dedicated resource pool for random resource selection or dedicated resources within a resource pool can be configured to mitigate resource conflicts to meet the required quality of service (QoS) requirements. Although such techniques have been discussed for SL data communications, none of these techniques are considered for SL positioning.

[0171] Thus, in some aspects of the present disclosure, the selection window may be divided into segments, such as a first segment reserved for random resource selection and a second segment reserved for sensing-based resource selection. Fig.11 An example thereof is illustrated.

[0172] Fig.11 Another example 1100 of multiple selection windows for SL-RPP according to aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated. Fig.11In the example 1100 illustrated in FIG. 1 , at time TA, the UE receives a SL positioning request or otherwise determines to send a SL-PRS signal. After an internal processing delay T1, the UE randomly selects a resource 1104 from the first segment 1102 of the selection window and sends the SL-PRS signal to the UE at time T1. T0 At time T, the UE uses those resources 1104 to send a first SL-PRS. During a second segment 1106 of the selection window, the UE selects resources 1108 for a second SL-PRS transmission. T1 At time T, the UE uses resource 1108 to send the second SL-PRS and selects resource 1112 for the third SL-PRS transmission from the second segment 1110 of the next selection window. T2 At , the UE uses resource 1112 to send the third SL-PRS, and selects resource 1116 for sending the fourth SL-PRS from the second segment 1114 of the next selection window, Fig.11 Not shown in FIG.

[0173] Fig.12 Another example of multiple selection windows for SL-RPP according to aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated. Fig.12 As shown, the selection window 1200 can be divided into two parts: a first part 1202 used by the first UE (UE1) to locate resources sent to the second UE (UE2) or to multiple UEs, and a second part 1204 used by UE1 to reserve positioning resources for use by UE2. Therefore, in some aspects, there are separate selection windows for Tx resources used for SL positioning and Rx resources used for SL positioning. For example, Tx resources can be used by UE1 to send SL positioning signals to UE2, and Rx resources can be used by UE2 to send responses back to UE1. This allows UE1 to select SL positioning resources for both itself and UE2 at the same time, which eliminates the need for UE2 to perform its own resource selection procedure and thus reduces latency. In some aspects, the length of each of the two parts of the selection window can be specified by another entity (e.g., by an anchor UE). In the above configuration example, the enumerated values ​​{m1, m2, m3, and m4} can be configured, preset, or signaled to have specific meanings for the two UEs. For example, in one implementation, "m1" indicates that the full length of the selection window is used by UE1, and "m2", "m3" and "m4" respectively indicate that the first 70%, 50% or 25% of the length of the selection window is used by UE1, and the rest will be used by UE2.

[0174] For positioning, latency may be an important or critical parameter, and there may be some positioning use cases where the UE has very strict requirements on positioning latency. In this scenario, the UE may be commanded to try to find resources within a relatively short selection window. However, if the UE cannot find available resources within the short selection window, then in some aspects, the UE should try to find available resources within a longer selection window. When multiple selection windows and configurations are available, in some aspects, the anchor UE may provide parameters or other forms of guidance that indicate how and when another UE should change from one selection window to another selection window.

[0175] For example, the types of parameters that may be provided by the anchor UE may include one or more parameters indicating one or more of the following: how many times the UE should try on each selection window for positioning before moving to another selection window for positioning (in some aspects, each selection window for positioning may have a different number of retries); a backoff time for each selection window in case a resource selection failure is detected; or a new priority, which may be mapped to the corresponding selection window for use by the UE.

[0176] Fig.13 Another example of multiple selection windows for SL-RPP according to aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated. In this example, the resource selection window is defined according to the standard and can be used for both SL data transmission and SL positioning. In this scenario, the anchor UE will define the priority of data to positioning resources for each positioning opportunity, and the relationship between the dedicated positioning selection window and the public selection window is defined by the anchor UE. Fig.13 In the example shown, a first resource selection window 1300 with a priority of X has been defined by the anchor UE for positioning, and a second resource selection window 1302 with a priority of Y has been defined by the anchor UE also for positioning.

