User equipment (UE) handling delayed sounding reference signal (SRS) configuration for downlink and uplink based positioning methods

Abstract

Techniques for wireless communication are disclosed. In an aspect, a user equipment (UE) receives, from a location server, a positioning reference signal (PRS) configuration for a downlink and uplink-based positioning session between the UE and the location server, and determines, based on a determination that a sounding reference signal (SRS) configuration for the downlink and uplink-based positioning session has not been received from a serving base station of the UE. The SRS configuration is waited to be received from the serving base station until a timer expires, and whether the SRS configuration is received is determined based on the timer expires.

Description

Technical Field

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

[0002] 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.

[0003] 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 reference signals for positioning (RS-P), such as downlink, uplink, or sidelink positioning reference signals (PRS)), and other technical enhancements compared to previous standards. These enhancements, along with the use of higher frequency bands, advances in PRS procedures and technologies, and high-density deployments of 5G, enable highly accurate 5G-based positioning. Summary of the invention

[0004] The following presents a simplified summary of the invention related to one or more aspects disclosed herein. Therefore, 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 related to the mechanisms disclosed herein in a brief form before the detailed embodiments presented below.

[0005] On the one hand, a method of wireless communication performed by a user equipment (UE) includes: receiving a positioning reference signal (PRS) configuration for a downlink and uplink-based positioning session between the UE and the location server from a location server; based on determining that a sounding reference signal (SRS) configuration for a downlink and uplink-based positioning session has not been received from a serving base station of the UE, waiting to receive the SRS configuration from the serving base station until a timer expires; and determining whether the SRS configuration is received based on the expiration of the timer.

[0006] 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: receive, via the at least one transceiver, from a location server a positioning reference signal (PRS) configuration for a downlink and uplink-based positioning session between the UE and the location server; based on determining that a sounding reference signal (SRS) configuration for a downlink and uplink-based positioning session has not been received from a serving base station of the UE, wait to receive an SRS configuration from a serving base station until a timer expires; and determine whether the SRS configuration is received based on the expiration of the timer.

[0007] In one aspect, a user equipment (UE) includes a component for receiving a positioning reference signal (PRS) configuration for a downlink and uplink-based positioning session between the UE and the location server from a location server; a component for waiting to receive a sounding reference signal (SRS) configuration from a serving base station of the UE until a timer expires based on determining that the SRS configuration for the downlink and uplink-based positioning session has not been received from the serving base station of the UE; and a component for determining whether the SRS configuration is received based on the expiration of the timer.

[0008] 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: receive a positioning reference signal (PRS) configuration for a downlink and uplink-based positioning session between the UE and the location server from a location server; based on determining that a sounding reference signal (SRS) configuration for a downlink and uplink-based positioning session has not been received from a serving base station of the UE, wait to receive an SRS configuration from a serving base station until a timer expires; and determine whether the SRS configuration is received based on the expiration of the timer.

[0009] 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

[0010] 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.

[0011] Figure 1 An example wireless communication system in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0012] Figure 2A , Figure 2B and Figure 2C Example wireless network structures according to aspects of the present disclosure are illustrated.

[0013] 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.

[0014] Figure 4 Examples of various positioning methods supported in New Radio (NR) according to aspects of the present disclosure are illustrated.

[0015] Figure 5 Example Long Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP) capability transfer procedures, assistance data transfer procedures, and location information transfer procedures between a target device and a location server according to aspects of the present disclosure are illustrated.

[0016] Figure 6 is a diagram illustrating an example frame structure according to aspects of the present disclosure.

[0017] Figure 7 is a diagram illustrating an example downlink positioning reference signal (DL-PRS) configuration for two transmit reception points (TRPs) operating in the same positioning frequency layer in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0018] Fig. 8A and Figure 8B Various comb patterns supported for a downlink positioning reference signal (PRS) within a resource block are illustrated.

[0019] Fig.9A and Fig. 9B Various comb patterns supported for a sounding reference signal (SRS) within a resource block are illustrated.

[0020] Fig. 10A and Fig. 10B An example uplink-only positioning procedure using LPP for timing error group (TEG) reporting in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0021] Fig.11An example "QoS" information element (IE) and an example "ResponseTime" IE are illustrated in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0022] Fig.12 An example “NR-Multi-RTT-LocationServerErrorCauses” IE and an example “NR-Multi-RTT-TargetDeviceErrorCauses” IE are illustrated in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0023] FIG. 13 illustrates a conventional method for determining whether to start or terminate a positioning session.

