Method, apparatus and computer program product for reducing interference in location determination

Abstract

A method, an apparatus, and a computer program product for enhancing positioning accuracy are disclosed. According to one embodiment, the method comprises: determining that a first user equipment may experience positioning interference; identifying one or more radio channels that cause interference as interfering channels; causing a selection of one or more other user equipments that have been determined to monitor at least one of the identified one or more interfering channels; obtaining information of the selected one or more other user equipment; providing information of the selected one or more other user equipment to the first user equipment for establishing a sidelink connection with the selected one or more other user equipment and for receiving information of one or more interference channels; instructing the first user equipment to perform a positioning measurement; and receiving information of the positioning measurement from the first user equipment.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to apparatus, methods and computer program products for enabling coexistence of positioning and communication services via sidelink-based cooperative service conflict resolution. Background Art

[0002] This section is intended to provide a background or context to the invention described in the claims. The description herein may include concepts that could be pursued, but not necessarily concepts that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated herein, what is described in this section is not prior art to the description and claims in this application, and no admission is made that it becomes prior art by incorporation into this section.

[0003] 3GPP has been developing the New Radio Side Link (NR SL) standard to facilitate user equipment (UE) to communicate with other nearby (multiple) UEs via direct / SL communications. Two resource allocation modes have been specified, and the SL transmitter (Tx) UE is configured with one of them to perform its NR SL transmissions. These modes are denoted as NR SL Mode 1 and NR SL Mode 2. In Mode 1, the sidelink transmission resources are assigned to the SL Tx UE by the network (NW), while the SL Tx UE in Mode 2 autonomously selects its SL transmission resources.

[0004] NR positioning is based on the use of location servers. The location server collects information related to positioning and distributes it to other entities involved in the positioning process. The distributed information may include information on UE capabilities, assistance data, measurements, location estimates, etc.

[0005] In downlink (DL) based positioning, a reference signal called a positioning reference signal (PRS) can be used. The user equipment can receive positioning reference signals from multiple different base stations and measure the arrival time (ToA) of the received positioning reference positioning reference signals. The UE can then report the ToA difference to the location server. The location server can use these reports to determine the location of the UE.

[0006] The PRS signal transmitted by a gNB is orthogonal in time-frequency and coding to other PRS signals (i.e., PRS signals transmitted by different gNBs). The PRS signal transmitted by a gNB is also orthogonal in time-frequency and coding to the synchronization signal block (SSB) transmitted by the same gNB. However, this does not prevent the PRS of the serving gNB and data and / or control from different gNBs (hereinafter referred to as external channels) from using the same PRB and causing co-channel interference at the target UE, such as Figure 6 Here, the transmission receiving point (TRP) from a distant Figure 6The PRS of gNB 601 in the figure is interfered by the stronger SSB sent by the closer gNB (gNB 602). This near-far problem may cause the target UE to be unable to decode the PRS and calculate reliable positioning measurements. Ultimately, this situation may cause inaccurate position estimates. Summary of the invention

[0007] A method, apparatus and computer program product for enhancing positioning accuracy are provided. A cooperation framework between neighboring devices is provided, allowing positioning and communication applications to coexist in the same spectrum without relying on advanced positioning receiver functions on the target UE side.

[0008] The protection scope of various embodiments of the present invention is set forth by the independent claims. Embodiments, examples and features described in this specification that do not belong to the scope of the independent claims (if any) should be interpreted as examples that help understand various embodiments of the present invention.

[0009] According to some aspects, the subject matter of the independent claims is provided. Some further aspects are defined in the dependent claims. Embodiments not belonging to the scope of the claims should be interpreted as examples that help to understand the present disclosure.

[0010] The present invention enables coexistence of positioning and communication services via SL-based collaborative service conflict resolution.

[0011] According to a first aspect, there is provided a method for enhancing precision positioning, comprising:

[0012] determining that the first user equipment may experience positioning interference;

[0013] identifying one or more radio channels causing interference as interfering channels;

[0014] causing selection of one or more other user devices that have been determined to monitor at least one interfering channel of the identified one or more interfering channels;

[0015] Based on instructing the checking of one or more other user equipments among the existing one or more other user equipments, to obtain information of one or more interference channels of the interference channel;

[0016] obtaining information of one or more selected other user devices;

[0017] Providing information of the selected one or more other user equipments to the first user equipment, so as to establish a side link connection with the selected one or more other user equipments and to receive information of one or more interference channels;

[0018] instructing the first user equipment to perform positioning measurements; and

[0019] Positioning measurement information is received from a first user equipment.

[0020] According to a second aspect, there is provided an apparatus comprising means for:

[0021] determining that the first user equipment may experience positioning interference;

[0022] identifying one or more radio channels causing interference as interfering channels;

[0023] causing selection of one or more other user devices that have been determined to monitor at least one interfering channel of the identified one or more interfering channels;

[0024] Based on instructing the checking of one or more other user equipments among the existing one or more other user equipments, to obtain information of one or more interference channels of the interference channel;

[0025] obtaining information of one or more selected other user devices;

[0026] Providing information of the selected one or more other user equipments to the first user equipment, so as to establish a side link connection with the selected one or more other user equipments and to receive information of one or more interference channels;

[0027] instructing the first user equipment to perform positioning measurements; and

[0028] Positioning measurement information is received from a first user equipment.

[0029] According to a third aspect, there is provided an apparatus comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program code; the at least one memory and the computer program code being configured to, together with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to:

[0030] determining that the first user equipment may experience positioning interference;

[0031] identifying one or more radio channels causing interference as interfering channels;

[0032] causing selection of one or more other user devices that have been determined to monitor at least one interfering channel of the identified one or more interfering channels;

[0033] obtaining information of one or more selected other user devices;

[0034] Providing information of the selected one or more other user equipments to the first user equipment, so as to establish a side link connection with the selected one or more other user equipments and to receive information of one or more interference channels;

[0035] instructing the first user equipment to perform positioning measurements; and

[0036] Positioning measurement information is received from a first user equipment.

