Positioning of smart reflective surfaces (IRSs) in wireless communication networks

Abstract

According to an embodiment, an example method for locating an intelligent reflective surface (IRS) using a transmitting device in a wireless communication network may include configuring the IRS to reflect a wireless reference signal back to the transmitting device; and after configuring the IRS, transmitting the wireless reference signal from the transmitting device to the IRS. The method may also include receiving, at the transmitting device, a wireless reflected signal, wherein the wireless reflected signal includes a reflection of the wireless reference signal reflected by the IRS; and determining a measurement configured to locate the IRS based at least in part on the wireless reflected signal, wherein a location of the IRS is determined based on the measurement.

Description

[0001] Related Applications

[0002] This application claims the benefit of U.S. patent application No. 17 / 664,120, filed on May 19, 2022, entitled “POSITIONING OF AN INTELLIGENT REFLECTING SURFACE (IRS) IN AWIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORK,” which is assigned to the assignee of this application and is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Background Art 1. Technical Field

[0003] The present disclosure relates generally to the field of wireless communications, and more particularly to intelligent reflective surfaces (IRS) for wireless communication networks.

[0004] 2. Related technologies

[0005] In a wireless communication network, positioning of a receiving device (e.g., user equipment) may involve measurement of radio frequency (RF) signals (e.g., wireless reference signals) received by the receiving device. When obstruction occurs, an IRS may be used to send RF signals from one or more base stations of the wireless communication network to one or more receiving devices (e.g., redirect reference signals from the base stations to the receiving devices). Therefore, when positioning a receiving device based on RF signals sent through an IRS, knowing the location of the IRS is critical. Summary of the invention

[0006] Embodiments described herein provide for determination of the position of an IRS in a wireless communication system. More specifically, the IRS may be configured by a transmitting device (e.g., by an IRS controller) to reflect a wireless reference signal sent from the transmitting device back to the transmitting device. Subsequently, the wireless reference signal may be sent to the IRS, and a wireless reflection signal including a reflection of the wireless reference signal (e.g., reflected by the IRS) may be received by the transmitting device accordingly. Measurement results such as round-trip signal propagation delay (RTT), angle of arrival (AoA), etc. may be determined at least in part based on the wireless reflection signal, and thus the position of the IRS may be determined based on the determined measurement results.

[0007] An example method for locating an intelligent reflective surface (IRS) using a transmitting device in a wireless communication network includes: configuring the IRS to reflect a wireless reference signal back to the transmitting device; and after configuring the IRS, transmitting the wireless reference signal from the transmitting device to the IRS. The method also includes: receiving the wireless reflection signal at the transmitting device, wherein the wireless reflection signal includes a reflection of the wireless reference signal reflected by the IRS; and determining a measurement result configured for locating the IRS based at least in part on the wireless reflection signal, wherein the position of the IRS is determined based on the measurement result.

[0008] An example method for locating an intelligent reflective surface (IRS) using a location server in a wireless communication network includes: sending a request to a transmitting device to configure the transmitting device to send a wireless reference signal to the IRS; and receiving a measurement result determined based on the wireless reflection signal from the transmitting device, wherein the wireless reflection signal includes a reflection of the wireless reference signal reflected by the IRS. The method also includes determining a location of the IRS based on the measurement result.

[0009] An example transmitting device in a wireless communication network includes a wireless communication interface configured to: configure an IRS to reflect a wireless reference signal back to the transmitting device; after configuring the IRS, transmit the wireless reference signal to the IRS and receive a wireless reflection signal, wherein the wireless reflection signal includes a reflection of the wireless reference signal reflected by the IRS. The transmitting device also includes a memory and one or more processing units communicatively coupled to the wireless communication interface, and the memory is configured to determine a measurement result configured for locating the IRS based at least in part on the wireless reflection signal, wherein the position of the IRS is determined based on the measurement result.

[0010] An example location server includes a transceiver configured to: send a request to a transmitting device to configure the transmitting device to send a wireless reference signal to an IRS; and receive a measurement result determined based on a wireless reflection signal from the transmitting device, wherein the wireless reflection signal includes a reflection of the wireless reference signal reflected by the IRS. The location server also includes a memory and one or more processing units communicatively coupled to the wireless communication interface, and the memory is configured to determine a measurement result configured for locating the IRS based at least in part on the wireless reflection signal, wherein the position of the IRS is determined based on the measurement result.

[0011] This summary is neither intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter nor is it intended to be used alone to determine the scope of the claimed subject matter. The subject matter should be understood by reference to appropriate portions of the entire specification of the disclosure, any or all of the drawings, and each claim. The foregoing and other features and examples will be described in more detail in the following description, claims, and drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0012] Figure 1 is a diagram of a positioning system according to an embodiment.

[0013] Figure 2 is a diagram of a fifth generation (5G) new radio (NR) positioning system, which illustrates a positioning system implemented within a 5G NR communication system (e.g., Figure 1 implementation scheme of a positioning system).

[0014] Figure 3 is a diagram illustrating beamforming in a 5G NR positioning system.

[0015] Figure 4 is a simplified diagram illustrating how the IRS facilitates the transmission of RF signals in UE positioning.

[0016] Figure 5 is a simplified diagram illustrating how an IRS may be positioned according to some embodiments.

[0017] Figure 6 is a call flow diagram of a process for performing location determination for an IRS according to some embodiments.

[0018] Figure 7 is a simplified diagram illustrating how the location of an IRS may be determined according to some embodiments.

[0019] Figure 8 is a simplified diagram illustrating how an IRS may be positioned according to some embodiments.

[0020] Fig. 9 is a call flow diagram of a process for performing location determination for an IRS according to some embodiments.

[0021] Fig.10 is a simplified diagram illustrating how an IRS may be positioned according to some embodiments.

[0022] Fig.11 is a call flow diagram of a process for performing location determination for an IRS according to some embodiments.

[0023] Fig.12 and Fig.13 is a flow chart of an IRS positioning method performed by a transmitting device according to an implementation scheme.

[0024] Fig.14 is a block diagram of an implementation of a base station that may be utilized in implementations as described herein.

[0025] Fig.15 is a block diagram of an implementation of a UE that may be utilized in implementations as described herein.

[0026] Similar reference symbols in the various drawings indicate similar elements according to certain example implementations. In addition, multiple instances of an element can be indicated by adding a letter or hyphen and a second number after the first number of the element. For example, multiple instances of element 110 can be indicated as 110-1, 110-2, 110-3, etc. or 110a, 110b, 110c, etc. When only the first number is used to refer to such an element, any instance of the element should be understood (for example, the element 110 in the previous example will refer to elements 110-1, 110-2 and 110-3 or to elements 110a, 110b and 110c). DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0027] The following description is directed to certain specific implementations for the purpose of describing the innovative aspects of each embodiment. However, one of ordinary skill in the art will readily recognize that the teachings herein can be applied in a variety of different ways. The described specific implementations can be implemented in any device, system, or network capable of sending and receiving radio frequency (RF) signals according to any communication standard, such as any of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) IEEE 802.11 standards (including those identified as Technical standards), Standard, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), GSM / General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), Enhanced Data GSM Environment (EDGE), Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA), Wideband CDMA (W-CDMA), Evolution-Data Optimized (EV-DO), 1xEV-DO, EV-DO Revision A, EV-DO Revision B, High Rate Packet Data (HRPD), High Speed ​​Packet Access (HSPA), High Speed ​​Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), High Speed ​​Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA), Evolved High Speed ​​Packet Access (HSPA+), Long Term Evolution (LTE), Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS), or other known signals for communicating within a wireless, cellular, or Internet of Things (IoT) network, such as a system utilizing 3G, 4G, 5G, 6G or further implementations thereof.

[0028] As used herein, "RF signals" include electromagnetic waves that transmit information through the space between a transmitter (or transmitting device) and a receiver (or receiving device). 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 each RF signal through multiple channels or paths, a receiver may receive multiple "RF signals" corresponding to each transmitted RF signal.

[0029] Additionally, unless otherwise noted, references to "reference signals," "positioning reference signals," "reference signals for positioning," and the like can be used to refer to signals used to locate user equipment (UE). As described in more detail herein, such signals may include any of a variety of signal types, but may not necessarily be limited to positioning reference signals (PRS) as defined in relevant wireless standards.

[0030] In a wireless communication network, the positioning of a UE may involve the measurement of an RF signal (e.g., a reference signal) determined by a receiving device. In some embodiments, an IRS may be configured as a component for enabling the propagation path of an RF signal to bypass an obstacle. In the presence of an IRS, the coverage of a base station (e.g., a wireless network of a base station) can be extended to areas that were originally inaccessible. However, when an IRS is used to send an RF signal (e.g., the transmission path between a transceiver and a receiver is via an IRS), the propagation delay of the transmitted RF signal will increase compared to directly sending the RF signal. Therefore, the location of the known IRS is important for positioning methods based on measurement results generated using a transmitted positioning reference signal (PRS) (such as time difference of arrival (TDOA), angle of arrival (AoA), angle of departure (AoD), reference signal time difference (RSTD), round-trip signal propagation delay (RTT), multi-cell RTT, etc.).

[0031] Systems, devices, methods, media, and other specific implementations for IRS positioning in wireless communication systems are described herein. In some embodiments, the IRS may be positioned based on a wireless reflection signal, which includes a reflection (e.g., a 180-degree reflection) of a wireless signal sent to the IRS. Specifically, in some embodiments, a transmitting device (e.g., a user equipment (UE) and / or a base station with a known location) may receive a request from a location server, configure the transmitting device to (e.g., through an IRS controller) configure the IRS to reflect a wireless reference signal back to the same transmitting device (e.g., configure the IRS to cause a 180-degree reflection of a wireless reference signal received by the IRS). Subsequently, the transmitting device may configure the IRS to reflect the wireless reference signal back to the transmitting device according to the request, and may send the wireless reference signal to the IRS. The transmitting device may receive a wireless reflection signal including a reflection of the wireless reference signal (e.g., reflected by the IRS). The transmitting device may then determine measurement results such as RTT, AoA, AoD, etc. based at least in part on the wireless reflection signal. The transmitting device may also transmit the determined measurement results to a location server, wherein the location of the IRS may be determined accordingly based on the measurement results.

[0032] In some other embodiments, when the transmitting device includes a UE with a known location, the transmitting device may generate a request for locating the IRS and may (e.g., via an IRS controller) configure the IRS to reflect a wireless reference signal back to the transmitting device (e.g., configure the IRS to cause a 180-degree reflection of the wireless reference signal received by the IRS) instead of receiving a request from a location server. In addition, after determining measurement results such as RTT, AoA, AoD, etc. based at least in part on the wireless reflection signal, the transmitting device may determine the location of the IRS based on its own measurement results. In some embodiments, the determined IRS location may be sent to a location server for further use.

[0033] Additional details will follow this initial description of related systems and techniques.

[0034] Figure 1 is a simplified illustration of a positioning system 100 according to an embodiment, in which a UE 105, a location server 160, and / or other components of the positioning system 100 can use the techniques provided herein to perform user equipment (UE) positioning in the presence of an intelligent reflective surface (IRS). The techniques described herein can be implemented by one or more components of the positioning system 100. The positioning system 100 may include: a UE 105; one or more satellites 110 (also referred to as space vehicles (SVs)) for a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) (such as a global positioning system (GPS), GLONASS, Galileo, or BeiDou); a base station 120; an access point (AP) 130; a location server 160; a network 170; and an external client 180. In general, the positioning system 100 can estimate the location of the UE 105 based on RF signals received by and / or transmitted from the UE 105 and the known locations of other components (e.g., GNSS satellites 110, base stations 120, APs 130) that send and / or receive RF signals. Reference Figure 2 Additional details regarding specific location estimation techniques are discussed in more detail.

[0035] It should be noted that Figure 1 Only a generalized illustration of various components is provided, any or all of which may be utilized as appropriate, and each component may be repeated as needed. Specifically, although only one UE 105 is illustrated, it should be understood that many UEs (e.g., hundreds, thousands, millions, etc.) may utilize the positioning system 100. Similarly, the positioning system 100 may include more than one UE 105. Figure 1100. The illustrated connections connecting the various components in the positioning system 100 include data and signaling connections, which may include additional (intermediate) components, direct or indirect physical and / or wireless connections, and / or additional networks. In addition, the components may be rearranged, combined, separated, replaced, and / or omitted depending on the desired functionality. In some embodiments, for example, the external client 180 may be directly connected to the location server 160. Those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize many modifications to the illustrated components.

