Compensating for missed positioning reference signals

Abstract

A method is disclosed, the method comprising receiving information from a user equipment, the information specifying at least: one or more channel characteristics of one or more received positioning reference signals of a set of frequency hops, and one or more identifiers of one or more missed positioning reference signals of the set of frequency hops; and compensating for one or more missed positioning reference signals of the frequency hopping set based at least in part on the information.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The following example embodiments relate to wireless communications and positioning. Background Art

[0002] Positioning is a process that can be used to estimate the location of a device. It is desirable to improve positioning accuracy so as to more accurately estimate the location of a device. Summary of the invention

[0003] The scope of protection sought by various example embodiments is defined by the independent claims. Example embodiments and features described in this specification that do not belong to the scope of the independent claims, if any, should be interpreted as examples that help understand the various embodiments.

[0004] According to one aspect, a device is provided, comprising at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions, wherein when the instructions are executed by the at least one processor, the device at least: receives information from a user equipment, the information at least indicating: one or more channel characteristics of one or more received positioning reference signals of a frequency hopping set, and one or more identifiers of one or more missed positioning reference signals of the frequency hopping set; and compensates for one or more missed positioning reference signals of the frequency hopping set based at least in part on the information.

[0005] According to another aspect, an apparatus is provided, comprising: a component for receiving information from a user equipment, the information indicating at least: one or more channel characteristics of one or more received positioning reference signals of a frequency hopping set, and one or more identifiers of one or more missed positioning reference signals of the frequency hopping set; and a component for compensating for one or more missed positioning reference signals of the frequency hopping set based at least in part on the information.

[0006] According to another aspect, a method is provided, the method comprising: receiving information from a user equipment, the information indicating at least: one or more channel characteristics of one or more received positioning reference signals of a frequency hopping set, and one or more identifiers of one or more missed positioning reference signals of the frequency hopping set; and compensating for one or more missed positioning reference signals of the frequency hopping set based at least in part on the information.

[0007] According to another aspect, a computer program comprising instructions is provided, which, when executed by an apparatus, causes the apparatus to perform at least the following: receive information from a user equipment, the information indicating at least: one or more channel characteristics of one or more received positioning reference signals of a frequency hopping set, and one or more identifiers of one or more missed positioning reference signals of the frequency hopping set; and compensate for one or more missed positioning reference signals of the frequency hopping set based at least in part on the information.

[0008] According to another aspect, a computer-readable medium comprising program instructions is provided, which, when executed by an apparatus, causes the apparatus to perform at least the following: receiving information from a user equipment, the information at least indicating: one or more channel characteristics of one or more received positioning reference signals of a frequency hopping set, and one or more identifiers of one or more missed positioning reference signals of the frequency hopping set; and compensating for one or more missed positioning reference signals of the frequency hopping set based at least in part on the information.

[0009] According to another aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising program instructions is provided, which, when executed by an apparatus, causes the apparatus to perform at least the following: receive information from a user equipment, the information at least indicating: one or more channel characteristics of one or more received positioning reference signals of a frequency hopping set, and one or more identifiers of one or more missed positioning reference signals of the frequency hopping set; and compensate for one or more missed positioning reference signals of the frequency hopping set based at least in part on the information.

[0010] According to another aspect, a device is provided, which includes at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions, which instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the device to at least: determine one or more identifiers of one or more missed positioning reference signals of a frequency hopping set; and send information to a location management entity, the information indicating at least: one or more channel characteristics of one or more received positioning reference signals of the frequency hopping set, and one or more identifiers of one or more missed positioning reference signals of the frequency hopping set.

[0011] According to another aspect, a device is provided, comprising: a component for determining one or more identifiers of one or more missed positioning reference signals of a frequency hopping set; and a component for sending information to a location management entity, the information indicating at least: one or more channel characteristics of one or more received positioning reference signals of the frequency hopping set, and one or more identifiers of one or more missed positioning reference signals of the frequency hopping set.

[0012] According to another aspect, a method is provided, the method comprising: determining one or more identifiers of one or more missed positioning reference signals of a frequency hopping set; and sending information to a location management entity, the information indicating at least: one or more channel characteristics of one or more received positioning reference signals of the frequency hopping set, and one or more identifiers of one or more missed positioning reference signals of the frequency hopping set.

[0013] According to another aspect, a computer program comprising instructions is provided, which, when executed by an apparatus, causes the apparatus to perform at least the following: determine one or more identifiers of one or more missed positioning reference signals of a frequency hopping set; and send information to a location management entity, the information indicating at least: one or more channel characteristics of one or more received positioning reference signals of the frequency hopping set, and one or more identifiers of one or more missed positioning reference signals of the frequency hopping set.

[0014] According to another aspect, a computer-readable medium comprising program instructions is provided, which, when executed by an apparatus, causes the apparatus to perform at least the following: determine one or more identifiers of one or more missed positioning reference signals of a frequency hopping set; and send information to a location management entity, the information indicating at least: one or more channel characteristics of one or more received positioning reference signals of the frequency hopping set, and one or more identifiers of one or more missed positioning reference signals of the frequency hopping set.

[0015] According to another aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising program instructions is provided, which, when executed by an apparatus, causes the apparatus to perform at least the following: determining one or more identifiers of one or more missed positioning reference signals of a frequency hopping set; and sending information to a location management entity, the information indicating at least: one or more channel characteristics of one or more received positioning reference signals of the frequency hopping set, and one or more identifiers of one or more missed positioning reference signals of the frequency hopping set.

[0016] According to another aspect, a system is provided, the system comprising at least a user equipment and a location management entity. The user equipment is configured to: determine one or more identifiers of one or more missed positioning reference signals of a frequency hopping set; and send information to the location management entity, the information at least indicating: one or more channel characteristics of one or more received positioning reference signals of the frequency hopping set, and one or more identifiers of one or more missed positioning reference signals of the frequency hopping set. The location management entity is configured to: receive the above information from the user equipment; and compensate for the one or more missed positioning reference signals of the frequency hopping set based at least in part on the information.

[0017] According to another aspect, a system is provided, the system comprising at least a user equipment and a location management entity. The user equipment comprises: a component for determining one or more identifiers of one or more missed positioning reference signals of a frequency hopping set; and a component for sending information to the location management entity, the information at least indicating: one or more channel characteristics of one or more received positioning reference signals of the frequency hopping set, and one or more identifiers of one or more missed positioning reference signals of the frequency hopping set. The location management entity comprises: a component for receiving the above information from the user equipment; and a component for compensating for one or more missed positioning reference signals of the frequency hopping set based at least in part on the information. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0018] In the following, various example embodiments will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0019] Figure 1 An example of a wireless communication network is illustrated;

[0020] Figure 2 The diagram illustrates a discontinuous reception cycle;

[0021] Figure 3 An example of a solution for overlapping frequency hopping positioning measurement techniques with phase compensation is illustrated;

[0022] Figure 4 An example of misalignment between positioning reference signals and discontinuous reception is illustrated;

[0023] Figure 5A An example with a missed positioning reference signal interval is illustrated;

[0024] Figure 5B An example with a missed positioning reference signal interval is illustrated;

[0025] Figure 5C An example with a missed positioning reference signal interval is illustrated;

[0026] Fig. 6A An example with a missed positioning reference signal interval is illustrated;

[0027] Figure 6B An example of replacing a missed positioning reference signal interval with a previous positioning reference signal interval is illustrated;

[0028] Figure 7 A signal flow graph is illustrated;

[0029] Figure 8 A signal flow graph is illustrated;

[0030] Fig. 9 A signal flow graph is illustrated;

[0031] Fig.10 A flow chart is illustrated;

[0032] Fig.11 A flow chart is illustrated;

[0033] Fig.12 A flow chart is illustrated;

[0034] Fig.13 An example of an apparatus is illustrated; and

[0035] Fig.14 An example of an apparatus is illustrated. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0036] The following embodiments are exemplary. Although the specification may refer to "an", "one" or "some" embodiments at several locations in the text, this does not necessarily mean that each reference is to the same embodiment(s) or that a particular feature applies only to a single embodiment. Individual features of different embodiments may also be combined to provide other embodiments.

[0037] Some example embodiments described herein may be implemented in a wireless communication network including a radio access network based on one or more of the following radio access technologies (RATs): Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) or any other second generation radio access technology, Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS, 3G) based on basic Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (W-CDMA), High Speed ​​Packet Access (HSPA), Long Term Evolution (LTE), Advanced LTE, Fourth Generation (4G), Fifth Generation (5G), 5G New Radio (NR), Advanced 5G (i.e., 3GPP NR Rel-18 and above), or Sixth Generation (6G). Some examples of radio access networks include Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Radio Access Network (UTRAN), Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRA), or Next Generation Radio Access Network (NG-RAN). The wireless communication network may also include a core network, and some example embodiments may also be applied to network functions of the core network.

[0038] It should be noted that the embodiments are not limited to the wireless communication networks given as examples, but those skilled in the art can also apply the solution to other wireless communication networks or systems with the necessary characteristics. For example, some example embodiments can also be applied to communication systems based on the IEEE 802.11 specification, or communication systems based on the IEEE 802.15 specification. IEEE is the abbreviation of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

[0039] Figure 1An example of a simplified wireless communication network is depicted, showing some physical and logical entities. Figure 1 The connections shown may be physical connections or logical connections. It is clear to those skilled in the art that a wireless communication network may also include in addition to Figure 1 Other physical and logical entities than those shown.

[0040] However, the example embodiments described herein are not limited to the wireless communication networks given as examples, but those skilled in the art may apply the embodiments described herein to other wireless communication networks having necessary characteristics.

[0041] Figure 1 The example wireless communication network shown includes an access network, such as a Radio Access Network (RAN), and a core network 110 .

[0042] Figure 1 A user equipment (UE) 100, 102 is shown that is configured to be wirelessly connected to an access node (AN) 104 of an access network on one or more communication channels in a radio cell. AN 104 may be an evolved NodeB (abbreviated as eNB or eNodeB), a next generation evolved NodeB (abbreviated as ng-eNB), or a next generation NodeB (abbreviated as gNB or gNodeB) that provides a radio cell. A wireless connection (e.g., a radio link) from a UE to an access node 104 may be referred to as an uplink (UL) or a reverse link, and a wireless connection (e.g., a radio link) from an access node to a UE may be referred to as a downlink (DL) or a forward link. UE 100 may also communicate directly with UE 102 via a wireless connection commonly referred to as a side link (SL), and vice versa. It should be understood that the access node 104 or its functions may be implemented using any node, host, server, or access point entity suitable for providing such functions.

[0043] An access network may include more than one access node, in which case the access nodes may also be configured to communicate with each other via wired or wireless links. These links between access nodes may be used to issue and receive control plane signaling, and may also be used to route data from one access node to another.

[0044] An access node may include a computing device configured to control radio resources of the access node. An access node may also be referred to as a base station, a base transceiver station (BTS), an access point, a cell site, a radio access node, or any other type of node capable of wirelessly connecting to a UE (e.g., UE 100, 102). An access node may include or be coupled to a transceiver. From the transceiver of the access node, a connection may be provided to an antenna unit that establishes a bidirectional radio link to the UE 100, 102. The antenna unit may include an antenna or antenna element, or multiple antennas or antenna elements.

[0045] The access node 104 may be further connected to a core network (CN) 110. The core network 110 may include an evolved packet core (EPC) network and / or a fifth generation core network (5GC). The EPC may include network entities such as a serving gateway (S-GW for routing and forwarding data packets), a packet data network gateway (P-GW) for providing a connection of a UE to an external packet data network, and a mobility management entity (MME). The 5GC may include network functions such as a user plane function (UPF), an access and mobility management function (AMF) 111, and a location management function (LMF) 112.

[0046] Regarding positioning, the core network 110 may include a 5GC with a service-based architecture. The 5GC may include various network functions, including AMF 111 and LMF 112. AMF 111 may be configured to provide location information for call processing, mobility policy implementation, and billing purposes to other network functions in the core network 110 and to other entities requesting the positioning of UE 100, 102. AMF 111 may receive and manage location requests from several entities: mobile originated location requests (MO-LR) received from UE 100, 102, and mobile terminated location requests (MT-LR) to other functions of the core network or access network. AMF 111 may select LMF 112 for a given request and trigger a positioning session using its positioning service. LMF 112 may then perform positioning after receiving such a request from AMF 111. LMF 112 may manage the resources and timing of positioning activities. LMF 112 may obtain location information of UE 100, 102 in at least one of the following ways: by issuing a Namf_Communication service request to one or more access nodes via the NL1 interface for network-based positioning; or by communicating with the UE over the N1 interface for UE-based or UE-assisted positioning. The location information obtained by LMF 112 may include a location estimate of UE 100, 102, and in addition, LMF 112 may also estimate the movement or accuracy of the location information when requested. In terms of connection, AMF 111 may be located between access node 104 and LMF 112, and is therefore closer to the access node than the LMF.

