Positioning system, positioning method, device, equipment, storage medium and program product

Abstract

The invention relates to a positioning system, a positioning method, a positioning device, equipment, a storage medium and a program product. The positioning system comprises a target terminal, an access network device, a plurality of first positioning devices, a second positioning device and a positioning management function network element. Each first positioning device is connected with the access network device, the second positioning device is connected with each first positioning device, the positioning management function network element is connected with the second positioning device and the access network device, and the target terminal is connected with the access network device; according to the positioning system, the plurality of first positioning devices which are in loose coupling connection are arranged around the access network device to realize station supplementation, the access network device does not need to be reconstructed or other additional hardware devices do not need to be added, and the deployment or reconstruction cost of the positioning system is greatly reduced.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of positioning technology, and in particular to a positioning system, positioning method, device, equipment, storage medium and program product. Background Art

[0002] With the development of network information technology, 5G standards define positioning technologies such as uplink time difference of arrival (UTDOA), angle of arrival (AOA), and round trip time (RTT). However, in order to apply these positioning technologies, 5G base stations gNB / pRRU need to support dedicated capabilities such as high-precision positioning signal transmission or measurement and time synchronization, which requires the transformation and upgrading of the existing 5G network architecture. For example, if the site density in the existing 5G network architecture is insufficient, additional sites need to be added, and a complete set of related equipment associated with each base station needs to be deployed.

[0003] Therefore, the current positioning method based on the 5G network architecture has the problem of high reconstruction cost. Summary of the invention

[0004] The embodiments of the present application provide a positioning system, a positioning method, an apparatus, a device, a storage medium, and a program product, which can reduce the deployment or reconstruction cost of the positioning system.

[0005] In a first aspect, a positioning system is provided, the positioning system comprising: a target terminal, an access network device, a plurality of first positioning devices, a second positioning device, and a positioning management function network element; each of the first positioning devices is connected to the access network device, the second positioning devices are respectively connected to each of the first positioning devices, the positioning management function network element is respectively connected to the second positioning device and the access network device, and the target terminal is connected to the access network device;

[0006] The positioning management function network element is used to receive the configuration parameters sent by the access network device, and send a first location information request to the second positioning device according to the configuration parameters;

[0007] The second positioning device is configured to receive the first position information request and send the first position information request to the first positioning device;

[0008] Each of the first positioning devices is configured to receive the first location information request, measure the positioning signal of the target terminal according to the first location information request, obtain location related information, and send the location related information to the second positioning device; the location related information is used for the second positioning device and the positioning management function network element to locate the target terminal;

[0009] The second positioning device is further configured to receive the location-related information returned by the first positioning device, obtain a measurement result after processing the test data, and send the measurement result to the positioning management function network element;

[0010] The positioning management function network element is further configured to receive the measurement result returned by the second positioning device, and locate the target terminal according to the measurement result.

[0011] In one of the embodiments, the first location information request includes a signal configuration parameter, and the first positioning device is specifically configured to measure the positioning signal of the target terminal according to the signal configuration parameter to obtain location-related information.

[0012] In one of the embodiments, the second positioning device is specifically configured to process the position-related information according to the signal configuration parameters to obtain the measurement result when receiving the position-related information returned by the first positioning device.

[0013] In one of the embodiments, the positioning management function network element is specifically used to extract the signal configuration parameters from the configuration parameters when receiving the configuration parameters sent by the access network device, generate the first location information request according to the signal configuration parameters, and send the first location information request to the second positioning device.

[0014] In one of the embodiments, when the positioning management function network element executes the extraction of the signal configuration parameters from the configuration parameters, it is specifically used to determine the positioning type according to the positioning capability of the target terminal, and extract the signal configuration parameters corresponding to the positioning type from the configuration parameters.

[0015] In one of the embodiments, the signal configuration parameters include configuration parameters of a downlink positioning reference signal or configuration parameters of a channel sounding positioning signal.

[0016] In a second aspect, a positioning method is provided, the method being applied to a first positioning device in the positioning system according to the first aspect, the method comprising:

[0017] Receiving a first location information request sent by a second positioning device in the positioning system;

[0018] Measuring a positioning signal of the target terminal according to the first location information request to obtain location-related information;

[0019] The location-related information is sent to the second positioning device, and the location-related information is used by the second positioning device and the positioning management function network element in the positioning system to locate the target terminal.

[0020] In one of the embodiments, the first location information request includes a signal configuration parameter; and measuring the positioning signal of the target terminal according to the first location information request to obtain location related information includes:

[0021] The positioning signal is measured according to the signal configuration parameters to obtain the position related information.

[0022] In a third aspect, a positioning method is provided, the method being applied to a second positioning device in the positioning system according to the first aspect, the method comprising:

[0023] Sending a first location information request to a first positioning device in the positioning system;

[0024] receiving location-related information returned by the first positioning device based on the first location information request;

[0025] The measurement result is sent to the positioning management function network element in the positioning system based on the position-related information.

[0026] In one of the embodiments, the first location information request includes a signal configuration parameter, and the sending of the measurement result to the positioning management function network element based on the location related information includes:

[0027] Processing the location related information according to the signal configuration parameters to obtain the measurement result;

[0028] The measurement result is sent to the positioning management function network element.

[0029] In one embodiment, the method further comprises:

[0030] Receive the first location information request sent by the positioning management function network element.

[0031] In a fourth aspect, a positioning method is provided, the method being applied to a positioning management function network element in the positioning system according to the first aspect, the method comprising:

[0032] Receiving configuration parameters sent by an access network device in the positioning system;

[0033] Sending a first location information request to a second positioning device in the positioning system according to the configuration parameters;

[0034] Receive the measurement result returned by the second positioning device based on the first location information request, and locate the target terminal in the positioning system according to the measurement result.

[0035] In one embodiment, the configuration parameter includes a signal configuration parameter, and sending the first location information request to the second positioning device according to the configuration parameter includes:

[0036] extracting the signal configuration parameter from the configuration parameters;

[0037] The first location information request is generated according to the signal configuration parameters, and the first location information request is sent to the second positioning device.

[0038] In one embodiment, extracting the signal configuration parameter from the configuration parameter includes:

[0039] Determining a positioning type according to the positioning capability of the target terminal;

[0040] A signal configuration parameter corresponding to the positioning type is extracted from the configuration parameters.

[0041] In one embodiment, the method further comprises:

[0042] A second location information request is sent to an access network device in the positioning system; the second location information request is used to request the configuration parameters.

[0043] In a fifth aspect, a positioning device is provided, the positioning device comprising:

[0044] A first receiving module, configured to receive a first location information request sent by a second positioning device;

[0045] A measuring module, configured to measure a positioning signal of a target terminal according to the first location information request to obtain location related information;

[0046] The first sending module is used to send the position-related information to the second positioning device, where the position-related information is used by the second positioning device and the positioning management function network element to locate the target terminal.

[0047] In a sixth aspect, a positioning device is provided, the positioning device comprising:

[0048] A second sending module, used to send a first location information request to the first positioning device;

[0049] A second receiving module, configured to receive location related information returned by the first positioning device based on the first location information request;

[0050] The third sending module is used to send the measurement result to the positioning management function network element based on the position related information.

[0051] In a seventh aspect, a positioning device is provided, the positioning device comprising:

[0052] A third receiving module, used to receive configuration parameters sent by the access network device;

[0053] A fourth sending module, configured to send a first location information request to a second positioning device according to the configuration parameters;

[0054] The fourth receiving module is used to receive the measurement result returned by the second positioning device based on the first location information request, and locate the target terminal according to the measurement result.

[0055] In an eighth aspect, an access network device is provided, the access network device comprising a transmitter, a processor and a receiver;

[0056] The receiver is used to receive a first location information request sent by a second positioning device;

[0057] The processor is configured to measure a positioning signal of the target terminal according to the first location information request to obtain location related information;

[0058] The transmitter is used to send the location-related information to the second positioning device, and the location-related information is used for the second positioning device and the positioning management function network element to locate the target terminal.

[0059] In a ninth aspect, an access network device is provided, the access network device comprising a transmitter and a receiver;

[0060] The transmitter is used to send a first location information request to the first positioning device;

[0061] The receiver is configured to receive location related information returned by the first positioning device based on the first location information request;

[0062] The transmitter is further configured to send the measurement result to the positioning management function network element based on the location related information.

[0063] In a tenth aspect, a core network device is provided, wherein the core network device includes a transmitter and a receiver;

[0064] The receiver is used to receive the configuration parameters sent by the access network device;

[0065] The transmitter is used to send a first location information request to the second positioning device according to the configuration parameters;

[0066] The receiver is further configured to receive a measurement result returned by the second positioning device based on the first location information request, and to locate the target terminal according to the measurement result.

