Vehicle fine tuning via C-V2X

Abstract

Techniques are provided for leveraging vehicle trim information over a V2X communication link. An example method for providing fine tuning information includes detecting a road gap proximate a first vehicle in an area including a plurality of vehicles; generating a trim message based at least in part on the road void; and sending the fine tuning message.

Description

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This application claims the benefit of U.S. patent application No. 17 / 845,339, entitled “VEHICLENUDGE VIA C-V2X,” filed on June 21, 2022, which is assigned to the assignee of this application, and the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference for all purposes. Background Art

[0003] The following relates generally to wireless communications, and more particularly to providing nudge instructions to a vehicle via a vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication link.

[0004] Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication content, such as voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcasting, and the like. These systems may be able to support communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources (e.g., time, frequency, and power). Examples of such multiple access systems include fourth generation (4G) systems (such as long term evolution (LTE) systems, advanced LTE (LTE-A) systems, or LTE-A Pro systems) and fifth generation (5G) systems (which may be referred to as new radio (NR) systems). These systems may employ various technologies, such as code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), or discrete Fourier transform spread OFDM (DFT-S-OFDM). A wireless multiple access communication system may include multiple base stations or network access nodes, each of which simultaneously supports communication of multiple communication devices (which may be referred to as user equipment (UE) in other aspects).

[0005] In some wireless communication systems (such as distributed wireless networks), wireless devices (e.g., UEs) may communicate directly with each other (e.g., via sidelink communications) and may support various radio frequency and / or baseband capabilities. In some cases, direct communication between wireless devices may include direct communication between vehicles, and systems using such communication may sometimes be referred to as vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication systems. For example, a V2X communication link may be configured to convey important information about severe weather, nearby accidents, road conditions, and / or the activities of nearby vehicles between vehicles. V2X communication systems may also be used by autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicles (e.g., self-driving vehicles or vehicles that provide driver assistance) and may provide additional information beyond the scope of existing systems for vehicles. Such V2X communication links may provide certain safety-related information (e.g., location, direction of travel, speed, etc.) in unencrypted messages so that other vehicles can receive such information. Summary of the invention

[0006] An example method for providing fine-tuning information according to the present disclosure includes detecting a road gap proximate to a first vehicle in an area containing a plurality of vehicles; generating a fine-tuning message based at least in part on the road gap; and transmitting the fine-tuning message.

[0007] Specific implementations of this method may include one or more of the following features. One or more basic safety messages may be received from the plurality of vehicles, such that detecting a road gap is based at least in part on the one or more basic safety messages. Image information may be received from one or more cameras disposed in the area, such that detecting a road gap is based at least in part on the image information. The fine-tuning message may be an enhanced roadside safety message including a vehicle gap container. The vehicle gap container may include an indication of the length of the road gap. The fine-tuning message may be a traffic flow optimization message. Sending the fine-tuning message may include sending a unicast message from a roadside unit to a first vehicle. Sending the fine-tuning message may include sending a fine-tuning message from a cellular base station to the first vehicle. Sending the fine-tuning message may include sending a fine-tuning message from a second vehicle to the first vehicle, such that the second vehicle may be configured to detect a road gap proximate to the first vehicle and generate a fine-tuning message based at least in part on the road gap. Sending the fine-tuning message may include sending a fine-tuning message from a multi-access edge computing (MEC) server to the first vehicle. The fine-tuning message may be sent via a wide area network communication protocol. The fine-tuning message may be multicast to the plurality of vehicles. Sending the fine-tuning message may include sending the fine-tuning message to a roadside entity close to the first vehicle. The roadside entity may be a traffic light including a rectangular fast flashing beacon. The roadside entity is a road sign.

[0008] An example method for responding to a fine tuning message according to the present disclosure includes: providing one or more basic safety messages to a roadside unit; receiving a fine tuning message; and performing a vehicle response based on the fine tuning message.

[0009] Specific implementations of this method may include one or more of the following features. The fine-tuning message may include an enhanced roadside safety message, the enhanced roadside safety message including a vehicle gap container. The vehicle gap container may include an indication of the length of the road gap. The fine-tuning message may be a traffic flow optimization message. Receiving the fine-tuning message may include receiving the fine-tuning message from a cellular base station. Receiving the fine-tuning message may include receiving the fine-tuning message from a roadside unit. The fine-tuning message may be included in a multicast message. Receiving the fine-tuning message may include receiving the fine-tuning message from a multi-access edge computing (MEC) server. The vehicle response may include moving the autonomous vehicle into the road gap. The vehicle response may include detecting the road gap using an onboard sensor and providing an alert to the vehicle operator in response to detecting the road gap. The vehicle response may include presenting a visual representation of the fine-tuning request on a display in the vehicle, presenting an audio representation of the fine-tuning request on an audio output in the vehicle, presenting a tactile response in the vehicle, or any combination thereof.

[0010] The items and / or technologies described herein may provide one or more of the following capabilities and other capabilities not mentioned. Vehicles in busy traffic areas such as intersections, toll booths, checkpoints, etc. may provide basic safety information (BSM) to nearby roadside units (RSUs). The RSU may be configured to determine road gaps between vehicles based on the BSM. The RSU may also receive other information from cameras and radio frequency (RF) sensing devices to determine road gaps. The RSU may generate a fine-tuning message to notify the operator to move his vehicle into the road gap. The RSU may send a fine-tuning message or utilize another radio access technology to transmit a fine-tuning message to the vehicle. Vehicle congestion in busy traffic areas may be reduced. Other capabilities may be provided, and not every specific implementation according to the present disclosure must provide any of the capabilities discussed, let alone all of the capabilities. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0011] Figure 1 is a simplified diagram of an example wireless communication system.

[0012] Figure 2 yes Figure 1 A block diagram of components of an example user equipment is shown.

[0013] Figure 3 is a block diagram of the components of an example send / receive point.

[0014] Figure 4 is a block diagram of the components of a server.

[0015] Figure 5 is a system diagram illustrating various entities configured to utilize a V2X communication link.

[0016] FIG. 6A to FIG. 6CIncluded are diagrams of example use cases for providing vehicle fine-tuning information.

[0017] Fig. 7A and Figure 7B are example trim instructions provided to a vehicle operator.

[0018] Figure 8 is an example message flow that provides vehicle fine-tuning information.

[0019] Fig. 9 is an Abstract System Notation (ASN) representation of an example Roadside Safety Message (RSM) with a fine-tuning request.

[0020] Fig.10 is an ASN representation of an example traffic flow optimization message for enabling a fine-tuning request.

[0021] Fig.11 are process flow messages of an example method for providing fine tuning messages to a vehicle.

[0022] Fig.12 is a process flow for an example method for responding to a spinner message. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0023] This article discusses techniques for providing fine-tuning information to vehicles via V2X communication links. V2X, including cellular V2X (C-V2X) technology, enables radio frequency (RF) communications between vehicles and other wireless nodes, such as other vehicles, roadside units (RSUs), vulnerable road users (VRUs), and cellular networks. In addition to supporting safety applications, C-V2X technology, and in particular NR C-V2X, can also be used for advanced use cases, such as cooperative driving or platooning. C-V2X communications can also be used in smart road management applications to alleviate road congestion by enabling efficient road use. Examples of inefficient road use include unnecessary large distances between non-moving vehicles waiting at traffic light intersections, toll booths, parking lot exits, checkpoints, etc. Vehicle operators (e.g., drivers) often ignore the fact that they are blocking lanes, and if they have more space on the road, the vehicles behind them can easily move to the preferred lane. This type of inefficiency may cause such victim vehicles to miss their traffic lights, causing dissatisfaction, while causing traffic jams. Therefore, there is a need to utilize C-V2X messages to fine-tune vehicles ahead of congested roads.

[0024] In one example, an RSU located near an intersection may receive V2X messages, such as basic safety messages (BSM) and / or dedicated short-range communications (DSRC) messages, from a vehicle at the intersection. The message may include information elements such as the current location (e.g., latitude, longitude, altitude, location accuracy) and other status information associated with the vehicle (e.g., gearbox and speed, heading, brake system status, etc.). The RSU may be configured to detect gaps between vehicles based on BSM information. In one example, one or more cameras located at an intersection may be configured to detect gaps between vehicles based on image analysis. The RSU may provide instructions to the vehicle causing the gap to fine-tune forward to narrow the gap. The instructions may cause the autonomous vehicle to move forward, or they may cause a notification on a display to alert the vehicle operator to move forward. In one example, other signal transmission methods such as road signs and traffic lights outside the vehicle may be used to alert the operator to move his vehicle and narrow the gap. However, other configurations may be used.

[0025] Obtaining the location of a mobile device accessing a wireless network can be used for many applications, including, for example, emergency calls, personal navigation, consumer asset tracking, locating friends or family members, etc. Existing positioning methods include methods based on measuring radio signals transmitted from various devices or entities, including satellite vehicles (SVs) and terrestrial radio sources such as base stations and access points in wireless networks. It is expected that standardization for 5G wireless networks will include support for various positioning methods, which can utilize reference signals transmitted by base stations for positioning determination in a manner similar to how LTE wireless networks currently utilize positioning reference signals (PRS) and / or cell-specific reference signals (CRS).

[0026] This specification may quote a sequence of actions to be performed by, for example, an element of a computing device. Each action described herein can be performed by a dedicated circuit (e.g., an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC)), by program instructions being executed by one or more processors, or by a combination of the two. The sequence of actions described herein may be implemented in a non-transient computer-readable medium having a corresponding set of computer instructions stored thereon, which, when executed, will cause an associated processor to perform the functionality described herein. Thus, the various aspects described herein may be implemented in a number of different forms, all of which fall within the scope of the present disclosure, including the claimed subject matter.

[0027] As used herein, the terms "user equipment" (UE) and "base station" are not dedicated to or otherwise limited to any particular radio access technology (RAT), unless otherwise specified. Generally speaking, such UE can be any wireless communication device (e.g., mobile phone, router, tablet computer, laptop computer, consumer asset tracking device, Internet of Things (IoT) device, on-board unit (OBU) etc.) used by a user to communicate on a wireless communication network. The UE can be mobile or can be stationary (e.g., at certain times) and can communicate with a radio access network (RAN). As used herein, the term "UE" can be interchangeably referred to as an "access terminal" or "AT", "client device", "wireless device", "subscriber device", "subscriber terminal", "subscriber station", "user terminal" or UT, "mobile terminal", "mobile station", "mobile device", or variations thereof. A UE disposed in a vehicle can be referred to as an on-board unit (OBU). In general, a UE can communicate with a core network via a RAN, and through the core network, the UE can connect to external networks such as the Internet and other UEs. Of course, other mechanisms for connecting to the core network and / or the Internet are also possible for the UE, such as through a wired access network, a WiFi network (eg, based on IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) 802.11, etc.), and the like.

[0028] Depending on the network in which the base station is deployed, the base station may operate according to one of several RATs when communicating with the UE. Examples of base stations include access points (APs), network nodes, NodeBs, evolved NodeBs (eNBs), or general NodeBs (gNodeBs, gNBs). In addition, in some systems, the base station may only provide edge node signaling functions, while in other systems, the base station may provide additional control functions and / or network management functions.

[0029] The UE may be implemented by any of several types of devices, including but not limited to a printed circuit (PC) card, a compact flash device, an external or internal modem, a wireless or wired phone, a smart phone, a tablet device, a consumer asset tracking device, an asset tag, etc. The communication link through which the UE can transmit signals to the RAN is called an uplink channel (e.g., a reverse traffic channel, a reverse control channel, an access channel, etc.). The communication link through which the RAN can transmit signals to the UE is called a downlink or forward link channel (e.g., a paging channel, a control channel, a broadcast channel, a forward traffic channel, etc.). As used herein, the term "traffic channel (TCH)" may refer to an uplink / reverse traffic channel or a downlink / forward traffic channel.

[0030] As used herein, depending on the context, the term "cell" or "sector" may correspond to one of the multiple cells of a base station or to the base station itself. The term "cell" may refer to a logical communication entity used to communicate with a base station (e.g., on a carrier), and may be associated with an identifier to distinguish adjacent cells operating via the same or different carriers (e.g., physical cell identifier (PCID), virtual cell identifier (VCID)). In some examples, a carrier may support multiple cells, and different cells may be configured according to different protocol types that may provide access to different types of devices (e.g., machine type communication (MTC), narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), or other protocol types). In some examples, the term "cell" may refer to a portion of a geographic coverage area (e.g., a sector) on which the logical entity operates.

[0031] refer to Figure 1 , an example of a communication system 100 includes UE 105, UE 106, a radio access network (RAN) (here, fifth generation (5G) next generation (NG) RAN (NG-RAN) 135), a 5G core network (5GC) 140, and a server 150. UE 105 and / or UE 106 may be, for example, an IoT device, a location tracker device, a cellular phone, a vehicle (e.g., a car, a truck, a bus, a ship, etc.), or other devices. A 5G network may also be referred to as a new radio (NR) network; NG-RAN 135 may be referred to as a 5G RAN or an NR RAN; and 5GC 140 may be referred to as an NG core network (NGC). Standardization of NG-RAN and 5GC is being conducted in the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). Accordingly, NG-RAN 135 and 5GC 140 may follow current or future standards for 5G support from 3GPP. NG-RAN 135 may be another type of RAN, for example, a 3G RAN, a 4G long term evolution (LTE) RAN, etc. UE 106 may be similarly configured and coupled to UE 105 to transmit and / or receive signals to and / or from similar other entities in system 100, but for simplicity of the drawing, the UE 106 is not shown in FIG. Figure 1105. Similarly, for simplicity, the discussion focuses on UE 105. The communication system 100 may utilize information from a constellation 185 of satellite vehicles (SVs) 190, 191, 192, 193 of a satellite positioning system (SPS), such as a global navigation satellite system (GNSS), such as a global positioning system (GPS), a global navigation satellite system (GLONASS), Galileo, or BeiDou or some other local or regional SPS, such as the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS), the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS), or a Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS). Additional components of the communication system 100 are described below. The communication system 100 may include additional or alternative components.

[0032] like Figure 1 As shown, the NG-RAN 135 includes NR nodeB (gNB) 110a, 110b and next generation eNodeB (ng-eNB) 114, and the 5GC 140 includes an access and mobility management function (AMF) 115, a session management function (SMF) 117, a location management function (LMF) 120, and a gateway mobile location center (GMLC) 125. The gNB 110a, gNB 110b, and ng-eNB 114 are communicatively coupled to each other, each configured to perform bidirectional wireless communication with the UE 105, and each communicatively coupled to the AMF 115 and configured to perform bidirectional communication with the AMF. The gNB 110a, 110b, and ng-eNB 114 may be referred to as a base station (BS). The AMF 115, SMF 117, LMF 120, and GMLC 125 are communicatively coupled to each other, and the GMLC is communicatively coupled to the external client 130. The SMF 117 may serve as an initial contact point for a service control function (SCF) (not shown) to create, control, and delete media sessions. A base station (such as gNBs 110a, 110b, and / or ng-eNB 114) may be a macro cell (e.g., a high-power cellular base station) or a small cell (e.g., a low-power cellular base station) or an access point (e.g., a short-range base station configured to communicate with a short-range technology (e.g., WiFi, WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), Low Energy (BLE), Zigbee, etc.) for communication). One or more base stations (e.g., one or more of gNB 110a, 110b, and / or ng-eNB 114) may be configured to communicate with UE 105 via multiple carriers. Each of gNB 110a, 110b, and / or ng-eNB 114 may provide communication coverage for a corresponding geographic area (e.g., a cell). Each cell may be divided into multiple sectors according to the base station antenna.