[0177] In some aspects, when multiple selection windows with different configurations are available for SL positioning, the UE may control the movement from one resource selection window used for positioning to another resource selection window used for positioning. In some aspects, the positioning UE will look for the resource selection window for positioning with the highest priority in the configuration list, and try to select one of the available resources within the resource selection window. If the UE cannot find an available resource within the resource selection window, the UE may try again for a configured number of times N. If the UE fails N times in a row, the UE marks this selection window as "useless" for a certain amount of time T (after which the selection window can be used again), and then repeats this process with the second highest priority selection window, and so on.

[0178] In some aspects, the anchor UE may use this feedback and other types of feedback to change the positioning selection window length, configuration, or priority for the next positioning session. For example, if the selection window has been marked as "unused" a threshold number of times (the threshold number of times may be "one"), the anchor UE may command the UE to use a selection window with a larger window length in the hope that some of the additional resources now available within the larger window will be available for use.

[0179] In some aspects, the anchor UE may modify the existing selection window list, eg, to add, delete, or modify one or more selection window configurations.

[0180] Fig.14 Another example of multiple selection windows for SL-RPP according to aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated. Fig.14 This illustrates the point that both SL positioning and SL data can benefit from segmenting the resource selection window 1400 into random selection segments and sensing-based selection segments, but the exact locations where the resource selection window 1400 is divided may be different for SL positioning and SL data transmission. Fig.14 , the resource selection window 1400 is divided into a first segment 1402 for positioning and a second segment 1404 for positioning, but is divided into segments of different sizes for data transmission, for example, a first segment 1406 for data and a second segment 1408 for data.

[0181] Fig.15 is a flow chart of an example process 1500 associated with multiple selection windows for a sidelink positioning resource pool according to aspects of the present disclosure. In some implementations, Fig.15 One or more process blocks of may be performed by a user equipment (UE) (e.g., UE 104). In some implementations, Fig.15 One or more process blocks of may be performed by another device or a group of devices separate from or including the NE. Additionally or alternatively, Fig.15 One or more process blocks of process 1500 may be performed by one or more components of UE 302 (such as processor 332, memory 340, WWAN transceiver 310, short-range wireless transceiver 320, satellite signal receiver 330, sensor 344, user interface 346, and side link positioning component 342), any or all of which may be means for performing the operations of process 1500.

[0182] like Fig.15As shown, at block 1510, process 1500 may include receiving a first configuration from a configuration entity, the first configuration defining a plurality of selection windows for sidelink (SL) positioning, each selection window defining a set of resources within a positioning resource pool (RPP) for transmission or reception of at least one sidelink positioning reference signal (SL-PRS). Means for performing the operations of block 1510 may include a processor 332, a memory 340, or a WWAN transceiver 310 of a UE 302. For example, the UE 302 may use a receiver 312 to receive the first configuration.

[0183] like Fig.15 As further shown, at block 1520, process 1500 may include performing SL positioning using one of a plurality of selection windows for SL positioning. Means for performing the operations of block 1520 may include processor 332, memory 340, or WWAN transceiver 310 of UE 302. For example, UE 302 may use transmitter 314 and receiver 312 to perform SL positioning using one of a plurality of selection windows for SL positioning.

[0184] Process 1500 may include additional implementations, such as any single implementation or any combination of implementations described below and / or in conjunction with one or more other processes described elsewhere herein.

[0185] In some aspects, each of the multiple selection windows defined by the first configuration is associated with at least one of the following parameters: the type of sensing to be performed during the selection window, including at least one of random selection, full sensing, or partial sensing; priority; the minimum number of subchannels; the maximum number of subchannels; the maximum number of SL-PRS to be sent; the maximum transmit power; the length of the selection window; the per-slot probability of selecting one of the available resources during the selection window; the bandwidth of the SL-PRS within the selection window; or the length of consecutive time slots that can be used for repetitions of the SL-PRS.

[0186] In some aspects, a first subset of the plurality of selection windows includes resources for sending the SL-PRS and a second subset of the plurality of selection windows includes resources for receiving the SL-PRS.

[0187] In some aspects, at least one selection window of the plurality of selection windows is divided into a plurality of different portions.

[0188] In some aspects, one of the plurality of different portions is configured for random selection and another of the plurality of different portions is configured for selection based on complete sensing or partial sensing.

