Method for connected intelligent edge (CIE)-based localization

Abstract

Techniques for positioning are disclosed. In an aspect, a Connection Intelligent Edge, CIE, server receives (1210), from a first User Equipment, UE, first configuration information of one or more first Downlink Reference Signals, DL RS, transmitted on a serving cell of the first UE; receiving (1220), from the first UE, identifiers of one or more neighboring cells of the first UE; and transmitting (1230) a response to the first UE, the response comprising second configuration information of one or more second DL RSs transmitted on one or more neighboring cells of the first UE, the one or more second DL RSs being DL RSs of the same type as the one or more first DL RSs.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Aspects of the present disclosure generally relate to wireless communications. Background Art

[0002] Wireless communication systems have evolved over multiple generations, including first generation analog wireless telephone service (1G), second generation (2G) digital wireless telephone service (including transitional 2.5G networks and 2.75G networks), third generation (3G) high speed data, wireless services with Internet capabilities, and fourth generation (4G) services (e.g., Long Term Evolution (LTE) or WiMax). There are many different types of wireless communication systems in use today, including cellular and personal communications service (PCS) systems. Examples of known cellular systems include the cellular analog Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS), and digital cellular systems based on code division multiple access (CDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), and the like.

[0003] The fifth generation (5G) wireless standard, known as New Radio (NR), enables higher data transfer speeds, more connections, and better coverage, among other improvements. According to the Next Generation Mobile Networks Alliance, the 5G standard is designed to provide higher data rates, more accurate positioning (e.g., based on reference signals for positioning (RS-P), such as downlink, uplink, or sidelink positioning reference signals (PRS)), and other technical enhancements than previous standards. These enhancements, along with the use of higher frequency bands, advances in PRS processes and technologies, and high-density deployments of 5G, can enable highly accurate 5G-based positioning. Summary of the invention

[0004] A simplified overview of one or more aspects disclosed herein is presented below. As such, the following overview should neither be considered an extensive review of all conceived aspects, nor should the following overview be considered to identify key or decisive elements associated with all conceived aspects or to delineate the scope associated with any particular aspect. Accordingly, the following overview merely has the purpose of presenting certain concepts related to one or more aspects related to the mechanisms disclosed herein in a simplified form prior to the detailed description presented below.

[0005] In one aspect, a positioning method performed by a connected intelligent edge (CIE) server includes: receiving first configuration information of one or more first downlink reference signals (DL RS) sent on a serving cell of a first user equipment (UE); receiving identifiers of one or more neighboring cells of the first UE from the first UE; and sending a response to the first UE, the response including second configuration information of one or more second DL RSs sent on one or more neighboring cells of the first UE, the one or more second DL RSs being DL RSs of the same type as the one or more first DL RSs.

[0006] In one aspect, the positioning method performed by a connected intelligent edge (CIE) server includes: receiving first configuration information of one or more first downlink reference signals (DL RS) sent by one or more first transmit-receive points (TRPs) of the first network operator from a first user equipment (UE) subscribed to a first network operator; and sending second configuration information of one or more second DL RS sent by one or more second TRPs of a second network operator different from the first network operator to the first UE.

[0007] In one aspect, a method for wireless positioning performed by a user equipment (UE) includes: sending first location information to a first server, the first location information being based on a first positioning measurement set of one or more first downlink reference signals (DL RS) sent by one or more first transmit-receive points (TRPs) of a first network operator; and sending second location information to a second server, the second location information being based on a second positioning measurement set of one or more second DL RSs sent by one or more second TRPs of a second network operator, wherein the first UE subscribes to both the first network operator and the second network operator.

[0008] In one aspect, a positioning method performed by a connected intelligent edge (CIE) server includes: receiving a first positioning measurement set of one or more downlink reference signals (DL RS) sent by one or more transmit-receive points (TRPs) from a first user equipment (UE); receiving a second positioning measurement set of one or more DL RSs sent by one or more TRPs from a second UE; determining a differential positioning measurement based on the first positioning measurement set and the second positioning measurement set; and determining a network synchronization error associated with at least one or more TRPs based on the differential positioning measurement.

[0009] In one aspect, a connected intelligent edge (CIE) server includes: a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: receive first configuration information of one or more first downlink reference signals (DL RSs) sent on a serving cell of a first user equipment (UE) via the at least one transceiver; receive identifiers of one or more neighboring cells of the first UE from the first UE via the at least one transceiver; and send a response to the first UE via the at least one transceiver, the response including second configuration information of one or more second DL RSs sent on one or more neighboring cells of the first UE, the one or more second DL RSs being DL RSs of the same type as the one or more first DL RSs.

[0010] In one aspect, a connected intelligent edge (CIE) server includes: a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: receive, via the at least one transceiver, first configuration information of one or more first downlink reference signals (DL RSs) sent by one or more first transmit-receive points (TRPs) of a first network operator from a first user equipment (UE) subscribed to a first network operator; and send, via the at least one transceiver, second configuration information of one or more second DL RSs sent by one or more second TRPs of a second network operator different from the first network operator to the first UE.

[0011] In one aspect, a user equipment (UE) includes: a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: send first location information to a first server via the at least one transceiver, the first location information being based on a first positioning measurement set of one or more first downlink reference signals (DL RS) sent by one or more first transmit-receive points (TRPs) of a first network operator; and send second location information to a second server via the at least one transceiver, the second location information being based on a second positioning measurement set of one or more second DL RSs sent by one or more second TRPs of a second network operator, wherein the first UE subscribes to both the first network operator and the second network operator.

[0012] In one aspect, a connected intelligent edge (CIE) server includes: a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: receive a first positioning measurement set of one or more downlink reference signals (DL RSs) sent by one or more transmit-receive points (TRPs) from a first user equipment (UE) via the at least one transceiver; receive a second positioning measurement set of one or more DL RSs sent by one or more TRPs from a second UE via the at least one transceiver; determine a differential positioning measurement based on the first positioning measurement set and the second positioning measurement set; and determine a network synchronization error associated with at least one or more TRPs based on the differential positioning measurement.

[0013] In one aspect, a connected intelligent edge (CIE) server includes: a component for receiving first configuration information of one or more first downlink reference signals (DL RS) sent on a serving cell of a first user equipment (UE); a component for receiving identifiers of one or more neighboring cells of the first UE from the first UE; and a component for sending a response to the first UE, the response including second configuration information of one or more second DL RSs sent on one or more neighboring cells of the first UE, the one or more second DL RSs being DL RSs of the same type as the one or more first DL RSs.

[0014] In one aspect, a connected intelligent edge (CIE) server includes: a component for receiving first configuration information of one or more first downlink reference signals (DL RS) sent by one or more first transmit-receive points (TRPs) of the first network operator from a first user equipment (UE) subscribed to a first network operator; and a component for sending second configuration information of one or more second DL RS sent by one or more second TRPs of a second network operator different from the first network operator to the first UE.

[0015] In one aspect, a user equipment (UE) includes: a component for sending first location information to a first server, the first location information being based on a first positioning measurement set of one or more first downlink reference signals (DL RS) sent by one or more first transmit-receive points (TRPs) of a first network operator; and a component for sending second location information to a second server, the second location information being based on a second positioning measurement set of one or more second DL RSs sent by one or more second TRPs of a second network operator, wherein the first UE subscribes to both the first network operator and the second network operator.

[0016] In one aspect, a connected intelligent edge (CIE) server includes: a component for receiving a first positioning measurement set of one or more downlink reference signals (DL RS) sent by one or more transmit-receive points (TRPs) from a first user equipment (UE); a component for receiving a second positioning measurement set of one or more DL RSs sent by one or more TRPs from a second UE; a component for determining a differential positioning measurement based on the first positioning measurement set and the second positioning measurement set; and a component for determining a network synchronization error associated with at least one or more TRPs based on the differential positioning measurement.

[0017] In one aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium stores computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a connected intelligent edge (CIE) server, cause the CIE server to: receive first configuration information of one or more first downlink reference signals (DL RSs) sent on a serving cell of a first user equipment (UE); receive identifiers of one or more neighboring cells of the first UE from the first UE; and send a response to the first UE, the response including second configuration information of one or more second DL RSs sent on one or more neighboring cells of the first UE, the one or more second DL RSs being DL RSs of the same type as the one or more first DL RSs.

[0018] In one aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a connected intelligent edge (CIE) server, cause the CIE server to: receive first configuration information of one or more first downlink reference signals (DL RSs) sent by one or more first transmit-receive points (TRPs) of a first network operator from a first user equipment (UE) subscribed to a first network operator; and send second configuration information of one or more second DL RSs sent by one or more second TRPs of a second network operator different from the first network operator to the first UE.

[0019] In one aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions, which when executed by a user equipment (UE) causes the UE to: send first location information to a first server, the first location information being based on a first positioning measurement set of one or more first downlink reference signals (DL RSs) sent by one or more first transmit-receive points (TRPs) of a first network operator; and send second location information to a second server, the second location information being based on a second positioning measurement set of one or more second DL RSs sent by one or more second TRPs of a second network operator, wherein the first UE subscribes to both the first network operator and the second network operator.

[0020] In one aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a connected intelligent edge (CIE) server, causes the CIE server to: receive a first positioning measurement set of one or more downlink reference signals (DL RSs) sent by one or more transmit-receive points (TRPs) from a first user equipment (UE); receive a second positioning measurement set of one or more DL RSs sent by one or more TRPs from a second UE; determine a differential positioning measurement based on the first positioning measurement set and the second positioning measurement set; and determine a network synchronization error associated with at least one or more TRPs based on the differential positioning measurement.

[0021] Other objects and advantages associated with the various aspects disclosed herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art based on the accompanying drawings and detailed description. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0022] The drawings are provided to aid in describing various aspects of the disclosure and are intended to be illustrative of these aspects only and not limiting thereof.

[0023] Figure 1 An example wireless communication system in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is shown.

[0024] Figure 2A , Figure 2B and Figure 2C Example wireless network structures in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure are shown.

[0025] Figure 3A , Figure 3B and Figure 3C is a simplified block diagram of several sample aspects of components that may be employed in a user equipment (UE), a base station, and a network entity, respectively, and configured to support communications as taught herein.

[0026] Figure 4 Examples of various positioning methods supported in New Radio (NR) according to aspects of the present disclosure are shown.

[0027] Figure 5 Different connected intelligent edge (CIE) positioning techniques according to aspects of the present disclosure are shown.

[0028] Figure 6 is a diagram illustrating an example frame structure in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0029] Figure 7 is a diagram illustrating an example tracking reference signal (TRS) configuration in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0030] Figure 8 is a graph illustrating example channel energy response (CER) estimates in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0031] Fig. 9 An example CIE-based positioning process using TRS in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is shown.

[0032] Fig.10 An example CIE-based multi-operator positioning process according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown.

[0033] Fig.11 An example multi-UE joint position estimation process in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is shown.

[0034] Figures 12 to 15 Example positioning methods according to aspects of the present disclosure are shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0035] Various aspects of the present disclosure are provided in the following description of various examples provided for illustrative purposes and in the related figures. Alternative aspects may be designed without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. In addition, well-known elements of the present disclosure will not be described in detail or will be omitted to avoid confusing the relevant details of the present disclosure.

[0036] The words "exemplary" and / or "example" are used herein to mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration." Any aspect described herein as "exemplary" and / or "example" is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects. Likewise, the term "aspects of the disclosure" does not require that all aspects of the disclosure include the discussed feature, advantage, or mode of operation.

[0037] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that any of a variety of different technologies and techniques may be used to represent the information and signals described below. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referenced throughout the following description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof, depending in part on the specific application, in part on the desired design, in part on the corresponding technology, etc.

[0038] In addition, many aspects are described in terms of a sequence of actions to be performed by, for example, elements of a computing device. It will be understood that the various actions described herein may be performed by a specific circuit (e.g., an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC)), by program instructions executed by one or more processors, or by a combination of both. In addition, it may be considered that the sequence of actions described herein is fully embodied within any form of non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, which stores a corresponding set of computer instructions that, when executed, will cause or instruct an associated processor of a device to perform the functionality described herein. Thus, various aspects of the present disclosure may be embodied in many different forms, all of which have been contemplated to be within the scope of the claimed subject matter. In addition, for each of the various aspects described herein, the corresponding form of any such aspects may be described herein as, for example, "logic configured to perform the described actions."

[0039] As used herein, unless otherwise specified, the terms "user equipment" (UE) and "base station" are not intended to be specific or otherwise limited to any specific radio access technology (RAT). In general, a UE may be any wireless communication device (e.g., a mobile phone, a router, a tablet, a laptop, a consumer asset location device, a wearable device (e.g., a smart watch, glasses, an augmented reality (AR) / virtual reality (VR) headset, etc.), a vehicle (e.g., a car, a motorcycle, a bicycle, etc.), an Internet of Things (IoT) device, etc.) used by a user to communicate via a wireless communication network. A UE may be mobile or may be fixed (e.g., at certain times) and may communicate with a radio access network (RAN). As used herein, the term "UE" may be interchangeably referred to as an "access terminal" or "AT", "client device", "wireless device", "subscriber equipment", "subscriber terminal", "subscriber station", "user terminal" or "UT", "mobile device", "mobile terminal", "mobile station" or variations thereof. In general, a UE may communicate with a core network via a RAN, and through the core network, the UE may connect to external networks (such as the Internet) and to other UEs. Of course, other mechanisms are also possible for the UE to connect to the core network and / or the Internet, such as via a wired access network, a wireless local area network (WLAN) network (e.g., based on the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 specification, etc.), etc.

[0040] A base station may operate according to one of several RATs for communicating with a UE, depending on the network in which it is deployed, and may be alternatively referred to as an access point (AP), a network node, a NodeB, an evolved NodeB (eNB), a next generation eNB (ng-eNB), a new radio (NR) NodeB (also referred to as a gNB or gNodeB), etc. A base station may be primarily used to support wireless access for a UE, including supporting data, voice, and / or signaling connections for the supported UE. In some systems, a base station may provide pure edge node signaling functionality, while in other systems it may provide additional control and / or network management functionality. A communication link through which a UE may send a signal to a base station is referred to as an uplink (UL) channel (e.g., a reverse traffic channel, a reverse control channel, an access channel, etc.). A communication link through which a base station may send a signal to a UE is referred to as a downlink (DL) or forward link channel (e.g., a paging channel, a control channel, a broadcast channel, a forward traffic channel, etc.). As used herein, the term traffic channel (TCH) may refer to an uplink / reverse or downlink / forward traffic channel.

[0041] The term "base station" may refer to a single physical transmit-receive point (TRP) or to multiple physical TRPs, which may or may not be co-located. For example, where the term "base station" refers to a single physical TRP, the physical TRP may be an antenna of the base station, which corresponds to a cell (or several cell sectors) of the base station. Where the term "base station" refers to multiple co-located physical TRPs, the physical TRP may be an antenna array of the base station (e.g., as in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system or where the base station employs beamforming). Where the term "base station" refers to multiple non-co-located physical TRPs, the physical TRP may be a distributed antenna system (DAS) (a network of spatially separated antennas connected to a common source via a transmission medium) or a remote radio head (RRH) (a remote base station connected to a serving base station). Alternatively, the non-co-located physical TRP may be a serving base station that receives measurement reports from the UE and a neighboring base station whose reference radio frequency (RF) signal the UE is measuring. Since the TRP is the point from which a base station transmits and receives wireless signals, as used herein, references to transmission from a base station or reception at a base station will be understood to refer to the specific TRP of the base station.

[0042] In some implementations of supporting positioning of a UE, a base station may not support wireless access of the UE (e.g., may not support data, voice, and / or signaling connections of the UE), but may send a reference signal to the UE to be measured by the UE, and / or may receive and measure a signal sent by the UE. Such a base station may be referred to as a positioning beacon (e.g., when sending a signal to the UE) and / or as a position measurement unit (e.g., when receiving and measuring a signal from the UE).

[0043] An "RF signal" includes an electromagnetic wave of a given frequency that transmits information through the space between a transmitter and a receiver. As used herein, a transmitter may transmit a single "RF signal" or multiple "RF signals" to a receiver. However, due to the propagation characteristics of RF signals through multipath channels, a receiver may receive multiple "RF signals" corresponding to each transmitted RF signal. The same transmitted RF signal on different paths between a transmitter and a receiver may be referred to as a "multipath" RF signal. As used herein, an RF signal may also be referred to as a "wireless signal" or simply a "signal," where it is clear from the context that the term "signal" refers to either a wireless signal or an RF signal.

[0044] Figure 1 An example wireless communication system 100 is shown in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. The wireless communication system 100 (which is also referred to as a wireless wide area network (WWAN)) may include various base stations 102 (labeled "BS") and various UEs 104. The base stations 102 may include macrocell base stations (high-power cellular base stations) and / or small cell base stations (low-power cellular base stations). In one aspect, the macrocell base stations may include eNBs and / or ng-eNBs (where the wireless communication system 100 corresponds to an LTE network), or gNBs (where the wireless communication system 100 corresponds to an NR network), or a combination of both, and the small cell base stations may include femtocells, picocells, microcells, etc.

[0045] The base stations 102 may collectively form a RAN and interface with a core network 170 (e.g., an evolved packet core (EPC) or a 5G core (5GC)) through a backhaul link 122, and reach one or more location servers 172 (e.g., a location management function (LMF) or a secure user plane location (SUPL) location platform (SLP)) through the core network 170. The location server 172 may be part of the core network 170, or may be external to the core network 170. The location server 172 may be integrated with the base station 102. The UE 104 may communicate with the location server 172 directly or indirectly. For example, the UE 104 may communicate with the location server 172 via the base station 102 currently serving the UE 104. The UE 104 may also communicate with the location server 172 via another path, such as via an application server (not shown), via another network (such as via a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point (AP) (e.g., as described below, AP 150, etc.)). For signaling purposes, communication between UE 104 and location server 172 may be represented as an indirect connection (e.g., through core network 170, etc.) or a direct connection (e.g., via direct connection 128 as shown), with intermediate nodes (if any) omitted from the signaling diagram for clarity.

[0046] Among other functions, the base station 102 can perform functions related to one or more of the following: transmitting user data, radio channel encryption and decryption, integrity protection, header compression, mobility control functions (e.g., handover, dual connectivity), inter-cell interference coordination, connection establishment and release, load balancing, non-access layer (NAS) message distribution, NAS node selection, synchronization, RAN sharing, multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS), subscriber and device tracking, RAN information management (RIM), paging, positioning and warning information delivery. The base stations 102 can communicate with each other directly or indirectly (e.g., through EPC / 5GC) via a backhaul link 134, which can be wired or wireless.

[0047] Base station 102 can communicate wirelessly with UE 104. Each of base stations 102 can provide communication coverage for a corresponding geographic coverage area 110. In one aspect, in each geographic coverage area 110, one or more cells can be supported by base station 102. A "cell" is a logical communication entity used to communicate with a base station (e.g., on a certain frequency resource (referred to as a carrier frequency, component carrier, carrier, frequency band, etc.) and can be associated with an identifier (e.g., a physical cell identifier (PCI), an enhanced cell identifier (ECI), a virtual cell identifier (VCI), a cell global identifier (CGI), etc.) to distinguish cells operating via the same or different carrier frequencies. In some cases, different cells can be configured according to different protocol types (e.g., machine type communication (MTC), narrowband IoT (NB-IoT), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), etc.) that can provide access to different types of UEs. Because a cell is supported by a specific base station, the term "cell" can refer to one or both of the logical communication entity and the base station supporting it, depending on the context. In addition, since the TRP is generally the physical transmission point of the cell, the terms "cell" and "TRP" can be used interchangeably. In some cases, the term "cell" can also refer to the geographic coverage area (e.g., sector) of a base station, as long as the carrier frequency can be detected and used for communication within a portion of the geographic coverage area 110.

[0048] Although the geographic coverage areas 110 of adjacent macrocell base stations 102 may partially overlap (e.g., in a handover region), some of the geographic coverage areas 110 may substantially overlap with a larger geographic coverage area 110. For example, a small cell base station 102' (labeled "SC" for "small cell") may have a geographic coverage area 110' that substantially overlaps with the geographic coverage areas 110 of one or more macrocell base stations 102. A network including small cells and macrocell base stations may be referred to as a heterogeneous network. A heterogeneous network may also include a home eNB (HeNB), which may provide services to a restricted group referred to as a closed subscriber group (CSG).

