Transmit power level for sidelink positioning reference signal (SL-PRS)

Abstract

In one aspect, a user equipment (UE) may participate in a sidelink positioning session with at least one other UE. The UE may transmit at least one sidelink positioning reference signal (SL-PRS) to the at least one other UE at a transmit power level, wherein the transmit power level is less than or equal to a maximum permitted transmit power level for transmission of the SL-PRS.

Description

Background Art 1. Technical Field

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

[0002] 2. Description of related technologies

[0003] Wireless communication systems have evolved over many generations, including first generation analog wireless telephone service (1G), second generation (2G) digital wireless telephone service (including transitional 2.5G and 2.75G networks), third generation (3G) high speed data, wireless service with Internet capabilities, and fourth generation (4G) services (e.g., Long Term Evolution (LTE) or WiMax). There are many different types of wireless communication systems in use today, including cellular systems and personal communications service (PCS) systems. Examples of known cellular systems include the cellular analog Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS), and digital cellular systems based on code division multiple access (CDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), and the like.

[0004] The fifth generation (5G) wireless standard, known as New Radio (NR), enables higher data transfer speeds, a greater number of connections, and better coverage, among other improvements. According to the Next Generation Mobile Networks Alliance, the 5G standard is designed to provide higher data rates, more accurate positioning (e.g., based on a reference signal for positioning (RS-P), such as a downlink, uplink, or sidelink positioning reference signal (PRS)), and other technical enhancements compared to previous standards.

[0005] In addition, leveraging the increased data rates and reduced latency of 5G, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication technologies are being implemented to support autonomous driving applications, such as wireless communications between vehicles, between vehicles and roadside infrastructure, between vehicles and pedestrians, and so on. Summary of the invention

[0006] The following presents a simplified summary of the invention related to one or more aspects disclosed herein. Thus, the following summary of the invention should neither be considered as an exhaustive overview related to all conceived aspects, nor should it be considered to identify key or decisive elements related to all conceived aspects or to delineate the scope associated with any particular aspect. Therefore, the sole purpose of the following summary of the invention is to present certain concepts related to one or more aspects of the mechanisms disclosed herein in a brief form before the detailed embodiments presented below.

[0007] In one aspect, a method of wireless communication performed by a user equipment (UE) includes: participating in a sidelink positioning session with at least one other UE; and sending at least one sidelink positioning reference signal (SL-PRS) to the at least one other UE at a certain transmission power level, wherein the transmission power level is less than or equal to the maximum permitted transmission power level for transmission of the SL-PRS.

[0008] In one aspect, a user equipment (UE) includes: a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor, the at least one processor being communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: participate in a sidelink positioning session with at least one other UE; and transmit at least one sidelink positioning reference signal (SL-PRS) to the at least one other UE via the at least one transceiver at a certain transmit power level, wherein the transmit power level is less than or equal to a maximum permitted transmit power level for transmission of the SL-PRS.

[0009] In one aspect, a user equipment (UE) includes: a component for participating in a sidelink positioning session with at least one other UE; and a component for sending at least one sidelink positioning reference signal (SL-PRS) to the at least one other UE at a certain transmission power level, wherein the transmission power level is less than or equal to the maximum permitted transmission power level for transmission of the SL-PRS.

[0010] In one aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium stores computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a user equipment (UE), cause the UE to: participate in a sidelink positioning session with at least one other UE; and transmit at least one sidelink positioning reference signal (SL-PRS) to the at least one other UE at a transmit power level that is less than or equal to a maximum permitted transmit power level for transmission of the SL-PRS.

[0011] Other objects and advantages associated with the various aspects disclosed herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art based on the drawings and detailed description. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0012] The accompanying drawings are presented to aid in describing various aspects of the present disclosure and are provided solely for illustration and not limitation of the various aspects.

[0013] Figure 1 An example wireless communication system in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0014] Figure 2A and Figure 2B Example wireless network structures according to aspects of the present disclosure are illustrated.

[0015] Figure 3A , Figure 3B and Figure 3C is a simplified block diagram of several sample aspects of components that may be employed in a user equipment (UE), a base station, and a network entity, respectively, and configured to support communications as taught herein.

[0016] Figure 4 is a diagram illustrating an example frame structure according to aspects of the present disclosure.

[0017] Figure 5A and Figure 5B Various interesting scenarios for sidelink-only positioning or joint Uu and sidelink positioning according to aspects of the present disclosure are illustrated.

[0018] Figure 6 is a diagram illustrating an example sidelink ranging and positioning process according to aspects of the present disclosure.

[0019] Fig. 7A and Figure 7B is a diagram of example sidelink slot structures with and without feedback resources in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0020] FIG. 8A to FIG. 8D Various example sidelink slot structures with symbols allocated or reserved for sidelink PRS (SL-PRS) transmissions are shown in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0021] Fig. 9

[0013] Example methods of wireless communications in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure are illustrated. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0022] Various aspects of the present disclosure are provided in the following description and related drawings for various examples provided for illustrative purposes. Alternative aspects may be designed without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. Additionally, well-known elements of the present disclosure will not be described in detail or will be omitted to avoid making the relevant details of the present disclosure difficult to understand.

[0023] The words "exemplary" and / or "example" are used herein to mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration." Any aspect described herein as "exemplary" and / or "example" is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or superior to other aspects. Likewise, the term "aspects of the disclosure" does not require that all aspects of the disclosure include the discussed feature, advantage, or mode of operation.

[0024] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that any of a variety of different techniques and methods may be used to represent the information and signals described below. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be mentioned throughout the following description may be represented by voltage, current, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or magnetic particles, light fields or optical particles, or any combination thereof, which depends in part on the specific application, in part on the desired design, in part on the corresponding technology, and so on.

[0025] In addition, many aspects are described in terms of a sequence of actions to be performed by, for example, an element of a computing device. It should be understood that the various actions described herein may be performed by a specific circuit (e.g., an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC)), by a program instruction executed by one or more processors, or by a combination of the two. Additionally, the sequence of actions described herein may be considered to be fully embodied in any form of non-transient computer-readable storage medium, in which a corresponding computer instruction set is stored, which, when executed, will cause or command the associated processor of the device to perform the functionality described herein. Therefore, various aspects of the present disclosure may be embodied in a variety of different forms, all of which have been contemplated to be within the scope of the claimed subject matter. In addition, for each of the various aspects described herein, the corresponding form of any such aspect may be described herein as, for example, "a logical component configured to perform the described action".

[0026] As used herein, the terms "user equipment" (UE), "vehicle UE" (V-UE), "pedestrian UE" (P-UE), and "base station" are not intended to be dedicated to or otherwise limited to any particular radio access technology (RAT), unless otherwise specified. In general, a UE can be any wireless communication device used by a user to communicate over a wireless communication network (e.g., a vehicle onboard computer, a vehicle navigation device, a mobile phone, a router, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, an asset location device, a wearable device (e.g., a smart watch, glasses, an augmented reality (AR) / virtual reality (VR) headset, etc.), a vehicle (e.g., a car, a motorcycle, a bicycle, etc.), an Internet of Things (IoT) device, etc.). A UE can be mobile or can be stationary (e.g., at certain times) and can communicate with a radio access network (RAN). As used herein, the term "UE" can be interchangeably referred to as a "mobile device," "access terminal" or "AT," "client device," "wireless device," "subscriber device," "subscriber terminal," "subscriber station," "user terminal" or UT, "mobile terminal," "mobile station," or variations thereof.

[0027] A V-UE is a type of UE and may be any in-vehicle wireless communication device, such as a navigation system, an alarm system, a head-up display (HUD), an onboard computer, an in-vehicle infotainment system, an automated driving system (ADS), an advanced driver assistance system (ADAS), etc. Alternatively, a V-UE may be a portable wireless communication device (e.g., a cellular phone, a tablet computer, etc.) carried by a driver of a vehicle or an occupant in the vehicle. The term "V-UE" may refer to an in-vehicle wireless communication device or the vehicle itself, depending on the context. A P-UE is a type of UE and may be a portable wireless communication device carried by a pedestrian (i.e., a user who is not driving or riding a vehicle). Generally speaking, a UE may communicate with a core network via a RAN, and through the core network, the UE may be connected to an external network such as the Internet and to other UEs. Of course, other mechanisms for connecting to a core network and / or the Internet are also possible for a UE, such as through a wired access network, a wireless local area network (WLAN) network (e.g., based on the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11, etc.), etc.

[0028] A base station may operate according to one of several RATs to communicate with a UE, depending on the network in which the base station is deployed, and may alternatively be referred to as an access point (AP), a network node, a Node B, an evolved Node B (eNB), a next generation eNB (ng-eNB), a new radio (NR) Node B (also referred to as a gNB or gNodeB), etc. A base station may be primarily used to support wireless access for a UE, including supporting data, voice, and / or signaling connections for the supported UE. In some systems, a base station may provide only edge node signaling functions, while in other systems, a base station may provide additional control and / or network management functions. The communication link by which a UE may transmit a signal to a base station is referred to as an uplink (UL) channel (e.g., a reverse traffic channel, a reverse control channel, an access channel, etc.). The communication link by which a base station may transmit a signal to a UE is referred to as a downlink (DL) or forward link channel (e.g., a paging channel, a control channel, a broadcast channel, a forward traffic channel, etc.). As used herein, the term traffic channel (TCH) may refer to a UL / reverse or DL / forward traffic channel.

[0029] The term "base station" may refer to a single physical transmit-receive point (TRP) or multiple physical TRPs that may or may not be co-located. For example, where the term "base station" refers to a single physical TRP, the physical TRP may be an antenna of the base station corresponding to the cell (or several cell sectors) of the base station. Where the term "base station" refers to multiple co-located physical TRPs, the physical TRP may be an antenna array of the base station (e.g., as in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system or where the base station employs beamforming). Where the term "base station" refers to multiple non-co-located physical TRPs, the physical TRP may be a distributed antenna system (DAS) (a network of spatially separated antennas connected to a common source via a transmission medium) or a remote radio head (RRH) (a remote base station connected to a serving base station). Alternatively, the non-co-located physical TRP may be a serving base station that receives measurement reports from a UE and an adjacent base station whose reference radio frequency (RF) signal the UE is measuring. Because, as used herein, a TRP is a point by which a base station transmits and receives wireless signals, references to transmitting from a base station or receiving at a base station should be understood to refer to a specific TRP of a base station.

[0030] In some specific implementations of supporting UE positioning, the base station may not support wireless access for the UE (e.g., may not support data, voice, and / or signaling connections for the UE), but instead may send reference RF signals to the UE for measurement by the UE, and / or may receive and measure signals sent by the UE. Such a base station may be referred to as a positioning beacon (e.g., in the case of sending RF signals to the UE) and / or as a positioning measurement unit (e.g., in the case of receiving and measuring RF signals from the UE).

[0031] An "RF signal" includes an electromagnetic wave of a given frequency that transmits information through the space between a transmitter and a receiver. As used herein, a transmitter may transmit a single "RF signal" or multiple "RF signals" to a receiver. However, due to the propagation characteristics of RF signals through multipath channels, a receiver may receive multiple "RF signals" corresponding to each transmitted RF signal. The same transmitted RF signal on different paths between a transmitter and a receiver may be referred to as a "multipath" RF signal. As used herein, an RF signal may also be referred to as a "wireless signal" or simply a "signal" where it is clear from the context that the term "signal" refers to a wireless signal or an RF signal.

[0032] Figure 1An example wireless communication system 100 according to various aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated. The wireless communication system 100 (which may also be referred to as a wireless wide area network (WWAN)) may include various base stations 102 (labeled as "BS") and various UEs 104. The base stations 102 may include macrocell base stations (high-power cellular base stations) and / or small cell base stations (low-power cellular base stations). In one aspect, the macrocell base stations 102 may include eNBs and / or ng-eNBs (where the wireless communication system 100 corresponds to an LTE network) or gNBs (where the wireless communication system 100 corresponds to an NR network) or a combination of both, and the small cell base stations may include femtocells, picocells, microcells, etc.

[0033] The base stations 102 may collectively form a RAN and interface with a core network 170 (e.g., an evolved packet core (EPC) or a 5G core (5GC)) through a backhaul link 122, and interface with one or more location servers 172 (e.g., a location management function (LMF) or a secure user plane location (SUPL) location platform (SLP)) through the core network 170. The location server 172 may be part of the core network 170 or may be external to the core network 170. The location server 172 may be integrated with the base station 102. The UE 104 may communicate with the location server 172 directly or indirectly. For example, the UE 104 may communicate with the location server 172 via the base station 102 currently serving the UE 104. The UE 104 may also communicate with the location server 172 through another path, such as via an application server (not shown), via another network, such as via a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point (AP) (e.g., the AP 150 described below), and the like. For signaling purposes, communications between UE 104 and location server 172 may be represented as an indirect connection (e.g., through core network 170, etc.) or a direct connection (e.g., as shown via direct connection 128), with intermediate nodes (if any) omitted from the signaling diagram for clarity.

[0034] Among other functions, the base station 102 can perform functions related to one or more of the following: delivering user data, radio channel encryption and decryption, integrity protection, header compression, mobility control functions (e.g., handover, dual connectivity), inter-cell interference coordination, connection establishment and release, load balancing, distribution of non-access stratum (NAS) messages, NAS node selection, synchronization, RAN sharing, multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS), subscriber and equipment tracking, RAN information management (RIM), paging, positioning, and delivery of warning messages. The base stations 102 can communicate with each other directly or indirectly (e.g., through EPC / 5GC) on a backhaul link 134, which can be wired or wireless.

[0035] Base station 102 may communicate wirelessly with UE 104. Each of base stations 102 may provide communication coverage for a corresponding geographic coverage area 110. In one aspect, one or more cells may be supported by base station 102 in each geographic coverage area 110. A "cell" is a logical communication entity used to communicate with a base station (e.g., via a frequency resource, which is referred to as a carrier frequency, component carrier, carrier, frequency band, etc.), and may be associated with an identifier (e.g., a physical cell identifier (PCI), an enhanced cell identifier (ECI), a virtual cell identifier (VCI), a cell global identifier (CGI), etc.) used to distinguish cells operating via the same or different carrier frequencies. In some cases, different cells may be configured according to different protocol types (e.g., machine type communication (MTC), narrowband IoT (NB-IoT), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), or other protocol types) that may provide access to different types of UEs. Because a cell is supported by a specific base station, the term "cell" may refer to one or both of a logical communication entity and a base station supporting it, depending on the context. In some cases, the term "cell" may also refer to a geographic coverage area (eg, a sector) of a base station, as long as a carrier frequency can be detected and used for communications within some portion of the geographic coverage area 110.

[0036] Although the geographic coverage areas 110 of neighboring macrocell base stations 102 may partially overlap (e.g., in a handover area), some areas of the geographic coverage areas 110 may substantially overlap with the larger geographic coverage areas 110. For example, a small cell base station 102' (labeled "SC" for "small cell") may have a geographic coverage area 110' that substantially overlaps with the geographic coverage areas 110 of one or more macrocell base stations 102. A network that includes both small cell base stations and macrocell base stations may be referred to as a heterogeneous network. A heterogeneous network may also include a home eNB (HeNB) that may provide services to a restricted group referred to as a closed subscriber group (CSG).