[0189] In some aspects, one of the plurality of different portions is configured for SL-PRS transmission and another of the plurality of different portions is configured for SL-PRS reception.

[0190] In some aspects, performing SL positioning using one of multiple selection windows for SL positioning includes: identifying candidate resources within the RPP for sending or receiving SL-PRS during a sensing window; determining that SL-PRS should be sent or received; identifying a first selection window for SL positioning from among multiple selection windows for SL positioning; selecting one or more resources for sending or receiving SL-PRS from among the resources within the first selection window for SL positioning; and sending or receiving SL-PRS on the selected resources.

[0191] In some aspects, performing SL positioning using one of a plurality of selection windows for SL positioning includes: identifying candidate resources within the RPP for sending or receiving SL-PRS during a sensing window; determining that SL-PRS should be sent or received; identifying a first selection window for SL positioning from among a plurality of selection windows for SL positioning; failing to select one or more resources for sending or receiving SL-PRS from among the resources within the first selection window for SL positioning a threshold number of times; identifying a second selection window for SL positioning from among a plurality of selection windows for SL positioning; selecting one or more resources for sending or receiving SL-PRS from among the resources within the second selection window for SL positioning; and sending or receiving SL-PRS on the selected resources.

[0192] In some aspects, process 1500 includes at least one of the following operations: notifying a configuration entity that one or more resources for sending or receiving SL-PRS have failed to be selected from resources within a first selection window for SL positioning a threshold number of times; or disqualifying the first selection window for SL positioning for a specified backoff time.

[0193] In some aspects, receiving a first configuration defining multiple selection windows for SL positioning includes receiving a first configuration defining multiple selection windows for SL positioning or SL data, and a second configuration identifying a subset of the multiple selection windows as reserved for SL positioning.

[0194] In some aspects, receiving the first configuration from the configuration entity includes receiving the first configuration from an anchor UE.

[0195] although Fig.15 An example block diagram of process 1500 is shown, but in some implementations, process 1500 may include Fig.15The process 1500 may include more boxes, fewer boxes, different boxes, or boxes arranged in a different manner than those depicted in the process 1500. Additionally or alternatively, two or more boxes in the boxes of process 1500 may be executed in parallel.

[0196] Fig.16 is a flow chart of an example process 1600 associated with multiple selection windows for a sidelink positioning resource pool according to aspects of the present disclosure. In some implementations, Fig.16 One or more process blocks of may be performed by a configuration entity (eg, anchor UE 104). In some implementations, Fig.16 One or more process blocks of may be performed by another device or a group of devices separate from or including the configuration entity. Additionally or alternatively, Fig.16 One or more process blocks of process 1600 may be performed by one or more components of a device (such as a processor, a memory, a transceiver), any or all of which may be means for performing the operations of process 1600.

[0197] like Fig.16 As shown, at block 1610, process 1600 may include identifying the UE. The means for performing the operations of block 1610 may include a processor, a memory, or a transceiver of any of the devices described herein. For example, the processor 332 of the configuration entity may identify the UE based on the existence of a SL communication session with the UE.

[0198] like Fig.16 As further shown, at block 1620, process 1600 may include transmitting a first configuration to the UE, the first configuration defining a plurality of selection windows for SL positioning, each selection window defining a set of resources within the RPP for transmission or reception of at least one SL-PRS. Means for performing the operations of block 1620 may include a processor, a memory, or a transceiver of any of the devices described herein. For example, the configuration entity may transmit the first configuration to the UE using transmitter 314.

[0199] Process 1600 may include additional implementations, such as any single implementation or any combination of implementations described below and / or in conjunction with one or more other processes described elsewhere herein.

[0200] In some aspects, process 1600 includes: receiving an indication from a UE that the UE has failed to select one or more resources for sending or receiving SL-PRS from resources within a first selection window for SL positioning for a threshold number of times; modifying a first configuration in response to the indication; and transmitting the modified first configuration to the UE.

[0201] In some aspects, modifying the first configuration in response to the indication includes at least one of: modifying a configuration of the first selection window; deleting the first selection window from the plurality of selection windows; or adding a new selection window to the plurality of selection windows.