[0033] Figure 1 A generalized illustration of the various components is provided, any or all of which may be utilized as appropriate, and each component may be repeated or omitted as desired. Specifically, although one UE 105 is illustrated, many UEs (e.g., hundreds, thousands, millions, etc.) may be utilized in the communication system 100. Similarly, the communication system 100 may include a greater (or smaller) number of SVs (i.e., more or less than the four SVs 190-193 shown), gNBs 110a, gNBs 110b, ng-eNBs 114, AMFs 115, external clients 130, and / or other components. The illustrated connections connecting the various components in the communication 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.

[0034] Although Figure 1 A 5G-based network is illustrated, but similar network implementations and configurations may be used for other communication technologies, such as 3G, Long Term Evolution (LTE), etc. The implementations described herein (which are used for 5G technologies and / or for one or more other communication technologies and / or protocols) may be used to send (or broadcast) directional synchronization signals, receive and measure directional signals at a UE (e.g., UE 105), and / or provide location assistance to UE 105 (via GMLC 125 or other location servers), and / or calculate the position of UE 105 at a device with positioning capabilities such as UE 105, gNB 110a, gNB 110b, or LMF 120 based on measurement parameters received at UE 105 for such directional transmitted signals. The gateway mobile location center (GMLC) 125, location management function (LMF) 120, access and mobility management function (AMF) 115, SMF 117, ng-eNB (eNodeB) 114 and gNB (gNodeB) 110a, 110b are examples and may be replaced by or include various other location server functionalities and / or base station functionalities, respectively, in various embodiments.

[0035] The system 100 is capable of wireless communication because the components of the system 100 can communicate with each other (at least sometimes using wireless connections), directly or indirectly, for example, via gNB 110a, 110b, ng-eNB 114 and / or 5GC 140 (and / or one or more other devices not shown, such as one or more other transceiver base stations). For indirect communication, the communication can be modified during transmission from one entity to another, for example, to change header information of a data packet, change the format, etc. The UE 105 may include multiple UEs and may be a mobile wireless communication device, but may communicate wirelessly as well as via a wired connection. The UE 105 may be any of a variety of devices, such as a smart phone, a tablet computer, a vehicle-based device, etc., but these are merely examples, as the UE 105 need not be any of these configurations, and other configurations of the UE may be used. Other UEs may include wearable devices (e.g., smart watches, smart jewelry, smart glasses, or head-mounted devices, etc.). Other UEs may also be used, whether currently existing or developed in the future. In addition, other wireless devices (whether mobile or not) may be implemented within the system 100 and may communicate with each other and / or with the UE 105, the gNBs 110a, 110b, the ng-eNBs 114, the 5GC 140, and / or the external clients 130. For example, such other devices may include Internet of Things (IoT) devices, medical devices, home entertainment and / or automation devices, etc. The 5GC 140 may communicate with the external client 130 (e.g., a computer system), for example, to allow the external client 130 (e.g., via the GMLC 125) to request and / or receive location information about the UE 105.

[0036] UE 105 or other devices may be configured to communicate in various networks and / or for various purposes and / or using various technologies (e.g., 5G, Wi-Fi communication, multi-frequency Wi-Fi communication, satellite positioning, one or more types of communication (e.g., GSM (Global System for Mobile), CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), LTE (Long Term Evolution), V2X (Vehicle to Vehicle, e.g., V2P (vehicle to pedestrian), V2I (vehicle to infrastructure), V2V (vehicle to vehicle), etc.), IEEE802.11p, etc.). V2X communication may be cellular (Cellular-V2X (C-V2X)) and / or WiFi-based (e.g., DSRC (Dedicated Short Range Connection)). The system 100 can support operation on multiple carriers (waveform signals of different frequencies). A multi-carrier transmitter can send modulated signals simultaneously on multiple carriers. Each modulated signal can be a code division multiple access (CDMA) signal, a time division multiple access (TDMA) signal, an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) signal, a single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) signal, etc. Each modulated signal can be transmitted on a different carrier and can carry pilots, overhead information, data, etc. UE 105, 106 can communicate with each other through UE-to-UE sidelink (SL) communication by transmitting on one or more sidelink (SL) channels such as a physical sidelink synchronization channel (PSSCH), a physical sidelink broadcast channel (PSBCH), or a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH).

[0037] UE 105 may include and / or may 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 PDA, a consumer asset tracking device, a navigation device, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, a health monitor, a security system, a smart city sensor, a smart meter, a wearable tracker, or some other portable or mobile device. Typically, although not required, UE 105 may use one or more radio access technologies (RATs) to support wireless communications, such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Wideband CDMA (WCDMA), LTE, High Rate Packet Data (HRPD), IEEE 802.11 WiFi (also known as Wi-Fi), (BT), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), 5G New Radio (NR) (e.g., using NG-RAN 135 and 5GC 140), etc. UE 105 may use a wireless local area network (WLAN) to support wireless communications, and the wireless local area network may use, for example, a digital subscriber line (DSL) or a packet cable to connect to other networks (e.g., the Internet). Using one or more of these RATs may allow UE 105 (e.g., via elements ( Figure 1 125), or possibly via GMLC 125) to communicate with external client 130 and / or allow external client 130 to receive location information about UE 105 (e.g., via GMLC 125).

[0038] UE 105 may include a single entity or may include multiple entities, such as in a personal area network, where users may employ audio, video, and / or data I / O (input / output) devices, and / or body sensors and separate wired or wireless modems. The estimate of the location of UE 105 may be referred to as a location, location estimate, location fix, fix, position fix, position estimate, or position fix, and may be geographic, thereby providing location coordinates (e.g., latitude and longitude) of UE 105, which may or may not include an altitude component (e.g., height above sea level; 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., 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 be expressed as an area or volume (geographically or municipally defined) within which UE 105 is expected to be located with a certain probability or confidence level (e.g., 67%, 95%, etc.). The location of the UE 105 may be expressed as a relative location including, for example, a distance and direction relative to a known location. The relative location may be expressed as relative coordinates (e.g., X, Y (and Z) coordinates) defined relative to a certain origin at a known location, which may be defined, for example, geographically, in municipal form, or with reference to a point, area, or volume indicated, for example, on a map, floor plan, or building plan. In the description contained herein, the use of the term "location" may include any of these variations unless otherwise indicated. When calculating the location of the UE, local x, y, and possibly z coordinates are typically solved, and then (if necessary) the local coordinates are converted into absolute coordinates (e.g., with respect to latitude, longitude, and altitude above or below mean sea level).

[0039] UE 105 may be configured to communicate with other entities using one or more of a variety of technologies. UE 105 may be configured to be indirectly connected to one or more communication networks via one or more device-to-device (D2D) peer-to-peer (P2P) links. D2D P2P links may be supported using any suitable D2D radio access technology (RAT), such as LTE Direct (LTE-D), WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), Etc. One or more UEs in a group of UEs utilizing D2D communication may be located within a geographic coverage area of ​​a transmit / receive point (TRP), such as one or more of gNB 110a, 110b, and / or ng-eNB 114. Other UEs in the group may be outside such geographic coverage area or may be unable to receive transmissions from a base station for other reasons. A group of UEs communicating via D2D communication may utilize a one-to-many (1:M) system, in which each UE may transmit to other UEs in the group. The TRP may facilitate the scheduling of resources for D2D communication. In other cases, D2D communication may be performed between UEs without involving a TRP. One or more UEs in a group of UEs utilizing D2D communication may be located within a geographic coverage area of ​​a TRP. Other UEs in the group may be outside such geographic coverage area or may be unable to receive transmissions from a base station for other reasons. A group of UEs communicating via D2D communication may utilize a one-to-many (1:M) system, in which each UE may transmit to other UEs in the group. The TRP may facilitate the scheduling of resources for D2D communication. In other cases, D2D communication may be performed between UEs without involving TRP.

[0040] Figure 1 The base stations (BSs) in the NG-RAN 135 shown include NR Node Bs (referred to as gNB 110a and gNB 110b). Each pair of gNBs 110a, 110b in the NG-RAN 135 may be connected to each other via one or more other gNBs. Access to the 5G network is provided to the UE 105 via wireless communications between the UE 105 and one or more of the gNBs 110a, 110b, which may provide wireless communications access to the 5GC 140 on behalf of the UE 105 using 5G. Figure 1 , it is assumed that the serving gNB for UE 105 is gNB 110a, but another gNB (e.g., gNB 110b) may serve as the serving gNB if UE 105 moves to another location, or may serve as a secondary gNB to provide additional throughput and bandwidth to UE 105.

[0041] Figure 1The base stations (BSs) in the illustrated NG-RAN 135 may include an ng-eNB 114, also referred to as a next generation evolved Node B. The ng-eNB 114 may be connected to one or more of the gNBs 110a, 110b in the NG-RAN 135 via one or more other gNBs and / or one or more other ng-eNBs. The ng-eNB 114 may provide LTE wireless access and / or evolved LTE (eLTE) wireless access to the UE 105. One or more of the gNBs 110a, gNB 110b, and / or ng-eNB 114 may be configured to function as a positioning-only beacon that may transmit signals to assist in determining the location of the UE 105, but may not receive signals from the UE 105 or other UEs.

[0042] The gNBs 110a, 110b, and / or the ng-eNB 114 may each include one or more TRPs. For example, each sector within a cell of the BS may include a TRP, but multiple TRPs may share one or more components (e.g., sharing a processor but having separate antennas). The system 100 may include only a macro TRP, or the system 100 may have different types of TRPs, such as a macro TRP, a pico TRP, and / or a femto TRP, among others. A macro TRP may cover a relatively large geographic area (e.g., a radius of several kilometers) and may allow unrestricted access to terminals with service subscriptions. A pico TRP may cover a relatively small geographic area (e.g., a pico cell) and may allow unrestricted access to terminals with service subscriptions. A femto TRP or a home TRP may cover a relatively small geographic area (e.g., a femto cell) and may allow restricted access to terminals associated with the femto cell (e.g., terminals of users in a home).

[0043] Each of the gNBs 110a, 110b, and / or ng-eNB 114 may include a radio unit (RU), a distributed unit (DU), and a central unit (CU). For example, the gNB 110b includes a RU 111, a DU 112, and a CU 113. The RU 111, the DU 112, and the CU 113 divide the functionality of the gNB 110b. Although the gNB 110b is shown as having a single RU, a single DU, and a single CU, the gNB may include one or more RUs, one or more DUs, and / or one or more CUs. The interface between the CU 113 and the DU 112 is referred to as the F1 interface. The RU 111 is configured to perform digital front end (DFE) functions (e.g., analog-to-digital conversion, filtering, power amplification, transmission / reception) and digital beamforming, and includes a portion of the physical (PHY) layer. The RU 111 may perform DFE using massive multiple input / multiple output (MIMO) and may be integrated with one or more antennas of the gNB 110b. DU 112 hosts the radio link control (RLC), medium access control (MAC), and physical layers of gNB110b. One DU can support one or more cells, and each cell is supported by a single DU. The operation of DU 112 is controlled by CU 113. CU 113 is configured to perform functions for delivering user data, mobility control, radio access network sharing, positioning, session management, etc., although some functions are only assigned to DU 112. CU 113 hosts the radio resource control (RRC), service data adaptation protocol (SDAP), and packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) protocols of gNB 110b. UE 105 can communicate with CU 113 via RRC, SDAP, and PDCP layers, communicate with DU 112 via RLC, MAC, and PHY layers, and communicate with RU 111 via the PHY layer.

[0044] As pointed out, although Figure 1 Nodes configured to communicate according to a 5G communication protocol are depicted, but nodes configured to communicate according to other communication protocols (such as, for example, an LTE protocol or an IEEE 802.11x protocol) may also be used. For example, in an evolved packet system (EPS) that provides LTE wireless access to UE 105, the RAN may include an evolved universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS) terrestrial radio access network (E-UTRAN), which may include base stations including evolved Node Bs (eNBs). The core network for the EPS may include an evolved packet core (EPC). The EPS may include the E-UTRAN plus the EPC, where the E-UTRAN corresponds to Figure 1 The NG-RAN 135 in the network and the EPC corresponds to the 5GC 140.

[0045] The gNBs 110a, 110b, and ng-eNB 114 may communicate with the AMF 115; for positioning functionality, the AMF communicates with the LMF 120. The AMF 115 may support mobility of the UE 105, including cell changes and handovers, and may participate in supporting signaling connections with the UE 105 and possible data and voice bearers for the UE 105. The LMF 120 may communicate directly with the UE 105, or directly with the gNBs 110a, 110b, and / or ng-eNB 114, for example, via wireless communications. The LMF 120 may support positioning of the UE 105 when the UE 105 accesses the NG-RAN 135, and may support various positioning procedures / methods, such as Assisted GNSS (A-GNSS), Observed Time Difference of Arrival (OTDOA) (e.g., Downlink (DL) OTDOA or Uplink (UL) OTDOA), Round Trip Time (RTT), Multi-cell RTT, Real-Time Kinematics (RTK), Precise Point Positioning (PPP), Differential GNSS (DGNSS), Enhanced Cell ID (E-CID), Angle of Arrival (AoA), Angle of Departure (AoD), and / or other positioning methods. The LMF 120 may process a location service request for the UE 105 received from, for example, the AMF 115 or the GMLC 125. The LMF 120 may be connected to the AMF 115 and / or the GMLC 125. The LMF 120 may be referred to by other names, such as a Location Manager (LM), a Location Function (LF), a Commercial LMF (CLMF), or a Value-Added LMF (VLMF). A node / system implementing LMF 120 may additionally or alternatively implement other types of location support modules, such as an enhanced serving mobile location center (E-SMLC) or a secure user plane location (SUPL) location platform (SLP). At least a portion of the positioning functionality (including the derivation of the location of UE 105) may be performed at UE 105 (e.g., using signal measurements obtained by UE 105 for signals sent by wireless nodes (such as gNB 110a, gNB 110b and / or ng-eNB 114), and / or auxiliary data provided to UE 105 by LMF 120, for example). AMF 115 may serve as a control node for processing signaling between UE 105 and 5GC 140, and may provide QoS (quality of service) flow and session management. AMF 115 may support the mobility of UE 105 (including cell changes and handovers), and may participate in supporting signaling connections to UE 105.