[0049] The communication link 120 between the base station 102 and the UE 104 may include an uplink (also referred to as a reverse link) transmission from the UE 104 to the base station 102 and / or a downlink (DL) (also referred to as a forward link) transmission from the base station 102 to the UE 104. The communication link 120 may use MIMO antenna technology, including spatial multiplexing, beamforming, and / or transmit diversity. The communication link 120 may be over one or more carrier frequencies. The allocation of carriers may be asymmetric with respect to the downlink and uplink (e.g., more or fewer carriers may be allocated for the downlink than for the uplink).

[0050] The wireless communication system 100 may also include a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point (AP) 150 that communicates with a WLAN station (STA) 152 via a communication link 154 in an unlicensed spectrum (e.g., 5 GHz). When communicating in the unlicensed spectrum, the WLAN STA 152 and / or the WLAN AP 150 may perform a clear channel assessment (CCA) or a listen before talk (LBT) process to determine whether a channel is available before communicating.

[0051] The small cell base station 102' can operate in a licensed and / or unlicensed spectrum. When operating in an unlicensed spectrum, the small cell base station 102' can adopt LTE or NR technology and use the same 5GHz unlicensed spectrum used by the WLAN AP 150. The small cell base station 102' adopting LTE / 5G in the unlicensed spectrum can enhance the coverage of the access network and / or increase the capacity of the access network. NR in the unlicensed spectrum can be referred to as NR-U. LTE in the unlicensed spectrum can be referred to as LTE-U, License Assisted Access (LAA) or MulteFire.

[0052] The wireless communication system 100 may also include a millimeter wave (mmW) base station 180, which can communicate with UE 182 at mmW frequencies and / or near mmW frequencies. Extremely high frequency (EHF) is part of RF in the electromagnetic spectrum. The range of EHF is 30GHz to 300GHz, and the wavelength is between 1 mm and 10 mm. The radio waves in this band can be called millimeter waves. Near mmW can be extended down to a frequency of 3GHz, where the wavelength is 100 mm. The super high frequency (SHF) band extends between 3GHz and 30GHz, also known as centimeter waves. Communications using mmW / near mmW radio frequency bands have high path loss and relatively short distances. The mmW base station 180 and UE 182 can utilize beamforming (transmitting and / or receiving) on ​​the mmW communication link 184 to compensate for the extremely high path loss and short distance. In addition, it should be understood that in an alternative configuration, one or more base stations 102 may also transmit using mmW or near mmW and beamforming. Therefore, it should be understood that the foregoing description is merely exemplary and should not be construed as limiting the various aspects disclosed herein.

[0053] Transmit beamforming is a technique for focusing an RF signal in a specific direction. Traditionally, when a network node (e.g., a base station) broadcasts an RF signal, it broadcasts the signal in all directions (omnidirectional). With transmit beamforming, the network node determines the location of a given target device (e.g., a UE) (relative to the transmitting network node) and projects a stronger downlink RF signal in that specific direction, thereby providing a faster (in terms of data rate) and stronger RF signal to the receiving device. In order to change the directionality of the RF signal when transmitting, the network node can control the phase and relative amplitude of the RF signal at each of the one or more transmitters that broadcast the RF signal. For example, a network node can use an antenna array (referred to as a "phased array" or "antenna array") that creates an RF beam that can be "steered" to point in different directions without actually moving the antenna. Specifically, the RF current from the transmitter is fed to each antenna in the correct phase relationship so that the radio waves from each antenna are superimposed to increase the radiation in the desired direction while canceling to suppress the radiation in the undesired direction.

[0054] The transmit beams can be quasi-co-located, which means that they appear to have the same parameters to the receiver (e.g., UE), regardless of whether the transmit antennas of the network nodes themselves are physically co-located. In NR, there are four types of quasi-co-located (QCL) relationships. Specifically, a given type of QCL relationship means that certain parameters about the second reference RF signal on the second beam can be derived from information about the source reference RF signal on the source beam. Therefore, if the source reference RF signal is QCL type A, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay and delay spread of the second reference RF signal sent on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL type B, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift and Doppler spread of the second reference RF signal sent on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL type C, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift and average delay of the second reference RF signal sent on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL type D, the receiver may use the source reference RF signal to estimate spatial reception parameters of a second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel.

[0055] In receive beamforming, the receiver uses receive beams to amplify RF signals detected on a given channel. For example, the receiver may increase the gain setting and / or adjust the phase setting of the antenna array in a particular direction to amplify the RF signals received from that direction (e.g., increase its gain level). Thus, when a receiver performs beamforming in a certain direction, it means that the beam gain in that direction is high relative to the beam gain along other directions, or the beam gain in that direction is the highest compared to the beam gain in that direction of all other receive beams available to the receiver. This results in a stronger received signal strength (e.g., reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR), received signal strength indicator (RSSI), etc.) of the RF signal received from that direction.

[0056] The transmit and receive beams may be spatially correlated. The spatial relationship means that parameters of a second beam (e.g., a transmit or receive beam) for a second reference signal may be derived from information about a first beam (e.g., a receive beam or a transmit beam) for a first reference signal. For example, a UE may use a particular receive beam to receive a reference downlink reference signal (e.g., a synchronization signal block (SSB)) from a base station. The UE may then form a transmit beam based on the parameters of the receive beam for sending an uplink reference signal (e.g., a sounding reference signal (SRS)) to the base station.

[0057] Note that a "downlink" beam can be either a transmit beam or a receive beam, depending on the entity that forms it. For example, if the base station is forming a downlink beam to send a reference signal to the UE, the downlink beam is a transmit beam. However, if the UE is forming a downlink beam, it is a receive beam for receiving downlink reference signals. Similarly, an "uplink" beam can be either a transmit beam or a receive beam, depending on the entity that forms it. For example, if the base station is forming an uplink beam, it is an uplink receive beam, and if the UE is forming an uplink beam, it is an uplink transmit beam.

[0058] The electromagnetic spectrum is typically subdivided into various classes, bands, channels, etc. based on frequency / wavelength. In 5G NR, two initial operating bands have been identified as frequency range designations FR1 (410 MHz to 7.125 GHz) and FR2 (24.25 GHz to 52.6 GHz). It should be understood that although a portion of FR1 is greater than 6 GHz, FR1 is often (interchangeably) referred to as the "Sub-6 GHz" band in various documents and articles. Similar naming issues sometimes arise with respect to FR2, which is often (interchangeably) referred to as the "millimeter wave" band in various documents and articles, although it is different from the extremely high frequency (EHF) band (30 GHz to 300 GHz) identified as the "millimeter wave" band by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

[0059] Frequencies between FR1 and FR2 are generally referred to as mid-band frequencies. Recent 5G NR research has identified the operating bands of these mid-band frequencies as frequency range designation FR3 (7.125 GHz to 24.25 GHz). The frequency bands falling within FR3 can inherit FR1 characteristics and / or FR2 characteristics, and thus can effectively extend the characteristics of FR1 and / or FR2 to mid-band frequencies. In addition, higher frequency bands are currently being explored to extend 5G NR operations to above 52.6 GHz. For example, three higher operating bands have been identified as frequency range designations FR4a or FR4-1 (52.6 GHz to 71 GHz), FR4 (52.6 GHz to 114.25 GHz), and FR5 (114.25 GHz to 300 GHz). Each of these higher frequency bands falls within the EHF band.

[0060] In view of the above, unless otherwise specifically stated, it should be understood that if used herein, the term "Sub-6 GHz" and the like can broadly refer to frequencies that may be less than 6 GHz, may be within FR1, or may include mid-band frequencies. In addition, unless otherwise specifically stated, it should be understood that if used herein, the term "millimeter wave" and the like can broadly refer to frequencies that may include mid-band frequencies, may be within FR2, FR4, FR4-a or FR4-1 and / or FR5, or may be within the EHF band.

[0061] In a multi-carrier system, such as 5G, one of the carrier frequencies is referred to as the "primary carrier" or "anchor carrier" or "primary serving cell" or "PCell", and the remaining carrier frequencies are referred to as "secondary carriers" or "secondary serving cells" or "SCells". In carrier aggregation, the anchor carrier is a carrier operating on the primary frequency (e.g., FR1) used by the UE 104 / 182 and the cell in which the UE 104 / 182 performs an initial radio resource control (RRC) connection establishment procedure or initiates an RRC connection reestablishment procedure. The primary carrier carries all common and UE-specific control channels and can be a carrier in a licensed frequency (however, this is not always the case). A secondary carrier is a carrier operating on a second frequency (e.g., FR2) that can be configured when an RRC connection is established between the UE 104 and the anchor carrier and can be used to provide additional radio resources. In some cases, the secondary carrier can be a carrier in an unlicensed frequency. The secondary carrier may contain only necessary signaling information and signals, for example, those that are UE-specific may not be present in the secondary carrier, because the primary uplink and downlink carriers are typically both UE-specific. This means that different UEs 104 / 182 in a cell can have different downlink primary carriers. The same is true for the uplink primary carrier. The network is able to change the primary carrier of any UE 104 / 182 at any time. This is done, for example, to balance the load on different carriers. Because a "serving cell" (whether a PCell or an SCell) corresponds to a carrier frequency / component carrier on which a certain base station is communicating, the terms "cell", "serving cell", "component carrier", "carrier frequency", etc. can be used interchangeably.

[0062] For example, still refer to Figure 1 , one of the frequencies used by macrocell base station 102 may be an anchor carrier (or "PCell"), and the other frequencies used by macrocell base station 102 and / or mmW base station 180 may be secondary carriers ("SCells"). Simultaneous transmission and / or reception of multiple carriers enables UE 104 / 182 to significantly increase its data transmission and / or reception rate. For example, two 20 MHz aggregated carriers in a multi-carrier system would theoretically result in a two-fold increase in data rate (i.e., 40 MHz) compared to the data rate obtained by a single 20 MHz carrier.

[0063] The wireless communication system 100 may also include a UE 164, which may communicate with the macrocell base station 102 via a communication link 120 and / or communicate with the mmW base station 180 via a mmW communication link 184. For example, the macrocell base station 102 may support a PCell and one or more SCells for the UE 164, and the mmW base station 180 may support one or more SCells for the UE 164.

[0064] In some cases, UE 164 and UE 182 may be able to perform sidelink communications. A sidelink-enabled UE (SL-UE) may communicate with base station 102 via communication link 120 using a Uu interface (i.e., an air interface between a UE and a base station). SL-UEs (e.g., UE 164, UE 182) may also communicate directly with each other via a wireless sidelink 160 using a PC5 interface (i.e., an air interface between sidelink-enabled UEs). A wireless sidelink (or simply "sidelink") is an adaptation of a core cellular (e.g., LTE, NR) standard that allows direct communication between two or more UEs without having to go through a base station for the communication. Sidelink communications may be unicast or multicast and may be used for device-to-device (D2D) media sharing, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communications, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communications (e.g., cellular V2X (cV2X) communications, enhanced V2X (eV2X) communications, etc.), emergency rescue applications, etc. One or more of the group of SL-UEs utilizing sidelink communications may be within the geographic coverage area 110 of the base station 102. Other SL-UEs in the group may be outside the geographic coverage area 110 of the base station 102, or otherwise unable to receive transmissions from the base station 102. In some cases, the group of SL-UEs communicating via sidelink communications may utilize a one-to-many (1:M) system, where each SL-UE transmits to each other SL-UE in the group. In some cases, the base station 102 facilitates the scheduling of resources for sidelink communications. In other cases, sidelink communications are performed between SL-UEs without the involvement of the base station 102.

[0065] In one aspect, the sidelink 160 can operate on a wireless communication medium of interest, which can be shared with other vehicles and / or infrastructure access points and other wireless communications between other RATs. A "medium" can consist of one or more time, frequency, and / or spatial communication resources (e.g., comprising one or more channels on one or more carriers) associated with wireless communications between one or more transmitter / receiver pairs. In one aspect, the medium of interest can correspond to at least a portion of an unlicensed band shared between various RATs. Although different licensed bands have been reserved for certain communication systems (e.g., by government entities such as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the United States), these systems (particularly those employing small cell access points) have recently expanded operations to unlicensed bands, such as the unlicensed National Information Infrastructure (U-NII) band used by wireless local area network (WLAN) technologies (most notably the IEEE 802.11x WLAN technology commonly referred to as "Wi-Fi"). Example systems of this type include different variations of CDMA systems, TDMA systems, FDMA systems, Orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA) systems, Single-Carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) systems, and the like.

[0066] Please note that although Figure 1 Only two of the UEs are shown as SL-UEs (i.e., UEs 164 and 182), but any of the shown UEs may be SL-UEs. In addition, although only UE 182 is described as being capable of beamforming, any of the shown UEs (including UE 164) may be capable of beamforming. Where SL-UEs are capable of beamforming, they may beamform to each other (i.e., to other SL-UEs), to other UEs (e.g., UE 104), to base stations (e.g., base stations 102, 180, small cells 102', access point 150), and the like. Thus, in some cases, UEs 164 and 182 may utilize beamforming on sidelink 160.

[0067] exist Figure 1 In the example of FIG. 1 , any one of the UEs shown (for simplicity, in Figure 1104) can receive signals from one or more earth orbiting space vehicles (SVs) 112 (e.g., satellites). In one aspect, SV 112 can be part of a satellite positioning system that UE 104 can use as an independent source of location information. A satellite positioning system typically includes a system of transmitters (e.g., SV 112) positioned to enable receivers (e.g., UE 104) to determine their location on or above the earth based at least in part on positioning signals (e.g., signal 124) received from the transmitters. Such transmitters typically transmit signals with a repeating pseudo-random noise (PN) code marked with a set number of chips. Although typically located in SV 112, the transmitter may sometimes be located on a ground-based control station, base station 102, and / or other UE 104. UE 104 may include one or more dedicated receivers specifically designed to receive signal 124 to derive geographic location information from SV 112.

[0068] In a satellite positioning system, the use of signal 124 may be enhanced by various satellite-based augmentation systems (SBAS) that may be associated with or otherwise enabled for use with one or more global and / or regional navigation satellite systems. For example, SBAS may include augmentation systems that provide integrity information, differential corrections, etc., such as Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS), European Geosynchronous Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS), Multifunction Satellite Augmentation System (MSAS), Global Positioning System (GPS) Assisted Geographic Augmentation Navigation or GPS and Geographic Augmentation Navigation System (GAGAN), etc. Thus, as used herein, a satellite positioning system may include any combination of one or more global and / or regional navigation satellites associated with such one or more satellite positioning systems.

[0069] In one aspect, in addition or alternatively, SV 112 can be part of one or more non-terrestrial networks (NTNs). In an NTN, SV 112 is connected to an earth station (also referred to as a ground station, NTN gateway, or gateway), which in turn is connected to an element in a 5G network, such as a modified base station 102 (without a ground antenna) or a network node in a 5GC. This element in turn will provide access to other elements in the 5G network, and ultimately provide access to entities external to the 5G network (such as Internet web servers and other user devices). In this way, UE 104 can receive communication signals (e.g., signal 124) from SV 112 as an alternative or in addition to receiving communication signals from a ground base station 102.

[0070] The wireless communication system 100 may also include one or more UEs (such as UE 190) that are indirectly connected to one or more communication networks via one or more device-to-device (D2D) peer-to-peer (P2P) links (referred to as “side links”). Figure 1 In the example of FIG. 1 , UE 190 has D2D P2P link 192 and D2D P2P link 194, wherein one of UE 104 is connected to one of base stations 102 via D2D P2P link 192 (e.g., UE 190 can indirectly obtain cellular connection via it), and WLAN STA 152 is connected to WLAN AP 150 via D2D P2P link 194 (UE 190 can indirectly obtain WLAN-based Internet connection via it). In an example, D2D P2P links 192 and 194 can be supported by any well-known D2D RAT, such as LTE Direct (LTE-D), WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), wait.

[0071] Figure 2A An example wireless network architecture 200 is shown. For example, the 5GC 210 (also referred to as the Next Generation Core (NGC)) can be functionally viewed as a control plane (C-plane) function 214 (e.g., UE registration, authentication, network access, gateway selection, etc.) and a user plane (U-plane) function 212 (e.g., UE gateway function, access to data networks, IP routing, etc.), which operate in conjunction to form a core network. The user plane interface (NG-U) 213 and the control plane interface (NG-C) 215 connect the gNB 222 to the 5GC 210, and specifically to the user plane function 212 and the control plane function 214, respectively. In additional configurations, the ng-eNB 224 can also be connected to the 5GC 210 via the NG-C 215 to the control plane function 214 and the NG-U 213 to the user plane function 212. In addition, the ng-eNB 224 can communicate directly with the gNB 222 via the backhaul connection 223. In some configurations, a next generation RAN (NG-RAN) 220 may have one or more gNBs 222, while other configurations include one or more of ng-eNBs 224 and gNBs 222. Either or both of the gNBs 222 or ng-eNBs 224 may communicate with one or more UEs 204 (e.g., any of the UEs described herein).

[0072] Another optional aspect may include a location server 230 that can communicate with the 5GC 210 to provide location assistance for the UE 204. The location server 230 can be implemented as multiple separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules distributed across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternatively can each correspond to a single server. The location server 230 can be configured to support one or more location services for the UE 204, which can be connected to the location server 230 via the core network, the 5GC 210, and / or via the Internet (not shown). In addition, the location server 230 can be integrated into a component of the core network, or alternatively can be external to the core network (e.g., a third-party server, such as an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) server or a service server).

[0073] Figure 2B Another example wireless network structure 240 is shown. 5GC 260 (which may correspond to Figure 2AThe 5GC 210 in the UE 200 may be functionally considered as a control plane function provided by an access and mobility management function (AMF) 264 and a user plane function provided by a user plane function (UPF) 262, which operate in conjunction to form a core network (i.e., the 5GC 260). The functions of the AMF 264 include registration management, connection management, reachability management, mobility management, lawful interception, transmission of session management (SM) messages between one or more UEs 204 (e.g., any of the UEs described herein) and a session management function (SMF) 266, a transparent proxy service for routing SM messages, access authentication and access authorization, transmission of short message service (SMS) messages between the UE 204 and a short message service function (SMSF) (not shown), and a security anchor function (SEAF). The AMF 264 also interacts with an authentication server function (AUSF) (not shown) and the UE 204, and receives an intermediate key established as a result of the UE 204 authentication process. In the case of authentication based on the UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) Subscriber Identity Module (USIM), the AMF 264 retrieves security material from the AUSF. The functions of the AMF 264 also include security context management (SCM). The SCM receives keys from the SEAF, which are used to derive access network specific keys. The functions of the AMF 264 also include location service management for regulatory services, for the transmission of location service messages between the UE 204 and the Location Management Function (LMF) 270 (which acts as a location server 230), for the transmission of location service messages between the NG-RAN 220 and the LMF 270, for the allocation of Evolved Packet System (EPS) bearer identifiers for interworking with EPS, and UE 204 mobility event notifications. In addition, the AMF 264 also supports the functions of non-3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project) access networks.

[0074] The functions of UPF 262 include acting as an anchor point for intra-RAT / inter-RAT mobility (when applicable), acting as an external protocol data unit (PDU) session point for interconnection with a data network (not shown), providing packet routing and forwarding, packet inspection, user plane policy rule enforcement (e.g., gating, redirection, traffic steering), lawful interception (user plane collection), traffic usage reporting, user plane quality of service (QoS) processing (e.g., uplink / downlink rate enforcement, reflective QoS marking in downlink), uplink traffic verification (service data flow (SDF) to QoS flow mapping), transport level packet marking in uplink and downlink, downlink packet buffering and downlink data notification triggering, and sending and forwarding one or more "end markers" to the source RAN node. UPF 262 can also support the transmission of location service messages between UE 204 and a location server (such as SLP 272) via the user plane.

[0075] The functions of SMF 266 include session management, UE Internet Protocol (IP) address allocation and management, selection and control of user plane functions, traffic steering configuration at UPF 262 for routing traffic to the appropriate destination, control of parts of policy enforcement and QoS, and downlink data notification. The interface via which SMF 266 communicates with AMF 264 is called the N11 interface.