[0202] In some aspects, the configuration entity comprises an anchor UE.

[0203] although Fig.16 An example block diagram of process 1600 is shown, but in some implementations, process 1600 may include Fig.16 The process 1600 may include more boxes, fewer boxes, different boxes, or boxes arranged in a different manner than those depicted in the process 1600. Additionally or alternatively, two or more boxes in the boxes of process 1600 may be executed in parallel.

[0204] As will be appreciated, a technical advantage of the techniques disclosed herein is that SL positioning can have the same benefits as SL data transmission, namely, multiple selection windows provide flexibility and improve the efficiency of SL positioning, for example by reducing the latency of SL positioning and reducing the chance that a random selection made by one device will conflict with a sensing-based selection made by another device.

[0205] 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 deemed to be incorporated into the description accordingly, where each clause itself can be used as a separate example. Although each dependent clause can 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. The various aspects disclosed herein explicitly include these combinations, unless it is explicitly 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.

[0206] Specific implementation examples are described in the following numbered clauses:

[0207] Clause 1. A method for wireless positioning performed by a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: receiving a first configuration from a configuration entity, the first configuration defining a plurality of selection windows for sidelink (SL) positioning, each selection window defining a set of resources within a positioning resource pool (RPP) for sending or receiving at least one sidelink positioning reference signal (SL-PRS); and performing SL positioning using one of the plurality of selection windows for SL positioning.

[0208] Clause 2. A method according to clause 1, wherein each of the multiple selection windows defined by the first configuration is associated with at least one of the following parameters: the type of sensing to be performed during the selection window, including at least one of random selection, full sensing or partial sensing; priority; the minimum number of subchannels; the maximum number of subchannels; the maximum number of SL-PRS to be sent; the maximum transmit power; the length of the selection window; the per-slot probability of selecting one of the available resources during the selection window; the bandwidth of the SL-PRS within the selection window; or the length of repeated consecutive time slots that can be used for the SL-PRS.

[0209] Clause 3. A method according to any of clauses 1 to 2, wherein a first subset of the plurality of selection windows comprises resources for sending SL-PRS and a second subset of the plurality of selection windows comprises resources for receiving SL-PRS.

[0210] Clause 4. The method of any one of clauses 1 to 3, wherein at least one selection window of the plurality of selection windows is divided into a plurality of different portions.

[0211] Clause 5. The method of clause 4, wherein one of the plurality of different portions is configured for random selection and another of the plurality of different portions is configured for selection based on full sensing or partial sensing.

[0212] Clause 6. A method as described in any of clauses 4 to 5, wherein one of the plurality of different portions is configured for SL-PRS transmission and another of the plurality of different portions is configured for SL-PRS reception.

[0213] Clause 7. A method according to any one of clauses 1 to 6, wherein performing SL positioning using one of the multiple selection windows for SL positioning includes: identifying candidate resources within the RPP for sending or receiving SL-PRS during a sensing window; determining that SL-PRS should be sent or received; identifying a first selection window for SL positioning from among the multiple selection windows for SL positioning; selecting one or more resources for sending or receiving SL-PRS from among the resources within the first selection window for SL positioning; and sending or receiving the SL-PRS on the selected resources.

[0214] Clause 8. A method according to Clause 7, wherein performing SL positioning using one of the multiple selection windows for SL positioning includes: identifying candidate resources for sending or receiving SL-PRS within the RPP during a sensing window; determining that SL-PRS should be sent or received; identifying a first selection window for SL positioning from the multiple selection windows for SL positioning; failing to select one or more resources for sending or receiving SL-PRS from the resources within the first selection window for SL positioning a threshold number of times; identifying a second selection window for SL positioning from the multiple selection windows for SL positioning; selecting one or more resources for sending or receiving SL-PRS from the resources within the second selection window for SL positioning; and sending or receiving the SL-PRS on the selected resources.

[0215] Clause 9. The method according to Clause 8 further includes at least one of the following operations: notifying the configuration entity that one or more resources for sending or receiving SL-PRS have failed to be selected from the resources within the first selection window for SL positioning for the threshold number of times; or disqualifying the first selection window for SL positioning for a specified backoff time.