[0046] The server 150 (e.g., a cloud server) is configured to obtain a location estimate for the UE 105 and provide it to the external client 130. The server 150 may, for example, be configured to run a microservice / service that obtains a location estimate for the UE 105. The server 150 may, for example, obtain a location estimate from (e.g., by transmitting a location request) the UE 105, one or more of the gNBs 110a, 110b (e.g., via the RU 111, DU 112, and CU 113), and / or the ng-eNB 114, and / or the LMF 120. As another example, the UE 105, one or more of the gNBs 110a, 110b (e.g., via the RU 111, DU 112, and CU 113), and / or the LMF 120 may push the location estimate of the UE 105 to the server 150.

[0047] The GMLC 125 may support location requests for the UE 105 received from the external client 130 via the server 150, and may forward the location requests to the AMF 115 for forwarding by the AMF 115 to the LMF 120, or may forward the location requests directly to the LMF 120. A location response (e.g., containing a location estimate of the UE 105) from the LMF 120 may be returned to the GMLC 125 directly or via the AMF 115, and the GMLC 125 may then return the location response (e.g., containing the location estimate) to the external client 130 via the server 150. The GMLC 125 is shown as being connected to both the AMF 115 and the LMF 120, but may not be connected to either the AMF 115 or the LMF 120 in some implementations.

[0048] like Figure 1 As further illustrated, LMF 120 may communicate with gNB 110a, gNB 110b, and / or ng-eNB 114 using a new radio positioning protocol A (which may be referred to as NPPa or NRPPa), which may be defined in 3GPP Technical Specification (TS) 38.455. NRPPa may be the same as, similar to, or an extension of LTE Positioning Protocol A (LPPa) defined in 3GPP TS 36.455, wherein NRPPa messages are communicated between gNB 110a (or gNB 110b) and LMF 120, and / or between ng-eNB 114 and LMF 120 via AMF 115. Figure 1As further illustrated, the LMF 120 and the UE 105 may communicate using the LTE Positioning Protocol (LPP), which may be defined in 3GPP TS 36.355. The LMF 120 and the UE 105 may additionally or alternatively communicate using a new radio positioning protocol (which may be referred to as NPP or NRPP), which may be the same as, similar to, or an extension of the LPP. Here, LPP and / or NPP messages may be communicated between the UE 105 and the LMF 120 via the AMF 115 and the serving gNB 110a, gNB 110b, or serving ng-eNB 114 of the UE 105. For example, the LPP and / or NPP messages may be communicated between the LMF 120 and the AMF 115 using the 5G Location Services Application Protocol (LCS AP), and may be communicated between the AMF 115 and the UE 105 using the 5G Non-Access Stratum (NAS) protocol. The LPP and / or NPP protocols may be used to support positioning of the UE 105 using UE-assisted and / or UE-based positioning methods such as A-GNSS, RTK, OTDOA, and / or E-CID. The NRPPa protocol may be used to support positioning of the UE 105 using a network-based positioning method such as E-CID (e.g., in conjunction with measurements obtained by the gNB 110a, 110b, or ng-eNB 114) and / or may be used by the LMF 120 to obtain location-related information from the gNB 110a, 110b, and / or ng-eNB 114, such as parameters defining directional SS or PRS transmissions from the gNB 110a, 110b, and / or ng-eNB 114. The LMF 120 may be co-located or integrated with the gNB or TRP, or may be located remotely from the gNB and / or TRP and configured to communicate directly or indirectly with the gNB and / or TRP.

[0049] Using UE-assisted positioning methods, UE 105 may obtain location measurements and transmit these measurements to a location server (e.g., LMF 120) for use in calculating a location estimate for UE 105. For example, the location measurements may include one or more of received signal strength indication (RSSI), round trip signal propagation time (RTT), reference signal time difference (RSTD), reference signal received power (RSRP), and / or reference signal received quality (RSRQ) of gNB 110a, gNB 110b, ng-eNB 114, and / or WLAN APs. The location measurements may additionally or alternatively include measurements of GNSS pseudoranges, code phases, and / or carrier phases of SVs 190-193.

[0050] Using the UE-based positioning method, UE 105 can obtain position measurements (e.g., which can be the same or similar to the position measurements of the UE-assisted positioning method), and the position of UE 105 can be calculated (e.g., with the aid of auxiliary data received from a location server (such as LMF120) or broadcast by gNB 110a, gNB 110b, ng-eNB 114 or other base stations or APs).

[0051] With network-based positioning methods, one or more base stations (e.g., gNBs 110a, 110b and / or ng-eNB 114) or APs may obtain location measurements (e.g., measurements of RSSI, RTT, RSRP, RSRQ, or time of arrival (ToA) of signals sent by UE 105) and / or may receive measurements obtained by UE 105. The one or more base stations or APs may transmit the measurements to a location server (e.g., LMF 120) for use in computing a location estimate for UE 105.

[0052] The information provided to LMF 120 by gNB 110a, 110b and / or ng-eNB 114 using NRPPa may include timing and configuration information for directional SS or PRS transmission and location coordinates. LMF 120 may provide some or all of this information to UE 105 as assistance data in LPP and / or NPP messages via NG-RAN 135 and 5GC 140.

[0053] The LPP or NPP message transmitted from LMF 120 to UE 105 may instruct UE 105 to do any of a variety of things, depending on the desired functionality. For example, the LPP or NPP message may include instructions for UE 105 to obtain measurements for GNSS (or A-GNSS), WLAN, E-CID, and / or OTDOA (or some other positioning method). In the case of E-CID, the LPP or NPP message may instruct UE 105 to obtain one or more measurement parameters (e.g., beam ID, beam width, average angle, RSRP, RSRQ measurements) of directional signals transmitted within a particular cell supported by one or more of gNB 110a, gNB 110b, and / or ng-eNB 114 (or supported by some other type of base station (such as an eNB or WiFi AP)). The UE 105 may transmit these measurement parameters back to the LMF 120 in an LPP or NPP message (e.g., within a 5G NAS message) via the serving gNB 110a (or serving ng-eNB 114) and the AMF 115.

[0054] As noted, while the communication system 100 is described with respect to 5G technology, the communication system 100 may be implemented to support other communication technologies (such as GSM, WCDMA, LTE, etc.) for supporting and interacting with mobile devices (such as UE 105) (e.g., to implement voice, data, positioning, and other functionality). In some such embodiments, the 5GC 140 may be configured to control different air interfaces. For example, the non-3GPP interworking function (N3IWF, Figure 1 115) connects the 5GC 140 to the WLAN. For example, the WLAN may support IEEE 802.11 WiFi access for the UE 105 and may include one or more WiFi APs. Here, the N3IWF may be connected to the WLAN and other elements in the 5GC 140, such as the AMF 115. In some embodiments, both the NG-RAN 135 and the 5GC 140 may be replaced by one or more other RANs and one or more other core networks. For example, in the EPS, the NG-RAN 135 may be replaced by an E-UTRAN including an eNB, and the 5GC 140 may be replaced by an EPC including a mobility management entity (MME) replacing the AMF 115, an E-SMLC replacing the LMF 120, and a GMLC that may be similar to the GMLC 125. In such an EPS, the E-SMLC may use LPPa instead of NRPPa to transmit location information to and receive location information from the eNBs in the E-UTRAN, and may use LPP to support positioning of the UE 105. In these other embodiments, positioning of UE 105 using directional PRS may be supported in a manner similar to that described herein for 5G networks, with the difference that the functionality and procedures described herein for gNB 110a, gNB 110b, ng-eNB 114, AMF 115, and LMF 120 may in some cases be applied alternatively to other network elements, such as eNBs, WiFi APs, MMEs, and E-SMLCs.

[0055] As noted, in some embodiments, positioning functionality may be implemented, at least in part, using directional SS or PRS beams transmitted by base stations (such as gNBs 110a, 110b and / or ng-eNB 114) that are located at a UE (e.g., Figure 1 In some instances, the UE may use directional SS beams or directional PRS beams from multiple base stations (such as gNB 110a, 110b, ng-eNB 114, etc.) to calculate the positioning of the UE.

[0056] Also refer to Figure 2UE 200 is an example of one of UEs 105, 106, and includes a computing platform including a processor 210, a memory 211 including software (SW) 212, one or more sensors 213, a transceiver interface 214 for a transceiver 215 (the transceiver includes a wireless transceiver 240 and a wired transceiver 250), a user interface 216, a satellite positioning system (SPS) receiver 217, a camera 218, and a positioning device (PD) 219. The processor 210, the memory 211, the sensor 213, the transceiver interface 214, the user interface 216, the SPS receiver 217, the camera 218, and the positioning device 219 can be communicatively coupled to each other via a bus 220 (the bus can be configured, for example, for optical communication and / or electrical communication). One or more of the devices shown (e.g., the camera 218, the positioning device 219, and / or one or more sensors in the sensor 213, etc.) can be omitted from the UE 200. The processor 210 may include one or more intelligent hardware devices, such as a central processing unit (CPU), a microcontroller, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), etc. The processor 210 may include multiple processors, including a general / application processor 230, a digital signal processor (DSP) 231, a modem processor 232, a video processor 233, and / or a sensor processor 234. One or more of the processors 230-234 may include multiple devices (e.g., multiple processors). For example, the sensor processor 234 may include, for example, a processor for RF (radio frequency) sensing (wherein one or more (cellular) wireless signals and reflections transmitted are used to identify, map and / or track objects) and / or ultrasound, etc. The modem processor 232 may support dual SIM / dual connectivity (or even more SIMs). For example, a SIM (subscriber identity module or subscriber identity module) may be used by an original equipment manufacturer (OEM), and another SIM may be used by a terminal user of the UE 200 to obtain connectivity. The memory 211 is a non-transitory storage medium that may include a random access memory (RAM), a flash memory, an optical disk memory, and / or a read-only memory (ROM), etc. Memory 211 stores software 212, which may be processor-readable, processor-executable software code containing instructions that are configured to cause processor 210 to perform various functions described herein when executed. Alternatively, software 212 may not be directly executable by processor 210, but may be configured (e.g., when compiled and executed) to cause processor 210 to perform functions. This specification may refer to processor 210 performing functions, but this includes other specific implementations, such as specific implementations in which processor 210 executes software and / or firmware. This specification may refer to processor 210 performing functions as shorthand for one or more of processors 230-234 performing the functions.This specification may refer to UE 200 performing a function as shorthand for one or more appropriate components of UE 200 performing that function. Processor 210 may include a memory with stored instructions in addition to and / or in lieu of memory 211. The functionality of processor 210 is discussed more fully below.

[0057] Figure 2 The configuration of UE 200 shown is an example and not a limitation of the present disclosure (including the claims), and other configurations may be used. For example, an example configuration of UE includes one or more processors of processors 230-234 of processor 210, memory 211, and wireless transceiver 240. Other example configurations include one or more processors of processors 230-234 in processor 210, memory 211, wireless transceiver, and one or more of the following: sensor 213, user interface 216, SPS receiver 217, camera 218, PD 219, and / or wired transceiver.

[0058] The UE 200 may include a modem processor 232 capable of performing baseband processing of signals received and down-converted by the transceiver 215 and / or the SPS receiver 217. The modem processor 232 may perform baseband processing of signals to be up-converted for transmission by the transceiver 215. Additionally or alternatively, the baseband processing may be performed by the general / application processor 230 and / or the DSP 231. However, other configurations may be used to perform baseband processing.

[0059] UE 200 may include sensors 213, which may include, for example, one or more sensors of various types of sensors, such as one or more inertial sensors, one or more magnetometers, one or more environmental sensors, one or more optical sensors, one or more weight sensors, and / or one or more radio frequency (RF) sensors, etc. An inertial measurement unit (IMU) may include, for example, one or more accelerometers (e.g., collectively responsive to acceleration of UE 200 in three dimensions) and / or one or more gyroscopes (e.g., three-dimensional gyroscopes). Sensors 213 may include one or more magnetometers (e.g., three-dimensional magnetometers) to determine orientation (e.g., relative to magnetic north and / or true north), which may be used for any of a variety of purposes (e.g., to support one or more compass applications). Environmental sensors may include, for example, one or more temperature sensors, one or more barometric pressure sensors, one or more ambient light sensors, one or more camera imagers, and / or one or more microphones, etc. Sensors 213 may generate analog and / or digital signals, indications of which may be stored in memory 211 and processed by DSP 231 and / or general / application processor 230 to support one or more applications (e.g., applications involving positioning and / or navigation operations).

[0060] The sensor 213 may be used for relative position measurement, relative position determination, motion determination, etc. The information detected by the sensor 213 may be used for motion detection, relative displacement, dead reckoning, sensor-based position determination, and / or sensor-assisted position determination. The sensor 213 may be used to determine whether the UE 200 is fixed (stationary) or moving and / or whether to report certain useful information related to the mobility of the UE 200 to the LMF 120. For example, based on the information obtained / measured by the sensor 213, the UE 200 may notify / report to the LMF 120 that the UE 200 has detected movement or that the UE 200 has moved, and report the relative displacement / distance (e.g., via dead reckoning implemented by the sensor 213, or sensor-based position determination, or sensor-assisted position determination). In another example, for relative positioning information, the sensor / IMU may be used to determine the angle and / or orientation of another device relative to the UE 200, etc.

[0061] The IMU may be configured to provide measurements of the direction of motion and / or speed of motion of the UE 200, which may be used for relative position determination. For example, one or more accelerometers and / or one or more gyroscopes of the IMU may detect the linear acceleration and rotational speed of the UE 200, respectively. The linear acceleration measurements and rotational speed measurements of the UE 200 may be integrated over time to determine the instantaneous direction of motion and displacement of the UE 200. The instantaneous direction of motion and displacement may be integrated to track the position of the UE 200. For example, a reference position of the UE 200 at a certain moment may be determined, for example, using the SPS receiver 217 (and / or by some other means), and measurements obtained from the accelerometers and gyroscopes after that moment may be used for dead reckoning to determine the current position of the UE 200 based on the movement (direction and distance) of the UE 200 relative to the reference position.

[0062] The magnetometer may determine magnetic field strengths in different directions, which may be used to determine the orientation of the UE 200. For example, the orientation may be used to provide a digital compass for the UE 200. The magnetometer may include a two-dimensional magnetometer configured to detect and provide an indication of magnetic field strength in two orthogonal dimensions. The magnetometer may include a three-dimensional magnetometer configured to detect and provide an indication of magnetic field strength in three orthogonal dimensions. The magnetometer may provide a means for sensing a magnetic field and providing an indication of the magnetic field, for example, to the processor 210.