[0037] The communication link 120 between the base station 102 and the UE 104 may include uplink (also referred to as a reverse link) transmissions from the UE 104 to the base station 102 and / or downlink (DL) (also referred to as a forward link) transmissions from the base station 102 to the UE 104. The communication link 120 may use MIMO antenna technology, including spatial multiplexing, beamforming, and / or transmit diversity. The communication link 120 may be over one or more carrier frequencies. The allocation of carriers may be asymmetric for the downlink and uplink (e.g., more or fewer carriers may be allocated to the downlink than to the uplink).

[0038] The wireless communication system 100 may also include a WLAN access point (AP) 150 that communicates with a wireless local area network (WLAN) station (STA) 152 in an unlicensed spectrum (e.g., 5 GHz) via a communication link 154. When communicating in the unlicensed spectrum, the WLAN STA 152 and / or the WLAN AP 150 may perform a clear channel assessment (CCA) or a listen before talk (LBT) procedure prior to communication to determine whether a channel is available.

[0039] The small cell base station 102' can operate in licensed and / or unlicensed spectrum. When operating in the unlicensed spectrum, the small cell base station 102' can adopt LTE or NR technology and use the same 5GHz unlicensed spectrum used by the WLAN AP 150. The small cell base station 102' adopting LTE / 5G in the unlicensed spectrum can improve the coverage of the access network and / or increase the capacity of the access network. NR in the unlicensed spectrum can be referred to as NR-U. LTE in the unlicensed spectrum can be referred to as LTE-U, License Assisted Access (LAA) or MulteFire.

[0040] The wireless communication system 100 may also include a mmW base station 180, which can operate in millimeter wave (mmW) frequencies and / or near mmW frequencies to communicate with UE 182. Extremely high frequency (EHF) is part of RF in the electromagnetic spectrum. EHF has a range of 30 GHz to 300 GHz, and a wavelength between 1 mm and 10 mm. The radio waves in this band can be called millimeter waves. Near mmW can be extended down to a frequency of 3 GHz, and the wavelength is 100 mm. The super high frequency (SHF) band extends between 3 GHz and 30 GHz, which is also called centimeter waves. Communication using mmW / near mmW radio frequency bands has high path loss and relatively short distances. The mmW base station 180 and the UE 182 can utilize beamforming (transmitting and / or receiving) on ​​the mmW communication link 184 to compensate for the extremely high path loss and short distance. In addition, it should be understood that in an alternative configuration, one or more base stations 102 can also use mmW or near mmW and beamforming to transmit. Therefore, it should be understood that the foregoing illustrations are merely examples and should not be construed as limiting the various aspects disclosed herein.

[0041] Transmit beamforming is a technique for focusing an RF signal in a specific direction. Traditionally, when a network node (e.g., a base station) broadcasts an RF signal, it broadcasts the signal in all directions (omnidirectionally). With transmit beamforming, the network node determines where a given target device (e.g., a UE) is located (relative to the transmitting network node) and projects a stronger downlink RF signal in that specific direction, thereby providing a faster (in terms of data rate) and stronger RF signal to the receiving device. In order to change the directionality of the RF signal when transmitting, the network node can control the phase and relative amplitude of the RF signal at each of the one or more transmitters that broadcast the RF signal. For example, a network node can use an array of antennas (referred to as a "phased array" or "antenna array") that produces RF beams that can be "steered" to point in different directions without actually moving the antenna. Specifically, the RF current from the transmitter is fed to each antenna in the correct phase relationship so that the radio waves from the separate antennas are added together in the desired direction to increase radiation, while canceling out in the undesired direction to suppress radiation.

[0042] The transmit beams can be quasi-co-located, meaning that they appear to the receiver (e.g., UE) to have the same parameters, regardless of whether the network node's own transmit antennas are physically co-located. In NR, there are four types of quasi-co-location (QCL) relationships. Specifically, a given type of QCL relationship means that certain parameters about the second reference RF signal on the second beam can be derived based on information about the source reference RF signal on the source beam. Therefore, if the source reference RF signal is QCL type A, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, and delay spread of the second reference RF signal sent on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL type B, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift and Doppler spread of the second reference RF signal sent on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL type C, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift and average delay of the second reference RF signal sent on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL type D, the receiver may use the source reference RF signal to estimate spatial reception parameters of a second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel.

[0043] In receive beamforming, a receiver uses a receive beam to amplify an RF signal detected on a given channel. For example, a receiver may increase the gain setting of an antenna array in a particular direction and / or adjust the phase setting of an antenna array in a particular direction to amplify (e.g., increase its gain level) the RF signal received from that direction. Thus, when a receiver is said to be beamforming in a certain direction, this means that the beam gain in that direction is high relative to the beam gain along other directions, or that the beam gain in that direction is the highest compared to the beam gain in that direction of all other receive beams available to the receiver. This results in a stronger received signal strength (e.g., reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR), etc.) of the RF signal received from that direction.

[0044] The transmit beam and the receive beam may be spatially correlated. The spatial relationship means that parameters of a second beam (e.g., a transmit beam or a receive beam) for a second reference signal may be derived based on information about a first beam (e.g., a receive beam or a transmit beam) for a first reference signal. For example, a UE may use a specific receive beam to receive a reference downlink reference signal (e.g., a synchronization signal block (SSB)) from a base station. The UE may then form a transmit beam for transmitting an uplink reference signal (e.g., a sounding reference signal (SRS)) to the base station based on the parameters of the receive beam.

[0045] Note that depending on the entity forming the "downlink" beam, the beam can be a transmit beam or a receive beam. For example, if the base station is forming a downlink beam to send a reference signal to the UE, the downlink beam is a transmit beam. However, if the UE is forming a downlink beam, the downlink beam is a receive beam that receives a downlink reference signal. Similarly, depending on the entity forming the "uplink" beam, the beam can be a transmit beam or a receive beam. For example, if the base station is forming an uplink beam, it is an uplink receive beam, while if the UE is forming an uplink beam, it is an uplink transmit beam.

[0046] The electromagnetic spectrum is typically subdivided into various categories, bands, channels, etc. based on frequency / wavelength. In 5GNR, two initial operating bands have been identified as frequency range designations FR1 (410 MHz–7.125 GHz) and FR2 (24.25 GHz–52.6 GHz). It should be understood that, although portions of FR1 are greater than 6 GHz, FR1 is often (interchangeably) referred to as the “below 6 GHz” band in various documents and articles. A similar naming problem sometimes occurs with respect to FR2, which is often (interchangeably) referred to as the “millimeter wave” band in documents and articles, although different from the extremely high frequency (EHF) band (30 GHz–300 GHz) identified as the “millimeter wave” band by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

[0047] Frequencies between FR1 and FR2 are generally referred to as mid-band frequencies. Recent 5G NR research has identified the operating bands for these mid-band frequencies as frequency range designation FR3 (7.125GHz–24.25GHz). The bands falling within FR3 can inherit FR1 characteristics and / or FR2 characteristics, and therefore the features of FR1 and / or FR2 can be effectively extended to mid-band frequencies. In addition, higher frequency bands are currently being explored to extend 5G NR operations to more than 52.6GHz. For example, three higher operating bands have been identified as frequency range designations FR4a or FR4-1 (52.6GHz–71GHz), FR4 (52.6GHz–114.25GHz), and FR5 (114.25GHz–300GHz). Each of these higher frequency bands falls within the EHF band.

[0048] In view of the above aspects, unless otherwise specifically stated, it should be understood that if the term "sub-6 GHz" or the like is used herein, it can be broadly referred to as a frequency that may be less than 6 GHz, may be within FR1, or may include mid-band frequencies. In addition, unless otherwise specifically stated, it should be understood that if the term "millimeter wave" or the like is used herein, it can be broadly referred to as a frequency that may include mid-band frequencies, may be within FR2, FR4, FR4-a or FR4-1 and / or FR5, or may be within the EHF band.

[0049] In a multi-carrier system (such as 5G), one of the carrier frequencies is referred to as the "primary carrier" or "anchor carrier" or "primary serving cell" or "PCell", and the remaining carrier frequencies are referred to as "secondary carriers" or "secondary serving cells" or "SCells". In carrier aggregation, the anchor carrier is a carrier operating on the primary frequency (e.g., FR1) used by the UE 104 / 182 and the cell in which the UE 104 / 182 performs an initial radio resource control (RRC) connection establishment procedure or initiates an RRC connection reestablishment procedure. The primary carrier carries all common and UE-specific control channels and can be a carrier in a licensed frequency (however, this is not always the case). A secondary carrier is a carrier operating on a second frequency (e.g., FR2), which can be configured and can be used to provide additional radio resources once an RRC connection is established between the UE 104 and the anchor carrier. In some cases, the secondary carrier can be a carrier in an unlicensed frequency. The secondary carrier may contain only necessary signaling information and signals, for example, since the primary uplink carrier and the primary downlink carrier are typically UE-specific, those UE-specific signaling information and signals may not be present in the secondary carrier. This means that different UEs 104 / 182 in a cell may have different downlink primary carriers. The same is true for the uplink primary carrier. The network is able to change the primary carrier of any UE 104 / 182 at any time. This is done, for example, to balance the load on different carriers. Since a "serving cell" (whether PCell or SCell) corresponds to a carrier frequency / component carrier through which a base station communicates, the terms "cell", "serving cell", "component carrier", "carrier frequency", etc. may be used interchangeably.

[0050] For example, still refer to Figure 1 , one of the frequencies used by macrocell base station 102 may be an anchor carrier (or "PCell"), and the other frequencies used by macrocell base station 102 and / or mmW base station 180 may be secondary carriers ("SCells"). Simultaneous transmission and / or reception of multiple carriers enables UE 104 / 182 to significantly increase its data transmission and / or reception rate. For example, two 20 MHz aggregated carriers in a multi-carrier system would theoretically result in a doubling of the data rate (i.e., 40 MHz) compared to the data rate obtained with a single 20 MHz carrier.

[0051] exist Figure 1 In the example of FIG. 1 , the UE illustrated (for simplicity, in Figure 1Any UE (shown as a single UE 104 in FIG. 1 ) can receive a signal 124 from one or more earth orbiting space vehicles (SVs) 112 (e.g., satellites). In one aspect, the SVs 112 can be part of a satellite positioning system that the UEs 104 can use as an independent source of location information. A satellite positioning system typically includes a system of transmitters (e.g., SVs 112) positioned to enable a receiver (e.g., UE 104) to determine its position on or above the earth based at least in part on positioning signals (e.g., signals 124) received from the transmitters. Such transmitters typically transmit a signal marked with a repeating pseudo-random noise (PN) code of a set number of chips. Although typically located in the SVs 112, the transmitters can sometimes be located on ground-based control stations, base stations 102, and / or other UEs 104. The UEs 104 can include one or more dedicated receivers that are specifically designed to receive the signal 124 in order to derive geographic location information from the SVs 112.

[0052] In a satellite positioning system, the use of signal 124 may be enhanced by various satellite-based augmentation systems (SBAS) that may be associated with or otherwise enabled for use with one or more global and / or regional navigation satellite systems. For example, SBAS may include augmentation systems that provide integrity information, differential corrections, and the like, such as Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS), European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS), Multifunction Satellite Augmentation System (MSAS), Global Positioning System (GPS) Assisted Geographic Augmented Navigation, or GPS and Geographic Augmented Navigation System (GAGAN), and the like. Thus, as used herein, a satellite positioning system may include any combination of one or more global and / or regional navigation satellites associated with such one or more satellite positioning systems.

[0053] In one aspect, SV 112 may additionally or alternatively be part of one or more non-terrestrial networks (NTNs). In an NTN, SV 112 is connected to an earth station (also referred to as a ground station, NTN gateway, or gateway), which in turn is connected to an element in a 5G network, such as an improved base station 102 (without a ground antenna) or a network node in a 5GC. This element in turn will provide access to other elements in the 5G network, and ultimately provide access to entities outside the 5G network (such as Internet web servers and other user devices). In this way, instead of or in addition to communication signals from ground base stations 102, UE 104 can receive communication signals (e.g., signal 124) from SV 112.

[0054] In particular, leveraging the increased data rates and reduced latency of NR, vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication technology is being implemented to support intelligent transportation system (ITS) applications, such as wireless communications between vehicles (vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V)), between vehicles and roadside infrastructure (vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I)), and between vehicles and pedestrians (vehicle-to-pedestrian (V2P)). The goal is to enable vehicles to sense the environment around them and communicate that information to other vehicles, infrastructure, and personal mobile devices. Such vehicle communications will enable safety, mobility, and environmental advances that current technology cannot provide. Once fully implemented, the technology is expected to reduce non-fault vehicle collisions by 80%.

[0055] Still reference Figure 1 , the wireless communication system 100 may include a plurality of V-UEs 160 that may communicate with a base station 102 over a communication link 120 using a Uu interface (i.e., an air interface between a UE and a base station). The V-UEs 160 may also communicate directly with each other over a wireless side link 162, with a roadside unit (RSU) 164 (which may be a roadside access point or a road test UE with a known and / or fixed location) over a wireless side link 166, or with a sidelink-capable UE 104 over a wireless side link 168 using a PC5 interface (i.e., an air interface between sidelink-capable UEs). A wireless side link (or just "sidelink") is an adaptation of a core cellular network (e.g., LTE, NR) standard that allows direct communication between two or more UEs without communicating through a base station. The sidelink communication may be unicast or multicast and may be used for device-to-device (D2D) media sharing, V2V communication, V2X communication (e.g., cellular V2X (cV2X) communication, enhanced V2X (eV2X) communication, etc.), emergency rescue applications, etc. One or more V-UEs in a group of V-UEs 160 utilizing sidelink communication may be within the geographic coverage area 110 of the base station 102. Other V-UEs 160 in such a group may be outside the geographic coverage area 110 of the base station 102 or otherwise unable to receive transmissions from the base station 102. In some cases, each group of V-UEs 160 communicating via sidelink communication may utilize a one-to-many (1:M) system, where each V-UE 160 transmits to each other V-UE 160 in the group. In some cases, the base station 102 facilitates the scheduling of resources for the sidelink communication. In other cases, the sidelink communication is performed between the V-UEs 160 without involving the base station 102.

[0056] In one aspect, the sidelinks 162, 166, 168 can operate over a wireless communication medium of interest, which can be shared with other vehicles and / or infrastructure access points and other wireless communications between other RATs. A "medium" may include one or more time, frequency, and / or spatial communication resources (e.g., covering one or more channels across one or more carriers) associated with wireless communications between one or more transmitter / receiver pairs.

[0057] In one aspect, the sidelinks 162, 166, 168 may be cV2X links. The first generation of cV2X has been standardized in LTE, and the next generation is expected to be defined in NR. cV2X is a cellular technology that also enables device-to-device communications. In the United States and Europe, cV2X is expected to operate in the licensed ITS bands below 6 GHz. Other frequency bands may be allocated in other countries. Thus, as a specific example, the medium of interest utilized by the sidelinks 162, 166, 168 may correspond to at least a portion of the licensed ITS bands below 6 GHz. However, the present disclosure is not limited to this frequency band or cellular technology.

[0058] In one aspect, the side links 162, 166, 168 may be dedicated short-range communication (DSRC) links. DSRC is a unidirectional or bidirectional short-range to medium-range wireless communication protocol that uses the Wireless Access in Vehicular Environment (WAVE) protocol (also known as IEEE 802.11p) for V2V, V2I, and V2P communications. IEEE 802.11p is an approved modification to the IEEE 802.11 standard and operates in the licensed ITS band of 5.9 GHz (5.85 GHz-5.925 GHz) in the United States. In Europe, IEEE 802.11p operates in the ITS G5A band (5.875 GHz-5.905 MHz). Other frequency bands may be allocated in other countries. The V2V communications briefly described above occur on a safety channel, which is typically a 10 MHz channel dedicated to safety purposes in the United States. The rest of the DSRC band (total bandwidth is 75 MHz) is intended for other services of interest to drivers, such as road regulations, toll collection, parking automation, etc. Thus, as a specific example, the medium of interest utilized by the sidelinks 162, 166, 168 may correspond to at least a portion of the licensed ITS band at 5.9 GHz.