[0067] In an eleventh aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, on which a computer program is stored, and when the computer program is executed by a processor, the following steps are implemented:

[0068] receiving a first location information request sent by a second positioning device;

[0069] Measuring a positioning signal of the target terminal according to the first location information request to obtain location-related information;

[0070] The location-related information is sent to the second positioning device, and the location-related information is used by the second positioning device and the positioning management function network element to locate the target terminal.

[0071] In a twelfth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, on which a computer program is stored, and when the computer program is executed by a processor, the following steps are implemented:

[0072] Sending a first location information request to a first positioning device;

[0073] receiving location-related information returned by the first positioning device based on the first location information request;

[0074] The measurement result is sent to the positioning management function network element based on the location related information.

[0075] In a thirteenth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, on which a computer program is stored, and when the computer program is executed by a processor, the following steps are implemented:

[0076] Receiving configuration parameters sent by access network equipment;

[0077] Sending a first location information request to a second positioning device according to the configuration parameters;

[0078] Receive the measurement result returned by the second positioning device based on the first location information request, and locate the target terminal according to the measurement result.

[0079] In a fourteenth aspect, a computer program product is provided, including a computer program, characterized in that when the computer program is executed by a processor, the positioning method provided in an embodiment of the present application is implemented, and the method may be:

[0080] receiving a first location information request sent by a second positioning device;

[0081] Measuring a positioning signal of the target terminal according to the first location information request to obtain location-related information;

[0082] The location-related information is sent to the second positioning device, and the location-related information is used by the second positioning device and the positioning management function network element to locate the target terminal.

[0083] In a fifteenth aspect, a computer program product is provided, including a computer program, characterized in that when the computer program is executed by a processor, the positioning method provided in an embodiment of the present application is implemented, and the method may be:

[0084] Sending a first location information request to a first positioning device;

[0085] receiving location-related information returned by the first positioning device based on the first location information request;

[0086] The measurement result is sent to the positioning management function network element based on the location related information.

[0087] In a sixteenth aspect, a computer program product is provided, including a computer program, characterized in that when the computer program is executed by a processor, the positioning method provided in an embodiment of the present application is implemented, and the method may be:

[0088] Receiving configuration parameters sent by access network equipment;

[0089] Sending a first location information request to a second positioning device according to the configuration parameters;

[0090] Receive the measurement result returned by the second positioning device based on the first location information request, and locate the target terminal according to the measurement result.

[0091] The first positioning device in the above positioning system is a new network element device added to the traditional 5G positioning system, which can be responsible for sending or receiving signals of the original access network equipment, as well as some positioning functions of measuring signals. This positioning function is single and only requires simple functional modules to be implemented, so its manufacturing and deployment costs are extremely low. When the traditional 5G positioning system needs to improve positioning accuracy or perform corresponding positioning upgrades by adding stations, the above positioning system can achieve station additions by setting up multiple loosely coupled first positioning devices around the access network equipment. There is no need to rebuild the access network equipment or add other additional hardware equipment. Therefore, the above positioning system greatly reduces the cost of deploying or rebuilding the positioning system, and can also improve positioning accuracy. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0092] Figure 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a traditional positioning system in one embodiment;

[0093] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of a traditional positioning process in one embodiment;

[0094] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a positioning system in one embodiment;

[0095] Figure 4 is a flow chart of a positioning method in one embodiment;

[0096] Figure 5 is a flow chart of a positioning method in another embodiment;

[0097] Figure 6 is a flow chart of a positioning method in another embodiment;

[0098] Figure 7 is a flow chart of a positioning method in another embodiment;

[0099] Figure 8 is a flow chart of a positioning method in another embodiment;

[0100] Fig. 9 is a flow chart of a positioning method in another embodiment;

[0101] Fig.10 is a flow chart of a positioning method in another embodiment;

[0102] Fig.11 is a flow chart of a positioning method in another embodiment;

[0103] Fig.12 is a schematic diagram of signaling interaction of a positioning method in an embodiment;

[0104] Fig.13 is a structural schematic diagram of a positioning system in another embodiment;

[0105] Fig.14 A schematic diagram of a positioning process in an embodiment;

[0106] Fig.15 is a structural block diagram of a positioning device in an embodiment;

[0107] Fig.16 is a structural block diagram of a positioning device in another embodiment;

[0108] Fig.17 is a structural block diagram of a positioning device in another embodiment;

[0109] Fig.18 is a structural block diagram of a positioning device in another embodiment;

[0110] Fig.19is a structural block diagram of a positioning device in another embodiment;

[0111] Fig. 20 is a structural block diagram of a positioning device in another embodiment;

[0112] Fig.21 is a structural block diagram of a positioning device in another embodiment;

[0113] Fig. 22 is a structural block diagram of an access network device in an embodiment;

[0114] Fig.23 It is a structural block diagram of an access network device in another embodiment;

[0115] Fig.24 It is a structural block diagram of a core network device in an embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0116] In order to make the purpose, technical solution and advantages of the present application more clearly understood, the present application is further described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are only used to explain the present application and are not used to limit the present application.

[0117] At present, the network architecture of the traditional 5G positioning system is as follows Figure 1 As shown, it includes: a first access network device 101, a second access network device 102, a target terminal UE103, and a core network device 104; wherein the target terminal UE103 respectively transmits data with the first access network device 101 and the second access network device 102 through the network, and the core network device 104 respectively transmits data with the first access network device 101 and the second access network device 102 through the network. Figure 1 The positioning system of the 5G network architecture shown in the figure, according to 3GPP TS38305, the existing tightly coupled 5G positioning process is mainly implemented by the core network device 104 and the first access network device or the second access network device through the NRPPa protocol interaction, such as Figure 2 As shown, the protocol process includes: process 1, the core network device sends a location information request to the access network device and indicates the type of the requested location information; process 2, the access network device returns the location-related information of the target terminal to the core network device based on the location information request (for example, the measurement result obtained after measuring and processing the positioning signal of the target terminal), and the location-related information matches the type of the location information requested in process 1; process 3, the access network device sends one or more additional location-related information to the core network device.

[0118] In the above-mentioned 5G positioning system, the first access network device 101 or the second access network device 102 can be a base station (Base Transceiver Station, BTS) in Global System of Mobile communication (GSM) or Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), or a base station (NodeB, NB) in Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), or an evolved base station (eNB or eNodeB) in LTE, or an upgraded 4G base station (ng-eNB), or a relay station or access point, or a base station in a 5G network (gNB / pRRU), or a base station after a 5G base station is transformed (eg-gNB), etc., which is not limited here.

[0119] The target terminal 103 may be a wireless terminal, which may be a device that provides voice and / or other service data connectivity to a user, or a handheld device with a wireless connection function, or other processing devices connected to a wireless modem. The wireless terminal may communicate with one or more core networks via a radio access network (Radio Access Network, referred to as RAN). The wireless terminal may be a mobile terminal, such as a mobile phone (or "cellular" phone) and a computer with a mobile terminal, for example, a portable, pocket-sized, handheld, computer-built-in or vehicle-mounted mobile device, which exchanges language and / or data with the radio access network. The wireless terminal may also be referred to as a system, a subscriber unit (Subscriber Unit), a subscriber station (Subscriber Station), a mobile station (Mobile Station), a mobile station (Mobile), a remote station (Remote Station), a remote terminal (Remote Terminal), an access terminal (Access Terminal), a user terminal (User Terminal), a user agent (User Agent), a user device (User Device or User Equipment), which is not limited here.

[0120] The core network equipment 104 may include a location management function network element (Location Management Function, LMF) and an access and mobility management function (Access and Mobility Management Function, AMF). LMF is connected to the access network equipment to complete positioning information configuration, positioning process control, positioning solution and other tasks; AMF is responsible for the aggregation and forwarding of positioning information and may not be enabled in the local deployment mode.

[0121] Figure 1 The 5G standard of the network architecture of the 5G positioning system shown in the figure defines positioning technologies such as UTDOA, AOA, and RTT, but requires the base station gNB / pRRU to support special capabilities such as high-precision positioning signal transmission or measurement and time synchronization. The base station gNB / pRRU needs to increase the additional hardware cost of calibration, and the cost is even higher when the site density is insufficient and additional sites are needed. Although it has been commercially available, the equipment support rate is low, the price is high, and the manufacturer's private protocols are difficult to interoperate. The positioning experience in the scene using radio frequency remote is seriously reduced, which seriously affects the deployment and application of 5G integrated positioning technology and limits the integrated positioning advantages of operators' communication networks and the development of positioning ecology.