[0063] The transceiver 215 may include a wireless transceiver 240 and a wired transceiver 250 configured to communicate with other devices via wireless connections and wired connections, respectively. For example, the wireless transceiver 240 may include a wireless transmitter 242 and a wireless receiver 244 coupled to an antenna 246 for transmitting (e.g., on one or more uplink channels and / or one or more sidelink channels) and / or receiving (e.g., on one or more downlink channels and / or one or more sidelink channels) wireless signals 248 and converting signals from the wireless signals 248 to wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signals and from wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signals to wireless signals 248. The wireless transmitter 242 includes appropriate components (e.g., a power amplifier and a digital-to-analog converter). The wireless receiver 244 includes appropriate components (e.g., one or more amplifiers, one or more frequency filters, and an analog-to-digital converter). The wireless transmitter 242 may include multiple transmitters that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components, and / or the wireless receiver 244 may include multiple receivers that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components. The wireless transceiver 240 may be configured to communicate signals (e.g., with a TRP and / or one or more other devices) according to various radio access technologies (RATs), such as 5G New Radio (NR), GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications), UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System), AMPS (Advanced Mobile Phone System), CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), WCDMA (Wideband CDMA), LTE (Long Term Evolution), LTE Direct (LTE-D), 3GPP LTE-V2X (PC5), IEEE 802.11 (including IEEE 802.11p), WiFi, WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), Zigbee, etc. The new radio may use millimeter wave frequencies and / or frequencies below 6 GHz. The wired transceiver 250 may include a wired transmitter 252 and a wired receiver 254 configured for wired communication, for example, a network interface that may be used to communicate with the NG-RAN 135 to transmit communications to the NG-RAN 135 and receive communications from the NG-RAN. The wired transmitter 252 may include a plurality of transmitters that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components, and / or the wired receiver 254 may include a plurality of receivers that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components. The wired transceiver 250 may be configured, for example, for optical communication and / or electrical communication. The transceiver 215 may be communicatively coupled to the transceiver interface 214, for example, via an optical connection and / or an electrical connection. The transceiver interface 214 may be at least partially integrated with the transceiver 215. The wireless transmitter 242, the wireless receiver 244 and / or the antenna 246 may include multiple transmitters, multiple receivers and / or multiple antennas, respectively, for transmitting and / or receiving appropriate signals, respectively.

[0064] The user interface 216 may include one or more devices such as, for example, a speaker, a microphone, a display device, a vibration device, a keyboard, a touch screen, etc. The user interface 216 may include more than one of these devices. The user interface 216 may be configured to enable a user to interact with one or more applications hosted by the UE 200. For example, the user interface 216 may store indications of analog and / or digital signals in the memory 211 in response to actions from the user to be processed by the DSP 231 and / or the general / application processor 230. Similarly, the application hosted on the UE 200 may store indications of analog and / or digital signals in the memory 211 to present output signals to the user. The user interface 216 may include an audio input / output (I / O) device, which includes, for example, a speaker, a microphone, a digital-to-analog circuit system, an analog-to-digital circuit system, an amplifier, and / or a gain control circuit (including more than one of these devices). Other configurations of audio I / O devices may be used. Additionally or alternatively, the user interface 216 may include one or more touch sensors that respond to touch and / or pressure on, for example, a keyboard and / or a touch screen of the user interface 216 .

[0065] The SPS receiver 217 (e.g., a global positioning system (GPS) receiver) may be capable of receiving and acquiring the SPS signal 260 via the SPS antenna 262. The SPS antenna 262 is configured to convert the SPS signal 260 from a wireless signal to a wired signal (e.g., an electrical signal or an optical signal), and may be integrated with the antenna 246. The SPS receiver 217 may be configured to process the acquired SPS signal 260 in whole or in part to estimate the position of the UE 200. For example, the SPS receiver 217 may be configured to determine the position of the UE 200 by performing trilateration using the SPS signal 260. The general / application processor 230, the memory 211, the DSP 231, and / or one or more dedicated processors (not shown) may be utilized in conjunction with the SPS receiver 217 to process the acquired SPS signal in whole or in part, and / or calculate the estimated position of the UE 200. The memory 211 may store indications (e.g., measurements) of the SPS signal 260 and / or other signals (e.g., signals obtained from the wireless transceiver 240) for use in performing positioning operations. The general / application processor 230, the DSP 231, and / or one or more special-purpose processors, and / or the memory 211 may provide or support a location engine for use in processing measurements to estimate the location of the UE 200.

[0066] UE 200 may include a camera 218 for capturing still or moving images. Camera 218 may include, for example, an imaging sensor (e.g., a charge coupled device or a CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor) imager), a lens, analog-to-digital circuits, a frame buffer, etc. Additional processing, conditioning, decoding, and / or compression of signals representing captured images may be performed by general / application processor 230 and / or DSP 231. Additionally or alternatively, video processor 233 may perform conditioning, encoding, compression, and / or manipulation of signals representing captured images. Video processor 233 may decode / decompress stored image data for presentation on a display device (not shown) (e.g., of user interface 216).

[0067] Positioning device (PD) 219 may be configured to determine the location of UE 200, the movement of UE 200, and / or the relative location of UE 200, and / or time. For example, PD 219 may communicate with SPS receiver 217, and / or include part or all of an SPS receiver. PD 219 may work appropriately with processor 210 and memory 211 to perform at least a portion of one or more positioning methods, although the description herein may only refer to PD 219 being configured to perform or performing according to a positioning method according to a positioning method. PD 219 may be additionally or alternatively configured to: use ground-based signals (e.g., at least some wireless signals 248) for trilateration, assist in obtaining and use SPS signals 260, or both to determine the location of UE 200. PD 219 may be configured to determine the location of UE 200 based on a cell of a serving base station (e.g., a cell center) and / or another technology (such as E-CID). The PD 219 may be configured to determine the location of the UE 200 using one or more images from the camera 218 and image recognition combined with known locations of landmarks (e.g., natural landmarks (such as mountains) and / or artificial landmarks (such as buildings, bridges, streets), etc.). The PD 219 may be configured to determine the location of the UE 200 using one or more other techniques (e.g., relying on the UE's self-reported location (e.g., part of the UE's location beacon)), and may use a combination of techniques (e.g., SPS and ground positioning signals) to determine the location of the UE 200. The PD 219 may include one or more sensors 213 (e.g., gyroscopes, accelerometers, magnetometers, etc.), which may sense the orientation and / or movement of the UE 200 and provide an indication of the orientation and / or movement, and the processor 210 (e.g., general / application processor 230 and / or DSP 231) may be configured to use the indication to determine the movement of the UE 200 (e.g., velocity vector and / or acceleration vector). PD 219 may be configured to provide an indication of uncertainty and / or error in the determined position and / or motion. The functionality of PD 219 may be provided in a variety of ways and / or configurations, such as by general / application processor 230, transceiver 215, SPS receiver 217, and / or another component of UE 200, and may be provided by hardware, software, firmware, or various combinations thereof.

[0068] Also refer to Figure 3, an example of a TRP 300 for a gNB 110a, 110b, and / or ng-eNB 114 includes a computing platform including a processor 310, a memory 311 including software (SW) 312, and a transceiver 315. The processor 310, the memory 311, and the transceiver 315 may be communicatively coupled to one another via a bus 320 (which may be configured, for example, for optical communication and / or electrical communication). One or more of the illustrated devices (e.g., a wireless transceiver) may be omitted from the TRP 300. The processor 310 may include one or more intelligent hardware devices, such as a central processing unit (CPU), a microcontroller, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), etc. The processor 310 may include a plurality of processors (e.g., including a general / application processor, a DSP, a modem processor, a video processor, and / or a sensor processor, such as Figure 2 310). The memory 311 is a non-transitory storage medium that may include random access memory (RAM), flash memory, optical disk memory, and / or read-only memory (ROM), etc. The memory 311 stores software 312, which may be a processor-readable, processor-executable software code containing instructions that are configured to cause the processor 310 to perform various functions described herein when executed. Alternatively, the software 312 may not be directly executable by the processor 310, but may be configured to cause the processor 310 to perform these functions, for example, when compiled and executed.

[0069] This specification may refer to processor 310 performing a function, but this includes other specific implementations, such as a specific implementation in which processor 310 executes software and / or firmware. This specification may refer to processor 310 performing a function as shorthand for one or more processors included in processor 310 performing the function. The description may refer to TRP 300 performing a function as shorthand for one or more appropriate components (e.g., processor 310 and memory 311) of TRP 300 (and therefore one of gNB 110a, 110b and / or ng-eNB 114) performing the function. Processor 310 may include a memory with stored instructions in addition to and / or in lieu of memory 311. The functionality of processor 310 will be discussed more fully below.

[0070] The transceiver 315 may include a wireless transceiver 340 and / or a wired transceiver 350 configured to communicate with other devices via wireless connections and wired connections, respectively. For example, the wireless transceiver 340 may include a wireless transmitter 342 and a wireless receiver 344 coupled to one or more antennas 346 for transmitting (e.g., on one or more uplink channels and / or one or more downlink channels) and / or receiving (e.g., on one or more downlink channels and / or one or more uplink channels) wireless signals 348 and converting signals from the wireless signals 348 to wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signals and from wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signals to the wireless signals 348. Thus, the wireless transmitter 342 may include multiple transmitters that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components, and / or the wireless receiver 344 may include multiple receivers that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components. The wireless transceiver 340 may be configured to communicate in accordance with a plurality of radio access technologies (RATs) such as 5G New Radio (NR), GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications), UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System), AMPS (Advanced Mobile Phone System), CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), WCDMA (Wideband CDMA), LTE (Long Term Evolution), LTE Direct (LTE-D), 3GPP LTE-V2X (PC5), IEEE 802.11 (including IEEE 802.11p), WiFi, WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), Zigbee, etc.) to communicate signals (e.g., with UE 200, one or more other UEs, and / or one or more other devices). The wired transceiver 350 may include a wired transmitter 352 and a wired receiver 354 configured for wired communication, for example, a network interface that can be used to communicate with the NG-RAN 135 to transmit communications to, for example, the LMF 120 and / or one or more other network entities and receive communications therefrom. The wired transmitter 352 may include multiple transmitters that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components, and / or the wired receiver 354 may include multiple receivers that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components. The wired transceiver 350 may be configured, for example, for optical communication and / or electrical communication.

[0071] Figure 3The configuration of the TRP 300 shown is an example and is not intended to limit the present disclosure, including the claims, and other configurations may be used. For example, the description herein discusses that the TRP 300 is configured to perform several functions or that the TRP performs several functions, but one or more of these functions may be performed by the LMF 120 and / or the UE 200 (i.e., the LMF 120 and / or the UE 200 may be configured to perform one or more of these functions). In one example, the RSU may include some or all of the components of the TRP 300.

[0072] Also refer to Figure 4 , the server 400 (LMF 120 is an example of the server) includes a computing platform including a processor 410, a memory 411 including software (SW) 412, and a transceiver 415. The processor 410, the memory 411, and the transceiver 415 may be communicatively coupled to each other via a bus 420 (the bus may be configured, for example, for optical communication and / or electrical communication). One or more of the devices shown (e.g., a wireless transceiver) may be omitted from the server 400. The processor 410 may include one or more intelligent hardware devices, such as a central processing unit (CPU), a microcontroller, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), etc. The processor 410 may include a plurality of processors (e.g., including a general / application processor, a DSP, a modem processor, a video processor, and / or a sensor processor, such as Figure 2 410). Memory 411 is a non-transitory storage medium that may include random access memory (RAM), flash memory, optical disk memory, and / or read-only memory (ROM), etc. Memory 411 stores software 412, which may be a processor-readable, processor-executable software code containing instructions that are configured to cause processor 410 to perform various functions described herein when executed. Alternatively, software 412 may not be directly executable by processor 410, but may be configured to cause processor 410 to perform these functions, for example, when compiled and executed. This specification may refer to processor 410 performing functions, but this includes other specific implementations, such as specific implementations of processor 410 executing software and / or firmware. This specification may refer to processor 410 performing functions as a shorthand for one or more processors included in processor 410 performing the function. This specification may refer to server 400 performing functions as a shorthand for one or more appropriate components of server 400 performing the function. Processor 410 may include a memory with stored instructions as a supplement and / or alternative to memory 411. The functionality of processor 410 is discussed more fully below.

[0073] The transceiver 415 may include a wireless transceiver 440 and / or a wired transceiver 450 configured to communicate with other devices via wireless connections and wired connections, respectively. For example, the wireless transceiver 440 may include a wireless transmitter 442 and a wireless receiver 444 coupled to one or more antennas 446 for transmitting (e.g., on one or more downlink channels) and / or receiving (e.g., on one or more uplink channels) wireless signals 448 and converting signals from the wireless signals 448 to wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signals and from wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signals to the wireless signals 448. Thus, the wireless transmitter 442 may include multiple transmitters that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components, and / or the wireless receiver 444 may include multiple receivers that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components. The wireless transceiver 440 may be configured to communicate in accordance with a plurality of radio access technologies (RATs) such as 5G New Radio (NR), GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications), UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System), AMPS (Advanced Mobile Phone System), CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), WCDMA (Wideband CDMA), LTE (Long Term Evolution), LTE Direct (LTE-D), 3GPP LTE-V2X (PC5), IEEE 802.11 (including IEEE 802.11p), WiFi, WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), Zigbee, etc.) to communicate signals (e.g., with UE 200, one or more other UEs, and / or one or more other devices). The wired transceiver 450 may include a wired transmitter 452 and a wired receiver 454 configured for wired communication, for example, a network interface that can be used to communicate with the NG-RAN 135 to send communications to, for example, the TRP 300 and / or one or more other network entities and receive communications therefrom. The wired transmitter 452 may include multiple transmitters that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components, and / or the wired receiver 454 may include multiple receivers that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components. The wired transceiver 450 may be configured, for example, for optical communication and / or electrical communication.

[0074] This specification may refer to processor 410 performing a function, but this includes other implementations, such as implementations in which processor 410 executes software (stored in memory 411) and / or firmware. The description herein may refer to server 400 performing a function as shorthand for one or more appropriate components of server 400 (e.g., processor 410 and memory 411) performing that function.

[0075] Figure 4The configuration of the server 400 shown is an example and is not intended to limit the present disclosure, including the claims, and other configurations may be used. For example, the wireless transceiver 440 may be omitted. Additionally or alternatively, the description herein discusses that the server 400 is configured to perform several functions or that the server performs several functions, but one or more of these functions may be performed by the TRP 300 and / or the UE 200 (i.e., the TRP 300 and / or the UE 200 may be configured to perform one or more of these functions).

[0076] For terrestrial positioning of UEs in cellular networks, techniques such as Advanced Forward Link Trilateration (AFLT) and Observed Time Difference of Arrival (OTDOA) typically operate in a "UE-assisted" mode, where measurements of reference signals (e.g., PRS, CRS, etc.) transmitted by base stations are acquired by the UE and then provided to a location server. The location server then calculates the position of the UE based on the measurements and the known positions of the base stations. Since these techniques use a location server (rather than the UE itself) to calculate the position of the UE, these positioning techniques are not frequently used in applications such as automotive or cell phone navigation, which instead typically rely on satellite-based positioning.

[0077] The UE can use a satellite positioning system (SPS) (Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)) to use Precise Point Positioning (PPP) or Real-Time Kinematics (RTK) techniques for high accuracy positioning. These techniques use assistance data, such as measurements from ground-based stations. LTE Release 15 allows the data to be encrypted so that only UEs subscribed to the service can read the information. Such assistance data changes over time. As a result, a UE subscribed to the service may not be able to easily "crack the encryption" for other UEs by passing the data to other UEs that have not paid for the subscription. This transfer needs to be repeated every time the assistance data changes.