[0059] Alternatively, the medium of interest may correspond to at least a portion of an unlicensed frequency band shared among the various RATs. Although different licensed frequency bands have been reserved for certain communication systems (e.g., by government entities such as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the United States), these systems (particularly those employing small cell access points) have recently expanded operations into unlicensed frequency bands such as the Unlicensed National Information Infrastructure (U-NII) band used by wireless local area network (WLAN) technologies (most notably the IEEE 802.11x WLAN technology commonly referred to as "Wi-Fi"). Example systems of this type include different variations of CDMA systems, TDMA systems, FDMA systems, orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA) systems, single carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) systems, and the like.

[0060] Communication between V-UEs 160 is referred to as V2V communication, communication between V-UEs 160 and one or more RSUs 164 is referred to as V2I communication, and communication between V-UEs 160 and one or more UEs 104 (where these UEs 104 are P-UEs) is referred to as V2P communication. V2V communication between V-UEs 160 may include, for example, information about the position, speed, acceleration, heading, and other vehicle data of these V-UEs 160. V2I information received at V-UEs 160 from one or more RSUs 164 may include, for example, road rules, parking automation information, etc. V2P communication between V-UEs 160 and UEs 104 may include information about, for example, the position, speed, acceleration, and heading of the V-UEs 160 and the position, speed (for example, in the case where the UE 104 is carried by a user on a bicycle), and heading of the UEs 104.

[0061] Note that although Figure 1 Only two of the UEs are illustrated as V-UEs (V-UE 160), but any of the illustrated UEs (e.g., UE 104, 152, 182, 190) may be V-UEs. In addition, although only these V-UEs 160 and a single UE 104 have been illustrated as being connected via a side link, Figure 1Any of the illustrated UEs, whether V-UEs, P-UEs, etc., may be capable of sidelink communications. Furthermore, although only UE 182 is described as being capable of beamforming, any of the illustrated UEs (including V-UE 160) may be capable of beamforming. In the event that V-UE 160 is capable of beamforming, they may beamform toward each other (i.e., toward other V-UEs 160), toward RSU 164, toward other UEs (e.g., UE 104, 152, 182, 190), etc. Thus, in some cases, V-UE 160 may utilize beamforming on sidelinks 162, 166, and 168.

[0062] The wireless communication system 100 may also include one or more UEs (such as UE 190) indirectly connected to one or more communication networks via one or more device-to-device (D2D) peer-to-peer (P2P) links. Figure 1 In the example of FIG. 1 , UE 190 has a D2D P2P link 192 with one of UEs 104 connected to one of base stations 102 (e.g., UE 190 can indirectly obtain cellular connectivity through the D2D P2P link), and has a D2D P2P link 194 with a WLAN STA 152 connected to a WLAN AP 150 (UE 190 can indirectly obtain WLAN-based Internet connectivity through the D2D P2P link). In one example, D2D P2P links 192 and 194 can be supported by any well-known D2D RAT, such as LTE Direct (LTE-D), WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), Etc. As another example, D2D P2P links 192 and 194 may be side links, as described above with reference to side links 162 , 166 , and 168 .

[0063] Figure 2AAn example wireless network structure 200 is illustrated. For example, the 5GC 210 (also referred to as the Next Generation Core (NGC)) can be functionally viewed as a control plane (C-plane) function 214 (e.g., UE registration, authentication, network access, gateway selection, etc.) and a user plane (U-plane) function 212 (e.g., UE gateway function, access to data networks, IP routing, etc.), which operate in conjunction to form a core network. The user plane interface (NG-U) 213 and the control plane interface (NG-C) 215 connect the gNB 222 to the 5GC 210, and specifically to the user plane function 212 and the control plane function 214, respectively. In an additional configuration, the ng-eNB 224 can also be connected to the 5GC 210 via the NG-C 215 to the control plane function 214 and the NG-U 213 to the user plane function 212. In addition, the ng-eNB 224 can communicate directly with the gNB 222 via the backhaul connection 223. In some configurations, the next generation RAN (NG-RAN) 220 may have one or more gNBs 222, while other configurations include one or more of ng-eNBs 224 and gNBs 222. Either (or both) the gNBs 222 or ng-eNBs 224 may communicate with one or more UEs 204 (e.g., any of the UEs described herein).

[0064] Another optional aspect may include a location server 230 that can communicate with the 5GC 210 to provide location assistance for the UE 204. The location server 230 can be implemented as multiple separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules distributed across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternatively can each correspond to a single server. The location server 230 can be configured to support one or more location services for the UE 204 that can be connected to the location server 230 via the core network, the 5GC 210, and / or via the Internet (not illustrated). In addition, the location server 230 can be integrated into a component of the core network, or alternatively can be external to the core network (e.g., a third-party server, such as an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) server or a service server).

[0065] Figure 2B Another example wireless network structure 240 is illustrated. 5GC 260 (which may correspond to Figure 2AThe 5GC 210 in the 5GC 210 can be functionally considered as a control plane function provided by an access and mobility management function (AMF) 264, and a user plane function provided by a user plane function (UPF) 262, which operate in conjunction to form a core network (i.e., 5GC 260). The functions of the AMF 264 include: registration management, connection management, reachability management, mobility management, lawful interception, transmission of session management (SM) messages between one or more UEs 204 (e.g., any of the UEs described herein) and a session management function (SMF) 266, a transparent proxy service for routing SM messages, access authentication and access authorization, transmission of short message service (SMS) messages between the UE 204 and a short message service function (SMSF) (not shown), and security anchor functionality (SEAF). The AMF 264 also interacts with an authentication server function (AUSF) (not shown) and the UE 204, and receives an intermediate key established as a result of the UE 204 authentication process. In the case of authentication based on the UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) Subscriber Identity Module (USIM), the AMF 264 retrieves security material from the AUSF. The functionality of the AMF 264 also includes security context management (SCM). The SCM receives keys from the SEAF, which are used by the SCM to derive access network-specific keys. The functionality of the AMF 264 also includes location service management for regulatory services, transmission of location service messages between the UE 204 and the Location Management Function (LMF) 270 (which acts as a location server 230), transmission of location service messages between the NG-RAN 220 and the LMF 270, allocation of Evolved Packet System (EPS) bearer identifiers for interoperation with EPS, and notification of UE 204 mobility events. In addition, the AMF 264 also supports functionality for non-3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project) access networks.

[0066] The functions of UPF 262 include: acting as an anchor point for intra-RAT / inter-RAT mobility (when applicable), acting as an external protocol data unit (PDU) session point for interconnection to a data network (not shown), providing packet routing and forwarding, packet inspection, user plane policy rule enforcement (e.g., gating, redirection, service steering), lawful interception (user plane collection), service usage reporting, user plane quality of service (QoS) handling (e.g., uplink / downlink rate enforcement, reflective QoS marking in downlink), uplink service verification (service data flow (SDF) to QoS flow mapping), transport level packet marking in uplink and downlink, downlink packet buffering and downlink data notification triggering, and transmitting and forwarding one or more "end markers" to the source RAN node. UPF 262 can also support the delivery of location service messages between UE 204 and a location server (such as SLP 272) on the user plane.

[0067] The functions of SMF 266 include session management, UE Internet Protocol (IP) address allocation and management, selection and control of user plane functions, traffic steering configuration for routing traffic to the correct destination at UPF 262, partial control of policy enforcement and QoS, and downlink data notification. The interface through which SMF 266 communicates with AMF 264 is called the N11 interface.

[0068] Another optional aspect may include an LMF 270 that can communicate with the 5GC 260 to provide location assistance for the UE 204. The LMF 270 can be implemented as multiple separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules distributed across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternatively can each correspond to a single server. The LMF 270 can be configured to support one or more location services for the UE 204, which can be connected to the LMF 270 via the core network, the 5GC 260, and / or via the Internet (not illustrated). SLP 272 may support similar functionality as LMF 270, but LMF 270 may communicate with AMF 264, NG-RAN 220, and UE 204 on a control plane (e.g., using interfaces and protocols intended to carry signaling messages rather than voice or data), and SLP 272 may communicate with UE 204 and external clients (e.g., third-party servers 274) on a user plane (e.g., using protocols intended to carry voice and / or data, such as Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and / or IP).

[0069] Yet another optional aspect may include a third-party server 274 that can communicate with the LMF 270, SLP 272, 5GC 260 (e.g., via AMF 264 and / or UPF 262), NG-RAN 220, and / or UE 204 to obtain location information (e.g., location estimate) of UE 204. Thus, in some cases, the third-party server 274 may be referred to as a location service (LCS) client or an external client. The third-party server 274 may be implemented as a plurality of separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules distributed across multiple physical servers, etc.), or may alternatively each correspond to a single server.

[0070] The user plane interface 263 and the control plane interface 265 connect the 5GC 260, and specifically the UPF 262 and the AMF 264, respectively, to one or more gNBs 222 and / or ng-eNBs 224 in the NG-RAN 220. The interface between the gNB 222 and / or ng-eNB 224 and the AMF 264 is referred to as the "N2" interface, and the interface between the gNB 222 and / or ng-eNB 224 and the UPF 262 is referred to as the "N3" interface. The gNBs 222 and / or ng-eNBs 224 of the NG-RAN 220 may communicate directly with each other via a backhaul connection 223 referred to as an "Xn-C" interface. One or more of the gNBs 222 and / or ng-eNBs 224 may communicate with one or more UEs 204 via a wireless interface referred to as a "Uu" interface.

[0071] The functionality of the gNB 222 is divided between a gNB Central Unit (gNB-CU) 226, one or more gNB Distributed Units (gNB-DU) 228, and one or more gNB Radio Units (gNB-RU) 229. The gNB-CU 226 is a logical node that includes base station functions other than those specifically assigned to the gNB-DU 228, including delivery of user data, mobility control, radio access network sharing, positioning, session management, etc. More specifically, the gNB-CU 226 typically hosts the Radio Resource Control (RRC), Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP), and Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) protocols of the gNB 222. The gNB-DU 228 is a logical node that typically hosts the Radio Link Control (RLC) and Medium Access Control (MAC) layers of the gNB 222. Its operation is controlled by the gNB-CU 226. One gNB-DU 228 can support one or more cells, and one cell is supported by only one gNB-DU 228. The interface 232 between the gNB-CU 226 and one or more gNB-DUs 228 is referred to as the "F1" interface. The physical (PHY) layer functionality of the gNB 222 is typically hosted by one or more independent gNB-RUs 229, which perform functions such as power amplification and signal transmission / reception. The interface between the gNB-DU 228 and the gNB-RU 229 is referred to as the "Fx" interface. Thus, the UE 204 communicates with the gNB-CU 226 via the RRC layer, the SDAP layer, and the PDCP layer, communicates with the gNB-DU 228 via the RLC layer and the MAC layer, and communicates with the gNB-RU 229 via the PHY layer.

[0072] Figure 3A , Figure 3B and Figure 3C The example may be incorporated into a UE 302 (which may correspond to any UE described herein), a base station 304 (which may correspond to any base station described herein), and a network entity 306 (which may correspond to or embody any network function described herein, including a location server 230 and a LMF 270, or alternatively may be independent of Figure 2A and Figure 2BSeveral example components (represented by corresponding boxes) in the NG-RAN 220 and / or 5GC 210 / 260 infrastructure depicted in the 5GC 210 / 260 (such as a dedicated network) are shown to support operations as described herein. It should be understood that these components can be implemented in different types of devices (e.g., in an ASIC, in a system on a chip (SoC), etc.) in different specific embodiments. The illustrated components can also be incorporated into other devices in the communication system. For example, other devices in the system may include components similar to those described as providing similar functionality. Moreover, a given device may include one or more of these components. For example, a device may include multiple transceiver components that enable the device to operate on multiple carriers and / or communicate via different technologies.

[0073] UE 302 and base station 304 each include one or more wireless wide area network (WWAN) transceivers 310 and 350, respectively, which provide means (e.g., means for transmitting, means for receiving, means for measuring, means for tuning, means for preventing transmitting, etc.) for communicating via one or more wireless communication networks (not shown), such as NR networks, LTE networks, GSM networks, etc. WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 can each be connected to one or more antennas 316 and 356, respectively, for communicating with other network nodes (such as other UEs, access points, base stations (e.g., eNBs, gNBs), etc.) via at least one designated RAT (e.g., NR, LTE, GSM, etc.) over a wireless communication medium of interest (e.g., a certain set of time / frequency resources in a specific spectrum). The WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 can be configured in different ways to transmit and encode signals 318 and 358 (e.g., messages, indications, information, etc.) according to the specified RAT, and conversely, receive and decode signals 318 and 358 (e.g., messages, indications, information, pilots, etc.) respectively. Specifically, the WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 respectively include: one or more transmitters 314 and 354 for transmitting and encoding signals 318 and 358, respectively, and one or more receivers 312 and 352 for receiving and decoding signals 318 and 358, respectively.

[0074] At least in some cases, the UE 302 and the base station 304 each further include one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360, respectively. The short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 can be connected to one or more antennas 326 and 366, respectively, and provide for communicating over the wireless communication medium of interest via at least one designated RAT (e.g., WiFi, LTE-D, The short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 are components (e.g., components for sending, components for receiving, components for measuring, components for tuning, components for preventing sending, etc.) for communicating with other network nodes (such as other UEs, access points, base stations, etc.) using a PC5, dedicated short-range communication (DSRC), wireless access for vehicle environments (WAVE), near field communication (NFC), ultra-wideband (UWB), etc.). The short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 can be configured in different ways to send and encode signals 328 and 368 (e.g., messages, indications, information, etc.) according to a specified RAT, and conversely, receive and decode signals 328 and 368 (e.g., messages, indications, information, pilots, etc.). Specifically, the short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 include: one or more transmitters 324 and 364 for sending and encoding signals 328 and 368, respectively, and one or more receivers 322 and 362 for receiving and decoding signals 328 and 368, respectively. As a specific example, the short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 may be WiFi transceivers, Transceiver, and / or transceiver, NFC transceiver UWB transceiver or vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and / or vehicle-to-everything (V2X) transceiver.

[0075] At least in some cases, the UE 302 and the base station 304 also include satellite signal receivers 330 and 370. The satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 can be connected to one or more antennas 336 and 376, respectively, and can provide components for receiving and / or measuring satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378, respectively. In the case where the satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 are satellite positioning system receivers, the satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378 can be global positioning system (GPS) signals, global navigation satellite system (GLONASS) signals, Galileo signals, Beidou signals, Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (NAVIC), Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS), etc. In the case where the satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 are non-terrestrial network (NTN) receivers, the satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378 can be communication signals (e.g., carrying control and / or user data) originating from a 5G network. Satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 may include any suitable hardware and / or software for receiving and processing satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378, respectively. Satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 may request information and operations from other systems as appropriate, and, at least in some cases, perform calculations using measurements obtained by any suitable satellite positioning system algorithm to determine the location of UE 302 and base station 304, respectively.