[0047] The core network 110 may also be able to communicate with one or more external networks 113 (such as a public switched telephone network or the Internet), or utilize services provided by them. For example, in a 5G wireless communication network, the UPF of the core network 110 may be configured to communicate with an external data network via an N6 interface. In an LTE wireless communication network, the P-GW of the core network 110 may be configured to communicate with an external data network.

[0048] The UE 100, 102 shown is a type of device that can be allocated and assigned resources on the air interface. The UE 100, 102 may also be referred to as a wireless communication device, a subscriber unit, a mobile station, a remote terminal, an access terminal, a user terminal, a terminal device, or a user equipment, to name a few. The UE may be a computing device operating with or without a subscriber identity module (SIM), including but not limited to the following types of computing devices: a mobile phone, a smart phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a handheld, a computing device including a wireless modem (e.g., an alarm or measurement device, etc.), a laptop computer, a desktop computer, a tablet computer, a game console, a notebook computer, a multimedia device, a reduced capability (RedCap) device, a wearable device with a radio component (e.g., a watch, a headset, or glasses), a sensor including a wireless modem, or any computing device including a wireless modem integrated in a vehicle.

[0049] Any features described herein with a UE may also be implemented with a corresponding device such as a relay node. An example of such a relay node may be a layer 3 relay (self-backhaul relay) toward an access node. A self-backhaul relay node may also be referred to as an integrated access and backhaul (IAB) node. An IAB node may include two logical parts: a mobile terminal (MT) part and a distributed unit (DU) part, the MT part being responsible for (multiple) backhaul links (i.e., (multiple) links between an IAB node and a donor node (also referred to as a parent node)), and the DU part being responsible for (multiple) access links (i.e., (multiple) sub-links between an IAB node and (multiple) UEs, and / or (multiple) sub-links between an IAB node and other IAB nodes (multiple hop scenarios)).

[0050] Another example of such a relay node may be a layer 1 relay referred to as a repeater.A repeater may amplify a signal received from an access node and forward it to a UE and / or amplify a signal received from a UE and forward it to an access node.

[0051] It should be understood that a UE may also be an almost exclusively uplink-only device, an example of which may be a camera or camcorder that loads images or video clips to a network. A UE may also be a device with the ability to operate in an Internet of Things (IoT) network, a scenario in which objects may be provided with the ability to transmit data over a network without requiring human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction. A UE may also utilize the cloud. In some applications, computation may be performed in the cloud or in another UE.

[0052] The wireless communication network may also be capable of supporting the use of cloud services, for example, at least a portion of the core network operations may be performed as a cloud service (this is in the Figure 1114). The wireless communication network may also include a central control entity or the like to provide facilities for the wireless communication networks of different operators to cooperate, for example, in spectrum sharing.

[0053] The various techniques described in this article can also be applied to cyber-physical systems (CPS) (systems of cooperating computing elements that control physical entities). CPS can enable the implementation and utilization of a large number of interconnected ICT devices (sensors, actuators, processors microcontrollers, etc.) embedded in physical objects in different locations. Mobile cyber-physical systems are a subcategory of cyber-physical systems, where the physical system in question can have inherent mobility. Examples of mobile physical systems include mobile robots and electronic devices transported by humans or animals.

[0054] 5G enables the use of multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antennas in access nodes 104 and / or UEs 100, 102, many more base stations or access nodes than in LTE networks (the so-called small cell concept), including macro sites operating in cooperation with smaller sites, and the use of various radio technologies depending on service requirements, use cases and / or available spectrum. 5G wireless communication networks can support a wide range of use cases and related applications, including video streaming, augmented reality, different data sharing methods and various forms of machine-type applications, such as (massive) machine-type communications (mMTC), including vehicle safety, different sensors and real-time control.

[0055] In a 5G wireless communication network, access nodes and / or UEs may have multiple radio interfaces, i.e., below 6 GHz, cmWave, and mmWave, and may also be integrated with existing legacy radio access technologies such as LTE. For example, integration with LTE may be implemented as a system in which macro coverage may be provided by LTE, and 5G radio interface access may come from a small cell by aggregation to LTE. In other words, a 5G wireless communication network may support both inter-RAT operability (such as LTE-5G) and inter-RI operability (inter-radio interface operability, such as below 6 GHz-cmWave-mmWave). One of the concepts considered for use in a 5G wireless communication network may be network slicing, in which multiple independent and dedicated virtual subnets (network instances) may be created within substantially the same infrastructure to run services with different requirements for latency, reliability, throughput, and mobility.

[0056] 5G can enable analysis and knowledge generation to be performed at the data source. This approach can involve utilizing resources that may not be continuously connected to the network, such as laptops, smartphones, tablets, and sensors. Multi-access edge computing (MEC) can provide a distributed computing environment for application and service hosting. It can also have the ability to store and process content near cellular subscribers to achieve faster response times. Edge computing can cover a wide range of technologies, such as wireless sensor networks, mobile data collection, mobile signature analysis, collaborative distributed peer-to-peer networking and processing, and can also be classified as local cloud / fog computing and grid / mesh computing, dew computing, mobile edge computing, cloudlet, distributed data storage and retrieval, autonomous self-healing networks, remote cloud services, augmented and virtual reality, data caching, Internet of Things (large-scale connectivity and / or latency critical), critical communications (autonomous driving cars, traffic safety, real-time analysis, time-critical control, healthcare applications).

[0057] In some example embodiments, an access node (e.g., access node 104) may include: a radio unit (RU), which includes a radio transceiver (TRX), i.e., a transmitter (Tx) and a receiver (Rx); one or more distributed units (DU) 105, which can be used for so-called layer 1 (L1) processing and real-time layer 2 (L2) processing; and a central unit (CU) 108 (also called a centralized unit), which can be used for non-real-time L2 and layer 3 (L3) processing. The CU 108 can be connected to one or more DUs 105, for example, via an F1 interface. Such an embodiment of an access node can enable the centralization of the CU relative to the cell site and the DU, while the DU can be more distributed and can even be retained at the cell site. The CU and DU together can also be referred to as a baseband or baseband unit (BBU). The CU and DU can also be included in a radio access point (RAP).

[0058] CU 108 may be a logical node that hosts the radio resource control (RRC), service data adaptation protocol (SDAP), and / or packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) of the NR protocol stack for the access node. DU 105 may be a logical node that hosts the radio link control (RLC), media access control (MAC), and / or physical (PHY) layers of the NR protocol stack for the access node. The operation of the DU may be at least partially controlled by the CU. It should also be understood that the functional distribution between DU 105 and CU 108 may vary depending on the implementation. The CU may include a control plane (CU-CP), which may be a logical node that hosts the control plane portion of the RRC and PDCP protocols of the NR protocol stack for the access node. The CU may also include a user plane (CU-UP), which may be a logical node that hosts the user plane portion of the PDCP protocol and the SDAP protocol of the CU for the access node.

[0059] The cloud computing system may also be used to provide the CU 108 and / or the DU 105. The CU provided by the cloud computing system may be referred to as a virtualized CU (vCU). In addition to the vCU, there may also be a virtualized DU (vDU) provided by the cloud computing system. In addition, there may also be a combination in which the DU may be implemented on a so-called bare metal solution, such as an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) or a customer specific standard product (CSSP) system on chip (SoC).

[0060] By leveraging network function virtualization (NFV) and software defined networking (SDN), edge cloud can be introduced into the access network (e.g., RAN). The use of edge cloud can mean that the access node operations are at least partially performed in a computing system of a remote radio head (RRH) or a radio unit (RU) operably coupled to the access node. It is also possible that the access node operations can be performed on a distributed computing system or a cloud computing system located at the access node. The application of the cloud RAN architecture enables RAN real-time functions to be performed at the access network (e.g., in DU 105), and non-real-time functions can be performed in a centralized manner (e.g., in CU 108).

[0061] It should also be understood that in future wireless communication networks, the functional distribution between core network operations and access node operations may be different, or even non-existent, compared to LTE or 5G. Some other technological advances that may be used include big data and all-IP, which may change the way wireless communication networks are constructed and managed. 5G (or new radio, NR) wireless communication networks can support multiple hierarchical structures, in which multi-access edge computing (MEC) servers can be placed between the core network 110 and the access node 104. It should be understood that MEC can also be applied in LTE wireless communication networks.

[0062] The 5G wireless communication network ("5G network") may also include non-terrestrial communication networks, such as satellite communication networks, to enhance or supplement the coverage of the 5G radio access network. For example, satellite communications can support data transmission between the 5G radio access network and the core network, thereby achieving wider network coverage. Possible use cases may be to provide service continuity for machine-to-machine (M2M) or Internet of Things (IoT) devices or for passengers on board, or to ensure service availability for critical communications and future railway / maritime / aviation communications. Satellite communications can utilize geostationary orbit (GEO) satellite systems or low earth orbit (LEO) satellite systems, in particular giant constellations (systems in which hundreds of (nano) satellites are deployed). A given satellite 106 in a giant constellation can cover several satellite-enabled network entities that create a ground cell. A ground cell can be created by a ground relay access node, or by an access node 104 located on the ground or in a satellite.

[0063] It is clear to those skilled in the art that Figure 1 The access node 104 shown is only an example of a portion of an access network (e.g., a radio access network), and in practice, the access network may include multiple access nodes, UE 100, 102 may access multiple radio cells, and the access network may also include other devices, such as physical layer relay access nodes or other entities. At least one of the access nodes may be a home eNodeB or a home gNodeB. A home gNodeB or a home eNodeB is an access node that can be used to provide indoor coverage in a home, office, or other indoor environment.

[0064] Furthermore, in a geographical area of ​​an access network (e.g., a radio access network), a plurality of different kinds of radio cells and a plurality of radio cells may be provided. A radio cell may be a macro cell (or umbrella cell), which may be a large cell up to tens of kilometers in diameter, or a smaller cell, such as a micro cell, a femto cell or a pico cell. Figure 1 The access node(s) may provide any kind of these cells. A cellular radio network may be implemented as a multi-layer access network comprising several kinds of radio cells. In a multi-layer access network, one access node may provide one or more kinds of radio cells, and thus providing such a multi-layer access network may require multiple access nodes.

[0065] In order to meet the need to improve the performance of the access network, the concept of "plug and play" access nodes can be introduced. In addition to the home eNodeB or home gNodeB, the access network that can use the "plug and play" access node can also include a home NodeB gateway or HNB-GW ( Figure 1(not shown in the figure). The HNB-GW which can be installed in the access network of the operator can aggregate the services from a large number of home eNodeBs or home gNodeBs back to the core network of the operator.

[0066] 6G wireless communication networks are expected to adopt flexible decentralized and / or distributed computing systems and architectures and ubiquitous computing, based on mobile edge computing, artificial intelligence, short packet communications and blockchain technology to achieve local spectrum licensing, spectrum sharing, infrastructure sharing and intelligent automation management. Key features of 6G may include intelligent interconnect management and control functions, programmability, integrated sensing and communication, reduced energy footprint, trusted infrastructure, scalability and affordability. In addition, 6G also targets new use cases, including integrating positioning and sensing capabilities into system definitions to unify the user experience of the physical and digital worlds.

[0067] In NR Release 17 (Rel-17), the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) introduced low-complexity energy-saving UEs, called Reduced Capability (RedCap) devices. RedCap devices may also be called RedCap UEs, NR-Lite devices, or NR-Light devices.

[0068] For example, a RedCap device may have the following features: a reduced number of transmit and / or receive antennas, reduced bandwidth (e.g., 20 MHz in frequency range 1 and 100 MHz in frequency range 2), half-duplex frequency division duplexing (FDD), and / or relaxed processing capabilities compared to non-RedCap UEs.

[0069] Power saving and battery life extension are some of the main goals of RedCap devices. This can be achieved through several techniques, such as reduced physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) monitoring achieved through a smaller number of blind decoding and control channel element (CCE) restrictions, extended discontinuous reception (DRX) for RRC inactive and / or idle states, and / or radio resource management (RRM) measurement relaxation for fixed devices.

[0070] Industrial wireless sensors are an example of RedCap devices. It may be necessary to connect industrial wireless sensors to 5G radio access networks and core networks to increase flexibility, improve productivity and efficiency, and improve operational safety. Industrial wireless sensors may include, for example, pressure sensors, humidity sensors, thermometers, motion sensors, and / or accelerometers, etc. For industrial wireless sensor use cases, RedCap devices may have the following requirements: communication service availability is at least 99.99%, end-to-end latency is less than 100ms, reference bit rate is less than 2Mbps (may be asymmetric, such as UL busy traffic), and the device is expected to be mostly stationary. For safety-related sensors, latency requirements may be more stringent, such as 5-10ms.

[0071] Video surveillance cameras are another example of a RedCap device. For example, deploying surveillance cameras can be beneficial for smart city use cases as well as factories and industries to more efficiently monitor and control city or factory resources. The following requirements may apply to video surveillance use cases: reference economic video bitrate is 2-4Mbps, latency is less than 500ms, and reliability is at least 99%-99.9%. High-end video applications (e.g., for agriculture) may require video bitrates of 7.5-25Mbps. It should be noted that the traffic pattern may be dominated by UL transmissions.