[0122] Based on the problems existing in the above-mentioned traditional 5G positioning system, the embodiment of the present application provides a positioning system, which is an improvement of the traditional positioning system (see Figure 1 The network architecture of the positioning system shown in FIG. 1 is expanded or rebuilt, specifically, Figure 3 As shown, the positioning system includes: a target terminal UE, an access network device NB, multiple first positioning devices XLU, a second positioning device XLIF, and a positioning management function network element LMF; each first positioning device XLU is connected to the access network device, the second positioning device XLIF is respectively connected to each first positioning device XLU, the positioning management function network element LMF is respectively connected to the second positioning device XLIF and the access network device, and the target terminal UE is connected to the access network device NB;

[0123] The positioning management function network element LMF is used to receive the configuration parameters sent by the access network device NB, and send a first location information request to the second positioning device XLIF according to the configuration parameters;

[0124] The second positioning device XLIF is used to receive the first location information request and send the first location information request to the first positioning device XLU; each first positioning device XLU is used to receive the first location information request, measure the positioning signal of the target terminal UE according to the first location information request, obtain location-related information, and send the location-related information to the second positioning device XLIF; the location-related information is used for the second positioning device XLIF and the positioning management function network element LMF to locate the target terminal UE; the second positioning device XLIF is also used to receive the location-related information returned by the first positioning device XLU, obtain the measurement result after processing the test data, and send the measurement result to the positioning management function network element LMF;

[0125] The positioning management function network element LMF is also used to receive the measurement result returned by the second positioning device XLIF, and locate the target terminal UE according to the measurement result.

[0126] Among them, the access network device NB includes a first base station wireless unit gNB and a second base station wireless unit ng-eNB. The first base station wireless unit gNB is a 5G base station type wireless unit, and can also be other types of wireless units, which is not limited (the one marked in the figure is only an example); the second base station wireless unit ng-eNB is an upgraded 4G base station ng-eNB type wireless unit, and can also be other types of wireless units, which is not limited (the one marked in the figure is only an example); the first positioning device can be defined as an extended location measurement unit (Extended Location measurement unit, XLU); XLU can be loosely coupled with the first base station wireless unit gNB in ​​the access network device NB, for example, XLU can use the power supply and transmission resources of the first base station wireless unit gNB / pRRU. In specific implementation, XLU can share power lines and network cables with the first base station wireless unit gNB / pRRU, but does not need to have direct information interaction with the first base station wireless unit gNB / pRRU, thereby reducing the requirements for the first base station wireless unit gNB / pRRU and improving the versatility. The second positioning device can be defined as an extended location information unit (Extended Location Information Unit, XLIF). XLIF can be connected to multiple XLUs and can also be connected to the positioning management function network element LMF to obtain configuration parameters. XLIF can be set up independently or integrated as a functional module in the positioning management function network element LMF.

[0127] The first location information request is used to request location-related information of the target terminal UE, and the first location information request may also indicate the type of the requested location-related information, and the first location information request may also refer to a specific terminal for positioning.

[0128] The location-related information may belong to the location-related information of the target terminal UE, which may be determined according to different positioning technologies, and may also be referred to as a kind of measurement data. For example, different positioning technologies may include one of UTDOA, AOA, RTT, etc., and the corresponding location-related information may include at least one of signal reception power, signal reception strength, signal arrival angle, signal arrival time, etc. The positioning signal of the target terminal UE may be a measurement signal transmitted uplink by the target terminal UE, or may be a downlink reference signal sent to the target terminal UE. For example, the positioning signal may include a downlink positioning reference signal (Positioning Reference Signal, PRS) or a channel sounding positioning signal (Sounding Reference Signal, SRS).

[0129] The positioning management function network element LMF can be a core network device, which is used to connect to the first base station to complete positioning information configuration, positioning process control, and positioning solution.

[0130] In the present application embodiment, based on Figure 3 When the positioning system shown realizes the positioning of the target terminal UE, the positioning management function network element LMF in the core network can first send a second location information request to the first base station wireless unit gNB, requesting the configuration parameters required for positioning the target terminal UE; when the first base station wireless unit gNB receives the second location information request sent by the positioning management function network element LMF, it obtains all the configuration parameters required for positioning the target terminal UE, which may include signal configuration parameters and related configuration parameters for other interfaces or data transmission. Then, the first base station radio unit gNB returns the configuration parameters to the positioning management function network element LMF, the positioning management function network element LMF saves the configuration parameters, generates a first location information request based on the configuration parameters, and sends the first location information request to the second positioning device XLIF, the second positioning device XLIF then forwards the first location information request to the first positioning device XLU, the first positioning device XLU can receive the first location information request, and further obtain the positioning signal of the target terminal according to the positioning requirement for the target terminal indicated by the first location information request, and use the corresponding measurement method to measure the positioning signal according to the positioning technology indicated by the first location information request to obtain location related information, and then send the location related information to the second positioning device XLIF, when the second positioning device XLIF receives the location related information, it can further process the location related information to obtain the measurement result, and send the measurement result to the positioning management function network element LMF to instruct the positioning management function network element LMF to perform positioning solution according to the measurement result, thereby solving the location information of the target terminal and realizing the positioning of the target terminal.

[0131] The first positioning device in the above positioning system is a new network element device added to the traditional 5G positioning system, which can be responsible for sending or receiving signals of the original access network equipment, as well as some positioning functions of measuring signals. This positioning function is single and only requires simple functional modules to be implemented, so its manufacturing and deployment costs are extremely low. When the traditional 5G positioning system needs to improve positioning accuracy or perform corresponding positioning upgrades by adding stations, the above positioning system can achieve station additions by setting up multiple loosely coupled first positioning devices around the access network equipment. There is no need to rebuild the access network equipment or add other additional hardware equipment. Therefore, the above positioning system greatly reduces the cost of deploying or rebuilding the positioning system, and can also improve positioning accuracy.

[0132] In one embodiment, when executing the step of: "measuring the positioning signal of the target terminal according to the first location information request to obtain location-related information", the first positioning device XLU may specifically execute the step of: measuring the positioning signal according to the signal configuration parameters to obtain location-related information.

[0133] Among them, the signal configuration parameters include the configuration parameters of the downlink positioning reference signal or the configuration parameters of the channel sounding positioning signal, that is, the configuration parameters of the PRS signal or the configuration parameters of the SRS signal. The signal configuration parameters are determined according to different positioning technologies. For example, in UTDOA / AOA positioning, the signal configuration parameters include the configuration parameters of the SRS signal of the located target terminal (SLOT, OFDM coding, etc.); in OTDOA / RTT positioning, the signal configuration parameters may include the configuration parameters of the PRS signal.

[0134] In an embodiment of the present application, when the first positioning device XLU receives the first location information request based on the aforementioned steps, it can further extract the required signal configuration parameters from the first location information request, obtain the positioning signal of the target terminal, and use the corresponding measurement method to measure the positioning signal according to the signal configuration parameters to obtain location-related information.

[0135] In one embodiment, when the second positioning device XLIF receives the position-related information returned by the first positioning device, it may specifically execute the step of: processing the position-related information according to the signal configuration parameters to obtain the measurement result when executing the step: "processing the test data to obtain the measurement result".

[0136] Among them, the signal configuration parameters include configuration parameters of the PRS signal or configuration parameters of the SRS signal. The signal configuration parameters are determined according to different positioning technologies. For example, in UTDOA / AOA positioning, the signal configuration parameters include configuration parameters (SLOT, OFDM coding, etc.) of the SRS signal of the located target terminal; when using OTDOA / RTT positioning, the signal configuration parameters may include parameters of the PRS signal. The measurement result includes at least one of the signal reception time difference, the signal reception angle difference, and the signal reception phase difference.

[0137] In an embodiment of the present application, when the second positioning device XLIF receives the first position information request, it can further extract the required signal configuration parameters from the first position information request, and when receiving the position related information sent by the first positioning device XLU, it processes the position related information according to the signal configuration parameters to obtain a measurement result.

[0138] In one embodiment, the above-mentioned positioning management function network element is specifically used to extract the signal configuration parameters from the configuration parameters when receiving the configuration parameters sent by the access network device, generate the first location information request according to the signal configuration parameters, and send the first location information request to the second positioning device.

[0139] In the embodiment of the present application, when the positioning management function network element LMF receives the configuration parameters sent by the access network device, since the configuration parameters include configuration parameters of multiple interfaces or configuration parameters of data transmission, which also include signal configuration parameters used to configure the first positioning device XLU for measurement and the second positioning device XLIF for processing, the positioning management function network element LMF needs to filter out the signal configuration parameters required by the first positioning device XLU and the second positioning device XLIF from the received configuration parameters according to the current positioning type or positioning requirements. After that, a first location information request carrying the signal configuration parameters can be generated, and the first location information request can be sent to the second positioning device XLIF to instruct the second positioning device XLIF to process the location-related information reported by each first positioning device XLU based on the signal configuration parameters, obtain the measurement results and report them to the positioning management function network element LMF to locate the target terminal UE.

[0140] Furthermore, when the positioning management function network element LMF executes the step of "extracting signal configuration parameters from configuration parameters", the specific execution steps are: determining the positioning type according to the positioning capability of the target terminal, and extracting the signal configuration parameters corresponding to the positioning type from the configuration parameters.