[0036] Depending on the desired functionality, network 170 may include any one of a variety of wireless and / or wired networks. Network 170 may, for example, include any combination of public and / or private networks, local area networks and / or wide area networks, etc. In addition, network 170 may utilize one or more wired and / or wireless communication technologies. In some embodiments, network 170 may include, for example, cellular or other mobile networks, wireless local area networks (WLANs), wireless wide area networks (WWANs), and / or the Internet. Examples of network 170 include long-term evolution (LTE) wireless networks, fifth-generation (5G) wireless networks (also referred to as new radio (NR) wireless networks or 5G NR wireless networks), Wi-Fi WLANs, and the Internet. LTE, 5G, and NR are wireless technologies defined or being defined by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). Network 170 may also include more than one network and / or more than one type of network.

[0037] Base station 120 and access point (AP) 130 are communicatively coupled to network 170. In some embodiments, base station 120 may be owned, maintained, and / or operated by a cellular network provider, and may employ any of a variety of wireless technologies, as described herein below. Depending on the technology of network 170, base station 120 may include a node B, an evolved node B (eNodeB or eNB), a transceiver base station (BTS), a radio base station (RBS), an NR node B (gNB), a next generation eNB (ng-eNB), etc. In the case where network 170 is a 5G network, base station 120 as a gNB or ng-eNB may be part of a next generation radio access network (NG-RAN) that may be connected to a 5G core network (5GC). In view of the open radio access network (O-RAN) and / or virtualized radio access network (V-RAN or vRAN) in 5G or higher networks, the functionality performed by the base station 120 in the earlier networks (e.g., 3G and 4G) may be divided into different functional components (e.g., radio unit (RU), distributed unit (DU), central unit (CU)) and layers (e.g., L1 / L2 / L3), which may be executed on different devices at different locations connected, for example, via fronthaul connections, midhaul connections, and backhaul connections. As described herein, a "base station" (or ng-eNB, gNB, etc.) may include any or all of these functional components. For example, AP 130 may include a Wi-Fi AP or a Bluetooth AP. or an AP with cellular capabilities (e.g., 4G LTE and / or 5G NR). Thus, UE 105 can transmit and receive information with network-connected devices (such as location server 160) by accessing network 170 via base station 120 using first communication link 133. Additionally or alternatively, because AP 130 can also be communicatively coupled with network 170, UE 105 can communicate with network-connected and Internet-connected devices (including location server 160) using second communication link 135 or via one or more other UEs 145.

[0038] As used herein, the term "base station" may generally refer to a single physical transmission point or multiple co-located physical transmission points that may be located at a base station 120. A transmit receive point (TRP) (also referred to as a transmit / receive point) corresponds to this type of transmission point, and the term "TRP" may be used interchangeably herein with the terms "gNB," "ng-eNB," and "base station." In some cases, a base station 120 may include multiple TRPs—for example, where each TRP is associated with a different antenna or a different antenna array of the base station 120. The physical transmission point may include an antenna array of the base station 120 (for example, as in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system and / or where the base station employs beamforming). The term "base station" may additionally refer to multiple non-co-located physical transmission points, which 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).

[0039] As used herein, the term "cell" may generally refer to a logical communication entity for communicating with base station 120, and may be associated with an identifier (e.g., a physical cell identifier (PCID), a virtual cell identifier (VCID)) for distinguishing adjacent cells operating via the same or different carriers. In some examples, a carrier may support multiple cells, and different cells may be configured according to different protocol types that may provide access for different types of devices (e.g., machine type communication (MTC), narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), or other protocols). In some cases, the term "cell" may refer to a portion of a geographic coverage area (e.g., a sector) over which the logical entity operates.

[0040] The location server 160 may include a server and / or other computing device configured to determine an estimated location of the UE 105 and / or provide data (e.g., “assistance data”) to the UE 105 to facilitate location measurement and / or location determination by the UE 105. According to some embodiments, the location server 160 may include a Home Secure User Plane Location (SUPL) Location Platform (H-SLP), which may support a SUPL User Plane (UP) positioning solution defined by the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA), and may support location services for the UE 105 based on subscription information about the UE 105 stored in the location server 160. In some embodiments, the location server 160 may include a Discovery SLP (D-SLP) or an Emergency SLP (E-SLP). The location server 160 may also include an Enhanced Serving Mobile Location Center (E-SMLC), which supports positioning of the UE 105 using a Control Plane (CP) positioning solution for LTE radio access of the UE 105. The location server 160 may further include a location management function (LMF) that supports positioning of the UE 105 using a control plane (CP) positioning solution for NR or LTE radio access of the UE 105 .

[0041] In the CP positioning solution, from the perspective of the network 170, signaling for controlling and managing the location of the UE 105 can use existing network interfaces and protocols and be exchanged as signaling between the elements of the network 170 and with the UE 105. In the UP positioning solution, from the perspective of the network 170, signaling for controlling and managing the location of the UE 105 can be exchanged between the location server 160 and the UE 105 as data (e.g., data transmitted using the Internet Protocol (IP) and / or the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)).

[0042] As previously mentioned (and discussed in more detail below), the estimated position of UE 105 may be based on measurements of RF signals transmitted from and / or received by UE 105. In particular, these measurements may provide information about the relative distances and / or angles of UE 105 and one or more components in positioning system 100 (e.g., GNSS satellites 110, APs 130, base stations 120). The estimated position of UE 105 may be estimated geometrically (e.g., using multi-angle measurements and / or multilateration) based on the distance and / or angle measurements along with the known positions of the one or more components.

[0043] Although ground components (such as AP 130 and base station 120) may be fixed, the embodiments are not limited thereto. Mobile components may be used. For example, in some embodiments, the position of UE 105 may be estimated based at least in part on measurements of RF signals 140 communicated between UE 105 and one or more other UEs 145 (the one or more other UEs may be mobile or fixed). When one or more other UEs 145 are used in the positioning determination of a specific UE 105, the UE 105 whose positioning is to be determined may be referred to as a "target UE", and each of the one or more other UEs 145 may be referred to as an "anchor UE". In order to determine the positioning of the target UE, the corresponding positions of the one or more anchor UEs may be known and / or determined jointly with the target UE. Direct communication between the one or more other UEs 145 and UE 105 may include side links and / or similar device-to-device (D2D) communication technologies. The side links defined by 3GPP are D2D communication forms based on cellular LTE and NR standards.

[0044] The estimated position of UE 105 may be used in various applications, such as to assist a user of UE 105 with direction finding or navigation or to assist another user (e.g., associated with external client 180) in locating UE 105. "Position" is also referred to herein as "position estimate," "estimated position," "position," "position estimate," "position fix," "estimated position," "position fix," or "fix." The process of determining a position may be referred to as "positioning," "position determination," "position determination," or the like. The position of UE 105 may include an absolute position of UE 105 (e.g., latitude and longitude, and possibly altitude) or a relative position of UE 105 (e.g., a position expressed as a distance north or south, east or west, and possibly above or below some other known fixed position (including, for example, the position of base station 120 or AP 130) or some other position (such as the position of UE 105 at some known previous time, or the position of another UE 145 at some known previous time)). The location may be specified as a geodetic location including coordinates that may be absolute (e.g., latitude, longitude, and optionally altitude), relative (e.g., relative to some known absolute location), or local (e.g., X, Y, and optionally Z coordinates according to a coordinate system defined relative to a local area, such as a factory, warehouse, university campus, shopping mall, stadium, or convention center). The location may alternatively be a city location, and may then include one or more of a street address (e.g., including a country, state, county, city, road and / or street name or label, and / or road or street number) and / or a label or name of a place, a building, a portion of a building, a floor of a building, and / or a room within a building, etc. The location may also include an uncertainty or error indication, such as a horizontal and likely vertical distance that the location is expected to have error, or an indication of an area or volume (e.g., a circle or ellipse) within which the UE 105 is expected to be located with a certain confidence level (e.g., 95% confidence).

[0045] The external client 180 may be a web server or remote application that may have some association with the UE 105 (e.g., may be accessed by a user of the UE 105), or may be a server, application, or computer system that provides location services to one or more other users, which may include obtaining and providing the location of the UE 105 (e.g., to enable services such as friend or relative locating, or child or pet locating). Additionally or alternatively, the external client 180 may obtain the location of the UE 105 and provide it to emergency service providers, government agencies, etc.

[0046] As previously mentioned, the example positioning system 100 may be implemented using a wireless communication network, such as an LTE-based or 5G NR-based network. Figure 2A diagram of a 5G NR positioning system 200 is shown, which illustrates an embodiment of a positioning system (e.g., positioning system 100) that implements 5G NR. The 5G NR positioning system 200 can be configured to determine the location of the UE 105 by using access nodes to implement one or more positioning methods. These access nodes can include NR Node Bs (gNBs) 210-1 and 210-2 (collectively and generally referred to herein as gNBs 210), ng-eNBs 214, and / or WLANs 216. The gNBs 210 and / or ng-eNBs 214 can communicate with the UE 105 to determine the location of the UE 105. Figure 1 The base station 120 corresponds to the WLAN 216, and the WLAN 216 can be connected to the Figure 1 130. Optionally, the 5G NR positioning system 200 may also be configured to determine the location of the UE 105 by using the LMF 220 (which may correspond to the location server 160) to implement one or more positioning methods. Here, the 5G NR positioning system 200 includes the UE 105, and components of the 5G NR network, including the next generation (NG) radio access network (RAN) (NG-RAN) 235 and the 5G core network (5G CN) 240. The 5G network may also be referred to as an NR network; the NG-RAN 235 may be referred to as a 5G RAN or an NR RAN; and the 5G CN 240 may be referred to as an NG core network. The 5G NR positioning system 200 may further utilize information from GNSS satellites 110 of a GNSS system such as a global positioning system (GPS) or a similar system (e.g., GLONASS, Galileo, Beidou, Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS)). Additional components of the 5G NR positioning system 200 are described below. The 5G NR positioning system 200 may include additional or alternative components.

[0047] It should be noted that Figure 2 Only generalized illustrations of various components are provided, any or all of which may be utilized as appropriate, and each component may be repeated or omitted as desired. Specifically, although only one UE 105 is illustrated, it will be understood that many UEs (e.g., hundreds, thousands, millions, etc.) may utilize the 5G NR positioning system 200. Similarly, the 5G NR positioning system 200 may include a larger (or smaller) number of GNSS satellites 110, gNB 210, ng-eNB 214, wireless local area network (WLAN) 216, access and mobility management function (AMF) 215, external client 230, and / or other components. The connections shown connecting the various components in the 5G NR positioning system 200 include data and signaling connections, which may include additional (intermediate) components, direct or indirect physical and / or wireless connections, and / or additional networks. In addition, the components may be rearranged, combined, separated, replaced, and / or omitted depending on the desired functionality.

[0048] UE 105 may include and / or be referred to as a device, a mobile device, a wireless device, a mobile terminal, a terminal, a mobile station (MS), a terminal (SET) enabled with secure user plane location (SUPL), or some other name. In addition, UE 105 may correspond to a cellular phone, a smart phone, a laptop computer, a tablet device, a personal data assistant (PDA), a navigation device, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, or some other portable or mobile device. Typically, although not necessarily, UE 105 may support the use of one or more radio access technologies (RATs) such as GSM, CDMA, W-CDMA, LTE, High Speed ​​Packet Data (HRPD), IEEE 802.11 Bluetooth, Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX TM ), 5G NR (e.g., using NG-RAN 235 and 5G CN 240), etc. The UE 105 may also support wireless communications using WLAN 216, which is similar to one or more RATs and as previously described with respect to Figure 1 The use of one or more of these RATs may allow UE 105 (e.g., via Figure 2 240, or possibly via a Gateway Mobile Location Center (GMLC) 225) to communicate with an external client 230 and / or allow an external client 230 (e.g., via GMLC 225) to receive location information about UE 105. When implemented in or communicatively coupled with a 5G NR network, Figure 2 The external client 230 may correspond to Figure 1 External client 180.