[0072] Wearable devices (such as smart watches, rings, electronic health-related devices, personal protective equipment, and / or medical monitoring devices) are another example of RedCap devices. The following requirements may apply to wearable devices: The reference bitrate for smart wearable applications may be 5-50Mbps in DL and 2-5Mbps in UL, and the peak bitrate of the device may be higher, for example up to 150Mbps for DL ​​and 50Mbps for UL. In addition, the battery of the wearable device should last for several days (e.g., up to 1-2 weeks).

[0073] Due to human mobility, smart wearable devices are becoming increasingly useful as they can collect and emit data on the move and accordingly receive information from the network, which helps in making more informed decisions.

[0074] In NR Release 18 (Rel-18), 3GPP is specifying further device complexity reduction for RedCap devices in Frequency Range 1 (FR1). The goal is to introduce a low-layer device between IoT and Rel-17 RedCap devices. The peak data rate supported by Rel-18 RedCap devices is expected to be around 10Mbps.

[0075] For example, further complexity reduction for Rel-18 RedCap equipment in FR1 may involve a reduction in UE baseband (BB) bandwidth such that 5 MHz BB bandwidth is dedicated to physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) (for both unicast and broadcast) and physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), with a radio frequency (RF) bandwidth of 20 MHz for both UL and DL. Other physical channels and signals are still allowed to use a bandwidth part (BWP) of up to 20 MHz maximum RF+BB bandwidth.

[0076] In addition, further complexity reduction for Rel-18 RedCap devices in FR1 may involve reduction in UE peak data rate, support for both 15kHz subcarrier spacing (SCS) and 30kHz SCS, and a goal to define at most one Rel-18 RedCap device type to further reduce UE complexity. The current UE capability framework may be used, and changes to capability signaling may be specified only where necessary. By default, all UE capabilities applicable to Rel-17 RedCap devices may be applicable to Rel-18 RedCap devices unless otherwise specified.

[0077] Figure 2 A discontinuous reception (DRX) cycle 200 is illustrated. The purpose of the DRX mechanism is to provide efficient UE power saving and thereby optimize UE battery life. By applying the received DRX configuration, the UE is allowed to enter a sleep mode 202 (where the RF module is turned off) after a specific data inactivity period, and to wake up periodically during an on-duration (ON-duration) 201 for final data reception or to initiate data transmission. In other words, the power consumption of the UE can be reduced during the sleep mode 202. The DRX operation is applicable to UEs in an RRC connected state (using a C-DRX configuration), and UEs in an RRC idle or inactive state (configured by paging). The C-DRX configuration may include, for example, the length of the DRX cycle 200 (short cycle and / or long cycle), the length of the on-duration 201 for DL ​​channel monitoring, and an inactivity timer. The network (e.g., gNB) may provide the DRX configuration to the UE via a dedicated RRC reconfiguration message (e.g., during handover) or in a system information block type 2 (SIB2) broadcast by the gNB (during initial attach). If there is no data activity, a long DRX cycle may be applied. In case of periodic DL data arrival, a short DRX cycle and multiple DRX cycles may be applied.

[0078] Positioning can be a process for estimating the position (e.g., geographic location) of a UE. In this document, the UE to be positioned may be referred to as a target UE. The position of the target UE may be estimated in an absolute manner (in the case of absolute positioning) or in a relative manner (in the case of relative positioning). Absolute positioning refers to estimating the position of the target UE in two-dimensional or three-dimensional geographic coordinates (e.g., latitude, longitude, and / or altitude) within a coordinate system. Relative positioning refers to estimating the position of the target UE relative to one or more network nodes or relative to one or more other UEs.

[0079] For example, the positioning technology used in 5G NR can be based on at least one of the following: time difference of arrival (TDoA), time of arrival (TOA), time of departure (TOD), round-trip time (RTT), angle of departure (AoD), angle of arrival (AoA) and / or carrier phase.

[0080] TOA is the time it takes for a signal to travel from a base station to a UE. The UE measures the time it takes for a signal to arrive from a single base station. Assuming the propagation speed of the signal is known, this information can be used to calculate the distance between the UE and the base station.

[0081] TDoA is the difference in arrival time of signals from two different base stations. The UE can measure the time difference required for signals from two different base stations to reach it. This information can be used to calculate the UE's location.

[0082] To obtain positioning measurements in the DL, a Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) may be sent from one or more network nodes (e.g., a base station such as a gNB) at a known location, and the PRS may be measured by the UE. To obtain positioning measurements in the UL, a Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) for positioning may be sent by the UE, and the SRS may be measured by one or more network nodes (e.g., a gNB) at a known location. Positioning measurements may be measured in the physical layer. Depending on the DL or UL, a UE's baseband modem or a gNB's baseband modem may support positioning measurements using PRS or SRS.

[0083] In network-based positioning, the position of the target UE is estimated by a network entity (e.g., gNB or LMF).For network-based positioning, the target UE may report information to the network entity to enable the position of the target UE to be estimated.

[0084] In UE-based positioning, the position of the target UE is estimated by the target UE.

[0085] Sidelink (SL) positioning refers to a positioning method in which the target UE utilizes a sidelink (i.e., a direct device-to-device link) to locate itself in an absolute manner (in the case of absolute positioning) or in a relative manner (in the case of relative positioning). SL positioning can benefit (but is not limited to) the following use cases: public safety, vehicle-to-everything (V2X), and Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT).

[0086] SL positioning may be based on the transmission of a sidelink positioning reference signal (SLPRS) by multiple anchor UEs (e.g., at least three anchor UEs), wherein the SL PRS is received and measured by the target UE to enable positioning of the target UE within certain delay and accuracy requirements of the corresponding SL positioning session (e.g., using SL TDoA techniques). Alternatively or in addition, the target UE may send the SLPRS for reception and measurement by the anchor UE. The exchange of SL PRS between the target UE and the anchor UE may be used, for example, for positioning techniques based on SL RTT.

[0087] The target positioning accuracy requirements for RedCap devices in commercial use cases can be defined as follows: horizontal position accuracy (<3m) for 90% of UEs, and vertical position accuracy (<3m) for 90% of UEs, both indoors and outdoors.

[0088] The target positioning accuracy requirements for RedCap devices for IIoT use cases can be defined as follows: horizontal position accuracy of 90% of UEs (<1m), vertical position accuracy of 90% of UEs (<3m).

[0089] As mentioned above, RedCap devices are bandwidth-limited devices. However, for the (time-based) positioning techniques defined by NR Rel-16 and NR Rel-17, the accuracy of positioning is proportional to the bandwidth of the PRS or SRS.

[0090] Frequency hopping is a possible solution to the limited bandwidth problem of RedCap positioning.

[0091] Figure 3An example of a solution for overlapping frequency hopping positioning measurement techniques with phase compensation is illustrated. In order to increase audibility, increase correlation characteristics and improve interference avoidance characteristics, the PRS sequence 300 can be spread in the time domain and the frequency domain. This can be called staggered PRS. In other words, the gNB can send a wideband PRS 300 during all hops 301, 302, 303, 304, 305, but the UE (e.g., RedCap device) can receive a small portion of the PRS at a time. These frequency hops 301, 302, 303, 304, 305 collected by the UE may also be referred to as PRS intervals or frequency intervals in this article. To this end, various configuration parameters of the PRS (e.g., comb size, repetition factor, periodicity, bandwidth factor, etc.) can be defined. The receiver (i.e., UE) can perform phase estimation and compensation for every two adjacent hops. The UE can aggregate the PRS intervals 301, 302, 303, 304, 305 into an aggregated frequency band 306. The final positioning result can be obtained by utilizing a “wideband” positioning reference signal 306 that is concatenated from positioning reference signals from several consecutive hops. For example, a UE can estimate the time of arrival (TOA) by using the aggregated frequency band 306. However, there are challenges in how to coordinate PRS with other signaling (e.g., DRX).

[0092] Figure 4 An example of misalignment between PRS and DRX is shown. The DRX cycle applied by the UE (e.g., RedCap device) and the DL PRS configured by the LMF are independent processes. Figure 4 As shown, these independent processes may lead to misalignment between PRS transmission and DRX timing, resulting in poor positioning measurements. Figure 4 In the example of , the UE may detect PRS 403 and PRS 406 transmitted during the on-duration of the DRX cycle. However, in this example, the UE may miss other PRSs 401, 402, 404, 405 transmitted when the UE is dormant according to the DRX cycle.

[0093] Figure 4 One possible solution to the misalignment shown could be to force the UE to wake up for the duration of the PRS transmission opportunity to perform PRS measurements. However, this would increase the power consumption of the UE and thus also violate the objectives of the DRX cycle introduced for RedCap devices.

[0094] On the other hand, if the UE does not wake up at the PRS transmission timing, the UE cannot perform PRS measurement at the corresponding PRS transmission timing, which may cause positioning failure. More specifically, if the frequency hopping positioning measurement technique (e.g., Figure 3 ) is applied, the UE may not be able to receive all PRS intervals due to its DRX cycle.

[0095] In addition to DRX cycle mismatch, another possible reason for missing a PRS interval may be the PRS priority relative to another channel. For example, during PRS hopping 1, if there is another channel (e.g., data) with a higher priority, PRS hopping 1 will not be received.

[0096] Some of the problems that may be encountered due to one or more missed PRS intervals are Figure 5A , Figure 5B and Figure 5C Shown in.

[0097] exist Figure 5A In this case, since there is overlap between the PRS intervals, phase compensation between the received PRS intervals 502, 503, 504, 505 is possible.

[0098] exist Figure 5B In this case, phase compensation between the received PRS intervals 501, 502, 503, 504 is possible due to the overlap between the PRS intervals.

[0099] exist Figure 5C In this case, since there is no overlap between the first two intervals 501, 502 and the second two intervals 504, 505, phase compensation between the received PRS intervals 501, 502, 504, 505 is not possible. This results in phase discontinuity, which is Figure 5C 511 and 512 in FIG. 5 are highlighted using different shading patterns.

[0100] Therefore, in order to effectively utilize or process a portion of the received PRS interval (e.g., Figure 5A , Figure 5B or Figure 5C In order to improve positioning accuracy, a new positioning process needs to be defined between the LMF and the UE (e.g., RedCap device) for the frequency hopping positioning measurement technique. In other words, a method is needed to receive the required minimum PRS sequence, or to efficiently perform UE positioning within the required accuracy using a partial received PRS interval, because the UE may not be able to receive all N subbands or intervals within the DRX cycle. That is, the network may need to make additional decisions based on information sent by the UE during positioning measurements to improve the integrity and / or accuracy of positioning.

[0101] However, some example embodiments are described below using the principles and terminology of 5G radio access technology without limiting the example embodiments to 5G radio access technology.

[0102] Some example embodiments may provide solutions to overcome the Figure 4 The misalignment between DRX and DL PRS is shown, and Figure 5A , Figure 5B and Figure 5C Problems with frequency hopping positioning measurement technology.

[0103] Some example embodiments may provide a LMF based process to handle missed PRS interval(s) while using frequency hopping positioning measurement techniques.

[0104] In some cases (e.g., UE environment is static, no fading, no mobility, strong line of sight, etc.), LMF can reuse any missed PRS intervals from (multiple) earlier successful frequency hopping receptions to increase the received PRS bandwidth, thereby improving TOA estimation accuracy.

[0105] The example embodiments described herein may reduce the UE's continuous monitoring of PRS. In addition, the example embodiments may reduce the computational load associated with positioning-related parameters on the UE side and transfer them to the LMF side, while reducing the UE's power consumption. In addition, the example embodiments may allow the LMF to adaptively adjust channel characteristics and related thresholds to improve positioning accuracy.

[0106] Fig. 6A and Figure 6B An example of replacing a missed PRS interval with a previous PRS interval successfully received in a previous time opportunity is illustrated.

[0107] exist Fig. 6A In the first frequency hopping set 610 during the frequency hopping time opportunity O(t-2), the UE has successfully received the PRS1 interval 611, the PRS2 interval 612, the PRS3 interval 613 and the PRS4 interval 614.

[0108] In the second frequency hopping set 620 during the frequency hopping time opportunity O(t-1), the UE has successfully received the PRS2 interval 622, the PRS3 interval 623, the PRS4 interval 624 and the PRS5 interval 625.

[0109] In the third frequency hopping set 630 during the frequency hopping time opportunity O(t), the UE has successfully received the PRS2 interval 632, the PRS3 interval 633, and the PRS4 interval 634. However, during the frequency hopping time opportunity O(t), the UE misses the PRS1 interval and the PRS5 interval of the third frequency hopping set 630.

[0110] Based on channel conditions (e.g., UE mobility environment, etc.), the LMF may decide whether to reuse the PRS1 interval 611 (frequency hopping opportunity O(t-2)) from earlier successful frequency hopping reception and the PRS5 interval 625 of the frequency hopping time opportunity O(t-1) for positioning measurement (e.g., for TOA estimation, as a larger bandwidth will improve accuracy). In other words, Figure 6B As shown, the missed PRS1 interval of the third frequency hopping set 630 can be replaced by the successfully received PRS1 interval 611 from the first frequency hopping set 610, and the missed PRS5 interval of the third frequency hopping set 630 can be replaced by the successfully received PRS5 interval 625 from the second frequency hopping set 610. This generates a wideband PRS in the opportunity O(t).