[0076] Another optional aspect may include LMF 270, which can communicate with 5GC 260 to provide location assistance for UE 204. LMF 270 can be implemented as multiple separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules distributed on multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternatively can each correspond to a single server. LMF 270 can be configured to support one or more positioning services for UE 204, which can be connected to LMF 270 via the core network, 5GC 260 and / or via the Internet (not shown). SLP 272 can support similar functionality as LMF 270, but LMF 270 can communicate with AMF 264, NG-RAN 220, and UE 204 on the control plane (e.g., using interfaces and protocols designed to convey signaling messages but not voice or data), and SLP 272 can communicate with UE 204 and external clients (e.g., third-party servers 274) on the user plane (e.g., using protocols designed to carry voice and / or data, such as Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and / or IP).

[0077] Another optional aspect may include a third-party server 274 that can communicate with the LMF 270, SLP 272, 5GC 260 (e.g., via AMF 264 and / or UPF 262), NG-RAN 220, and / or UE 204 to obtain location information (e.g., location estimate) of UE 204. Thus, in some cases, the third-party server 274 may be referred to as a location service (LCS) client or external client. The third-party server 274 may be implemented as multiple separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules distributed across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternatively may each correspond to a single server.

[0078] The user plane interface 263 and the control plane interface 265 connect the 5GC 260 (particularly the UPF 262 and the AMF 264) to one or more gNBs 222 and / or ng-eNBs 224 in the NG-RAN 220, respectively. The interface between the gNB 222 and / or ng-eNB 224 and the AMF 264 is referred to as the "N2" interface, and the interface between the gNB 222 and / or ng-eNB 224 and the UPF 262 is referred to as the "N3" interface. The gNBs 222 and / or ng-eNBs 224 of the NG-RAN 220 may communicate directly with each other via a backhaul connection 223 referred to as an "Xn-C" interface. One or more of the gNBs 222 and / or ng-eNBs 224 may communicate with one or more UEs 204 via a wireless interface referred to as a "Uu" interface.

[0079] The functions of the gNB 222 may be divided between a gNB central unit (gNB-CU) 226, one or more gNB distributed units (gNB-DU) 228, and one or more gNB radio units (gNB-RU) 229. The gNB-CU 226 is a logical node that includes base station functions for transmitting user data, mobility control, radio access network sharing, positioning, session management, etc., except for those specifically assigned to the gNB-DU 228. More specifically, the gNB-CU 226 typically hosts the radio resource control (RRC), service data adaptation protocol (SDAP), and packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) protocols of the gNB 222. The gNB-DU 228 is a logical node that typically hosts the radio link control (RLC) and medium access control (MAC) layers of the gNB 222. Its operation is controlled by the gNB-CU 226. One gNB-DU 228 may support one or more cells, and one cell is supported by only one gNB-DU 228. The interface 232 between the gNB-CU 226 and one or more gNB-DUs 228 is referred to as the "F1" interface. The physical (PHY) layer functions of the gNB 222 are typically hosted by one or more independent gNB-RUs 229, which perform functions such as power amplification and signal transmission / reception. The interface between the gNB-DU 228 and the gNB-RU 229 is referred to as the "Fx" interface. Thus, the UE 204 communicates with the gNB-CU 226 via the RRC, SDAP, and PDCP layers, with the gNB-DU 228 via the RLC and MAC layers, and with the gNB-RU 229 via the PHY layer.

[0080] The deployment of a communication system (such as a 5G NR system) can be deployed in a variety of ways with various components or parts. In a 5G NR system or network, a network node, a network entity, a mobile element of a network, a RAN node, a core network node, a network element or a network device (such as a base station or one or more units (or one or more components) performing base station functions) can be implemented in an aggregated or decomposed architecture. For example, a base station (such as a Node B (NB), an evolved NB (eNB), a NR base station, a 5G NB, an access point (AP), a transmit receive point (TRP) or a cell, etc.) can be implemented as an aggregated base station (also referred to as an independent base station or a monolithic base station) or a decomposed base station.

[0081] A converged base station may be configured to utilize a radio protocol stack physically or logically integrated within a single RAN node. A decomposed base station may be configured to utilize a protocol stack physically or logically distributed between two or more units, such as one or more central or centralized units (CUs), one or more distributed units (DUs), or one or more radio units (RUs). In some aspects, a CU may be implemented within a RAN node, and one or more DUs may be co-located with the CU, or alternatively, may be geographically or virtually distributed in one or more other RAN nodes. A DU may be implemented to communicate with one or more RUs. Each of a CU, a DU, and a RU may also be implemented as a virtual unit, i.e., a virtual central unit (VCU), a virtual distributed unit (VDU), or a virtual radio unit (VRU).

[0082] Base station type operations or network designs may take into account the aggregated nature of base station functionality. For example, a disaggregated base station may be utilized in an integrated access backhaul (IAB) network, an open radio access network (O-RAN (such as a network configuration sponsored by the O-RAN Alliance)), or a virtual radio access network (vRAN, also known as a cloud radio access network (C-RAN)). Disaggregation may include distributing functionality across two or more units at various physical locations, as well as virtually distributing functionality for at least one unit, which may enable flexibility in network design. Individual units of a disaggregated base station or disaggregated RAN architecture may be configured for wired or wireless communication with at least one other unit.

[0083] Figure 2CAn example disaggregated base station architecture 250 is shown in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The disaggregated base station architecture 250 may include one or more central units (CUs) 280 (e.g., gNB-CUs 226), which may communicate directly with a core network 267 (e.g., 5GC 210, 5GC 260) via a backhaul link, or indirectly with the core network 267 through one or more disaggregated base station units, such as a near real-time (near-RT) RAN intelligent controller (RIC) 259 via an E2 link, or a non-real-time (non-RT) RIC 257 associated with a service management and orchestration (SMO) framework 255, or both. The CU 280 may communicate with one or more distributed units (DUs) 285 (e.g., gNB-DUs 228) via corresponding mid-haul links, such as an F1 interface. The DU 285 may communicate with one or more radio units (RUs) 287 (e.g., gNB-RUs 229) via corresponding fronthaul links. The RU 287 may communicate with a corresponding UE 204 via one or more radio frequency (RF) access links. In some implementations, a UE 204 may be served by multiple RUs 287 simultaneously.

[0084] Each of the units (i.e., CU 280, DU 285, RU 287, and near-RT RIC 259, non-RT RIC 257, and SMO framework 255) may include or be coupled to one or more interfaces configured to receive or send signals, data, or information (collectively, signals) via a wired or wireless transmission medium. Each of the units or an associated processor or controller that provides instructions to the communication interface of the unit may be configured to communicate with one or more of the other units via a transmission medium. For example, a unit may include a wired interface configured to receive or send signals via a wired transmission medium to one or more of the other units. In addition, a unit may include a wireless interface that may include a receiver, a transmitter, or a transceiver (such as a radio frequency (RF) transceiver) configured to receive or send signals, or receive and send signals, via a wireless transmission medium to one or more of the other units.

[0085] In some aspects, CU 280 may host one or more higher layer control functions. Such control functions may include radio resource control (RRC), packet data convergence protocol (PDCP), service data adaptation protocol (SDAP), etc. Each control function may be implemented with an interface, which is configured to communicate signals with other control functions hosted by CU 280. CU 280 may be configured to process user plane functions (i.e., central unit-user plane (CU-UP)), control plane functions (i.e., central unit-control plane (CU-CP)), or a combination thereof. In some implementations, CU 280 may be logically split into one or more CU-UP units and one or more CU-CP units. The CU-UP unit may communicate bidirectionally with the CU-CP unit via an interface, such as an E1 interface when implemented in an O-RAN configuration. If necessary, CU 280 may be implemented to communicate with DU 285 for network control and signaling.

[0086] DU 285 may correspond to a logical unit that includes one or more base station functions to control the operation of one or more RU 287. In some aspects, DU 285 may host one or more of a radio link control (RLC) layer, a medium access control (MAC) layer, and one or more high physical (PHY) layers (such as modules for forward error correction (FEC) encoding and decoding, scrambling, modulation and demodulation, etc.) at least in part according to a functional split such as that defined by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). In some aspects, DU 285 may also host one or more low PHY layers. Each layer (or module) may be implemented using an interface configured to communicate signals with other layers (and modules) hosted by DU 285 or control functions hosted by CU 280.

[0087] The lower layer functions may be implemented by one or more RUs 287. In some deployments, based at least in part on a functional split (such as a lower layer functional split), a RU 287 controlled by a DU 285 may correspond to a logical node that hosts RF processing functions or low PHY layer functions (such as performing fast Fourier transform (FFT), inverse FFT (iFFT), digital beamforming, physical random access channel (PRACH) extraction and filtering, etc.), or both. In such an architecture, the RU 287 may be implemented to handle over-the-air (OTA) communications with one or more UEs 204. In some implementations, real-time and non-real-time aspects of the control and user planes of communications with the RU 287 may be controlled by the corresponding DU 285. In some scenarios, this configuration may enable the DU 285 and CU 280 to be implemented in a cloud-based RAN architecture (such as a vRAN architecture).

[0088] The SMO framework 255 may be configured to support RAN deployment and provisioning of non-virtualized and virtualized network elements. For non-virtualized network elements, the SMO framework 255 may be configured to support the deployment of dedicated physical resources for RAN coverage requirements, which may be managed via an operation and maintenance interface (such as an O1 interface). For virtualized network elements, the SMO framework 255 may be configured to interact with a cloud computing platform (such as an open cloud (O-cloud) 269) to perform network element lifecycle management (such as to instantiate virtualized network elements) via a cloud computing platform interface (such as an O2 interface). Such virtualized network elements may include, but are not limited to, CU 280, DU 285, RU 287, and near-RT RIC 259. In some implementations, the SMO framework 255 may communicate with hardware aspects of the 4G RAN (such as an open eNB (O-eNB) 261) via the O1 interface. In addition, in some implementations, the SMO framework 255 may communicate directly with one or more RUs 287 via the O1 interface. The SMO framework 255 may also include a non-RT RIC 257 configured to support the functionality of the SMO framework 255 .

[0089] The non-RT RIC 257 may be configured to include logic functions that implement non-real-time control and optimization of RAN elements and resources, artificial intelligence / machine learning (AI / ML) workflows (including model training and updating), or policy-based guidance of applications / features in the near-RT RIC 259. The non-RT RIC 257 may be coupled to or in communication with the near-RT RIC 259 (such as via an A1 interface). The near-RT RIC 259 may be configured to include logic functions that implement near-real-time control and optimization of RAN elements and resources via data collection and actions on an interface connecting one or more CUs 280, one or more DUs 285, or both, and O-eNBs with the near-RT RIC 259 (such as via an E2 interface).

[0090] In some implementations, in order to generate the AI / ML model to be deployed in the near-RT RIC 259, the non-RT RIC 257 may receive parameters or external enrichment information from an external server. Such information may be utilized by the near-RT RIC 259 and may be received from a non-network data source or network function at the SMO framework 255 or the non-RT RIC 257. In some examples, the non-RT RIC 257 or the near-RT RIC 259 may be configured to tune RAN behavior or performance. For example, the non-RT RIC 257 may monitor long-term trends and patterns in performance and employ AI / ML models to perform corrective actions through the SMO framework 255 (such as via reconfiguration of O1) or via the creation of RAN management policies (such as A1 policies).

[0091] Figure 3A , Figure 3B and Figure 3C Several example components (represented by respective blocks) are shown, which may be incorporated into a UE 302 (which may correspond to any of the UEs described herein), a base station 304 (which may correspond to any of the base stations described herein), and a network entity 306 (which may correspond to or embody any of the network functions described herein, including the location server 230 and the LMF 270, or alternatively may be independent thereof). Figure 2A and Figure 2B The NG-RAN 220 and / or 5GC 210 / 260 architectures depicted in the present disclosure (such as a private network) are described herein to support operations as described herein. It should be understood that these components can be implemented in different types of devices in different implementations (e.g., in an ASIC, in a system on a chip (SoC), etc.). The components shown may also be incorporated into other devices in the communication system. For example, other devices in the system may include components similar to those described to provide similar functionality. In addition, a given device may include one or more of the components. For example, a device may include multiple transceiver components that enable the device to operate on multiple carriers and / or communicate via different technologies.

[0092] UE 302 and base station 304 each include one or more wireless wide area network (WWAN) transceivers 310 and 350, respectively, to provide means (e.g., means for transmitting, means for receiving, means for measuring, means for tuning, means for suppressing transmission, etc.) for communicating via one or more wireless communication networks (not shown) (such as NR networks, LTE networks, GSM networks, etc.). WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 can each be connected to one or more antennas 316 and 356, respectively, for communicating with other network nodes (such as other UEs, access points, base stations (e.g., eNBs, gNBs), etc.) via at least one designated RAT (e.g., NR, LTE, GSM, etc.) on a wireless communication medium of interest (e.g., a certain set of time / frequency resources in a specific spectrum). Depending on the designated RAT, the WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 may be configured differently for transmitting and encoding signals 318 and 358 (e.g., messages, indications, information, etc.), respectively, and conversely, for receiving and decoding signals 318 and 358 (e.g., messages, indications, information, pilots, etc.), respectively. Specifically, the WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 include one or more transmitters 314 and 354 for transmitting and encoding signals 318 and 358, respectively, and one or more receivers 312 and 352 for receiving and decoding signals 318 and 358, respectively.

[0093] UE 302 and base station 304 also each include, at least in some cases, one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360, respectively. Short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 may be connected to one or more antennas 326 and 366, respectively, and provide for communicating over a wireless communication medium of interest via at least one designated RAT (e.g., WiFi, LTE-D, The short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 are components (e.g., components for sending, components for receiving, components for measuring, components for tuning, components for suppressing sending, etc.) for communicating with other network nodes (such as other UEs, access points, base stations, etc.) using a PC5, dedicated short-range communication (DSRC), wireless access in vehicular environments (WAVE), near field communication (NFC), ultra-wideband (UWB), etc.). Depending on the specified RAT, the short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 can be configured differently for respectively sending and encoding signals 328 and 368 (e.g., messages, indications, information, etc.), and conversely, for respectively receiving and decoding signals 328 and 368 (e.g., messages, indications, information, pilots, etc.). Specifically, the short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 include one or more transmitters 324 and 364 for respectively sending and encoding signals 328 and 368, and one or more receivers 322 and 362 for respectively receiving and decoding signals 328 and 368. As specific examples, short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 may be WiFi transceivers, Transceiver, and / or transceiver, NFC transceiver, UWB transceiver, or vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and / or vehicle-to-everything (V2X) transceiver.

[0094] UE 302 and base station 304 also include satellite signal receivers 330 and 370, at least in some cases. Satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 can be connected to one or more antennas 336 and 376, respectively, and can provide components for receiving and / or measuring satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378, respectively. In the case where satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 are satellite positioning system receivers, satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378 can be global positioning system (GPS) signals, global navigation satellite system (GLONASS) signals, Galileo signals, Beidou signals, Indian regional navigation satellite system (NAVIC), Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS), etc. In the case where satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 are non-terrestrial network (NTN) receivers, satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378 can be communication signals (e.g., carrying control and / or user data) from a 5G network. Satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 can include any suitable hardware and / or software for receiving and processing satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378, respectively. Satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 may request information and operations from other systems as appropriate, and in at least some cases perform calculations to determine the positions of UE 302 and base station 304, respectively, using measurements obtained by any suitable satellite positioning system algorithms.

[0095] The base station 304 and the network entity 306 each include one or more network transceivers 380 and 390, respectively, to provide means (e.g., means for transmitting, means for receiving, etc.) for communicating with other network entities (e.g., other base stations 304, other network entities 306). For example, the base station 304 may employ one or more network transceivers 380 to communicate with other base stations 304 or network entities 306 via one or more wired or wireless backhaul links. As another example, the network entity 306 may employ one or more network transceivers 390 to communicate with one or more base stations 304 via one or more wired or wireless backhaul links, or communicate with other network entities 306 via one or more wired or wireless core network interfaces.

[0096] The transceiver can be configured to communicate over a wired or wireless link. The transceiver (whether a wired transceiver or a wireless transceiver) includes a transmitter circuit (e.g., transmitters 314, 324, 354, 364) and a receiver circuit (e.g., receivers 312, 322, 352, 362). The transceiver can be an integrated device in some implementations (e.g., implementing the transmitter circuit and the receiver circuit in a single device), can include separate transmitter circuits and separate receiver circuits in some implementations, or can be embodied in other ways in other implementations. The transmitter circuit and the receiver circuit of the wired transceiver (e.g., in some implementations, the network transceivers 380 and 390) can be coupled to one or more wired network interface ports. The wireless transmitter circuitry (e.g., transmitters 314, 324, 354, 364) may include or be coupled to multiple antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such as antenna arrays, which permit the corresponding device (e.g., UE 302, base station 304) to perform transmit "beamforming", as described herein. Similarly, the wireless receiver circuitry (e.g., receiver 312, 322, 352, 362) may include or be coupled to multiple antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such as antenna arrays, which permit the corresponding device (e.g., UE 302, base station 304) to perform receive beamforming, as described herein. In an aspect, the transmitter circuitry and the receiver circuitry may share the same multiple antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366) so that the corresponding device can only receive or transmit at a given time, rather than simultaneously. The wireless transceivers (eg, WWAN transceivers 310 and 350, short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360) may also include a network listening module (NLM) or the like for performing various measurements.

[0097] As used herein, various wireless transceivers (e.g., transceivers 310, 320, 350, and 360, and network transceivers 380 and 390 in some implementations) and wired transceivers (e.g., network transceivers 380 and 390 in some implementations) may be generally characterized as a "transceiver," "at least one transceiver," or "one or more transceivers." In this way, whether a particular transceiver is a wired transceiver or a wireless transceiver may be inferred from the type of communication being performed. For example, backhaul communications between network devices or servers generally involve signaling via a wired transceiver, while wireless communications between a UE (e.g., UE 302) and a base station (e.g., base station 304) generally involve signaling via a wireless transceiver.

[0098] UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 also include other components that can be used in conjunction with the operations disclosed herein. UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 include one or more processors 332, 384, and 394, respectively, for providing functions related to, for example, wireless communication, and for providing other processing functions. Processors 332, 384, and 394 can therefore provide components for processing, such as components for determining, components for calculating, components for receiving, components for sending, components for indicating, etc. In one aspect, processors 332, 384, and 394 can include, for example, one or more general-purpose processors, multi-core processors, central processing units (CPUs), ASICs, digital signal processors (DSPs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), other programmable logic devices or processing circuits, or various combinations thereof.

[0099] UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 include memory circuitry implementing memory 340, 386, and 396 (e.g., each including a memory device) for maintaining information (e.g., information indicating reserved resources, thresholds, parameters, etc.). Memories 340, 386, and 396 may thus provide means for storing, means for retrieving, means for maintaining, etc. In some cases, UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 may include positioning components 342, 388, and 398, respectively. Positioning components 342, 388, and 398 may be hardware circuits that are part of or coupled to processors 332, 384, and 394, respectively, which when executed cause UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 to perform the functions described herein. In other aspects, the positioning components 342, 388, and 398 can be external to the processors 332, 384, and 394 (e.g., part of a modem processing system, integrated with another processing system, etc.). Alternatively, the positioning components 342, 388, and 398 can be memory modules stored in the memories 340, 386, and 396, respectively, which when executed by the processors 332, 384, and 394 (or a modem processing system, another processing system, etc.), cause the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 to perform the functions described herein. Figure 3A Possible locations are shown for positioning component 342, which may be, for example, part of one or more WWAN transceivers 310, memory 340, one or more processors 332, or any combination thereof, or may be a standalone component. Figure 3B Possible locations for positioning component 388 are shown, which may be, for example, part of one or more WWAN transceivers 350, memory 386, one or more processors 384, or any combination thereof, or may be a stand-alone component. Figure 3C Possible locations for positioning component 398 are shown, which may be, for example, part of one or more network transceivers 390, memory 396, one or more processors 394, or any combination thereof, or may be a stand-alone component.