[0078] In UE-assisted positioning, the UE transmits measurements (e.g., TDOA, Angle of Arrival (AoA), etc.) to a positioning server (e.g., LMF / eSMLC). The positioning server has a base station almanac (BSA) that contains multiple "entries" or "records", one record per cell, where each record contains a geographic cell location, but may also include other data. An identifier of a "record" among multiple "records" in the BSA may be referenced. The BSA and the measurements from the UE may be used to calculate the positioning of the UE.

[0079] In conventional UE-based positioning, the UE calculates its own position, avoiding the transmission of measurements to the network (e.g., a location server), which in turn improves latency and scalability. The UE uses the relevant BSA record information from the network (e.g., the location of the gNB (more broadly, the base station)). The BSA information can be encrypted. However, since the BSA information changes much less frequently than, for example, the PPP or RTK assistance data described previously, it may be easier (compared to PPP or RTK information) to make the BSA information available to UEs that are not subscribed and have not paid for decryption keys. The transmission of reference signals by the gNB makes the BSA information potentially accessible to crowdsourcing or driving attacks, essentially enabling the BSA information to be generated based on in-the-field observations and / or over-the-top observations.

[0080] Positioning techniques may be characterized and / or evaluated based on one or more criteria, such as positioning determination accuracy and / or latency. Latency is the time elapsed between an event that triggers the determination of positioning-related data and the availability of the data at a positioning system interface (e.g., an interface of LMF 120). When the positioning system is initialized, the latency for the availability of positioning-related data is called the time to first fix (TTFF) and is greater than the latency after the TTFF. The inverse of the time elapsed between two consecutive positioning-related data availabilities is called the update rate, i.e., the rate at which positioning-related data is generated after the first fix. Latency may depend on (e.g., UE's) processing capabilities. For example, assuming 272 PRBs (physical resource blocks) are allocated, the UE may report the processing capabilities of the UE as the duration (in time units (e.g., milliseconds) of the DL PRS symbols that the UE can process per T amount of time (e.g., Tms). Other examples of capabilities that may affect latency are the number of TRPs from which the UE can process PRSs, the number of PRSs that the UE can process, and the bandwidth of the UE.

[0081] One or more of many different positioning techniques (also referred to as positioning methods) may be used to determine the location of an entity (such as one of UEs 105, 106). For example, known positioning determination techniques include RTT, multi-RTT, OTDOA (also referred to as TDOA and including UL-TDOA and DL-TDOA), enhanced cell identification (E-CID), DL-AoD, UL-AoA, etc. RTT uses the time it takes for a signal to travel from one entity to another and back to determine the distance between the two entities. This distance plus the known position of a first one of the entities and the angle (e.g., azimuth) between the two entities may be used to determine the position of a second one of the entities. In multi-RTT (also referred to as multi-cell RTT), multiple distances from one entity (e.g., UE) to other entities (e.g., TRP) and the known positions of the other entities may be used to determine the position of the one entity. In TDOA techniques, the travel time difference between one entity and the other entities may be used to determine the relative distance to the other entities, and the relative distance combined with the known positions of the other entities may be used to determine the position of the one entity. The angle of arrival and / or angle of departure can be used to help determine the location of an entity. For example, the angle of arrival or angle of departure of a signal combined with the distance between devices (the distance determined using the signal (e.g., the travel time of the signal, the received power of the signal, etc.)) and the known position of one of the devices can be used to determine the location of the other device. The angle of arrival or angle of departure can be an azimuth relative to a reference direction (such as true north). The angle of arrival or angle of departure can be a zenith angle relative to directly upward from the entity (i.e., relative to radially outward from the center of the earth). E-CID uses the identity of the serving cell, the timing advance (i.e., the difference between the reception time and the transmission time at the UE), the estimated timing and power of the detected neighbor cell signals, and the possible angle of arrival (e.g., the angle of arrival of the signal from the base station at the UE, or vice versa) to determine the location of the UE. In TDOA, the difference in the arrival time of signals from different sources at the receiving device together with the known positions of these sources and the known offsets of the transmission times from these sources are used to determine the location of the receiving device.

[0082] In network-centric RTT estimation, the serving base station commands the UE to scan / receive RTT measurement signals (e.g., PRS) on the serving cells of two or more neighboring base stations (and usually the serving base station, because at least three base stations are required). The one or more base stations transmit the RTT measurement signals on low reuse resources (e.g., resources used by the base station to send system information) allocated by the network (e.g., a location server, such as LMF 120). The UE records the arrival time (also known as reception time, received time, received time, or arrival time (ToA)) of each RTT measurement signal relative to the current downlink timing of the UE (e.g., as derived by the UE from the DL signal received from its serving base station), and (e.g., when instructed by its serving base station) transmits a common or individual RTT response message (e.g., SRS (sounding reference signal) for positioning, i.e., UL-PRS) to the one or more base stations, and the time difference T between the ToA of the RTT measurement signal and the transmission time of the RTT response message may be calculated. Rx→Tx (i.e., UE T Rx-Tx or UE Rx-Tx ) is included in the payload of each RTT response message. The RTT response message will include a reference signal from which the base station can infer the ToA of the RTT response. By comparing the difference between the transmission time of the RTT measurement signal from the base station and the ToA of the RTT response at the base station, the base station can infer the ToA of the RTT response. Tx→Rx The time difference T reported by the UE Rx→Tx , the base station can infer the propagation time between the base station and the UE, whereby the base station can determine the distance between the UE and the base station by assuming the speed of light during the propagation time.

[0083] UE-centric RTT estimation is similar to the network-based approach, except that the UE sends an uplink RTT measurement signal (e.g., when ordered by a serving base station), which is received by multiple base stations in the vicinity of the UE. Each base station involved responds with a downlink RTT response message, which may include in the RTT response message payload the time difference between the ToA of the RTT measurement signal at the base station and the transmission time of the RTT response message from the base station.

[0084] For both network-centric and UE-centric processes, the side performing the RTT calculation (the network or the UE) typically (but not always) sends a first message or signal (e.g., an RTT measurement signal), and the other side responds with one or more RTT response messages or signals, which may include the difference between the ToA of the first message or signal and the sending time of the RTT response message or signal.

[0085] Multi-RTT techniques may be used to determine positioning. For example, a first entity (e.g., a UE) may transmit one or more signals (e.g., unicast, multicast, or broadcast from a base station), and a plurality of second entities (e.g., other TSPs, such as base stations and / or UEs) may receive signals from the first entity and respond to the received signals. The first entity receives responses from the plurality of second entities. The first entity (or another entity, such as an LMF) may use the responses from the second entity to determine the distance to the second entity, and may use the plurality of distances and the known positions of the second entity to determine the position of the first entity by trilateration.

[0086] In some instances, additional information may be obtained in the form of an angle of arrival (AoA) or angle of departure (AoD) that defines a straight line direction (e.g., which may be in the horizontal plane or in three dimensions) or a range of possible directions (e.g., of the UE as seen from the location of a base station). The intersection of the two directions may provide another estimate of the UE's position.

[0087] For positioning techniques (e.g., TDOA and RTT) that use PRS (positioning reference signal) signals, PRS signals transmitted by multiple TRPs are measured, and the arrival times of these signals, the known transmission times, and the known locations of the TRPs are used to determine the distance from the UE to the TRP. For example, RSTD (reference signal time difference) can be determined for PRS signals received from multiple TRPs, and the RSTD can be used in the TDOA technique to determine the location (position) of the UE. Positioning reference signals may be referred to as PRS or PRS signals. PRS signals are typically transmitted using the same power, and PRS signals with the same signal characteristics (e.g., the same frequency shift) may interfere with each other, so that PRS signals from farther TRPs may be drowned out by PRS signals from closer TRPs, so that signals from farther TRPs may not be detected. PRS muting can be used to help reduce interference by muting some PRS signals (reducing the power of the PRS signal, for example, to zero and thereby not sending the PRS signal). In this way, the UE can more easily detect (at the UE) a weaker PRS signal without a stronger PRS signal interfering with the weaker PRS signal. The term RS and its variants (e.g., PRS, SRS, CSI-RS (Channel State Information - Reference Signal)) may refer to one reference signal or more than one reference signal.

[0088] The positioning reference signal (PRS) includes a downlink PRS (DL PRS, often referred to as PRS for short) and an uplink PRS (UL PRS) (the uplink PRS may be referred to as an SRS (sounding reference signal) for positioning). The PRS may include a PN code (pseudo-random number) or be generated using a PN code (e.g., by modulating a carrier signal with a PN code) so that the source of the PRS can be used as a pseudo-satellite. The PN code may be unique to the PRS source (at least unique within a specified area so that the same PRS from different PRS sources do not overlap). The PRS may include PRS resources and / or PRS resource sets of a frequency layer. The DL PRS positioning frequency layer (or simply frequency layer) is a collection of DL PRS resource sets from one or more TRPs, where the PRS resources have common parameters configured by higher layer parameters DL-PRS-PositioningFrequencyLayer, DL-PRS-ResourceSet, and DL-PRS-Resource. Each frequency layer has a DL PRS subcarrier spacing (SCS) for the DL PRS resource set and DL PRS resource in the frequency layer. Each frequency layer has a DL PRS cyclic prefix (CP) for the DL PRS resource set and DL PRS resources in that frequency layer. In 5G, a resource block occupies 12 consecutive subcarriers and a specified number of symbols. A common resource block is a set of resource blocks that occupy a channel bandwidth. A bandwidth part (BWP) is a set of consecutive common resource blocks and may include all common resource blocks within the channel bandwidth or a subset of the common resource blocks. In addition, the DL PRS point A parameter defines the frequency of the reference resource block (and the lowest subcarrier of the resource block), where DL PRS resources belonging to the same DL PRS resource set have the same point A, and all DL PRS resource sets belonging to the same frequency layer have the same point A. The frequency layers also have the same DL PRS bandwidth, the same starting PRB (and center frequency), and the same comb size value (i.e., the frequency of PRS resource elements per symbol, so that for comb-N, every Nth resource element is a PRS resource element). A PRS resource set is identified by a PRS resource set ID and can be associated with a specific TRP (identified by a cell ID) sent by the antenna panel of the base station. The PRS resource ID in a PRS resource set may be associated with an omni-directional signal and / or associated with a single beam (and / or beam ID) transmitted from a single base station (where a base station may transmit one or more beams). Each PRS resource in a PRS resource set may be transmitted on a different beam, and as such, the PRS resources (or simply resources) may also be referred to as beams. This does not imply anything about whether the base station and beam on which the PRS is transmitted are known to the UE.

[0089] The TRP may be configured, for example, by instructions received from a server and / or by software in the TRP to transmit DL PRS on a schedule. According to the schedule, the TRP may transmit DL PRS intermittently (e.g., periodically at consistent intervals from the initial transmission). The TRP may be configured to transmit one or more PRS resource sets. A resource set is a collection of PRS resources across a TRP, where the resources have the same periodicity, a common muting mode configuration (if any), and the same cross-slot repetition factor. Each PRS resource set in a PRS resource set includes a plurality of PRS resources, where each PRS resource includes a plurality of OFDM (orthogonal frequency division multiplexing) resource elements (REs), which may be in a plurality of resource blocks (RBs) within N (one or more) consecutive symbols within a slot. PRS resources (or, in general, reference signal (RS) resources) may be referred to as OFDM PRS resources (or OFDMRS resources). RBs are RE sets that span a certain number of one or more consecutive symbols in the time domain and a certain number (12 for 5G RBs) of consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain. Each PRS resource is configured with an RE offset, a slot offset, a symbol offset within a slot, and the number of consecutive symbols that the PRS resource can occupy within a slot. The RE offset defines the starting RE offset in frequency for the first symbol within the DL PRS resource. The relative RE offsets of the remaining symbols within the DL PRS resource are defined based on the initial offset. The slot offset is the starting slot of the DL PRS resource relative to the corresponding resource set slot offset. The symbol offset determines the starting symbol of the DL PRS resource within the starting slot. The transmitted REs may be repeated across slots, where each transmission is referred to as a repetition, so that there may be multiple repetitions in the PRS resource. The DL PRS resources in a DL PRS resource set are associated with the same TRP, and each DL PRS resource has a DL PRS resource ID. The DL PRS resource ID in a DL PRS resource set is associated with a single beam transmitted from a single TRP (although a TRP may transmit one or more beams).

[0090] PRS resources can also be defined by quasi-co-location parameters and starting PRB parameters. Quasi-co-location (QCL) parameters can define any quasi-co-location information of DLPRS resources and other reference signals. DL PRS can be configured as QCL type D with DL PRS or SS / PBCH (synchronization signal / physical broadcast channel) blocks from a serving cell or a non-serving cell. DL PRS can be configured as QCL type C with SS / PBCH blocks from a serving cell or a non-serving cell. The starting PRB parameter defines the starting PRB index of the DLPRS resource with respect to reference point A. The starting PRB index has a granularity of one PRB and can have a minimum value of 0 PRBs and a maximum value of 2176 PRBs.

[0091] A PRS resource set is a collection of PRS resources with the same periodicity, the same muting pattern configuration (if any), and the same repetition factor across time slots. Each time all repetitions of all PRS resources in a PRS resource set are configured to be transmitted is referred to as an "instance". Thus, an "instance" of a PRS resource set is a specified number of repetitions for each PRS resource and a specified number of PRS resources within a PRS resource set, such that once the specified number of repetitions is transmitted for each of the specified number of PRS resources, the instance is complete. An instance may also be referred to as an "opportunity". A DL PRS configuration including a DL PRS transmission schedule may be provided to a UE to facilitate (or even cause) the UE to measure a DL PRS.

[0092] Multiple frequency layers of PRS can be aggregated to provide an effective bandwidth that is greater than any bandwidth in the bandwidth of each layer. Multiple frequency layers belonging to a component carrier (which can be continuous and / or separate) and satisfying criteria such as quasi co-location (QCL) and having the same antenna port can be spliced ​​to provide a larger effective PRS bandwidth (for DL ​​PRS and UL PRS), thereby improving the accuracy of arrival time measurement. Splicing includes combining PRS measurements on various bandwidth segments into a unified fragment so that the spliced ​​PRS can be regarded as taken from a single measurement. In the case of quasi co-location, different frequency layers behave similarly, so that the splicing of PRS produces a larger effective bandwidth. The larger effective bandwidth (which can be referred to as the bandwidth of the aggregated PRS or the frequency bandwidth of the aggregated PRS) provides better time domain resolution (e.g., the resolution of TDOA). The aggregated PRS includes a collection of PRS resources, and each PRS resource in the aggregated PRS can be referred to as a PRS component, and each PRS component can be sent on different component carriers, frequency bands or frequency layers, or on different parts of the same frequency band.