[0141] Among them, the positioning capability of the target terminal represents the positioning method adopted by the target terminal, for example, any one of the UTDOA, AOA, OTDOA, and RTT positioning methods; the positioning type includes any one of the UTDOA, AOA, OTDOA, and RTT positioning types.

[0142] In the embodiment of the present application, the positioning management function network element LMF can be transparently transmitted with the target terminal UE, that is, when the target terminal UE needs to be positioned, the positioning management function network element LMF can first obtain the corresponding positioning performance detection information from the target terminal UE, that is, the target terminal UE detects its own positioning performance, and reports the positioning performance detection information to the positioning management function network element LMF. When the positioning management function network element LMF receives the reported positioning performance detection information from the target terminal UE, it can determine the positioning capability of the target terminal UE according to the positioning performance detection information, and then determine the positioning type of the target terminal UE based on the positioning capability of the target terminal UE. When the positioning management function network element LMF determines the positioning type of the target terminal UE, the signal configuration parameters corresponding to the positioning type can be filtered out from the configuration parameters. For example, if the positioning type is UTDOA / AOA, the corresponding signal configuration parameters include the configuration parameters of the SRS signal of the located target terminal UE (SLOT, OFDM coding, etc.); if the positioning type is OTDOA / RTT, the corresponding signal configuration parameters may include the configuration parameters of the PRS signal.

[0143] In the embodiment of the present application, the positioning management function network element LMF extracts the signal configuration parameters required by the first positioning device XLU and the second positioning device XLIF from the configuration parameters in advance, so that the first positioning device XLU and the second positioning device XLIF can quickly measure or process the positioning signal of the target terminal based on the signal configuration parameters, thereby assisting in sharing part of the positioning process in the original access network device and reducing the requirements for improving the performance of the access network device, that is, greatly reducing the threshold for equipment research and development and deployment, and facilitating the flexible and large-scale production of positioning equipment.

[0144] It should be noted that Figure 3 The multiple first positioning devices are loosely coupled to the first base station wireless unit gNB of the access network device NB, and can also be loosely coupled to the second base station wireless unit ng-eNB. Some of the first positioning devices XLU can be loosely coupled to the first base station wireless unit gNB, and some of the first positioning devices XLU can be loosely coupled to the second base station wireless unit ng-eNB. The deployment positions of the multiple first positioning devices XLU can be determined according to the actual positioning requirements. Moreover, Figure 3 The positioning system shown may also include more base station radio units ( Figure 3Not shown), this is not limited; the positioning management function unit LMF can transmit data with any access network device through the network, and the positioning management function unit LMF can also be connected to the target terminal UE for data transmission ( Figure 3 not shown).

[0145] Figure 3 The network architecture shown expands the traditional 5G network architecture, that is, the first positioning device XLU and the second positioning device XLIF are added to share the positioning function in the access network device, and the first positioning device XLU is loosely coupled with the access network device to achieve compatibility with the existing network element interface, which provides a new solution for the implementation and deployment of 5G positioning technology, which not only gives play to the advantages of 5G integrated positioning, but also improves the flexibility of implementation by decoupling the expanded first positioning device XLU and the access network device. Moreover, when transforming the network architecture of the traditional 5G positioning system, it is only necessary to mount the first positioning device XLU near the access network device to achieve high-precision positioning of the target terminal UE. Since the first positioning device XLU has a single positioning function, its cost can be very low, which greatly reduces the cost of the network architecture of the traditional 5G positioning system. Based on this, the embodiment of the present application provides a positioning method for each side of the first positioning device XLU, the second positioning device XLIF, and the positioning management function network element LMF.

[0146] It should be noted that the beneficial effects brought about by the embodiments of the present application or the technical problems solved are not limited to this one, but may also include other implicit or related problems. For details, please refer to the description of the following embodiments.

[0147] The technical solution of the present application and how the technical solution of the present application solves the above-mentioned technical problems are described in detail below with specific embodiments. The following specific embodiments can be combined with each other, and the same or similar concepts or processes may not be repeated in some embodiments. The embodiments of the present application will be described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0148] In one embodiment, Figure 4 As shown, a positioning method is provided, which is applied to Figure 3 Taking the first positioning device XLU in the example as an example, the method includes the following steps:

[0149] S401: Receive a first location information request sent by a second positioning device in a positioning system.

[0150] In the present application embodiment, based on Figure 3When the positioning system shown implements the positioning of the target terminal, the positioning management function network element LMF in the core network can first send a second location information request to the first base station to request the configuration parameters required for positioning the target terminal; when the first base station receives the second location information request sent by the positioning management function network element LMF, it obtains all the configuration parameters required for positioning the target terminal, which may include signal configuration parameters and other related configuration parameters for interfaces or data transmission. Then, the first base station returns the configuration parameters to the positioning management function network element LMF, the positioning management function network element LMF saves the configuration parameters, generates a first location information request based on the configuration parameters, and sends the first location information request to the second positioning device XLIF, the second positioning device XLIF then forwards the first location information request to the first positioning device XLU, and the first positioning device XLU can receive the first location information request.

[0151] S402: Measure the positioning signal of the target terminal according to the first location information request to obtain location-related information.

[0152] In an embodiment of the present application, when the first positioning device XLU receives the first location information request based on the aforementioned steps, it can further obtain the positioning signal of the target terminal according to the positioning requirement for the target terminal indicated by the first location information request, and use a corresponding measurement method to measure the positioning signal according to the positioning technology indicated by the first location information request to obtain location-related information, thereby obtaining location-related information of the target terminal.

[0153] S403: Send the location-related information to the second positioning device, where the location-related information is used by the second positioning device and the positioning management function network element in the positioning system to locate the target terminal.

[0154] In an embodiment of the present application, after the first positioning device XLU obtains the position-related information based on the aforementioned steps, the position-related information can be sent to the second positioning device XLIF. When the second positioning device XLIF receives the position-related information, it can further process the position-related information to obtain a measurement result, and send the measurement result to the positioning management function network element LMF to instruct the positioning management function network element LMF to perform positioning solution according to the measurement result, thereby solving the position information of the target terminal and realizing the positioning of the target terminal.

[0155] The first positioning device in the above positioning method receives the first location information request sent by the second positioning device, measures the positioning signal of the target terminal according to the first location information request, obtains the location-related information, and then sends the location-related information to the second positioning device, wherein the location-related information is used for the second positioning device and the positioning management function network element to locate the target terminal. The first positioning device in the above positioning method is a network element device newly added to the traditional 5G positioning system, which can be responsible for sending or receiving signals in the original first base station, and part of the positioning function of measuring signals. The positioning function is single and only requires a simple functional module to be implemented, so its manufacturing and deployment costs are extremely low. When the traditional 5G positioning system needs to improve the positioning accuracy or perform corresponding positioning upgrades by adding stations, the above positioning method can achieve the addition of stations by setting up multiple loosely coupled first positioning devices around the first base station, without the need to rebuild the first base station or add other additional hardware equipment. Therefore, the above positioning method greatly reduces the cost of deploying or rebuilding the positioning system, and can also improve the positioning accuracy.

[0156] In one embodiment, when executing the above S402 "measuring the positioning signal of the target terminal according to the first location information request to obtain location-related information", the first positioning device can specifically perform the steps of measuring the positioning signal according to the signal configuration parameters to obtain location-related information.

[0157] In an embodiment of the present application, when the first positioning device XLU receives the first location information request based on the aforementioned steps, it can further extract the required signal configuration parameters from the first location information request, obtain the positioning signal of the target terminal, and use the corresponding measurement method to measure the positioning signal according to the signal configuration parameters to obtain location-related information.

[0158] In one embodiment, a positioning method for the second positioning device XLIF is also provided, such as Figure 5 As shown, this method is applied to Figure 1 Taking the second positioning device XLIF in the example as an example, the method includes the following steps:

[0159] S501: Send a first location information request to a first positioning device in a positioning system.

[0160] In the present application embodiment, based on Figure 3When the positioning system shown realizes the positioning of the target terminal, the LMF in the core network can first send a second location information request to the first base station to request the configuration parameters required for positioning the target terminal; when the first base station receives the second location information request sent by the LMF, it obtains all the configuration parameters required for positioning the target terminal, which may include signal configuration parameters and other interface or data transmission related configuration parameters. Then, the first base station returns the configuration parameters to the LMF, and the LMF saves the configuration parameters, generates a first location information request based on the configuration parameters, and sends the first location information request to the second positioning device XLIF, and the second positioning device XLIF can receive the first location information request. It should be noted that if there are multiple first positioning devices XLU, the second positioning device XLIF can send the first location information request to each first positioning device XLU respectively, so that each first positioning device XLU can receive the first location information request. It should be noted that the second positioning device XLIF is provided with a time synchronization processing unit of the first base station for synchronizing the data transmission time.

[0161] S502: Receive location-related information returned by a first positioning device based on a first location information request.