[0216] Clause 10. A method according to any one of clauses 1 to 9, wherein receiving the first configuration defining multiple selection windows for SL positioning includes receiving a first configuration defining multiple selection windows for SL positioning or SL data, and a second configuration identifying a subset of the multiple selection windows as reserved for SL positioning.

[0217] Clause 11. The method of any of clauses 1 to 10, wherein receiving the first configuration from the configuration entity comprises receiving the first configuration from an anchor UE.

[0218] Clause 12. A method for wireless positioning performed by a configuration entity, the method comprising: identifying a user equipment (UE); and transmitting a first configuration to the UE, the first configuration defining a plurality of selection windows for sidelink (SL) positioning, each selection window defining a set of resources within a positioning resource pool (RPP) for sending or receiving at least one sidelink positioning reference signal (SL-PRS).

[0219] Clause 13. The method according to Clause 12 further includes: receiving an indication from the UE that the UE has failed to select one or more resources for sending or receiving SL-PRS from the resources within the first selection window for SL positioning for a threshold number of times; modifying the first configuration in response to the indication; and transmitting the modified first configuration to the UE.

[0220] Clause 14. A method according to Clause 13, wherein modifying the first configuration in response to the indication comprises at least one of the following operations: modifying the configuration of the first selection window; deleting the first selection window from the multiple selection windows; or adding a new selection window to the multiple selection windows.

[0221] Clause 15. A method as described in any of clauses 12 to 14, wherein the configuration entity comprises an anchor UE.

[0222] Clause 16. A user equipment (UE) 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: receive a first configuration from a configuration entity via the at least one transceiver, the first configuration defining a plurality of selection windows for sidelink (SL) positioning, each selection window defining a set of resources within a positioning resource pool (RPP) for sending or receiving at least one sidelink positioning reference signal (SL-PRS); and perform SL positioning using one of the plurality of selection windows for SL positioning using the at least one transceiver.

[0223] Clause 17. A UE according to clause 16, wherein each of the multiple selection windows defined by the first configuration is associated with at least one of the following parameters: the type of sensing to be performed during the selection window, including at least one of random selection, full sensing or partial sensing; priority; the minimum number of subchannels; the maximum number of subchannels; the maximum number of SL-PRS to be sent; the maximum transmit power; the length of the selection window; the per-slot probability of selecting one of the available resources during the selection window; the bandwidth of the SL-PRS within the selection window; or the length of repeated consecutive time slots that can be used for the SL-PRS.

[0224] Clause 18. A UE as described in any of clauses 16 to 17, wherein a first subset of the plurality of selection windows comprises resources for sending SL-PRS and a second subset of the plurality of selection windows comprises resources for receiving SL-PRS.

[0225] Clause 19. A UE as described in any of clauses 16 to 18, wherein at least one selection window of the plurality of selection windows is divided into a plurality of different portions.

[0226] Clause 20. The UE of clause 19, wherein one of the plurality of different portions is configured for random selection and another of the plurality of different portions is configured for selection based on full sensing or partial sensing.

[0227] Clause 21. A UE as described in any of clauses 19 to 20, wherein one of the multiple different parts is configured for SL-PRS transmission and another of the multiple different parts is configured for SL-PRS reception.

[0228] Clause 22. A UE according to any one of clauses 16 to 21, wherein in order to perform SL positioning using one of the multiple selection windows for SL positioning, the at least one processor is configured to: identify candidate resources for sending or receiving SL-PRS within the RPP during a sensing window; determine that SL-PRS should be sent or received; identify a first selection window for SL positioning from among the multiple selection windows for SL positioning; select one or more resources for sending or receiving SL-PRS from among the resources within the first selection window for SL positioning; and send or receive the SL-PRS on the selected resources via the at least one transceiver.

[0229] Clause 23. A UE according to clause 22, wherein in order to perform SL positioning using one of the multiple selection windows for SL positioning, the at least one processor is configured to: identify candidate resources for sending or receiving SL-PRS within the RPP during a sensing window; determine that SL-PRS should be sent or received; identify a first selection window for SL positioning from the multiple selection windows for SL positioning; fail to select one or more resources for sending or receiving SL-PRS from the resources within the first selection window for SL positioning for a threshold number of times; identify a second selection window for SL positioning from the multiple selection windows for SL positioning; select one or more resources for sending or receiving SL-PRS from the resources within the second selection window for SL positioning; and send or receive the SL-PRS on the selected resources via the at least one transceiver.