[0111] Figure 7 A signal flow diagram is illustrated according to an example embodiment, wherein positioning measurements are performed using a frequency hopping configuration.

[0112] refer to Figure 7 At 701, at least one RAN node 104 (e.g., gNB) sends multiple positioning reference signals of a first frequency hopping set at time opportunity O(tn). Herein, positioning reference signals may also be referred to as PRS intervals or frequency intervals or frequency hopping. UE 100 receives multiple positioning reference signals (PRS intervals) of a first frequency hopping set. In other words, in this case, the UE does not miss any PRS interval during positioning measurements of PRS using frequency hopping. UE 100 may be a reduced capability (RedCap) device or any other type of UE.

[0113] At 702, the UE 100 obtains raw channel estimates for a plurality of received positioning reference signals (PRS intervals) of a first frequency hopping set. For example, the UE 100 may obtain raw channel estimates for each received PRS interval. Based on the raw channel estimates, the UE 100 determines a timing measurement, such as a time of arrival (TOA) estimate or a time difference of arrival (TDoA) estimate, and one or more channel characteristics for a plurality of received positioning reference signals (PRS intervals) of the first frequency hopping set. In other words, the UE 100 extracts one or more channel characteristics during the measurement of each PRS interval. The UE 100 may determine the timing measurement by utilizing or aggregating a plurality of positioning reference signals (i.e., all received hops) to obtain a wideband PRS. Alternatively or additionally, the UE 100 may determine one or more other positioning-related measurements, such as an angle of arrival (AoA), based on the aggregated PRS.

[0114] For example, one or more channel characteristics may include at least one of the following: channel impulse response (CIR), channel flatness probability (CFP), reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), or power delay profile (PDP), the PDP having a specific PDP length (PDP length is configured by LMF). CFP, RSRP and RSRQ can be expressed as values. CIR is a composite function that describes how a given channel modifies a signal sent through it. PDP is a function that provides information about how the power of a received signal is distributed as a function of time delay.

[0115] The term "raw channel estimate" refers to the initial estimate of these channel characteristics before any quantization, baseband oversampling, or other signal processing is applied. In other words, the raw channel estimate is a direct measurement or estimate of the channel response. The raw channel estimate can be obtained using various techniques, such as pilot symbols, training sequences, or other known signal characteristics.

[0116] For example, let H represent the channel and X represent the PRS symbol. Then, the received signal Y=HX+noise. The original channel estimate is Y / X=H+noise / X. Depending on the bandwidth, there may be PRS symbols X1, X2, X3, X4, X5, ..., Xn. For example, the first PRS interval (PRS interval 1) may include [X1 X2 X3 X4], and the second PRS interval (PRS interval 2) may include [X4X5 X6 X7]. Then, TOA may be estimated based on the (aggregated) original channel estimate, and one or more channel characteristics may be derived for each original channel estimate.

[0117] At 703, the UE 100 sends information indicating at least timing measurements and / or AoA and one or more channel characteristics of a plurality of received positioning reference signals of a first frequency hopping set to a location management entity such as the LMF 112. The UE 100 may send the information to the LMF 112 via the RAN node 104 (e.g., gNB). The LMF 112 receives the information.

[0118] The information may also specify one or more timestamps associated with one or more channel characteristics and an identifier for each received PRS interval. In other words, the UE 100 may send the estimated one or more channel characteristics for each received PRS interval to the LMF 112 along with the timestamp.

[0119] At 704, LMF 112 stores or saves one or more channel characteristics for each received PRS interval at time opportunity O(tn) with a timestamp, along with the PRS interval ID, in at least one memory for a specific memory window length.

[0120] At 705, at least one RAN node 104 (e.g., gNB) transmits a plurality of positioning reference signals (PRS intervals) of a second frequency hopping set at time O(t) (i.e., the second frequency hopping set is transmitted at a later time than the first frequency hopping set). The UE 100 receives one or more positioning reference signals (PRS intervals) of the second frequency hopping set.

[0121] At 706, the UE 100 determines that one or more positioning reference signals (PRS intervals) are missed in the second frequency hopping set, and the UE 100 determines one or more identifiers of the one or more missed positioning reference signals of the second frequency hopping set (i.e., an identifier of each missed PRS interval). The UE may be pre-configured with a DL PRS configuration that specifies the PRS intervals that the UE should receive, and thus the UE may determine the one or more missed positioning reference signals (PRS intervals) based on the DL PRS configuration.

[0122] For example, if the UE 100 is sleeping when these (multiple) PRS intervals are sent, the UE 100 may miss one or more PRS intervals due to its DRX cycle. As another example, if the priority of PRS is smaller than another channel (e.g., data), even if the UE is awake, it may still miss one or more PRS intervals.

[0123] At 707, the UE 100 obtains raw channel estimates for one or more received positioning reference signals (PRS intervals) of the second frequency hopping set. For example, the UE 100 may obtain raw channel estimates for each received PRS interval. Based on the raw channel estimates, the UE 100 determines a timing measurement (such as a TOA estimate or a TDoA estimate), and one or more channel characteristics of the one or more received positioning reference signals (PRS intervals) of the second frequency hopping set. In other words, the UE 100 extracts one or more channel characteristics during the measurement of each received PRS interval. The UE 100 may determine the timing measurement by utilizing or aggregating the one or more received positioning reference signals (i.e., all received hops) to obtain a wideband PRS. It should be noted that one or more missed positioning reference signals (missed PRS intervals) are excluded from the timing measurement. Alternatively or additionally, the UE 100 may determine one or more other positioning-related measurements, such as angle of arrival (AoA), based on the aggregated PRS.

[0124] At 708, the UE 100 sends information to the LMF 112, the information indicating the timing measurement and / or AoA of the one or more received positioning reference signals (PRS intervals) of the second frequency hopping set (excluding the one or more missed PRS intervals), one or more channel characteristics of the one or more received positioning reference signals (PRS intervals) of the second frequency hopping set, and one or more identifiers of the one or more missed positioning reference signals of the second frequency hopping set (i.e., an identifier of each missed PRS interval). The UE 100 may send the information to the LMF 112 via the RAN node 104 (e.g., gNB). The LMF 112 receives the information. The LMF 112 may store or save the information in at least one memory.

[0125] The information may also specify one or more timestamps associated with one or more channel characteristics and an identifier of each received PRS interval of the second frequency hopping set. In other words, the UE 100 may send the estimated one or more channel characteristics and a timestamp for each received PRS interval to the LMF 112.

[0126] Using this signaling, the UE 100 asks the LMF 112 for the best way to handle one or more missed PRS intervals. The network (e.g., LMF 112) has more processing power and memory than the UE 100, so the available information, identifiers, and timestamps of the extracted channel characteristics of the PRS intervals can be used to make a decision about the one or more missed PRS intervals. Based on the information collected between the timing O(t) and the timing O(tn) about the channel characteristics of the received PRS intervals, the network (e.g., LMF 112) can propose different options, including retransmission of one or more missed PRS intervals, or replacing one or more missed PRS intervals with previously received PRS intervals (e.g., from timing O(tn)).

[0127] At 709, the LMF 112 determines whether to replace one or more missed PRS intervals with one or more previous PRS intervals from time O(tn). For example, the LMF may compare channel characteristics between time time O(t) and O(tn), or use a learning-based algorithm (such as an artificial intelligence or machine learning algorithm) to decide whether the previous time instance of a given PRS interval can be utilized in the case of a missed PRS interval. If so, and the probability is high, the LMF 112 may signal the UE 100 to use the previous PRS interval instead of the missed PRS interval, and send back an estimated positioning measurement (e.g., TOA).

[0128] As another option, LMF 112 may instruct UE 100 to use a weighted average of previously correctly received PRS intervals corresponding to the missed PRS interval(s). For example, if a PRS1 interval is missed at time O(t), the missed PRS1 interval may be replaced with a weighted average of PRS1 intervals correctly received at times O(t-1), O(t-2), and O(t-3).

[0129] As an example (see Fig. 6A), the LMF may compare one or more channel characteristics of the received PRS2 interval 632 at time O(t) and the received PRS2 interval 622 at time O(t-1) to determine whether to replace the missed PRS5 interval at time O(t) with the received PRS5 interval 625 at time O(t-1). If the channel characteristics between the time opportunities (e.g., between the PRS2 interval 632 and the PRS2 interval 622) are similar, the LMF may decide to replace the (multiple) missed PRS intervals with (multiple) previously received PRS intervals. The identifiers of the one or more previously received PRS intervals to be used as replacements may correspond to the identifiers of the one or more missed PRS intervals (e.g., the PRS5 interval 625 at time O(t-1) may be used to replace the corresponding missed PRS5 interval at time O(t)).

[0130] In this way, based at least on one or more channel characteristics of one or more received positioning reference signals of the second frequency hopping set and one or more corresponding channel characteristics of one or more corresponding positioning reference signals received (by UE 100) in the first frequency hopping set, one or more missed positioning reference signals (PRS intervals) can be compensated by utilizing one or more previous positioning reference signals (PRS intervals) from the first frequency hopping set (i.e., the previous frequency hopping set).

[0131] Reference below Fig.10 Some additional examples of determining whether to replace one or more missed PRS intervals are described.

[0132] At 710, based on determining to replace one or more missed positioning reference signals (PRS intervals), LMF 112 sends an indication to UE 100 indicating that the one or more missed positioning reference signals (PRS intervals) of the second frequency hopping set are replaced with one or more previous positioning reference signals (PRS intervals) from the first frequency hopping set, and based on the replacement, new timing measurements are sent to LMF 112. In other words, LMF 112 indicates to UE 100 its decision to replace one or more missed PRS intervals with one or more previous PRS intervals. LMF 112 may send the indication to UE 100 via RAN node 104 (e.g., gNB).

[0133] At 711, the UE 100 replaces the one or more missed positioning reference signals (PRS intervals) with the one or more previous positioning reference signals (PRS intervals) based on the indication by using the original channel estimates of the one or more previous positioning reference signals (obtained at 702). The replacement may represent, for example, combining the original channel estimates of the one or more previous positioning reference signals (PRS intervals) at time O(tn) with the original channel estimates of the one or more received positioning reference signals (PRS intervals) at time O(t).

[0134] At 712, the UE 100 determines, based on the replacement, a timing measurement, such as a TOA estimate or a TDoA estimate, associated with one or more received positioning reference signals (PRS intervals) of the second frequency hopping set (opportunity O(t)) and one or more previous positioning reference signals (PRS intervals) of the first frequency hopping set (opportunity O(tn)) used to replace the one or more missed positioning reference signals (PRS intervals) of the second frequency hopping set. In other words, the UE 100 can obtain the timing measurement by utilizing or aggregating the one or more received positioning reference signals (PRS intervals) of the second frequency hopping set and one or more previous positioning reference signals (PRS intervals) of the first frequency hopping set to generate a wideband PRS. Alternatively or additionally, the UE 100 can also determine one or more other positioning-related measurements, such as angle of arrival (AoA), based on the aggregated PRS.

[0135] At 713, the UE 100 sends or reports timing measurements and / or AoA associated with one or more received positioning reference signals (PRS intervals) of the second frequency hopping set and one or more previous positioning reference signals (PRS intervals) of the first frequency hopping set to the LMF 112. The UE 100 may send the timing measurements to the LMF 112 via the RAN node 104 (e.g., gNB). The LMF 112 receives, based on sending the indication, timing measurements associated with one or more received positioning reference signals of the second frequency hopping set and one or more previous positioning reference signals of the first frequency hopping set from the UE 100.

[0136] At 714, the LMF 112 estimates the location (i.e., position) of the UE 100 based at least in part on timing measurements (e.g., TOA estimates or TDoA estimates) and / or AoA associated with one or more received positioning reference signals (PRS intervals) of the second frequency hopping set and one or more previous positioning reference signals (PRS intervals) from the first frequency hopping set. For example, the TOA estimate may be used to estimate the distance between the UE 100 and the at least one RAN node 104. The location of the at least one RAN node 104 may be known to the LMF 112, and thus the LMF may estimate the location of the UE 100 based on the distance between the UE 100 and the at least one RAN node 104.

[0137] For a two-dimensional position estimate of UE 100, TOA estimates of at least two RAN nodes (e.g., gNBs) may be required. For a three-dimensional positioning (x, y, z coordinates) of UE 100, LMF may require TOA estimates of at least three RAN nodes (e.g., gNBs).

[0138] Figure 8 A signal flow diagram is illustrated according to an example embodiment, in which positioning measurements are performed using a frequency hopping configuration. In this example embodiment, if the LFM determines that it is not feasible to reuse a PRS interval from a previous opportunity to replace a missed PRS interval, the LMF configures the gNB and the UE for retransmission of the missed PRS interval.