[0162] In an embodiment of the present application, when the second positioning device XLIF sends the first location information request to the first positioning device XLU based on the aforementioned steps, the first positioning device XLU will measure the positioning signal of the target terminal according to the instruction of the first location information request, obtain location-related information, and then send the location-related information to the second positioning device XLIF. The second positioning device XLIF can then receive the location-related information returned by the first positioning device XLU.

[0163] S503: Send the measurement result to the positioning management function network element in the positioning system based on the position-related information.

[0164] In an embodiment of the present application, after the second positioning device XLIF obtains the location-related information based on the aforementioned steps, it can further process the location-related information to obtain a measurement result, and send the measurement result to the positioning management function network element LMF to instruct the positioning management function network element LMF to perform positioning solution based on the measurement result, thereby solving the location information of the target terminal and realizing the positioning of the target terminal.

[0165] The second positioning device in the above positioning method sends a first location information request to the first positioning device, receives the location related information returned by the first positioning device based on the first location information request, and then sends the measurement result to the positioning management function network element based on the location related information. The second positioning device in the above positioning method is a network element device newly added to the traditional 5G positioning system, which can be responsible for part of the positioning function of processing location related information in the original first base station, and is used in conjunction with the first positioning device to realize the positioning of the target terminal. The positioning functions on the first positioning device and the second positioning device are single and only require simple functional modules to realize, so the manufacturing and deployment costs are extremely low. When the traditional 5G positioning system needs to improve the positioning accuracy or perform corresponding application upgrades by adding stations, the above positioning method can realize the addition of stations by setting multiple loosely coupled first positioning devices around the first base station and the corresponding second positioning devices. There is no need to rebuild the first base station or add other additional hardware devices. Therefore, the above positioning method greatly reduces the cost of deploying or rebuilding the positioning system, and can also improve the positioning accuracy.

[0166] In one embodiment, Figure 6 As shown, the second positioning device XLIF may specifically perform the following steps when executing the above S503 "sending the measurement result to the positioning management function network element based on the location-related information":

[0167] S601, processing location-related information according to signal configuration parameters to obtain measurement results.

[0168] In an embodiment of the present application, when the second positioning device XLIF receives the first location information request based on the aforementioned steps, it can further extract the required signal configuration parameters from the first location information request, and when receiving the location-related information sent by the first positioning device XLU, it can process the location-related information according to the signal configuration parameters to obtain a measurement result.

[0169] S602: Send the measurement result to the positioning management function network element.

[0170] In an embodiment of the present application, when the second positioning device XLIF obtains the measurement result, it can send the measurement result to the positioning management function network element LMF in the core network to instruct the positioning management function network element LMF to perform positioning solution according to the measurement result, thereby solving the location information of the target terminal and realizing the positioning of the target terminal.

[0171] In one embodiment, Figure 5 The method described in the embodiment, such as Figure 7 As shown, the steps include:

[0172] S504: Receive a first location information request sent by a positioning management function network element.

[0173] In the embodiment of the present application, the second positioning device XLIF can obtain signal configuration parameters from the positioning management function network element LMF. Based on this, when the positioning management function network element LMF obtains the corresponding configuration parameters from the base station, it can extract the signal configuration parameters required by the first positioning device XLU and the second positioning device XLIF, and carry the extracted signal configuration parameters in the first location information request to the second positioning device XLIF, and the second positioning device XLIF can receive the first location information request.

[0174] In one embodiment, a positioning method for positioning a management function network element side is also provided, such as Figure 8 As shown, this method is applied to Figure 1 The following steps are used to illustrate the positioning management function network element in the example:

[0175] S701: Receive configuration parameters sent by an access network device in a positioning system.

[0176] In the present application embodiment, based on Figure 3 When the positioning system shown realizes the positioning of the target terminal, the positioning management function network element LMF can first send a second location information request to the first base station to request the configuration parameters required for positioning the target terminal; when the first base station receives the second location information request sent by the positioning management function network element LMF, it obtains the configuration parameters required for positioning the target terminal, which may include signal configuration parameters and other related configuration parameters for interface or data transmission. Then, the first base station returns the configuration parameters to the positioning management function network element LMF, and the positioning management function network element LMF can receive the configuration parameters and save the configuration parameters for use in the later positioning solution of the target terminal.

[0177] S702: Send a first location information request to a second positioning device according to the configuration parameters.

[0178] In an embodiment of the present application, when the positioning management function network element LMF receives the configuration parameters sent by the base station, it can further generate a first location information request based on the configuration parameters, and send the first location information request to the second positioning device XLIF to instruct the second positioning device XLIF to perform corresponding positioning processing on the location-related information of the target terminal based on the configuration parameters.

[0179] S703: Receive a measurement result returned by the second positioning device based on the first location information request, and locate the target terminal according to the measurement result.

[0180] In an embodiment of the present application, after the positioning management function network element LMF sends a first location information request to the second positioning device XLIF, the second positioning device XLIF can receive the location-related information reported by the first positioning device XLU after measurement, and process the location-related information to obtain a measurement result, and return the measurement result to the positioning management function network element LMF. The positioning management function network element LMF can receive the measurement result returned by the second positioning device XLIF based on the first location information request; then, the positioning management function network element LMF can determine the positioning type to be adopted according to the signal configuration parameters, and perform positioning solution on the measurement result according to the positioning type to realize the positioning of the target terminal.

[0181] The positioning management function network element in the above positioning method receives the configuration parameters sent by the base station, sends the first location information request to the second positioning device according to the configuration parameters, and receives the measurement results returned by the second positioning device based on the first location information request, and locates the target terminal according to the measurement results. The positioning management function network element in the above positioning method can realize the positioning of the target terminal by exchanging information with the newly added second positioning device. This process does not require interaction with the base station. Therefore, when improving the positioning accuracy or performing corresponding application upgrades, it is only necessary to set up multiple loosely coupled first positioning devices around the first base station, and the corresponding second positioning devices can realize the station replenishment. There is no need to rebuild the first base station or add other additional hardware equipment. Therefore, the above positioning method greatly reduces the cost of deploying or rebuilding the positioning system, and can also improve the positioning accuracy.

[0182] In one embodiment, an implementation of the above S702 is provided, that is, Fig. 9 As shown, the above S702 "sending a first location information request to the extended positioning information network element according to the configuration parameters" includes:

[0183] S801: Extract signal configuration parameters from configuration parameters.

[0184] In an embodiment of the present application, when the positioning management function network element LMF receives the configuration parameters sent by the base station based on the aforementioned steps, since the configuration parameters include configuration parameters of multiple interfaces or configuration parameters of data transmission, which also include signal configuration parameters for configuring the first positioning device XLU for measurement and the second positioning device XLIF for processing, the positioning management function network element LMF needs to filter out the signal configuration parameters required by the first positioning device XLU and the second positioning device XLIF from the received configuration parameters according to the current positioning type or positioning requirements, so as to instruct the first positioning device XLU and the second positioning device XLIF to perform their respective corresponding processing.

[0185] S802: Generate a first location information request according to the signal configuration parameters, and send the first location information request to a second positioning device.

[0186] In an embodiment of the present application, after the positioning management function network element LMF extracts the signal configuration parameters from the configuration parameters, it can generate a first location information request carrying the signal configuration parameters, and send the first location information request to the second positioning device XLIF to instruct the second positioning device XLIF to determine and report the measurement result of the positioning signal of the target terminal based on the first location information request.

[0187] Further, when the location management function network element LMF specifically executes the above S801, as follows Fig.10 As shown, the specific execution steps are:

[0188] S901: Determine the positioning type according to the positioning capability of the target terminal.

[0189] Among them, the positioning capability of the target terminal represents the positioning method adopted by the target terminal, for example, any one of the UTDOA, AOA, OTDOA, and RTT positioning methods; the positioning type includes any one of the UTDOA, AOA, OTDOA, and RTT positioning types.

[0190] In an embodiment of the present application, the positioning management function network element LMF can transparently transmit with the target terminal, that is, when the target terminal needs to be positioned, the positioning management function network element LMF can first obtain the corresponding positioning performance detection information from the target terminal, that is, the target terminal detects its own positioning performance, and reports the positioning performance detection information to the positioning management function network element LMF. When the positioning management function network element LMF receives the positioning performance detection information reported by the target terminal, it can determine the positioning capability of the target terminal according to the positioning performance detection information, and then determine the positioning type of the target terminal based on the positioning capability of the target terminal.

[0191] S902: Extract signal configuration parameters corresponding to the positioning type from the configuration parameters.

[0192] In an embodiment of the present application, when the positioning management function network element LMF determines the positioning type of the target terminal, the signal configuration parameters corresponding to the positioning type can be filtered out from the configuration parameters. For example, if the positioning type is UTDOA / AOA, the corresponding signal configuration parameters include the configuration parameters of the SRS signal of the located target terminal (SLOT, OFDM coding, etc.); if the positioning type is OTDOA / RTT, the corresponding signal configuration parameters may include the configuration parameters of the PRS signal.