[0037] According to a fourth aspect, there is provided a computer program product, comprising computer readable program code, the computer readable program code being configured to, together with at least one processor, cause an apparatus to at least perform the following:

[0038] determining that the first user equipment may experience positioning interference;

[0039] identifying one or more radio channels causing interference as interfering channels;

[0040] causing selection of one or more other user devices that have been determined to monitor at least one interfering channel of the identified one or more interfering channels;

[0041] obtaining information of one or more selected other user devices;

[0042] Providing information of the selected one or more other user equipments to the first user equipment, so as to establish a side link connection with the selected one or more other user equipments and to receive information of one or more interference channels;

[0043] instructing the first user equipment to perform positioning measurements; and

[0044] Positioning measurement information is received from a first user equipment.

[0045] According to a fifth aspect, there is provided a method comprising:

[0046] receiving, from the location management function, a request for selection of one or more other user equipment that has been determined to monitor at least one of the one or more radio channels identified in the request;

[0047] Use or modify location management function parameter settings; and

[0048] selecting one or more of the other user devices to collect channel information of one or more of the identified radio channels and to estimate channel conditions towards one or more of the identified channels;

[0049] sending location management function parameter settings to the selected one or more other user equipments; and

[0050] The location management function parameter settings and the information of the selected one or more other user equipments are sent to the location management function.

[0051] According to a sixth aspect, there is provided an apparatus comprising components for:

[0052] receiving, from the location management function, a request for selection of one or more other user equipment that has been determined to monitor at least one of the one or more radio channels identified in the request;

[0053] Use or modify location management function parameter settings; and

[0054] selecting one or more of the other user devices to collect channel information for one or more of the identified radio channels and to estimate channel conditions for one or more of the identified channels;

[0055] sending location management function parameter settings to the selected one or more other user equipments; and

[0056] The location management function parameter settings and the information of the selected one or more other user equipments are sent to the location management function.

[0057] According to a seventh aspect, there is provided an apparatus comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program code; the at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, together with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to:

[0058] receiving, from the location management function, a request for selection of one or more other user equipment that has been determined to monitor at least one of the one or more radio channels identified in the request;

[0059] Use or modify location management function parameter settings; and

[0060] selecting one or more of the other user devices to collect channel information for one or more of the identified radio channels and to estimate channel conditions for one or more of the identified channels;

[0061] sending location management function parameter settings to the selected one or more other user equipments; and

[0062] The location management function parameter settings and the information of the selected one or more other user equipments are sent to the location management function.

[0063] According to an eighth aspect, there is provided a computer program product, comprising computer readable program code, the computer readable program code being configured to, together with at least one processor, cause an apparatus to at least perform the following:

[0064] receiving, from the location management function, a request for selection of one or more other user equipment that has been determined to monitor at least one of the one or more radio channels identified in the request;

[0065] Use or modify location management function parameter settings; and

[0066] selecting one or more of the other user devices to collect channel information for one or more of the identified radio channels and to estimate channel conditions for one or more of the identified channels;

[0067] sending location management function parameter settings to the selected one or more other user equipments; and

[0068] The location management function parameter settings and the information of the selected one or more other user equipments are sent to the location management function.

[0069] According to a ninth aspect, there is provided a method comprising:

[0070] receiving information from one or more selected other user devices;

[0071] establishing a sidelink connection with the selected one or more other user equipments; and

[0072] receiving information of one or more interference channels;

[0073] receiving a positioning reference signal;

[0074] Using the received information of the interfering channel to at least partially suppress the effects of interference from the positioning reference signal; and

[0075] Sends positioning measurement information to the location management function.

[0076] According to a tenth aspect, there is provided an apparatus comprising means for:

[0077] receiving information from one or more selected other user devices;

[0078] establishing a sidelink connection with the selected one or more other user equipments; and

[0079] receiving information of one or more interference channels;

[0080] receiving a positioning reference signal;

[0081] Using the received information of the interfering channel to at least partially suppress the effects of interference from the positioning reference signal; and

[0082] Sends positioning measurement information to the location management function.

[0083] According to an eleventh aspect, there is provided an apparatus comprising at least one processor; and at least one memory comprising computer program code; the at least one memory and the computer program code being configured to, together with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to:

[0084] receiving information from one or more selected other user devices;

[0085] establishing a sidelink connection with the selected one or more other user equipments; and

[0086] receiving information of one or more interference channels;

[0087] receiving a positioning reference signal;

[0088] Using the received information of the interfering channel to at least partially suppress the effects of interference from the positioning reference signal; and

[0089] Sends positioning measurement information to the location management function.

[0090] According to a twelfth aspect, there is provided a computer program product, comprising computer readable program code, the computer readable program code being configured to, together with at least one processor, cause an apparatus to perform at least the following:

[0091] receiving information from one or more selected other user devices;

[0092] establishing a sidelink connection with the selected one or more other user equipments; and

[0093] receiving information of one or more interference channels;

[0094] receiving a positioning reference signal;

[0095] Using the received information of the interfering channel to at least partially suppress the effects of interference from the positioning reference signal; and

[0096] Sends positioning measurement information to the location management function. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0097] For a more complete understanding of example embodiments of the present invention, reference is now made to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0098] Figure 1illustrates a portion of an exemplary wireless communication access network in accordance with at least some embodiments of the present invention;

[0099] Figure 2 shows examples of communication settings in which some embodiments may be implemented;

[0100] Figure 3 An example of NR SL resource allocation mode 1 is shown;

[0101] Figure 4 An example of NR SL resource allocation mode 2 is shown;

[0102] Figure 5a An inter-UE coordination scenario is shown, where the coordinating UE is also the intended recipient of UE B's transmission; (b) the coordinating UE (UE A) is not the intended recipient of UE B's transmission;

[0103] Figure 5b An inter-UE coordination scenario is shown, where the coordinating UE is not the intended recipient of UE B’s transmission;

[0104] Figure 6 An example of a situation where an SSB transmitted by a TRP far from the UE is interfered by an SSB transmitted by a TRP close to the UE is shown;

[0105] Figure 7 illustrates an example of a use case scenario according to an embodiment;

[0106] Figure 8 is a signaling diagram according to an embodiment;

[0107] Figure 9a is a flow chart of a method for location management functionality according to an embodiment;

[0108] Figure 9b A flow chart of a method for a gNB according to an embodiment is shown;

[0109] Fig.9c A flow chart showing a method for a user equipment according to an embodiment; and

[0110] Fig.10 An apparatus according to an embodiment is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0111] The following embodiments are exemplary. Although the specification may refer to "one", "an" or "some" embodiments in multiple places, this does not necessarily mean that each such reference refers to the same embodiment, or that the feature applies to only a single embodiment. Individual features of different embodiments may also be combined to provide other embodiments.