[0076] The base station 304 and the network entity 306 each include one or more network transceivers 380 and 390, respectively, which provide components (e.g., components for sending, components for receiving, etc.) for communicating with other network entities (e.g., other base stations 304, other network entities 306). For example, the base station 304 can use one or more network transceivers 380 to communicate with other base stations 304 or network entities 306 through one or more wired or wireless backhaul links. For another example, the network entity 306 can use one or more network transceivers 390 to communicate with one or more base stations 304 through one or more wired or wireless backhaul links, or communicate with other network entities 306 through one or more wired or wireless core network interfaces.

[0077] The transceiver can be configured to communicate over a wired or wireless link. The transceiver (whether a wired transceiver or a wireless transceiver) includes a transmitter circuit (e.g., transmitters 314, 324, 354, 364) and a receiver circuit (e.g., receivers 312, 322, 352, 362). In some implementations, the transceiver can be an integrated device (e.g., implementing the transmitter circuit and the receiver circuit in a single device), in some implementations can include separate transmitter circuits and separate receiver circuits, or in other implementations can be implemented in other ways. The transmitter circuit and the receiver circuit of the wired transceiver (e.g., in some implementations, the network transceivers 380 and 390) can be coupled to one or more wired network interface ports. The wireless transmitter circuitry (e.g., transmitters 314, 324, 354, 364) may include or be coupled to multiple antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such as antenna arrays, which allow the corresponding device (e.g., UE 302, base station 304) to perform transmit "beamforming", as described herein. Similarly, the wireless receiver circuitry (e.g., receiver 312, 322, 352, 362) may include or be coupled to multiple antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such as antenna arrays, which allow the corresponding device (e.g., UE 302, base station 304) to perform receive beamforming, as described herein. In one aspect, the transmitter circuitry and the receiver circuitry may share the same multiple antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366) so that the corresponding device can only receive or only transmit at a given time, rather than both receive and transmit at the same time. The wireless transceivers (eg, WWAN transceivers 310 and 350, short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360) may also include a network listening module (NLM) or the like for performing various measurements.

[0078] As used herein, various wireless transceivers (e.g., in some implementations, transceivers 310, 320, 350, and 360, and network transceivers 380 and 390) and wired transceivers (e.g., in some implementations, network transceivers 380 and 390) may be generally referred to as a "transceiver," "at least one transceiver," or "one or more transceivers." Thus, whether a particular transceiver is a wired or wireless transceiver may be inferred based on the type of communication being performed. For example, backhaul communications between network devices or servers typically involve signaling via a wired transceiver, while wireless communications between a UE (e.g., UE 302) and a base station (e.g., base station 304) will typically involve signaling via a wireless transceiver.

[0079] UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 also include other components that can be used in conjunction with the operations disclosed herein. UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 include one or more processors 332, 384, and 394, respectively, for providing functionality related to, for example, wireless communication, and for providing other processing functionality. Thus, processors 332, 384, and 394 may provide means for processing, such as means for determining, means for calculating, means for receiving, means for sending, means for indicating, etc. In one aspect, processors 332, 384, and 394 may include, for example, one or more general purpose processors, multi-core processors, central processing units (CPUs), ASICs, digital signal processors (DSPs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), other programmable logic devices or processing circuits, or various combinations thereof.

[0080] UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 include memory circuitry implementing memory 340, 386, and 396 (e.g., each including a memory device) for maintaining information (e.g., information indicating reserved resources, thresholds, parameters, etc.). Memories 340, 386, and 396 may thus provide means for storing, means for retrieving, means for maintaining, etc. In some cases, UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 may include positioning components 342, 388, and 398, respectively. Positioning components 342, 388, and 398 may be hardware circuits that are part of or coupled to processors 332, 384, and 394, respectively, which when executed cause UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 to perform the functionality described herein. In other aspects, positioning components 342, 388, and 398 may be external to processors 332, 384, and 394 (e.g., part of a modem processing system, integrated with another processing system, etc.). Alternatively, the positioning components 342, 388 and 398 can be memory modules stored in the memories 340, 386 and 396, respectively, which, when executed by the processors 332, 384 and 394 (or a modem processing system, another processing system, etc.), cause the UE 302, the base station 304 and the network entity 306 to perform the functionality described herein. Figure 3A Possible locations for a location component 342 are illustrated, which may be, for example, part of one or more WWAN transceivers 310, memory 340, one or more processors 332, or any combination thereof, or may be a standalone component. Figure 3B Possible locations for a location component 388 are illustrated, which may be, for example, part of one or more WWAN transceivers 350, memory 386, one or more processors 384, or any combination thereof, or may be a standalone component. Figure 3C Possible locations for a location component 398 are illustrated, which may be, for example, part of one or more network transceivers 390, memory 396, one or more processors 394, or any combination thereof, or may be a stand-alone component.

[0081] UE 302 may include one or more sensors 344 coupled to one or more processors 332 to provide a means for sensing or detecting movement and / or orientation information that is independent of motion data derived from signals received by one or more WWAN transceivers 310, one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320, and / or satellite signal receivers 330. By way of example, sensor 344 may include an accelerometer (e.g., a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) device), a gyroscope, a geomagnetic sensor (e.g., a compass), an altimeter (e.g., a barometric altimeter), and / or any other type of motion detection sensor. In addition, sensor 344 may include multiple different types of devices and combine their outputs to provide motion information. For example, sensor 344 may use a combination of a multi-axis accelerometer and an orientation sensor to provide the ability to calculate positioning in a two-dimensional (2D) and / or three-dimensional (3D) coordinate system.

[0082] In addition, the UE 302 includes a user interface 346, which provides components for providing indications to the user (e.g., audible and / or visual indications) and / or for receiving user input (e.g., when the user actuates a sensing device such as a keypad, touch screen, microphone, etc.). Although not shown, the base station 304 and the network entity 306 may also include a user interface.

[0083] Referring to the one or more processors 384 in more detail, in a downlink, IP packets from the network entity 306 may be provided to the processor 384. The one or more processors 384 may implement the functionality of the RRC layer, the Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer, the Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, and the Medium Access Control (MAC) layer. One or more processors 384 may provide: RRC layer functionality associated with broadcasting of system information (e.g., master information block (MIB), system information block (SIB)), RRC connection control (e.g., RRC connection paging, RRC connection establishment, RRC connection modification, and RRC connection release), inter-RAT mobility, and measurement configuration for UE measurement reporting; PDCP layer functionality associated with header compression / decompression, security (encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification), and handover support functions; RLC layer functionality associated with delivery of upper layer PDUs, error correction through automatic repeat request (ARQ), concatenation, segmentation and reassembly of RLC service data units (SDUs), re-segmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functionality associated with mapping between logical channels and transport channels, scheduling information reporting, error correction, priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.

[0084] The transmitter 354 and the receiver 352 may implement layer 1 (L1) functionality associated with various signal processing functions. Layer 1, including the physical (PHY) layer, may include: error detection on transport channels, forward error correction (FEC) coding / decoding of transport channels, interleaving, rate matching, mapping to physical channels, modulation / demodulation of physical channels, and MIMO antenna processing. The transmitter 354 handles mapping to signal constellations based on various modulation schemes (e.g., binary phase shift keying (BPSK), quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK), M-phase shift keying (M-PSK), M-quadrature amplitude modulation (M-QAM)). The decoded and modulated symbols may then be separated into parallel streams. Each stream may then be mapped to an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) subcarrier, multiplexed with a reference signal (e.g., a pilot) in the time and / or frequency domain, and then combined together using an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) to produce a physical channel carrying a time domain OFDM symbol stream. The OFDM symbol stream is spatially pre-decoded to generate multiple spatial streams. Channel estimates from a channel estimator may be used to determine coding and modulation schemes and for spatial processing. Channel estimates may be derived based on a reference signal and / or channel condition feedback sent by the UE 302. Each spatial stream may then be provided to one or more different antennas 356. The transmitter 354 may modulate an RF carrier with a corresponding spatial stream for transmission.

[0085] At the UE 302, the receiver 312 receives the signal through its corresponding antenna 316. The receiver 312 recovers the information modulated onto the RF carrier and provides the information to one or more processors 332. The transmitter 314 and the receiver 312 implement layer 1 functionality associated with various signal processing functions. The receiver 312 can perform spatial processing on the information to recover any spatial streams destined for the UE 302. If there are multiple spatial streams destined for the UE 302, they can be combined into a single OFDM symbol stream by the receiver 312. The receiver 312 then converts the OFDM symbol stream from the time domain to the frequency domain using a fast Fourier transform (FFT). The frequency domain signal includes a separate OFDM symbol stream for each subcarrier of the OFDM signal. The symbols on each subcarrier and the reference signal are recovered and demodulated by determining the most likely signal constellation point sent by the base station 304. These soft decisions can be based on channel estimates calculated by a channel estimator. The soft decisions are then decoded and deinterleaved to recover the data and control signals originally sent by the base station 304 on the physical channel. The data and control signals are then provided to one or more processors 332, which implement layer 3 (L3) and layer 2 (L2) functionality.

[0086] In the uplink, one or more processors 332 provide demultiplexing between transport and logical channels, packet reassembly, decryption, header decompression, and control signal processing to recover IP packets from the core network. One or more processors 332 are also responsible for error detection.

[0087] Similar to the functionality described in conjunction with downlink transmissions performed by the base station 304, the one or more processors 332 provide: RRC layer functionality associated with system information (e.g., MIB, SIB) acquisition, RRC connection, and measurement reporting; PDCP layer functionality associated with header compression / decompression and security (encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification); RLC layer functionality associated with delivery of upper layer PDUs, error correction through ARQ, concatenation, segmentation and reassembly of RLC SDUs, re-segmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functionality associated with mapping between logical channels and transport channels, multiplexing of MAC SDUs onto transport blocks (TBs), demultiplexing of MAC SDUs from TBs, scheduling information reporting, error correction through hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ), priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.

[0088] Channel estimates derived by the channel estimator from a reference signal or feedback sent by the base station 304 may be used by the transmitter 314 to select appropriate coding and modulation schemes and to facilitate spatial processing. The spatial streams generated by the transmitter 314 may be provided to different antennas 316. The transmitter 314 may modulate an RF carrier with a corresponding spatial stream for transmission.

[0089] The uplink transmissions are processed at the base station 304 in a manner similar to that described in conjunction with the receiver functionality at the UE 302. The receiver 352 receives the signal through its respective antenna 356. The receiver 352 recovers the information modulated onto the RF carrier and provides the information to one or more processors 384.

[0090] In the uplink, the one or more processors 384 provide demultiplexing between transport and logical channels, packet reassembly, decryption, header decompression, control signal processing to recover IP packets from the UE 302. The IP packets from the one or more processors 384 may be provided to the core network. The one or more processors 384 are also responsible for error detection.

[0091] For convenience, UE 302, base station 304 and / or network entity 306 may Figure 3A , Figure 3B and Figure 3C, are shown to include various components that can be configured according to the various examples described herein. However, it should be understood that the illustrated components may have different functionality in different designs. In particular, FIG. 3A to FIG. 3C The various components in are optional in alternative configurations, and various aspects include configurations that may vary due to design choice, cost, use of the device, or other considerations. For example, in Figure 3A In the case of , a specific implementation of UE 302 may omit WWAN transceiver 310 (e.g., a wearable device or tablet or PC or laptop may have Wi-Fi and / or Bluetooth capabilities but no cellular capabilities), or may omit short-range wireless transceiver 320 (e.g., only cellular, etc.), or may omit satellite signal receiver 330, or may omit sensor 344, etc. In another example, in Figure 3B In the case of a wireless cellular network, a specific implementation of the base station 304 may omit the WWAN transceiver 350 (e.g., a Wi-Fi "hotspot" access point without cellular capabilities), or may omit the short-range wireless transceiver 360 (e.g., cellular only, etc.), or may omit the satellite signal receiver 370, etc. For the sake of brevity, illustrations of various alternative configurations are not provided herein, but will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art.

[0092] Various components of the UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 may be communicatively coupled to one another via data buses 334, 382, ​​and 392, respectively. In an aspect, the data buses 334, 382, ​​and 392 may form or be part of a communication interface for the UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306, respectively. For example, where different logical entities are embodied in the same device (e.g., gNB and location server functionality incorporated into the same base station 304), the data buses 334, 382, ​​and 392 may provide for communication between different logical entities.

[0093] Figure 3A , Figure 3B and Figure 3C The components of can be implemented in various ways. In some specific implementations, Figure 3A , Figure 3B and Figure 3CThe components may be implemented in one or more circuits, such as, for example, one or more processors and / or one or more ASICs (which may include one or more processors). Here, each circuit may use and / or be combined with at least one memory component for storing information or executable code used by the circuit to provide the functionality. For example, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 310 to 346 may be implemented by a processor and memory component of UE 302 (e.g., by executing appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of the processor component). Similarly, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 350 to 388 may be implemented by a processor and memory component of base station 304 (e.g., by executing appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of the processor component). Moreover, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 390 to 398 may be implemented by a processor and memory component of network entity 306 (e.g., by executing appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of the processor component). For simplicity, various operations, actions and / or functions are described herein as being performed by "UE", "by base station", "by network entity", etc. However, as should be understood, such operations, actions and / or functions may actually be performed by specific components or combinations of components of the UE 302, base station 304, network entity 306, etc., such as processors 332, 384, 394, transceivers 310, 320, 350 and 360, memories 340, 386 and 396, positioning components 342, 388 and 398, etc.

[0094] In some designs, the network entity 306 may be implemented as a core network component. In other designs, the network entity 306 may be operated differently from a network operator or cellular network infrastructure (e.g., NG RAN 220 and / or 5GC 210 / 260). For example, the network entity 306 may be a component of a dedicated network that may be configured to communicate with the UE 302 via the base station 304 or independently of the base station 304 (e.g., via a non-cellular communication link such as WiFi).

[0095] Various frame structures may be used to support downlink and uplink transmissions between network nodes (eg, base stations and UEs). Figure 4 4 is a diagram illustrating an example frame structure according to aspects of the present disclosure. The frame structure may be a downlink or uplink frame structure. Other wireless communication technologies may have different frame structures and / or different channels.

[0096] LTE (and in some cases NR) utilizes orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) on the downlink and single carrier frequency division multiplexing (SC-FDM) on the uplink. However, unlike LTE, NR also has the option of using OFDM on the uplink. OFDM and SC-FDM divide the system bandwidth into multiple (K) orthogonal subcarriers, which are also often called frequency tones, frequency bins, etc. Each subcarrier can be modulated with data. In general, modulation symbols are transmitted in the frequency domain using OFDM and in the time domain using SC-FDM. The spacing between adjacent subcarriers can be fixed, and the total number of subcarriers (K) can depend on the system bandwidth. For example, the spacing of the subcarriers can be 15 kilohertz (kHz), and the minimum resource allocation (resource block) can be 12 subcarriers (or 180kHz). Thus, for a system bandwidth of 1.25 megahertz (MHz), 2.5 MHz, 5 MHz, 10 MHz, or 20 MHz, the nominal fast Fourier transform (FFT) size may be equal to 128, 256, 512, 1024, or 2048, respectively. The system bandwidth may also be divided into multiple subbands. For example, a subband may cover 1.08 MHz (i.e., 6 resource blocks), and there may be 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16 subbands for a system bandwidth of 1.25 MHz, 2.5 MHz, 5 MHz, 10 MHz, or 20 MHz, respectively.