[0093] RTT positioning is an active positioning technology because RTT uses positioning signals transmitted by the TRP to the UE and positioning signals transmitted by the UE (participating in RTT positioning) to the TRP. The TRP can transmit a DL-PRS signal received by the UE, and the UE can transmit an SRS (sounding reference signal) signal received by multiple TRPs. The sounding reference signal may be referred to as an SRS or an SRS signal. In 5G multi-RTT, coordinated positioning can be used, in which the UE transmits a single UL-SRS for positioning received by multiple TRPs, rather than transmitting a separate UL-SRS for positioning for each TRP. The TRP participating in multi-RTT will typically search for UEs currently residing on the TRP (served UEs, where the TRP is the serving TRP) and also search for UEs residing on adjacent TRPs (neighboring UEs). The neighbor TRP may be the TRP of a single BTS (base transceiver station) (e.g., a gNB), or may be the TRP of one BTS and the TRP of a separate BTS. For RTT positioning (including multi-RTT positioning), the DL-PRS signal and the UL-SRS positioning signal in a PRS / SRS positioning signal pair used to determine the RTT (and thereby used to determine the distance between the UE and the TRP) may occur close to each other in time so that errors due to UE motion and / or UE clock drift and / or TRP clock drift are within acceptable limits. For example, the signals in the PRS / SRS positioning signal pair may be sent from the TRP and the UE, respectively, within approximately 10 ms of each other. In the case where the SRS for positioning is being transmitted by the UE and the PRS and the SRS for positioning are transmitted close to each other in time, it has been found that radio frequency (RF) signal congestion (which may result in excessive noise, etc.) may result (especially if many UEs are attempting to locate concurrently), and / or computational congestion may result at the TRP where many UEs are attempting to be measured concurrently.

[0094] RTT positioning can be UE-based or UE-assisted. In UE-based RTT, UE 200 determines the RTT and corresponding distance to each TRP in TRP 300, and determines the positioning of UE 200 based on the distance to TRP 300 and the known position of TRP 300. In UE-assisted RTT, UE 200 measures the positioning signal and provides the measurement information to TRP 300, and TRP 300 determines RTT and distance. TRP 300 provides the distance to a location server (e.g., server 400), and the server determines the position of UE 200 based on the distance to different TRPs 300, for example. RTT and / or distance can be determined by TRP 300 receiving signals from UE 200, determined by the TRP 300 in combination with one or more other devices (e.g., one or more other TRPs 300 and / or server 400), or determined by one or more devices other than TRP 300 that receive signals from UE 200.

[0095] Various positioning technologies are supported in 5G NR. The NR native positioning methods supported in 5G NR include DL-only positioning methods, UL-only positioning methods, and DL+UL positioning methods. Downlink-based positioning methods include DL-TDOA and DL-AoD. Uplink-based positioning methods include UL-TDOA and UL-AoA. Combined DL+UL-based positioning methods include RTT with one base station and RTT with multiple base stations (multi-RTT).

[0096] A positioning estimate (e.g., for a UE) may be referred to by other names, such as position estimate, position, fix, position fix, fix, etc. The positioning estimate may be geodetic and include coordinates (e.g., latitude, longitude, and possibly altitude), or may be municipal and include a street address, postal address, or some other textual description of the location. The positioning estimate may be further defined relative to some other known location or in absolute terms (e.g., using latitude, longitude, and possibly altitude). The positioning estimate may include an expected error or uncertainty (e.g., by including an area or volume within which the location is expected to be contained with some specified or default confidence level).

[0097] refer to Figure 5, shows a system diagram illustrating various entities configured to utilize a V2X communication link. Generally speaking, V2X communication involves the transfer of information between a vehicle and any other entity that may affect the vehicle or may be affected by the vehicle. The vehicle may include an OBU, which may have some or all of the components of UE 200, and UE 200 is an example of an OBU. The OBU may be configured to communicate with other entities such as infrastructure (e.g., brake lights), pedestrians, other vehicles, and other wireless nodes. In one example, V2X may cover other more specific types of communications, such as vehicle to infrastructure (V2I), vehicle to vehicle (V2V), vehicle to pedestrian (V2P), vehicle to device (V2D), and vehicle to grid (V2G).

[0098] Vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) is a communication model designed to allow vehicles or cars to "talk" to each other, usually by having cars form a wireless ad hoc network on the road. Vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) is a communication model that allows vehicles to share information with components that support the road or highway system, such as overhead radio frequency identification (RFID) readers and cameras, traffic lights, lane markings, street lights, signs, and parking meters. Similar to V2V communication, V2I communication is usually wireless and bidirectional: data from infrastructure components can be delivered to vehicles through the ad hoc network, and vice versa. Vehicle-to-pedestrian (V2P) communication involves the ability of vehicles or cars to communicate with or identify a wide range of road users, including people walking, children pushed in strollers, people using wheelchairs or other motorized devices, passengers getting on and off buses and trains, and cyclists. Vehicle-to-device (V2D) communication consists in the exchange of information between a vehicle and any electronic device that can be connected to the vehicle itself. Vehicle-to-grid (V2G) communication can include vehicles communicating with the power grid.

[0099] These more specific types of communications are useful for implementing various functions. For example, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) is particularly useful for collision avoidance safety systems, while vehicle-to-pedestrian (V2P) is useful for issuing safety warnings to pedestrians and cyclists. Vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) is useful for optimizing traffic light control and issuing speed advisories, while vehicle-to-network (V2N) is useful for providing real-time traffic updates / route planning and cloud services.

[0100] As referred to herein, V2X communications may include any of these more specific types of communications, as well as any communication between a vehicle and another entity that does not fall within one of these existing communication standards. Thus, V2X is a fairly broad vehicle communication system.

[0101] V2X communication can be based on Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 wireless local area network (WLAN) technology, LTE / 5G NR PC5 and / or Uu interface, where vehicles and entities (e.g., V2X transmitters) communicate through an ad hoc network formed when two V2X transmitters come into range of each other. It also exists in cellular-based solutions, such as 5G NR-based V2X, which can leverage this technology to provide secure communications, precise positioning, and efficient processing. For example, C-V2X can Figure 1 The communication system 100 described in the specification is used for a V2X communication link.

[0102] One benefit of V2X communication is safety. For example, V2X communication can enable a vehicle to communicate with its surroundings so that the vehicle can improve driver awareness and provide driving assistance to the driver. For example, the vehicle can be aware of other moving vehicles and pedestrians on the road. The vehicle can then communicate their location to the driver, who may not be aware. If an accident is avoided in this way, the safety of other vehicles and pedestrians on the road is improved. This is just one use case of V2X for improving safety. Other examples of V2X use cases related to safety include forward collision warning, lane change warning / blind spot warning, emergency electric brake light warning, intersection movement assistance, emergency vehicle approaching, road work warning, and platooning.

[0103] The V2X communication standard is also intended to develop advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), which help drivers make critical decisions in lane changes, speed changes, overtaking speeds, etc. ADAS can assist in driving in challenging conditions, such as bad weather, low lighting, low visibility, etc. ADAS can also be used for non-line-of-sight sensing, overtaking (e.g., passing other vehicles on the road), cooperative driving, and Do Not Overtake (DNP) warnings.

[0104] The V2X communication standard can also provide assistance in different modes. The first V2X mode can be used to improve driver perception. For example, a vehicle can use its knowledge of the location of various other vehicles on the road to provide the driver with a bird's-eye view of an intersection, or provide the driver with perspective capabilities when driving behind a truck (for example, the vehicle will visually display to the driver other vehicles on the other side of the truck that are obscured by the truck). The second V2X mode can be configured to provide cooperative driving and collision avoidance. For example, V2X can be used for platooning to tightly group vehicles on the road by enabling those vehicles to communicate and accelerate / brake simultaneously. V2X can also be used to regulate vehicle speed or overtaking negotiation, where a vehicle can signal its intention to overtake other vehicles in order to protect overtaking situations. Vehicles configured for autonomous driving can use the third V2X mode.

[0105] In one example, the vehicle 500 may be able to communicate with infrastructure 502 (e.g., a traffic light) using vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communications. In some embodiments, the vehicle 500 may be able to communicate with other vehicles on the road (such as vehicle 504) via vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communications. The vehicle 500 may be able to communicate with a cellular station 506 via a cellular protocol such as a Uu interface. The cellular station 506 may be a base station such as a gNB 110a and may include some or all of the components of the TRP 300. In one example, the vehicle 500 may be able to communicate with a device 508 via a vehicle-to-device (V2D) communication. In some such embodiments, the device 508 may be any electronic device that can be connected to the vehicle itself. For example, the device 508 may be a third-party or in-vehicle GPS navigation device, with which the vehicle 500 may communicate to obtain information available to the device 508. If the GPS navigation device has information about congested routes, traffic density, the location of other vehicles with similar devices on the road, etc., then the vehicle 500 may be able to obtain all of this information. In one example, device 508 may include a user interface display, audio, and / or haptic components configured to provide an alert to a user.

[0106] In one example, vehicle 500 may be able to detect UEs or other wireless devices carried by pedestrians 510 via vehicle-to-pedestrian (V2P) technology. For example, vehicle 500 may have a detection method, such as a camera or sensor that allows vehicle 500 to detect and confirm the presence of pedestrians 510 on the road. Pedestrians 510 may include a wide range of people, including people walking, children being pushed in strollers, people using wheelchairs or other motorized devices, passengers getting on and off buses and trains, cyclists, etc.

[0107] In one example, the vehicle 500 may be configured to communicate with a roadside unit (RSU) 512 or other networked device such as an AP. The RSU may be located in a busy traffic area and may be configured to perform the messaging techniques described herein. The RSU 512 may include some or all of the components of the TRP 300. Generally speaking, the capabilities of an RSU are not as good as a TRP because the coverage area of ​​the RSU is smaller than that of the TRP.

[0108] In some embodiments, Figure 5 The vehicle 500 and other entities in the vehicle can also receive the data from a network or server (such as server 400 ( Figure 5 The vehicle 500 may be able to communicate with a network and server to receive information about the location and capabilities of the infrastructure 502, vehicles 504, cellular stations 506, pedestrians 510, and RSUs 512 without having to communicate directly with those entities.

[0109] refer to FIG. 6A to FIG. 6C , diagrams showing example use cases for providing vehicle fine-tuning information. The diagrams include an intersection 600 having at least one traffic light 608 and a left turn lane to illustrate the inefficiency caused by gaps 612 between vehicles. The intersection 600 includes an RSU 602 configured to communicate with entities near the intersection 600, such as multiple vehicles, traffic lights 608, other signal devices, and sensors / detectors (e.g., vehicle detection devices, crosswalk signals, etc.). The RSU 602 may be communicatively coupled to a server 606 via a network 604. The network 604 may include a WAN and / or the Internet. The intersection 600 may also include one or more cameras 614 configured to capture images of vehicles at the intersection 600 and provide image information to the RSU 602, the network 604, and / or the server 606. The intersection 600 may be within the coverage area of ​​one or more cellular base stations, such as a base station 616. Base station 616 may be communicatively coupled to RSU 602 and / or server 606 via network 604. Entities located at intersection 600 may be configured to utilize V2X communication technologies, such as WiFi, PC5, and Uu interfaces. FIG. 6A to FIG. 6CThe use case in describes a scenario where multiple vehicles 610a-d stop at a traffic light on a left turn lane. The second vehicle 610b accidentally stops at a distance from the first vehicle 610a. This distance forms a gap 612 in the left turn lane. The gap 612 allows the third vehicle 610c to cross the lane and thereby blocks the fourth vehicle 610d from going straight through the intersection. Since the third vehicle 610c blocks the lane, the fourth vehicle 610d may miss the straight signal on the traffic light 608. In addition, the obstruction caused by the gap 612 and the resulting position of the third vehicle 610c may cause more traffic to accumulate behind the fourth vehicle 610d. The fine-tuning information provided herein can help remove the gap 612 to reduce the possibility of vehicles in the left turn lane blocking straight traffic. FIG. 6A to FIG. 6C The left turn use case depicted in is an example and not a limitation, as other traffic use cases may also be assisted by removing gaps between vehicles. For example, traffic jams caused by toll booths, checkpoints, traffic accidents, construction sites, etc. may utilize the techniques provided herein.

[0110] In operation, the RSU or another vehicle (e.g., the fourth vehicle 610d) may be configured to provide fine-tuning information to the second vehicle 610b. In one example, the RSU 602 may receive a BSM 618 from an OBU on a vehicle (e.g., including multiple vehicles 610a-d) in an intersection. The RSU 602 may be configured to utilize logic to determine that there is an opportunity to fine-tune certain vehicles forward. The logic may be based on parameters included in the BSM 618, such as precise positioning, vehicle size, braking status, etc. The positioning information may be based on terrestrial and / or satellite technology as described herein. In one example, the RSU 602 may query the server 606 to confirm vehicle placement based at least in part on image information obtained by one or more cameras 614. The server 606 may be configured to process the image / video stream received from one or more cameras 614 and provide an indication of a gap (e.g., gap 612) to the RSU 602. In one example, the RSU 602 may be configured to receive image / video information from one or more cameras 614 and detect gaps.

[0111] In one example, one or more cameras 614 can be configured to stream real-time video to a server 606 (e.g., the server 606 can be configured for multi-access edge computing (MEC)), and the server 606 can be configured to detect a gap based on the BSM received by the RSU 602 and the image information obtained by the one or more cameras 614. In one example, the RSU 602 and the server 606 can be configured to independently determine the location of the gap and then compare the results. One or more vehicles can be notified based on the gap detected by both the RSU 602 and the server 606.

[0112] The RSU 602 may be configured to transmit unicast messages to appropriate vehicles based on the gap information. For example, the RSU 602 may transmit a unicast message 620 of a forward fine-tuning to the second vehicle 610b. The unicast message 620 may be an enhanced RSM message and may include an indication of how far (e.g., x meters) the second vehicle 610b should fine-tune forward. Once the second vehicle 610b moves into the gap 612, the third vehicle 610c may move forward into the gap created behind the second vehicle 610b. In one example, the RSU 602 may then send a subsequent unicast message to the third vehicle 610c to fill the new gap (if necessary), and send another unicast message to the fourth vehicle 610d (if necessary). The RSU 602 may unicast other messages to the vehicles in the intersection 600 as needed to resolve other gaps.

[0113] In one example, the RSU 602 may be configured to multicast a message to a group of vehicles, and if the OBU in the vehicle determines that there is a gap in front of it, a corresponding warning may be provided to the operator, otherwise the OBU will ignore the message. In one example, the first vehicle 610a may include an on-board vehicle radar system and may be configured to detect the gap 612. The first vehicle 610a may be configured to provide a fine-tuning notification to the second vehicle 610b via PC5 and / or DSRC. In one example, the fourth vehicle 610d (i.e., the vehicle being blocked) may be configured to request that a gap detection process be initiated by the RSU 602 or other vehicles at the intersection 600 to generate fine-tuning instructions for one or more of these vehicles. In one example, reference Figure 6C , other RATs such as Uu interfaces may be utilized to provide fine-tuning instructions. For example, the server 606 and / or the RSU 602 may be configured to transmit a notification message to the second vehicle 610b via the base station 616 and one or more Uu messages 622 .