[0112] A radio device may be a device configured to communicate over radio waves via a radio link (i.e., a wireless link). Communications may include user traffic and / or signaling. User traffic may include data, voice, video, and / or audio. Examples of wireless links include point-to-point wireless links and point-to-multipoint wireless links. A wireless link may be provided between two radio devices. It should be understood that there may be differences in radio devices. For example, a radio device connected by a wireless link may include one or more of a user equipment (UE), an access node, an access point, a relay node, a user terminal, and an Internet of Things (IoT) device.

[0113] The radio device may be a radio access device configured to serve a plurality of other radio devices, user radio devices and provide radio access to the communication system for the user radio devices. The radio device may also be a radio station used as a relay node or providing wireless backhaul for one or more radio access nodes. Examples of radio access devices include at least access nodes, access points, base stations and (e / g)NodeBs. Examples of user radio devices include at least user terminals and user equipment (UE). The radio device may be an aerial radio device and / or an extraterrestrial radio device configured to operate above the ground without being fixedly mounted to a specific height. Examples of extraterrestrial radio devices include at least satellites and spacecraft, which are configured to perform radio communications in a communication system, which may include both terrestrial and extraterrestrial radio devices. Examples of aerial radio devices include at least high altitude platform stations (HAPS) and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), such as drones. The radio access device may have one or more cells, to which the user radio device may be connected, in order to access the services of the communication system via the radio access device. These cells may include cells of different sizes, such as macro cells, micro cells, pico cells and femto cells. A macrocell may be a cell configured to provide coverage over a large coverage area in the service area of ​​a communication system, such as in a rural area or along a highway. A microcell may be a cell configured to provide coverage over a smaller coverage area than a macrocell, such as in a densely populated urban area. A picocell may be a cell configured to provide coverage over an area smaller than a microcell, such as in a large office, shopping mall, or train station. A femtocell may be a cell configured to provide coverage over an area smaller than a femtocell, such as in a home or a small office. For example, a macrocell provides coverage for user radio devices passing through a city on a highway / freeway, while a local cell (e.g., a microcell or a smaller cell) provides coverage for user radio devices within the city. In another example, a macrocell provides coverage for airborne radio devices and / or extraterrestrial radio devices, while a local cell (e.g., a microcell or a smaller cell) provides coverage for airborne radio devices and / or extraterrestrial radio devices located at a higher position relative to one or more radio access devices of the communication system. Thus, an airborne radio or an extraterrestrial radio may be connected to a microcell of a radio access device and when the airborne radio or the extraterrestrial radio exceeds a certain height from the ground, the airborne radio or the extraterrestrial radio may be switched to a macrocell, for example by a switching process.

[0114] Figure 1 An example of a simplified system architecture is depicted, showing only some elements and functional entities, which are all logical units and whose implementation may differ from what is shown. Figure 1The connections shown are logical connections; the actual physical connections may be different. For those skilled in the art, the system generally also includes Figure 1 Other functions and structures than those shown in the drawings are obvious.

[0115] Figure 1 The example of FIG. 1 shows a portion of an exemplary wireless access network.

[0116] Figure 1 User equipment 100 and 102 are shown, which are configured to wirelessly connect to an access node (such as an (e / g)NodeB, which may also be abbreviated as eNB / gNB) 104 providing the cell on one or more communication channels in the cell. The physical link from the user equipment to the (e / g)NodeB is called an uplink or reverse link, while the physical link from the (e / g)NodeB to the user equipment is called a downlink or forward link. It should be understood that the (e / g)NodeB or its functions may be implemented by using any entity such as a node, host, server or access point suitable for such purpose. The access node provides access through the communication of radio frequency (RF) signals and may be referred to as a radio access node. It should be understood that a wireless access network may include more than one access node, so that handover of a wireless connection of a user equipment from one cell of one access node (e.g., a source cell of a source access node) to another cell of another node (e.g., a target cell of a target access node) may be performed.

[0117] The communication channel used for wireless connection may also be referred to as a wireless communication channel implemented by a radio frequency signal, also referred to as a radio channel.

[0118] The communication system usually includes more than one (e / g)NodeB, in which case the (e / g)NodeB can also be configured to communicate with each other through wired or wireless links designed for this purpose. These links can be used for signaling purposes. (e / g)NodeB is a computing device configured to control the radio resources of the communication system to which it is coupled. NodeB can also be referred to as a base station, an access point or any other type of interface device, including a relay station capable of operating in a wireless environment. (e / g)NodeB includes or is coupled to a transceiver. From the transceiver of the (e / g)NodeB, a connection is provided to an antenna unit, which establishes a bidirectional radio link to a user equipment. The antenna unit may include multiple antennas or antenna elements. (e / g)NodeB is also connected to a core network 110 (CN or next generation core NGC). Depending on the system, the counterpart on the CN side may be a serving gateway (S-GW, routing and forwarding user data packets), a packet data network gateway (P-GW) (for providing user equipment (UE) connectivity to an external packet data network), or a mobile management entity (MME), etc.

[0119] User equipment (also referred to as UE, user equipment, user terminal, terminal device, wireless device, communication device, etc.) shows a device to which resources on an air interface are allocated and assigned, and therefore, any features with user equipment described herein can be implemented using corresponding devices (such as relay nodes). An example of such a relay node is a layer 3 relay (self-backhaul relay) toward a base station.