[0097] LTE supports a single parameter set (subcarrier spacing (SCS), symbol length, etc.). In contrast, NR can support multiple parameter sets (μ), for example, 15kHz (μ=0), 30kHz (μ=1), 60kHz (μ=2), 120kHz (μ=3), and 240kHz (μ=4) or larger subcarrier spacings may be available. In each subcarrier spacing, there are 14 symbols per slot. For 15kHz SCS (μ=0), there is one slot per subframe, 10 slots per frame, the slot duration is 1 millisecond (ms), the symbol duration is 66.7 microseconds (μs), and the maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) with a 4K FFT size is 50. For 30kHz SCS (μ=1), there are two slots per subframe, 20 slots per frame, the slot duration is 0.5ms, the symbol duration is 33.3μs, and the maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) with a 4K FFT size is 100. For 60kHz SCS (μ=2), there are four slots per subframe, 40 slots per frame, the slot duration is 0.25ms, the symbol duration is 16.7μs, and the maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) with a 4K FFT size is 200. For 120kHz SCS (μ=3), there are eight slots per subframe, 80 slots per frame, the slot duration is 0.125ms, the symbol duration is 8.33μs, and the maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) with a 4K FFT size is 400. For 240kHz SCS (μ=4), there are 16 slots per subframe, 160 slots per frame, the slot duration is 0.0625ms, the symbol duration is 4.17μs, and the maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) is 800 with 4K FFT size.

[0098] exist Figure 4 In the example of , a parameter set of 15 kHz is used. Thus, in the time domain, a 10 ms frame is divided into 10 equally sized subframes, each subframe is 1 ms, and each subframe includes one time slot. Figure 4 , time is represented horizontally (on the X-axis), where time increases from left to right, while frequency is represented vertically (on the Y-axis), where frequency increases (or decreases) from bottom to top.

[0099] A resource grid may be used to represent a time slot, each of which includes one or more time-concurrent resource blocks (RBs) in the frequency domain (also referred to as physical RBs (PRBs)). A resource grid is further divided into a plurality of resource elements (REs). An RE may correspond to one symbol length in the time domain and one subcarrier in the frequency domain. Figure 4In the parameter set of , for a normal cyclic prefix, an RB may contain 12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain and seven consecutive symbols in the time domain, for a total of 84 REs. For an extended cyclic prefix, an RB may contain 12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain and six consecutive symbols in the time domain, for a total of 72 REs. The number of bits carried by each RE depends on the modulation scheme.

[0100] Some of the REs may carry reference (pilot) signals (RS). These reference signals may include positioning reference signals (PRS), tracking reference signals (TRS), phase tracking reference signals (PTRS), cell-specific reference signals (CRS), channel state information reference signals (CSI-RS), demodulation reference signals (DMRS), primary synchronization signals (PSS), secondary synchronization signals (SSS), synchronization signal blocks (SSB), sounding reference signals (SRS), etc., depending on whether the illustrated frame structure is used for uplink communication or downlink communication. Figure 4 Example locations of REs carrying reference signals (labeled "R") are illustrated.

[0101] A set of resource elements (REs) used for transmission of PRS is referred to as a "PRS resource". A set of resource elements may span multiple PRBs in the frequency domain and "N" (such as 1 or more) consecutive symbols within a slot in the time domain. In a given OFDM symbol in the time domain, a PRS resource occupies consecutive PRBs in the frequency domain.

[0102] The transmission of PRS resources within a given PRB has a specific comb size (also referred to as "comb density"). The comb size "N" represents the subcarrier spacing (or frequency / tone spacing) within each symbol of the PRS resource configuration. Specifically, for comb size "N", the PRS is transmitted in every Nth subcarrier of one symbol of the PRB. For example, for comb-4, for each symbol of the PRS resource configuration, the RE corresponding to every fourth subcarrier (such as subcarriers 0, 4, 8) is used to transmit the PRS of the PRS resource. Currently, for DL-PRS, comb sizes of comb-2, comb-4, comb-6, and comb-12 are supported. Figure 4 An example PRS resource configuration for comb-4 (which spans four symbols) is illustrated. That is, the positions of shaded REs (labeled "R") indicate a comb-4 PRS resource configuration.

[0103] Currently, DL-PRS resources can span 2, 4, 6, or 12 consecutive symbols within a slot using a full frequency domain staggered pattern. DL-PRS resources can be configured in any downlink or flexible (FL) symbol configured by higher layers in a slot. There may be a constant energy per resource element (EPRE) for all REs of a given DL-PRS resource. The following are the symbol-by-symbol frequency offsets for comb sizes 2, 4, 6, and 12 on 2, 4, 6, and 12 symbols. 2-symbol Comb-2: {0,1}; 4-symbol Comb-2: {0,1,0,1}; 6-symbol Comb-2: {0,1,0,1,0,1}; 12-symbol Comb-2: {0,1,0,1,0,1,0,1,0,1,0,1}; 4-symbol Comb-4: {0,2,1,3} (as in Figure 4 ); 12-symbol comb-4: {0,2,1,3,0,2,1,3,0,2,1,3}; 6-symbol comb-6: {0,3,1,4,2,5}; 12-symbol comb-6: {0,3,1,4,2,5,0,3,1,4,2,5}; and 12-symbol comb-12: {0,6,3,9,1,7,4,10,2,8,5,11}.

[0104] A "PRS resource set" is a set of PRS resources used to send a PRS signal, where each PRS resource has a PRS resource ID. In addition, the PRS resources in a PRS resource set are associated with the same TRP. A PRS resource set is identified by a PRS resource set ID and is associated with a specific TRP (identified by the TRP ID). In addition, the PRS resources in a PRS resource set have the same periodicity, a common muting pattern configuration, and the same repetition factor (such as "PRS-ResourceRepetitionFactor") across time slots. The periodicity is the time from the first repetition of the first PRS resource of the first PRS instance to the same first repetition of the same first PRS resource of the next PRS instance. The periodicity may have a length selected from: 2^μ*{4,5,8,10,16,20,32,40,64,80,160,320,640,1280,2560,5120,10240} time slots, where μ=0,1,2,3. The repetition factor may have a length selected from {1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 16, 32} slots.

[0105] A PRS resource ID in a PRS resource set is associated with a single beam (or beam ID) transmitted from a single TRP (where one TRP can transmit one or more beams). That is, each PRS resource in a PRS resource set can be transmitted on a different beam, and therefore, a "PRS resource" (or simply "resource") may also be referred to as a "beam". Note that this does not have any implication on whether the UE knows the TRP and beam on which the PRS is transmitted.

[0106] A "PRS instance" or "PRS opportunity" is an instance of a periodically repeated time window (such as a group of one or more consecutive time slots) in which a PRS is expected to be sent. A PRS opportunity may also be referred to as a "PRS positioning opportunity", "PRS positioning instance", "positioning opportunity", "positioning instance", "positioning repetition", or simply "opportunity", "instance", or "repetition".

[0107] A "positioning frequency layer" (also referred to simply as a "frequency layer") is a set of one or more PRS resource sets with the same values ​​for certain parameters across one or more TRPs. Specifically, the set of PRS resource sets has the same subcarrier spacing and cyclic prefix (CP) type (meaning that all parameter sets supported for the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) are also supported by PRS), the same point A, the same value of the downlink PRS bandwidth, the same starting PRB (and center frequency), and the same comb size. The point A parameter takes the value of the parameter "ARFCN-ValueNR" (where "ARFCN" stands for "absolute radio frequency channel number") and is an identifier / code that specifies a pair of physical radio channels for transmission and reception. The downlink PRS bandwidth can have a granularity of four PRBs, and the minimum value is 24 PRBs and the maximum value is 272 PRBs. Currently, up to four frequency layers have been defined, and up to two PRS resource sets can be configured per TRP per frequency layer.

[0108] The concept of frequency layer is similar to the concept of component carrier and bandwidth part (BWP) to some extent, but the difference is that component carrier and BWP are used by one base station (or macro cell base station and small cell base station) to send data channels, while frequency layer is used by several (usually three or more) base stations to send PRS. The UE can indicate the number of frequency layers that the UE can support when the UE transmits its positioning capabilities to the network (such as during an LTE Positioning Protocol (LPP) session). For example, the UE can indicate whether it can support one or four positioning frequency layers.

[0109] It should be noted that the terms "positioning reference signal" and "PRS" generally refer to specific reference signals used for positioning in NR and LTE systems. However, as used herein, the terms "positioning reference signal" and "PRS" may also refer to any type of reference signal that can be used for positioning, such as but not limited to: PRS, TRS, PTRS, CRS, CSI-RS, DMRS, PSS, SSS, SSB, SRS, UL-PRS, etc. as defined in LTE and NR. In addition, the terms "positioning reference signal" and "PRS" may refer to a downlink positioning reference signal, an uplink positioning reference signal, or a sidelink positioning reference signal, unless otherwise indicated by the context. If it is necessary to further distinguish the type of PRS, the downlink positioning reference signal may be referred to as a "DL-PRS", the uplink positioning reference signal (e.g., an SRS used for positioning, i.e., PTRS) may be referred to as a "UL-PRS", and the sidelink positioning reference signal may be referred to as a "SL-PRS". In addition, for signals (e.g., DMRS) that can be sent in the downlink, uplink, and / or sidelink, these signals may be preceded by "DL," "UL," or "SL" to distinguish the direction. For example, "UL-DMRS" may be different from "DL-DMRS."

[0110] NR supports or implements various sidelink positioning techniques. Figure 5A Various interesting scenarios for sidelink-only positioning or joint Uu and sidelink positioning according to various aspects of the present disclosure are illustrated. In scenario 510, at least one peer UE with a known location can improve the Uu-based positioning (e.g., multi-cell RTT, downlink time difference of arrival (DL-TDOA), etc.) of the target UE by providing an additional anchor (e.g., using the sidelink round trip time (RTT) (SL-RTT)). In scenario 520, a low-end (e.g., low-capacity or "RedCap") target UE can obtain assistance from an advanced UE to determine its position using, for example, a sidelink positioning and ranging process with the advanced UE. Compared to the low-end UE, the advanced UE can have more capabilities, such as more sensors, faster processors, more memory, more antenna elements, higher transmit power capabilities, access to additional frequency bands, or any combination thereof. In scenario 530, a relay UE (e.g., with a known location) participates in the positioning estimation of the remote UE without performing uplink positioning reference signal (PRS) transmission over the Uu interface. Scenario 540 illustrates the joint positioning of multiple UEs. Specifically, in scenario 540, two UEs with unknown locations may be jointly located under non-line-of-sight (NLOS) conditions by utilizing constraints from nearby UEs.

[0111] Figure 5BAdditional interesting scenarios for sidelink-only or joint Uu and sidelink positioning in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure are illustrated. In scenario 550, UEs used for public safety (e.g., used by police, firefighters, etc.) can perform peer-to-peer (P2P) positioning and ranging for public safety and other purposes. For example, in scenario 550, public safety UEs can be out of coverage of the network and use sidelink positioning techniques to determine the position or relative distance and relative positioning between public safety UEs. Similarly, scenario 560 shows multiple UEs that are out of coverage and use sidelink positioning techniques (such as SL-RTT) to determine the position or relative distance and relative positioning.

[0112] NR is capable of supporting various sidelink ranging and positioning techniques. Sidelink-based ranging enables the determination of relative distances between UEs and optionally their absolute positions, where the absolute position of at least one of the involved UEs is known. This technique is valuable in situations where global navigation satellite system (GNSS) positioning is degraded or unavailable (e.g., tunnels, urban canyons, etc.), and can also enhance ranging and positioning accuracy when GNSS is available. Sidelink-based ranging can be implemented using a three-way handshake for session establishment, followed by the exchange of positioning reference signals (e.g., SL-PRS), and finally messaging based on PRS transmission and reception from peer UEs to exchange measurements.

[0113] Sidelink ranging is based on calculating the inter-UE round trip time (RTT) measurement, as determined from the transmission and reception times of the PRS. Each UE reports the RTT measurement to all other participating UEs along with its location (if known). For UEs whose locations are not known at all or not known accurately, the RTT process produces an inter-UE distance between the involved UEs. For UEs whose locations are known accurately, the distance produces an absolute location. UE participation, PRS transmission, and subsequent RTT calculations are coordinated by an initial three-way messaging handshake (PRS request, PRS response, and PRS confirmation) and a message exchange after PRS transmission (post-PRS message) for sharing measurements after receiving the PRS of the peer UE.

[0114] Figure 6 An example sidelink ranging and positioning process 600 according to aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated. The sidelink ranging and positioning process 600 may also be referred to as a sidelink RTT positioning process. Sidelink ranging is based on calculating an inter-UE RTT measurement, as determined based on the transmit and receive times of a PRS (e.g., SL-PRS). Each UE reports the RTT measurement along with its location (if known) to all other participating UEs. For UEs whose locations are completely unknown or not accurately known, the RTT process produces an inter-UE distance between the involved UEs. For UEs whose locations are accurately known, the ranging produces an absolute location.

[0115] like Figure 6 As shown in , after initial signaling between UE1 204-1 and UE2 204-2 for participating in a sidelink positioning session, at stages 610 and 620, UEs 204-1 and 204-2 send PRS (e.g., SL-PRS) to each other. The resources on which the PRS are sent may be configured / allocated by the network (e.g., a serving base station of one of the UEs) or negotiated by UEs 204-1 and 204-2. UE1 204-1 measures a transmit-receive (Tx-Rx) time difference between a transmit time of the PRS at stage 610 and a receive time of the PRS at stage 620. UE2 204-2 measures a receive-receive (Rx-Tx) time difference between a receive time of the PRS at stage 610 and a transmit time of the PRS at stage 620. Note that although Figure 6 It is illustrated that UE1 204-1 transmits the PRS first, but UE2 204-2 may transmit the PRS first instead.

[0116] At stages 630 and 640, UEs 204-1 and 204-2 exchange their respective time difference measurements in a post-PRS message (labeled "postPRS"). If UE1 204-1 has not yet provided its position to UE2 204-2, it does so at this time. Each of UEs 204-1 and 204-2 is then able to determine the RTT between UEs 204-1 and 204-2 based on the Tx-Rx and Rx-Tx time difference measurements (specifically, the difference between the Tx-Rx and Rx-Tx time difference measurements). Based on the RTT measurements and the speed of light, UE 204-1 or 204-2 can then estimate the distance (or range) between the two UEs 204-1 and 204-2 (specifically, the RTT measurement multiplied by half the speed of light). In at least one aspect, UE2 204-2 has an absolute location (eg, geographic coordinates) of UE1 204-1, which UE2 204-2 may use along with a distance to UE1 204-1 to determine its own absolute location.

[0117] Note that although Figure 6 Two UEs 204-1 and 204-2 are illustrated, but the UE may perform or attempt to perform the sidelink ranging and positioning procedure 600 with multiple UEs.

[0118] In one aspect, the PRS or SL-PRS used for the sidelink positioning session may have the same waveform as the waveform of the UL-PRS or DL-PRS defined in LTE or NR for positioning, or a different waveform from the waveform of the UL-PRS or DL-PRS.

[0119] Sidelink communication occurs in a transmit or receive resource pool. In the frequency domain, the minimum resource allocation unit is a subchannel (e.g., a set of consecutive PRBs in the frequency domain). In the time domain, resource allocation is performed in a time slot interval. However, some time slots are not available for sidelinks, and some time slots contain feedback resources. In addition, sidelink resources can be (pre)configured to occupy less than 14 symbols in a time slot.

[0120] The sidelink resources are configured at the Radio Resource Control (RRC) layer. The RRC configuration can be pre-configured (e.g., preloaded on the UE) or configured (e.g., from a serving base station).