[0114] In one example, vehicles 610a-d may not be at a complete stop (e.g., they may be slowly rolling forward) and RSU 602 may be configured to determine whether a trim request is appropriate using signal change timing information associated with traffic light 608. For example, green light best speed advisory (GLOSA) information may indicate that a green light will occur in a few seconds (e.g., 2 seconds, 5 seconds, 10 seconds, 20 seconds), and therefore filling the gap will have minimal impact on traffic flow.

[0115] The intersection 600 may include one or more non-V2X-capable vehicles that cannot receive an RSM with a fine-tuning request, and other signaling devices may be used to alert the operator to fine-tune forward. In one example, the traffic light 608 and / or other signaling devices may include a flashing light such as a rectangular rapid flashing beacon (RRFB) that is configured to activate when a gap is to be filled. The RRFB may receive a fine-tuning message (e.g., RSM) from the RSU 602 and activate a flashing mode in response to the message. In one example, the RSU 602 may be communicatively coupled to one or more cameras 614 and a sensor (e.g., an RF sensing sensor) configured to detect vehicles in the intersection 600. The intersection 600 may include an electronic display sign configured to show the relative position of the vehicles, and the RSU 602 may determine which vehicles should fine-tune forward and provide the information via a display panel. Other signaling techniques may also be used.

[0116] In one example, the timing information of the traffic light 608 can be changed based on the detection of gaps and congestion. For example, when congestion such as caused by the fourth vehicle 610d is detected, the duration of the left turn lane signal can be extended.

[0117] refer to Fig. 7A and Figure 7B, shows an example fine adjustment indication provided to a vehicle operator. For a fully autonomous vehicle (AV), an RSM message with fine adjustment information may be sufficient to instruct the AV to move into a gap area. Semi-autonomous or standard vehicles may utilize an onboard or external device to request the vehicle operator to fine-tune forward. In a first example, an electronic device 702 may include a display 702a, which is configured to alert the vehicle operator when a fine adjustment is requested. The electronic device 702 may be an integrated display in the vehicle dashboard, or the windshield may be used as a display based on head-up display technology. The electronic device 702 may be a mobile device such as a smart phone or a navigation system configured to communicate with an OBU in a vehicle. In one example, the electronic device 702 may be an OBU in a vehicle. The display may be configured to provide a text message or other indication (e.g., an icon, an animation, etc.) to alert the operator of a fine adjustment request. Other user interface components such as speakers, lights, and tactile response generators (e.g., vibration elements) may be used to alert the vehicle operator. In one example, the OBU may be configured to control other onboard devices such as an audio system or dashboard lighting to notify the operator of a fine adjustment request. For example, a voice prompt may be provided to the audio system to request the operator to fine-tune forward. Other audio and visual indicators may also be used.

[0118] In one example, a vehicle may not be configured to receive RSM messages from an RSU or other station (e.g., a gNB), and a fine-tuning indication may be provided to an infrastructure device such as a traffic light 704. The RSU may be communicatively coupled to the traffic light 704, and may activate the RRFB 706 when a gap is detected. An activated RRFB 706 (e.g., flashing) may serve as an indication that a gap exists, and the vehicle operator may observe their current position and close the gap as needed. Other infrastructure objects such as crosswalks and road signs may be used to provide visual indicators to vehicle operators in dense traffic areas.

[0119] refer to Figure 8 , shows an example message flow 800 for providing vehicle fine-tuning information. The message flow 800 includes a plurality of vehicles having OBUs, and an RSU 808. The OBUs include a first OBU 802, a second OBU 804, and a third OBU 806. In one example, reference FIG. 6A to FIG. 6C, a first OBU 802 is included in a first vehicle 610a, a second OBU 804 is included in a second vehicle 610b, and a third OBU 806 is included in a third vehicle 610c. The RSU 808 may be the RSU 602. Each of the OBUs 802, 804, 806 is configured to transmit a BSM 810 to the RSU 808. The BSM 810 may include corresponding vehicle state information, such as location information (e.g., latitude / longitude / yaw / accuracy), vehicle heading and speed, brake system status, and vehicle size information. In stage 812, the RSU 808 is configured to determine gap information based at least in part on the BSM 810. For example, the location information of each of the vehicles may be used to detect a gap. Other inputs (such as image information from a camera and RF sensing information from a vehicle and a roadside sensor) may be received by the RSU 808 and used to determine the gap information. The RSU 808 may be configured to transmit one or more messages including a fine-tuning request to one or more OBUs. For example, the RSU 808 may transmit a fine-tuning message 814 to the second OBU 804 based on the gap 612. In one example, referring to Fig. 9 , the fine-tuning message 814 may be an RSM with gap information in the vehicle gap container 902. The second OBU 804 is configured to obtain the gap distance information (e.g., GapDistance) from the RSM message and move or alert the vehicle operator as described. In one example, reference Fig.10 , the fine-tuning message 814 can be a new type of message, such as a traffic flow optimization message 1002 that includes a vehicle gap container configured to describe a gap. Other signaling techniques can be used to notify the OBU of a gap. For example, the gap information can be received from other vehicles and / or a cellular network (e.g., via a Uu interface).

[0120] refer to Fig.11 , further reference Figures 1 to 10 , a method 1100 for providing a fine-tuning message includes the stages shown. However, the method 1100 is an example and not a limitation. The method 1100 may be modified, for example, by adding, removing, rearranging, combining, performing concurrently, and / or splitting a single stage into multiple stages. The method 1100 may be performed by an RSU, an MEC server, and / or another vehicle.

[0121] At stage 1102, the method includes detecting a road gap near a first vehicle in an area containing multiple vehicles. The RSU 602 including the processor 310 and the transceiver 315 is a means for detecting a road gap. Other devices such as an MEC server or a vehicle may be a means for detecting a road gap. A road gap may be an open space in front of a vehicle into which the vehicle may move. For example, referring to FIG. 6A to FIG. 6C , the gap 612 is an open space between the first vehicle 610a and the second vehicle 610b on the road. The RSU may be configured to detect a road gap based on a message report received from the plurality of vehicles in the area. For example, the message report may be a BSM sent from one or more of the plurality of vehicles. The location information in the BSM may be used to detect a road gap. Other sensors such as cameras and RF sensing devices may be used to detect a road gap in the area. A road gap may exist between a vehicle and another vehicle, or between a vehicle and a road feature such as a traffic stop line.

[0122] At stage 1104, the method includes generating a fine-tuning message based at least in part on the road gap. The RSU 602 including the processor 310 is a means for generating the fine-tuning message. Other devices such as an MEC server or a vehicle may be a means for generating the fine-tuning message. In one example, the fine-tuning message may be included in an enhanced RSM, such as Fig. 9 The enhanced RSM may include a vehicle gap container 902 to describe one or more characteristics of a road gap (e.g., the distance of the gap). The fine-tuning message may be based on a custom message format compatible with the V2X communication link, such as Fig.10 Other messages may also be generated to convey fine-tuning information. For example, network communication messaging technology (e.g., LTE, 5G NR, WiFi, etc.) may be used.

[0123] At stage 1106, the method includes sending the fine-tuning message. The RSU 602 including the processor 310 and the transceiver 315 is a component for sending the fine-tuning message. Other devices such as the MEC server or the vehicle can be components for sending the fine-tuning message. In one example, the fine-tuning message can be an RSM sent to the OBU in the first vehicle via a V2X link such as PC5. Other messages such as traffic flow optimization messages can be provided to the OBU in the first vehicle. In one example, the communication system 100 can be used to provide the fine-tuning message. For example, the base station 616 can use the Uu interface to provide the fine-tuning message to the OBU. In one example, the MEC server can be configured to use the WAN connection with the vehicle to send the fine-tuning message. Other signal transmission technologies can also be used. For example, side links and other D2D interfaces can also be used to provide fine-tuning messages to the first vehicle.

[0124] In one example, the fine-tuning message may be transmitted to one or more entities including roadside infrastructure, such as traffic lights and signs. The first vehicle may not be a V2X-capable device, and the fine-tuning information may have to be presented by an external device, such as RRFB 706. Other electronic signs and signal transmitting devices may also receive the fine-tuning message.

[0125] The method 1100 may be performed by other entities such as the server 606 and OBUs in other vehicles. For example, a vehicle may be configured to detect a gap using RF sensing technology and may provide a fine-tuning message to another vehicle or a roadside entity such as a traffic light 608, or a sign configured to notify a vehicle operator of a gap in traffic. In one example, a first vehicle may be configured to determine that a second vehicle (which is behind the first vehicle) has suddenly stopped and created a gap that can be compressed. The first vehicle may be configured to detect a gap, generate a fine-tuning message, and send the fine-tuning message, as described in the method 1100.

[0126] refer to Fig.12 , further reference Figures 1 to 10 , the method 1200 for responding to a fine-tuning message includes the stages shown. However, the method 1200 is an example and not a limitation. The method 1200 can be modified, for example, by adding, removing, rearranging, combining, performing concurrently, and / or splitting a single stage into multiple stages.

[0127] At stage 1202, the method includes sending one or more basic safety messages. An OBU including a processor 210 and a transceiver 215 is a component for sending one or more BSMs. In one example, an OBU or other wireless device may be configured to send a BSM to an RSU or other device (e.g., a cellular base station, an MEC server, another vehicle) when it is within the coverage area of ​​the RSU or other device. The RSU may also include an RSU controller or a master RSU configured to control multiple RSUs. The one or more BSMs may include corresponding vehicle state information, such as location information (e.g., latitude / longitude / yaw / accuracy), vehicle heading and speed, brake system status, and vehicle size information.

[0128] In stage 1204, the method includes receiving a fine-tuning message. An OBU including a processor 210 and a transceiver 215 is a component for receiving a fine-tuning message. In one example, the fine-tuning message can be an RSM sent to the OBU via a V2X link such as PC5. Other messages such as traffic flow optimization messages can be provided to the OBU. In one example, the communication system 100 can be used to provide a fine-tuning message to the OBU. For example, the base station 616 can utilize the Uu interface to provide the fine-tuning message to the OBU. Other signal transmission technologies can also be used to provide the fine-tuning message to the OBU. For example, the OBU can be configured to provide a message via a WAN communication protocol. In one example, the fine-tuning message can be multicasted from a station (e.g., RSU) to multiple vehicles.

[0129] In stage 1206, the method includes executing a vehicle response based on the fine-tuning message. The OBU (including processor 210 and transceiver 215) is a component for executing the vehicle response. In one example, the vehicle can be completely autonomous, and the vehicle response can include moving the vehicle into the gap based on the fine-tuning message. For standard vehicles, the vehicle response can include notifying the operator of the fine-tuning instruction via a user interface. For example, a display device and / or an audio output can be used to provide an indication of the fine-tuning request to the operator. In one example, the vehicle steering wheel, brake pedal and / or operator seat can include a haptic device that is configured to vibrate in response to receiving the fine-tuning message. Other notification devices can also be used to notify the operator of the fine-tuning information. In one example, the vehicle can be configured to receive the fine-tuning message at stage 1204 and determine whether there is a gap (e.g., using an on-board sensor) and then move into the gap (if the gap exists).

[0130] Other examples and implementations are within the scope of this disclosure and the appended claims. For example, due to the nature of software and computers, the functions described above may be implemented using software executed by a processor, hardware, firmware, hard wiring, or any combination thereof. Features that implement a function may also be physically located at different locations, including being distributed so that portions of a function are implemented at different physical locations.

[0131] As used herein, the singular forms "a", "an", and "the" also include the plural forms, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. As used herein, the terms "include", "comprising", and "include" specify the presence of the recited features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and / or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and / or groups thereof.

[0132] Likewise, as used herein, “or” used in a list of items (possibly followed by “at least one of” or followed by “one or more of”) indicates a disjunctive list, so that, for example, a list of “at least one of A, B, or C,” or a list of “one or more of A, B, or C,” or a list of “A or B or C” means A or B or C, or AB (A and B), or AC (A and C), or BC (B and C), or ABC (i.e., A and B and C), or a combination having more than one feature (e.g., AA, AAB, ABBC, etc.). Thus, a statement that an item (e.g., a processor) is configured to perform a function with respect to at least one of A or B, or a statement that an item is configured to perform function A or function B means that the item can be configured to perform a function with respect to A, or can be configured to perform a function with respect to B, or can be configured to perform functions with respect to both A and B. For example, the phrase "a processor configured to measure at least one of A or B" or "a processor configured to measure A or measure B" means that the processor may be configured to measure A (and may or may not be configured to measure B), or may be configured to measure B (and may or may not be configured to measure A), or may be configured to measure A and measure B (and may be configured to select which of A and B to measure or both). Similarly, a statement that a component for measuring at least one of A or B includes: a component for measuring A (which may or may not be able to measure B), or a component for measuring B (and may or may not be configured to measure A), or a component for measuring A and B (which may be able to select which of A and B to measure or both). As another example, a statement that an item (e.g., a processor) is configured to perform at least one of function X or to perform function Y means that the item may be configured to perform function X, or may be configured to perform function Y, or may be configured to perform function X and perform function Y. For example, the phrase "a processor configured to measure at least one of X or Y" means that the processor may be configured to measure X (and may or may not be configured to measure Y), or may be configured to measure Y (and may or may not be configured to measure X), or may be configured to measure X and measure Y (and may be configured to select which or both of X and Y to measure).

[0133] As used herein, unless otherwise stated, a statement that a function or operation is "based on" an item or condition means that the function or operation is based on the stated item or condition, and may be based on one or more items and / or conditions other than the stated item or condition.

[0134] Substantial changes may be made according to specific requirements. For example, customized hardware may also be used, and / or specific elements may be implemented in hardware, in software (including portable software, such as applets, etc.) executed by a processor, or in both. In addition, connections with other computing devices such as network input / output devices may be employed. Unless otherwise indicated, components (functional or otherwise) shown in the figures and / or discussed herein as being connected or communicating with each other are communicatively coupled. That is, these components may be connected directly or indirectly to enable communication between them.

[0135] The systems and devices discussed above are examples. Various configurations may appropriately omit, replace, or add various procedures or components. For example, features described with respect to certain configurations may be combined in various other configurations. Different aspects and elements of a configuration may be combined in a similar manner. In addition, technology is constantly evolving, and therefore many elements are examples and do not limit the scope of the present disclosure or claims.

[0136] A wireless communication system is a system in which communications are transmitted wirelessly, i.e., by propagation of electromagnetic waves and / or sound waves through atmospheric space rather than by wires or other physical connections. A wireless communication network may not cause all communications to be sent wirelessly, but may be configured to cause at least some communications to be sent wirelessly. In addition, the term "wireless communication device" or similar terms does not require that the functionality of the device be used exclusively or even primarily for communication, does not require that communications using the wireless communication device be exclusively or even primarily wireless, nor does it require that the device be a mobile device, but rather indicates that the device includes wireless communication capabilities (unidirectional or bidirectional), for example, including at least one radio component (each radio component is part of a transmitter, receiver or transceiver) for wireless communication.