[0120] User equipment generally refers to a portable computing device, which includes wireless mobile communication devices that operate with or without a subscriber identification module (SIM), including but not limited to the following types of devices: mobile stations (mobile phones), smart phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), mobile phones, devices using wireless modems (alarms or measuring devices, etc.), laptops and / or touch screen computers, tablet computers, game consoles, notebooks, and multimedia devices. It should be understood that user equipment can also be almost exclusively uplink-only devices, one example of which is a camera or video camera that loads images or video clips to a network. User equipment can also be a device with the ability to operate in an Internet of Things (IoT) network, which is a scenario in which objects are provided with the ability to transmit data over a network without human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction. User equipment can also utilize the cloud. In some applications, a user device may include a small portable device (such as a watch, headset, or glasses) with a radio component, and the calculation is performed in the cloud. The user device (or in some embodiments, a layer 3 relay node) is configured to perform one or more of the user device functions. A user device may also be called a subscriber unit, a mobile station, a remote terminal, an access terminal, a user terminal, or user equipment (UE), to name a few names or devices.

[0121] Furthermore, although the apparatus has been described as a single entity, different units, processors and / or memory units ( Figure 1 Not all are shown) can be implemented.

[0122] 5G enables multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antennas, many more base stations or nodes than LTE (the so-called small cell concept), including macro sites operating in cooperation with small stations, and adopts various radio technologies depending on service requirements, use cases and / or available spectrum. 5G mobile communications support a wide range of use cases and related applications, including video streaming, augmented reality, different ways of data sharing and various forms of machine-type applications (such as (massive) machine-type communications (mMTC)), including vehicle safety, different sensors and real-time control. 5G is expected to have multiple radio interfaces, namely below 6GHz, centimeter wave and millimeter wave, and can also be integrated with existing traditional radio access technologies (such as LTE). At least in the early stages, integration with LTE can be implemented as a system in which macro coverage is provided by LTE and 5G radio interface access comes from small cells aggregated to LTE. In other words, 5G plans to support both inter-RAT operability (such as LTE-5G) and inter-RI operability (inter-radio interface operability, such as below 6GHz-centimeter wave, below 6GHz-centimeter wave-millimeter wave). One of the concepts being considered for use in 5G networks is network slicing, where multiple independent and dedicated virtual subnetworks (network instances) can be created within the same infrastructure to run services with different requirements for latency, reliability, throughput, and mobility.

[0123] The communication system can also communicate with other networks, such as the public switched telephone network or the Internet 112, or utilize services provided by them. The communication network can also support the use of cloud services, for example, at least part of the core network operations can be performed as a cloud service (this is in the Figure 1 The communication system may also include a central control entity, an operation and maintenance manager, etc., to provide collaboration facilities for networks of different operators, for example in terms of spectrum sharing.

[0124] Edge cloud can be introduced into the radio access network (RAN) by leveraging network function virtualization (NFV) and software defined networking (SDN). Using edge cloud may mean that access node operations are at least partially performed in a server, host or node that is operationally coupled to a remote radio head or base station including radio components. Node operations may also be distributed among multiple servers, nodes or hosts. The application of cloudRAN architecture enables RAN real-time functions to be performed on the RAN side (in the distributed unit DU 104) and non-real-time functions can be performed in a centralized manner (in the centralized unit CU 108).

[0125] It should also be understood that the division of labor between core network operations and base station operations may be different from LTE or even non-existent. Some other technological advances that may be used are big data and all-IP, which may change the way networks are built and managed. 5G (or New Radio NR) networks are being designed to support multiple hierarchical structures, where MEC servers can be placed between the core and the base station or NodeB (gNB). It should be understood that MEC can also be applied to 4G networks.

[0126] 5G can also make use of satellite communications to enhance or supplement the coverage of 5G services, for example by providing backhaul. Possible use cases are to provide service continuity for machine-to-machine (M2M) or Internet of Things (IoT) devices or passengers on board, or to ensure service availability for critical communications and future railway / maritime / aeronautical communications. Satellite communications can make use of geostationary orbit (GEO) satellite systems as well as low earth orbit (LEO) satellite systems, in particular mega constellations (systems in which hundreds of (nano) satellites are deployed). Each satellite 106 in a mega constellation can cover multiple satellite-enabled network entities that create ground cells. Ground cells can be created by ground relay nodes 104 or by gNBs located on the ground or in satellites.

[0127] It is obvious to a person skilled in the art that the depicted system is only an example of a part of a radio access system, and in practice the system may include multiple (e / g)NodeBs, user equipment may have access to multiple radio cells, and the system may also include other devices, such as physical layer relay nodes or other network elements. At least one (e / g)NodeB may be a home (e / g)NodeB. In addition, in a geographical area of ​​the radio communication system, multiple different types of radio cells as well as multiple radio cells may be provided. A radio cell may be a macro cell (or umbrella cell), which is a large cell typically having a diameter of up to tens of kilometers, or may be a smaller cell, such as a micro, femto or pico cell. Figure 1 An (e / g)NodeB can provide any of these types of cells. A cellular radio system can be implemented as a multi-layer network including several types of cells. Usually, in a multi-layer network, one access node provides one or several types of cells, so multiple (e / g)NodeBs are needed to provide such a network structure.

[0128] However, the embodiments are not limited to the systems given as examples, but a person skilled in the art may apply the solution to other communication systems provided with the necessary properties.

[0129] The nature of the sidelink (SL) is directed according to the transmitting user equipment (Tx UE), where the receiving user equipment (Rx UE) may need to continuously monitor all possible PSCCH (Physical Sidelink Control Channel) instances to receive the sidelink transmission through one or more pre-configured resource pools. There are at least two allocation modes for sidelink transmission. The first mode, Mode 1, is a base station (BS) scheduling mode, where the serving base station allocates resources for the sidelink transmission to the user equipment, while the second mode, Mode 2, is an autonomous UE selection mode, where the user equipment can allocate resources for the sidelink transmission without the intervention of the base station. These modes, which can also be denoted as NR SL Mode 1 and NR SL Mode 2, make no difference to the user equipment Rx UE receiving the sidelink, whether the sidelink is used for broadcast, multicast or unicast. The sidelink can be applied to both in-coverage and out-of-coverage (Tx UE and Rx UE from different serving PLMNs) with multi-PLMN support.