[0100] UE 302 may include one or more sensors 344 coupled to one or more processors 332 to provide a means for sensing or detecting movement and / or orientation information that is independent of motion data derived from signals received by one or more WWAN transceivers 310, one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320, and / or satellite signal receivers 330. For example, sensor 344 may include an accelerometer (e.g., a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) device), a gyroscope, a geomagnetic sensor (e.g., a compass), an altimeter (e.g., a barometric altimeter), and / or any other type of motion detection sensor. In addition, sensor 344 may include multiple different types of devices and combine their outputs to provide motion information. For example, sensor 344 may use a combination of a multi-axis accelerometer and an orientation sensor to provide the ability to calculate a position in a two-dimensional (2D) and / or three-dimensional (3D) coordinate system.

[0101] In addition, the UE 302 includes a user interface 346, which provides means for providing indications to the user (e.g., audible and / or visual indications) and / or for receiving user input (e.g., following user actuation of a sensing device such as a keyboard, touch screen, microphone, etc.). Although not shown, the base station 304 and the network entity 306 may also include a user interface.

[0102] Referring to the one or more processors 384 in more detail, in a downlink, IP packets from the network entity 306 may be provided to the processor 384. The one or more processors 384 may implement functions for an RRC layer, a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, a radio link control (RLC) layer, and a medium access control (MAC) layer. One or more processors 384 may provide RRC layer functions associated with broadcasting of system information (e.g., master information block (MIB), system information block (SIB)), RRC connection control (e.g., RRC connection paging, RRC connection establishment, RRC connection modification, and RRC connection release), inter-RAT mobility, and measurement configuration of UE measurement reports; PDCP layer functions associated with header compression / decompression, security (encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification), and switching support functions; RLC layer functions associated with delivery of upper layer PDUs, error correction through automatic repeat request (ARQ), concatenation, segmentation and reassembly of RLC service data units (SDUs), re-segmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functions associated with mapping between logical channels and transport channels, scheduling information reporting, error correction, priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.

[0103] The transmitter 354 and the receiver 352 may implement layer 1 (L1) functions associated with various signal processing functions. Layer 1 (which includes the physical (PHY) layer) may include error detection on the transport channel, forward error correction (FEC) encoding / decoding of the transport channel, interleaving, rate matching, mapping to the physical channel, modulation / demodulation of the physical channel, and MIMO antenna processing. The transmitter 354 processes the mapping to the signal constellation based on various modulation schemes (e.g., binary phase shift keying (BPSK), quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK), M-phase shift keying (M-PSK), M-quadrature amplitude modulation (M-QAM)). The coded and modulated symbols may then be divided into parallel streams. Each stream may then be mapped to an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) subcarrier, multiplexed with a reference signal (e.g., pilot) in the time domain and / or frequency domain, and then combined together using an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) to produce a physical channel carrying a time domain OFDM symbol stream. The OFDM symbol stream is spatially precoded to produce multiple spatial streams. Channel estimates from a channel estimator can be used to determine the coding and modulation schemes, as well as for spatial processing. Channel estimates can be derived from reference signals and / or channel condition feedback sent by the UE 302. Each spatial stream can then be provided to one or more different antennas 356. The transmitter 354 can modulate an RF carrier with a corresponding spatial stream for transmission.

[0104] At UE 302, receiver 312 receives the signal through its corresponding antenna 316. Receiver 312 recovers the information modulated onto the RF carrier and provides the information to one or more processors 332. Transmitter 314 and receiver 312 implement layer 1 functions associated with various signal processing functions. Receiver 312 can perform spatial processing on the information to recover any spatial stream destined for UE 302. If multiple spatial streams are destined for UE 302, they can be combined into a single OFDM symbol stream by receiver 312. Receiver 312 then converts the OFDM symbol stream from the time domain to the frequency domain using a fast Fourier transform (FFT). The frequency domain signal includes a separate OFDM symbol stream for each subcarrier of the OFDM signal. The symbol on each subcarrier and the reference signal are recovered and demodulated by determining the most likely signal constellation point sent by base station 304. These soft decisions can be based on channel estimates calculated by a channel estimator. The soft decisions are then decoded and deinterleaved to recover the data and control signals originally sent by base station 304 on the physical channel. The data and control signals are then provided to one or more processors 332 which implement layer 3 (L3) and layer 2 (L2) functions.

[0105] In the downlink, one or more processors 332 provide demultiplexing between transport and logical channels, packet reassembly, decryption, header decompression, and control signal processing to recover IP packets from the core network. One or more processors 332 are also responsible for error detection.

[0106] Similar to the functions described in conjunction with downlink transmissions performed by the base station 304, one or more processors 332 provide RRC layer functions associated with system information (e.g., MIB, SIB) acquisition, RRC connection, and measurement reporting; PDCP layer functions associated with header compression / decompression and security (encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification); RLC layer functions associated with delivery of upper layer PDUs, error correction through ARQ, concatenation, segmentation and reassembly of RLC SDUs, resegmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functions associated with mapping between logical channels and transport channels, multiplexing of MAC SDUs to transport blocks (TBs), demultiplexing of MAC SDUs from TBs, scheduling information reporting, error correction through hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ), priority processing, and logical channel prioritization.

[0107] Channel estimates derived by a channel estimator from a reference signal or feedback sent by base station 304 may be used by transmitter 314 to select appropriate coding and modulation schemes and to facilitate spatial processing. The spatial streams produced by transmitter 314 may be provided to different antennas 316. Transmitter 314 may modulate an RF carrier with a corresponding spatial stream for transmission.

[0108] Uplink transmissions are processed at the base station 304 in a manner similar to that described in conjunction with the receiver functionality at the UE 302. The receiver 352 receives the signal through its respective antenna 356. The receiver 352 recovers the information modulated onto the RF carrier and provides the information to one or more processors 384.

[0109] In the uplink, one or more processors 384 provide demultiplexing between transport and logical channels, packet reassembly, decryption, header decompression, control signal processing to recover IP packets from UE 302. IP packets from one or more processors 384 may be provided to the core network. One or more processors 384 are also responsible for error detection.

[0110] For convenience, UE 302, base station 304 and / or network entity 306 may Figure 3A , Figure 3B and Figure 3C, is shown as including various components that can be configured according to the various examples described herein. However, it should be understood that the components shown may have different functions in different designs. Specifically, FIG. 3A to FIG. 3C The various components in are optional in alternative configurations, and various aspects include configurations that may vary due to design choice, cost, use of the device, or other considerations. For example, in Figure 3A In the case of a wearable device or tablet or PC or laptop, a specific implementation of UE 302 may omit WWAN transceiver 310 (e.g., a wearable device or tablet or PC or laptop may have Wi-Fi and / or Bluetooth capabilities but no cellular capabilities), or may omit short-range wireless transceiver 320 (e.g., only cellular, etc.), or may omit satellite signal receiver 330, or may omit sensor 344, etc. In another example, in Figure 3B In the case of a wireless communication interface, a specific implementation of the base station 304 may omit the WWAN transceiver 350 (e.g., a Wi-Fi "hotspot" access point without cellular capabilities), or may omit the short-range wireless transceiver 360 (e.g., cellular only, etc.), or may omit the satellite signal receiver 370, etc. For the sake of brevity, descriptions of various alternative configurations are not provided herein, but will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art.

[0111] Various components of the UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 may be communicatively coupled to each other via data buses 334, 382, ​​and 392, respectively. In an aspect, the data buses 334, 382, ​​and 392 may form or be part of a communication interface for the UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306, respectively. For example, where different logical entities are embodied in the same device (e.g., gNB and location server functionality are incorporated into the same base station 304), the data buses 334, 382, ​​and 392 may provide communication therebetween.

[0112] Figure 3A , Figure 3B and Figure 3C The components of can be implemented in various ways. In some implementations, Figure 3A , Figure 3A and Figure 3CThe components may be implemented in one or more circuits, such as, for example, one or more processors and / or one or more ASICs (which may include one or more processors). Here, each circuit may use and / or incorporate at least one memory component for storing information or executable code used by the circuit to provide the function. For example, some or all of the functions represented by blocks 310 to 346 may be implemented by the processor and memory components of UE 302 (e.g., by the execution of appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of the processor component). Similarly, some or all of the functions represented by blocks 350 to 388 may be implemented by the processor and memory components of base station 304 (e.g., by the execution of appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of the processor component). In addition, some or all of the functions represented by blocks 390 to 398 may be implemented by the processor and memory components of network entity 306 (e.g., by the execution of appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of the processor component). For simplicity, various operations, actions and / or functions are described herein as being performed by "UE", "by base station", "by network entity", etc. However, as will be appreciated, such operations, actions and / or functions may actually be performed by specific components or combinations of components of the UE 302, base station 304, network entity 306, etc., such as processors 332, 384, 394, transceivers 310, 320, 350 and 360, memories 340, 386 and 396, positioning components 342, 388 and 398, etc.

[0113] In some designs, the network entity 306 may be implemented as a core network component. In other designs, the network entity 306 may be operated independently of a network operator or cellular network infrastructure (e.g., NG RAN 220 and / or 5GC 210 / 260). For example, the network entity 306 may be a component of a private network that may be configured to communicate with the UE 302 via the base station 304 or independently of the base station 304 (e.g., via a non-cellular communication link such as WiFi).

[0114] NR supports multiple cellular network-based positioning technologies, including downlink-based, uplink-based, and downlink and uplink-based positioning methods. Downlink-based positioning methods include observed time difference of arrival (OTDOA) in LTE, downlink time difference of arrival (DL-TDOA) in NR, and downlink angle of departure (DL-AoD) in NR. Figure 4Examples of various positioning methods according to various aspects of the present disclosure are shown. In the OTDOA or DL-TDOA positioning process shown by scenario 410, the UE measures the difference between the arrival times (ToA) of reference signals (e.g., positioning reference signals (PRS)) received from a base station pair (which is referred to as reference signal time difference (RSTD) or arrival time difference (TDOA) measurement) and reports them to the positioning entity. More specifically, the UE receives identifiers (IDs) of a reference base station (e.g., a serving base station) and multiple non-reference base stations in auxiliary data. The UE then measures the RSTD between the reference base station and each of the non-reference base stations. Based on the known positions of the base stations involved and the RSTD measurements, a positioning entity (e.g., a UE for UE-based positioning or a location server for UE-assisted positioning) can estimate the position of the UE.

[0115] For DL-AoD positioning illustrated by scenario 420, the positioning entity uses measurement reports of received signal strength measurements of multiple downlink transmit beams from the UE to determine the angle between the UE and the transmitting base station. The positioning entity can then estimate the position of the UE based on the determined angle and the known location of the transmitting base station.

[0116] Uplink-based positioning methods include uplink time difference of arrival (UL-TDOA) and uplink angle of arrival (UL-AoA). UL-TDOA is similar to DL-TDOA, but is based on uplink reference signals (e.g., sounding reference signals (SRS)) sent by the UE to multiple base stations. Specifically, the UE sends one or more uplink reference signals measured by a reference base station and multiple non-reference base stations. Each base station then reports the reception time of the reference signal (referred to as the relative time of arrival (RTOA)) to a positioning entity (e.g., a location server) that knows the location and relative timing of the base stations involved. Based on the receive-to-receive (Rx-Rx) time difference between the reported RTOA of the reference base station and the reported RTOA of each non-reference base station, the known location of the base station and its known timing offset, the positioning entity can use TDOA to estimate the UE's position.

[0117] For UL-AoA positioning, one or more base stations measure the received signal strength of one or more uplink reference signals (e.g., SRS) received from the UE on one or more uplink receive beams. The positioning entity uses the signal strength measurements and the angle of the receive beam to determine the angle between the UE and the base station. Based on the determined angle and the known location of the base station, the positioning entity can then estimate the location of the UE.

[0118] Downlink and uplink based positioning methods include enhanced cell ID (E-CID) positioning and multi-round trip time (RTT) positioning (also referred to as "multi-cell RTT" and "multi-RTT"). In the RTT process, a first entity (e.g., a base station or UE) sends a first RTT-related signal (e.g., a PRS or SRS) to a second entity (e.g., a UE or a base station), and the second entity sends a second RTT-related signal (e.g., an SRS or PRS) back to the first entity. Each entity measures the time difference between the arrival time (ToA) of the received RTT-related signal and the transmission time of the transmitted RTT-related signal. The time difference is called the received to transmitted (Rx-Tx) time difference. The Rx-Tx time difference measurement can be made or adjusted to include only the time difference between the nearest time slot boundaries of the received and transmitted signals. The two entities may then send their Rx-Tx time difference measurements to a location server (e.g., LMF 270), which calculates the round trip propagation time (i.e., RTT) between the two entities based on the two Rx-Tx time difference measurements (e.g., as the sum of the two Rx-Tx time difference measurements). Alternatively, one entity may send its Rx-Tx time difference measurement to the other entity, which then calculates the RTT. The distance between the two entities may be determined based on the RTT and a known signal speed (e.g., the speed of light). For multi-RTT positioning shown in scenario 430, a first entity (e.g., a UE or base station) performs an RTT positioning process with multiple second entities (e.g., multiple base stations or UEs) to enable the location of the first entity to be determined (e.g., using multilateration) based on the distance to the second entity and the known location of the second entity. RTT and multi-RTT methods may be combined with other positioning techniques (such as UL-AoA and DL-AoD) to improve location accuracy, as shown in scenario 440.

[0119] The E-CID positioning method is based on radio resource management (RRM) measurements. In E-CID, the UE reports the serving cell ID, timing advance (TA), and the identifiers, estimated timing, and signal strength of detected neighboring base stations. The UE's position is then estimated based on this information and the known locations of the base stations.

[0120] To assist the positioning operation, a location server (e.g., location server 230, LMF 270, SLP 272) may provide assistance data to the UE. For example, the assistance data may include an identifier of the base station (or cell / TRP of the base station) from which the reference signal is measured, reference signal configuration parameters (e.g., the number of consecutive time slots including PRS, the periodicity of consecutive time slots including PRS, a silent sequence, a frequency hopping sequence, a reference signal identifier, a reference signal bandwidth, etc.), and / or other parameters applicable to a particular positioning method. Alternatively, the assistance data may originate directly from the base station itself (e.g., in a periodically broadcast overhead message, etc.). In some cases, the UE itself may be able to detect neighboring network nodes without the use of assistance data.

[0121] In the case of OTDOA or DL-TDOA positioning process, the auxiliary data may also include an expected RSTD value and an associated uncertainty or search window around the expected RSTD. In some cases, the value range of the expected RSTD may be + / -500 microseconds (μs). In some cases, when any one of the resources used for positioning measurements is in FR1, the value range of the uncertainty of the expected RSTD may be + / -32μs. In other cases, when all resources used for positioning measurements are in FR2, the value range of the uncertainty of the expected RSTD may be + / -8μs.

[0122] The position estimate may be referred to by other names, such as position estimate, position, position fix, position fix, fix, etc. The position estimate may be geodetic and include coordinates (e.g., latitude, longitude, and possibly altitude), or may be municipal and include a street address, postal address, or some other verbal description of the location. The position estimate may also be defined relative to some other known location or in absolute terms (e.g., using latitude, longitude, and possibly altitude). The position estimate may include an expected error or uncertainty (e.g., by including an area or volume within which the position is expected to include some specified or default confidence level).

[0123] Various frame structures may be used to support downlink and uplink transmissions between network nodes (eg, a base station and a UE). Figure 5 5 is a diagram illustrating an example frame structure according to aspects of the present disclosure. The frame structure may be a downlink or uplink frame structure. Other wireless communication technologies may have different frame structures and / or different channels.

[0124] LTE, and in some cases NR, utilizes orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) on the downlink and single carrier frequency division multiplexing (SC-FDM) on the uplink. However, unlike LTE, NR also has the option of using OFDM on the uplink. OFDM and SC-FDM divide the system bandwidth into multiple (K) orthogonal subcarriers, which are also commonly referred to as tones, bins, etc. Each subcarrier can be modulated with data. Typically, modulation symbols are sent in the frequency domain using OFDM and in the time domain using SC-FDM. The spacing between adjacent subcarriers can be fixed, and the total number of subcarriers (K) can depend on the system bandwidth. For example, the spacing of the subcarriers can be 15 kilohertz (kHz) and the minimum resource allocation (resource block) can be 12 subcarriers (or 180kHz). Thus, for a system bandwidth of 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10, or 20 megahertz (MHz), the nominal fast Fourier transform (FFT) size may be equal to 128, 256, 512, 1024, or 2048, respectively. The system bandwidth may also be partitioned into sub-bands. For example, a sub-band may cover 1.08 MHz (i.e., 6 resource blocks), and there may be 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16 sub-bands for a system bandwidth of 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10, or 20 MHz, respectively.

[0125] LTE supports a single parameter set (subcarrier spacing (SCS), symbol length, etc.). In contrast, NR can support multiple parameter sets (μ), for example, 15kHz (μ=0), 30kHz (μ=1), 60kHz (μ=2), 120kHz (μ=3), and 240kHz (μ=4) or larger subcarrier spacings may be available. In each subcarrier spacing, there are 14 symbols per slot. For 15kHz SCS (μ=0), there is one slot per subframe, 10 slots per frame, the slot duration is 1 millisecond (ms), the symbol duration is 66.7 microseconds (μs), and the maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) with a 4K FFT size is 50. For 30kHz SCS (μ=1), there are two slots per subframe, 20 slots per frame, the slot duration is 0.5ms, the symbol duration is 33.3μs, and the maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) with a 4K FFT size is 100. For 60kHz SCS (μ=2), there are four slots per subframe, 40 slots per frame, the slot duration is 0.25ms, the symbol duration is 16.7μs, and the maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) with a 4K FFT size is 200. For 120kHz SCS (μ=3), there are eight slots per subframe, 80 slots per frame, the slot duration is 0.125ms, the symbol duration is 8.33μs, and the maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) with a 4K FFT size is 400. For 240kHz SCS (μ=4), there are 16 slots per subframe, 160 slots per frame, the slot duration is 0.0625ms, the symbol duration is 4.17μs, and the maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) with a 4K FFT size is 800.

[0126] exist Figure 5 In the example of , a parameter set of 15 kHz is used. Therefore, in the time domain, the 10 ms frame is divided into 10 equally sized subframes, each subframe is 1 ms, and each subframe includes one time slot. Figure 5 , time is represented horizontally (on the X-axis), where time increases from left to right, and frequency is represented vertically (on the Y-axis), where frequency increases (or decreases) from bottom to top.

[0127] A resource grid may be used to represent a time slot, each of which includes one or more time-parallel resource blocks (RBs) (also referred to as physical RBs (PRBs)) in the frequency domain. The resource grid is further divided into a plurality of resource elements (REs). An RE may correspond to one symbol length in the time domain and one subcarrier in the frequency domain. Figure 5In the parameter set of , for a normal cyclic prefix, an RB may contain 12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain and 7 consecutive symbols in the time domain, for a total of 84 REs. For an extended cyclic prefix, an RB may contain 12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain and 6 consecutive symbols in the time domain, for a total of 72 REs. The number of bits carried by each RE depends on the modulation scheme.

[0128] Some of the REs may carry reference (pilot) signals (RS). Reference signals may include positioning reference signals (PRS), tracking reference signals (TRS), phase tracking reference signals (PTRS), cell-specific reference signals (CRS), channel state information reference signals (CSI-RS), demodulation reference signals (DMRS), primary synchronization signals (PSS), secondary synchronization signals (SSS), synchronization signal blocks (SSBs), sounding reference signals (SRS), etc., depending on whether the frame structure shown is used for uplink or downlink communications. Figure 5 Example locations of REs carrying reference signals (labeled "R") are shown.

[0129] The collection of resource elements (REs) used for transmission of PRS is called a "PRS resource". The collection of resource elements may span multiple PRBs in the frequency domain and 'N' (such as 1 or more) consecutive symbols within a slot in the time domain. In a given OFDM symbol in the time domain, a PRS resource occupies consecutive PRBs in the frequency domain.

[0130] The transmission of a PRS resource within a given PRB has a specific comb size (also referred to as "comb density"). The comb size 'N' represents the subcarrier spacing (or frequency / modulation spacing) within each symbol of the PRS resource configuration. Specifically, for comb size 'N', the PRS is transmitted in every Nth subcarrier of the symbol of the PRB. For example, for comb-4, for each symbol of the PRS resource configuration, the RE corresponding to every fourth subcarrier (such as subcarriers 0, 4, 8) is used to transmit the PRS of the PRS resource. Currently, for DL-PRS, comb sizes of comb-2, comb-4, comb-6, and comb-12 are supported. Figure 5 An example PRS resource configuration for comb-4 (which spans 4 symbols) is shown. That is, the positions of shaded REs (labeled "R") indicate a comb-4 PRS resource configuration.