[0049] UE 105 may include a single entity or may include multiple entities, such as in a personal area network, where a user may employ audio, video, and / or data I / O devices, and / or body sensors and a separate wired or wireless modem. The estimate of the location of UE 105 may be referred to as location, location estimate, location fix, fix, position, position estimate, or position fix, and may be geodetic, thereby providing location coordinates (e.g., latitude and longitude) of UE 105, which may or may not include an altitude component (e.g., altitude; height above or depth below ground level, floor level, or basement level). Alternatively, the location of UE 105 may be expressed as a municipal location (e.g., expressed as a postal address or a designation of a point or smaller area in a building (such as a specific room or floor)). The location of UE 105 may also be expressed as an area or volume (defined in geodetic or municipal form) within which UE 105 is expected to be located with a certain probability or confidence level (e.g., 67%, 95%, etc.). The position of the UE 105 may also be a relative position, including, for example, a distance and direction or relative X, Y (and Z) coordinates defined relative to some origin at a known location, which may be defined geodetically, in municipal form, or with reference to a point, area, or volume indicated on a map, floor plan, or building plan. In the description contained herein, the use of the term "position" may include any of these variations unless otherwise indicated. When calculating the position of the UE, local X, Y, and possibly Z coordinates are typically solved, and then the local coordinates are converted to absolute coordinates (e.g., with respect to latitude, longitude, and altitude above or below mean sea level) if necessary.

[0050] Figure 2 The base stations in the NG-RAN 235 shown may correspond to Figure 1 The base stations 120 in the NG-RAN 235 may include gNBs 210. Pairs of gNBs 210 in the NG-RAN 235 may be connected to each other (e.g., Figure 2 The communication interface between the base stations (gNB 210 and / or ng-eNB 214) may be referred to as an Xn interface 237. Access to the 5G network is provided to the UE 105 via wireless communication between the UE 105 and one or more gNBs 210, which may provide wireless communication access to the 5G CN 240 on behalf of the UE 105 using 5G NR. The wireless interface between the base station (gNB 210 and / or ng-eNB 214) and the UE 105 may be referred to as an Uu interface 239. 5G NR radio access may also be referred to as NR radio access or 5G radio access. Figure 2, it is assumed that the serving gNB for UE 105 is gNB 210-1, but other gNBs (e.g., gNB 210-2) may act as serving gNBs if UE 105 moves to another location, or may act as secondary gNBs to provide additional throughput and bandwidth to UE 105.

[0051] Figure 2 The base stations in the NG-RAN 235 shown in the figure may additionally or alternatively include a next generation evolved Node B (also referred to as ng-eNB) 214. The ng-eNB 214 may be connected to one or more gNBs 210 in the NG-RAN 235—e.g., directly or indirectly via other gNBs 210 and / or other ng-eNBs. The ng-eNB 214 may provide LTE radio access and / or evolved LTE (eLTE) radio access to the UE 105. Figure 2 Some of the gNBs 210 (e.g., gNB 210-2) and / or ng-eNBs 214 in the 5G CN 240 may be configured to function as positioning-only beacons that may transmit signals (e.g., positioning reference signals (PRS)) and / or may broadcast assistance data to assist in positioning the UE 105, but may not receive signals from the UE 105 or from other UEs. Some of the gNBs 210 (e.g., gNB 210-2 and / or another gNB not shown) and / or ng-eNBs 214 may be configured to function as detection-only nodes that may scan for signals containing, for example, PRS data, assistance data, or other location data. Such detection-only nodes may not transmit signals or data to the UE, but may transmit signals or data (relating to, for example, PRS, assistance data, or other location data) to other network entities (e.g., one or more components of the 5G CN 240, an external client 230, or a controller), which may receive and store the data or use the data to locate at least the UE 105. Note that although in Figure 2 Only one ng-eNB 214 is shown in the figure, but some embodiments may include multiple ng-eNBs 214. Base stations (e.g., gNBs 210 and / or ng-eNB 214) may communicate directly with each other via an Xn communication interface. Additionally or alternatively, the base station may communicate directly or indirectly with other components of the 5G NR positioning system 200 (such as LMF 220 and AMF 215).

[0052] The 5G NR positioning system 200 may also include one or more WLANs 216 that may be connected to a non-3GPP interworking function (N3IWF) 250 in the 5GCN 240 (e.g., in the case of an untrusted WLAN 216). For example, the WLAN 216 may support IEEE 802.11 Wi-Fi access for the UE 105 and may include one or more Wi-Fi APs (e.g., Figure 1 Here, the N3IWF 250 may be connected to other elements in the 5G CN 240, such as the AMF 215. In some embodiments, the WLAN 216 may support another RAT, such as Bluetooth. The N3IWF 250 may provide support for secure access of the UE 105 to other elements in the 5G CN 240 and / or may support interworking of one or more protocols used by the WLAN 216 and the UE 105 with one or more protocols used by other elements of the 5G CN 240 (such as the AMF 215). For example, the N3IWF 250 may support: establishing an IPSec tunnel with the UE 105, terminating the IKEv2 / IPSec protocol with the UE 105, terminating the N2 and N3 interfaces to the 5G CN 240 for the control plane and the user plane, respectively, and relaying uplink (UL) and downlink (DL) control plane non-access stratum (NAS) signaling across the N1 interface between the UE 105 and the AMF 215. In some other embodiments, the WLAN 216 may be directly connected to elements in the 5G CN 240 (e.g., Figure 2 215) and not via the N3IWF 250. For example, a direct connection of the WLAN 216 to the 5GCN 240 may occur when the WLAN 216 is a trusted WLAN for the 5GCN 240 and may use a trusted WLAN interworking function (TWIF) ( Figure 2 (not shown). Note that although Figure 2 Only one WLAN 216 is shown in FIG. 2 , but some embodiments may include multiple WLANs 216 .

[0053] The access node may include any of a variety of network entities that enable communication between the UE 105 and the AMF 215. As mentioned, this may include a gNB 210, an ng-eNB 214, a WLAN 216, and / or other types of cellular base stations. However, the access node providing the functionality described herein may additionally or alternatively include a cellular network entity that enables communication with the UE 105. Figure 2An entity that communicates with any of a variety of RATs not illustrated in the specification (which may include non-cellular technologies). Therefore, as used in the embodiments described below, the term "access node" may include but is not necessarily limited to gNB 210, ng-eNB 214, or WLAN 216.

[0054] In some embodiments, an access node (such as gNB 210, ng-eNB 214, and / or WLAN 216) (alone or in combination with other components of 5G NR positioning system 200) may be configured to: in response to receiving a request for location information from LMF 220, obtain a location measurement for an uplink (UL) signal received from UE 105 and / or obtain a DL location measurement from UE 105 for a downlink (DL) signal received by UE 105 from one or more access nodes. As mentioned, although Figure 2 The access nodes (gNB 210, ng-eNB 214, and WLAN 216) are depicted as being configured to communicate in accordance with 5G NR, LTE, and Wi-Fi communication protocols, respectively, but access nodes configured to communicate in accordance with other communication protocols may be used, such as, for example, a Node B using a Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) protocol for a Universal Mobile Telecommunications Service (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN), an eNB using an LTE protocol for an Evolved UTRAN (E-UTRAN), or an eNB using a LTE protocol for a WLAN. For example, in a 4G Evolved Packet System (EPS) that provides LTE wireless access to UE 105, the RAN may include an E-UTRAN, which may include base stations including eNBs that support LTE wireless access. The core network for the EPS may include an Evolved Packet Core (EPC). The EPS may then include the E-UTRAN plus the EPC, where Figure 2 , E-UTRAN corresponds to NG-RAN 235 and EPC corresponds to 5GCN 240. The methods and techniques described herein for obtaining the municipal location of UE 105 may be applicable to such other networks.

[0055] The gNB 210 and ng-eNB 214 may communicate with the AMF 215, which in turn communicates with the LMF 220 for positioning functionality. The AMF 215 may support mobility of the UE 105, including cell changes and handovers of the UE 105 from an access node of a first RAT (e.g., a gNB 210, ng-eNB 214, or WLAN 216) to an access node of a second RAT. The AMF 215 may also be involved in supporting signaling connections to the UE 105 and possibly supporting data and voice bearers for the UE 105. The LMF 220 may support positioning the UE 105 using a CP positioning solution when the UE 105 accesses the NG-RAN 235 or the WLAN 216, and may support various positioning procedures and methods, including UE-assisted / UE-based and / or network-based procedures / methods, such as Assisted GNSS (A-GNSS), Observed Time Difference of Arrival (OTDOA) (which may be referred to as Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA) in NR), Real-Time Kinematics (RTK), Precise Point Positioning (PPP), Differential GNSS (DGNSS), Enhanced Cell ID (ECID), Angle of Arrival (AoA), Angle of Departure (AoD), WLAN positioning, Round Trip Signal Propagation Delay (RTT), Multi-Cell RTT, and / or other positioning procedures and methods. The LMF 220 may also process a location service request for the UE 105 received, for example, from the AMF 215 or from the GMLC 225. The LMF 220 may be connected to the AMF 215 and / or the GMLC 225. In some embodiments, the network (such as 5GCN 240) may additionally or alternatively implement other types of location support modules, such as an evolved serving mobile location center (E-SMLC) or a SUPL location platform (SLP). Note that in some embodiments, at least a portion of the positioning functionality (including determining the location of UE 105) may be performed at UE 105 (e.g., by measuring downlink PRS (DL-PRS) signals sent by wireless nodes (such as gNB 210, ng-eNB 214 and / or WLAN 216) and / or using assistance data provided to UE 105, for example, by LMF 220).

[0056] The Gateway Mobile Location Center (GMLC) 225 may support location requests for the UE 105 received from the external client 230, and may forward such location requests to the AMF 215 for forwarding by the AMF 215 to the LMF 220. A location response (e.g., including a location estimate for the UE 105) from the LMF 220 may similarly be returned to the GMLC 225 directly or via the AMF 215, and the GMLC 225 may then return the location response (e.g., including the location estimate) to the external client 230.

[0057] A network exposure function (NEF) 245 may be included in the 5GCN 240. The NEF 245 may support secure exposure of capabilities and events regarding the 5GCN 240 and the UE 105 to the external clients 230, which may therefore be referred to as access functions (AFs) and may enable secure provisioning of information from the external clients 230 to the 5GCN 240. The NEF 245 may be connected to the AMF 215 and / or the GMLC 225 for the purpose of obtaining the location (e.g., municipal location) of the UE 105 and providing the location to the external clients 230.

[0058] like Figure 2 As further illustrated in , LMF 220 may communicate with gNB 210 and / or with ng-eNB 214 using NR Positioning Protocol Annex (NRPPa) as defined in 3GPP Technical Specification (TS) 38.455. NRPPa messages may be communicated between gNB 210 and LMF 220 and / or between ng-eNB 214 and LMF 220 via AMF 215. Figure 2 As further illustrated in , the LMF 220 and the UE 105 may communicate using the LTE Positioning Protocol (LPP) as defined in 3GPP TS 37.355. Here, LPP messages may be transferred between the UE 105 and the LMF 220 via the AMF 215 and the serving gNB 210-1 or the serving ng-eNB 214 of the UE 105. For example, the LPP messages may be transferred between the LMF 220 and the AMF 215 using messages for service-based operations (e.g., based on the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP)), and may be transferred between the AMF 215 and the UE 105 using the 5G NAS protocol. The LPP protocol can be used to support positioning of the UE 105 using UE-assisted and / or UE-based positioning methods such as A-GNSS, RTK, TDOA, multi-cell RTT, AoD, and / or ECID. The NRPPa protocol can be used to support positioning of UE 105 using network-based positioning methods (such as ECID, AoA, uplink TDOA (UL-TDOA)) and / or can be used by LMF 220 to obtain location-related information from gNB 210 and / or ng-eNB 214, such as parameters defining DL-PRS transmissions from gNB 210 and / or ng-eNB 214.