[0139] refer to Figure 8 , at 801, at least one RAN node 104 (e.g., gNB) sends multiple positioning reference signals of a first frequency hopping set at time opportunity O(tn). Herein, positioning reference signals may also be referred to as PRS intervals or frequency intervals or frequency hopping. UE 100 receives multiple positioning reference signals (PRS intervals) of a first frequency hopping set. In other words, in this case, the UE does not miss any PRS interval during positioning measurements of PRS using frequency hopping. UE 100 may be a reduced capability (RedCap) device or any other type of UE.

[0140] At 802, the UE 100 obtains raw channel estimates for a plurality of received positioning reference signals (PRS intervals) of a first frequency hopping set. In other words, the UE 100 may obtain raw channel estimates for each received PRS interval. Based on the raw channel estimates, the UE 100 determines timing measurements (such as time of arrival (TOA) estimates or time difference of arrival (TDoA) estimates), and one or more channel characteristics for a plurality of received positioning reference signals (PRS intervals) of the first frequency hopping set. In other words, the UE 100 extracts one or more channel characteristics during the measurement of each PRS interval. The UE 100 may determine the timing measurements by utilizing or aggregating a plurality of positioning reference signals (i.e., all received hops) to obtain a wideband PRS. Alternatively or additionally, the UE 100 may determine one or more other positioning-related measurements, such as angle of arrival (AoA), based on the aggregated PRS.

[0141] For example, the one or more channel characteristics may include at least one of the following: a channel impulse response (CIR), a channel flatness probability (CFP), a reference signal received power (RSRP), a reference signal received quality (RSRQ), or a power delay profile (PDP), the PDP having a specific PDP length (the PDP length is configured by the LMF).

[0142] At 803, the UE 100 sends information indicating at least timing measurements and / or AoA of a plurality of received positioning reference signals of a first frequency hopping set, and one or more channel characteristics to a location management entity such as the LMF 112. The UE 100 may send the information to the LMF 112 via the RAN node 104 (e.g., gNB). The LMF 112 receives the information.

[0143] The information may also specify one or more timestamps associated with the one or more channel characteristics and an identifier for each received PRS interval. In other words, the UE 100 may send the estimated one or more channel characteristics for each PRS interval to the LMF 112 along with the timestamp.

[0144] At 804, LMF 112 stores or saves one or more channel characteristics for each PRS interval at time opportunity O(tn) along with the timestamp along with the PRS interval ID in at least one memory for a specific memory window length.

[0145] At 805, at least one RAN node 104 (e.g., gNB) transmits a plurality of positioning reference signals (PRS intervals) of a second frequency hopping set at time O(t) (i.e., the second frequency hopping set is transmitted at a later time than the first frequency hopping set). The UE 100 receives one or more positioning reference signals (PRS intervals) of the second frequency hopping set.

[0146] At 806, the UE 100 determines that one or more positioning reference signals (PRS intervals) are missed in the second frequency hopping set, and the UE 100 determines one or more identifiers of the one or more missed positioning reference signals of the second frequency hopping set (i.e., an identifier of each missed PRS interval). The UE may be pre-configured with a DL PRS configuration that specifies the PRS intervals that the UE should receive, and thus the UE may determine the one or more missed positioning reference signals (PRS intervals) based on the DL PRS configuration.

[0147] At 807, the UE 100 obtains raw channel estimates for one or more received positioning reference signals (PRS intervals) of the second frequency hopping set. For example, the UE 100 may obtain raw channel estimates for each received PRS interval. Based on the raw channel estimates, the UE 100 determines a timing measurement (such as a TOA estimate or a TDoA estimate), and one or more channel characteristics of the one or more received positioning reference signals (PRS intervals) of the second frequency hopping set. In other words, the UE 100 extracts one or more channel characteristics during the measurement of each received PRS interval. The UE 100 may determine the timing measurement estimate by utilizing or aggregating one or more received positioning reference signals (i.e., all received hops) to obtain a wideband PRS. It should be noted that one or more missed positioning reference signals (missed PRS intervals) are excluded from the timing measurement. Alternatively or additionally, the UE 100 may determine one or more other positioning-related measurements, such as angle of arrival (AoA), based on the aggregated PRS.

[0148] At 808, the UE 100 sends information to the LMF 112, the information indicating the timing measurement and / or AoA of the one or more received positioning reference signals (PRS intervals) of the second frequency hopping set (excluding the one or more missed PRS intervals), one or more channel characteristics of the one or more received positioning reference signals (PRS intervals) of the second frequency hopping set, and one or more identifiers of the one or more missed positioning reference signals of the second frequency hopping set (i.e., an identifier of each missed PRS interval). The UE 100 may send the information to the LMF 112 via the RAN node 104 (e.g., gNB). The LMF 112 receives the information. The LMF 112 may store or save the information in at least one memory.

[0149] The information may also specify one or more timestamps associated with one or more channel characteristics and an identifier of each received PRS interval of the second frequency hopping set. In other words, the UE 100 may send the estimated one or more channel characteristics of each received PRS interval and a timestamp to the LMF 112.

[0150] At 809, LMF 112 determines whether to replace one or more missed PRS intervals with previous PRS intervals. For example, LMF may compare channel characteristics between time instances O(t) and O(tn), or use a learning-based algorithm (such as an artificial intelligence or machine learning algorithm) to decide whether a previous time instance of a given PRS interval can be utilized in the case of a missed PRS interval. In this case, LMF 112 determines that it is not necessary to replace one or more missed PRS intervals with previous PRS intervals.

[0151] At 810, based on determining that one or more missed positioning reference signals (PRS intervals) do not need to be replaced, LMF 112 sends an indication to UE 100 indicating that retransmission of one or more missed positioning reference signals (PRS intervals) is prepared. In other words, LMF 112 indicates to UE 100 its decision not to replace one or more missed PRS intervals with one or more previous PRS intervals. LMF 112 may send the indication to UE 100 via RAN node 104 (e.g., gNB).

[0152] At 811, the LMF 112 sends an indication to at least one RAN node 104 (e.g., gNB) indicating: retransmission of one or more missed positioning reference signals (PRS intervals). The timing of the retransmission can be matched with the DRX cycle of the UE 100 so that the retransmission occurs during the on-duration.

[0153] In other words, in this case, one or more missed positioning reference signals can be compensated by sending an indication to the UE 100 to prepare for retransmission of one or more missed positioning reference signals, and having at least one RAN node 104 retransmit the one or more missed positioning reference signals.

[0154] At 812, at least one RAN node 104 (e.g., gNB) retransmits one or more missed positioning reference signals (PRS intervals) at opportunity O(t+n) (i.e., at a later time compared to the transmission of the second frequency hopping set). Based on the indication of 810, the UE 100 receives a retransmission of the one or more missed positioning reference signals (PRS intervals).

[0155] At 813, the UE 100 determines measurements associated with one or more received positioning reference signals (PRS intervals) of the second frequency hopping set (from opportunity O(t)), and one or more missed retransmissions of positioning reference signals (PRS intervals) (from opportunity O(t+n)), such as TOA estimates or TDoA estimates. In other words, the UE 100 may obtain timing measurements by utilizing or aggregating one or more received positioning reference signals (PRS intervals) of the second frequency hopping set, and one or more missed retransmissions of positioning reference signals (PRS intervals) (from opportunity O(t+n)), thereby generating a wideband PRS. Alternatively or additionally, the UE 100 may also determine one or more other positioning-related measurements, such as angle of arrival (AoA), based on the aggregated PRS.

[0156] At 814, the UE 100 sends or reports timing measurements and / or AoA associated with retransmissions of one or more received positioning reference signals (PRS intervals) of the second frequency hopping set and one or more missed positioning reference signals (PRS intervals) to the LMF 112. The UE 100 may send the timing measurements to the LMF 112 via the RAN node 104 (e.g., gNB). The LMF 112 receives the timing measurements from the UE 100.

[0157] At 815, the LMF 112 estimates the location (i.e., position) of the UE 100 based at least in part on timing measurements (e.g., TOA estimates or TDoA estimates) and / or AoA associated with one or more received positioning reference signals (PRS intervals) of the second frequency hopping set and retransmissions (from opportunity O(t+n)) of one or more missed positioning reference signals (PRS intervals). For example, the TOA estimate may be used to estimate the distance between the UE 100 and at least one RAN node 104. The location of the at least one RAN node 104 may be known by the LMF 112, and thus the LMF may estimate the location of the UE 100 based on the distance between the UE 100 and the at least one RAN node 104.

[0158] For a two-dimensional position estimate of UE 100, TOA estimates of at least two RAN nodes (e.g., gNBs) may be required. For a three-dimensional positioning (x, y, z coordinates) of UE 100, LMF may require TOA estimates of at least three RAN nodes (e.g., gNBs).

[0159] Fig. 9 A signal flow diagram according to an example embodiment is illustrated, in which positioning measurements are performed using a frequency hopping configuration. In this example embodiment, the UE sends its acquired received signal (i.e., the original channel estimate) to the LMF to replace or supplement the PRS interval channel characteristics. In this method, the UE can apply, for example, compressed sensing techniques to the original channel estimate to reduce the payload size, and the LMF reconstructs or decompresses the signal sent by the UE (the original channel estimate).

[0160] refer to Fig. 9 At 901, at least one RAN node 104 (e.g., gNB) sends multiple positioning reference signals of a first frequency hopping set at time O(tn). Herein, the positioning reference signal may also be referred to as a PRS interval or a frequency interval or a frequency hopping. The UE 100 receives multiple positioning reference signals (PRS intervals) of the first frequency hopping set. In other words, in this case, the UE will not miss any PRS interval during positioning measurements of PRS using frequency hopping. The UE 100 may be a reduced capability (RedCap) device or any other type of UE.

[0161] At 902, the UE 100 obtains a raw channel estimate for each of a plurality of received positioning reference signals (PRS intervals) of a first frequency hopping set. In other words, the UE 100 may obtain a raw channel estimate for each received PRS interval.

[0162] At 903, UE 100 obtains a compressed original channel estimate for each of a plurality of received positioning reference signals (PRS intervals) of the first frequency hopping set by compressing the original channel estimate. In other words, UE 100 may compress the original channel estimate of each received PRS interval of the first frequency hopping set.

[0163] For example, the raw channel estimate may be compressed using a compressed sensing technique. Alternatively, any other compression technique may be used.

[0164] At 904, the UE 100 sends compressed raw channel estimates of multiple received positioning reference signals (PRS intervals) of the first frequency hopping set to the LMF 112. The UE 100 may send the compressed raw channel estimates to the LMF 112 via the RAN node 104 (e.g., gNB). The LMF 112 receives the compressed raw channel estimates of the multiple received positioning reference signals (PRS intervals) of the first frequency hopping set from the UE 100.

[0165] The compressed raw channel estimates indicate one or more channel characteristics of the plurality of received positioning reference signals, and the LMF 112 may determine the channel characteristics after decompressing the compressed raw channel estimates.

[0166] At 905, the LMF 112 obtains a decompressed raw channel estimate for each positioning reference signal of a plurality of positioning reference signals (PRS intervals) of the first frequency hopping set by decompressing the compressed raw channel estimate.

[0167] LMF 112 may store the decompressed raw channel estimates in at least one memory.

[0168] At 906, the LMF 112 determines a timing measurement (such as a TOA estimate or a TDoA estimate) and one or more channel characteristics of the plurality of positioning reference signals (PRS intervals) of the first set of frequency hoppings based on the decompressed raw channel estimates of the plurality of positioning reference signals (PRS intervals) of the first set of frequency hoppings. The LMF 112 may determine the timing measurement by utilizing or aggregating the plurality of positioning reference signals (i.e., all received hops) to obtain a wideband PRS. Alternatively or additionally, the LMF may determine one or more other positioning-related measurements, such as an angle of arrival (AoA), based on the aggregated PRS.

[0169] For example, the one or more channel characteristics may include at least one of the following: a channel impulse response (CIR), a channel flatness probability (CFP), a reference signal received power (RSRP), a reference signal received quality (RSRQ), or a power delay profile (PDP), the PDP having a specific PDP length (the PDP length is configured by the LMF).

[0170] At 907, at least one RAN node 104 (e.g., gNB) transmits a plurality of positioning reference signals (PRS intervals) of a second frequency hopping set at time O(t) (i.e., the second frequency hopping set is transmitted at a later time than the first frequency hopping set). The UE 100 receives one or more positioning reference signals (PRS intervals) of the second frequency hopping set.

[0171] At 908, the UE 100 determines that one or more positioning reference signals (PRS intervals) are missed in the second frequency hopping set, and the UE 100 determines one or more identifiers of the one or more missed positioning reference signals of the second frequency hopping set (i.e., an identifier of each missed PRS interval). The UE may be pre-configured with a DL PRS configuration that specifies the PRS intervals that the UE should receive, and thus the UE may determine the one or more missed positioning reference signals (PRS intervals) based on the DL PRS configuration.