[0193] In the embodiment of the present application, the positioning management function network element LMF extracts the signal configuration parameters required by the first positioning device XLU and the second positioning device XLIF from the configuration parameters in advance, so that the first positioning device XLU and the second positioning device XLIF can quickly measure or process the positioning signal of the target terminal based on the signal configuration parameters, thereby assisting in sharing part of the positioning process in the original first base station and reducing the requirements for improving the performance of the base station, that is, greatly reducing the threshold for equipment research and development and deployment, and facilitating the flexible and large-scale production of positioning equipment.

[0194] In one embodiment, Figure 8 The method described in the embodiment, such as Fig.11 As shown, the steps include:

[0195] S704: Send a second location information request to the access network device.

[0196] The second location information request is used to request all configuration parameters required for positioning the target terminal.

[0197] In the present application embodiment, based on Figure 3 When the positioning system shown realizes the positioning of the target terminal UE, the positioning management function network element LMF can first send a second location information request to the first base station wireless unit gNB, which is used to request the configuration parameters required for locating the target terminal UE, so as to perform positioning solution and other operations on the target terminal UE according to the configuration parameters.

[0198] Based on all the above embodiments, in one embodiment, Fig.12 A signaling interaction flow chart of a positioning method is provided. Fig.12 As shown, the method includes the following steps.

[0199] S1001, the positioning management function network element sends a second location information request to the first base station wireless unit.

[0200] S1002: The first base station wireless unit sends configuration parameters to the positioning management function network element.

[0201] S1003: The positioning management function network element extracts signal configuration parameters from the configuration parameters, and generates a first location information request according to the signal configuration parameters.

[0202] S1004: The positioning management function network element sends the first location information request to the second positioning device.

[0203] S1005: The second positioning device forwards the first location information request to the first positioning device.

[0204] S1006: The first positioning device measures the positioning signal of the target terminal according to the signal configuration parameters to obtain position-related information.

[0205] S1007: The first positioning device sends the location-related information to the second positioning device.

[0206] S1008: The second positioning device processes the location-related information according to the signal configuration parameters to obtain a measurement result.

[0207] S1009: The second positioning device sends the measurement result to the positioning management function network element.

[0208] S1010: The positioning management function network element locates the target terminal according to the measurement result.

[0209] The above steps are all described in the aforementioned instructions. Please refer to the aforementioned content for details and will not be repeated here.

[0210] In one embodiment, a positioning system is also provided. Fig.13 As shown, this positioning system is also a traditional positioning system (see Figure 1 The network architecture of the positioning system shown in the figure) is expanded or rebuilt. Specifically, the positioning system includes: a target terminal UE, a first base station wireless unit gNB, a second base station wireless unit ng-eNB, multiple first positioning devices XLU, a second positioning device XLIF, a positioning management function network element LMF, and an access mobile management network element AMF; each first positioning device XLU is connected to the first base station wireless unit gNB, the second positioning device XLIF is respectively connected to each first positioning device XLU, the second positioning device XLIF is connected to the positioning management function network element LMF, and the target terminal UE is respectively connected to the first base station wireless unit gNB and the second base station wireless unit ng-eNB; the access mobile management network element AMF is respectively connected to the first base station wireless unit gNB, the second base station wireless unit ng-eNB and the positioning management function network element LMF, and the first base station wireless unit gNB and the second base station wireless unit ng-eNB are connected.

[0211] Among them, the access and mobility management function (AMF) is used to aggregate and forward the positioning information reported by the base station, and the deployment can be ignored in the local deployment mode. Fig.13 Other equipment in the aforementioned Figure 3 The description of the positioning system is described in detail in the above description, and the details are not repeated here. In the embodiment of the present application, each first positioning device XLU is used to perform Figure 4 The positioning method described in the embodiment; the second positioning device XLIF is used to perform Figure 5-Figure 7 The positioning method described in any embodiment; the positioning management function network element LMF is used to execute Figure 8-Figure 11The positioning method described in any embodiment. It should be noted that the positioning management function network element LMF can obtain configuration parameters from the first base station gNB; optionally, the access mobile management network element AMF can also first obtain configuration parameters from the first base station gNB, and then send the configuration parameters to the positioning management function network element LMF, so that the positioning management function network element LMF obtains the configuration parameters from the access mobile management network element AMF. Fig.13 Each device in the positioning system shown can achieve Fig.12 The positioning method.

[0212] The positioning system described in the embodiment of the present application realizes an integrated positioning system and positioning method based on a cellular network, wherein a first positioning device XLU of a cellular network (4G / 5G / 6G) loosely coupled with a first base station gNB is set, and a second positioning device XLIF is added on the network side. Among them, XLU and the first base station are loosely coupled, and only share power and transmission resources. XLU and XLIF are connected and interacted to obtain configuration parameters and measure the 5G / 6G positioning signal (for example, SRS, etc.) sent by the target terminal. XLIF can connect and interact with the first base station gNB to complete the positioning target terminal information configuration, that is, to obtain the signal configuration parameters, and then obtain and report the measurement results based on the signal configuration parameters and the position-related information reported by XLU, for example, the time difference of the positioning signal of the target terminal reaching each XLU, and then provide the measurement results to the positioning management function network element LMF according to the existing standards to complete the positioning solution according to the positioning algorithm such as TDOA to realize the positioning of the target terminal. The first positioning device XLU and the second positioning device XLIF with positioning function in the above positioning system are relatively independent of the first base station gNB, which is convenient for the implementation and flexible deployment of the first positioning device XLU and the second positioning device XLIF, and is convenient for large-scale production. Moreover, 5G positioning can also be used in areas using passive indoor distribution. The positioning system and positioning method provided in the embodiments of the present application can realize loosely coupled integrated positioning based on cellular networks, and can be applied to 5G networks as well as 6G networks.

[0213] based on Fig.13 The positioning system improves the existing positioning process of the NRPPa protocol. The improved positioning process is mainly implemented by the first base station (corresponding to NG-RAN Node / gNB in ​​English), the first positioning device (corresponding to XLU in English), the second positioning device (corresponding to XLIF in English) and the positioning management function network element (corresponding to Server / LMF in English) through the improved NRPPa protocol interaction, see Fig.14As shown, the positioning process includes: process 1, the positioning management function network element sends a second location information request to the first base station and indicates the type of the requested location information; process 2, the first base station returns the configuration parameters required for positioning the target terminal to the positioning management function network element based on the second location information request; process 3, the positioning management function network element sends a first location information request to the second positioning device; process 4, the second positioning device forwards the first location information request to the first positioning device; process 5, the first positioning device returns the location related information obtained based on the first location information request to the second positioning device; process 6, the second positioning device processes the location related information and sends the obtained measurement result to the positioning management function network element.

[0214] In the above process 2, compared with the positioning process of the traditional positioning system (see Figure 2 ), in the above process 2, the NRPPa message adds the 5G signal configuration parameters that the first positioning device XLU needs to use, and determines the type of signal configuration parameters according to different positioning technologies. In process 5, the first positioning device XLU implements the measurement and transmission of the positioning signal of the target terminal according to the signal configuration parameters, and obtains the location-related information. In process 6, the second positioning device XLIF implements the processing of the location-related information according to the signal configuration parameters, and obtains the measurement results. The above processes are all improvements compared to the positioning processes of traditional positioning systems. According to the existing 5G positioning standards, the first base station gNB / pRRU needs to add dedicated time synchronization and high-precision measurement hardware for the positioning function. In the process of the positioning system and positioning method provided in this application, the 5G / 6G first positioning device XLU is a positioning and measurement device independent of the gNB / pRRU, and is loosely coupled with the base station equipment of each manufacturer. The gNB / pRRU only needs to add a small amount of configuration function software, which greatly reduces the equipment research and development threshold and deployment implementation threshold, and facilitates flexible and large-scale production of positioning measurement units; the XRU device only needs to perform positioning signal measurement, which is simpler and less costly than the pRRU, and only requires a small amount of cost when blind spot supplementation is needed. Therefore, the positioning system and positioning method provided in this application can reduce the implementation cost and difficulty of 5G integrated positioning, and facilitate full play of its advantages of shared resources and high reliability of dedicated frequency bands.

[0215] It should be understood that although Figure 4-12 The steps in the flowchart are shown in sequence as indicated by the arrows, but these steps are not necessarily executed in the order indicated by the arrows. Unless otherwise specified in this document, there is no strict order restriction for the execution of these steps, and these steps can be executed in other orders. Moreover, Figure 4-12At least part of the steps may include multiple steps or multiple stages. These steps or stages are not necessarily performed at the same time, but can be performed at different times. The execution order of these steps or stages is not necessarily sequential, but can be performed in turn or alternately with other steps or at least part of the steps or stages in other steps.