[0230] Clause 24. A UE according to clause 23, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to perform at least one of the following operations: notifying the configuration entity that one or more resources for sending or receiving SL-PRS have failed to be selected from the resources within the first selection window for SL positioning for the threshold number of times; or disqualifying the first selection window for SL positioning for a specified backoff time.

[0231] Clause 25. A UE according to any one of clauses 16 to 24, wherein in order to receive the first configuration defining multiple selection windows for SL positioning, the at least one processor is configured to receive a first configuration defining multiple selection windows for SL positioning or SL data, and a second configuration identifying a subset of the multiple selection windows as reserved for SL positioning.

[0232] Clause 26. A UE as set forth in any of clauses 16 to 25, wherein, in order to receive the first configuration from the configuration entity, the at least one processor is configured to receive the first configuration from an anchor UE.

[0233] Clause 27. A configuration 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: identify a user equipment (UE); and transmit a first configuration to the UE via the at least one transceiver, the first configuration defining a plurality of selection windows for sidelink (SL) positioning, each selection window defining a set of resources within a positioning resource pool (RPP) for sending or receiving at least one sidelink positioning reference signal (SL-PRS).

[0234] Clause 28. A configuration entity according to Clause 27, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: receive an indication from the UE via the at least one transceiver that the UE has failed to select one or more resources for sending or receiving SL-PRS from resources within a first selection window for SL positioning for a threshold number of times; modify the first configuration in response to the indication; and transmit the modified first configuration to the UE via the at least one transceiver.

[0235] Clause 29. A configuration entity according to Clause 28, wherein in order to modify the first configuration in response to the indication, the at least one processor is configured to: modify the configuration of the first selection window; delete the first selection window from the multiple selection windows; or add a new selection window to the multiple selection windows.

[0236] Clause 30. A configuration entity as set forth in any of clauses 27 to 29, wherein the configuration entity comprises an anchor UE.

[0237] Clause 31. An apparatus comprising: a memory; a transceiver; and a processor, the processor being communicatively coupled to the memory and the transceiver, the memory, the transceiver, and the processor being configured to perform the method of any one of clauses 1 to 15.

[0238] Clause 32. An apparatus comprising means for performing the method of any one of clauses 1 to 15.

[0239] Clause 33. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions, the computer-executable instructions comprising at least one instruction for causing a computer or a processor to perform the method according to any one of clauses 1 to 15.

[0240] 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.

[0241] 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 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 functions. Whether such functions are 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 functions in different ways for each specific application, but such specific implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing deviations from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0242] The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in conjunction with the various aspects disclosed herein may be implemented or performed with 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. The 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.

[0243] 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 a processor so that the processor can read information from the storage medium and write information to the storage medium. In an alternative solution, 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 solution, the processor and the storage medium may reside in a user terminal as discrete components.

[0244] In one or more example aspects, the function can be implemented in hardware, software, firmware or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the function can be stored on a computer-readable medium or sent by a computer-readable medium as one or more instructions or codes. Computer-readable media include both computer storage media and communication media, and the communication media include any medium that facilitates the transmission of a computer program from one place to another. Storage media can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example and not limitation, 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 or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program codes in the form of instructions or data structures and can be accessed by a computer. Moreover, 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 a coaxial cable, a fiber optic cable, a twisted pair, a digital subscriber line (DSL) or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio and microwaves, then 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.

[0245] 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 the singular, plural forms may also be considered unless explicitly stated to be limited to the singular.