[0024] Fig.14 Example methods for determining whether to start or terminate a positioning session, such as a multi-RTT positioning session or other downlink and uplink based positioning sessions, in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure are illustrated.

[0025] Fig.15

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

[0026] 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.

[0027] 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.

[0028] 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.

[0029] 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 subject matter claimed. 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".

[0030] As used herein, unless otherwise specified, the terms "user equipment" (UE) and "base station" are not intended to be specific or otherwise limited to any specific radio access technology (RAT). In general, a UE may be any wireless communication device (e.g., a mobile phone, a router, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a consumer asset location device, a wearable device (e.g., a smart watch, glasses, an augmented reality (AR) / virtual reality (VR) head-mounted device, etc.), a vehicle (e.g., a car, a motorcycle, a bicycle, etc.), an Internet of Things (IoT) device, etc.) used by a user to communicate over a wireless communication network. A UE may be mobile or may be stationary (e.g., at certain times) and may communicate with a radio access network (RAN). As used herein, the term "UE" may be interchangeably referred to as an "access terminal" or "AT", "client device", "wireless device", "subscriber device", "subscriber terminal", "subscriber station", "user terminal" or "UT", "mobile device", "mobile terminal", "mobile station" or variations thereof. In general, a UE may communicate with a core network via a RAN, and through the core network, the UE may connect to external networks such as the Internet and other UEs. Of course, other mechanisms for the UE to connect to the core network and / or the Internet are also possible, 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 specification, etc.), etc.

[0031] 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 UEs, including supporting data, voice, and / or signaling connections for supported UEs. In some systems, a base station may only provide 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 an uplink / reverse traffic channel or a downlink / forward traffic channel.

[0032] 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 a cell (or several cell sectors) of the base station. Where the term "base station" refers to multiple co-located physical TRPs, the physical TRP may be an antenna array of the base station (e.g., as in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system or where the base station employs beamforming). Where the term "base station" refers to multiple non-co-located physical TRPs, the physical TRP may be a distributed antenna system (DAS) (a network of spatially separated antennas connected to a common source via a transmission medium) or a remote radio head (RRH) (a remote base station connected to a serving base station). Alternatively, the non-co-located physical TRP may be a serving base station that receives measurement reports from 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.

[0033] 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 may instead send a reference signal to the UE to be measured by the UE and / or may receive and measure a signal sent by the UE. Such a base station may be referred to as a positioning beacon (e.g., in the case of sending a signal to the UE) and / or as a position measurement unit (e.g., in the case of receiving and measuring a signal from the UE).

[0034] 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.

[0035] Figure 1 An 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 macro cell base stations (high power cellular base stations) and / or small cell base stations (low power cellular base stations). In one aspect, the macro cell base stations may include eNBs and / or ng-eNBs (where the wireless communication system 100 corresponds to an LTE network), or gNBs (where the wireless communication system 100 corresponds to an NR network), or a combination of the two, and the small cell base stations may include femto cells, pico cells, micro cells, etc.

[0036] 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 via another path, such as via an application server (not shown), via another network, such as via a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point (AP) (e.g., AP 150 described below), and the like. For signaling purposes, communication between UE 104 and location server 172 may be represented as an indirect connection (e.g., through core network 170, etc.) or a direct connection (e.g., as shown via direct connection 128), with intermediate nodes (if any) omitted from the signaling diagram for clarity.

[0037] Among other functions, the base station 102 may 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 may communicate with each other directly or indirectly (e.g., through EPC / 5GC) over a backhaul link 134, which may be wired or wireless.

[0038] 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 either or both of the logical communication entity and the base station supporting it, depending on the context. In addition, because the TRP is generally the physical transmission point of the cell, the terms "cell" and "TRP" can be used interchangeably. In some cases, the term "cell" can also refer to the geographic coverage area (e.g., sector) of a base station, as long as the carrier frequency can be detected and used for communication within a portion of the geographic coverage area 110.

[0039] Although the geographic coverage areas 110 of neighboring macrocell base stations 102 may partially overlap (e.g., in a handover region), some of the geographic coverage areas 110 may substantially overlap with the larger geographic coverage area 110. For example, a small cell base station 102' (labeled "SC" for "small cell") may have a geographic coverage area 110' that substantially overlaps with the geographic coverage areas 110 of one or more macrocell base stations 102. A network 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), which may provide services to a restricted group called a closed subscriber group (CSG).