[0131] Currently, DL-PRS resources can span 2, 4, 6, or 12 consecutive symbols within a slot using a full frequency domain staggered pattern. DL-PRS resources can be configured in any higher layer configured downlink or flexible (FL) symbol in a slot. There may be a constant per resource element energy (EPRE) for all REs of a given DL-PRS resource. The following are the per-symbol frequency offsets for comb sizes of 2, 4, 6, and 12 over 2, 4, 6, and 12 symbols. 2-Symbol Comb-2: {0, 1}; 4-Symbol Comb-2: {0, 1, 0, 1}; 6-Symbol Comb-2: {0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1}; 12-Symbol Comb-2: {0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1}; 4-Symbol Comb-4: {0, 2, 1, 3} (as Figure 5 In the example above, 12-symbol comb-4: {0, 2, 1, 3, 0, 2, 1, 3, 0, 2, 1, 3}; 6-symbol comb-6: {0, 3, 1, 4, 2, 5}; 12-symbol comb-6: {0, 3, 1, 4, 2, 5, 0, 3, 1, 4, 2, 5}; and 12-symbol comb-12: {0, 6, 3, 9, 1, 7, 4, 10, 2, 8, 5, 11}.

[0132] A "PRS resource set" is a set of PRS resources used for transmission of a PRS signal, where each PRS resource has a PRS resource ID. In addition, the PRS resources in a PRS resource set are associated with the same TRP. A PRS resource set is identified by a PRS resource set ID and is associated with a specific TRP (identified by a TRP ID). In addition, the PRS resources in a PRS resource set have the same periodicity, common muting pattern configuration, and the same repetition factor (such as "PRS-ResourceRepetitionFactor") across time slots. The periodicity is the time from the first repetition of the first PRS resource of the first PRS instance to the same first repetition of the same first PRS resource of the next PRS instance. The periodicity may have a length selected from: 2^μ*{4, 5, 8, 10, 16, 20, 32, 40, 64, 80, 160, 320, 640, 1280, 2560, 5120, 10240} time slots, where μ=0, 1, 2, 3. The repetition factor may have a length selected from {1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 16, 32} slots.

[0133] A PRS resource ID in a PRS resource set is associated with a single beam (or beam ID) transmitted from a single TRP (wherein a TRP may transmit one or more beams). That is, each PRS resource in a PRS resource set may be transmitted on a different beam, and as such, a "PRS resource" (or simply "resource") may also be referred to as a "beam". Note that this does not have any implication on whether the TRP and the beam on which the PRS is transmitted are known to the UE.

[0134] A "PRS instance" or "PRS opportunity" is an instance of a periodically repeating time window (such as a group of one or more consecutive time slots) in which a PRS is expected to be sent. A PRS opportunity may also be referred to as a "PRS positioning opportunity", "PRS positioning instance", "positioning opportunity", "positioning instance", "positioning repetition", or simply "opportunity", "instance", or "repetition".

[0135] A "positioning frequency layer" (also referred to as a "frequency layer") is a collection of one or more PRS resource sets with the same values ​​for certain parameters across one or more TRPs. Specifically, the collection of PRS resource sets has the same subcarrier spacing and cyclic prefix (CP) type (meaning that all parameter sets supported by the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) are also supported by PRS), the same point A, the same value of the downlink PRS bandwidth, the same starting PRB (and center frequency), and the same comb size. The point A parameter takes the value of the parameter "ARFCN-ValueNR" (where "ARFCN" stands for "absolute radio frequency channel number") and is an identifier / code that specifies a physical radio channel pair for transmission and reception. The downlink PRS bandwidth can have a granularity of four PRBs, and the minimum value is 24 PRBs and the maximum value is 272 PRBs. Currently, up to four frequency layers have been defined, and up to two PRS resource sets can be configured per frequency layer per TRP.

[0136] The concept of frequency layer is similar to the concept of component carrier and bandwidth part (BWP) to some extent, but the difference is that component carrier and BWP are used by one base station (or macro cell base station and small cell base station) to send data channels, while frequency layer is used by several (usually three or more) base stations to send PRS. The UE can indicate the number of frequency layers that the UE can support when the UE sends its positioning capabilities to the network (such as during an LTE Positioning Protocol (LPP) session). For example, the UE can indicate whether the UE can support one or four positioning frequency layers.

[0137] In one aspect, Figure 5The reference signal carried on the RE marked with "R" in the figure can be an SRS. The SRS sent by the UE can be used by the base station to obtain channel state information (CSI) for the transmitting UE. CSI describes how the RF signal propagates from the UE to the base station and represents the combined effects of scattering, fading, and power attenuation with distance. The system uses SRS for resource scheduling, link adaptation, massive MIMO, beam management, etc.

[0138] The collection of REs used to transmit SRS is called an "SRS resource" and can be identified by the parameter "SRS-ResourceId". The collection of resource elements can span multiple PRBs in the frequency domain and 'N' (e.g., one or more) consecutive codewords within a time slot in the time domain. In a given OFDM codeword, the SRS resource occupies one or more consecutive PRBs. An "SRS resource set" is an SRS resource set used for the transmission of an SRS signal and is identified by an SRS resource set ID ("SRS-ResourceSetId").

[0139] The transmission of an SRS resource within a given PRB has a specific comb size (also referred to as "comb density"). The comb size 'N' represents the subcarrier spacing (or frequency / modulation spacing) within each symbol of the SRS resource configuration. Specifically, for comb size 'N', the SRS is transmitted in every Nth subcarrier of the symbol of the PRB. For example, for comb-4, for each symbol of the SRS resource configuration, REs corresponding to every fourth subcarrier (such as subcarriers 0, 4, 8) are used to transmit the SRS of the SRS resource. Figure 5 In the example of FIG. 1 , the SRS shown is comb-tooth-4 over four symbols. That is, the position of the shaded SRS RE indicates a comb-tooth-4 SRS resource configuration.

[0140] Currently, an SRS resource can span 1, 2, 4, 8, or 12 consecutive symbols within a slot with a comb size of comb-2, comb-4, or comb-8. The following are the symbol-to-symbol frequency offsets for the currently supported SRS comb patterns. 1-Symbol comb-2: {0}; 2-Symbol comb-2: {0, 1}; 2-Symbol comb-4: {0, 2}; 4-Symbol comb-2: {0, 1, 0, 1}; 4-Symbol comb-4: {0, 2, 1, 3} (e.g. Figure 5 In the example); 8-symbol comb-4: {0, 2, 1, 3, 0, 2, 1, 3}; 12-symbol comb-4: {0, 2, 1, 3, 0, 2, 1, 3, 0, 2, 1, 3}; 4-symbol comb-8: {0, 4, 2, 6}; 8-symbol comb-8: {0, 4, 2, 6, 1, 5, 3, 7}; and 12-symbol comb-8: {0, 4, 2, 6, 1, 5, 3, 7, 0, 4, 2, 6}.

[0141] Typically, as described above, the UE sends an SRS so that the receiving base station (serving base station or neighboring base station) can measure the channel quality (i.e., CSI) between the UE and the base station. However, the SRS may also be specifically configured as an uplink positioning reference signal for an uplink-based positioning process, such as an uplink time difference of arrival (UL-TDOA), a round trip time (RTT), an uplink angle of arrival (UL-AoA), etc. As used herein, the term "SRS" may refer to an SRS configured for channel quality measurement or an SRS configured for positioning purposes. When it is necessary to distinguish between two types of SRS, the former may be referred to herein as "SRS for communication" and / or the latter may be referred to as "SRS for positioning" or "positioning SRS".

[0142] Several enhancements to the previous definition of SRS have been proposed for SRS for positioning (also known as "UL-PRS"), such as new staggering patterns within SRS resources (in addition to single codeword / comb-2), new comb types for SRS, new sequences for SRS, a higher number of SRS resource sets per component carrier, and a higher number of SRS resources per component carrier. In addition, the parameters "SpatialRelationInfo" and "PathLossReference" will be configured based on the downlink reference signal or SSB from the adjacent TRP. Furthermore, one SRS resource can be sent outside the valid BWP, and one SRS resource can span multiple component carriers. In addition, the SRS can be configured in the RRC connected state and sent only within the valid BWP. In addition, there may be no frequency hopping, no repetition factor, a single antenna port, and new SRS lengths (e.g., 8 and 12 codewords). There may also be open-loop power control instead of closed-loop power control, and comb-8 can be used (i.e., one SRS is sent every eight subcarriers in the same codeword). Finally, for UL-AoA, the UE can transmit through the same transmit beam from multiple SRS resources. All of these are additional features of the current SRS framework, which is configured through RRC higher layer signaling (and potentially triggered or activated through MAC control elements (MAC-CE) or downlink control information (DCI)).

[0143] Note that the terms "positioning reference signal" and "PRS" generally refer to specific reference signals used for positioning in NR and LTE systems. However, as used herein, the terms "positioning reference signal" and "PRS" may also refer to any type of reference signal that may be used for positioning, such as, but not limited to: PRS, TRS, PTRS, CRS, CSI-RS, DMRS, PSS, SSS, SSB, SRS, UL-PRS, etc. as defined in LTE and NR. In addition, the terms "positioning reference signal" and "PRS" may refer to downlink, uplink, or sidelink positioning reference signals, unless otherwise indicated by the context. If further distinction is needed between the types of PRS, the downlink positioning reference signal may be referred to as "DL-PRS", the uplink positioning reference signal (e.g., SRS, PTRS used for positioning) may be referred to as "UL-PRS", and the sidelink positioning reference signal may be referred to as "SL-PRS". In addition, for signals (e.g., DMRS) that may be sent in the downlink, uplink, and / or sidelink, these signals may be preceded by "DL", "UL", or "SL" to distinguish the direction. For example, "UL-DMRS" is different from "DL-DMRS".

[0144] Cities, farmlands, remote environments (e.g., streams), and buildings are all examples of environments that IoT technology is transforming into smart connected spaces. The main aspect they have in common is the vast geographic areas they span. In addition, these environments can also present challenges, such as limited wireless connectivity, installation in remote or difficult locations, and harsh operating conditions.

[0145] To address these issues, new technologies are being developed to expand connectivity and reduce latency. For example, edge computing allows data to be collected and processed at the source, rather than being sent to a central “cloud” server for processing. This can significantly reduce latency, even with limited wireless connectivity, improving the user experience.

[0146] A new type of edge computing has been introduced, referred to as the "intelligent edge," "intelligence at the edge," "connected intelligent edge" (CIE), etc. CIE is an expanding set of connected systems and devices that collect and process data closer to where it is captured in the network. In this way, users gain real-time insights and experiences provided by highly responsive and context-aware applications.

[0147] There are various non-data services (e.g., positioning services) that can be enabled on wireless communication devices (e.g., mobile devices, IoT devices, etc.) or between devices and networks. These services include device-based services, device-assisted services based on devices and the cloud, and network-assisted services based on devices and the cloud. Device-based services are left to be implemented at the device and are based on non-device-specific inputs. In this mode, the device performs measurements and / or calculations of non-data service functions. No service-specific interactions are required between the device and the network to implement services at the device. For device- and cloud-based device-assisted services, the network determines the calculation results based on device reports. In this mode, the device provides measurements for network functions for calculation of non-data service functions. The network can provide configuration information to the device to enable measurement reporting. For device- and cloud-based network-assisted services, the device determines the calculation results based on network assistance. In this mode, the network provides auxiliary data to the device for calculation of non-data service functions. The device performs further measurements and calculations of non-data service functions.

[0148] There are various CIE techniques for locating wireless communication devices. Figure 6 Different CIE positioning technologies according to various aspects of the present disclosure are shown. Specifically, Figure 600 shows CIE technology for locating a mobile device 610 (e.g., a smart phone, V-UE, etc.), and Figure 650 shows CIE technology for locating an IoT device 620. Referring to Figure 600, a mobile device 610 sends a request to a CIE server 670 (e.g., a third-party server, such as an over-the-top (OTT) server), which includes observations of the Wi-Fi and / or cellular environment of the mobile device 610. These observations can be identifiers of Wi-Fi and / or cellular access points to which the mobile device 610 is connected and / or detectable by the mobile device 610. Based on these observations, the CIE server 670 sends a response to the mobile device 610, which includes a pointer to one or more tiles for download by the mobile device 610.

[0149] A "tile" represents the location of an access point and can be the perimeter of a geographic area, a centroid corresponding to an estimated location of an access point, etc. The size of a tile is typically fixed. The location of an access point can be obtained by the CIE server 670 from a network operator associated with the access point or can be determined based on crowdsourcing. For example, other mobile devices can report their geographic location when reporting the identifier of the access point to the CIE server 670. Based on the location of the mobile device when it is connected to (or at least observed) the access point, the CIE server 670 can determine the general geographic area in which the access point is located, and possibly determine the estimated location of the access point.

[0150] Based on the response from CIE server 670, mobile device 610 sends a request for the indicated tile back to CIE server 670 (or a different CIE server 670). In response, CIE server 670 sends the requested tile to mobile device 610. Mobile device 610 can then determine its location as the location indicated by the tile.

[0151] Referring to diagram 650, IoT devices are generally defined as wireless communication devices that connect to higher-capability Internet-connected devices. IoT devices include all types of sensors, cameras, microphones, radio frequency identifier (RFID) transmitters, etc. IoT devices typically collect data and send it to another device (e.g., a central processor) for processing. They rarely process data themselves or store data for a long period of time.

[0152] As shown in diagram 650, IoT device 620 sends a request to CIE server 670 that includes cellular observations, such as cell identifiers of detected cellular access points (e.g., cell towers) or simply the identifier of the cell to which IoT device 620 is connected. In response, CIE server 670 sends a response including the location of the observed cellular access point to IoT device 620. The location can be a tile of the cellular access point or the physical location of the access point if known.

[0153] In both types of CIE positioning techniques described above, a device receives assistance only for access points it observes. As a result, data downloads are reduced and fix times are reduced even in the case of slower connections.

[0154] In one aspect, TRS can be used for positioning purposes, such as CIE-based positioning. TRS is configured with its own time, frequency, and scrambling identifier in each cell. It is mandatory for all UEs to support TRS reception, and all 5G networks are required to send TRS. However, the UE only knows the TRS configuration of its serving cell. In addition, TRS in one cell may conflict with data, TRS, or CSI-RS in a neighboring cell.

[0155] Figure 7 700 is a diagram illustrating an example TRS configuration according to aspects of the present disclosure. Figure 7As shown, TRS is sent in bursts of one or two time slots with a periodicity of 10ms, 20ms, 40ms or 80ms. Within a time slot, the position of the codeword carrying TRS is configurable, provided that there is an inter-codeword distance of four codewords between TRS codewords. For FR1, the allowed codeword pair positions are (4, 8), (5, 9) and (6, 10). For FR2, all codeword pair positions within a time slot are allowed. In the frequency domain, there is a fixed subcarrier distance between the TRS subcarriers of the four subcarriers. There is also a configurable subcarrier offset within each resource block. The TRS bandwidth may be equal to the downlink bandwidth part (DL-BWP) of the device (i.e., up to 272 PRBs) or 48 PRBs.

[0156] like Figure 7 As shown, the TRS are not fully interleaved in the frequency domain (TRS are sent in a comb-4 comb pattern), and therefore, four peaks are expected to be observed in the channel estimate (e.g., channel energy response (CER)) of the TRS. More specifically, since the TRS is sent on a given symbol with gaps in the frequency domain, it causes aliasing of the channel estimate. Aliasing is the result of converting the frequency domain to the time domain when estimating the channel estimate, and manifests as multiple peaks of the same size, such as Figure 8 shown. Specifically, Figure 8 800 is a graph of CER estimates for a single symbol where the measured TRS is sent using a comb-4 pattern. Figure 8 As shown, since the TRS is sent in a comb-4 pattern (i.e., on every fourth subcarrier), the CER has four significant peaks, but only one of these peaks is a "real" peak (i.e., representing the actual ToA of the TRS in that symbol). However, since the TRS in a cell is quasi-co-located with the SSB in the cell, the SSB can also be measured to resolve the time domain aliasing problem of the TRS in that cell.

[0157] The present disclosure provides a technique for robust and operator-independent positioning using CIE. Specifically, the present disclosure provides a technique for implementing TRS-based positioning in a multi-UE / multi-operator scenario, a technique for operator-independent positioning of multiple operators, and a technique for joint position estimation of multiple UEs.

[0158] Fig. 9 An example CIE-based positioning process 900 using TRS according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The CIE-based positioning process 900 can be performed between a client device 904 (e.g., a mobile device, an IoT device, etc.) and a CIE server 970 (e.g., a third-party server, an OTT server, etc.).

[0159] In stage 910, the CIE server 970 sends a request to the client device 904 to report the TRS configuration parameters (e.g., symbol pattern, symbol offset, frequency offset, number of time slots per burst, burst periodicity, scrambling identifier, QCL relationship, PCI, etc.) of the serving cell of the device 904. The request can configure the device 904 to report the TRS configuration parameters periodically or when any change is determined. The request can also configure the device 904 to report only the TRS configuration of a subset of TRSs detected by the device 904 based on specific criteria. For example, the request can configure the device 904 to report only the TRS configuration of TRSs with signal strength above a threshold. The request can also configure the device 904 to report only the TRS configuration associated with a specific component carrier, frequency band, or frequency range (e.g., FR1 and / or FR2). In addition, for the purpose of collecting TRS configuration parameters from the network, the request can configure the device 904 to transition to an RRC connected state.

[0160] At stage 920, device 904 reports the requested TRS configuration parameters to CIE server 970. Note that device 904 may automatically report the TRS parameters of its serving cell without receiving a request from CIE server 970 at stage 910, such as when changing serving cells or on a periodic basis.

[0161] At stage 930, the device 904 reports the identifiers (e.g., PCI) of any neighboring cells that it has discovered, for example, through radio resource management (RRM) procedures. The device 904 may also send RSRP, RSRQ, SINR, and / or RSSI measurements associated with the PCI. The report may include component carriers, frequency bands, frequency ranges, time slot offsets, periodicity, subframe offsets, time windows, and / or preferred TRS configurations provided by the CIE server 970 (if available). These parameters may be reported in priority order.

[0162] Note that phases 920 and 930 may be a single transmission sequence or multiple transmission sequences. For example, device 904 may send and CIE server 970 may receive both serving cell information (e.g., requested TRS configuration parameters) and neighboring cell information (e.g., identifiers of any neighboring cells) in the same data transmission (i.e., phases 920 and 930 are a single transmission sequence), or device 904 may first send and CIE server 970 may first receive serving cell information, and then receive neighboring cell information (i.e., phases 920 and 930 are different transmissions).

[0163] At stage 940, based on the identifier of the neighboring cell, the CIE server 970 provides the TRS configuration of the identified neighboring cell to the device 904. The response may include one or more TRS configurations associated with a particular PCI and / or associated with SSBs from the PCI. Multiple TRS configurations may be "alternatives" that the device 904 attempts to detect. The response may also include a timestamp indicating when the provided configuration is valid, a validity timer, an expiration timer, etc.

[0164] In an aspect, the CIE server 970 may obtain TRS information of a neighboring cell based on performing stages 910 and 920 with multiple other devices, thereby creating a crowdsourced database of TRS parameters for multiple cells. In some cases, where the CIE server 970 does not have TRS information for a neighboring cell as indicated by stage 940, the CIE server 970 may send a request to another device 904 known to have the neighboring cell as its serving cell at stage 910. The CIE server 970 may thereby obtain the TRS configuration parameters for the cell from the other device 904, as at stage 920.

[0165] At stage 950, the device 904 reports location information to the CIE server 970. For UE-based positioning, the location information may be an estimated location of the device 904, as determined based on measurements of TRSs sent by the serving cell and neighboring cells for which TRS configuration information is received. Alternatively or in addition, the location information may be raw measurements of the TRSs and timestamps of obtaining these measurements (e.g., for UE-assisted positioning). The device 904 may also report which TRSs were successfully detected or which were not detected. That is, the device 904 may report identifiers of neighboring cells in which it detected or failed to detect the indicated TRSs.