[0130] Below, according to one method, the overview of the NR side link is referenced Figure 3 and Figure 4 and is briefly explained.

[0131] In Mode 1, where the gNB is responsible for SL resource allocation, configuration and operation are similar to those on the Uu interface. Figure 3 is shown in a simplified manner. If the first UE (SL Tx) receives information to be sent to the second UE (SL Rx) using a sidelink transmission, the first UE sends a sidelink resource request SL-SR to the gNB. Once the sidelink request is granted and if the gNB can reserve resources for the first UE, the gNB can supply resource allocations for the PSCCH and PSSCH (Physical Sidelink Shared Channel). The PSSCH carries data and the PSCCH carries control information for decoding data channels. The gNB sends the resource allocation information to the first UE, which the first UE can then use to initiate sidelink communication with the second UE. The first UE can then perform a transmission to the second UE via the PSCCH and PSSCH. The second UE can confirm the received packet by sending an acknowledgment to the first UE in the Physical Sidelink Feedback Channel (PSFCH). In some methods, the acknowledgment is only sent if an error occurs when receiving a packet from the first UE.

[0132] In Mode 2, the first UE and the second UE autonomously perform sidelink establishment, so that the first UE performs resource selection with the help of a sensing process. More specifically, the SL Tx UE in NR SL Mode 2 first performs a sensing process on the configured (multiple) SL transmission resource pools in order to obtain knowledge of the (multiple) resources reserved by other nearby (multiple) SL Tx UEs. Based on the knowledge obtained from the sensing, the SL Tx UE can correspondingly select (multiple) resources from the available SL resources. In order for the SL UE to perform sensing and obtain the information required to receive the SL transmission, it needs to decode the sidelink control information (SCI).

[0133] In other words, in Mode 2, the sensing operation may include first sensing within a sensing window, then excluding resources reserved by other UEs, and selecting a final resource within a selection window. In Mode 2, shortly before transmitting in the reserved resources, the first UE re-evaluates the resource set to check whether its intended transmission is still suitable. In this re-evaluation, the first UE may take into account possible non-periodic transmissions after the resource reservation. If the reserved resources are not part of the selection set at this time, new resources are selected from the updated resource selection window. In addition to the re-evaluation, preemption is introduced so that the UE selects a new resource after declaring resource reservation when it observes a resource conflict with a higher priority transmission from another UE. According to one method, the process is Figure 4 is shown in .

[0134] In the following, according to one method, some details of the coordination between UEs will be referred to Figure 5a and 5b is described.

[0135] exist Figure 5a In the example of , where the coordinating UE (UE A) is also the intended recipient of UE B's transmission, a resource set is determined at UE-A. This set is sent to UE-B in Mode 2, and UE-B takes this into account in resource selection for its own transmission. This solution may be able to operate in in-coverage, partial coverage, and out-of-coverage, and address continuous data packet loss in all coverage scenarios.

[0136] In one of the inter-UE coordination scenarios, the intended recipient of the transmission of the coordinating UE (UE A) other than UE B is the intended recipient of the transmission, such as Figure 5bAs shown, UE A (Rx-UE) selects (multiple) preferred SL transmission resources (e.g., based on the results of its sensing process) and recommends (multiple) selected resources to UE B (Tx-UE), wherein UE B selects its SL transmission resources by considering the (multiple) resources indicated by UE A and additionally performing its own sensing, e.g., UE B may or may not use the (multiple) recommended resources to transmit to UE A. Therefore, by using the inter-UE coordination scheme, UE A can attempt to ensure that there are no packet collisions or strong interferences on its (multiple) selected resources, and therefore, transmissions from UE B to UE A can be performed with high (higher) reliability.

[0137] In another inter-UE coordination scenario (denoted as Inter-UE Coordination Scheme 2 in 3GPP), UE A monitors the transmissions occurring in the SL resource pool, and each time a collision or half-duplex problem is detected (either in the past or in the future resources), UE A then notifies the affected UEs.

[0138] As described earlier in this specification, the near-far problem may cause the target UE to be unable to decode the positioning reference signal and calculate reliable positioning measurements, which may cause inaccurate position estimates. A straightforward solution is to orthogonalize the positioning reference signal with external control signals such as synchronization signal blocks (or all other data signals in extreme cases). However, this solution is not scalable for two main reasons. First, a single target UE needs to periodically receive positioning reference signals from multiple sources (such as from both serving cells and non-serving cells), and this solution will ultimately result in reserving most (if not all) of the available spectrum for positioning purposes only. Second, increased network density means that there is a high probability that other nearby UEs need to be served while performing positioning of the target UE.

[0139] A much more computationally expensive solution is for the target UE to attempt to decode and cancel the interference from the SSB before decoding the PRS. This approach is not suitable for delay-sensitive positioning and / or power-limited UEs, which are typically not equipped with positioning receivers capable of advanced interference estimation and / or cancellation.

[0140] To overcome the shortcomings of the above solutions, a cooperation framework between neighboring devices has been developed that allows positioning and communication applications to coexist in the same spectrum without relying on advanced positioning receiver capabilities on the target UE side.

[0141] According to one embodiment, the example scenario is Figure 7 is depicted in , and an example of signaling is in Figure 8. The target UE 704 is triggered to perform downlink positioning at a first time t1. Since the positioning reference signal from the transmission reception point (TRP) gNB 701 is interfered by a much stronger synchronization signal block (SSB) from another gNB 702 that is closer to the target UE 704 than gNB 701, it may happen that the positioning reference signal from the transmission reception point gNB 701 cannot be successfully decoded and the positioning accuracy is affected. To mitigate this situation, the following process can be utilized.