[0121] The NR sidelink supports hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) retransmission. Fig. 7A 700 is a diagram of an example time slot structure without feedback resources according to aspects of the present disclosure. Fig. 7A In the example of , time is represented horizontally and frequency is represented vertically. In the time domain, the length of each block is one orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol, and 14 symbols constitute a time slot. In the frequency domain, the height of each block is one subchannel. Currently, the (pre-)configured subchannel size can be selected from the set of {10, 15, 20, 25, 50, 75, 100} physical resource blocks (PRBs).

[0122] For a sidelink slot, the first symbol is a repetition of the previous symbol and is used for automatic gain control (AGC) settings. Fig. 7A This is illustrated in the example by vertical and horizontal hashing. Fig. 7A As shown in , for the sidelink, the physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) and the physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) are transmitted in the same time slot. Similar to the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), the PSCCH carries control information about the sidelink resource allocation and a description of the sidelink data sent to the UE. Similarly, similar to the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), the PSSCH carries the user data of the UE. Fig. 7A In the example of , the PSCCH occupies half of the bandwidth of the subchannel and occupies only three symbols. Finally, the gap symbol appears after the PSSCH.

[0123] Figure 7B is a diagram 750 of an example time slot structure with feedback resources in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. Figure 7B In the example of , time is represented horizontally and frequency is represented vertically. In the time domain, the length of each block is one OFDM symbol, and 14 symbols constitute a time slot. In the frequency domain, the height of each block is one subchannel.

[0124] Figure 7B The illustrated time slot structure is similar to Fig. 7A The time slot structure shown is similar, except that Figure 7B The illustrated time slot structure includes feedback resources. Specifically, the two symbols at the end of the time slot have been dedicated to the physical side link feedback channel (PSFCH). The first PSFCH symbol is a repetition of the second PSFCH symbol for AGC setting. In addition to the gap symbol after the PSSCH, there is also a gap symbol after two PSFCH symbols. Currently, the resources for PSFCH can be configured with a periodicity selected from a set of {0,1,2,4} time slots.

[0125] FIG. 8A to FIG. 8D Various example sidelink slot structures with symbols allocated or reserved for SL-PRS transmission are shown in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure. FIG. 8A to FIG. 8D In the example depicted in , time is represented horizontally and frequency is represented vertically. In the time domain, the length of each block is one OFDM symbol; and in the frequency domain, the height of each block is one subchannel.

[0126] In at least one aspect (such as FIG. 8A to FIG. 8C ), the sidelink slot structure for SL-PRS can be based on the slot structure for sidelink communication, in which various symbols are allocated to control or data channels (e.g., PSCCH or PSSCH). In at least one aspect (such as Fig.8D ), the sidelink slot structure for SL-PRS may be an independent SL-PRS slot in which no symbols are allocated to control or data channels.

[0127] Fig. 8A An example sidelink slot 800a is shown in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. In this example, the sidelink slot 800a is configured with an allocated sidelink slot bandwidth 812. The sidelink slot 800a includes a set 814 of symbols allocated to the PSCCH, a set 816 of symbols allocated to the PSSCH, and one or more sets 822, 824, and 826 of symbols allocated or reserved for SL-PRS transmissions performed by one or more corresponding sidelink devices (e.g., UE0, UE1, and UE2). The first symbol of the sidelink slot 800a is used for AGC setup, and the last symbol of the sidelink slot 800a is a gap symbol.

[0128] In at least one example according to sidelink timeslot 800a, UE0 is allocated or reserved a set 822 of symbols for transmitting SL-PRS within sidelink timeslot 800a (labeled "UE0"), UE1 is allocated or reserved a set 824 of symbols for transmitting SL-PRS within sidelink timeslot 800a (labeled "UE1"), and UE2 is allocated or reserved a set 826 of symbols for transmitting SL-PRS within sidelink timeslot 800a (labeled "UE2"). Although the symbols of the SL-PRS assigned to each UE in this example are depicted as three consecutive symbols, as will be appreciated, the UEs may be allocated or reserved a different number of symbols per timeslot.

[0129] Figure 8B An example side link time slot 800b is shown in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. Fig. 8A Compared to the example depicted in FIG. 8 , a corresponding portion of the set 816 of symbols allocated to the PSSCH in the sidelink time slot 800a becomes a set 832 of symbols allocated or reserved for SL-PRS transmission in the sidelink time slot 800b. Figure 8B In FIG. 8 , the side link time slot 800 b includes one or more sets 832 , 834 , 836 , and 838 of symbols allocated or reserved for SL-PRS transmissions associated with UE0 , UE1 , UE2 , and UE3 , respectively. Fig. 8A In the example depicted in FIG. 8 , the first symbol of the side link slot 800 b is used for AGC setting, and the last symbol of the side link slot 800 b is a gap symbol.

[0130] Figure 8C An example sidelink time slot 800c is shown in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. In this example, the sidelink time slot 800c is also configured with an allocated sidelink time slot bandwidth 812. The sidelink time slot 800c includes a set 814 of symbols allocated to the PSCCH, multiple sets 852, 854, and 856 of symbols that may be allocated to the PSSCH, and one symbol 858 allocated or reserved for SL-PRS transmission (labeled "SL-PRS"). Fig. 8A In the example depicted in FIG. 8 , the first symbol of the side link slot 800 c is used for AGC setting, and the last symbol of the side link slot 800 c is a gap symbol.

[0131] Fig.8D 800d according to aspects of the present disclosure. Fig.8D, the sidelink slot 800d is a 12-symbol slot in which multiple sets of symbols 882, 884, and 886 are allocated or reserved for SL-PRS transmissions associated with UE0, UE1, and UE2, respectively. The sidelink slot 800d also includes one or more sets 892 and 894 of symbols that have not been allocated to SL-PRS or any other data. According to one aspect, the sidelink slot 800d can be configured to not include any symbols allocated to control or data channels (e.g., PSCCH or PSSCH). According to one aspect, the sidelink slot 800d can be configured to not include any symbols allocated for AGC or gaps.

[0132] For side link communication between two or more UEs, it is sometimes necessary for the transmitting UE to increase or decrease its transmit power to improve the audibility of the transmitted signal at the received UE. This is called transmit power control (TPC). The transmit power can be increased to meet the threshold signal strength at the receiver, or reduced to minimize interference to other transmitters using the spectrum. There are two types of transmit power control (open loop and closed loop). In open loop transmit power control, the transmitting UE uses its own power setting algorithm to determine its transmit power. There is no feedback input from the receiver. In closed loop transmit power control, the transmitting UE uses feedback from the receiving UE to determine its transmit power. In some cases, the receiving UE can specifically request a specific transmit power. Before the receiving UE can provide feedback to the transmitting UE, open loop transmit power control can be used during connection establishment. Once the side link has been established, closed loop power control can be used.

[0133] In one aspect of a UE in a group of UEs communicating via a side link, the transmit power of the side link may be controlled according to open loop transmit power control. In one aspect, the transmit power may be limited to no greater than a maximum permitted transmit power level permitted by a specified UE power class or a regulated power level for a frequency range within which the side link is established. In one aspect, the maximum permitted transmit power level may be configured or preconfigured per resource pool or configured or preconfigured per congestion control for some PHY channels.

[0134] In one aspect, the open-loop transmit power control can be based on the downlink path loss between the base station serving the UE and the UE, and the downlink path loss can be based on the measurement of the downlink signal (such as SSS, DMRS or CSI-RS) from the base station. In one aspect, the open-loop transmit power control based on the downlink path loss can be used to control the transmit power of the sidelink SSB (S-SSB), PSSCH, PSCCH, PSFCH or any combination thereof. In addition, in one aspect, the open-loop transmit power control can be based on the sidelink path loss between the UE and at least one other UE, and the sidelink path loss can be based on the measurement of the sidelink signal (such as the sidelink DMRS (S-DMRS) for PSSCH) from at least one other UE. In one aspect, the open-loop transmit power control based on the sidelink path loss can be used to control the transmit power of the unicast PSSCH and / or PSCCH. In at least one aspect, the open-loop transmit power control can be based on both the downlink path loss and the sidelink path loss. In one aspect, the transmit power of the sidelink channel can be relative to the sidelink physical channel. In one example, the transmit power or EPRE of a sidelink reference signal may be based on a relationship relative to the transmit power of an associated sidelink physical channel. In another example, the transmit power of a sidelink physical channel may be based on a relationship relative to another sidelink physical channel.

[0135] A problem related to the transmit power control process of the side link is how to control the transmit power of the SL-PRS. For example, when the SL-PRS is introduced into the side link timeslot configuration and the side link positioning process, a mechanism for controlling the transmit power level of the SL-PRS is required.

[0136] Therefore, the present disclosure provides a technology for controlling the transmit power level of SL-PRS. The technology of the present disclosure includes: a UE participates in a sidelink positioning session with at least one other UE, and transmits at least one SL-PRS to the at least one other UE at a certain transmit power level, wherein the transmit power level is less than or equal to the maximum permitted transmit power level for the transmission of the SL-PRS.

[0137] In one aspect, the maximum permitted transmit power level for transmission of SL-PRS may be based on a specified UE power class, a regulatory power level for a frequency range used for transmission of SL-PRS, or both. In one aspect, the maximum permitted transmit power level may be limited by the capabilities of the transmitting UE.

[0138] In one aspect, the transmit power level may be set to a maximum permitted transmit power level. In one aspect, the transmit power level may be based on a preconfigured value.

[0139] In one aspect, the transmit power level may be controlled by open-loop transmit power control based on a downlink path loss between the base station and the UE. For example, the UE may measure the downlink path loss between the base station and the UE, and the transmit power level of the SL-PRS may be based on the downlink path loss. In one aspect, the transmit power level may be controlled by open-loop transmit power control based on a sidelink path loss between at least one other UE and the UE. For example, the UE may measure the sidelink path loss between at least one other UE and the UE, and the transmit power level of the SL-PRS may be based on the sidelink path loss.

[0140] In one aspect, the transmit power level may be controlled based on factors including at least two of the maximum permitted transmit power level, downlink path loss, side link path loss, and preconfigured values. In at least one example, the UE may determine at least two candidate transmit power levels based on at least two of the aforementioned factors, and then set the transmit power level to the minimum of the candidate transmit power levels. In at least another example, the UE may detect the presence of a signal from a base station (such as a base station currently serving the UE). In response to the presence of a signal from the base station currently serving the UE being detected, the UE may measure the downlink path loss between the base station and the UE, and set the transmit power level based on the downlink path loss between the base station and the UE. Moreover, in response to the presence of a signal from the base station currently serving the UE not being detected, the UE may set the transmit power level based on the maximum permitted transmit power level, the side link path loss between at least one other UE and the UE, a preconfigured value, or any combination thereof.

[0141] In one aspect, each of the factors used to determine the transmit power level (such as based on a maximum permitted transmit power level, downlink path loss, sidelink path loss, or a preconfigured value) can be configured or preconfigured as available or unavailable, or can be enabled or disabled based on one or more control signals or flags.

[0142] In one aspect, the SL-PRS may be scheduled to be transmitted to multiple other UEs. In one example, the UE may measure corresponding sidelink path losses between multiple other UEs and the UE, and identify the weakest signal path based on the corresponding sidelink path losses, wherein the transmit power level may be based on the weakest signal path. In another example, the UE may identify one of the multiple other UEs, and then measure the sidelink path loss between the identified other UE and the UE, wherein the transmit power level may be based on the sidelink path loss. In one aspect, the identified other UE may be identified based on conditions including: the sidelink positioning session is initiated by the identified other UE, resources for the sidelink positioning session are reserved by the identified other UE, the first SL-PRS for the sidelink positioning session is sent by the identified other UE, the identified other UE is indicated in signaling associated with the sidelink positioning session, or any combination thereof.

[0143] In another example, when the SL-PRS is scheduled to be transmitted to multiple other UEs, the UE may receive a value from one of the multiple other UEs via signaling, and the transmit power level may be based on the received value. In another example, the UE may further measure a side link path loss between the one of the multiple other UEs and the UE, and the transmit power level may be based on the received value and the side link path loss.

[0144] In one aspect, the EPRE of at least one SL-PRS may be based on the transmit power level of the PSCCH transmitted by the UE, the PSSCH transmitted by the UE, or both. For example, the EPRE of at least one SL-PRS may be based on the ratio or difference between the EPRE and the transmit power level of the PSCCH, PSSCH, or both. In some examples, the ratio may be set to 1, or the difference may be set to 0.

[0145] In one aspect, the EPRE of at least one SL-PRS may be based on a transmit power level of a sidelink channel state information reference signal (SL-CSI-RS) transmitted by the UE, a PSCCH DMRS transmitted by the UE, a PSSCH DRMS ​​transmitted by the UE, or any combination thereof. For example, the EPRE of at least one SL-PRS may be based on a ratio or difference between the EPRE and the transmit power levels of the SL-CSI-RS, the PSCCH DMRS, the PSSCH DMRS, or a combination thereof. In some examples, the ratio may be set to 1, or the difference may be set to 0.

[0146] In one aspect, the transmit power level may be configured per component carrier, sidelink bandwidth portion, sidelink resource pool, congestion level, priority of the UE, or any combination thereof. For example, the transmit power level for transmitting SL-PRS by a UE used for public safety or associated with an emergency vehicle used for public safety (e.g., an ambulance) may be configured to be higher than the power level that the UE would otherwise use if the UE was not used for public safety or associated with an emergency vehicle.

[0147] In one aspect, the UE may further transmit information indicating a transmit power level to at least one other UE via first level sidelink control information (SCI-1), second level sidelink control information (SCI-2), medium access control layer control element (MAC-CE), or any combination thereof associated with the transmission of the SL-PRS, or via SCI-1, SCI-2, MAC-CE, PC5 radio resource control (PC5-RRC) information, or any combination thereof associated with another transmission prior to the transmission of the SL-PRS. In one aspect, the other UE may estimate the sidelink path loss between the other UE and the UE based on the provided information of the transmit power level and the receive power level of the SL-PRS received by the other UE.

[0148] Fig. 9 An example method 900 of wireless communication according to aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated. In one aspect, the method 900 may be performed by a UE (e.g., any of the UEs described herein) participating in a sidelink positioning session. In a specific example, the UE may correspond to Figure 1 V-UE 106 in Figure 2A and Figure 2B UE 204 in Figure 3A UE 302 in Figure 6 UE1 204-1 or UE2 204-2.

[0149] At 910, a UE (eg, Figure 6 UE1 204-1) participates in a communication with at least one other UE (e.g., Figure 6 In one aspect, operation 910 may be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 310, one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320, one or more processors 332, memory 340, and / or positioning component 342, any or all of which may be considered as means for performing the operation.

[0150] At 920, the UE transmits at least one SL-PRS to at least one other UE at a transmit power level, wherein the transmit power level is less than or equal to a maximum permitted transmit power level. In one aspect, operation 920 may be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 310, one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320, one or more processors 332, memory 340, and / or positioning component 342, any or all of which may be considered as means for performing the operation.

[0151] As will be appreciated, a technical advantage of method 900 is a mechanism for controlling the transmit power level of SL-PRS in a sidelink positioning session, wherein there is an improved balance between audibility and interference.