Claims

1. A method for wireless positioning performed by a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: receiving a first configuration from a configuration entity, the first configuration defining a plurality of selection windows for sidelink (SL) positioning, each selection window defining a set of resources within a positioning resource pool (RPP) for transmission or reception of at least one sidelink positioning reference signal (SL-PRS); and SL positioning is performed using one selection window among the multiple selection windows for SL positioning.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein each selection window of the plurality of selection windows defined by the first configuration is associated with at least one of: a type of sensing to be performed during a corresponding selection window, the type of sensing comprising at least one of random selection, full sensing, or partial sensing; Priority; Minimum number of subchannels; Maximum number of subchannels; The maximum number of SL-PRS to be sent; Maximum transmit power; The length of the corresponding selection window; a per-slot probability of selecting one of said resources available during said corresponding selection window; the bandwidth of the SL-PRS within the corresponding selection window; or The length of consecutive time slots that can be used for repetition of SL-PRS.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein a first subset of the plurality of selection windows comprises resources for sending SL-PRS, and a second subset of the plurality of selection windows comprises resources for receiving SL-PRS. The method according to claim 1 , wherein at least one selection window of the plurality of selection windows is divided into a plurality of different parts. 5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein one of the plurality of different portions is configured for random selection and another of the plurality of different portions is configured for selection based on full sensing or partial sensing.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein one of the plurality of different portions is configured for SL-PRS transmission, and another of the plurality of different portions is configured for SL-PRS reception.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein performing SL positioning using one of the plurality of selection windows for SL positioning comprises: identifying candidate resources within the RPP for sending or receiving the SL-PRS during a sensing window; Determining whether SL-PRS should be sent or received; identifying a first selection window for SL positioning from among the plurality of selection windows for SL positioning; selecting one or more resources for sending or receiving SL-PRS from among the resources within the first selection window for SL positioning; and The SL-PRS is sent or received on the one or more resources.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein performing SL positioning using one of the plurality of selection windows for SL positioning comprises: identifying candidate resources within the RPP for sending or receiving the SL-PRS during a sensing window; Determining whether SL-PRS should be sent or received; identifying a first selection window for SL positioning from among the plurality of selection windows for SL positioning; failing to select one or more resources for sending or receiving the SL-PRS from among the resources within the first selection window for SL positioning a threshold number of times; identifying a second selection window for SL positioning from among the plurality of selection windows for SL positioning; selecting one or more resources for sending or receiving the SL-PRS from among the resources within the second selection window for SL positioning; and The SL-PRS is sent or received on the one or more resources.

9. The method according to claim 8, further comprising at least one of the following operations: Notifying the configuration entity that one or more resources for sending or receiving the SL-PRS cannot be selected from among the resources within the first selection window for SL positioning for the threshold number of times; or The first selection window for SL positioning is disqualified for a specified backoff time.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the first configuration defining a plurality of selection windows for SL positioning comprises receiving a first configuration defining a plurality of selection windows for SL positioning or SL data, and a second configuration identifying a subset of the plurality of selection windows as reserved for SL positioning.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the first configuration from the configuration entity comprises receiving the first configuration from an anchor UE.

12. A method for wireless positioning performed by a configuration entity, the method comprising: Identify user equipment (UE); as well as A first configuration is transmitted to the UE, wherein the first configuration defines multiple selection windows for sidelink (SL) positioning, each selection window defining a set of resources within a positioning resource pool (RPP) for sending or receiving at least one sidelink positioning reference signal (SL-PRS).

13. The method according to claim 12, further comprising: receiving, from the UE, an indication that the UE failed a threshold number of times to select one or more resources for sending or receiving a SL-PRS from among resources within a first selection window for SL positioning from the plurality of selection windows for SL positioning; modifying the first configuration in response to the indication; and The modified first configuration is transmitted to the UE.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein modifying the first configuration in response to the indication comprises at least one of the following operations: Modifying the configuration of the first selection window; Deleting the first selection window from the plurality of selection windows; or A new selection window is added to the plurality of selection windows.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein the configuration entity comprises an anchor UE.

16. A user equipment (UE), the user equipment (UE) 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: receiving, via the at least one transceiver, from a configuration entity a first configuration, the first configuration defining a plurality of selection windows for sidelink (SL) positioning, each selection window defining a set of resources within a positioning resource pool (RPP) for transmission or reception of at least one sidelink positioning reference signal (SL-PRS); and Using the at least one transceiver, SL positioning is performed using one selection window of the plurality of selection windows for SL positioning.