[0166] It should be understood that although positioning using TRS has been described above, the CIE-based positioning process 900 may alternatively be performed using CSI-RS or any other downlink reference signal specific to the serving cell.

[0167] Fig.10 An example CIE-based multi-operator positioning process 1000 according to aspects of the present disclosure is shown. The CIE-based multi-operator positioning process 1000 can be performed between a client device 1004 (e.g., a mobile device, an IoT device, etc.) and a CIE server 1070 (e.g., a third-party server, an OTT server, etc.). The CIE-based multi-operator positioning process 1000 is applicable to a situation where different client devices 1004 subscribe to different network operators but are all connected to the CIE server 1070.

[0168] At stage 1010, the device 1004 reports to the CIE server 1080 the downlink reference signal (DL RS) configuration parameters and / or assistance data received from the network operator to which it subscribes. The configuration information and / or assistance data may include DL RS configurations of different DL RSs sent by different cells in the area of ​​the subscribed operator network. The report may include a request for DL ​​RS configuration parameters and / or assistance data of other network operators in the area, or be regarded as a request for the configuration parameters and / or assistance data.

[0169] At stage 1020, the CIE server 1070 responds with DL RS configuration parameters and / or assistance data for other network operators in the area. The configuration information and / or assistance data may include DL RS configurations for different DL RSs transmitted by different cells in the area of ​​each operator's network. DL RSs may include TRS, PRS, CSI-RS, etc.

[0170] At stage 1030, the device 1004 reports location information to the CIE server 1070. The location information may include an estimate of the location of the device 1004, as determined based on measurements of DL RSs sent by cells in its subscribed network and cells in other networks in the area (such as for UE-based positioning). Alternatively or in addition, the location information may be raw measurements of the DL RSs and timestamps of obtaining these measurements (such as for UE-assisted positioning). The device 1004 may also report which DL RSs were successfully detected or which were not detected. For example, the device 1004 may report identifiers of detected or undetected DL RSs.

[0171] In one aspect, the device 1004 may be a multi-subscriber identity module (SIM) UE. In that case, the UE will be connected or capable of connecting to at least two different networks and two different location servers (e.g., LMF 270). For the UE-assisted positioning process in the two SIM networks, the UE may include in each UE assistance report of stage 1030 the measurements derived in the other SIM network and the PCI and / or NR CGI (NCGI) information of the cells involved. On the server side, each location server is responsible for determining the base station almanac (BSA) information of the cells involved if this information is not included in the assistance data.

[0172] For a UE-assisted positioning procedure in one SIM network and a UE-based positioning procedure in another SIM network, the UE may include the measurements derived in the other SIM network plus the BSA information of the measured cells in the UE-assisted report at stage 1030. In this way, the location server of the first SIM network does not need to access the BSA of the second SIM network.

[0173] In the case where there is a single location server for multiple network operators, the location server may determine that the UE has multiple SIMs. In this case, there should be some association between a single UE location and multiple SIM identifiers. Based on this information, the location server may request the UE to send two separate measurement reports, and the location server will blend (merge) the reports.

[0174] With reference to SRS transmission for UL-based and / or downlink-based and uplink-based positioning for multiple network operators, as a first option, the location server may request the gNB of the first network operator to which the multi-SIM UE is subscribed to configure the UE to transmit on the frequency band of the second network operator to which the UE is subscribed. This is because the SRS used for positioning is configured outside the BWP of the UE and needs to be associated with a frequency band. As a second option, the location server may request the gNB of the first network operator to which the multi-SIM UE is subscribed to re-tune its receiver to receive the SRS transmitted by the UE on a different frequency band.

[0175] Fig.11 An example multi-UE joint position estimation process 1100 according to various aspects of the present disclosure is shown. In the multi-UE joint position estimation process 1100, at a high level, a set of UEs with unknown positions perform positioning measurements on the same TRP set, on the same frequency, and at the same time (or nearly the same time). The positioning measurement can be an RSTD measurement (for DL-TDOA), a UE ERx-Tx time difference measurement (for RTT), and / or a path RSRP (for DL-AoD). The measurement is provided to a CIE server, where a "differential" version of a conventional technique (e.g., DL-TDoA, RTT, etc.) is used to make the measurement more robust to network synchronization and group delay uncertainties, while the UE positions are jointly estimated. The multi-UE joint position estimation thereby improves the robustness to network uncertainties (e.g., network synchronization and group delay uncertainties).

[0176] refer to Fig.11, a first UE 1104-1 (labeled as "UE1") is configured to perform cellular positioning (e.g., DL-TDOA, RTT, etc.) involving at least a first TRP 1102-1 and a second TRP 1102-2 (collectively referred to as TRP 1102). Therefore, in stage 1, UE 1104-1 notifies the CIE server 1170 of the need to perform cellular positioning and any measurements that have been performed or are planned to be performed in the future. UE 1104-1 should notify the CIE server 1170 of the type of positioning process (e.g., DL-TDOA, RTT, etc.), the configuration of the PRS resources measured or to be measured, and the TRP 1102 measured or to be measured (which may be part of the PRS configuration).

[0177] In phase 2, the CIE server 1170 instructs one or more other devices (e.g., a second UE 1104-2, labeled "UE2"), optionally with unknown locations, to obtain specific measurements and report them back to the CIE server 1170. The measurements should be of the same type as the measurements that UE 1104-1 has performed or is scheduled to perform. The measurements should also be performed on the same PRS resources sent by the same TRP 1102. Therefore, the instructions from the CIE server 1170 to the other devices may include the configuration of the PRS resources measured or to be measured by the first UE 1104-1. Alternatively, the instructions may be to obtain PRS configuration information for the identified TRP 1102 from the location server of the other devices. After performing / obtaining the requested measurements, the other devices report the measurements to the CIE server 1170.

[0178] In stage 3, the CIE server 1170 performs joint positioning of the first UE 1104-1 and the second UE 1104-2 and sends the position estimate determined for UE 1104-1 to UE 1104-1. The CIE server 1170 may also send the position estimate for UE 1104-2 to UE 1104-2.

[0179] To perform joint positioning, the CIE server 1170 may require a large number of devices that are relatively close to each other to measure the same PRS resources from the same TRP. For example, since the devices are measuring the same TRP, the devices may be IoT devices that are "clustered together" (e.g., in the same room or factory).

[0180] exist Fig.11In the example of , for the DL-TDOA positioning process, each UE 1104 measures the ToA of the PRS resources from each TRP 1102 (where, for example, TRP 1102-1 is a reference TRP and TRP 1102-2 is a non-reference TRP), resulting in a total of four ToA measurements and two RSTD measurements. A single differential RSTD constraint can be derived from the four ToA measurements. The network synchronization error can then be substantially removed by differential calculation. Although there may be some residual amount of network synchronization error, this residual portion may be acceptable depending on the accuracy requirements of the positioning.

[0181] The following are references Fig.11 Example of calculating differential RSTD. First, TRP i With UE j The estimated ToA between can be expressed as:

[0182]

[0183] In the above equation, It is UE j The measured ToA at is the sending timing uncertainty, It is TRP i The group delay of It is UE j is the group delay, and n is the group delay uncertainty / error.

[0184] The first UE 1104-1 measures and reports the RSTD between the first TRP 1102-1 and the second TRP 1102-2 (denoted as ), which is the truth Estimates. That is, the estimated RSTD (i.e., ) is the TOA of the PRS resource received from the first TRP 1102-1 (ie, ) and the TOA of the PRS resource received from the second TRP 1102-2 (ie, )

[0185] Similarly, UE 1104-2 measures and reports the RSTD between the first TRP 1102-1 and the second TRP 1102-2 (denoted as ), which is the truth Estimates. That is, the estimated RSTD (i.e., ) is the TOA of the PRS resource received from the first TRP 1102-1 (the same PRS resource measured by UE 1104-1) (i.e., ) and the TOA of the PRS resource received from the second TRP 1102-2 (the same PRS resource measured by UE 1104-1) (i.e., )

[0186] The CIE server 1170 may calculate the differential RSTD measurement (ie, ):

[0187]

[0188] In the above equation, is the network synchronization error, x1 and x2 are the unknown positions of UE 1104-1 and UE 1104-2, respectively, and and are the known positions of TRP 1102-1 and TRP 1102-2 respectively. Function is x j and The geometric distance between them.

[0189] Therefore, for {UE i ,UE j ,TPR k ,TPR l}, derive a single constraint:

[0190]

[0191] Assuming a two-dimensional position estimate, a minimum of four such formulas will be required to jointly solve for the four unknowns.

[0192] Fig.12 An example positioning method 1200 is shown in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. In one aspect, the method 1200 may be performed by a CIE server (eg, CIE server 970).

[0193] At 1210, the CIE server receives, from a first UE (eg, any of the UEs described herein), first configuration information of one or more first DL RSs transmitted on a serving cell of the first UE, as in Fig. 9 920 of stage 1210. In one aspect, operation 1210 may be performed by one or more network transceivers 390, one or more processors 394, memory 396, and / or positioning component 398, any or all of which may be considered a means for performing the operation.

[0194] At 1220, the CIE server receives identifiers of one or more neighboring cells of the first UE from the first UE, such as Fig. 9 930 of stage 1220. In one aspect, operation 1220 may be performed by one or more network transceivers 390, one or more processors 394, memory 396, and / or positioning component 398, any or all of which may be considered means for performing the operation.

[0195] At 1230, the CIE server sends a response to the first UE including second configuration information of one or more second DL RSs sent on one or more neighboring cells of the first UE, the one or more second DL RSs being DL RSs of the same type as the one or more first DL RSs, such as Fig. 9 940 of stage 1230. In one aspect, operation 1230 may be performed by one or more network transceivers 390, one or more processors 394, memory 396, and / or positioning component 398, any or all of which may be considered means for performing the operation.

[0196] Note that the CIE server may receive serving cell information (e.g., first configuration information of one or more first DL RSs transmitted on the serving cell of the first UE) and neighboring cell information (e.g., identifiers of one or more neighboring cells of the first UE) in a single transmission sequence or multiple transmission sequences. For example, the UE may transmit and the CIE server may receive both serving cell information and neighboring cell information in the same data transmission (i.e., operations 1210 and 1220 are reception of a single transmission), or the UE may first transmit and the CIE server may first receive serving cell information, and then receive neighboring cell information (i.e., operations 1210 and 1220 are different receptions of different transmissions).

[0197] As will be appreciated, a technical advantage of method 1200 is that it enables TRS (or other cell-specific reference signal) based positioning across multiple cells.

[0198] Fig.13 An example positioning method 1300 is shown in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. In one aspect, the method 1300 may be performed by a CIE server (eg, CIE server 1070).

[0199] At 1310, the CIE server receives, from a first UE (eg, any one of the UEs described herein) subscribed to a first network operator, first configuration information of one or more first DL RSs sent by one or more first TRPs of the first network operator, such as Fig.101010. In one aspect, operation 1310 may be performed by one or more network transceivers 390, one or more processors 394, memory 396, and / or positioning component 398, any or all of which may be considered means for performing the operation.

[0200] At 1320, the CIE server sends second configuration information of one or more second DL RSs sent by one or more second TRPs of a second network operator different from the first network operator to the first UE, such as Fig.10 1020. In one aspect, operation 1320 may be performed by one or more network transceivers 390, one or more processors 394, memory 396, and / or positioning component 398, any or all of which may be considered a means for performing the operation.

[0201] As will be appreciated, a technical advantage of method 1300 is that it enables multi-network operator positioning.

[0202] Fig.14 An example wireless positioning method 1400 is shown in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. In an aspect, the method 1400 may be performed by a UE (eg, any of the UEs described herein).

[0203] At 1410, the UE sends first location information to a first server (e.g., a CIE server or a location server), the first location information being based on a first positioning measurement set of one or more first DL RSs sent by one or more first TRPs of a first network operator. In one aspect, operation 1410 may be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 310, one or more processors 332, memory 340, and / or positioning component 342, any or all of which may be considered as means for performing the operation.

[0204] At 1420, the UE sends second location information to a second server (same or different from the first server), the second location information being based on a second positioning measurement set of one or more second DL RSs sent by one or more second TRPs of a second network operator, wherein the first UE subscribes to both the first network operator and the second network operator (i.e., the UE is a multi-SIM UE). In an aspect, operation 1420 may be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 310, one or more processors 332, memory 340, and / or positioning component 342, any or all of which may be considered as means for performing the operation.

[0205] As will be appreciated, a technical advantage of method 1400 is that it enables multi-network operator positioning of multi-SIM UEs.

[0206] Fig.15An example positioning method 1500 is shown in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. In one aspect, the method 1500 may be performed by a CIE server (eg, any of the CIE servers described herein).

[0207] At 1510, the CIE server receives a first positioning measurement set of one or more DL RSs sent by one or more TRPs from a first UE (e.g., any of the UEs described herein). In one aspect, operation 1510 may be performed by one or more network transceivers 390, one or more processors 394, memory 396, and / or positioning component 398, any or all of which may be considered as means for performing the operation.

[0208] At 1520, the CIE server receives a second positioning measurement set of one or more DL RSs sent by one or more TRPs from a second UE (e.g., any other of the UEs described herein). In an aspect, operation 1520 may be performed by one or more network transceivers 390, one or more processors 394, memory 396, and / or positioning component 398, any or all of which may be considered as means for performing the operation.

[0209] At 1530, the CIE server determines a differential positioning measurement based on the first positioning measurement set and the second positioning measurement set. In an aspect, operation 1530 may be performed by one or more network transceivers 390, one or more processors 394, memory 396, and / or positioning component 398, any or all of which may be considered a means for performing the operation.

[0210] At 1540, the CIE server determines a network synchronization error associated with at least one or more TRPs based on the differential positioning measurements. In an aspect, operation 1540 may be performed by one or more network transceivers 390, one or more processors 394, memory 396, and / or positioning component 398, any or all of which may be considered as means for performing the operation.

[0211] As will be appreciated, a technical advantage of method 1500 is that it enables multi-UE joint position estimation.

[0212] It can be seen in the detailed description above that different features are combined together in the examples. This disclosure should not be understood as an intention that the example clauses have more features than those explicitly mentioned in each clause. On the contrary, various aspects of the present disclosure may include less than all the features of the disclosed single example clauses. Therefore, the following clauses should be deemed to be included in the specification, where each clause itself can be used as a separate example. Although each subordinate clause can be referenced in a clause with a specific combination of one of the other clauses, the aspects of the subordinate clause are not limited to the specific combination. It should be understood that other example clauses may also include a combination of the subject matter of the subordinate clause with any other subordinate clause or independent clause, or any feature with other subordinate and independent clauses. Various aspects disclosed herein explicitly include these combinations, unless it is explicitly expressed or it can be easily inferred that a specific combination is not intended (for example, contradictory aspects, such as defining an element as an electrical insulator and an electrical conductor). In addition, even if a clause is not directly subordinate to an independent clause, aspects of the clause may be included in any other independent clause.

[0213] Examples of implementations are described in the following numbered clauses:

[0214] Clause 1. A positioning method performed by a connected intelligent edge (CIE) server, comprising: receiving first configuration information of one or more first downlink reference signals (DL RS) sent on a serving cell of the first user equipment (UE); receiving identifiers of one or more neighboring cells of the first UE from the first UE; and sending a response to the first UE, the response including second configuration information of one or more second DL RSs sent on one or more neighboring cells of the first UE, the one or more second DL RSs being DL RSs of the same type as the one or more first DL RSs.

[0215] Clause 2. The method of clause 1, further comprising: sending a request for first configuration information of one or more first DL RSs to the first UE.

[0216] Clause 3. The method of clause 2, wherein the request configures the first UE to report the first configuration information periodically, based on determining a change to the first configuration information, or any combination thereof.

[0217] Clause 4. A method according to any one of clauses 2 to 3, wherein: the one or more first DL RSs are a subset of multiple DL RSs transmitted on the serving cell, the multiple DL RSs are DL RSs of the same type as the one or more first DL RSs, and the request configures the first UE to report first configuration information of only one or more first DL RSs based on one or more criteria associated with the one or more first DL RSs.

[0218] Clause 5. A method according to Clause 4, wherein the one or more criteria include: the signal strength of one or more first DL RSs is greater than the signal strength of the remaining DL RSs of the multiple DL RSs; the one or more first DL RSs are sent on a designated component carrier; the one or more first DL RSs are sent on a designated frequency band; the one or more first DL RSs are sent in a designated frequency range; or any combination thereof.

[0219] Clause 6. A method as described in any of clauses 2 to 5, wherein the request triggers the first UE to transition to a radio resource control (RRC) connected state to obtain the first configuration information.

[0220] Clause 7. A method as described in any of clauses 1 to 6, wherein the identifier of one or more neighboring cells is received in the request for the second configuration information.

[0221] Clause 8. A method according to Clause 7, wherein the request for second configuration information includes: signal strength measurements associated with one or more neighboring cells, preferred configuration parameters of one or more second DL RSs, preferred component carriers of one or more second DL RSs, preferred frequency bands of one or more second DL RSs, preferred frequency ranges of one or more second DL RSs, or any combination thereof.

[0222] Clause 9. A method according to any one of clauses 1 to 8, wherein: the response indicates that one or more second DLRSs are associated with one or more synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) sent on one or more neighboring cells; the response includes one or more timers indicating a time period during which the second configuration information is valid; or any combination thereof.

[0223] Clause 10. The method according to any one of clauses 1 to 9 further includes: receiving a position estimate of the first UE determined based on a first measurement of one or more first DL RSs and a second measurement of one or more second DL RSs from the first UE, the first measurement being based on first configuration information and the second measurement being based on second configuration information; or receiving a first measurement of one or more first DL RSs and a second measurement of one or more second DL RSs from the first UE.

[0224] Clause 11. The method according to any one of clauses 1 to 10 further includes: receiving identifiers of one or more first DL RSs and one or more second DL RSs measured by the first UE from the first UE; receiving identifiers of one or more neighboring cells from the first UE, wherein one or more second DL RSs from the one or more neighboring cells are measured by the first UE; or any combination thereof.

[0225] Clause 12. The method of any one of clauses 1 to 11, wherein the one or more first DL RSs and the one or more second DL RSs are: a tracking reference signal (TRS), or a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS).

[0226] Clause 13. The method according to any one of clauses 1 to 12 further includes: sending a request for at least a portion of second configuration information to a second UE served by at least one of one or more neighboring cells of the first UE; and receiving at least a portion of the second configuration information from the second UE, wherein a response is sent to the first UE in response to receiving at least a portion of the second configuration information.

[0227] Clause 14. A positioning method performed by a connected intelligent edge (CIE) server, comprising: receiving first configuration information of one or more first downlink reference signals (DL RS) sent by one or more first transmit-receive points (TRPs) of the first network operator from a first user equipment (UE) subscribed to a first network operator; and sending second configuration information of one or more second DL RS sent by one or more second TRPs of a second network operator different from the first network operator to the first UE.

[0228] Clause 15. The method of clause 14, further comprising: receiving second configuration information from a second UE subscribed to a second network operator.

[0229] Clause 16. The method according to any one of clauses 14 to 15 further comprises: receiving from the first UE a request for configuration information of a DL RS sent by a TRP of a network operator different from the first network operator, wherein the second configuration information is sent in response to the request.

[0230] Clause 17. The method according to any one of clauses 14 to 16 further includes: receiving a position estimate of the first UE determined based on a first measurement of one or more first DL RSs and a second measurement of one or more second DL RSs from the first UE, the first measurement being based on first configuration information and the second measurement being based on second configuration information; or receiving a first measurement of one or more first DL RSs and a second measurement of one or more second DL RSs from the first UE.

[0231] Clause 18. A method according to any one of clauses 14 to 17, wherein the one or more first DL RSs and the one or more second DL RSs include: a positioning reference signal (PRS), a tracking reference signal (TRS), a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), or any combination thereof.

[0232] Clause 19. A method for wireless positioning performed by a user equipment (UE), comprising: sending first location information to a first server, the first location information being based on a first positioning measurement set of one or more first downlink reference signals (DL RS) sent by one or more first transmit-receive points (TRPs) of a first network operator; and sending second location information to a second server, the second location information being based on a second positioning measurement set of one or more second DL RSs sent by one or more second TRPs of a second network operator, wherein the first UE subscribes to both the first network operator and the second network operator.