[0152] In the above specific embodiments, it can be seen that different features are grouped together in each example. This disclosure should not be understood as an intention that the example clauses have more features than the features explicitly mentioned in each clause. On the contrary, various aspects of the present disclosure may include less than all the features of the disclosed individual example clauses. Therefore, the following clauses should be considered to be incorporated into the description accordingly, where each clause itself can be used as a separate example. Although each subordinate clause can refer to a specific combination of one clause with other clauses in a clause, the aspects of the subordinate clause are not limited to specific combinations. It should be understood that other example clauses may also include a combination of the subject matter of the subordinate clause aspect with any other subordinate clause or independent clause or any feature with other subordinate clauses and independent clauses. Various aspects disclosed herein explicitly include these combinations, unless it is clearly expressed or can be easily inferred that a specific combination is not intended to be used (for example, contradictory aspects, such as defining an element as both an electrical insulator and an electrical conductor). In addition, it is also expected that various aspects of the clause can be included in any other independent clause, even if the clause is not directly subordinate to the independent clause.

[0153] Specific implementation examples are described in the following numbered clauses:

[0154] Clause 1. A method of wireless communication performed by a user equipment (UE), comprising: participating in a sidelink positioning session with at least one other UE; and sending at least one sidelink positioning reference signal (SL-PRS) to the at least one other UE at a certain transmission power level, wherein the transmission power level is less than or equal to the maximum permitted transmission power level for transmission of the SL-PRS.

[0155] Clause 2. The method of clause 1, wherein the maximum permitted transmit power level is based on a power class of the UE, a regulatory power level for a frequency range used for transmission of the at least one SL-PRS, or both.

[0156] Clause 3. A method as described in any of clauses 1 to 2, wherein the transmit power level is the maximum permitted transmit power level.

[0157] Clause 4. The method of any one of clauses 1 to 2, further comprising: measuring a downlink path loss between a base station and the UE, wherein the transmit power level is based on the downlink path loss.

[0158] Clause 5. The method according to any one of clauses 1 to 2 and clause 4 further comprises: measuring a sidelink path loss between the at least one other UE and the UE, wherein the transmit power level is based on the sidelink path loss.

[0159] Clause 6. A method as described in any one of clauses 1 to 2 and clauses 4 to 5, wherein the transmit power level is based on a preconfigured value.

[0160] Clause 7. A method according to any one of clauses 1 to 2 and clauses 4 to 6, wherein the transmit power level is set based on at least two of: the maximum permitted transmit power level, the downlink path loss between the base station and the UE, the side link path loss between the at least one other UE and the UE, and a preconfigured value.

[0161] Clause 8. The method according to any one of clauses 1 to 2 further includes: detecting the presence of a signal from a base station; in response to the presence of the signal from the base station being detected, measuring the downlink path loss between the base station and the UE, and setting the transmit power level based on the downlink path loss between the base station and the UE; and in response to the presence of the signal from the base station not being detected, setting the transmit power level based on: the maximum permitted transmit power level, the side link path loss between the at least one other UE and the UE, a preconfigured value, or any combination thereof.

[0162] Clause 9. A method according to any one of clauses 1 to 8, wherein the transmit power level is configured according to a component carrier, a sidelink bandwidth portion, a sidelink resource pool, a congestion level, a priority associated with the transmission of the at least one SL-PRS by the UE, or any combination thereof.

[0163] Clause 10. A method as described in any of clauses 1 to 9, wherein the at least one SL-PRS is scheduled to be transmitted to multiple other UEs.

[0164] Clause 11. The method according to Clause 10 further includes: measuring corresponding side link path losses between the multiple other UEs and the UE; and identifying a weakest signal path based on the corresponding side link path losses, wherein the transmit power level is based on the weakest signal path.

[0165] Clause 12. The method according to any one of clauses 10 to 11 further includes: identifying one UE among the multiple other UEs; and measuring a side link path loss between the one UE among the multiple other UEs and the UE, wherein the transmit power level is based on the side link path loss.

[0166] Clause 13. A method according to clause 12, wherein: the sidelink positioning session is initiated by the one UE among the multiple other UEs, resources for the sidelink positioning session are reserved by the one UE among the multiple other UEs, a first SL-PRS for the sidelink positioning session is sent by the one UE among the multiple other UEs, the one UE among the multiple other UEs is indicated in signaling associated with the sidelink positioning session, or any combination thereof.

[0167] Clause 14. A method as described in any of clauses 10 to 13, further comprising: receiving a value from one of the plurality of other UEs via signaling, wherein the transmit power level is based on the received value.

[0168] Clause 15. The method of clause 14, further comprising: measuring a sidelink path loss between the one of the plurality of other UEs and the UE, wherein the transmit power level is based on the received value and the sidelink path loss.

[0169] Clause 16. A method according to any one of clauses 1 to 15, wherein the energy per resource element (EPRE) of the at least one SL-PRS is based on the transmit power level of a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) sent by the UE, a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) sent by the UE, or both.

[0170] Clause 17. The method of clause 16, wherein the EPRE of the at least one SL-PRS is based on a ratio or difference between the EPRE and the transmit power level of the PSCCH, the PSSCH, or both.

[0171] Clause 18. A method according to any one of clauses 1 to 17, wherein the energy per resource element (EPRE) of the at least one SL-PRS is based on the transmit power level of a sidelink channel state information reference signal (SL-CSI-RS) sent by the UE, a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) demodulation reference signal (DMRS) sent by the UE, a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) DRMS ​​sent by the UE, or any combination thereof.

[0172] Clause 19. The method of clause 18, wherein the EPRE of the at least one SL-PRS is based on a ratio or difference between the EPRE and the transmit power level of the SL-CSI-RS, the PSCCH DMRS, the PSSCH DMRS, or the combination thereof.

[0173] Clause 20. The method of clause 19, wherein the ratio is 1 or the difference is 0.

[0174] Clause 21. The method according to any one of clauses 1 to 20 further includes: sending information indicating the transmission power level to the at least one other UE via first-level sidelink control information (SCI-1), second-level sidelink control information (SCI-2), medium access control layer control element (MAC-CE), or any combination thereof associated with the transmission of the at least one SL-PRS, or via SCI-1, SCI-2, MAC-CE, PC5 radio resource control (PC5-RRC) information, or any combination thereof associated with another transmission before the transmission of the at least one SL-PRS.

[0175] Clause 22. A user equipment (UE) comprising: a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor, the at least one processor being communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: participate in a sidelink positioning session with at least one other UE; and transmit at least one sidelink positioning reference signal (SL-PRS) to the at least one other UE via the at least one transceiver at a certain transmit power level, wherein the transmit power level is less than or equal to the maximum permitted transmit power level for transmission of the SL-PRS.

[0176] Clause 23. The UE of clause 22, wherein the maximum permitted transmit power level is based on a power class of the UE, a regulatory power level for a frequency range used for transmission of the at least one SL-PRS, or both.

[0177] Clause 24. A UE as set forth in any of clauses 22 to 23, wherein the transmit power level is the maximum permitted transmit power level.

[0178] Clause 25. A UE as described in any of clauses 22 to 23, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: measure a downlink path loss between a base station and the UE, wherein the transmit power level is based on the downlink path loss.

[0179] Clause 26. A UE according to any one of clauses 22 to 23 and clause 25, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: measure a side link path loss between the at least one other UE and the UE, wherein the transmit power level is based on the side link path loss.

[0180] Clause 27. A UE as set forth in any one of clauses 22 to 23 and clauses 25 to 26, wherein the transmit power level is based on a preconfigured value.

[0181] Clause 28. A UE according to any one of clauses 22 to 23 and clauses 25 to 27, wherein the transmit power level is set based on at least two of: the maximum permitted transmit power level, the downlink path loss between the base station and the UE, the side link path loss between the at least one other UE and the UE, and a preconfigured value.

[0182] Clause 29. A UE according to any one of clauses 22 to 23, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: detect the presence of a signal from a base station; in response to the presence of the signal from the base station being detected, measure the downlink path loss between the base station and the UE, and set the transmit power level based on the downlink path loss between the base station and the UE; and in response to the presence of the signal from the base station not being detected, set the transmit power level based on: the maximum permitted transmit power level, the sidelink path loss between the at least one other UE and the UE, a preconfigured value, or any combination thereof.

[0183] Clause 30. A UE according to any one of clauses 22 to 29, wherein the transmit power level is configured according to a component carrier, a sidelink bandwidth portion, a sidelink resource pool, a congestion level, a priority associated with the transmission of the at least one SL-PRS by the UE, or any combination thereof.

[0184] Clause 31. A UE as described in any of clauses 22 to 30, wherein the at least one SL-PRS is scheduled to be transmitted to multiple other UEs.

[0185] Clause 32. A UE according to clause 31, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: measure corresponding side link path losses between the multiple other UEs and the UE; and identify a weakest signal path based on the corresponding side link path losses, wherein the transmit power level is based on the weakest signal path.

[0186] Clause 33. A UE according to any one of clauses 31 to 32, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: identify one UE among the multiple other UEs; and measure a side link path loss between the one UE among the multiple other UEs and the UE, wherein the transmit power level is based on the side link path loss.

[0187] Clause 34. A UE according to clause 33, wherein: the sidelink positioning session is initiated by the one UE among the multiple other UEs, resources for the sidelink positioning session are reserved by the one UE among the multiple other UEs, the first SL-PRS for the sidelink positioning session is sent by the one UE among the multiple other UEs, the one UE among the multiple other UEs is indicated in signaling associated with the sidelink positioning session, or any combination thereof.

[0188] Clause 35. A UE according to any of clauses 31 to 34, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: receive a value from one of the plurality of other UEs via signaling via the at least one transceiver, wherein the transmit power level is based on the received value.

[0189] Clause 36. A UE according to clause 35, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: measure a sidelink path loss between the one of the multiple other UEs and the UE, wherein the transmit power level is based on the received value and the sidelink path loss.

[0190] Clause 37. A UE according to any one of clauses 22 to 36, wherein the energy per resource element (EPRE) of the at least one SL-PRS is based on the transmit power level of a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) sent by the UE, a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) sent by the UE, or both.

[0191] Clause 38. A UE as described in clause 37, wherein the EPRE of the at least one SL-PRS is based on a ratio or difference between the EPRE and the transmit power level of the PSCCH, the PSSCH, or both.

[0192] Clause 39. A UE according to any one of clauses 22 to 38, wherein the energy per resource element (EPRE) of the at least one SL-PRS is based on the transmit power level of a sidelink channel state information reference signal (SL-CSI-RS) sent by the UE, a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) demodulation reference signal (DMRS) sent by the UE, a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) DRMS ​​sent by the UE, or any combination thereof.

[0193] Clause 40. A UE according to clause 39, wherein the EPRE of the at least one SL-PRS is based on a ratio or difference between the EPRE and the transmit power level of the SL-CSI-RS, the PSCCH DMRS, the PSSCH DMRS, or the combination thereof.

[0194] Clause 41. A UE as described in clause 40, wherein the ratio is 1 or the difference is 0.

[0195] Clause 42. A UE according to any one of clauses 22 to 41, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: send information indicating the transmit power level to the at least one other UE via the at least one transceiver, via first-level sidelink control information (SCI-1), second-level sidelink control information (SCI-2), medium access control layer control element (MAC-CE), or any combination thereof associated with the transmission of the at least one SL-PRS, or via SCI-1, SCI-2, MAC-CE, PC5 radio resource control (PC5-RRC) information, or any combination thereof associated with another transmission prior to the transmission of the at least one SL-PRS.

[0196] Clause 43. A user equipment (UE) comprising: a component for participating in a sidelink positioning session with at least one other UE; and a component for sending at least one sidelink positioning reference signal (SL-PRS) to the at least one other UE at a certain transmission power level, wherein the transmission power level is less than or equal to the maximum permitted transmission power level for the transmission of the SL-PRS.

[0197] Clause 44. The UE of clause 43, wherein the maximum permitted transmit power level is based on a power class of the UE, a regulatory power level for a frequency range used for transmission of the at least one SL-PRS, or both.

[0198] Clause 45. A UE as set forth in any of clauses 43 to 44, wherein the transmit power level is the maximum permitted transmit power level.

[0199] Clause 46. A UE as described in any of clauses 43 to 44, further comprising: means for measuring a downlink path loss between a base station and the UE, wherein the transmit power level is based on the downlink path loss.

[0200] Clause 47. A UE according to any one of clauses 43 to 44 and clause 46, further comprising: a component for measuring a sidelink path loss between the at least one other UE and the UE, wherein the transmit power level is based on the sidelink path loss.

[0201] Clause 48. A UE as set forth in any one of clauses 43 to 44 and clauses 46 to 47, wherein the transmit power level is based on a preconfigured value.

[0202] Clause 49. A UE according to any one of clauses 43 to 44 and clauses 46 to 48, wherein the transmit power level is set based on at least two of: the maximum permitted transmit power level, the downlink path loss between the base station and the UE, the side link path loss between the at least one other UE and the UE, and a preconfigured value.

[0203] Clause 50. A UE according to any one of clauses 43 to 44, further comprising: a component for detecting the presence of a signal from a base station; a component for: in response to the presence of the signal from the base station being detected, measuring a downlink path loss between the base station and the UE, and setting the transmit power level based on the downlink path loss between the base station and the UE; and a component for: in response to the presence of the signal from the base station not being detected, setting the transmit power level based on: the maximum permitted transmit power level, the sidelink path loss between the at least one other UE and the UE, a preconfigured value, or any combination thereof.

[0204] Clause 51. A UE according to any one of clauses 43 to 50, wherein the transmit power level is configured according to a component carrier, a sidelink bandwidth portion, a sidelink resource pool, a congestion level, a priority associated with the transmission of the at least one SL-PRS by the UE, or any combination thereof.

[0205] Clause 52. A UE as set forth in any of clauses 43 to 51, wherein the at least one SL-PRS is scheduled to be transmitted to a plurality of other UEs.

[0206] Clause 53. The UE according to clause 52 further includes: a component for measuring corresponding side link path losses between the multiple other UEs and the UE; and a component for identifying a weakest signal path based on the corresponding side link path losses, wherein the transmit power level is based on the weakest signal path.

[0207] Clause 54. A UE according to any one of clauses 52 to 53, further comprising: a component for identifying one of the multiple other UEs; and a component for measuring a side link path loss between the one of the multiple other UEs and the UE, wherein the transmit power level is based on the side link path loss.

[0208] Clause 55. A UE according to clause 54, wherein: the sidelink positioning session is initiated by the one UE among the multiple other UEs, resources for the sidelink positioning session are reserved by the one UE among the multiple other UEs, the first SL-PRS for the sidelink positioning session is sent by the one UE among the multiple other UEs, the one UE among the multiple other UEs is indicated in signaling associated with the sidelink positioning session, or any combination thereof.

[0209] Clause 56. A UE as described in any of clauses 52 to 55, further comprising: means for receiving a value from one of the plurality of other UEs via signaling, wherein the transmit power level is based on the received value.

[0210] Clause 57. The UE of clause 56, further comprising: means for measuring a sidelink path loss between the one of the plurality of other UEs and the UE, wherein the transmit power level is based on the received value and the sidelink path loss.

[0211] Clause 58. A UE according to any one of clauses 43 to 57, wherein the energy per resource element (EPRE) of the at least one SL-PRS is based on the transmit power level of a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) sent by the UE, a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) sent by the UE, or both.

[0212] Clause 59. A UE as described in clause 58, wherein the EPRE of the at least one SL-PRS is based on a ratio or difference between the EPRE and the transmit power level of the PSCCH, the PSSCH, or both.

[0213] Clause 60. A UE according to any one of clauses 43 to 59, wherein the energy per resource element (EPRE) of the at least one SL-PRS is based on the transmit power level of a sidelink channel state information reference signal (SL-CSI-RS) sent by the UE, a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) demodulation reference signal (DMRS) sent by the UE, a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) DRMS ​​sent by the UE, or any combination thereof.