[0059] In the case where the UE 105 accesses the WLAN 216, the LMF 220 may use NRPPa and / or LPP to obtain the location of the UE 105 in a manner similar to that just described for the UE 105 accessing the gNB 210 or ng-eNB 214. Thus, NRPPa messages may be passed between the WLAN 216 and the LMF 220 via the AMF 215 and the N3IWF 250 to support network-based positioning of the UE 105 and / or to pass other location information from the WLAN 216 to the LMF 220. Alternatively, NRPPa messages may be passed between the N3IWF 250 and the LMF 220 via the AMF 215 to support network-based positioning of the UE 105 based on location-related information and / or location measurements that are known or accessible to the N3IWF 250 and passed from the N3IWF 250 to the LMF 220 using NRPPa. Similarly, LPP and / or LPP messages may be passed between the UE 105 and the LMF 220 via the AMF 215, the N3IWF 250, and the serving WLAN 216 of the UE 105 to support UE-assisted or UE-based positioning of the UE 105 by the LMF 220.

[0060] In the 5G NR positioning system 200, positioning methods may be classified as "UE-assisted" or "UE-based". This may depend on where the request to determine the location of the UE 105 originates. For example, if the request originates from the UE (e.g., from an application or "app" executed by the UE), the positioning method may be classified as UE-based. On the other hand, if the request originates from an external client or AF 230, LMF 220, or other device or service within the 5G network, the positioning method may be classified as UE-assisted (or "network-based").

[0061] With UE-assisted positioning methods, the UE 105 may obtain location measurements and send these measurements to a location server (e.g., LMF 220) for use in computing a location estimate for the UE 105. For RAT-dependent positioning methods, the location measurements may include one or more of the following for one or more access points of the gNB 210, ng-eNB 214, and / or WLAN 216: received signal strength indicator (RSSI), round trip signal propagation time (RTT), reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), reference signal time difference (RSTD), time of arrival (TOA), AoA, receive time-transmit time difference (Rx-Tx), differential AoA (DAoA), AoD, or timing advance (TA). Additionally or alternatively, similar measurements may be made on sidelink signals transmitted by other UEs, which may be used as anchor points for positioning the UE 105 if the locations of these other UEs are known. The position measurements may additionally or alternatively include measurements for a RAT-independent positioning method, such as GNSS (eg, GNSS pseudoranges with respect to GNSS satellites 110 , GNSS code phase, and / or GNSS carrier phase), WLAN, and the like.

[0062] Using the UE-based positioning method, the UE 105 can obtain a position measurement (e.g., which can be the same or similar to the position measurement of the UE-assisted positioning method), and the position of the UE 105 can be further calculated (e.g., with the aid of auxiliary data received from a location server such as LMF 220, SLP or broadcast by gNB 210, ng-eNB 214, or WLAN 216).

[0063] Using a network-based positioning method, one or more base stations (e.g., gNB 210 and / or ng-eNB 214), one or more APs (e.g., APs in WLAN 216), or N3IWF 250 may obtain location measurements (e.g., measurements of RSSI, RTT, RSRP, RSRQ, AOA, or TOA) of signals sent by UE 105, and / or may receive measurements obtained by UE 105 or, in the case of N3IWF250, by APs in WLAN 216, and may send these measurements to a location server (e.g., LMF 220) for use in calculating a position estimate for UE 105.

[0064] The positioning of UE 105 may also be classified as UL-based, DL-based, or DL-UL-based, depending on the type of signal used for positioning. For example, if positioning is based only on signals received at UE 105 (e.g., from a base station or other UE), the positioning may be classified as DL-based. On the other hand, if positioning is based only on signals sent by UE 105 (which may be received by, for example, a base station or other UE), the positioning may be classified as UL-based. DL-UL-based positioning includes positioning based on signals sent and received by UE 105, such as RTT-based positioning. Sidelink (SL)-assisted positioning includes signals communicated between UE 105 and one or more other UEs. According to some embodiments, the UL, DL, or DL-UL positioning described herein may be able to use SL signaling as a supplement or replacement for SL, DL, or DL-UL signaling.

[0065] Depending on the type of positioning (e.g., UL-based, DL-based, or DL-UL-based), the type of reference signal used may be different. For example, for DL-based positioning, these signals may include PRS (e.g., DL-PRS transmitted by a base station or SL-PRS transmitted by other UEs), which may be used for TDOA, AoD, and RTT measurements. Other reference signals that may be used for positioning (UL, DL, or DL-UL) may include: Sounding Reference Signal (SRS), Channel State Information Reference Signal (CSI-RS), Synchronization Signal (e.g., Synchronization Signal Block (SSB) Synchronization Signal (SS)), Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH), Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH), Physical Sidelink Shared Channel (PSSCH), Demodulation Reference Signal (DMRS), etc. In addition, the reference signal may be transmitted in a Tx beam and / or received in an Rx beam (e.g., using beamforming techniques), which may affect angle measurements such as AoD and / or AoA.

[0066] Figure 3 is an example including two TRPs 320-1 and 320-2 having antenna arrays (which may correspond to Figure 1 Base station 120 and / or Figure 2 2 and / or ng-eNB 214), these antenna arrays can perform beamforming to produce directional beams for sending and / or receiving reference signals. Figure 3 Also illustrated is a UE 105 that can also use beamforming to send and / or receive reference signals. Such directional beams are used in 5G NR wireless communication networks. Each directional beam can have a beam width centered in a different direction, so that different beams of the TRP 320 can correspond to different areas within the coverage area of ​​the TRP 320.

[0067] Different operating modes may enable TRPs 320-1 and 320-2 to use a greater or lesser number of beams. For example, in a first operating mode, TRP 320 may use 16 beams, in which case each beam may have a relatively wide beamwidth. In a second operating mode, TRP 320 may use 64 beams, in which case each beam may have a relatively narrow beamwidth. Depending on the capabilities of TRP 320, the TRP may use any number of beams that TRP 320 may be able to shape. The operating mode and / or number of beams may be defined in the relevant wireless standards and may correspond to different directions (e.g., horizontal and vertical) in either or both of the azimuth and elevation angles. Different operating modes may be used to send and / or receive different signal types. Additionally or alternatively, UE 105 may be able to use different numbers of beams, which may also correspond to different operating modes, signal types, etc.

[0068] In some cases, TRP 320 may use beam scanning. Beam scanning is a process in which TRP 320 may transmit RF signals in different directions, typically continuously, using different corresponding beams, effectively "scanning" across a coverage area. For example, TRP 320 may scan 120 degrees or 360 degrees in an azimuth direction, which may be repeated periodically for each beam scan. Each directional beam may include an RF reference signal (e.g., a PRS resource), wherein base station 120-1 generates a set of RF reference signals including Tx beams 305-a, 305-b, 305-c, 305-d, 305-e, 305-f, 305-g, and 305-h, and base station 120-2 generates a set of RF reference signals including Tx beams 309-a, 309-b, 309-c, 309-d, 309-e, 309-f, 309-g, and 309-h. As mentioned, because UE 105 may also include an antenna array, it may use beamforming to receive RF reference signals sent by base stations 120-1 and 120-2 to form respective receive beams (Rx beams) 311-a and 311-b. Beamforming in this manner (performed by base station 120 and optionally by UE 105) may be used to make communications more efficient. They may also be used for other purposes, including making measurements for positioning determination (e.g., AoD and AoA measurements).

[0069] Figure 44 is a simplified diagram illustrating how an IRS facilitates the transmission of RF signals in UE positioning. Specifically, in the given example, RF signals are transmitted by base station 120 (which may include a serving base station for UE 105) and received by UE 105-1 and UE 105-2 (collectively referred to herein as UE 105) with and without IRS 425, respectively. For example, the RF signal may be transmitted directly from base station 120 to UE 105-1, where positioning of UE 105-1 may be performed based on the transmitted RF signal (e.g., PRS). However, in the presence of an obstruction 415 (e.g., an obstacle, such as a wall) that blocks the signal path 420 from base station 120 to UE 105-2, IRS 425 may be used to transmit the RF signal.

[0070] IRS (which may also be referred to as software-controlled metasurfaces, reconfigurable smart surfaces, or reconfigurable reflective arrays / metasurfaces) have recently attracted attention in wireless communication applications as a means of enabling the propagation path of RF signals to bypass obstacles. Although IRS 425 can be a passive device, it can include an array and can therefore use beamforming to redirect RF signals (e.g., RF signal 460). Therefore, IRS 425 can enable the wireless coverage of base station 120 (or more broadly, the wireless network of base station 120) to be extended to areas that would otherwise be inaccessible. IRS 425 can do so by using software-controlled reflection / scattering profiles to redirect wireless signals to UE 105 in real time. Additionally or alternatively, IRS 425 can act as a repeater by receiving signals sent by base station 120 and directing them to UE 105. (As used herein, "direction," "redirection," "reflection," and similar terms used when referring to the functionality of IRS 425 may refer to the reflection and / or relay functionality of the IRS.) The functionality of IRS 425 may be controlled using a control channel by base station 120 and / or UE 105. This adds a controllable path to the channel between base station 120 and UE 105, which is useful in environments with severe obstructions 415.

[0071] In some embodiments, as disclosed above, in a 5G NR communication system, UE positioning may be performed based on sending a reference signal (e.g., PRS) from a base station (e.g., base station 120) to a receiving device (e.g., UE 105) whose positioning is to be determined (e.g., the object of a positioning process). As mentioned, in some embodiments, the reference signal (e.g., reference signal 450) may be a reference signal dedicated to facilitating positioning, which may be a signal that is not explicitly defined under the 5G (or other 3GPP) standard.

[0072] According to the embodiments disclosed herein, in some cases, UE positioning (e.g., based on PRS) can be accomplished by sending a reference signal 450 (e.g., PRS) directly from the base station 120 to the UE 105-1 (e.g., when there is no obstruction blocking the transmission path between the base station 120 and the UE 105-1) and determining the location of the UE 105-1 based on measurements (e.g., TDOA, AoA, AoD, RSTD, RTT, and / or multi-cell RTT) generated using the reference signal 450. In some embodiments, a location server 160 can be used to facilitate the UE positioning process. Depending on the type of positioning (e.g., UE-based positioning or UE-assisted positioning) and / or the desired functionality, the UE 105-1 or the location server 160 can be used to determine / calculate the location of the UE 105-1 based on the measurement results.

[0073] In some other instances, in the case where an obstacle 415 blocks the signal path 420 from the base station 120 to the UE 105-2, the IRS 425 may be used to send an RF signal 460 to redirect the RF signal 460 to the UE 105-2. In the case where the IRS is being used to facilitate the transmission of the RF signal, the location of the IRS 425 needs to be determined / known to perform positioning of the UE 105-2. In some embodiments, as described in more detail below, a transmitting device capable of sending, receiving, and determining measurements based on RF signals (e.g., wireless reference signals) may be configured to determine the location of the IRS 425.

[0074] For non-limiting example, when determining the location of the IRS 425, a wireless communication device with a known location (e.g., UE 105-1 after determining the location, a UE with a known location, and / or other positioning reference units (PRUs)) can be used when there is no obstruction blocking the signal path from the base station (e.g., base station 120) to the wireless communication device. For example, upon receiving a request to locate the IRS (e.g., IRS 425), a location server (e.g., location server 160) may send a request to configure the base station to enable the IRS to send / redirect reference signals. Therefore, the reference signal can be sent from the base station to the wireless communication device via both a direct path (e.g., directly from the base station 120 to the UE 105-1) and an indirect path (e.g., from the base station 120 to the IRS 425 and then to the UE 105-1). Measurement results of the reference signals sent on both paths, such as TDOA, RTT, AoD, and / or AoA, can be determined by the base station and / or the wireless communication device. The measurement results can then be sent to the location server to determine the location of the IRS.

[0075] It can be noted that although Figure 4A single base station 120, a single IRS 425, and two UEs 105 are illustrated in the figure, but the embodiments are not limited thereto. According to some embodiments, a configuration may be used in which there are multiple base stations 120 (transmitters), multiple IRSs 425, and / or different numbers of UEs 105 (receivers). In addition, it may be noted that the receiving device in the configuration for UE positioning may not be limited to the UE 105. The receiving device may include, for example, another base station 120 (e.g., a conventional gNB or a small cell gNB). In addition, in the case where multiple receiving devices are used, a single IRS may reflect the signal to multiple receiving devices, and / or multiple IRSs can be used to reflect the signal to multiple receiving devices.