[0233] Clause 20. A method according to clause 19, wherein the first server and the second server are different servers, and wherein: the first positioning measurement set includes one or more measurements of the second positioning measurement set, the second positioning measurement set includes one or more measurements of the first positioning measurement set, or any combination thereof.

[0234] Clause 21. A method according to Clause 20, wherein: the first positioning measurement set is obtained as part of a first UE-assisted positioning process; the second positioning measurement set is obtained as part of a second UE-assisted positioning process; the first location information includes an identifier of a TRP in one or more second TRPs, wherein one or more measurements of the second positioning measurement set of the TRP in the one or more second TRPs are obtained; and the second location information includes an identifier of a TRP in one or more first TRPs, wherein one or more measurements of the first positioning measurement set of the TRP in the one or more first TRPs are obtained.

[0235] Clause 22. A method according to any one of clauses 20 to 21, wherein: the first positioning measurement set is obtained as part of a UE-assisted positioning process; the second positioning measurement set is obtained as part of a UE-based positioning process; and the first location information includes first base station almanac (BSA) information of a TRP in one or more second TRPs, wherein one or more measurements of the second positioning measurement set of the TRP in the one or more second TRPs are obtained.

[0236] Clause 23. The method of any one of clauses 19 to 22, wherein: the first server and the second server are the same server, and the method further comprises receiving a request from the first server to report the first location information and the second location information.

[0237] Clause 24. A method according to any of clauses 19 to 23, further comprising: receiving, from a serving TRP of a UE operated by a first network operator, a configuration for transmitting one or more sounding reference signals (SRS) on a frequency band of a second network operator.

[0238] Clause 25. A method according to any one of clauses 19 to 24, wherein: the first location information includes a first positioning measurement set, a first location estimate of the UE determined based on at least the first positioning measurement set, or both; the second location information includes a second positioning measurement set, a second location estimate of the UE determined based on at least the second positioning measurement set, or both; or any combination thereof.

[0239] Clause 26. A method according to any one of clauses 19 to 25, wherein one or more first DL RSs and one or more second DL RSs are: a positioning reference signal (PRS), a tracking reference signal (TRS), a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), or any combination thereof.

[0240] Clause 27. A positioning method performed by a connected intelligent edge (CIE) server, comprising: receiving a first positioning measurement set of one or more downlink reference signals (DLRS) sent by one or more transmit-receive points (TRPs) from a first user equipment (UE); receiving a second positioning measurement set of one or more DL RSs sent by one or more TRPs from a second UE; determining a differential positioning measurement based on the first positioning measurement set and the second positioning measurement set; and determining a network synchronization error associated with at least one or more TRPs based on the differential positioning measurement.

[0241] Clause 28. The method of clause 27, wherein the first set of positioning measurements and the second set of positioning measurements are obtained within a threshold time period of each other.

[0242] Clause 29. The method according to any one of clauses 27 to 28 further includes: determining a position estimate of the first UE based on at least a first positioning measurement set, the location of one or more TRPs, and a network synchronization error; determining a position estimate of the second UE based on at least a second positioning measurement set, the location of one or more TRPs, and a network synchronization error; or any combination thereof.

[0243] Clause 30. A method according to any one of clauses 27 to 29, wherein the one or more DL RSs are: a positioning reference signal (PRS), a tracking reference signal (TRS), a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), or any combination thereof.

[0244] Clause 31. A connected intelligent edge (CIE) server comprising: a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: receive first configuration information of one or more first downlink reference signals (DL RS) sent on a serving cell of a first user equipment (UE) via the at least one transceiver; receive identifiers of one or more neighboring cells of the first UE from the first UE via the at least one transceiver; and send a response to the first UE via the at least one transceiver, the response including second configuration information of one or more second DL RSs sent on one or more neighboring cells of the first UE, the one or more second DL RSs being DL RSs of the same type as the one or more first DL RSs.

[0245] Clause 32. The CIE server of clause 31, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: send a request for first configuration information of one or more first DL RSs to the first UE via the at least one transceiver.

[0246] Clause 33. The CIE server of clause 32, wherein the request configures the first UE to report the first configuration information periodically, based on determining a change to the first configuration information, or any combination thereof.

[0247] Clause 34. A CIE server according to any one of clauses 32 to 33, wherein: the one or more first DL RSs are a subset of multiple DL RSs transmitted on the serving cell, the multiple DL RSs are DL RSs of the same type as the one or more first DL RSs, and the request configures the first UE to report first configuration information of only one or more first DL RSs based on one or more criteria associated with the one or more first DL RSs.

[0248] Clause 35. A CIE server according to Clause 34, wherein the one or more criteria include: the signal strength of one or more first DL RSs is greater than the signal strength of the remaining DL RSs of the multiple DL RSs; the one or more first DL RSs are sent on a designated component carrier; the one or more first DL RSs are sent on a designated frequency band; the one or more first DL RSs are sent in a designated frequency range; or any combination thereof.

[0249] Clause 36. A CIE server as described in any of clauses 32 to 35, wherein the request triggers the first UE to transition to a radio resource control (RRC) connected state to obtain the first configuration information.

[0250] Clause 37. The CIE server of any of clauses 31 to 36, wherein the identifiers of the one or more neighboring cells are received in the request for the second configuration information.

[0251] Clause 38. A CIE server according to Clause 37, wherein the request for the second configuration information includes: signal strength measurements associated with one or more neighboring cells, preferred configuration parameters of one or more second DL RSs, preferred component carriers of one or more second DL RSs, preferred frequency bands of one or more second DL RSs, preferred frequency ranges of one or more second DL RSs, or any combination thereof.

[0252] Clause 39. A CIE server according to any one of clauses 31 to 38, wherein: the response indicates that one or more second DL RSs are associated with one or more synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) sent on one or more neighboring cells; the response includes one or more timers indicating a time period during which the second configuration information is valid; or any combination thereof.

[0253] Clause 40. A CIE server according to any one of clauses 31 to 39, wherein at least one processor is further configured to: receive a position estimate of the first UE determined based on a first measurement of one or more first DL RSs and a second measurement of one or more second DL RSs from the first UE via at least one transceiver, the first measurement being based on first configuration information and the second measurement being based on second configuration information; or receive a first measurement of one or more first DL RSs and a second measurement of one or more second DL RSs from the first UE via at least one transceiver.

[0254] Clause 41. A CIE server according to any one of clauses 31 to 40, wherein at least one processor is further configured to: receive identifiers of one or more first DL RSs and one or more second DL RSs measured by the first UE from the first UE via at least one transceiver; receive identifiers of one or more neighboring cells from the first UE via at least one transceiver, wherein the one or more second DL RSs of the one or more neighboring cells are measured by the first UE; or any combination thereof.

[0255] Clause 42. A CIE server according to any one of clauses 31 to 41, wherein the one or more first DL RSs and the one or more second DL RSs are: a tracking reference signal (TRS), or a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS).

[0256] Clause 43. A CIE server according to any one of clauses 31 to 42, wherein at least one processor is further configured to: send a request for at least a portion of second configuration information to a second UE served by at least one of one or more neighboring cells of the first UE via at least one transceiver; and receive at least a portion of the second configuration information from the second UE via at least one transceiver, wherein a response is sent to the first UE in response to reception of at least a portion of the second configuration information.

[0257] Clause 44. A connected intelligent edge (CIE) server comprising: a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: receive, via the at least one transceiver, first configuration information of one or more first downlink reference signals (DL RSs) sent by one or more first transmit-receive points (TRPs) of a first network operator from a first user equipment (UE) subscribed to a first network operator; and send, via the at least one transceiver, second configuration information of one or more second DL RSs sent by one or more second TRPs of a second network operator different from the first network operator to the first UE.

[0258] Clause 45. The CIE server of clause 44, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: receive second configuration information from a second UE subscribed to a second network operator via the at least one transceiver.

[0259] Clause 46. A CIE server according to any one of clauses 44 to 45, wherein at least one processor is further configured to: receive, via at least one transceiver, from a first UE a request for configuration information of a DL RS sent by a TRP of a network operator different from the first network operator, wherein the second configuration information is sent in response to the request.

[0260] Clause 47. A CIE server according to any one of clauses 44 to 46, wherein at least one processor is further configured to: receive a position estimate of the first UE determined based on a first measurement of one or more first DL RSs and a second measurement of one or more second DL RSs from the first UE via at least one transceiver, the first measurement being based on first configuration information and the second measurement being based on second configuration information; or receive a first measurement of one or more first DL RSs and a second measurement of one or more second DL RSs from the first UE via at least one transceiver.

[0261] Clause 48. A CIE server according to any one of clauses 44 to 47, wherein the one or more first DL RSs and the one or more second DL RSs include: a positioning reference signal (PRS), a tracking reference signal (TRS), a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), or any combination thereof.

[0262] Clause 49. A user equipment (UE) comprising: a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: send first location information to a first server via the at least one transceiver, the first location information being based on a first positioning measurement set of one or more first downlink reference signals (DL RS) sent by one or more first transmit-receive points (TRPs) of a first network operator; and send second location information to a second server via the at least one transceiver, the second location information being based on a second positioning measurement set of one or more second DL RSs sent by one or more second TRPs of a second network operator, wherein the first UE subscribes to both the first network operator and the second network operator.

[0263] Clause 50. A UE according to clause 49, wherein the first server and the second server are different servers, and wherein: the first positioning measurement set includes one or more measurements of the second positioning measurement set, the second positioning measurement set includes one or more measurements of the first positioning measurement set, or any combination thereof.

[0264] Clause 51. A UE according to clause 50, wherein: the first positioning measurement set is obtained as part of a first UE-assisted positioning process; the second positioning measurement set is obtained as part of a second UE-assisted positioning process; the first location information includes an identifier of a TRP in one or more second TRPs, wherein one or more measurements of the second positioning measurement set of the TRP in the one or more second TRPs are obtained; and the second location information includes an identifier of a TRP in one or more first TRPs, wherein one or more measurements of the first positioning measurement set of the TRP in the one or more first TRPs are obtained.

[0265] Clause 52. A UE according to any one of clauses 50 to 51, wherein: the first positioning measurement set is obtained as part of a UE-assisted positioning process; the second positioning measurement set is obtained as part of a UE-based positioning process; and the first location information includes first base station almanac (BSA) information of a TRP in one or more second TRPs, wherein one or more measurements of the second positioning measurement set of the TRP in the one or more second TRPs are obtained.

[0266] Clause 53. A UE as described in any of clauses 49 to 52, wherein: the first server and the second server are the same server, and the method further comprises receiving a request from the first server to report the first location information and the second location information.

[0267] Clause 54. A UE according to any one of clauses 49 to 53, wherein at least one processor is further configured to: receive, via at least one transceiver, a configuration for sending one or more sounding reference signals (SRS) on a frequency band of a second network operator from a service TRP of the UE operated by a first network operator.

[0268] Clause 55. A UE according to any one of clauses 49 to 54, wherein: the first location information includes a first positioning measurement set, a first location estimate of the UE determined based on at least the first positioning measurement set, or both; the second location information includes a second positioning measurement set, a second location estimate of the UE determined based on at least the second positioning measurement set, or both; or any combination thereof.

[0269] Clause 56. A UE according to any one of clauses 49 to 55, wherein the one or more first DL RSs and the one or more second DL RSs are: a positioning reference signal (PRS), a tracking reference signal (TRS), a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), or any combination thereof.

[0270] Clause 57. A connected intelligent edge (CIE) server comprising: a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: receive a first positioning measurement set of one or more downlink reference signals (DL RS) sent by one or more transmit-receive points (TRPs) from a first user equipment (UE) via the at least one transceiver; receive a second positioning measurement set of one or more DL RSs sent by one or more TRPs from a second UE via the at least one transceiver; determine a differential positioning measurement based on the first positioning measurement set and the second positioning measurement set; and determine a network synchronization error associated with at least one or more TRPs based on the differential positioning measurement.

[0271] Clause 58. The CIE server of Clause 57, wherein the first set of positioning measurements and the second set of positioning measurements are obtained within a threshold time period of each other.

[0272] Clause 59. A CIE server according to any one of clauses 57 to 58, wherein at least one processor is further configured to: determine a position estimate of the first UE based on at least a first positioning measurement set, the location of one or more TRPs, and a network synchronization error; determine a position estimate of the second UE based on at least a second positioning measurement set, the location of one or more TRPs, and a network synchronization error; or any combination thereof.

[0273] Clause 60. A CIE server according to any one of clauses 57 to 59, wherein the one or more DL RSs are: a positioning reference signal (PRS), a tracking reference signal (TRS), a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), or any combination thereof.

[0274] Clause 61. A connected intelligent edge (CIE) server, comprising: a component for receiving first configuration information of one or more first downlink reference signals (DL RS) sent on a serving cell of a first user equipment (UE); a component for receiving identifiers of one or more neighboring cells of the first UE from the first UE; and a component for sending a response to the first UE, the response including second configuration information of one or more second DL RSs sent on one or more neighboring cells of the first UE, the one or more second DL RSs being DLRS of the same type as the one or more first DL RSs.

[0275] Clause 62. The CIE server of clause 61, further comprising: means for sending a request for first configuration information of one or more first DL RSs to the first UE.

[0276] Clause 63. The CIE server of clause 62, wherein the request configures the first UE to report the first configuration information periodically, based on determining a change to the first configuration information, or any combination thereof.

[0277] Clause 64. A CIE server according to any one of clauses 62 to 63, wherein: the one or more first DL RSs are a subset of multiple DL RSs transmitted on the serving cell, the multiple DL RSs are DL RSs of the same type as the one or more first DL RSs, and the request configures the first UE to report first configuration information of only one or more first DL RSs based on one or more criteria associated with the one or more first DL RSs.

[0278] Clause 65. A CIE server according to Clause 64, wherein the one or more criteria include: the signal strength of one or more first DL RSs is greater than the signal strength of the remaining DL RSs of the multiple DL RSs; the one or more first DL RSs are sent on a designated component carrier; the one or more first DL RSs are sent on a designated frequency band; the one or more first DL RSs are sent in a designated frequency range; or any combination thereof.

[0279] Clause 66. A CIE server as described in any of clauses 62 to 65, wherein the request triggers the first UE to transition to a radio resource control (RRC) connected state to obtain the first configuration information.

[0280] Clause 67. The CIE server of any of clauses 61 to 66, wherein the identifiers of the one or more neighboring cells are received in the request for the second configuration information.

[0281] Clause 68. A CIE server according to Clause 67, wherein the request for the second configuration information includes: a component for signal strength measurement associated with one or more neighboring cells; a component for preferred configuration parameters of one or more second DL RSs, preferred component carriers of one or more second DL RSs, preferred frequency bands of one or more second DL RSs, preferred frequency ranges of one or more second DL RSs; or any combination thereof.

[0282] Clause 69. A CIE server according to any one of clauses 61 to 68, wherein: the response indicates that one or more second DL RSs are associated with one or more synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) sent on one or more neighboring cells; the response includes one or more timers indicating a time period during which the second configuration information is valid; or any combination thereof.

[0283] Clause 70. The CIE server according to any one of clauses 61 to 69 further includes: a component for receiving from the first UE a position estimate of the first UE determined based on a first measurement of one or more first DL RSs and a second measurement of one or more second DL RSs, the first measurement being based on first configuration information and the second measurement being based on second configuration information; or a component for receiving from the first UE a first measurement of one or more first DL RSs and a second measurement of one or more second DL RSs.

[0284] Clause 71. The CIE server according to any one of clauses 61 to 70 further includes: a component for receiving identifiers of one or more first DL RSs and one or more second DL RSs measured by the first UE from the first UE; a component for receiving identifiers of one or more neighboring cells from the first UE, wherein the one or more second DL RSs of the one or more neighboring cells are measured by the first UE; or any combination thereof.

[0285] Clause 72. A CIE server according to any one of clauses 61 to 71, wherein the one or more first DL RSs and the one or more second DL RSs are: components for a tracking reference signal (TRS) or components for a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS).

[0286] Clause 73. A CIE server according to any one of clauses 61 to 72, further comprising: a component for sending a request for at least a portion of second configuration information to a second UE served by at least one of one or more neighboring cells of the first UE; and a component for receiving at least a portion of the second configuration information from the second UE, wherein a response is sent to the first UE in response to receipt of at least a portion of the second configuration information.

[0287] Clause 74. A connected intelligent edge (CIE) server comprising: a component for receiving first configuration information of one or more first downlink reference signals (DL RS) sent by one or more first transmit-receive points (TRPs) of the first network operator from a first user equipment (UE) subscribed to a first network operator; and a component for sending second configuration information of one or more second DL RS sent by one or more second TRPs of a second network operator different from the first network operator to the first UE.

[0288] Clause 75. The CIE server of clause 74, further comprising: means for receiving second configuration information from a second UE subscribed to a second network operator.

[0289] Clause 76. The CIE server according to any one of clauses 74 to 75 further includes: a component for receiving a request for configuration information of a DL RS sent by a TRP of a network operator different from the first network operator from the first UE, wherein the second configuration information is sent in response to the request.

[0290] Clause 77. The CIE server according to any one of clauses 74 to 76 also includes: a component for receiving a position estimate of the first UE determined based on a first measurement of one or more first DL RSs and a second measurement of one or more second DL RSs from the first UE, the first measurement being based on first configuration information and the second measurement being based on second configuration information; or a component for receiving a first measurement of one or more first DL RSs and a second measurement of one or more second DL RSs from the first UE.

[0291] Clause 78. A CIE server according to any one of clauses 74 to 77, wherein one or more first DL RSs and one or more second DL RSs include: a component for a positioning reference signal (PRS), a component for a tracking reference signal (TRS), a component for a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), or any combination thereof.

[0292] Clause 79. A user equipment (UE), comprising: a component for sending first location information to a first server, the first location information being based on a first positioning measurement set of one or more first downlink reference signals (DL RS) sent by one or more first transmit-receive points (TRPs) of a first network operator; and a component for sending second location information to a second server, the second location information being based on a second positioning measurement set of one or more second DL RSs sent by one or more second TRPs of a second network operator, wherein the first UE subscribes to both the first network operator and the second network operator.

[0293] Clause 80. A UE according to clause 79, wherein the first server and the second server are different servers, and wherein: the first positioning measurement set includes one or more measurements of the second positioning measurement set, the second positioning measurement set includes one or more measurements of the first positioning measurement set, or any combination thereof.

[0294] Clause 81. A UE according to clause 80, wherein: the first positioning measurement set is obtained as part of a first UE-assisted positioning process; the second positioning measurement set is obtained as part of a second UE-assisted positioning process; the first location information includes an identifier of a TRP in one or more second TRPs, wherein one or more measurements of the second positioning measurement set of the TRP in the one or more second TRPs are obtained; and the second location information includes an identifier of a TRP in one or more first TRPs, wherein one or more measurements of the first positioning measurement set of the TRP in the one or more first TRPs are obtained.

[0295] Clause 82. A UE according to any one of clauses 80 to 81, wherein: the first positioning measurement set is obtained as part of a UE-assisted positioning process; the second positioning measurement set is obtained as part of a UE-based positioning process; and the first location information includes first base station almanac (BSA) information of a TRP in one or more second TRPs, wherein one or more measurements of the second positioning measurement set of the TRP in the one or more second TRPs are obtained.

[0296] Clause 83. A UE as described in any of clauses 79 to 82, wherein: the first server and the second server are the same server, and the method further comprises receiving a request from the first server to report the first location information and the second location information.

[0297] Clause 84. A UE according to any of clauses 79 to 83, further comprising: a component for receiving a configuration for sending one or more sounding reference signals (SRS) on a frequency band of a second network operator from a serving TRP of the UE operated by a first network operator.

[0298] Clause 85. A UE according to any one of clauses 79 to 84, wherein: the first location information includes a first positioning measurement set, a first position estimate of the UE determined based on at least the first positioning measurement set, or both; the second location information includes a second positioning measurement set, a second position estimate of the UE determined based on at least the second positioning measurement set, or both; or any combination thereof.

[0299] Clause 86. A UE according to any one of clauses 79 to 85, wherein one or more first DL RSs and one or more second DL RSs are: components for a positioning reference signal (PRS), components for a tracking reference signal (TRS), components for a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), or any combination thereof.