[0214] Clause 61. A UE according to clause 60, wherein the EPRE of the at least one SL-PRS is based on a ratio or difference between the EPRE and the transmit power level of the SL-CSI-RS, the PSCCH DMRS, the PSSCH DMRS, or the combination thereof.

[0215] Clause 62. A UE as described in clause 61, wherein the ratio is 1 or the difference is 0.

[0216] Clause 63. A UE according to any one of clauses 43 to 62, further comprising: a component for sending information indicating the transmission power level to the at least one other UE via first-level sidelink control information (SCI-1), second-level sidelink control information (SCI-2), medium access control layer control element (MAC-CE), or any combination thereof associated with the transmission of the at least one SL-PRS, or via SCI-1, SCI-2, MAC-CE, PC5 radio resource control (PC5-RRC) information, or any combination thereof associated with another transmission prior to the transmission of the at least one SL-PRS.

[0217] Clause 64. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a user equipment (UE), cause the UE to: participate in a sidelink positioning session with at least one other UE; and transmit at least one sidelink positioning reference signal (SL-PRS) to the at least one other UE at a transmit power level that is less than or equal to a maximum permitted transmit power level for transmission of the SL-PRS.

[0218] Clause 65. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 64, wherein the maximum permitted transmit power level is based on a power class of the UE, a regulatory power level for a frequency range used for transmission of the at least one SL-PRS, or both.

[0219] Clause 66. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any one of clauses 64 to 65, wherein the transmit power level is the maximum permitted transmit power level.

[0220] Clause 67. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any one of clauses 64 to 65 further comprises: computer-executable instructions which, when executed by the UE, cause the UE to: measure a downlink path loss between a base station and the UE, wherein the transmit power level is based on the downlink path loss.

[0221] Clause 68. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of clauses 64 to 65 and clause 67 further includes: computer-executable instructions, which, when executed by the UE, cause the UE to: measure a side link path loss between the at least one other UE and the UE, wherein the transmit power level is based on the side link path loss.

[0222] Clause 69. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any one of clauses 64-65 and clauses 67-68, wherein the transmit power level is based on a preconfigured value.

[0223] Clause 70. A non-transitory computer-readable medium as described in any of clauses 64 to 65 and clauses 67 to 69, wherein the transmit power level is set based on at least two of: the maximum permitted transmit power level, the downlink path loss between the base station and the UE, the sidelink path loss between the at least one other UE and the UE, and a preconfigured value.

[0224] Clause 71. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of clauses 64 to 65, further comprising: computer-executable instructions which, when executed by the UE, cause the UE to: detect the presence of a signal from a base station; in response to the presence of the signal from the base station being detected, measure a downlink path loss between the base station and the UE, and set the transmit power level based on the downlink path loss between the base station and the UE; and in response to the presence of the signal from the base station not being detected, set the transmit power level based on: the maximum permitted transmit power level, the sidelink path loss between the at least one other UE and the UE, a preconfigured value, or any combination thereof.

[0225] Clause 72. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of clauses 64 to 71, wherein the transmit power level is configured according to a component carrier, a side link bandwidth portion, a side link resource pool, a congestion level, a priority associated with the transmission of the at least one SL-PRS by the UE, or any combination thereof.

[0226] Clause 73. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 64 to 72, wherein the at least one SL-PRS is scheduled to be transmitted to a plurality of other UEs.

[0227] Clause 74. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to Clause 73 further includes: computer-executable instructions, which, when executed by the UE, cause the UE to: measure corresponding side link path losses between the multiple other UEs and the UE; and identify a weakest signal path based on the corresponding side link path losses, wherein the transmit power level is based on the weakest signal path.

[0228] Clause 75. The non-transitory computer-readable medium described in any one of clauses 73 to 74 further includes: computer-executable instructions, which, when executed by the UE, cause the UE to: identify one UE among the multiple other UEs; and measure a side link path loss between the one UE among the multiple other UEs and the UE, wherein the transmit power level is based on the side link path loss.

[0229] Clause 76. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to clause 75, wherein: the sidelink positioning session is initiated by the one UE among the multiple other UEs, resources for the sidelink positioning session are reserved by the one UE among the multiple other UEs, a first SL-PRS for the sidelink positioning session is sent by the one UE among the multiple other UEs, the one UE among the multiple other UEs is indicated in signaling associated with the sidelink positioning session, or any combination thereof.

[0230] Clause 77. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of clauses 73 to 76, further comprising: computer-executable instructions, which, when executed by the UE, cause the UE to: receive a value from one of the multiple other UEs via signaling, wherein the transmit power level is based on the received value.

[0231] Clause 78. The non-transitory computer-readable medium according to Clause 77 further includes: computer-executable instructions, which, when executed by the UE, cause the UE to: measure a side link path loss between the one of the multiple other UEs and the UE, wherein the transmit power level is based on the received value and the side link path loss.

[0232] Clause 79. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of clauses 64 to 78, wherein the energy per resource element (EPRE) of the at least one SL-PRS is based on the transmit power level of a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) transmitted by the UE, a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) transmitted by the UE, or both.

[0233] Clause 80. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of clause 79, wherein the EPRE of the at least one SL-PRS is based on a ratio or difference between the EPRE and the transmit power level of the PSCCH, the PSSCH, or both.

[0234] Clause 81. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of clauses 64 to 80, wherein the energy per resource element (EPRE) of the at least one SL-PRS is based on the transmit power level of a sidelink channel state information reference signal (SL-CSI-RS) sent by the UE, a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) demodulation reference signal (DMRS) sent by the UE, a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) DRMS ​​sent by the UE, or any combination thereof.

[0235] Clause 82. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to clause 81, wherein the EPRE of the at least one SL-PRS is based on a ratio or difference between the EPRE and the transmit power level of the SL-CSI-RS, the PSCCH DMRS, the PSSCH DMRS, or the combination thereof.

[0236] Clause 83. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of Clause 82, wherein the ratio is 1 or the difference is 0.

[0237] Clause 84. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of clauses 64 to 83, further comprising: computer executable instructions which, when executed by the UE, cause the UE to: send information indicating the transmit power level to the at least one other UE via first-level sidelink control information (SCI-1), second-level sidelink control information (SCI-2), medium access control layer control element (MAC-CE), or any combination thereof associated with the transmission of the at least one SL-PRS, or via SCI-1, SCI-2, MAC-CE, PC5 radio resource control (PC5-RRC) information, or any combination thereof associated with another transmission prior to the transmission of the at least one SL-PRS.

[0238] It should be understood by those skilled in the art that information and signals may be represented using any of a variety of different techniques and methods. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be mentioned throughout the above description may be represented by voltage, current, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or magnetic particles, light fields or optical particles, or any combination thereof.

[0239] In addition, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the various exemplary logic blocks, modules, circuits and algorithmic steps described in conjunction with the aspects disclosed herein can be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software or a combination of the two. In order to clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various exemplary components, frames, modules, circuits and steps have been generally described in terms of their functionality. Whether such functions are implemented as hardware or software depends on specific applications and the design constraints proposed to the entire system. Those skilled in the art can implement the described functionality in different ways for each specific application, but such specific implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing deviations from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0240] The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in conjunction with the various aspects disclosed herein may be implemented or performed with a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an ASIC, a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic components, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in an alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. The processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, such as a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, a combination of one or more microprocessors and a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

[0241] The methods, sequences and / or algorithms described in conjunction with the various aspects disclosed herein may be directly embodied in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. The software module may reside in a random access memory (RAM), a flash memory, a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), a register, a hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An example storage medium is coupled to a processor so that the processor can read information from the storage medium and write information to the storage medium. In an alternative, the storage medium may be integral with the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in an ASIC. The ASIC may reside in a user terminal (e.g., UE). In an alternative, the processor and the storage medium may reside in a user terminal as discrete components.

[0242] In one or more example aspects, the described functions can be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functions can be stored on a computer-readable medium or sent via a computer-readable medium as one or more instructions or codes. Computer-readable media include both computer storage media and communication media, which include any media that facilitates the transfer of computer programs from one place to another. Storage media can be any available media that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example and not limitation, such computer-readable media may include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage devices, disk storage devices or other magnetic storage devices, or any other media that can be used to carry or store desired program codes in the form of instructions or data structures and can be accessed by a computer. Moreover, any connection is appropriately referred to as a computer-readable medium. For example, if the software is sent from a website, server, or other remote source using coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwaves, coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwaves are included in the definition of the medium. As used herein, disk and disc include compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk and Blu-ray disc, where disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer readable media.

[0243] Although the foregoing disclosure shows the exemplary aspects of the present disclosure, it should be noted that various changes and modifications may be made herein without departing from the scope of the present disclosure as defined by the appended claims. In addition, the functions, steps and / or actions of the method claims according to the various aspects of the present disclosure as described herein do not need to be performed in any particular order. In addition, although the elements of the present disclosure may be described or claimed in the singular, plural forms may also be considered unless explicitly stated to be limited to the singular.

Claims

1. A method of wireless communication performed by a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: participating in a sidelink positioning session with at least one other UE; as well as At least one sidelink positioning reference signal (SL-PRS) is transmitted to the at least one other UE at a certain transmission power level, wherein the transmission power level is less than or equal to a maximum allowed transmission power level for transmission of the SL-PRS.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the maximum permitted transmit power level is based on a power class of the UE, a regulatory power level for a frequency range used for transmission of the at least one SL-PRS, or both. The method of claim 1 , wherein the transmit power level is the maximum permitted transmit power level.

4. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: measuring a downlink path loss between a base station and the UE, Wherein the transmit power level is based on the downlink path loss.

5. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: measuring a sidelink path loss between the at least one other UE and the UE, Wherein the transmit power level is based on the side link path loss. The method of claim 1 , wherein the transmit power level is based on a preconfigured value.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the transmit power level is set based on at least two of: the maximum permitted transmit power level, downlink path loss between the base station and the UE, A sidelink path loss between the at least one other UE and the UE, and a preconfigured value.

8. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: detecting the presence of a signal from a base station; In response to the presence of the signal from the base station being detected, measuring a downlink path loss between the base station and the UE, and setting the transmit power level based on the downlink path loss between the base station and the UE; as well as In response to the presence of the signal from the base station not being detected, setting the transmit power level based on: the maximum permitted transmit power level, a sidelink path loss between the at least one other UE and the UE, A preconfigured value, or Any combination of them.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the transmit power level is configured according to a component carrier, a sidelink bandwidth portion, a sidelink resource pool, a congestion level, a priority associated with the transmission of the at least one SL-PRS by the UE, or any combination thereof.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one SL-PRS is scheduled to be transmitted to a plurality of other UEs.

11. The method according to claim 10, further comprising: measuring corresponding side link path losses between the multiple other UEs and the UE; as well as The weakest signal path is identified based on the corresponding side link path loss, wherein The transmit power level is based on the weakest signal path.

12. The method according to claim 10, further comprising: Identifying a UE among the multiple other UEs; as well as measuring a sidelink path loss between the one UE among the plurality of other UEs and the UE, wherein The transmit power level is based on the sidelink path loss.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein: The sidelink positioning session is initiated by the one UE among the multiple other UEs, and resources for the sidelink positioning session are reserved by the one UE among the multiple other UEs, A first SL-PRS for the sidelink positioning session is sent by the one UE of the plurality of other UEs, The one UE of the plurality of other UEs is indicated in signaling associated with the sidelink positioning session, or Any combination of them.

14. The method according to claim 10, further comprising: A value is received from one of the plurality of other UEs via signaling, wherein The transmit power level is based on the received value.

15. The method according to claim 14, further comprising: measuring a sidelink path loss between the one UE among the plurality of other UEs and the UE, wherein The transmit power level is based on the received value and the sidelink path loss.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the energy per resource element (EPRE) of the at least one SL-PRS is based on a transmit power level of a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) transmitted by the UE, a physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) transmitted by the UE, or both.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the EPRE of the at least one SL-PRS is based on a ratio or difference between the EPRE and the transmit power level of the PSCCH, the PSSCH, or both.

18. A method according to claim 1, wherein the energy per resource element (EPRE) of the at least one SL-PRS is based on the transmission power level of the sidelink channel state information reference signal (SL-CSI-RS) sent by the UE, the physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH) demodulation reference signal (DMRS) sent by the UE, the physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) DRMS ​​sent by the UE, or any combination thereof.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the EPRE of the at least one SL-PRS is based on a ratio or a difference between the EPRE and the transmit power levels of the SL-CSI-RS, the PSCCH DMRS, the PSSCH DMRS, or the combination thereof.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the ratio is 1 or the difference is 0.

21. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: Information indicating the transmission power level is sent to the at least one other UE via first-level sidelink control information (SCI-1), second-level sidelink control information (SCI-2), medium access control layer control element (MAC-CE), or any combination thereof associated with the transmission of the at least one SL-PRS, or via SCI-1, SCI-2, MAC-CE, PC5 radio resource control (PC5-RRC) information, or any combination thereof associated with another transmission before the transmission of the at least one SL-PRS.

22. A user equipment (UE), the user equipment (UE) comprising: Memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor, the at least one processor being communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: participating in a sidelink positioning session with at least one other UE; as well as At least one sidelink positioning reference signal (SL-PRS) is transmitted to the at least one other UE via the at least one transceiver at a certain transmission power level, wherein the transmission power level is less than or equal to a maximum allowed transmission power level for transmission of the SL-PRS.

23. The UE of claim 22, wherein the transmit power level is the maximum permitted transmit power level.

24. The UE of claim 22, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: measuring a downlink path loss between a base station and the UE, Wherein the transmit power level is based on the downlink path loss.

25. The UE of claim 22, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: A sidelink path loss is measured between the at least one other UE and the UE, wherein the transmit power level is based on the sidelink path loss.

26. The UE of claim 22, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: detecting the presence of a signal from a base station; in response to the presence of the signal from the base station being detected, measuring a downlink path loss between the base station and the UE, and setting the transmit power level based on the downlink path loss between the base station and the UE; and In response to the presence of the signal from the base station not being detected, setting the transmit power level based on: the maximum permitted transmit power level, a sidelink path loss between the at least one other UE and the UE, A preconfigured value, or Any combination of them.

27. The UE of claim 22, wherein the transmit power level is configured according to a component carrier, a sidelink bandwidth portion, a sidelink resource pool, a congestion level, a priority associated with the transmission of the at least one SL-PRS by the UE, or any combination thereof.

28. The UE of claim 22, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: Information indicating the transmission power level is sent to the at least one other UE via the at least one transceiver, via first-level sidelink control information (SCI-1), second-level sidelink control information (SCI-2), medium access control layer control element (MAC-CE), or any combination thereof associated with the transmission of the at least one SL-PRS, or via SCI-1, SCI-2, MAC-CE, PC5 radio resource control (PC5-RRC) information, or any combination thereof, associated with another transmission before the transmission of the at least one SL-PRS.

29. A user equipment (UE), the user equipment (UE) comprising: means for participating in a sidelink positioning session with at least one other UE; and Means for transmitting at least one sidelink positioning reference signal (SL-PRS) to the at least one other UE at a transmit power level that is less than or equal to a maximum permitted transmit power level for transmission of the SL-PRS.

30. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a user equipment (UE), cause the UE to: engaging in a sidelink positioning session with at least one other UE; and At least one sidelink positioning reference signal (SL-PRS) is transmitted to the at least one other UE at a certain transmission power level, wherein the transmission power level is less than or equal to a maximum allowed transmission power level for transmission of the SL-PRS.

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