[0142] The location management function (LMF) 703 receives a location request for a target UE 704. The location management function 703 evaluates ( Figure 8 801 in block 802) whether the target UE 704 may experience positioning interference. For example, based on the serving cell / beam information, the LMF 703 may be able to find out a rough location of the target UE 704. The rough location may be related to high levels of heterogeneous interference reported by other past / current target UEs (e.g., by UE 705) or marked by one or more gNBs via an explicit NR Positioning Protocol A (NRPPa) message triggered by the LMF request.

[0143] Based on the results of heterogeneous interference levels reported by other past and / or current target UEs or flagged by one or more gNBs, the location management function 703 identifies which channels are causing interference. In this specification, such channels are referred to as interferer channels.

[0144] If the result of the identification is positive, i.e. there may be interference from one or more external control channels, the location management function 703 identifies 802 one or more nearby neighboring UEs that are actively monitoring the channel(s) considered as interference sources for their own radio resource management (RRM) purposes, i.e. estimating the channel conditions towards the interference source channel(s), e.g. by estimating the propagation conditions of the interference source channel (i.e. the radio channel). An example of a nearby UE is Figure 7 Such neighboring UEs may be defined as UEs that share the same serving beam index, cell sector, etc.

[0145] The location management function 703 requests 803 the gNB serving one or more SL-UEs ( Figure 8 In the example of serving_gNB1), the UE served by this gNB (SL_UE1) can record and share the interference source control channel information (SSB-CI) to the target UE. Such SSB-CI can refer to channel frequency response (CFR), impulse response, main path gain and delay, etc.

[0146] exist Figure 8In the example, the location management function 703 also requests 804 another gNB (serving_gNB2) to enable the UE served by the gNB (SL_UE2) to record and share the interference source control channel information (SSB-CI) to the target UE.

[0147] Messages 803, 804 may contain an explicit list of neighbor UE IDs, e.g. if they have been previously / recently located by the LMF 703, or a comprehensive request for SSB-CI using the serving cell, serving beam index of the target UE. This means that the gNB needs to select the helper UE itself using the target UE's information and the SSB-CI configuration request.

[0148] After the corresponding gNBs evaluate the LMF request, they use and / or modify 805, 806 the LMF parameterization and select one or more helper UEs to collect SSB-CI. Subsequently, serving_gNB1 configures the corresponding SL session by sending an SSB-CI collection configuration message 807 to SL_UE1, and correspondingly, serving_gNB2 configures the corresponding SL session by sending an SSB-CI collection configuration message 808 to SL_UE2. The SSB-CI collection configuration messages 807, 808 send the corresponding SL session to the helper (i.e. Figure 8 SL_UE1, SL_UE2 in the example of indicates the strategy for collecting SSB-CI, such as duration, bandwidth part (BWP), etc. The serving_gNB1 reports the modification and SL-UE downselection back to the LMF via sending message 809 to the location management function 703, and the services_gNB2 reports the corresponding modification and SL-UE downselection back to the location management function 703 via sending message 810 to the location management function 703. The location management function 703 propagates the reported modifications and SL-UE downselection for each selected helper UE to the target UE via message 811. It should be noted that the blocking SL session can also be transmitted to the serving gNB of the target UE directly (via NRPPa) or to the target UE (via RRC signaling) through the location management function 703.

[0149] Sharing of the interferer control channel information SSB-CI is achieved via SL at time instance t2, where t2 may be immediately before or after time instance t1, as determined by the location management function 703. Sharing based on SL may be achieved via broadcast / multicast messages, so that all nearby target UEs can utilize this information or unicast messages, where a single target UE will benefit.

[0150] The serving gNB configures the SL-UE to record the SSB-CI for time instance t < t1 (i.e., before the target UE 704 is triggered to perform downlink positioning), and establishes a sidelink to the target UE to share the SSB-CI with the target UE at time instance t2.

[0151] The Location Management Function 703 triggers DL positioning for the target UE at time instance t1, and the target UE collects positioning reference signal samples according to the instruction.

[0152] At time t2, once messages 811, 807, and 808 have been received, the SL session can be deployed and started. The target UE and SL-UE1 establish 812 SL communication, and the target UE receives the SSB-CI from SL_UE1. Similarly, the target UE and SL-UE2 also establish 813 SL communication, and the target UE receives the SSB-CI from SL_UE2. After receiving the collected SSB_Cis from the helper UEs (i.e., SL_UE1 and SL_UE2), the target UE performs measurements through blocks 816 and 817 before collecting its own PRS measurements (block 818).

[0153] Next, the process that the target UE can perform in block 816 is described according to an embodiment.

[0154] Depending on the type of report, the target UE can use different strategies to combine the SSB_CI reports. For example, if the SSB-CI is reported as a Channel Frequency Response (CFR), the target UE can perform one or more of the following:

[0155] - Apply a weighted average operation to all CFR reports;

[0156] - Perform an Inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT) on each Channel Frequency Response (CFR), and superimpose the results. For example, the target UE can interleave the resulting Channel Impulse Responses (CIRs), and then perform an FFT to obtain the combined channel frequency response;

[0157] - Apply a phase shift proportional to the distance to the SL-UE to the resulting CIR; and / or

[0158] - Apply one-dimensional (1D), two-dimensional (2D), or three-dimensional (3D) filtering (e.g., Wiener) to all channel frequency responses, depending on whether the channel frequency responses are collected on different subcarriers, at different time instances, and at different helper UE positions. It should be noted that 1D filtering refers to frequency domain filtering, 2D refers to both frequency and time, and 3D introduces additional spatial filtering, i.e., takes into account the spatial correlation of the channels between different positions.

[0159] In another example, if SSB-CI is reported as the channel impulse response, the target UE may interleave the channel impulse response taps in increasing order of their delays and then perform an FFT to obtain a combined channel frequency response.

[0160] It should be noted that if the target UE receives SSB_CI reports from only one SL_UE, the combining process of 816 does not need to be performed.