[0040] 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).

[0041] 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 listen before talk (LBT) procedure prior to communication to determine whether a channel is available.

[0042] 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' using 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.

[0043] The wireless communication system 100 may also include a millimeter wave (mmW) base station 180, which can operate at 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 may be referred to as millimeter waves. Near mmW can be extended down to a frequency of 3 GHz, and a wavelength of 100 mm. The super high frequency (SHF) band extends between 3 GHz and 30 GHz, and it is also referred to as centimeter waves. Communications using mmW / near mmW radio frequency bands have high path loss and relatively short distances. The mmW base station 180 and the UE 182 can utilize beamforming (transmitting and / or receiving) on ​​the mmW communication link 184 to compensate for extremely high path loss and short distances. In addition, it should be understood that in an alternative configuration, one or more base stations 102 may also use mmW or near mmW and beamforming for transmission. Therefore, it should be understood that the foregoing illustrations are merely examples and should not be construed as limiting the various aspects disclosed herein.

[0044] 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.

[0045] The transmit beams can be quasi-co-located, which means that they appear to the receiver (e.g., UE) to have the same parameters, regardless of whether the network node's own transmit antenna is 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.

[0046] In receive beamforming, the receiver uses receive beams to amplify RF signals detected on a given channel. For example, the receiver may increase the gain setting of the antenna array in a particular direction and / or adjust the phase setting of the antenna array in a particular direction to amplify the RF signal received from that direction (e.g., increase its gain level). Therefore, when a receiver is said to perform beamforming in a certain direction, it means that the beam gain in that direction is high relative to the beam gain along other directions, or the beam gain in that direction is the highest compared to the beam gain in that direction of all other receive beams available to the receiver. This results in a stronger received signal strength (e.g., reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR), etc.) of the RF signal received from that direction.

[0047] 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.

[0048] 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.

[0049] 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 a portion of FR1 is 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 it is different from the extremely high frequency (EHF) band (30 GHz to 300 GHz) identified as the "millimeter wave" band by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

[0050] 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 to 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 to 71GHz), FR4 (52.6GHz to 114.25GHz) and FR5 (114.25GHz to 300GHz). Each of these higher frequency bands falls within the EHF band.

[0051] In view of the above aspects, unless otherwise specifically stated, it should be understood that if the term "below 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.

[0052] 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 re-establishment procedure. The primary carrier carries all common and UE-specific control channels and can be a carrier in a licensed frequency (however, this is not always the case). A secondary carrier is a carrier operating on a second frequency (e.g., FR2) that can be configured and 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 usually 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 UE104 / 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.

[0053] For example, still referring 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.

[0054] The wireless communication system 100 may also include a UE 164, which may communicate with the macrocell base station 102 via a communication link 120 and / or communicate with the mmW base station 180 via a mmW communication link 184. For example, the macrocell base station 102 may support a PCell and one or more SCells for the UE 164, and the mmW base station 180 may support one or more SCells for the UE 164.

[0055] In some cases, UE 164 and UE 182 may be capable of sidelink communication. A UE with sidelink capability (SL-UE) may communicate with base station 102 via communication link 120 using a Uu interface (i.e., an air interface between UE and a base station). SL-UEs (e.g., UE 164, UE 182) may also communicate directly with each other via a wireless sidelink 160 using a PC5 interface (i.e., an air interface between UEs with sidelink capability). A wireless sidelink (or simply "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. Sidelink communications may be unicast or multicast and may be used for device-to-device (D2D) media sharing, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communications, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2X) communications (e.g., cellular V2X (cV2X) communications, enhanced V2X (eV2X) communications, etc.), emergency rescue applications, etc. One or more SL-UEs in a group of SL-UEs utilizing sidelink communications may be located within the geographic coverage area 110 of the base station 102. Other SL-UEs in such a group may be outside the geographic coverage area 110 of the base station 102, or may not be able to receive transmissions from the base station 102 for other reasons. In some cases, groups of SL-UEs communicating via sidelink communications may utilize a one-to-many (1:M) system, in which each SL-UE transmits to each other SL-UE in the group. In some cases, the base station 102 facilitates the scheduling of resources for sidelink communications. In other cases, sidelink communications are performed between the SL-UEs without involving the base station 102.