[0216] In one embodiment, Fig.15 As shown, a positioning device is provided, comprising:

[0217] A first receiving module 10, configured to receive a first location information request sent by a second positioning device;

[0218] A measuring module 11 is used to measure the positioning signal of the target terminal according to the first location information request to obtain location related information;

[0219] The first sending module 12 is used to send the position-related information to the second positioning device, where the position-related information is used by the second positioning device and the positioning management function network element to locate the target terminal.

[0220] In one embodiment, the measurement module 11 is specifically configured to measure the positioning signal according to the signal configuration parameters to obtain the position-related information.

[0221] In one embodiment, the signal configuration parameters include configuration parameters of a downlink positioning reference signal or configuration parameters of a channel sounding positioning signal.

[0222] In one embodiment, the location-related information includes at least one of signal reception power, signal reception strength, signal arrival time, and signal arrival angle.

[0223] In one embodiment, Fig.16 As shown, a positioning device is provided, comprising:

[0224] A second sending module 20, configured to send a first location information request to a first positioning device;

[0225] The second receiving module 21 is configured to receive location related information returned by the first positioning device based on the first location information request;

[0226] The third sending module 22 is used to send the measurement result to the positioning management function network element based on the position related information.

[0227] In one embodiment, the second receiving module 21 is as follows: Fig.17 As shown, including:

[0228] A processing unit 210 is used to process the location-related information according to the signal configuration parameters to obtain the measurement result;

[0229] The sending unit 211 is used to send the measurement result to the positioning management function network element.

[0230] In one embodiment, the positioning device, such as Fig.18 As shown, it also includes:

[0231] The fifth receiving module 22 is used to receive the first location information request sent by the positioning management function network element.

[0232] In one embodiment, the signal configuration parameters include configuration parameters of a downlink positioning reference signal or configuration parameters of a channel sounding positioning signal.

[0233] In one embodiment, the location-related information includes at least one of signal reception power, signal reception strength, signal arrival time, and signal arrival angle.

[0234] In one embodiment, the measurement result includes at least one of a signal reception time difference, a signal reception angle difference, and a signal reception phase difference.

[0235] In one embodiment, Fig.19 As shown, a positioning device is provided, comprising:

[0236] A third receiving module 30, configured to receive configuration parameters sent by the base station;

[0237] A fourth sending module 31, configured to send a first location information request to a second positioning device according to the configuration parameters;

[0238] The fourth receiving module 32 is configured to receive a measurement result returned by the second positioning device based on the first location information request, and locate the target terminal according to the measurement result.

[0239] In one embodiment, the fourth sending module 31, such as Fig. 20 As shown, including:

[0240] An extraction unit 310, configured to extract the signal configuration parameter from the configuration parameter;

[0241] The sending unit 311 is configured to generate the first location information request according to the signal configuration parameters, and send the first location information request to the second positioning device.

[0242] In one embodiment, the extraction unit 310 is specifically configured to determine a positioning type according to the positioning capability of the target terminal, and extract signal configuration parameters corresponding to the positioning type from the configuration parameters.

[0243] In one embodiment, the positioning device, such as Fig.21 As shown, it also includes:

[0244] The fifth sending module 33 is used to send a second location information request to the base station; the second location information request is used to request the configuration parameters.

[0245] In one embodiment, the signal configuration parameters include configuration parameters of a downlink positioning reference signal or configuration parameters of a channel sounding positioning signal.

[0246] In one embodiment, the measurement result includes at least one of a signal reception time difference, a signal reception angle difference, and a signal reception phase difference.

[0247] For the specific definition of the positioning device, please refer to the definition of the positioning method above, which will not be repeated here. Each module in the above positioning device can be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware and a combination thereof. The above modules can be embedded in or independent of the processor in the computer device in the form of hardware, or can be stored in the memory of the computer device in the form of software, so that the processor can call and execute the operations corresponding to the above modules.

[0248] In one embodiment, Fig. 22 As shown, an access network device is provided, including:

[0249] The receiver 40 is configured to receive a first location information request sent by a second positioning device;

[0250] The processor 41 is configured to measure a positioning signal of a target terminal according to the first location information request to obtain location related information;

[0251] The transmitter 42 is used to send the position-related information to the second positioning device, where the position-related information is used by the second positioning device and the positioning management function network element to locate the target terminal.

[0252] In one embodiment, Fig.23 As shown, an access network device is provided, including:

[0253] The transmitter 50 is used to send a first location information request to the first positioning device;

[0254] A receiver 51, configured to receive location-related information returned by the first positioning device based on the first location information request;

[0255] The transmitter 50 is further configured to send the measurement result to the positioning management function network element based on the location related information.

[0256] In one embodiment, Fig.24 As shown, a core network device is provided, including:

[0257] A receiver 60, configured to receive configuration parameters sent by an access network device;

[0258] A transmitter 61, configured to send a first location information request to a second positioning device according to the configuration parameters;

[0259] The receiver 60 is further configured to receive a measurement result returned by the second positioning device based on the first location information request, and to locate the target terminal according to the measurement result.

[0260] In one embodiment, a computer readable storage medium is provided, on which a computer program is stored, and when the computer program is executed by a processor, the following steps are implemented:

[0261] receiving a first location information request sent by a second positioning device;

[0262] Measuring a positioning signal of the target terminal according to the first location information request to obtain location-related information;

[0263] The location-related information is sent to the second positioning device, and the location-related information is used by the second positioning device and the positioning management function network element to locate the target terminal.

[0264] In one embodiment, when the computer program is executed by a processor, the following steps are also implemented:

[0265] The positioning signal is measured according to the signal configuration parameters to obtain the position related information.

[0266] In one embodiment, a computer readable storage medium is provided, on which a computer program is stored, and when the computer program is executed by a processor, the following steps are implemented:

[0267] Sending a first location information request to a first positioning device;

[0268] receiving location-related information returned by the first positioning device based on the first location information request;

[0269] The measurement result is sent to the positioning management function network element based on the location related information.

[0270] In one embodiment, when the computer program is executed by a processor, the following steps are also implemented:

[0271] Processing the location related information according to the signal configuration parameters to obtain the measurement result;

[0272] The measurement result is sent to the positioning management function network element.

[0273] In one embodiment, when the computer program is executed by a processor, the following steps are also implemented:

[0274] Receive the first location information request sent by the positioning management function network element.

[0275] In one embodiment, a computer readable storage medium is provided, on which a computer program is stored, and when the computer program is executed by a processor, the following steps are implemented:

[0276] Receiving configuration parameters sent by access network equipment;

[0277] Sending a first location information request to a second positioning device according to the configuration parameters;

[0278] Receive the measurement result returned by the second positioning device based on the first location information request, and locate the target terminal according to the measurement result.

[0279] In one embodiment, when the computer program is executed by a processor, the following steps are also implemented:

[0280] extracting the signal configuration parameter from the configuration parameters;

[0281] The first location information request is generated according to the signal configuration parameters, and the first location information request is sent to the second positioning device.

[0282] In one embodiment, when the computer program is executed by a processor, the following steps are also implemented:

[0283] Determining a positioning type according to the positioning capability of the target terminal;

[0284] A signal configuration parameter corresponding to the positioning type is extracted from the configuration parameters.

[0285] In one embodiment, when the computer program is executed by a processor, the following steps are also implemented:

[0286] A second location information request is sent to the base station; the second location information request is used to request the configuration parameter.

[0287] The present application also provides a computer program product including instructions, which, when executed on a computer, causes the computer to perform the following steps:

[0288] receiving a first location information request sent by a second positioning device;

[0289] Measuring a positioning signal of the target terminal according to the first location information request to obtain location-related information;

[0290] The location-related information is sent to the second positioning device, and the location-related information is used by the second positioning device and the positioning management function network element to locate the target terminal.

[0291] In one embodiment, when it is run on a computer, it causes the computer to perform the following steps:

[0292] The positioning signal is measured according to the signal configuration parameters to obtain the position related information.

[0293] The present application also provides a computer program product including instructions, which, when executed on a computer, causes the computer to perform the following steps:

[0294] Sending a first location information request to a first positioning device;

[0295] receiving location-related information returned by the first positioning device based on the first location information request;

[0296] The measurement result is sent to the positioning management function network element based on the location related information.

[0297] In one embodiment, when it is run on a computer, it causes the computer to perform the following steps:

[0298] Processing the location related information according to the signal configuration parameters to obtain the measurement result;

[0299] The measurement result is sent to the positioning management function network element.

[0300] In one embodiment, when it is run on a computer, it causes the computer to perform the following steps:

[0301] Receive the first location information request sent by the positioning management function network element.

[0302] The present application also provides a computer program product including instructions, which, when executed on a computer, causes the computer to perform the following steps:

[0303] receiving configuration parameters sent by a base station;

[0304] Sending a first location information request to a second positioning device according to the configuration parameters;

[0305] Receive the measurement result returned by the second positioning device based on the first location information request, and locate the target terminal according to the measurement result.