[0076] In some embodiments, the transmitting device configured to locate IRS 425 may include a base station (e.g., base station 120). Figure 5 is a simplified diagram illustrating the use of a base station to locate an IRS in a wireless communication system in accordance with certain embodiments. Figure 6 is a call flow diagram illustrating a process of using a base station to locate an IRS according to an embodiment. For ease of explanation, Figure 5 and Figure 6 . Figure 1 Sample, Figure 5 and Figure 6 are provided as non-limiting examples. As discussed in more detail below, alternative embodiments may perform certain functions in a different order, simultaneously, etc. It may be noted that Figure 6 The arrows between the various components illustrated in the figure illustrate messages or information transmitted from one component to another. Figure 6 The communication between the base station 120 and the IRS 425 and between the base station 120 and the location server 160 may be similar to Figure 4 The process illustrated in FIG.

[0077] like Figure 6 As shown, starting at arrow 605, location server 160 may send a request to base station 120 to configure base station 120 to perform positioning of IRS 425. For example, Figure 5 As shown, when locating IRS 425, location server 160 may send a request 540 to base station 120 to configure base station 120 to perform positioning of IRS 425. In some embodiments, the communication between location server 160 and the base station (e.g., the transmission of request 540 and measurement results 570) may be based on the New Radio (NR) Positioning Protocol Annex (NRPPa) protocol.

[0078] At block 615, base station 120 may configure IRS 425 to reflect the wireless reference signal sent from base station 120 back to base station 120. For example, Figure 5 As shown, upon receiving request 540, base station 120 may configure IRS 425 to reflect the wireless reference signal sent from base station 120 back to base station 120 (e.g., configure a 180-degree reflection of the wireless reference signal received by IRS 425). Specifically, base station 120 may communicate with a controller (not shown) of IRS 425 for control via a control channel. The controller may configure a software-controlled reflection / scattering profile to reflect the wireless reference signal back to base station 120 in real time.

[0079] Then, at arrow 625, base station 120 may send an RF signal to IRS 425. For example, Figure 5 As shown, the base station 120 may transmit an RF signal (e.g., a wireless reference signal 560) to the IRS 425 after configuring the IRS 425 to reflect the wireless reference signal transmitted from the base station 120 back to the transmitting device base station 120. In some embodiments, depending on the type of positioning (e.g., based on UL, DL, or DL-UL), the type of the wireless reference signal 560 may include: a sounding reference signal (SRS), a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), a synchronization signal (e.g., a synchronization signal block (SSB) synchronization signal (SS)), a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH), a demodulation reference signal (DMRS), etc.

[0080] At arrow 635, base station 120 may receive a wireless reflected signal reflected from IRS 425. For example, Figure 5 As shown, base station 120 may receive wireless reflection signal 565 including a reflection of wireless reference signal 560 (eg, a 180 degree reflection reflected by IRS 425).

[0081] At block 645, the base station 120 may determine measurements such as RTT, AoD, AoA, etc. based at least in part on the wireless reflection signal 560. At arrow 655, the base station 120 may send the determined measurements to the location server 160 to determine the location of the IRS 425. For example, Figure 5As shown, base station 120 may determine measurement results 570 based at least in part on wireless reference signal 560 and wireless reflection signal 565. For example, RTT may be determined based on a time difference between sending wireless reference signal 560 and receiving wireless reflection signal 565 at base station 120, AoD may be based on a measurement to determine the angle at which wireless reference signal 560 was sent by base station 120, and AoA may be based on a measurement made when wireless reflection signal 565 is received by base station 120 to determine the incoming angle.

[0082] Thus, at arrow 655, the determined measurement results may be further sent by base station 120 to location server 160. At block 665, location server 160 may determine the location of IRS 425 based on the measurement results received from base station 120. For example, the location of IRS 425 may be determined based on at least the following in conjunction with the following: Figure 7 The configuration illustrated in the description is determined / calculated based on the determined measurement results.

[0083] In some embodiments, the determined measurement results may also be configured to verify / confirm whether the wireless reflection signal 565 reflected from the IRS 425 includes a reflection of the wireless reference signal 560. For example, the AoA of the wireless reflection signal 565 may be used to determine whether the wireless reflection signal 565 reflected from the IRS 425 includes a reflection of the wireless reference signal 560. Specifically, in some embodiments, the verification / confirmation may be performed based on comparing whether the AoA of the wireless reflection signal 565 is equal to or substantially equal to the AoD of the wireless reference signal 560. For example, if Wireless reflection signal 565 may then be determined to include reflections of wireless reference signal 560 .

[0084] In some further embodiments, the uncertainty of the determined position of the IRS may be determined based on the difference between the IRS position determined based on the AoA of the wireless reflection signal 565 and the IRS position determined based on the AoD of the wireless reference signal 560. For example, if the difference between the IRS position determined based on the AoA of the wireless reflection signal 565 and the IRS position determined based on the AoD of the wireless reference signal 560 is 1 cm (e.g., the two determined positions of the IRS are 1 cm apart), the uncertainty of the determined IRS position may be considered to be 1 cm. In some embodiments, the uncertainty information may be shared with the location server 160 for further use. In some embodiments, the uncertainty may be reduced if the same position determination process is repeated by / between multiple transmitting / receiving devices.

[0085] Figure 75 is a simplified diagram illustrating how the position of an IRS may be determined according to some embodiments. In some embodiments, the position of an IRS (e.g., IRS 425) may be mathematically determined using measurements determined based on wireless reference signal 560 and wireless reflected signal 565. For example, the RTTR between a transmitting device (e.g., base station 120) and IRS 425 may be T It can be determined based on the time difference between sending the wireless reference signal 560 and receiving the wireless reflected signal 565 at the transmitting device. In some embodiments, the AoAθ of the wireless reflected signal 565 is A and / or AoDθ of the wireless reference signal 560 D It can be determined based on the RSRP of the reference signal (e.g., the wireless reference signal 560 and / or the wireless reflected signal 565) and / or the phase difference between the signals received by each element of the antenna array of the transmitting / receiving device. It can be noted that the angle θ is measured from A (and the angle θ D ) can be measured from true north or based on any coordinate system used by the network for positioning (e.g., geographic coordinates, East-North-Up (ENU), etc.). As described below, solving for the position of IRS 425 (e.g., solving for coordinates (x2, y2)) can be done based on the known position of the transmitting device with coordinates (x1, y1) and the relative position (L1, L2) of IRS 425 and the transmitting device.

[0086] Specifically, when determining that the wireless reflection signal 565 includes Figure 7 After reflection of wireless reference signal 560 (eg, ), the distance between the transmitting device (e.g., base station 120) and IRS 425d can be determined according to the following formula:

[0087]

[0088] Therefore, the relative position of IRS 425 can be determined according to the following formula:

[0089]

[0090]

[0091] The position of the IRS 425 can then be determined according to the following formula:

[0092]

[0093]

[0094] Because wireless reference signal 560 is reflected by IRS 425 in real time (e.g., without processing delays), the RTT determined based on the time difference between transmitting wireless reference signal 560 and receiving wireless reflected signal 565 at the transmitting device is accurate. Therefore, the determination of the position (x2, y2) of IRS 425 is accurate.

[0095] In some other embodiments, the transmitting device configured to locate the IRS 425 may also include a UE (e.g., UE 105). Figure 8 is a simplified diagram illustrating use of a UE to locate an IRS in a wireless communication system according to certain embodiments. Fig. 9 is a call flow diagram illustrating a process of using a UE to locate an IRS according to an embodiment. For ease of explanation, Figure 8 and Fig. 9 . Figure 1 Sample, Figure 8 and Fig. 9 are provided as non-limiting examples. As discussed in more detail below, alternative embodiments may perform certain functions in a different order, simultaneously, etc. It may be noted that Fig. 9 The arrows between the various components illustrated illustrate messages or information transmitted from one component to another. Fig. 9 (not explicitly indicated in the description), the communication between UE 105 and IRS 425 and between UE 105 and location server 160 may be similar to Figure 4 The process illustrated in FIG.

[0096] like Fig. 9 As shown, starting at arrow 905, location server 160 may send a request to base station 120 to configure UE 105 to perform positioning of IRS 425. For example, Figure 8 As shown, when locating the IRS 425, the location server 160 may send a request 840 to the UE 105, configuring the UE 105 to perform the request 540 for positioning of the IRS 425. In some embodiments, the communication between the location server 160 and the UE 105 (e.g., the transmission of the request 840 and the measurement results 870) may be based on the Long Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP).

[0097] At block 915, the UE 105 may configure the IRS 425 to reflect the wireless reference signal sent from the UE 105 back to the UE 105. For example, Figure 8As shown, upon receiving request 840, UE 105 may configure IRS 425 to reflect the wireless reference signal sent from UE 105 back to UE 105 (e.g., configure a 180 degree reflection of the wireless reference signal received by IRS 425). Specifically, UE 105 may communicate with a controller (not shown) of IRS 425 for control via a control channel. The controller may configure a software controlled reflection / scattering profile to reflect the wireless reference signal back to UE 105 in real time.

[0098] Then, at arrow 925, UE 105 may send an RF signal to IRS 425. For example, Figure 8 As shown, the UE 105 may transmit an RF signal (e.g., a wireless reference signal 860) to the IRS 425 after configuring the IRS 425 to reflect the wireless reference signal transmitted from the UE 105 back to the UE 105. In some embodiments, depending on the type of positioning (e.g., based on UL, DL, or DL-UL), the types of the wireless reference signal 860 may include: a sounding reference signal (SRS), a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), a synchronization signal (e.g., a synchronization signal block (SSB) synchronization signal (SS)), a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH), a demodulation reference signal (DMRS), etc. Therefore, at arrow 935, after receiving the wireless reference signal 860, the IRS 425 may reflect the wireless reference signal 860 back to the UE 105 in real time.

[0099] At arrow 935, UE 105 may receive a wireless reflection signal reflected from IRS 425. For example, Figure 8 As shown, UE 105 may receive wireless reflection signal 865 including a reflection of wireless reference signal 860 (eg, a 180 degree reflection reflected by IRS 425 ).

[0100] At block 945, UE 105 may determine measurement results such as RTT, AoD, AoA, etc. based at least in part on wireless reference signal 860 and wireless reflection signal 865. At arrow 955, UE 105 may send the determined measurement results to location server 160 for determining the location of IRS 425. For example, Figure 8As shown, UE 105 may determine measurement result 870 based at least in part on wireless reference signal 860 and wireless reflection signal 865. For example, RTT may be determined based on a time difference between transmitting wireless reference signal 860 and receiving wireless reflection signal 865 at UE 105, AoD may be determined at or about the time point when wireless reference signal 860 is transmitted by UE 105, and AoA may be determined at or about the time point when wireless reflection signal 865 is received by UE 105.

[0101] Thus, at arrow 955, the determined measurement results may be further sent by UE 105 to location server 160. At block 965, location server 160 may determine the location of IRS 425 based on the measurement results received from base station 120. For example, similar to Figure 6 Block 665 in FIG. 1 determines / calculates the position of IRS 425 based on the determined measurements (e.g., based on the position of IRS 425 in conjunction with the Figure 7 In some embodiments, the determined measurement results may also be configured to verify / confirm whether the wireless reflection signal 865 reflected from the IRS 425 includes a reflection of the wireless reference signal 860. For example, the AoA of the wireless reflection signal 565 may be used to determine whether the wireless reflection signal 565 reflected from the IRS 425 includes a reflection of the wireless reference signal 860. Specifically, the verification / confirmation may be performed based on determining the reference signal received power (RSRP) of the wireless reflection signal 865 (e.g., beams with different angles).

[0102] In some further embodiments, when the transmitting device configured for positioning the IRS 425 includes a UE (e.g., UE 105), positioning of the IRS 425 may be performed without the participation of the location server 160 (e.g., in UE-based positioning). For example, in a UE-based positioning scheme, the UE 105 may initiate an IRS positioning process and may determine the position of the IRS based on the measurement results, rather than sending the measurement results to the location server for position determination.