[0172] At 909, the UE 100 obtains raw channel estimates of one or more received positioning reference signals (PRS intervals) of the second frequency hopping set. In other words, the UE 100 may obtain raw channel estimates of each received PRS interval of the second frequency hopping set.

[0173] At 910, the UE 100 obtains compressed original channel estimates of one or more received positioning reference signals (PRS intervals) of the second frequency hopping set by compressing the original channel estimates of the one or more received positioning reference signals (PRS intervals) of the second frequency hopping set. In other words, the UE 100 can compress the original channel estimate of each received PRS interval of the second frequency hopping set.

[0174] At 911, the UE 100 sends compressed raw channel estimates of one or more received positioning reference signals (PRS intervals) of the second frequency hopping set and one or more identifiers of one or more missed positioning reference signals (PRS intervals) of the second frequency hopping set to the LMF 112. The UE 100 may send the compressed raw channel estimates and the one or more identifiers to the LMF 112 via the RAN node 104 (e.g., gNB). The LMF 112 receives the compressed raw channel estimates of one or more received positioning reference signals (PRS intervals) of the second frequency hopping set and the one or more identifiers of the one or more missed positioning reference signals from the UE 100. The LMF 112 may store the received information in at least one memory.

[0175] At 912, the LMF 112 obtains a decompressed raw channel estimate for each of the one or more positioning reference signals (PRS intervals) of the second frequency hopping set by decompressing the compressed raw channel estimate for each of the one or more positioning reference signals (PRS intervals) of the second frequency hopping set. The LMF 112 may store the decompressed raw channel estimate(s) in at least one memory.

[0176] At 913, LMF 112 determines one or more channel characteristics of each of the one or more positioning reference signals (PRS intervals) in the second frequency hopping set based on the decompressed original channel estimate of each of the one or more positioning reference signals (PRS intervals) in the second frequency hopping set.

[0177] At 914, LMF 112 compares the channel characteristics of the PRS intervals correctly received between timing O(t) and timing O(tn) with one or more predefined thresholds. If the comparison satisfies one or more predefined conditions, the LMF may replace one or more missed PRS intervals of timing O(t) with one or more PRS intervals received in an earlier DRX cycle (timing O(tn)).

[0178] For example, LMF 112 may determine a similarity metric (e.g., difference or coherence time or dynamic time warp index) between one or more channel characteristics of one or more received positioning reference signals (PRS intervals) of the second frequency hopping set and one or more corresponding channel characteristics of one or more corresponding positioning reference signals (PRS intervals) received in the first frequency hopping set (i.e., the previous frequency hopping set). LMF 112 may then compare the similarity metric with one or more predefined thresholds to determine whether to compensate for (e.g., replace) one or more missed positioning reference signals by utilizing one or more previous positioning reference signals from the first frequency hopping set.

[0179] Reference below Fig.10 Some additional examples are described.

[0180] At 915, after determining to replace one or more missed positioning reference signals based on the comparison, LMF112 replaces the one or more missed positioning reference signals of the second frequency hopping set with one or more previous positioning reference signals from the first frequency hopping set by using the decompressed original channel estimates of the one or more previous positioning reference signals (obtained at 905).

[0181] At 916, the LMF 112 determines a timing measurement, such as a TOA estimate or a TDoA estimate, associated with one or more received positioning reference signals of the second frequency hopping set and one or more previous positioning reference signals from the first frequency hopping set based on the replacement. The LMF 112 may obtain the timing measurement by utilizing or aggregating the one or more received positioning reference signals (PRS intervals) of the second frequency hopping set and one or more previous positioning reference signals (PRS intervals) of the first frequency hopping set to produce a wideband PRS. Alternatively or additionally, the LMF may determine one or more other positioning-related measurements, such as an angle of arrival (AoA), based on the aggregated PRS.

[0182] At 917, the LMF 112 estimates the location (i.e., position) of the UE 100 based at least in part on timing measurements (e.g., TOA estimates or TDoA estimates) and / or AoA associated with one or more received positioning reference signals (PRS intervals) of the second frequency hopping set and one or more previous positioning reference signals (PRS intervals) from the first frequency hopping set. For example, the TOA estimate may be used to estimate the distance between the UE 100 and the at least one RAN node 104. The location of the at least one RAN node 104 may be known to the LMF 112, and thus the LMF may estimate the location of the UE 100 based on the distance between the UE 100 and the at least one RAN node 104.

[0183] For a two-dimensional position estimate of UE 100, TOA estimates of at least two RAN nodes (e.g., gNBs) may be required. For a three-dimensional positioning (x, y, z coordinates) of UE 100, LMF may require TOA estimates of at least three RAN nodes (e.g., gNBs).

[0184] It should be noted that the example embodiments are not limited to downlink positioning scenarios, and they can also be applied to sidelink positioning scenarios. Figure 7 , Figure 8 and Fig. 9 In the example, gNB 104 may be replaced by another UE 102, which may send a SL PRS interval that is received by UE 100.

[0185] Fig.10 A flow chart according to an example embodiment of a method performed by an apparatus 1400 , such as a location server, the location management function 112 of the core network 110 , or any other location management entity, is illustrated.

[0186] In this example embodiment, a decision making entity (e.g., LMF) may consider one or more channel characteristics (defined for each received PRS interval and timestamp) as input parameters for the decision of whether to replace one or more missed PRS intervals (e.g., in Figure 7 709 places in Figure 8 809 places in Fig. 9 914 of them).

[0187] In box 1001, the LMF determines one or more similarity metrics between one or more channel characteristics of one or more received positioning reference signals (from opportunity O(t)) and one or more corresponding channel characteristics of one or more corresponding positioning reference signals (from opportunity O(tn)) received in one or more previous frequency hop sets.

[0188] For example, the one or more channel characteristics may include at least one of the following: a channel impulse response (CIR), a channel flatness probability (CFP), a reference signal received power (RSRP), a reference signal received quality (RSRQ), or a power delay profile (PDP), the PDP having a specific PDP length (the PDP length is configured by the LMF).

[0189] The one or more similarity metrics may include at least one of the following: a difference between one or more channel characteristics of one or more received positioning reference signals and one or more corresponding channel characteristics of one or more corresponding positioning reference signals received in one or more previous frequency hopping sets, a coherence time between one or more received positioning reference signals and one or more corresponding positioning reference signals from one or more previous frequency hopping sets, or a dynamic time warp index between one or more received positioning reference signals and one or more corresponding positioning reference signals from one or more previous frequency hopping sets.

[0190] Coherence time (CT) and / or dynamic time warping (DTW) index may be used as additional similarity metrics to identify the correlation factor between the current frequency hopping opportunity O(t) and one or more previous opportunities O(tn) (to check if the channel characteristics have changed significantly).

[0191] Coherence time is a term used in wireless communications to describe the duration of time that a wireless channel can be considered "constant" or "stable". Wireless channels are affected by various phenomena such as multipath propagation, fading, and Doppler shift due to the mobility of the transmitter, receiver, or surrounding objects. These factors can cause channel properties to vary over time. However, if these variations are small for a given period of time, the channel can be considered "coherent" or "constant". This period of time is called the coherence time of the channel.

[0192] DTW is an algorithm for measuring the similarity between two time series. In general, it can be used to calculate the best match between two given sequences. Here, it can be used to measure the similarity between, for example, PDPs at times O(t) and O(tn). Then, the DTW (e.g., the DTW of the PDPs at times O(t) and O(tn)) can be compared with a given threshold.

[0193] In block 1002, the LMF compares one or more similarity metrics to one or more predefined thresholds to determine whether to compensate (e.g., replace) one or more missed positioning reference signals by utilizing one or more previous positioning reference signals from one or more previous frequency hopping sets. The decision may depend on one or more conditions.

[0194] For example, one or more conditions may require that the CFP difference for a given PRS interval between time instances O(t) and O(tn) be lower than or equal to a predefined threshold CFP th :

[0195] |CFP(bin_id_n,O(tn)-CFP(bin_id_n,O(t)|≤CFP th

[0196] Alternatively or additionally, one or more conditions may require that the RSRP difference for a given PRS interval between time instances O(t) and O(tn) be lower than or equal to a predefined threshold RSRP th :

[0197] |RSRP(bin_id_n, O(tn)-RSRP(bin_id_n, O(t)|≤RSRP th

[0198] Alternatively or additionally, one or more conditions may require that the coherence time between the one or more received positioning reference signals at the timing O(t) and the one or more corresponding positioning reference signals received in the timing O(tn) is greater than or equal to the duration during which the one or more received positioning reference signals at the timing O(t) and the one or more corresponding positioning reference signals at the timing O(t-n) are measured:

[0199] |CT(bin_id_n,O(tn)-O(t)|≥O(t)-O(tn)

[0200] Alternatively or additionally, one or more conditions may require that a dynamic time warping index between one or more received positioning reference signals at time O(t) and one or more corresponding positioning reference signals from one or more previous frequency hopping sets at time O(tn) is higher than or equal to a predefined threshold DTWth :

[0201] DTW(bin_id_n,O(tn)-O(t)≥DTW th

[0202] The CFP, RSRP, CT and / or DTW may be compared for each received PRS interval ID or for an average of all PRS interval IDs for a given frequency hopping set.

[0203] For example, at least one of the above conditions may need to be met in order to replace one or more missed PRS intervals. As another example, most of the above conditions may need to be met in order to replace one or more missed PRS intervals. As another example, all of the above conditions may need to be met in order to replace one or more missed PRS intervals.

[0204] In block 1003, if one or more conditions are met (block 1002: yes), the LMF determines to replace one or more missed PRS intervals with one or more previous PRS intervals. The one or more missed PRS intervals may be at the UE (as described above with reference to Figure 7 as described above) or at the LMF (as described above with reference Fig. 9 The above) is replaced.

[0205] Alternatively, in block 1004, if one or more conditions are not satisfied (block 1002: No), the LMF determines that it is not necessary to replace one or more missing PRS intervals with one or more previous PRS intervals. In this case, the LMF may prepare or configure at least one RAN node and UE for retransmission of one or more missed PRS intervals, as described above with reference to Figure 8 Explained.

[0206] Fig.11 A flow chart according to an example embodiment of a method performed by an apparatus 1400, such as a location server, or the location management function 112 of the core network 110, or any other location management entity, is illustrated.

[0207] refer to Fig.11 In block 1101, the apparatus 1400 (or LMF 112) receives information from the user equipment 100, the information indicating at least: one or more channel characteristics of one or more received positioning reference signals 632, 633, 634 of the frequency hopping set 630, and one or more identifiers of one or more missed positioning reference signals of the frequency hopping set 630. The user equipment 100 may be a reduced capability (RedCap) device or any other type of UE.

[0208] Herein, the expression "one or more received positioning reference signals" means that one or more positioning reference signals (PRS intervals) are received by the user equipment 100. One or more received positioning reference signals may also be referred to as one or more non-missed positioning reference signals (or non-missed PRS intervals). Herein, the positioning reference signal may refer to a downlink positioning reference signal or a sidelink positioning reference signal.

[0209] One or more missed positioning reference signals (PRS intervals) refer to positioning reference signals (PRS intervals) sent by one or more network nodes 104 but failed to be received or detected by the user equipment 100 .

[0210] In block 1102, the apparatus 1400 (or LMF 112) compensates for one or more missed positioning reference signals of the frequency hopping set 630 based at least in part on the information.

[0211] The one or more channel characteristics may include at least one of: a channel impulse response, a channel flatness probability, a reference signal received power, a reference signal received quality, or a power delay profile.

[0212] The information received from the user equipment 100 may include one or more channel characteristics determined by the user equipment 100 .

[0213] Alternatively, the information received from the user equipment 100 may include compressed original channel estimates of one or more received positioning reference signals 632, 633, 634. In this case, the apparatus 1400 (or LMF 112) may obtain decompressed original channel estimates of one or more received positioning reference signals 632, 633, 634 by decompressing the compressed original channel estimates; and determine one or more channel characteristics based on the decompressed original channel estimates.

[0214] Based at least on one or more channel characteristics of one or more received positioning reference signals 632, 633, 634, and one or more corresponding channel characteristics of one or more corresponding positioning reference signals 612, 613, 614, 622, 623, 624 received (by the user equipment 100) in one or more previous frequency hopping sets 610, 620, one or more missed positioning reference signals can be compensated by utilizing one or more previous positioning reference signals 611, 625 from one or more previous frequency hopping sets 610, 620.

[0215] The apparatus 1400 (or LMF 112) may determine a similarity metric (e.g., a difference or coherence time or a dynamic time warp index) between one or more channel characteristics of the one or more received positioning reference signals 632, 633, 634 and one or more corresponding channel characteristics of one or more corresponding positioning reference signals 612, 613, 614, 622, 623, 624 received in one or more previous frequency hopping sets 610, 620; compare the similarity metric to one or more predefined thresholds; and based at least on the comparison (e.g., as described above with reference to Fig.10 The method may be used to determine whether to compensate for one or more missed positioning reference signals by utilizing one or more previous positioning reference signals 611, 625 from one or more previous frequency hopping sets 610, 620.