[0306] In one embodiment, when it is run on a computer, it causes the computer to perform the following steps:

[0307] extracting the signal configuration parameter from the configuration parameters;

[0308] The first location information request is generated according to the signal configuration parameters, and the first location information request is sent to the second positioning device.

[0309] In one embodiment, when it is run on a computer, it causes the computer to perform the following steps:

[0310] Determining a positioning type according to the positioning capability of the target terminal;

[0311] A signal configuration parameter corresponding to the positioning type is extracted from the configuration parameters.

[0312] In one embodiment, when it is run on a computer, it causes the computer to perform the following steps:

[0313] A second location information request is sent to the base station; the second location information request is used to request the configuration parameter.

[0314] Those of ordinary skill in the art can understand that all or part of the processes in the above-mentioned embodiment methods can be completed by instructing the relevant hardware through a computer program, and the computer program can be stored in a non-volatile computer-readable storage medium. When the computer program is executed, it can include the processes of the embodiments of the above-mentioned methods. Among them, any reference to memory, storage, database or other media used in the embodiments provided in this application can include at least one of non-volatile and volatile memory. Non-volatile memory can include read-only memory (ROM), magnetic tape, floppy disk, flash memory or optical memory, etc. Volatile memory can include random access memory (RAM) or external cache memory. As an illustration and not limitation, RAM can be in various forms, such as static random access memory (SRAM) or dynamic random access memory (DRAM).

[0315] The technical features of the above embodiments may be combined arbitrarily. To make the description concise, not all possible combinations of the technical features in the above embodiments are described. However, as long as there is no contradiction in the combination of these technical features, they should be considered to be within the scope of this specification.

[0316] The above-mentioned embodiments only express several implementation methods of the present application, and the descriptions thereof are relatively specific and detailed, but they cannot be understood as limiting the scope of the invention patent. It should be pointed out that, for a person of ordinary skill in the art, several variations and improvements can be made without departing from the concept of the present application, and these all belong to the protection scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the patent of the present application shall be subject to the attached claims.

Claims

1. A positioning system, characterized in that: The positioning system comprises: a target terminal, an access network device, a plurality of first positioning devices, a second positioning device, and a positioning management function network element; each of the first positioning devices is connected to the access network device, the second positioning devices are respectively connected to each of the first positioning devices, the positioning management function network element is respectively connected to the second positioning device and the access network device, and the target terminal is connected to the access network device; The positioning management function network element is used to receive the configuration parameters sent by the access network device, and send a first location information request to the second positioning device according to the configuration parameters; The second positioning device is configured to receive the first position information request and send the first position information request to the first positioning device; Each of the first positioning devices is configured to receive the first location information request, measure the positioning signal of the target terminal according to the first location information request, obtain location related information, and send the location related information to the second positioning device; the location related information is used for the second positioning device and the positioning management function network element to locate the target terminal; The second positioning device is further configured to receive the location related information returned by the first positioning device, obtain a measurement result after processing the location related information, and send the measurement result to the positioning management function network element; The positioning management function network element is further configured to receive the measurement result returned by the second positioning device, and locate the target terminal according to the measurement result.

2. The positioning system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The first location information request includes a signal configuration parameter, and the first positioning device is specifically configured to measure the positioning signal of the target terminal according to the signal configuration parameter to obtain location-related information.

3. The positioning system according to claim 2, characterized in that: The second positioning device is specifically configured to, when receiving the position-related information returned by the first positioning device, process the position-related information according to the signal configuration parameter to obtain the measurement result.

4. The positioning system according to claim 3, characterized in that: The positioning management function network element is specifically used to extract the signal configuration parameters from the configuration parameters when receiving the configuration parameters sent by the access network device, generate the first location information request according to the signal configuration parameters, and send the first location information request to the second positioning device.

5. The positioning system according to claim 4, characterized in that: When the positioning management function network element executes the extraction of the signal configuration parameters from the configuration parameters, it is specifically used to determine the positioning type according to the positioning capability of the target terminal, and extract the signal configuration parameters corresponding to the positioning type from the configuration parameters.

6. The positioning system according to any one of claims 2 to 5, characterized in that: The signal configuration parameters include configuration parameters of a downlink positioning reference signal or configuration parameters of a channel sounding positioning signal.

7. The positioning system according to any one of claims 2 to 5, characterized in that: The measurement result includes at least one of a signal reception time difference, a signal reception angle difference, and a signal reception phase difference.

8. A positioning method, characterized in that: Applied to the first positioning device in the positioning system according to claim 1, the method comprises: Receiving a first location information request sent by a second positioning device in the positioning system; Measuring a positioning signal of the target terminal according to the first location information request to obtain location-related information; The location-related information is sent to the second positioning device, and the location-related information is used by the second positioning device and the positioning management function network element in the positioning system to locate the target terminal.

9. The method according to claim 8, characterized in that The first location information request includes a signal configuration parameter; and the measuring the positioning signal of the target terminal according to the first location information request to obtain location related information includes: The positioning signal is measured according to the signal configuration parameters to obtain the position related information.

10. A positioning method, characterized in that: Applied to the second positioning device in the positioning system according to claim 1, the method comprises: Sending a first location information request to a first positioning device in the positioning system; receiving location-related information returned by the first positioning device based on the first location information request; The measurement result is sent to the positioning management function network element in the positioning system based on the position-related information.

11. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that The first location information request includes a signal configuration parameter, and the sending of the measurement result to the positioning management function network element based on the location related information includes: Processing the location related information according to the signal configuration parameters to obtain the measurement result; The measurement result is sent to the positioning management function network element.

12. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that The method further comprises: Receive the first location information request sent by the positioning management function network element.

13. A positioning method, characterized in that: Applied to the positioning management function network element in the positioning system according to claim 1, the method comprising: Receiving configuration parameters sent by an access network device in the positioning system; Sending a first location information request to a second positioning device in the positioning system according to the configuration parameters; Receive the measurement result returned by the second positioning device based on the first location information request, and locate the target terminal in the positioning system according to the measurement result.

14. The method according to claim 13, characterized in that The configuration parameters include signal configuration parameters, and sending the first location information request to the second positioning device according to the configuration parameters includes: extracting the signal configuration parameter from the configuration parameters; The first location information request is generated according to the signal configuration parameters, and the first location information request is sent to the second positioning device.

15. The method according to claim 14, characterized in that The extracting signal configuration parameters from the configuration parameters comprises: Determining a positioning type according to the positioning capability of the target terminal; A signal configuration parameter corresponding to the positioning type is extracted from the configuration parameters.

16. The method according to any one of claims 13 to 15, characterized in that: The method further comprises: A second location information request is sent to an access network device in the positioning system; the second location information request is used to request the configuration parameter.

17. A positioning device, characterized in that: The device comprises: A first receiving module, configured to receive a first location information request sent by a second positioning device in the positioning system; A measuring module, configured to measure a positioning signal of a target terminal according to the first location information request to obtain location related information; The first sending module is used to send the position-related information to the second positioning device, where the position-related information is used by the second positioning device and the positioning management function network element in the positioning system to locate the target terminal.

18. A positioning device, characterized in that: The device comprises: A second sending module, used to send a first location information request to a first positioning device in the positioning system; A second receiving module, configured to receive location related information returned by the first positioning device based on the first location information request; The third sending module is used to send the measurement result to the positioning management function network element in the positioning system based on the position related information.

19. A positioning device, characterized in that: The device comprises: A third receiving module, used to receive configuration parameters sent by an access network device in the positioning system; A fourth sending module, configured to send a first location information request to a second positioning device in the positioning system according to the configuration parameters; The fourth receiving module is used to receive the measurement result returned by the second positioning device based on the first location information request, and locate the target terminal in the positioning system according to the measurement result.

20. An access network device, characterized in that: include: transmitter, processor, and receiver; The receiver is used to receive a first location information request sent by a second positioning device; The processor is configured to measure a positioning signal of the target terminal according to the first location information request to obtain location related information; The transmitter is used to send the location-related information to the second positioning device, and the location-related information is used for the second positioning device and the positioning management function network element to locate the target terminal.

21. An access network device, characterized in that: include: Transmitters and receivers; The transmitter is used to send a first location information request to the first positioning device; The receiver is configured to receive location related information returned by the first positioning device based on the first location information request; The transmitter is further configured to send the measurement result to the positioning management function network element based on the location related information.

22. A core network device, characterized in that: include: Transmitters and receivers; The receiver is used to access the configuration parameters sent by the network device; The transmitter is used to send a first location information request to the second positioning device according to the configuration parameters; The receiver is further configured to receive a measurement result returned by the second positioning device based on the first location information request, and to locate the target terminal according to the measurement result.

23. A computer-readable storage medium having a computer program stored thereon, characterized in that: When the computer program is executed by a processor, the steps of the method according to any one of claims 8 to 16 are implemented.

24. A computer program product comprising a computer program, characterized in that When the computer program is executed by a processor, the steps of the method according to any one of claims 8 to 16 are implemented.

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