[0103] For example, Fig.10 is a simplified diagram illustrating use of a UE to locate an IRS in a wireless communication system according to certain embodiments. Fig.11 is a call flow diagram illustrating a process of using a UE to locate an IRS according to an embodiment. For ease of explanation, Fig.10 and Fig.11 . Figure 1 Sample, Fig.10 and Fig.11are provided as non-limiting examples. As discussed in more detail below, alternative embodiments may perform certain functions in a different order, simultaneously, etc. It may be noted that Fig.11 The arrows between the various components illustrated in the figure illustrate messages or information transmitted from one component to another. Fig. 9 (not explicitly indicated in the specification), the communication between UE 105 and IRS 425 may be similar to Figure 4 The process illustrated in FIG.

[0104] like Fig.11 As shown, at block 1105, the UE 105 may generate a positioning request. The positioning request may come from, for example, an application (or app) executed by the UE 105. This may be a result of user interaction with the UE 105 based on a determined schedule or based on other triggers (including user input).

[0105] At block 1115, the UE 105 may configure the IRS 425 to reflect the wireless reference signal transmitted from the UE 105 back to the UE 105. For example, Fig.10 As shown, the UE 105 can configure the IRS 425 to reflect the wireless reference signal sent from the UE 105 back to the UE 105 (e.g., configure a 180-degree reflection of the wireless reference signal received by the IRS 425). Specifically, the UE 105 can communicate with a controller (not shown) of the IRS 425 for control via a control channel. The controller can configure a software-controlled reflection / scattering profile to reflect the wireless reference signal back to the UE 105 in real time.

[0106] Then, at arrow 1125, UE 105 may send an RF signal to IRS 425. For example, Fig.10 As shown, the UE 105 may transmit an RF signal (e.g., a wireless reference signal 1060) to the IRS 425 after configuring the IRS 425 to reflect the wireless reference signal transmitted from the UE 105 back to the UE 105. In some embodiments, depending on the type of positioning (e.g., based on UL, DL, or DL-UL), the type of the wireless reference signal 1060 may include: a sounding reference signal (SRS), a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), a synchronization signal (e.g., a synchronization signal block (SSB) synchronization signal (SS)), a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH), a demodulation reference signal (DMRS), etc.

[0107] At arrow 1135, UE 105 may receive a wireless reflection signal reflected from IRS 425. For example, Fig.10As shown, UE 105 may receive wireless reflection signal 1065 including a reflection of wireless reference signal 1060 (eg, a 180 degree reflection reflected by IRS 425).

[0108] At block 1145, the UE 105 may determine measurement results such as RTT, AoD, AoA, etc. based at least in part on the wireless reference signal 1060 and the wireless reflection signal 1065. For example, the UE 105 may determine the measurement results based at least in part on the wireless reference signal 1060 and the wireless reflection signal 1065. For example, the RTT may be determined based on a time difference between transmitting the wireless reference signal 1060 and receiving the wireless reflection signal 1065 at the UE 105, the AoD may be determined at or about the time point when the wireless reference signal 1060 is transmitted by the UE 105, and the AoA may be determined at or about the time point when the wireless reflection signal 865 is received by the UE 105.

[0109] At block 1155, the UE 105 may determine the location of the IRS 425 based on the determined measurement results. For example, similar to Figure 6 Box 665 and Fig. 9 Block 965 in FIG. 1 determines / calculates the position of IRS 425 based on the determined measurements (e.g., based on the position of IRS 425 in conjunction with the Figure 7 In some embodiments, the determined measurement result may also be configured to verify / confirm whether the wireless reflection signal 1065 reflected from the IRS 425 includes a reflection of the wireless reference signal 1060. For example, the AoA of the wireless reflection signal 1065 may be used to determine whether the wireless reflection signal 1065 reflected from the IRS 425 includes a reflection of the wireless reference signal 1060. Specifically, the verification / confirmation may be performed based on determining a reference signal received power (RSRP) of the wireless reflection signal 565 (e.g., beams with different angles).

[0110] Fig.12 is a flow chart of a method 1200 of IRS positioning performed by a transmitting device in a wireless communication network according to an embodiment. Fig.12 The functional components illustrated in one or more of the blocks shown may be implemented by a base station (e.g., Figure 1 , Figure 4 , Figure 5 and Figure 6 The base station 120, Figure 2 gNB 210 and / or ng-eNB 214 in, and / or Figure 3 320) and / or UE (e.g., Figures 1 to 6 as well as Figure 8The method may be performed by hardware and / or software components of the UE 105 in the example embodiment. Fig.14 and Fig.15 1 and 2, example components of a transmitting device (eg, base station 120 and / or UE 105) are illustrated in each of the drawings and are described in more detail below.

[0111] At block 1210, functionality includes receiving, by a transmitting device, a request for the transmitting device to perform positioning of an IRS (e.g., IRS 425). Fig.14 As shown, the means for performing the functionality at block 1210 may include the wireless communication interface 1430 and / or other components of a base station (e.g., base station 120). Fig.15 As shown, the means for performing the functionality at block 1210 may also include a wireless communication interface 1530 and / or other components of a UE (e.g., UE 105). Specifically, as described above, if the transmitting device includes a base station, the base station may receive a request from a location server (e.g., location server 160) to configure the base station to perform positioning of the IRS. Alternatively, if the transmitting device includes a UE, the UE may receive a request from a location server (e.g., location server 160) to configure the UE to perform positioning of the IRS.

[0112] At block 1220, the functionality includes configuring, by the transmitting device, the IRS to reflect a wireless reference signal transmitted from the transmitting device back to the transmitting device. Fig.14 As shown, the means for performing the functionality at block 1220 may include processor 1410 and / or other components of a base station (e.g., base station 120). Fig.15 As shown, the means for performing the functionality at block 1210 may also include a processor 1510 and / or other components of a UE (e.g., UE 105). Specifically, as described above, if the transmitting device includes a base station (e.g., base station 120), the base station may configure the IRS (e.g., IRS 425) to reflect the wireless reference signal transmitted from the base station back to the base station, such as Figure 5 Alternatively, if the transmitting device includes a UE (eg, UE 105), the UE may configure the IRS (eg, IRS 425) to reflect the wireless reference signal transmitted from the UE back to the UE, such as Figure 8 For example, a transmitting device (e.g., base station 120 and / or UE 105) may communicate with a controller (not shown) of IRS 425 for control via a control channel. The controller may configure a software-controlled reflection / scattering profile to reflect the wireless reference signal back to UE 105 in real time.

[0113] Then, at block 1230, functionality includes sending, by the transmitting device, an RF signal to an IRS (e.g., IRS 425). Fig.14 As shown, the means for performing the functionality at block 1230 may include processor 1410, wireless communication interface 1430, and / or other components of a base station (e.g., base station 120). Fig.15 As shown, the means for performing the functionality at block 1210 may also include a processor 1510, a wireless communication interface 1530, and / or other components of a UE (e.g., UE 105). Specifically, as described above, if the transmitting device includes a base station (e.g., base station 120), the base station may transmit an RF signal (e.g., wireless reference signal 560) to an IRS (e.g., IRS 425), such as Figure 5 Alternatively, if the transmitting device includes a UE (eg, UE 105), the UE may transmit an RF signal (eg, wireless reference signal 860) to an IRS (eg, IRS 425), as shown. Figure 8 shown.

[0114] At block 1240, functionality includes receiving, by the transmitting device, a wireless reflection signal reflected from the IRS. Fig.14 As shown, the means for performing the functionality at block 1240 may include the wireless communication interface 1430 and / or other components of a base station (e.g., base station 120). Fig.15 As shown, the means for performing the functionality at block 1210 may also include a wireless communication interface 1530 and / or other components of a UE (e.g., UE 105). Specifically, as described above, if the transmitting device includes a base station (e.g., base station 120), the base station may receive a wireless reflection signal (e.g., wireless reflection signal 565) including a reflection (e.g., a 180-degree reflection reflected by IRS 425) of the transmitted RF signal (e.g., wireless reference signal 560), as Figure 5 Alternatively, if the transmitting device includes a UE (e.g., UE 105), the UE may receive a wireless reflection signal (e.g., wireless reflection signal 865) including a reflection (e.g., a 180-degree reflection reflected by IRS 425) of the transmitted RF signal (e.g., wireless reference signal 860), as shown in FIG. Figure 8 shown.

[0115] At block 1250, the functionality includes determining, by the transmitting device, a measurement result based at least in part on the received wireless reflection signal, and at block 1260, the functionality includes transmitting, by the transmitting device, the determined measurement result to a location server. Fig.14 As shown, the means for performing the functionality at blocks 1250 and 1260 may include processor 1410, wireless communication interface 1430, and / or other components of a base station (e.g., base station 120). Fig.15As shown, the means for performing the functionality at block 1210 may also include the processor 1510, the wireless communication interface 1530 and / or other components of the UE (e.g., UE 105). Specifically, as described above, if the transmitting device includes a base station (e.g., base station 120) (blocks 1250 and 1260), the base station may determine measurement results such as RTT, AoD, AoA, etc. based on the wireless reflection signal (e.g., wireless reflection signal 565), and may send the determined measurement results to the location server 160 for determining the location of the IRS, such as Figure 5 Alternatively, if the transmitting device includes a UE (e.g., UE 105), the UE may determine measurement results such as RTT, AoD, AoA, etc. based on the wireless reflection signal (e.g., wireless reflection signal 865), and may send the determined measurement results to the location server 160 for determining the location of the IRS, as shown. Figure 8 shown.

[0116] At block 1265, the functionality includes determining, by a location server, the location of the IRS based on the measurement results. Specifically, as disclosed above, the location server (e.g., location server 160) may determine, in conjunction with the location of the IRS, the location of the IRS based on the measurement results. Figure 7 The description together with the disclosed configuration is used to determine the location of the IRS.

[0117] Fig.13 is a flow chart of a method 1300 of IRS positioning performed by a UE in a wireless communication network according to an embodiment. Fig.13 The functional components illustrated in one or more of the illustrated blocks may be implemented by a UE (eg, Figures 1 to 6 as well as Figure 8 UE 105) is executed by hardware and / or software components. Fig.15 Example components of a UE are illustrated in FIG, and are described in more detail below.

[0118] At block 1310, functionality includes generating, by a UE (e.g., UE 105), a request to perform positioning by an IRS (e.g., IRS 425). Fig.15 As shown, the means for performing the functionality at block 1310 may include a processor 1510 and / or other components of a UE (e.g., UE 105). Specifically, as described above, the UE may generate a positioning request. The positioning request may come from, for example, an application (or app) executed by the UE 105. This may be a result of a user interaction with the UE 105 based on a determined schedule or based on other triggers (including user input).

[0119] At block 1320, the functionality includes configuring the IRS to reflect a wireless reference signal transmitted from the UE back to the UE. Fig.15As shown, the means for performing the functionality at block 1330 may include the wireless communication interface 1530 and / or other components of the UE (e.g., UE 105). Specifically, as described above, the UE may configure the IRS (e.g., IRS 425) to reflect the wireless reference signal sent from the UE back to the UE, such as Fig.10 For example, the UE 105 may communicate with a controller (not shown) of the IRS 425 for control via a control channel. The controller may configure a software-controlled reflection / scattering profile to reflect the wireless reference signal back to the UE 105 in real time.

[0120] At block 1330, functionality includes sending an RF signal to the IRS. Fig.15 As shown, the means for performing the functionality at block 1330 may include the processor 1510 and / or other components of the UE (e.g., UE 105). Specifically, as described above, the UE (e.g., UE 105) may transmit an RF signal (e.g., wireless reference signal 1060) to the IRS 425 after configuring the IRS 425 to reflect the wireless reference signal transmitted from the UE 105 back to the UE 105, as described above. Fig.10 shown.

[0121] At block 1340, the functionality includes receiving a wireless reflection signal reflected from the IRS. Fig.15 As shown, the means for performing the functionality at block 1330 may include the wireless communication interface 1530 and / or other components of the UE (e.g., UE 105). Specifically, as described above, the UE (e.g., UE 105) may receive a wireless reflection signal (e.g., wireless reflection signal 1065) including a reflection (e.g., a 180 degree reflection reflected by the IRS 425) of a wireless reference signal (e.g., wireless reference signal 1060).