[0161] Block 817 illustrates the utilization of the generated interference model by the target UE. The target UE may use the generated interference model of the interferer channel and use it to clean the received PRS samples, for example, through interference suppression / cancellation type techniques such as serial / parallel interference cancellation, iterative interference cancellation, etc. The target UE then proceeds to perform standard positioning measurements on the resulting signal. It should be noted that in the case where multiple SL-UEs share their corresponding SSB-CIs, the target UE should first obtain the combined SSB-CI and then clean the signal using the combined channel impulse (CI).

[0162] In this context, cleaning the signal does not necessarily mean that the effect of the interference is completely eliminated, but rather partially suppressed.

[0163] The combined SSB-CI can be achieved, for example, by taking a weighted average, where the weight is proportional to the SL physical channel SNR, or inversely proportional to the distance to each SL-UE, the age of the SSB-CI report, etc.

[0164] In another embodiment, the weight may be calculated as a phase shift of the channel pulse proportional to the distance to the SL-UE.

[0165] If the channel pulses are represented as CIR or main taps, the combined SSB-CI can be obtained by superimposing all taps.

[0166] When the target UE has performed cleaning of the received PRS samples, the target UE may perform positioning measurements and collect 818 PRS measurement values. The results of the positioning measurements may be reported 819 to the location management function 703 by the target UE.

[0167] It should be noted that although the above description shows that two SL_UEs participate in the process, the number of SL_UEs is not limited to two, and the number of participating SL_UEs may be greater than two, or only one SL_UE may participate in the process. In addition, the number of participating SL_UEs may be different in different situations.

[0168] The above process may enable spectrum efficient positioning and communication services, for example because interference from other strong signals may be reduced.

[0169] Figure 9aA flow chart of a method of a location management function 703 according to an embodiment is shown. The method includes: determining 901 that a user equipment may experience positioning interference; identifying 902 one or more radio channels causing interference; causing 903 selection of one or more other user equipment, the one or more other user equipment monitoring at least one of the identified one or more radio channels; based on an instruction 904 checking one or more other user equipment among the existing one or more other user equipment to obtain control channel information of one or more radio channels among the identified radio channels; obtaining 905 information of the selected one or more other user equipment; providing 906 the information of the selected one or more other user equipment to a first user equipment for establishing a side link connection with the selected one or more other user equipment and for receiving control channel information of the one or more radio channels causing interference; instructing 907 the user equipment to perform positioning measurements; and receiving 908 positioning measurement information from the user equipment.

[0170] Figure 9b A flow chart of a method for a gNB according to an embodiment is shown. The method comprises: receiving 911 a request for selection of one or more other user equipments from a location management function to monitor at least one of the one or more radio channels identified in the request; using or modifying 912 a location management function parameter setting; selecting 913 one or more other user equipments to collect control channel information of one or more of the identified radio channels; sending 914 the location management function parameter setting to the selected one or more other user equipments; and sending 915 the location management function parameter setting and information of the selected one or more other user equipments to the location management function.

[0171] Fig.9c A flow chart of a method for a user equipment UE according to an embodiment is shown. The method comprises: receiving 921 information of one or more other user equipments selected; establishing 922 a side link connection with the one or more other user equipments selected; receiving 923 control channel information of one or more radio channels causing interference; receiving 924 a positioning reference signal; using 925 the received control channel information to at least partially suppress the influence of interference from the positioning reference signal; and sending 926 information of positioning measurements to a location management function.

[0172] Fig.10 An example of an apparatus according to at least some embodiments of the present invention is shown. The apparatus may be a radio device, such as a radio access node or a user radio device. The apparatus may perform one or more functions according to the examples described herein.

[0173] The apparatus includes a processor 602 and a transceiver 604. The processor is operably connected to the transceiver for controlling the transceiver. The apparatus may include a memory 606. The memory may be operably connected to the processor. It should be understood that the memory may be a separate memory or included in the processor and / or the transceiver.

[0174] According to an embodiment, the processor is configured to control the transceiver to perform one or more functions described according to the embodiment.

[0175] The memory may be a non-transitory computer-readable medium. The memory may be of any type suitable for the local technical environment and may be implemented using any suitable data storage technology, such as semiconductor-based memory devices, magnetic memory devices and systems, optical memory devices and systems, fixed memory, and removable memory. The data processor may be of any type suitable for the local technical environment and may include, as non-limiting examples, one or more of the following: a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a microprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP), and a processor based on a multi-core processor architecture.

[0176] Embodiments may be implemented in software, hardware, application logic, or a combination of software, hardware, and application logic. The software, application logic, and / or hardware may reside in memory or on any computer medium. In an example embodiment, the application logic, software, or instruction set is stored on any of a variety of conventional computer-readable media. In the context of this document, "memory" or "computer-readable medium" may be any medium or component that can contain, store, convey, propagate, or transmit instructions for use by or in conjunction with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device (such as a computer).

[0177] It should be understood that, where relevant, references to "computer-readable storage medium", "computer program product", "tangibly embodied computer program", etc. or "processor" or "processing circuit system", etc. include not only computers with different architectures (such as single / multi-processor architectures and sequential / parallel architectures), but also special-purpose circuits (such as field programmable gate arrays FPGAs, special-purpose circuits ASICs, signal processing devices and other devices). References to computer-readable program code components, computer programs, computer instructions, computer code, etc. should be understood to express software for programmable processor firmware (such as the programmable content of a hardware device) as instructions for a processor or configuration or configuration settings for a fixed-function device, gate array, programmable logic device, etc.

[0178] The above-described example embodiments or parts thereof may be implemented within a user radio equipment, a UE, a radio access equipment or a gNB.

[0179] Generally, various embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in hardware or dedicated circuits or any combination thereof. Although various aspects of the present disclosure may be illustrated and described with block diagrams or using other graphical representations, it should be fully understood that, as non-limiting examples, these blocks, devices, systems, techniques or methods described herein may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, dedicated circuits or logic, general purpose hardware or controllers or other computing devices, or some combination thereof.