17. The UE of claim 16, wherein each selection window of the plurality of selection windows defined by the first configuration is associated with at least one of: a type of sensing to be performed during a corresponding selection window, the type of sensing comprising at least one of random selection, full sensing, or partial sensing; Priority; Minimum number of subchannels; Maximum number of subchannels; The maximum number of SL-PRS to be sent; Maximum transmit power; The length of the corresponding selection window; a per-slot probability of selecting one of said resources available during said corresponding selection window; the bandwidth of the SL-PRS within the corresponding selection window; or The length of consecutive time slots that can be used for repetition of SL-PRS.

18. The UE of claim 16, wherein a first subset of the plurality of selection windows comprises resources for transmitting SL-PRS, and a second subset of the plurality of selection windows comprises resources for receiving SL-PRS.

19. The UE of claim 16, wherein at least one selection window of the plurality of selection windows is divided into a plurality of different parts.

20. The UE of claim 19, wherein one of the plurality of different parts is configured for random selection and another of the plurality of different parts is configured for selection based on full sensing or partial sensing.

21. The UE of claim 19, wherein one of the plurality of different parts is configured for SL-PRS transmission, and another of the plurality of different parts is configured for SL-PRS reception.

22. The UE of claim 16, wherein in order to perform SL positioning using one selection window among the plurality of selection windows for SL positioning, the at least one processor is configured to: identifying candidate resources within the RPP for sending or receiving the SL-PRS during a sensing window; Determining whether SL-PRS should be sent or received; identifying a first selection window for SL positioning from among the plurality of selection windows for SL positioning; selecting one or more resources for sending or receiving SL-PRS from among the resources within the first selection window for SL positioning; and The SL-PRS is sent or received on the one or more resources via the at least one transceiver.

23. The UE of claim 22, wherein in order to perform SL positioning using one of the plurality of selection windows for SL positioning, the at least one processor is configured to: identifying candidate resources within the RPP for sending or receiving the SL-PRS during a sensing window; Determining whether SL-PRS should be sent or received; identifying a first selection window for SL positioning from among the plurality of selection windows for SL positioning; failing to select one or more resources for sending or receiving the SL-PRS from among the resources within the first selection window for SL positioning a threshold number of times; identifying a second selection window for SL positioning from among the plurality of selection windows for SL positioning; selecting one or more resources for sending or receiving the SL-PRS from among the resources within the second selection window for SL positioning; and The SL-PRS is sent or received on the one or more resources via the at least one transceiver.

24. The UE of claim 23, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to perform at least one of the following operations: Notifying the configuration entity that one or more resources for sending or receiving the SL-PRS cannot be selected from among the resources within the first selection window for SL positioning for the threshold number of times; or The first selection window for SL positioning is disqualified for a specified backoff time.

25. A UE according to claim 16, wherein in order to receive the first configuration defining multiple selection windows for SL positioning, the at least one processor is configured to receive a first configuration defining multiple selection windows for SL positioning or SL data, and a second configuration identifying a subset of the multiple selection windows as reserved for SL positioning.

26. The UE of claim 16, wherein to receive the first configuration from the configuration entity, the at least one processor is configured to receive the first configuration from an anchor UE.

27. A configuration entity, the configuration 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: identifying a user equipment (UE); and A first configuration is transmitted to the UE via the at least one transceiver, wherein the first configuration defines multiple selection windows for sidelink (SL) positioning, each selection window defining a set of resources within a positioning resource pool (RPP) for sending or receiving at least one sidelink positioning reference signal (SL-PRS).

28. The configuration entity of claim 27, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: receiving, from the UE via the at least one transceiver, an indication that the UE failed to select one or more resources for sending or receiving the SL-PRS from among resources within a first selection window for SL positioning from the plurality of selection windows for SL positioning a threshold number of times; modifying the first configuration in response to the indication; and The modified first configuration is transmitted to the UE via the at least one transceiver.

29. The configuration entity according to claim 28, wherein in order to modify the first configuration in response to the indication, the at least one processor is configured to: Modifying the configuration of the first selection window; Deleting the first selection window from the plurality of selection windows; or A new selection window is added to the plurality of selection windows.

30. The configuration entity of claim 27, wherein the configuration entity comprises an anchor UE.

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