[0122] At block 1350, the functionality includes determining a measurement result based at least in part on the received wireless reflection signal. Fig.15 As shown, the means for performing the functionality at block 1350 may include the processor 1510 and / or other components of the UE (e.g., UE 105). Specifically, as described above, the UE may determine measurement results such as RTT, AoD, AoA, etc. based on the wireless reflection signal (e.g., the wireless reflection signal 1065), such as Fig.10 shown.

[0123] At block 1360, the functionality includes determining the location of the IRS based on the measurements. Fig.15 As shown, the means for performing the functionality at block 1360 may include processor 1510 and / or other components of a UE (e.g., UE 105). Specifically, as disclosed above, the UE may be configured to perform the functions of the processor 1510 and / or other components of a UE (e.g., UE 105). Figure 7 The description together with the disclosed configuration is used to determine the location of the IRS.

[0124] Fig.14 is as described above (e.g., with Figure 1 , Figure 4 , Figure 5 and Figure 6 The base station 120, Figure 2 gNB 210 and / or ng-eNB 214 in, and / or Figure 3 320 in the TRP 320) is associated with the block diagram of the embodiment of the base station 120 being utilized. It should be noted that Fig.11 It is intended only to provide a generalized illustration of the various components, any or all of which may be utilized as appropriate. In some embodiments, base station 120 may correspond to a gNB, ng-eNB, and / or (more generally) a TRP.

[0125] Base station 120 is shown as including hardware elements that may be electrically coupled via bus 1405 (or may communicate in other ways as appropriate). The hardware elements may include a processor 1410, which may include, but is not limited to, one or more general-purpose processors, one or more special-purpose processors (such as DSP chips, graphics acceleration processors, ASICs, etc.), and / or other processing structures or components. Fig.14 As shown, some embodiments may have a separate DSP 1420, depending on the desired functionality. According to some embodiments, wireless communication-based position determination and / or other determinations may be provided in the processor 1410 and / or the wireless communication interface 1430 (discussed below). The base station 120 may also include one or more input devices, which may include but are not limited to a keyboard, a display, a mouse, a microphone, buttons, a dial, a switch, etc.; and one or more output devices, which may include but are not limited to a display, a light emitting diode (LED), a speaker, etc.

[0126] The base station 120 may also include a wireless communication interface 1430, which may include but is not limited to a modem, a network card, an infrared communication device, a wireless communication device and / or a chipset (such as Devices, IEEE 802.11 devices, IEEE 802.15.4 devices, Wi-Fi devices, WiMAX devices, cellular communication facilities, etc.), etc., which can enable the base station 120 to communicate as described herein. The wireless communication interface 1430 can permit the communication (e.g., sending and receiving) of data and signaling to UEs, other base stations / TRPs (e.g., eNBs, gNBs, and ng-eNBs), and / or other network components, computer systems, and / or any other electronic devices described herein. Communication can be performed via one or more wireless communication antennas 1432 that transmit and / or receive wireless signals 1434.

[0127] The base station 120 may also include a network interface 1480, which may include support for wired communication technologies. The network interface 1480 may include a modem, a network card, a chipset, etc. The network interface 1480 may include one or more input and / or output communication interfaces to permit data to be exchanged with a network, a communication network server, a computer system, and / or any other electronic device described herein.

[0128] In many embodiments, the base station 120 may also include a memory 1460. The memory 1460 may include, but is not limited to, local and / or network accessible storage, disk drives, drive arrays, optical storage devices, solid-state storage devices such as RAM and / or ROM, which may be programmable, flash-updatable, etc. Such storage devices may be configured to implement any suitable data storage, including, but not limited to, various file systems, database structures, etc.

[0129] The memory 1460 of the base station 120 may also include software elements ( Fig.14 14), these software elements include operating systems, device drivers, executable libraries and / or other code such as one or more applications, which may include computer programs provided by various embodiments, and / or may be designed to implement methods provided by other embodiments, and / or configure systems provided by other embodiments, as described herein. By way of example only, one or more procedures described with respect to the methods discussed above may be implemented as code and / or instructions in memory 1460 that can be executed by base station 120 (and / or processor 1410 or DSP 1420 within base station 120). In some embodiments, such code and / or instructions may then be used to configure and / or adapt a general purpose computer (or other device) to perform one or more operations according to the described methods.

[0130] Fig.15 is as described above herein (e.g., in conjunction with e.g. Figure 1 UE 145 and Figure 2 , Figure 3 , Figure 4, Figure 8 and Fig.10 105) is a block diagram of an implementation of the UE 105 being utilized. For example, the UE 105 may execute Fig. 9 One or more of the functions of the method shown. It should be noted that Fig.15 It is intended only to provide a generalized illustration of various components, any or all of which may be utilized as appropriate. It may be noted that in some instances, Fig.15 The illustrated components may be localized into a single physical device and / or distributed among various networked devices that may be located at different physical locations. In addition, as previously mentioned, the functionality of the UE discussed in the previously described embodiments may be provided by Fig.15 One or more of the illustrated hardware and / or software components are implemented.

[0131] UE 105 is shown as including hardware elements that may be electrically coupled via bus 1505 (or may communicate in other ways as appropriate). The hardware elements may include a processor 1510, which may include, but is not limited to, one or more general-purpose processors (e.g., application processors), one or more special-purpose processors (such as digital signal processor (DSP) chips, graphics acceleration processors, application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), etc.), and / or other processing structures or components. Processor 1510 may include one or more processing units, which may be housed in a single integrated circuit (IC) or multiple ICs. Fig.15 As shown, some embodiments may have a separate DSP 1520, depending on the desired functionality. Position determination and / or other determinations based on wireless communication (discussed below) may be provided in the processor 1510 and / or the wireless communication interface 1530. The UE 105 may also include: one or more input devices 1570, which may include but are not limited to one or more keyboards, touch screens, touch pads, microphones, buttons, dials, switches, etc.; and one or more output devices 1515, which may include but are not limited to one or more displays (e.g., touch screens), light emitting diodes (LEDs), speakers, etc.

[0132] UE 105 may also include a wireless communication interface 1530, which may include but is not limited to a modem, a network card, an infrared communication device, a wireless communication device and / or a chipset (such as Device, IEEE 802.11 device, IEEE 802.15.4 device, Wi-Fi device, WiMAX device, WAN device and / or various cellular devices, etc.), etc., which can enable UE 105 to communicate with other devices as described in the above embodiments. The wireless communication interface 1530 can allow the use of the TRP of the network, for example, via eNB, gNB, ng-eNB, access point, various base stations and / or other access node types, and / or other network components, computer systems and / or any other electronic devices communicatively coupled to the TRP to communicate (e.g., send and receive) data and signaling, as described herein. Communication can be performed via one or more wireless communication antennas 1532 that transmit and / or receive wireless signals 1534. According to some embodiments, the wireless communication antenna 1532 may include multiple discrete antennas, antenna arrays, or any combination thereof. Antenna 1532 may be able to use beams (e.g., Tx beams and Rx beams) to send and receive wireless signals. Beamforming can be performed using digital and / or analog beamforming techniques using corresponding digital and / or analog circuits. Wireless communication interface 1530 may include such circuitry.

[0133] Depending on the desired functionality, the wireless communication interface 1530 may include separate receivers and transmitters, or any combination of transceivers, transmitters, and / or receivers to communicate with base stations (e.g., ng-eNBs and gNBs) and other terrestrial transceivers such as wireless devices and access points. The UE 105 may communicate with different data networks, which may include various network types. For example, a wireless wide area network (WWAN) may be a CDMA network, a time division multiple access (TDMA) network, a frequency division multiple access (FDMA) network, an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) network, a single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) network, a WiMAX (IEEE 802.16) network, and the like. A CDMA network may implement one or more RATs, such as WCDMA, etc. Includes IS-95, IS-2000, and / or IS-856 standards. A TDMA network may implement GSM, Digital Advanced Mobile Phone System (D-AMPS), or some other RAT. An OFDMA network may employ LTE, Advanced LTE, 5G NR, and the like. 5G NR, LTE, Advanced LTE, GSM, and WCDMA are described in documents from 3GPP. Described in documents from an organization named "3rd Generation Partnership Project 2" (3GPP2). 3GPP and 3GPP2 documents are publicly available. A wireless local area network (WLAN) may also be an IEEE 802.11x network, while a wireless personal area network (WPAN) may be a Bluetooth network, IEEE 802.15x, or some other type of network. The techniques described herein may also be used for any combination of WWAN, WLAN, and / or WPAN.

[0134] The UE 105 may also include sensors 1540. The sensors 1540 may include, but are not limited to, one or more inertial sensors and / or other sensors (e.g., accelerometers, gyroscopes, cameras, magnetometers, altimeters, microphones, proximity sensors, light sensors, barometers, etc.), some of which can be used to obtain location-related measurements and / or other information.

[0135] Embodiments of UE 105 may also include a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receiver 1580 that is capable of receiving signals 1584 from one or more GNSS satellites using antenna 1582 (which may be the same as antenna 1532). Positioning based on GNSS signal measurements may be used to supplement and / or incorporate the techniques described herein. GNSS receiver 1580 may extract the position of UE 105 using conventional techniques from GNSS satellites of GNSS systems such as Global Positioning System (GPS), Galileo, GLONASS, Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS) over Japan, IRNSS over India, BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) over China, etc. In addition, the GNSS receiver 1580 can be used for various augmentation systems (e.g., satellite-based augmentation systems (SBAS)) that can be associated with or otherwise enabled for use with one or more global and / or regional navigation satellite systems, such as the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS), the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS), the Multipurpose Satellite Augmentation System (MSAS), and the Geographic Augmented Navigation System (GAGAN), among others.

[0136] It can be noted that although Fig.151580 is illustrated as a different component in the embodiment, but the embodiments are not limited to this. As used herein, the term "GNSS receiver" may include hardware and / or software components configured to obtain GNSS measurements (measurements from GNSS satellites). Therefore, in some embodiments, the GNSS receiver may include a measurement engine executed (as software) by one or more processors, such as processor 1510, DSP 1520, and / or a processor within wireless communication interface 1530 (e.g., in a modem). The GNSS receiver may also optionally include a positioning engine that can use the GNSS measurements from the measurement engine to determine the positioning of the GNSS receiver using an extended Kalman filter (EKF), a weighted least squares method (WLS), a hatch filter, a particle filter, etc. The positioning engine may also be executed by one or more processors, such as processor 1510 or DSP 1520.

[0137] The UE 105 may also include and / or communicate with memory 1560. The memory 1560 may include, but is not limited to, local and / or network accessible storage, disk drives, drive arrays, optical storage devices, solid-state storage devices (such as random access memory (RAM) and / or read-only memory (ROM)), which may be programmable, flash-updatable, etc. Such storage devices may be configured to implement any suitable data storage, including, but not limited to, various file systems, database structures, etc.

[0138] The memory 1560 of the UE 105 may also include software elements ( Fig.15 15), these software elements include operating systems, device drivers, executable libraries and / or other code (such as one or more applications), which may include computer programs provided by various embodiments and / or may be designed to implement methods provided by other embodiments and / or configure systems provided by other embodiments, as described herein. By way of example only, one or more procedures described with respect to the methods discussed above may be implemented as code and / or instructions in memory 1560 that can be executed by UE 105 (and / or processor 1510 or DSP 1520 within UE 105). In some embodiments, such code and / or instructions may then be used to configure and / or adapt a general purpose computer (or other device) to perform one or more operations according to the described methods.

[0139] It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that basic variations may be made according to specific requirements. For example, customized hardware may also be used, and / or specific elements may be implemented in hardware, software (including portable software, such as applets, etc.), or both. In addition, connections to other computing devices such as network input / output devices may be employed.