[0216] For example, the device 1400 (or LMF 112) can determine the difference between one or more channel characteristics (e.g., CIR, CFP, RSRP, RSRQ and / or PDP) of one or more received positioning reference signals 632, 633, 634 and one or more corresponding channel characteristics of one or more corresponding positioning reference signals 612, 613, 614, 622, 623, 624 from one or more previous frequency hopping sets 610, 620; and compare the difference with one or more predefined thresholds, wherein at least based on the difference being lower than or equal to one or more predefined thresholds, one or more missed positioning reference signals can be compensated by utilizing one or more previous positioning reference signals 611, 625.

[0217] As another example, the device 1400 (or LMF 112) can determine the coherence time between one or more received positioning reference signals 632, 633, 634 and one or more corresponding positioning reference signals 612, 613, 614, 622, 623, 624 from one or more previous frequency hopping sets 610, 620; and compare the coherence time with the duration during which the one or more received positioning reference signals 632, 633, 634 and the one or more corresponding positioning reference signals 612, 613, 614, 622, 623, 624 from one or more previous frequency hopping sets 610, 620 are measured, wherein at least based on the coherence time being greater than or equal to the duration, one or more missed positioning reference signals can be compensated by utilizing one or more previous positioning reference signals 611, 625.

[0218] As another example, the device 1400 (or LMF 112) can determine a dynamic time warp index between one or more received positioning reference signals 632, 633, 634 and one or more corresponding positioning reference signals 612, 613, 614, 622, 623, 624 from one or more previous frequency hopping sets 610, 620; and compare the dynamic time warp index with a predefined threshold, wherein at least based on the dynamic time warp index being higher than or equal to the predefined threshold, one or more missed positioning reference signals can be compensated by utilizing one or more previous positioning reference signals 611, 625.

[0219] Apparatus 1400 (or LMF 112) may estimate the position of user equipment 100 based on timing measurements (e.g., arrival time estimates) associated with one or more received positioning reference signals 632, 633, 634 and one or more previous positioning reference signals 611, 625 from one or more previous frequency hop sets 610, 620.

[0220] Apparatus 1400 (or LMF 112) may send an indication to user equipment 100 indicating that one or more missed positioning reference signals are replaced with one or more previous positioning reference signals 611, 625 from one or more previous frequency hopping sets 610, 620; and based on sending the indication, receive timing measurements associated with one or more received positioning reference signals 632, 633, 634 and one or more previous positioning reference signals 611, 625 from user equipment 100.

[0221] Alternatively, the apparatus 1400 (or LMF 112) may receive compressed original channel estimates of one or more previous positioning reference signals 611, 625 from one or more previous frequency hopping sets 610, 620 from the user equipment 100; obtain decompressed original channel estimates of one or more previous positioning reference signals 611, 625 by decompressing the compressed original channel estimates of the one or more previous positioning reference signals 611, 625; replace one or more missed positioning reference signals with one or more previous positioning reference signals 611, 625 by using the decompressed original channel estimates of the one or more previous positioning reference signals 611, 625; and determine timing measurements associated with one or more received positioning reference signals 632, 633, 634 and one or more previous positioning reference signals 611, 625 based on the replacement.

[0222] Alternatively, one or more missed positioning reference signals may be compensated for by sending an indication to the user equipment 100 indicating preparation for retransmission of the one or more missed positioning reference signals; and based on sending the indication, receiving from the user equipment timing measurements associated with one or more received positioning reference signals 632, 633, 634 and the retransmission of the one or more missed positioning reference signals.

[0223] Fig.12 A flow chart according to an example embodiment of a method performed by an apparatus 1300 is illustrated. For example, the apparatus 1300 may be a user equipment (UE) 100, 102, or may include a user equipment (UE) 100, 102, or may be included in a user equipment (UE) 100, 102. The user equipment may be a reduced capability (RedCap) device or any other type of UE.

[0224] refer to Fig.12 In block 1201 , the apparatus 1300 determines one or more identifiers of one or more missed positioning reference signals of the frequency hopping set 630 .

[0225] One or more missed positioning reference signals (PRS intervals) refer to positioning reference signals (PRS intervals) sent by one or more network nodes 104 but failed to be received or detected by the device 1300 .

[0226] In box 1202, the device 1300 sends information to a location management entity (e.g., LMF 112 or another location server), which at least indicates: one or more channel characteristics of one or more received positioning reference signals 632, 633, 634 of the frequency hopping set 630, and one or more identifiers of one or more missed positioning reference signals of the frequency hopping set 630.

[0227] The one or more received positioning reference signals 632, 633, 634 may also be referred to as one or more non-missed positioning reference signals (or non-missed PRS intervals). Herein, the positioning reference signal may refer to a downlink positioning reference signal or a sidelink positioning reference signal.

[0228] The apparatus 1300 may determine one or more channel characteristics of one or more received positioning reference signals 632, 633, 634 of the frequency hopping set 630 based on the original channel estimates of the one or more received positioning reference signals 632, 633, 634. In this case, the information sent to the location management entity may include one or more channel characteristics determined by the apparatus 1300 (e.g., UE 100).

[0229] Alternatively, the apparatus 1300 may obtain compressed raw channel estimates of one or more received positioning reference signals 632, 633, 634 by compressing raw channel estimates of one or more received positioning reference signals 632, 633, 634. In this case, the information sent to the location management entity may include compressed raw channel estimates, which indicate one or more channel characteristics of the one or more received positioning reference signals 632, 633, 634.

[0230] The device 1300 can send information associated with one or more positioning reference signals 611, 612, 613, 614, 622, 623, 624, 625 from one or more previous frequency hopping sets 610, 620 to a location management entity, the information at least indicating one or more channel characteristics of the one or more positioning reference signals 611, 612, 613, 614, 622, 623, 624, 625 from one or more previous frequency hopping sets 610, 620.

[0231] Device 1300 can receive an indication from a location management entity, indicating that one or more missed positioning reference signals are replaced with one or more previous positioning reference signals 611, 625 from one or more previous frequency hopping sets 610, 620; based on the indication, one or more missed positioning reference signals are replaced with one or more previous positioning reference signals 611, 625 by using the original channel estimates of the one or more previous positioning reference signals 611, 625; based on the replacement, determine the timing measurements associated with one or more received positioning reference signals 632, 633, 634, and one or more previous positioning reference signals 611, 625; and send the timing measurements associated with the one or more received positioning reference signals 632, 633, 634 and one or more previous positioning reference signals 611, 625 to the location management entity.

[0232] Alternatively, the device 1300 may receive an indication from a location management entity indicating preparation for retransmission of one or more missed positioning reference signals; based on the indication, receive retransmissions of one or more missed positioning reference signals (e.g., from at least one network node 104, such as a gNB); determine timing measurements associated with one or more received positioning reference signals 632, 633, 634 and the retransmission of one or more missed positioning reference signals; and send timing measurements associated with one or more received positioning reference signals 632, 633, 634 and the retransmission of one or more missed positioning reference signals to the location management entity.

[0233] The above is based on Figure 7-Figure 12The described boxes, related functions and information exchanges (messages) are not performed in absolute time order, and some of them can be performed simultaneously or in an order different from the described order. Other functions can also be performed between them or inside them, and other information can be sent, and / or other rules can be applied. Some boxes in the box or a part of the box or one or more pieces of information can also be omitted or replaced by a corresponding box or a part of the box or one or more pieces of information.

[0234] As used herein, “at least one of: ” and “at least one of ” and similar expressions (wherein a list of two or more elements is connected by “and” or “or”) refer to at least any one element, or at least any two or more elements, or at least all elements.

[0235] Fig.13 An example of an apparatus 1300 is illustrated, which includes components for performing one or more of the above-described example embodiments. For example, the apparatus 1300 may be an apparatus such as a user equipment (UE) 100, 102, or may be an apparatus including the user equipment 100, 102, or may be an apparatus included in the user equipment 100, 102. The user equipment may be a reduced capability (RedCap) device or any other type of UE. The user equipment may also be referred to as a wireless communication device, a subscriber unit, a mobile station, a remote terminal, an access terminal, a user terminal, a terminal device, or a user device.

[0236] The device 1300 may include a circuit system or a chipset suitable for implementing one or more of the above-described example embodiments. For example, the device 1300 may include at least one processor 1310. The at least one processor 1310 interprets instructions (e.g., computer program instructions) and processes data. The at least one processor 1310 may include one or more programmable processors. The at least one processor 1310 may include programmable hardware with embedded firmware, and alternatively or additionally, may include one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs).

[0237] At least one processor 1310 is coupled to at least one memory 1320. At least one processor is configured to write data to at least one memory 1320 and read data from at least one memory 1320. At least one memory 1320 may include one or more memory cells. The memory cell may be volatile or non-volatile. It should be noted that there may be one or more non-volatile memory cells and one or more volatile memory cells, or, alternatively, there may be one or more non-volatile memory cells, or, alternatively, there may be one or more volatile memory cells. The volatile memory may be, for example, a random access memory (RAM), a dynamic random access memory (DRAM), or a synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM). The non-volatile memory may be, for example, a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a flash memory, an optical storage device, or a magnetic storage device. In general, the memory may be referred to as a non-transitory computer-readable medium. The term "non-transitory" used herein is a limitation on the medium itself (i.e., tangible, not a signal), rather than a limitation on the persistence of data storage (e.g., RAM vs. ROM). At least one memory 1320 stores computer readable instructions that are executed by at least one processor 1310 to perform one or more of the above-described example embodiments. For example, non-volatile memory stores computer readable instructions, and at least one processor 1310 uses volatile memory for temporary storage of data and / or instructions to execute instructions. Computer readable instructions may refer to computer program code.

[0238] The computer readable instructions may have been pre-stored to at least one memory 1320, or alternatively or additionally, they may be received by the device via an electromagnetic carrier signal, and / or may be copied from a physical entity such as a computer program product. Execution of the computer readable instructions by at least one processor 1310 causes the device 1300 to perform one or more of the above-described example embodiments. That is, at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions may provide means for providing or causing execution of any of the above-described methods and / or blocks.

[0239] In the context of this document, a "memory" or "a computer-readable medium" or "multiple computer-readable media" may be any one or more non-transitory media or components that can contain, store, communicate, propagate, or transport instructions for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device (such as a computer). The term "non-transitory" as used herein is a limitation on the medium itself (i.e., tangible, not a signal), not on the persistence of data storage (e.g., RAM vs. ROM).

[0240] The device 1300 may also include or be connected to an input unit 1330. The input unit 1330 may include one or more interfaces for receiving input. The one or more interfaces may include, for example, one or more temperature, motion and / or orientation sensors, one or more cameras, one or more accelerometers, one or more microphones, one or more buttons and / or one or more touch detection units. In addition, the input unit 1330 may include an interface to which an external device may be connected.

[0241] The device 1300 may also include an output unit 1340. The output unit may include or be connected to one or more displays capable of rendering visual content, such as a light emitting diode (LED) display, a liquid crystal display (LCD), and / or a liquid crystal on silicon (LCoS) display. The output unit 1340 may also include one or more audio outputs. The one or more audio outputs may be, for example, a speaker.

[0242] The apparatus 1300 also includes a connection unit 1350. The connection unit 1350 implements a wireless connection to one or more external devices. The connection unit 1350 includes at least one transmitter and at least one receiver, which can be integrated into the apparatus 1300 or the apparatus 1300 can be connected to the transmitter and receiver. At least one transmitter includes at least one transmission antenna, and at least one receiver includes at least one reception antenna. The connection unit 1350 may include an integrated circuit or a set of integrated circuits that provide wireless communication capabilities for the apparatus 1300. Alternatively, the wireless connection may be a hardwired application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC). The connection unit 1350 may also provide a component for performing at least some of the blocks or functions of one or more of the example embodiments described above. The connection unit 1350 may include one or more components controlled by a corresponding control unit, such as a power amplifier, a digital front end (DFE), an analog-to-digital converter (ADC), a digital-to-analog converter (DAC), a frequency converter, a (de)modulator, and / or an encoder / decoder circuit system.

[0243] It should be noted that the apparatus 1300 may also include Fig.13 Various components are not shown in the figure. These various components can be hardware components and / or software components.

[0244] Fig.14 An example of an apparatus 1400 is illustrated, the apparatus comprising components for performing one or more of the above-described example embodiments. For example, the component may be a location management function (LMF) 112 of a core network 110, or the component may be a network function virtualization infrastructure.

[0245] For example, the device 1400 may include a circuit system or a chipset suitable for implementing one or more of the above-described example embodiments. The device 1400 may be an electronic device or a computing system including one or more electronic circuit systems. The device 1400 may include a control circuit system 1410 (such as at least one processor) and at least one memory 1420 storing instructions 1422, which when executed by the at least one processor causes the device 1400 to perform one or more of the above-described example embodiments. For example, such instructions 1422 may include computer program code (software). At least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions may provide a component for providing or causing the execution of any of the above-described methods and / or boxes.