[0300] Clause 87. A connected intelligent edge (CIE) server, comprising: a component for receiving a first positioning measurement set of one or more downlink reference signals (DL RS) sent by one or more transmit-receive points (TRPs) from a first user equipment (UE); a component for receiving a second positioning measurement set of one or more DL RS sent by one or more TRPs from a second UE; a component for determining a differential positioning measurement based on the first positioning measurement set and the second positioning measurement set; and a component for determining a network synchronization error associated with at least one or more TRPs based on the differential positioning measurement.

[0301] Clause 88. The CIE server of clause 87, wherein the first set of positioning measurements and the second set of positioning measurements are obtained within a threshold time period of each other.

[0302] Clause 89. The CIE server according to any one of clauses 87 to 88 further includes: a component for determining a position estimate of a first UE based on at least a first positioning measurement set, the location of one or more TRPs, and a network synchronization error; a component for determining a position estimate of a second UE based on at least a second positioning measurement set, the location of one or more TRPs, and a network synchronization error; or any combination thereof.

[0303] Clause 90. A CIE server according to any one of clauses 87 to 89, wherein the one or more DL RSs are: a component for a positioning reference signal (PRS), a component for a tracking reference signal (TRS), a component for a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), or any combination thereof.

[0304] Clause 91. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a connected intelligent edge (CIE) server, cause the CIE server to: receive, from a first user equipment (UE), first configuration information for one or more first downlink reference signals (DL RSs) sent on a serving cell of the first UE; receive, from the first UE, identifiers of one or more neighboring cells of the first UE; and send a response to the first UE, the response including second configuration information for one or more second DL RSs sent on one or more neighboring cells of the first UE, the one or more second DL RSs being DL RSs of the same type as the one or more first DL RSs.

[0305] Clause 92. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 91, further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the CIE server, cause the CIE server to: send a request for first configuration information of one or more first DL RSs to the first UE.

[0306] Clause 93. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 92, wherein the request configures the first UE to report the first configuration information periodically, based on determining a change to the first configuration information, or any combination thereof.

[0307] Clause 94. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of clauses 92 to 93, wherein: the one or more first DL RSs are a subset of multiple DL RSs transmitted on a serving cell, the multiple DL RSs are DL RSs of the same type as the one or more first DL RSs, and the request configures the first UE to report first configuration information of only one or more first DL RSs based on one or more criteria associated with the one or more first DL RSs.

[0308] Clause 95. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to clause 94, wherein the one or more criteria include: the signal strength of one or more first DL RSs is greater than the signal strength of the remaining DL RSs of the multiple DL RSs; the one or more first DL RSs are sent on a designated component carrier; the one or more first DL RSs are sent on a designated frequency band; the one or more first DL RSs are sent in a designated frequency range; or any combination thereof.

[0309] Clause 96. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 92 to 95, wherein the request triggers the first UE to transition to a radio resource control (RRC) connected state to obtain the first configuration information.

[0310] Clause 97. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 91 to 96, wherein the identifiers of the one or more neighboring cells are received in the request for the second configuration information.

[0311] Clause 98. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to clause 97, wherein the request for the second configuration information includes: signal strength measurements associated with one or more neighboring cells, preferred configuration parameters of one or more second DL RSs, preferred component carriers of one or more second DL RSs, preferred frequency bands of one or more second DL RSs, preferred frequency ranges of one or more second DL RSs, or any combination thereof.

[0312] Clause 99. A non-transitory computer-readable medium as described in any one of clauses 91 to 98, wherein: the response indicates that one or more second DL RSs are associated with one or more synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) transmitted on one or more neighboring cells; the response includes one or more timers indicating a time period during which the second configuration information is valid; or any combination thereof.

[0313] Clause 100. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of clauses 91 to 99, further comprising computer executable instructions which, when executed by a CIE server, cause the CIE server to: receive from a first UE a position estimate of a first UE determined based on a first measurement of one or more first DL RSs and a second measurement of one or more second DL RSs, the first measurement being based on first configuration information and the second measurement being based on second configuration information; or receive from the first UE a first measurement of one or more first DL RSs and a second measurement of one or more second DL RSs.

[0314] Clause 101. The non-transitory computer-readable medium described in any one of clauses 91 to 100 further includes computer-executable instructions which, when executed by the CIE server, cause the CIE server to: receive identifiers of one or more first DL RSs and one or more second DL RSs measured by the first UE from the first UE; receive identifiers of one or more neighboring cells from the first UE, wherein the one or more second DL RSs of the one or more neighboring cells are measured by the first UE; or any combination thereof.

[0315] Clause 102. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any one of clauses 91 to 101, wherein the one or more first DL RSs and the one or more second DL RSs are: a tracking reference signal (TRS), or a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS).

[0316] Clause 103. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of clauses 91 to 102, further comprising computer executable instructions which, when executed by a CIE server, cause the CIE server to: send a request for at least a portion of second configuration information to a second UE served by at least one of one or more neighboring cells of the first UE; and receive at least a portion of the second configuration information from the second UE, wherein a response is sent to the first UE in response to receipt of at least a portion of the second configuration information.

[0317] Clause 104. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a connected intelligent edge (CIE) server, cause the CIE server to: receive first configuration information of one or more first downlink reference signals (DL RSs) sent by one or more first transmit-receive points (TRPs) of a first network operator from a first user equipment (UE) subscribed to a first network operator; and send second configuration information of one or more second DL RSs sent by one or more second TRPs of a second network operator different from the first network operator to the first UE.

[0318] Clause 105. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 104, further comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the CIE server, cause the CIE server to: receive second configuration information from a second UE subscribed to a second network operator.

[0319] Clause 106. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of clauses 104 to 105, further comprising computer-executable instructions which, when executed by the CIE server, cause the CIE server to: receive from the first UE a request for configuration information of a DL RS sent by a TRP of a network operator different from the first network operator, wherein the second configuration information is sent in response to the request.

[0320] Clause 107. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of clauses 104 to 106, further comprising computer executable instructions which, when executed by a CIE server, cause the CIE server to: receive from a first UE a position estimate of a first UE determined based on a first measurement of one or more first DL RSs and a second measurement of one or more second DL RSs, the first measurement being based on first configuration information and the second measurement being based on second configuration information; or receive from the first UE a first measurement of one or more first DL RSs and a second measurement of one or more second DL RSs.

[0321] Clause 108. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of clauses 104 to 107, wherein one or more first DL RSs and one or more second DL RSs include: a positioning reference signal (PRS), a tracking reference signal (TRS), a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), or any combination thereof.

[0322] Clause 109. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions which, when executed by a user equipment (UE), cause the UE to: send first location information to a first server, the first location information being based on a first positioning measurement set of one or more first downlink reference signals (DL RSs) sent by one or more first transmit-receive points (TRPs) of a first network operator; and send second location information to a second server, the second location information being based on a second positioning measurement set of one or more second DL RSs sent by one or more second TRPs of a second network operator, wherein the first UE is subscribed to both the first network operator and the second network operator.

[0323] Clause 110. A non-transitory computer-readable medium as described in clause 109, wherein the first server and the second server are different servers, and wherein: the first positioning measurement set includes one or more measurements of the second positioning measurement set, the second positioning measurement set includes one or more measurements of the first positioning measurement set, or any combination thereof.

[0324] Clause 111. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to clause 110, wherein: the first positioning measurement set is obtained as part of a first UE-assisted positioning process; the second positioning measurement set is obtained as part of a second UE-assisted positioning process; the first location information includes an identifier of a TRP in one or more second TRPs, wherein one or more measurements of the second positioning measurement set of the TRP in the one or more second TRPs are obtained; and the second location information includes an identifier of a TRP in one or more first TRPs, wherein one or more measurements of the first positioning measurement set of the TRP in the one or more first TRPs are obtained.

[0325] Clause 112. A non-transitory computer-readable medium as described in any one of clauses 110 to 111, wherein: the first positioning measurement set is obtained as part of a UE-assisted positioning process; the second positioning measurement set is obtained as part of a UE-based positioning process; and the first location information includes first base station almanac (BSA) information of a TRP in one or more second TRPs, wherein one or more measurements of the second positioning measurement set of the TRP in the one or more second TRPs are obtained.

[0326] Clause 113. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any one of clauses 109 to 112, wherein: the first server and the second server are the same server, and the method further comprises receiving a request from the first server to report the first location information and the second location information.

[0327] Clause 114. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of clauses 109 to 113, further comprising computer-executable instructions which, when executed by a UE, cause the UE to: receive, from a serving TRP of the UE operated by a first network operator, a configuration for sending one or more sounding reference signals (SRS) on a frequency band of a second network operator.

[0328] Clause 115. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of clauses 109 to 114, wherein: the first location information includes a first positioning measurement set, a first position estimate of the UE determined based on at least the first positioning measurement set, or both; the second location information includes a second positioning measurement set, a second position estimate of the UE determined based on at least the second positioning measurement set, or both; or any combination thereof.

[0329] Clause 116. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of clauses 109 to 115, wherein one or more first DL RSs and one or more second DL RSs are: a positioning reference signal (PRS), a tracking reference signal (TRS), a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), or any combination thereof.

[0330] Clause 117. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a connected intelligent edge (CIE) server, cause the CIE server to: receive a first positioning measurement set of one or more downlink reference signals (DL RSs) sent by one or more transmit-receive points (TRPs) from a first user equipment (UE); receive a second positioning measurement set of one or more DL RSs sent by one or more TRPs from a second UE; determine a differential positioning measurement based on the first positioning measurement set and the second positioning measurement set; and determine a network synchronization error associated with at least one or more TRPs based on the differential positioning measurement.

[0331] Clause 118. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of Clause 117, wherein the first set of positioning measurements and the second set of positioning measurements are obtained within a threshold time period of each other.

[0332] Clause 119. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of clauses 117 to 118, further comprising computer-executable instructions which, when executed by a CIE server, cause the CIE server to: determine a position estimate of a first UE based on at least a first positioning measurement set, the location of one or more TRPs, and a network synchronization error; determine a position estimate of a second UE based on at least a second positioning measurement set, the location of one or more TRPs, and a network synchronization error; or any combination thereof.

[0333] Clause 120. A non-transitory computer-readable medium as described in any of clauses 117 to 119, wherein the one or more DL RSs are: a positioning reference signal (PRS), a tracking reference signal (TRS), a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), or any combination thereof.

[0334] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that any of a variety of different technologies and techniques may be used to represent information and signals. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referenced throughout the above specification may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

[0335] In addition, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the various illustrative logic blocks, modules, circuits and algorithm steps described in conjunction with the various aspects disclosed herein can be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software or a combination of the two. In order to clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits and steps have been generally described above around their functions. Whether such functions are implemented as hardware or software depends on specific applications and the design constraints imposed on the entire system. The technician can implement the described functions in different ways for each specific application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing deviations from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0336] The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in conjunction with the various aspects disclosed herein may be implemented or performed with a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an ASIC, a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in an alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. The processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, for example, a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or more microprocessors combined with a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

[0337] The methods, sequences and / or algorithms described in conjunction with the various aspects disclosed herein may be directly embodied in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. The software module may reside in a random access memory (RAM), flash memory, read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), registers, hard disks, removable disks, CD-ROMs, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An example storage medium is coupled to a processor so that the processor can read information from the storage medium and write information to the storage medium. In an alternative, the storage medium may be an integral part of the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in an ASIC. The ASIC may reside in a user terminal (e.g., UE). In an alternative, the processor and the storage medium may reside in a user terminal as discrete components.

[0338] In one or more example aspects, the functions described may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functions may be stored on or sent on a computer-readable medium as one or more instructions or codes. Computer-readable media include computer storage media and communication media, which include any media that facilitate the transmission of a computer program from one place to another. The storage medium may be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer. As an example and not limitation, such a computer-readable medium may include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM, or other optical disk storage devices, disk storage devices, or other magnetic storage devices, or may be used to carry or store the required program code and any other medium that can be accessed by a computer in the form of instructions or data structures. In addition, any connection is appropriately referred to as a computer-readable medium. For example, if a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwaves are used to transmit software from a website, server, or other remote source, then coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwaves are included in the definition of the medium. Disk and disc as used herein include compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk and Blu-ray disc, where disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0339] Although the foregoing disclosure shows illustrative aspects of the present disclosure, it should be noted that various changes and modifications may be made herein without departing from the scope of the present disclosure as defined by the appended claims. The functions, steps, and / or actions of the method claims according to the various aspects of the disclosure described herein do not need to be performed in any particular order. In addition, although elements of the present disclosure may be described or claimed in the singular, plural forms are contemplated unless explicitly stated to be limited to the singular.

Claims

1. A method for positioning performed by a connected intelligent edge (CIE) server, comprising: receiving, from a first user equipment (UE), first configuration information of one or more first downlink reference signals (DL RS) transmitted on a serving cell of the first UE; receiving, from the first UE, identifiers of one or more neighboring cells of the first UE; as well as A response is sent to the first UE, the response including second configuration information of one or more second DL RSs sent on the one or more neighboring cells of the first UE, the one or more second DL RSs being DL RSs of the same type as the one or more first DL RSs.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: A request for the first configuration information of the one or more first DL RSs is sent to the first UE.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein: The request configures the first UE to report the first configuration information in the following manner: Periodically, Based on determining a change to the first configuration information, or Any combination of them.

4. The method according to claim 2, wherein: The one or more first DL RSs are a subset of a plurality of DL RSs transmitted on the serving cell, the plurality of DL RSs are DL RSs of the same type as the one or more first DL RSs, and The request configures the first UE to report the first configuration information of only the one or more first DL RSs based on one or more criteria associated with the one or more first DL RSs.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein: The one or more criteria include: The signal strength of the one or more first DL RSs is greater than the signal strength of the remaining DL RSs of the plurality of DL RSs, The one or more first DL RSs are sent on a designated component carrier, The one or more first DL RSs are transmitted on a designated frequency band, The one or more first DL RSs are transmitted in a specified frequency range, or Any combination of them.

6. The method according to claim 2, wherein: The request triggers the first UE to transition to a radio resource control (RRC) connected state to obtain the first configuration information.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The identifiers of the one or more neighboring cells are received in a request for the second configuration information.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein: The request for the second configuration information includes: signal strength measurements associated with the one or more neighboring cells, the preferred configuration parameters of the one or more second DL RSs, the preferred component carrier of the one or more second DL RSs, the preferred frequency bands of the one or more second DL RSs, the preferred frequency range of the one or more second DL RSs, or Any combination of them.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The response indicates that the one or more second DL RSs are associated with one or more synchronization signal blocks (SSBs) transmitted on the one or more neighboring cells, The response includes one or more timers indicating a time period during which the second configuration information is valid, or Any combination of them.

10. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: receiving, from the first UE, a position estimate of the first UE determined based on a first measurement of the one or more first DL RSs and a second measurement of the one or more second DL RSs, the first measurement being based on the first configuration information and the second measurement being based on the second configuration information; or The first measurement of the one or more first DL RSs and the second measurement of the one or more second DL RSs are received from the first UE.

11. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: receiving, from the first UE, identifiers of the one or more first DL RSs and the one or more second DL RSs measured by the first UE; receiving identifiers of the one or more neighboring cells from the first UE, wherein the one or more second DL RSs from the one or more neighboring cells are measured by the first UE; or Any combination of them.

12. The method according to claim 1, wherein: The one or more first DL RSs and the one or more second DL RSs are: Tracking Reference Signal (TRS), or Channel State Information Reference Signal (CSI-RS).

13. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: sending a request for at least a portion of the second configuration information to a second UE served by at least one of the one or more neighboring cells of the first UE; as well as The at least a portion of the second configuration information is received from the second UE, wherein the response is sent to the first UE in response to receipt of the at least a portion of the second configuration information.

14. A method of positioning performed by a connected intelligent edge (CIE) server, comprising: receiving, from a first user equipment (UE) subscribed to a first network operator, first configuration information of one or more first downlink reference signals (DL RSs) transmitted by one or more first transmission-reception points (TRPs) of the first network operator; as well as Send second configuration information of one or more second DL RSs sent by one or more second TRPs of a second network operator different from the first network operator to the first UE.

15. The method according to claim 14, further comprising: The second configuration information is received from a second UE subscribed to the second network operator.

16. The method according to claim 14, further comprising: receiving, from the first UE, a request for configuration information of a DL RS transmitted by a TRP of a network operator different from the first network operator, The second configuration information is sent in response to the request.

17. The method according to claim 14, further comprising: receiving, from the first UE, a position estimate of the first UE determined based on a first measurement of the one or more first DL RSs and a second measurement of the one or more second DL RSs, the first measurement being based on the first configuration information and the second measurement being based on the second configuration information; or The first measurement of the one or more first DL RSs and the second measurement of the one or more second DL RSs are received from the first UE.

18. The method according to claim 14, wherein: The one or more first DL RSs and the one or more second DL RSs include: Positioning Reference Signal (PRS), Tracking Reference Signal (TRS), Channel State Information Reference Signal (CSI-RS), or Any combination of them.

19. A method for wireless positioning performed by a user equipment (UE), comprising: sending first location information to a first server, the first location information being based on a first positioning measurement set of one or more first downlink reference signals (DL RSs) sent by one or more first transmission-reception points (TRPs) of a first network operator; as well as Sending second location information to a second server, wherein the second location information is based on a second positioning measurement set of one or more second DL RSs sent by one or more second TRPs of a second network operator, wherein the first UE subscribes to both the first network operator and the second network operator.

20. The method according to claim 19, wherein: The first server and the second server are different servers, and wherein: The first positioning measurement set includes one or more measurements of the second positioning measurement set, The second positioning measurement set includes one or more measurements of the first positioning measurement set, or Any combination of them.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein: The first positioning measurement set is obtained as part of a first UE-assisted positioning process, The second positioning measurement set is obtained as part of a second UE-assisted positioning process, The first location information comprises an identifier of a TRP of the one or more second TRPs, wherein the one or more measurements of the second positioning measurement set from a TRP of the one or more second TRPs are obtained, and The second location information comprises an identifier of a TRP of the one or more first TRPs from which the one or more measurements of the first positioning measurement set are obtained.

22. The method of claim 20, wherein: The first positioning measurement set is obtained as part of a UE-assisted positioning process, The second positioning measurement set is obtained as part of a UE-based positioning procedure, and The first location information includes first base station almanac (BSA) information of a TRP in the one or more second TRPs, wherein the one or more measurements of the second positioning measurement set from the TRP in the one or more second TRPs are obtained.

23. The method of claim 19, wherein: The first server and the second server are the same server, and The method also includes receiving a request from the first server to report the first location information and the second location information.

24. The method of claim 19, further comprising: A configuration for sending one or more sounding reference signals (SRS) on a frequency band of the second network operator is received from a serving TRP of the UE operated by the first network operator.

25. The method of claim 19, wherein: The first location information includes the first positioning measurement set, a first location estimate of the UE determined based on at least the first positioning measurement set, or both, The second location information includes the second positioning measurement set, a second location estimate of the UE determined based on at least the second positioning measurement set, or both, or Any combination of them.

26. The method of claim 19, wherein: The one or more first DL RSs and the one or more second DL RSs are: Positioning Reference Signal (PRS), Tracking Reference Signal (TRS), Channel State Information Reference Signal (CSI-RS), or Any combination of them.

27. A method of positioning performed by a connected intelligent edge (CIE) server, comprising: receiving, from a first user equipment (UE), a first positioning measurement set of one or more downlink reference signals (DL RS) transmitted by one or more transmit-receive points (TRPs); receiving, from a second UE, a second positioning measurement set of the one or more DL RSs sent by the one or more TRPs; determining a differential positioning measurement based on the first positioning measurement set and the second positioning measurement set; as well as A network synchronization error associated with at least the one or more TRPs is determined based on the differential positioning measurements.

28. The method according to claim 27, wherein: The first positioning measurement set and the second positioning measurement set are obtained within a threshold time period of each other.

29. The method of claim 27, further comprising: determining a position estimate of the first UE based on at least the first positioning measurement set, the locations of the one or more TRPs, and the network synchronization error; determining a position estimate of the second UE based on at least the second positioning measurement set, the positions of the one or more TRPs, and the network synchronization error; or Any combination of them.

30. The method of claim 27, wherein: The one or more DL RSs are: Positioning Reference Signal (PRS), Tracking Reference Signal (TRS), Channel State Information Reference Signal (CSI-RS), or Any combination of them.

Images