[0140] With reference to the accompanying drawings, components that may include memory may include non-transient machine-readable media. As used herein, the terms "machine-readable medium" and "computer-readable medium" refer to any storage medium that participates in providing data that enables a machine to operate in a particular manner. In the embodiments provided above, various machine-readable media may be involved when providing instructions / codes to a processor and / or other devices for execution. Additionally or alternatively, machine-readable media may be used to store and / or carry such instructions / codes. In many specific implementations, computer-readable media are physical and / or tangible storage media. Such media may take many forms, including but not limited to non-volatile media and volatile media. Common forms of computer-readable media include, for example: magnetic and / or optical media, any other physical media with hole patterns, RAM, programmable ROM (PROM), erasable PROM (EPROM), FLASH-EPROM, any other memory chip or memory box, or any other medium from which a computer can read instructions and / or codes.

[0141] The methods, systems and devices discussed herein are examples. Various embodiments may appropriately omit, replace or add various procedures or components. For example, the features described with reference to certain embodiments may be combined in various other embodiments. The different aspects and elements of the embodiments may be combined in a similar manner. The various components of the accompanying drawings provided herein may be embodied in hardware and / or software. Moreover, technology may evolve, and therefore many elements are examples, which do not limit the scope of the present disclosure to those specific examples.

[0142] It has proven convenient at times, primarily for reasons of common usage, to refer to such signals as bits, information, values, elements, symbols, characters, variables, terms, numbers, digital symbols, and the like. It should be understood, however, that all of these or similar terms are to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and are merely convenient labels. Unless specifically stated otherwise, as will be apparent from the above discussion, it should be appreciated that throughout this specification, discussions utilizing terms such as "processing," "computing," "calculating," "determining," "ascertaining," "identifying," "correlating," "measuring," "performing," and the like refer to the actions or processes of a specific apparatus, such as a special-purpose computer or similar special-purpose electronic computing device. Thus, in the context of this specification, a special-purpose computer or similar special-purpose electronic computing device is capable of manipulating or transforming signals, typically expressed as physical, electronic, electrical, or magnetic quantities in a memory, register, or other information storage device, a transmitting device, or a display device of the special-purpose computer or similar special-purpose electronic computing device.

[0143] As used herein, the terms "and" and "or" may include various meanings that are also intended to depend at least in part on the context in which such terms are used. Generally, "or", if used to associate a list, such as A, B, or C, is intended to represent A, B, and C (inclusive meaning is used here) as well as A, B, or C (exclusive meaning is used here). In addition, as used herein, the term "one or more" can be used to describe any feature, structure, or characteristic in the singular form, or can be used to describe a certain combination of features, structures, or characteristics. However, it should be noted that this is merely an illustrative example, and the subject matter claimed is not limited to this example. In addition, the term "at least one of", if used to associate a list, such as A, B, or C, can be interpreted to represent any combination of A, B, and / or C, such as A, AB, AA, AAB, AABBCCC, etc.

[0144] Several embodiments have been described, and various modifications, alternative configurations, and equivalents may be used without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. For example, the above elements may be components of a larger system, where other rules may take precedence over the application of the various embodiments or otherwise modify the application of the various embodiments. Moreover, several steps may be taken before, during, or after considering the above elements. Accordingly, the above description does not limit the scope of the present disclosure.

[0145] In view of this description, various embodiments may include different combinations of features. Specific implementation examples are described in the following numbered clauses:

[0146] Clause 1. A method for locating an intelligent reflecting surface (IRS) using a transmitting device in a wireless communication network. The method includes: configuring the IRS to reflect a wireless reference signal back to the transmitting device; and after configuring the IRS, transmitting the wireless reference signal from the transmitting device to the IRS. The method also includes: receiving a wireless reflection signal at the transmitting device, wherein the wireless reflection signal includes a reflection of the wireless reference signal reflected by the IRS; and determining a measurement result configured for locating the IRS based at least in part on the wireless reflection signal, wherein the position of the IRS is determined based on the measurement result.

[0147] Clause 2. The method of clause 1, wherein the measurement result comprises a round-trip signal propagation delay (RTT) and at least one of an angle of departure (AoD) of the wireless reference signal or an angle of arrival (AoA) of the wireless reflection signal.

[0148] Clause 3. A method according to clause 1, wherein the method further comprises: receiving a request from a location server to configure the transmitting device to send a reference signal to the IRS; and sending the determined measurement result to the location server for determining the position of the IRS based on the measurement result.

[0149] Clause 4. The method of clause 3, wherein the sending device comprises a base station, and wherein the request is received via a New Radio (NR) Positioning Protocol Annex (NRPPa) protocol.

[0150] Clause 5. The method of clause 3, wherein the sending device comprises user equipment having a known location, and wherein the request is received via a Long Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP).

[0151] Clause 6. The method of clause 1, wherein the location of the IRS is determined by the transmitting device.

[0152] Clause 7. A method for locating an intelligent reflective surface (IRS) using a location server in a wireless communication network, the method comprising: sending a request to a transmitting device to configure the transmitting device to send a wireless reference signal to the IRS; receiving a measurement result determined based on a wireless reflection signal from the transmitting device, wherein the wireless reflection signal includes a reflection of the wireless reference signal reflected by the IRS; and determining the position of the IRS based on the measurement result.

[0153] Clause 8. The method of clause 7, wherein the measurement results include a time difference of arrival (TDOA) and an angle of departure (AOD) of the wireless reference signal.

[0154] Clause 9. The method of clause 7, wherein the sending device comprises a base station and the request is sent via a New Radio (NR) Positioning Protocol Annex (NRPPa) protocol.

[0155] Clause 10. The method of clause 7, wherein the sending device comprises user equipment and the request is sent via Long Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP).

[0156] Item 11. A transmitting device in a wireless communication network, the transmitting device comprising: a wireless communication interface, the wireless communication interface being configured to: configure an IRS to reflect a wireless reference signal back to the transmitting device; after configuring the IRS, send the wireless reference signal to the IRS; and receive a wireless reflection signal, wherein the wireless reflection signal comprises a reflection of the wireless reference signal reflected by the IRS; a memory; and one or more processing units, the one or more processing units being communicatively coupled to the wireless communication interface and the memory, the one or more processing units being configured to: determine a measurement result configured for locating the IRS based at least in part on the wireless reflection signal, wherein the position of the IRS is determined based on the measurement result.

[0157] Clause 12. The transmitting device according to clause 11, wherein the measurement result includes a round-trip signal propagation delay (RTT) and at least one of an angle of departure (AoD) of the wireless reference signal or an angle of arrival (AoA) of the wireless reflection signal.

[0158] Clause 13. A sending device according to Clause 11, wherein the wireless communication interface is configured to: receive a request from a location server to configure the sending device to send a reference signal to the IRS; and send the determined measurement results to the location server for determining the position of the IRS based on the measurement results.

[0159] Clause 14. The transmitting device of clause 13, wherein the transmitting device comprises a base station, and wherein the request is received via a New Radio (NR) Positioning Protocol Annex (NRPPa) protocol.

[0160] Clause 15. The transmitting device of clause 13, wherein the transmitting device comprises user equipment having a known location, and wherein the request is received via a Long Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP).

[0161] Clause 16. The transmitting device of Clause 11, wherein the wireless communication interface is further configured to determine the location of the IRS based on measurement results.

[0162] Clause 17. A location server, comprising: a transceiver, the transceiver being configured to: send a request to a transmitting device to configure the transmitting device to send a wireless reference signal to the IRS; and receive a measurement result determined based on a wireless reflection signal from the transmitting device, wherein the wireless reflection signal comprises a reflection of the wireless reference signal reflected by the IRS; a memory; and one or more processing units, the one or more processing units being communicatively coupled to the transceiver and the memory, the one or more processing units being configured to: determine the location of the IRS based on the measurement result.

[0163] Clause 18. The apparatus of clause 17, wherein the measurement results include a time difference of arrival (TDOA) and an angle of departure (AOD) of the wireless reference signal.

[0164] Clause 19. The apparatus of clause 17, wherein the sending device comprises a base station and the request is sent via a New Radio (NR) Positioning Protocol Annex (NRPPa) protocol.

[0165] Clause 20. The apparatus of Clause 17, wherein the sending device comprises user equipment and the request is sent via Long Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP).

Claims

1. A method for locating an intelligent reflective surface (IRS) using a transmitting device in a wireless communication network, the method comprising: configuring the IRS to reflect a wireless reference signal back to the transmitting device; After configuring the IRS, sending the wireless reference signal from the transmitting device to the IRS; receiving, at the transmitting device, a wireless reflection signal, wherein the wireless reflection signal comprises a reflection of the wireless reference signal reflected by the IRS; as well as Measurements configured for locating the IRS are determined based at least in part on the wireless reflected signals, wherein a position of the IRS is determined based on the measurements.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the measurement result comprises a round-trip signal propagation delay (RTT) and at least one of an angle of departure (AoD) of the wireless reference signal or an angle of arrival (AoA) of the wireless reflection signal.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method further comprises: receiving a request from a location server to configure the transmitting device to transmit a reference signal to the IRS; as well as The determined measurement results are sent to the location server for determining the location of the IRS based on the measurement results.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the sending device comprises a base station, and wherein the request is received via a New Radio (NR) Positioning Protocol Annex (NRPPa) protocol.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the sending device comprises a user equipment having a known location, and wherein the request is received via a Long Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP).

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the location of the IRS is determined by the transmitting device.

7. A method for locating an intelligent reflective surface (IRS) using a location server in a wireless communication network, the method comprising: sending a request to a sending device to configure the sending device to send a wireless reference signal to the IRS; receiving, from the transmitting device, a measurement result determined based on a wireless reflection signal, wherein the wireless reflection signal comprises a reflection of the wireless reference signal reflected by the IRS; as well as A position of the IRS is determined based on the measurements.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the measurement result comprises a time difference of arrival (TDOA) and an angle of departure (AOD) of the wireless reference signal.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the sending device comprises a base station and the request is sent via a New Radio (NR) Positioning Protocol Annex (NRPPa) protocol.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein the sending device comprises user equipment and the request is sent via Long Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP).

11. A sending device in a wireless communication network, the sending device comprising: A wireless communication interface, wherein the wireless communication interface is configured to: configuring the IRS to reflect a wireless reference signal back to the transmitting device; After configuring the IRS, sending the wireless reference signal to the IRS; as well as receiving a wireless reflection signal, wherein the wireless reflection signal comprises a reflection of the wireless reference signal reflected by the IRS; Memory; and one or more processing units, the one or more processing units being communicatively coupled to the wireless communication interface and the memory, the one or more processing units being configured to: Measurements configured for locating the IRS are determined based at least in part on the wireless reflected signals, wherein a position of the IRS is determined based on the measurements.

12. The transmitting device according to claim 11, wherein the measurement result includes a round-trip signal propagation delay (RTT) and at least one of an angle of departure (AoD) of the wireless reference signal or an angle of arrival (AoA) of the wireless reflection signal.

13. The transmitting device according to claim 11, wherein the wireless communication interface is configured as: receiving a request from a location server to configure the transmitting device to transmit a reference signal to the IRS; and The determined measurement results are sent to the location server for determining the location of the IRS based on the measurement results.

14. The sending device of claim 13, wherein the sending device comprises a base station, and wherein the request is received via a New Radio (NR) Positioning Protocol Annex (NRPPa) protocol.

15. The transmitting device of claim 13, wherein the transmitting device comprises user equipment having a known location, and wherein the request is received via a Long Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP).

16. The transmitting device according to claim 11, wherein the wireless communication interface is further configured to: The position of the IRS is determined based on the measurement results.

17. A location server, comprising: A transceiver, the transceiver being configured to: sending a request to a sending device to configure the sending device to send a wireless reference signal to the IRS; as well as receiving, from the transmitting device, a measurement result determined based on a wireless reflection signal, wherein the wireless reflection signal comprises a reflection of the wireless reference signal reflected by the IRS; Memory; and one or more processing units, the one or more processing units being communicatively coupled to the transceiver and the memory, the one or more processing units being configured to: A position of the IRS is determined based on the measurements.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the measurement result comprises a time difference of arrival (TDOA) and an angle of departure (AOD) of the wireless reference signal.

19. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the sending device comprises a base station and the request is sent via a New Radio (NR) Positioning Protocol Annex (NRPPa) protocol.

20. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the sending device comprises user equipment and the request is sent via Long Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP).

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