[0246] The processor is coupled to the memory 1420. The processor is configured to read data from the memory 1420 and write data to the memory 1420. The memory 1420 may include one or more memory cells. The memory cell may be volatile or non-volatile. It should be noted that there may be one or more non-volatile memory cells and one or more volatile memory cells, or, alternatively, there may be one or more non-volatile memory cells, or, alternatively, there may be one or more volatile memory cells. The volatile memory may be, for example, a random access memory (RAM), a dynamic random access memory (DRAM), or a synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM). The non-volatile memory may be, for example, a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a flash memory, an optical storage device, or a magnetic storage device. In general, the memory may be referred to as a non-transitory computer-readable medium. The term "non-transitory" used herein is a limitation on the medium itself (i.e., tangible, not a signal), rather than a limitation on the persistence of data storage (e.g., RAM vs. ROM). The memory 1420 stores computer-readable instructions executed by the processor. For example, the non-volatile memory stores computer-readable instructions, and the processor uses the volatile memory to temporarily store data and / or instructions to execute the instructions.

[0247] The computer readable instructions may have been pre-stored in the memory 1420, or, alternatively or additionally, they may be received by the device via an electromagnetic carrier signal, and / or may be copied from a physical entity (such as a computer program product). The execution of the computer readable instructions causes the device 1400 to perform one or more of the above functions.

[0248] The memory 1420 may be implemented using any suitable data storage technology, such as semiconductor-based memory devices, flash memory, magnetic memory devices and systems, optical memory devices and systems, fixed memory, and / or removable memory.

[0249] The device 1400 may also include or be connected to a communication interface 1430, which includes hardware and / or software for implementing a communication connection according to one or more communication protocols. The communication interface 1430 may include at least one transmitter (Tx) and at least one receiver (Rx), which may be integrated into the device 1400 or the device 1400 may be connected to them. The communication interface 1430 may provide components for performing some of the blocks in one or more of the example embodiments described above. The communication interface 1430 may include one or more components controlled by a corresponding control unit, such as: a power amplifier, a digital front end (DFE), an analog-to-digital converter (ADC), a digital-to-analog converter (DAC), a frequency converter, a modulator (demodulator) and / or an encoder / decoder circuit system.

[0250] The communication interface 1430 provides the device with communication capabilities to communicate in a wireless communication network. For example, the communication interface 1430 may provide a radio, cable or fiber interface to the AMF 111 and / or one or more network nodes 104 of the radio access network. Alternatively or additionally, the communication interface 1430 may provide a radio interface to one or more UEs 100, 102.

[0251] It should be noted that the apparatus 1400 may also include Fig.14 Various components are not shown in the figure. These various components can be hardware components and / or software components.

[0252] As used in this application, the term "circuitry" may refer to one, more, or all of the following:

[0253] a) hardware circuit implementation only (such as implementation only in analog and / or digital circuit systems);

[0254] as well as

[0255] b) a combination of hardware circuitry and software such as (where applicable):

[0256] i) a combination of (multiple) analog and / or digital hardware circuits and software / firmware, and

[0257] ii) any part of a hardware processor(s) with software (including digital signal processor(s), software and memory(s) that work together to enable a device (such as a mobile phone) to perform various functions); and

[0258] c) (multiple) hardware circuits and / or (multiple) processors, such as (multiple) microprocessors or portions of (multiple) microprocessors, that require software (e.g., firmware) to operate, but when the software is not required for operation, the software may not be present.

[0259] This definition of circuitry applies to all uses of the term in this application, including in any claims. As a further example, as used in this application, the term circuitry also covers an implementation of only a hardware circuit or processor (or multiple processors) or a portion of a hardware circuit or process and its accompanying software and / or firmware. For example, if applicable to a particular claim element, the term circuitry also covers a baseband integrated circuit or processor integrated circuit for a mobile device, or a similar integrated circuit in a server, cellular network device, or other computing or network device.

[0260] The techniques and methods described herein can be implemented in various ways. For example, these techniques can be implemented in hardware (one or more devices), firmware (one or more devices), software (one or more modules), or a combination thereof. For hardware implementation, the (multiple) devices of the example embodiments can be implemented in one or more application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signal processing devices (DSPDs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), graphics processing units (GPUs), processors, controllers, microcontrollers, microprocessors, other electronic units designed to perform the functions described herein, or a combination thereof. For firmware or software, the implementation can be implemented by a module (e.g., a process, a function, etc.) of at least one chipset that performs the functions described herein. The software code can be stored in a memory unit and executed by a processor. The memory unit can be implemented within the processor or outside the processor. In the latter case, as is known in the art, the memory unit can be communicatively coupled to the processor in various ways. In addition, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the components of the system described herein can be rearranged and / or supplemented by additional components to facilitate the implementation of the various aspects described, etc., and they are not limited to the precise configurations set forth in the given figures.

[0261] It is clear to those skilled in the art that, with the advancement of technology, the inventive concept can be implemented in various ways within the scope of the claims. The embodiments are not limited to the above-described example embodiments, but can be varied within the scope of the claims. Therefore, all words and expressions should be interpreted broadly, and they are intended to illustrate rather than limit the embodiments.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions, wherein when the instructions are executed by the at least one processor, the apparatus at least: Receive information from a user device, the information indicating at least: one or more channel characteristics of one or more received positioning reference signals of the frequency hopping set, and one or more identifiers of one or more missed positioning reference signals of the frequency hopping set; and Based at least in part on the information, the one or more missed positioning reference signals of the frequency hopping set are compensated.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the one or more channel characteristics include at least one of the following: Channel impulse response, Channel flatness probability, Reference signal received power, Reference signal reception quality, or Power delay curve.

3. The apparatus of any preceding claim, wherein the information received from the user equipment comprises: the one or more compressed raw channel estimates of received positioning reference signals; The device is further configured to: Obtaining decompressed original channel estimates of the one or more received positioning reference signals by decompressing the compressed original channel estimates; and The one or more channel characteristics are determined based on the decompressed raw channel estimate.

4. An apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein the one or more missed positioning reference signals are compensated by utilizing one or more previous positioning reference signals from the one or more previous frequency hopping sets based at least on the one or more channel characteristics of the one or more received positioning reference signals and one or more corresponding channel characteristics of one or more corresponding positioning reference signals received in one or more previous frequency hopping sets.

5. The apparatus according to claim 4, further configured to: determining a similarity measure between the one or more channel characteristics of the one or more received positioning reference signals and the one or more corresponding channel characteristics of the one or more corresponding positioning reference signals received in the one or more previous frequency hopping sets; comparing the similarity measure to one or more predefined thresholds; as well as Based at least on the comparison, a determination is made whether to compensate for the one or more missed positioning reference signals by utilizing the one or more previous positioning reference signals from the one or more previous frequency hopping sets.

6. The device according to any one of claims 4 to 5, further configured to: determining a coherence time between the one or more received positioning reference signals and one or more corresponding positioning reference signals from the one or more previous frequency hopping sets; and comparing the coherence time to a duration during which the one or more received positioning reference signals and the one or more corresponding positioning reference signals from the one or more previous frequency hopping sets are measured, Wherein based at least on the coherence time being greater than or equal to the duration, the one or more missed positioning reference signals are compensated by utilizing the one or more previous positioning reference signals.

7. The device according to any one of claims 4 to 6, further configured to: determining a dynamic time warping index between the one or more received positioning reference signals and one or more corresponding positioning reference signals from the one or more previous frequency hopping sets; and comparing the dynamic time warp index with a predefined threshold, Wherein based at least on the dynamic time warp index being higher than or equal to the predefined threshold, the one or more missed positioning reference signals are compensated by utilizing the one or more previous positioning reference signals.

8. The device according to any one of claims 4 to 7, further configured to: A position of the user equipment is estimated based at least in part on timing measurements associated with the one or more received positioning reference signals and the one or more previous positioning reference signals from the one or more previous frequency hopping sets.

9. The apparatus according to claim 8, further configured to: sending an indication to the user equipment, the indication indicating: replacing the one or more missed positioning reference signals with the one or more previous positioning reference signals from the one or more previous frequency hopping sets; and Based on sending the indication, the timing measurements associated with the one or more received positioning reference signals and the one or more previous positioning reference signals are received from the user equipment.

10. The apparatus according to claim 8, further configured to: receiving, from the user equipment, compressed raw channel estimates of the one or more previous positioning reference signals from the one or more previous frequency hopping sets; Obtaining decompressed original channel estimates of the one or more previous positioning reference signals by decompressing the compressed original channel estimates of the one or more previous positioning reference signals; replacing the one or more missed positioning reference signals with the one or more previous positioning reference signals by using the decompressed raw channel estimates of the one or more previous positioning reference signals; as well as Based on the replacement, the timing measurements associated with the one or more received positioning reference signals and the one or more previous positioning reference signals are determined.

11. The device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further configured to: sending an indication to the user equipment to prepare for retransmission of the one or more missed positioning reference signals, wherein the one or more missed positioning reference signals are compensated for by sending the indication; and Based on sending the indication, timing measurements associated with the one or more received positioning reference signals and the retransmissions of the one or more missed positioning reference signals are received from the user equipment.

12. An apparatus comprising at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions, wherein when the instructions are executed by the at least one processor, the apparatus at least: determining one or more identifiers of one or more missed positioning reference signals of the frequency hopping set; and Sending information to a location management entity, the information indicating at least: one or more channel characteristics of one or more received positioning reference signals of the frequency hopping set, and The one or more identifiers of the one or more missed positioning reference signals of the frequency hopping set.

13. The apparatus according to claim 12, further configured to: The one or more channel characteristics of the one or more received positioning reference signals of the frequency hopping set are determined based on raw channel estimates of the one or more received positioning reference signals.

14. The apparatus according to claim 12, further configured to: Obtaining compressed original channel estimates of the one or more received positioning reference signals by compressing the original channel estimates of the one or more received positioning reference signals, The information sent to the location management entity includes: The compressed raw channel estimate indicates the one or more channel characteristics of the one or more received positioning reference signals.

15. The apparatus according to any one of claims 12 to 14, further configured to: Information associated with one or more positioning reference signals from one or more previous frequency hopping sets is sent to the location management entity, the information at least indicating one or more channel characteristics of the one or more positioning reference signals from the one or more previous frequency hopping sets.

16. The apparatus according to claim 15, further configured to: receiving an indication from the location management entity, the indication indicating: replacing the one or more missed positioning reference signals with one or more previous positioning reference signals from the one or more previous frequency hopping sets; replacing the one or more missed positioning reference signals with the one or more previous positioning reference signals by using original channel estimates of the one or more previous positioning reference signals based on the indication; determining, based on the replacement, timing measurements associated with the one or more received positioning reference signals and the one or more previous positioning reference signals; as well as The timing measurements associated with the one or more received positioning reference signals and the one or more previous positioning reference signals are sent to the location management entity.

17. The apparatus according to any one of claims 12 to 15, further configured to: receiving an indication from the location management entity to prepare for retransmission of the one or more missed positioning reference signals; receiving, based on the indication, the retransmission of the one or more missed positioning reference signals; determining timing measurements associated with the one or more received positioning reference signals, and the retransmissions of the one or more missed positioning reference signals; as well as The timing measurements associated with the one or more received positioning reference signals and the retransmissions of the one or more missed positioning reference signals are sent to the location management entity.

18. A method comprising: Receive information from a user device, the information indicating at least: one or more channel characteristics of one or more received positioning reference signals of the frequency hopping set, and one or more identifiers of one or more missed positioning reference signals of the frequency hopping set; as well as Based at least in part on the information, the one or more missed positioning reference signals of the frequency hopping set are compensated.

19. A method comprising: determining one or more identifiers of one or more missed positioning reference signals of the frequency hopping set; as well as Sending information to a location management entity, the information indicating at least: one or more channel characteristics of one or more received positioning reference signals of the frequency hopping set, and The one or more identifiers of the one or more missed positioning reference signals of the frequency hopping set.

20. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising program instructions, which when executed by a device, cause the device to perform at least the following: Receive information from a user device, the information indicating at least: one or more channel characteristics of one or more received positioning reference signals of the frequency hopping set, and one or more identifiers of one or more missed positioning reference signals of the frequency hopping set; and Based at least in part on the information, the one or more missed positioning reference signals of the frequency hopping set are compensated.

21. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising program instructions, which when executed by a device, cause the device to perform at least the following: determining one or more identifiers of one or more missed positioning reference signals of the frequency hopping set; and Sending information to a location management entity, the information indicating at least: one or more channel characteristics of one or more received positioning reference signals of the frequency hopping set, and The one or more identifiers of the one or more missed positioning reference signals of the frequency hopping set.

22. A system comprising at least a user equipment and a location management entity; The user equipment is configured as follows: determining one or more identifiers of one or more missed positioning reference signals of the frequency hopping set; and Sending information to the location management entity, the information at least indicating: one or more channel characteristics of one or more received positioning reference signals of the frequency hopping set, and the one or more identifiers of the one or more missed positioning reference signals of the frequency hopping set; The location management entity is configured as: receiving the information from the user equipment; as well as Based at least in part on the information, the one or more missed positioning reference signals of the frequency hopping set are compensated.

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