[0137] Specific details are given in this specification to provide a thorough understanding of exemplary configurations (including specific implementations). However, configurations can be practiced without these specific details. For example, well-known circuits, processes, algorithms, structures, and techniques have been shown without unnecessary details to avoid confusing these configurations. This specification provides exemplary configurations without limiting the scope, applicability, or configuration of the claims. On the contrary, the previous description of the configuration provides a description for implementing the described technology. Various changes can be made to the function and arrangement of the elements.

[0138] As used herein, the terms "processor-readable medium," "machine-readable medium," and "computer-readable medium" refer to any medium that participates in providing data that causes a machine to operate in a particular manner. Using a computing platform, various processor-readable media may be involved in providing instructions / codes to a processor for execution, and / or may be used to store and / or carry such instructions / codes (e.g., as signals). In many specific implementations, processor-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. Non-volatile media include, for example, optical disks and / or magnetic disks. Volatile media include, but are not limited to, dynamic memory.

[0139] After describing several example configurations, various modifications, alternative constructions, and equivalents may be used. For example, the above elements may be components of a larger system, in which other rules may take precedence over the application of the present disclosure or otherwise modify the application of the present disclosure. In addition, several operations may be taken before, during, or after considering the above elements. Accordingly, the above description does not limit the scope of the claims.

[0140] Unless otherwise indicated, "approximately" and / or "about" as used herein in reference to a measurable value (such as an amount, a duration of time, etc.) encompasses variations of ±20% or ±10%, ±5%, or +0.1% from the specified value, as is appropriate in the context of the systems, devices, circuits, methods, and other specific implementations described herein. Unless otherwise indicated, "substantially" as used herein in reference to a measurable value (such as an amount, a duration of time, a physical property (such as frequency), etc.) also encompasses variations of ±20% or ±10%, ±5%, or +0.1% from the specified value, as is appropriate in the context of the systems, devices, circuits, methods, and other specific implementations described herein.

[0141] A statement that a value exceeds (or is greater than or above) a first threshold is equivalent to a statement that the value meets or exceeds a second threshold that is slightly greater than the first threshold, e.g., the second threshold is one value higher than the first threshold at the resolution of the computing system. A statement that a value is less than (or within or below) a first threshold is equivalent to a statement that the value is less than or equal to a second threshold that is slightly less than the first threshold, e.g., the second threshold is one value lower than the first threshold at the resolution of the computing system.

[0142] Specific implementation examples are described in the following numbered clauses:

[0143] Clause 1. A method for providing fine-tuning information, comprising: detecting a road gap proximate to a first vehicle in an area containing a plurality of vehicles; generating a fine-tuning message based at least in part on the road gap; and sending the fine-tuning message.

[0144] Clause 2. The method of clause 1, further comprising: receiving one or more basic safety messages from the plurality of vehicles, wherein detecting the road gap is based at least in part on the one or more basic safety messages.

[0145] Clause 3. The method of clause 1, further comprising: receiving image information from one or more cameras disposed in the area, wherein detecting the road gap is based at least in part on the image information.

[0146] Clause 4. The method of clause 1, wherein the fine-tuned message is an enhanced roadside safety message including a vehicle void container.

[0147] Clause 5. The method of Clause 4, wherein the vehicle gap container includes an indication of a length of the road gap.

[0148] Clause 6. The method of clause 1, wherein the fine-tuning message is a traffic flow optimization message.

[0149] Clause 7. The method of clause 1, wherein sending the fine-tuning message comprises sending a unicast message from a roadside unit to the first vehicle.

[0150] Clause 8. The method of Clause 1, wherein sending the fine-tuning message comprises sending the fine-tuning message from a cellular base station to the first vehicle.

[0151] Clause 9. A method according to clause 1, wherein sending the fine-tuning message includes sending the fine-tuning message from a second vehicle to the first vehicle, wherein the second vehicle is configured to detect the road gap proximate to the first vehicle and generate the fine-tuning message based at least in part on the road gap.

[0152] Clause 10. The method of clause 1, wherein sending the fine-tuning message comprises sending the fine-tuning message from a multi-access edge computing (MEC) server to the first vehicle.

[0153] Clause 11. The method of clause 10, wherein the fine-tuning message is sent via a wide area network communication protocol.

[0154] Clause 12. The method of clause 1, wherein the fine-tuning message is multicast to the plurality of vehicles.

[0155] Clause 13. The method of clause 1, wherein sending the fine-tuning message comprises sending the fine-tuning message to a roadside entity proximate to the first vehicle.

[0156] Clause 14. The method of clause 13, wherein the roadside entity is a traffic light comprising a rectangular fast flashing beacon.

[0157] Clause 15. The method of clause 13, wherein the roadside entity is a road sign.

[0158] Clause 16. A method for responding to a fine-tuning message, comprising: providing one or more basic safety messages; receiving the fine-tuning message; and performing a vehicle response based on the fine-tuning message.

[0159] Clause 17. The method of clause 16, wherein the fine-tuned message comprises an enhanced roadside safety message with a vehicle void container.

[0160] Clause 18. The method of Clause 17, wherein the vehicle gap container includes an indication of a length of the road gap.

[0161] Clause 19. The method of clause 16, wherein the fine-tuning message is a traffic flow optimization message.

[0162] Clause 20. The method of clause 16, wherein receiving the fine tuning message comprises receiving the fine tuning message from a cellular base station.

[0163] Clause 21. The method of clause 16, wherein receiving the fine-tuning message comprises receiving the fine-tuning message from a roadside unit.

[0164] Clause 22. The method of clause 21, wherein the fine-tuning message is included in a multicast message.

[0165] Clause 23. The method of clause 16, wherein receiving the fine-tuning message comprises receiving the fine-tuning message from a multi-access edge computing (MEC) server.

[0166] Clause 24. The method of clause 16, wherein the vehicle response comprises moving the autonomous vehicle into a road gap.

[0167] Clause 25. The method of clause 16, wherein the vehicle response comprises detecting a road gap using an onboard sensor, and providing an alert to a vehicle operator in response to detecting the road gap.

[0168] Clause 26. A method according to clause 16, wherein the vehicle response includes presenting a visual representation of the fine-tuning request on a display in the vehicle, presenting an audio representation of the fine-tuning request on an audio output in the vehicle, presenting a tactile response in the vehicle, or any combination thereof.

[0169] Clause 27. An apparatus comprising: a memory; at least one transceiver; at least one processor, the at least one processor being communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver and configured to: detect a road gap proximate to a first vehicle in an area containing multiple vehicles; generate a fine-tuning message based at least in part on the road gap; and send the fine-tuning message.

[0170] Clause 28. The apparatus of Clause 27, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to receive one or more basic safety messages from the plurality of vehicles and detect the road gap based at least in part on the one or more basic safety messages.

[0171] Clause 29. The apparatus of Clause 27, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to receive image information from one or more cameras disposed in the area and detect the road gap based at least in part on the image information.

[0172] Clause 30. The apparatus of Clause 27, wherein the fine-tuned message is an enhanced roadside safety message including a vehicle void container.

[0173] Clause 31. The apparatus of Clause 30, wherein the vehicle gap container includes an indication of a length of the road gap.

[0174] Clause 32. The apparatus of clause 27, wherein the fine-tuning message is a traffic flow optimization message.

[0175] Clause 33. The apparatus of clause 27, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to send a unicast message including the fine-tuning message from a roadside unit to the first vehicle.

[0176] Clause 34. The apparatus of Clause 27, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to send the fine-tuning message from a cellular base station to the first vehicle.

[0177] Clause 35. An apparatus according to clause 27, wherein the apparatus is disposed in a second vehicle and the at least one processor is further configured to send the fine-tuning message from the second vehicle to the first vehicle, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to detect the road gap near the first vehicle and generate the fine-tuning message based at least in part on the road gap.

[0178] Clause 36. The apparatus of clause 27, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to send the fine-tuning message from a multi-access edge computing (MEC) server to the first vehicle.

[0179] Clause 37. The apparatus of clause 36, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to send the fine-tuning message via a wide area network communication protocol.

[0180] Clause 38. The apparatus of clause 36, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to send the fine-tuning message to the plurality of vehicles via multicast.

[0181] Clause 39. The apparatus of clause 36, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to send the fine-tuning message to a roadside entity proximate to the first vehicle.

[0182] Clause 40. The apparatus of clause 39, wherein the roadside entity is a traffic light comprising a rectangular fast flashing beacon.

[0183] Clause 41. The apparatus of clause 39, wherein the roadside entity is a road sign.

[0184] Clause 42. An apparatus comprising: a memory; at least one transceiver; at least one processor, the at least one processor being communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver and configured to: provide one or more basic safety messages; receive a fine-tuning message; and perform a vehicle response based on the fine-tuning message.

[0185] Clause 43. The apparatus of clause 42, wherein the fine-tuned message comprises an enhanced roadside safety message with a vehicle void container.

[0186] Clause 44. The apparatus of Clause 43, wherein the vehicle gap container includes an indication of a length of a road gap.

[0187] Clause 45. The apparatus of clause 42, wherein the fine-tuning message is a traffic flow optimization message.

[0188] Clause 46. The apparatus of clause 42, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to receive the fine tuning message from a cellular base station.

[0189] Clause 47. The apparatus of clause 42, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to receive the fine-tuning message from a roadside unit.

[0190] Clause 48. The apparatus of clause 47, wherein the fine-tuning message is included in a multicast message.

[0191] Clause 49. The apparatus of clause 42, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to receive the fine-tuning message from a multi-access edge computing (MEC) server.

[0192] Clause 50. The apparatus of clause 42, wherein the vehicle response comprises moving the autonomous vehicle into a road gap.

[0193] Clause 51. The apparatus of clause 42, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to detect a road gap using an onboard sensor and to provide an alert to a vehicle operator in response to detecting the road gap.

[0194] Clause 52. An apparatus according to clause 42, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: present a visual representation of the fine-tuning request on a display in the vehicle, present an audio representation of the fine-tuning request on an audio output in the vehicle, present a tactile response in the vehicle, or any combination thereof.

[0195] Clause 53. An apparatus for providing fine-tuning information, comprising: means for detecting a road gap proximate to a first vehicle in an area containing multiple vehicles; means for generating a fine-tuning message based at least in part on the road gap; and means for sending the fine-tuning message.

[0196] Clause 54. An apparatus for responding to a fine-tuning message, comprising: means for providing one or more basic safety messages; means for receiving the fine-tuning message; and means for executing a vehicle response based on the fine-tuning message.

[0197] Clause 55. A non-transitory processor-readable storage medium comprising processor-readable instructions, the processor-readable instructions being configured to cause one or more processors to provide fine-tuning information, the fine-tuning message comprising code for: detecting a road gap proximate to a first vehicle in an area containing multiple vehicles; generating a fine-tuning message based at least in part on the road gap; and sending the fine-tuning message.

[0198] Clause 56. A non-transitory processor-readable storage medium comprising processor-readable instructions, wherein the processor-readable instructions are configured to cause one or more processors to respond to a fine-tuning message, wherein the fine-tuning message includes code for the following operations: providing one or more basic safety messages; receiving the fine-tuning message; and executing a vehicle response based on the fine-tuning message.

Claims

1. A method for providing fine-tuning information, comprising: detecting a road gap proximate to a first vehicle in an area containing a plurality of vehicles; generating a fine-tuning message based at least in part on the road gap; as well as The fine-tuning message is sent.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: One or more basic safety messages are received from the plurality of vehicles, wherein detecting the road gap is based at least in part on the one or more basic safety messages.

3. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: Image information is received from one or more cameras disposed in the area, wherein detecting the road gap is based at least in part on the image information. 4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the fine-tuning message is at least one of: an enhanced roadside safety message including a vehicle gap container, or a traffic flow optimization message. The method of claim 1 , wherein sending the fine-tuning message comprises sending a unicast message from a roadside unit to the first vehicle. The method of claim 1 , wherein sending the fine-tuning message comprises sending the fine-tuning message from a cellular base station to the first vehicle.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein sending the fine-tuning message comprises sending the fine-tuning message from a second vehicle to the first vehicle, wherein the second vehicle is configured to detect the road gap proximate to the first vehicle and generate the fine-tuning message based at least in part on the road gap.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein sending the fine-tuning message comprises sending the fine-tuning message to the first vehicle from a multi-access edge computing (MEC) server.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the fine-tuning message is multicast to the plurality of vehicles.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein sending the fine-tuning message comprises sending the fine-tuning message to a roadside entity proximate to the first vehicle, wherein the roadside entity is one of a traffic light or a road sign comprising a rectangular fast-flashing beacon.

11. A method for responding to a fine-tuning message, comprising: providing one or more basic safety messages; receiving the fine-tuning message; as well as A vehicle response is performed based on the fine-tuning message.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the fine-tuning message comprises at least one of: an enhanced roadside safety message including a vehicle gap container, or a traffic flow optimization message.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the vehicle gap container or the traffic flow optimization message includes an indication of the length of a road gap.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein receiving the fine tuning message comprises receiving the fine tuning message from a cellular base station.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein receiving the fine-tuning message comprises receiving the fine-tuning message from a roadside unit. The method of claim 15 , wherein the fine-tuning message is included in a multicast message.

17. The method of claim 11, wherein receiving the fine-tuning message comprises receiving the fine-tuning message from a multi-access edge computing (MEC) server.

18. The method of claim 11, wherein the vehicle response comprises detecting a road gap using an onboard sensor and providing an alert to a vehicle operator in response to detecting the road gap.

19. The method of claim 11, wherein the vehicle response comprises presenting a visual representation of the trim request on a display in the vehicle, presenting an audio representation of the trim request on an audio output in the vehicle, presenting a tactile response in the vehicle, or any combination thereof.

20. An apparatus comprising: Memory; at least one transceiver; at least one processor, the at least one processor being communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver and configured to: detecting a road gap proximate to a first vehicle in an area containing a plurality of vehicles; generating a fine-tuning message based at least in part on the road gap; and The fine-tuning message is sent.

21. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to receive one or more basic safety messages from the plurality of vehicles and detect the road gap based at least in part on the one or more basic safety messages.

22. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to receive image information from one or more cameras disposed in the area and detect the road gap based at least in part on the image information.

23. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the fine-tuning message is an enhanced roadside safety message or a traffic flow optimization message including a vehicle gap container.

24. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to send a unicast message including the fine-tuning message from a roadside unit to the first vehicle.

25. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to send the fine-tuning message from a cellular base station to the first vehicle.

26. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the apparatus is disposed in a second vehicle and the at least one processor is further configured to send the fine-tuning message from the second vehicle to the first vehicle, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to detect the road gap proximate to the first vehicle and generate the fine-tuning message based at least in part on the road gap.

27. An apparatus comprising: Memory; at least one transceiver; at least one processor, the at least one processor being communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver and configured to: providing one or more basic safety messages; receiving fine-tuning messages; and A vehicle response is performed based on the fine-tuning message.

28. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to receive the fine-tuning message from a cellular base station.

29. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to receive the fine-tuning message from a roadside unit.

30. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein the fine-tuning message is included in a multicast message.

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