[0180] As used in this application, the term "circuitry" may refer to one or more or all of the following:

[0181] (a) hardware circuit implementation only (e.g., implementation only in analog and / or digital circuitry) and

[0182] (b) a combination of hardware circuitry and software such as (where applicable):

[0183] (i) a combination of analog and / or digital hardware circuits and software / firmware and

[0184] (ii) any portion of hardware processor(s) with software (including digital signal processor(s), software and memory(s) that work together to enable a device (such as a mobile phone or server) to perform various functions and

[0185] (c) Hardware circuits and / or processor(s), such as microprocessor(s) or portion(s) of microprocessor(s), require software (e.g., firmware) to operate, but the software may not be present when the software is not required for operation.

[0186] This definition of circuitry applies to all uses of this term in this application, including in any claims. As a further example, as used in this application, the term "circuitry" also covers an implementation of only a hardware circuit or processor (or multiple processors) or a portion of a hardware circuit or processor and its (or their) accompanying software and / or firmware. The term "circuitry" also covers, for example, a baseband integrated circuit or processor integrated circuit for a mobile device or a similar integrated circuit in a server, cellular network device, or other computing or network device, if applicable to the particular claim element.

[0187] The foregoing description has provided by way of exemplary and non-limiting examples a complete and informative description of exemplary embodiments of the present invention. However, various modifications and adaptations may become apparent to those skilled in the relevant arts in view of the foregoing description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the appended claims. Nevertheless, all such and similar modifications to the teachings of the present invention will still fall within the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A device comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program code; The at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to: determining that the first user equipment may experience positioning interference; identifying one or more radio channels causing the interference as interfering channels; causing selection of one or more other user devices that have been determined to monitor at least one interfering channel of the identified one or more interfering channels; Obtaining information of the selected one or more other user devices; Providing the information of the selected one or more other user equipments to the first user equipment, so as to establish a side link connection with the selected one or more other user equipments and receive the information of the one or more interference channels; Instructing the first user equipment to perform positioning measurement; as well as The positioning measurement information is received from the first user equipment.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the at least one memory has a computer program code stored thereon, the at least one memory and the computer program code being configured to, together with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least perform: A request is sent to a gNB serving the one or more other user equipments, the one or more other user equipments having been determined to monitor at least one of the one or more identified interference channels, the request instructing the gNB to cause the one or more other user equipments to record control channel information of the one or more interference channels, estimate and store propagation conditions of the one or more interference channels, and share the obtained information of the one or more interference channels with the first user equipment.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the at least one memory has computer program code stored thereon, the at least one memory and the computer program code being configured to, together with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least: Causing selection of one or more other user devices among user devices having at least one of the following: Same service beam index, The same cell sector, List of gNBs in the same cell, Same second best serving beam index.

4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the at least one memory has a computer program code stored thereon, the at least one memory and the computer program code being configured to, together with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least perform: Send location management function requests to one or more gNBs; receiving one or more responses to the request; and The response is examined to determine whether the response includes an indication of interference.

5. A method comprising: determining that the first user equipment may experience positioning interference; identifying one or more radio channels causing the interference as interfering channels; causing selection of one or more other user devices that have been determined to monitor at least one interfering channel of the identified one or more interfering channels; Based on instructing a check of one or more other user equipments among the one or more existing other user equipments, to obtain information of one or more interference channels of the interference channel; Obtaining information of the selected one or more other user devices; Providing the information of the selected one or more other user equipments to the first user equipment, so as to establish a side link connection with the selected one or more other user equipments and receive the information of the one or more interference channels; Instructing the first user equipment to perform positioning measurement; as well as The positioning measurement information is received from the first user equipment.

6. A device comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program code; The at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to: receiving, from a location management function, a request for selection of one or more other user equipment that has been determined to monitor at least one of the one or more radio channels identified in the request; Use or modify the location management function parameter settings; selecting one or more of the other user devices to collect channel information for one or more of the identified radio channels and to estimate channel conditions for one or more of the identified channels; Sending the location management function parameter setting to the selected one or more other user equipments; as well as The location management function parameter setting and the selected one or more other user equipment information are sent to the location management function.

7. The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the at least one memory has a computer program code stored thereon, the at least one memory and the computer program code being configured to, together with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least perform: Send an SSB-CI collection configuration message to the selected one or more other user equipments, indicating the strategy for collecting SSB-CI by the one or more other user equipments.

8. A method comprising: receiving, from a location management function, a request for selection of one or more other user equipment that has been determined to monitor at least one of the one or more radio channels identified in the request; Use or modify the location management function parameter settings; as well as selecting one or more of the other user devices to collect channel information for one or more of the identified radio channels and to estimate channel conditions for one or more of the identified channels; Sending the location management function parameter setting to the selected one or more other user equipments; as well as The location management function parameter setting and the selected one or more other user equipment information are sent to the location management function.

9. An apparatus comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory including computer program code; The at least one memory and the computer program code are configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to: receiving information from one or more selected other user devices; Establishing a sidelink connection with the selected one or more other user equipments; and receiving information of one or more interference channels; receiving a positioning reference signal; using the received information of the interfering channel to at least partially suppress the effect of interference from the positioning reference signal; as well as The information of the positioning measurement is sent to a location management function.

10. The apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the at least one memory has a computer program code stored thereon, the at least one memory and the computer program code being configured to, together with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least perform: combining a plurality of received channel information to form combined channel information; and The combined channel information is used to at least partially suppress the effect of interference from the positioning reference signal.

11. The apparatus according to claim 9 or 10, wherein the at least one memory has a computer program code stored thereon, the at least one memory and the computer program code being configured to, together with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to at least: generating an interference model of the interference channel based on the received information of the interference channel; and The interference model is used to at least partially suppress the effects of interference.

12. A method comprising: receiving information from one or more selected other user devices; Establishing a side link connection with the selected one or more other user equipments; as well as receiving information of one or more interference channels; receiving a positioning reference signal; using the received information of the interfering channel to at least partially suppress the effects of interference from the positioning reference signal; as well as The information of the positioning measurement is sent to a location management function.

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