[0056] In one aspect, the sidelink 160 may operate over a wireless communication medium of interest, which may 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 associated with wireless communications between one or more transmitter / receiver pairs (e.g., covering one or more channels across one or more carriers). In one aspect, the medium of interest may correspond to at least a portion of an unlicensed band shared between various RATs. Although different licensed bands have been reserved for certain communication systems (e.g., by government entities such as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the United States), these systems (particularly those employing small cell access points) have recently expanded operations into unlicensed bands such as the unlicensed National Information Infrastructure (U-NII) band used by wireless local area network (WLAN) technology (most notably the IEEE 802.11x WLAN technology commonly referred to as "Wi-Fi"). Example systems of this type include different variants of CDMA systems, TDMA systems, FDMA systems, orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA) systems, single carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) systems, and the like.

[0057] Note that although Figure 1 Only two of these UEs are illustrated as SL-UEs (i.e., UE 164 and 182), but any of the illustrated UEs may be SL-UEs. In addition, although only UE 182 is described as being capable of beamforming, any of the illustrated UEs (including UE 164) may be capable of beamforming. In the case where SL-UEs are capable of beamforming, they may beamform toward each other (i.e., toward other SL-UEs), toward other UEs (e.g., UE 104), toward base stations (e.g., base stations 102, 180, small cells 102', access point 150), etc. Therefore, in some cases, UE 164 and UE 182 may utilize beamforming on sidelink 160.

[0058] exist Figure 1 In the example of FIG. 1 , the UE illustrated (for simplicity, in Figure 1Any UE in the embodiment of the present invention (shown as a single UE 104 in FIG. 1 ) may receive a signal 124 from one or more earth orbiting space vehicles (SVs) 112 (e.g., satellites). In one aspect, the SVs 112 may be part of a satellite positioning system that the UEs 104 may 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 may sometimes be located on ground-based control stations, base stations 102, and / or other UEs 104. The UEs 104 may 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.

[0059] In a satellite positioning system, the use of signal 124 may be enhanced by various satellite-based augmentation systems (SBAS) that may be associated with or otherwise enabled for use with one or more global and / or regional navigation satellite systems. For example, SBAS may include augmentation systems that provide integrity information, differential corrections, etc., such as Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS), European 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), etc. Thus, as used herein, a satellite positioning system may include any combination of one or more global and / or regional navigation satellites associated with such one or more satellite positioning systems.

[0060] 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 may receive communication signals (e.g., signal 124) from SV 112.

[0061] The wireless communication system 100 may also include one or more UEs, such as UE 190, which are indirectly connected to one or more communication networks via one or more device-to-device (D2D) peer-to-peer (P2P) links (referred to as “side links”). Figure 1 In the example of FIG. 1 , UE 190 has 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 WLAN STA 152 connected to 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), wait.

[0062] Figure 2A An 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 gNB 222 or the ng-eNB 224 may communicate with one or more UEs 204 (e.g., any of the UEs described herein).

[0063] 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).

[0064] 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, for the transmission of location service messages between the UE 204 and the Location Management Function (LMF) 270 (which acts as a location server 230), for the transmission of location service messages between the NG-RAN 220 and the LMF 270, for the allocation of Evolved Packet System (EPS) bearer identifiers for interoperation with EPS, and UE 204 mobility event notifications. In addition, the AMF 264 also supports functionality for non-3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project) access networks.

[0065] 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 may also support the delivery of location service messages between UE 204 and a location server (such as SLP 272) on the user plane.

[0066] 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.

[0067] 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).

[0068] Yet another optional aspect may include a third-party server 274 that may 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 the 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 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 may alternatively each correspond to a single server.

[0069] 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.

[0070] 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.

[0071] The deployment of a communication system (such as a 5G NR system) can be arranged with various components or components in a variety of ways. In a 5GNR system or network, a network node, a network entity, a mobility element of a network, a RAN node, a core network node, a network element or a network equipment (such as a base station, or one or more units (or one or more components) that perform base station functionality can be implemented in an aggregated architecture or a decomposed architecture. For example, a base station (such as a node B (NB), an evolved NB (eNB), an NR base station, a 5GNB, an access point (AP), a transmit receive point (TRP) or a cell, etc.) can be implemented as an aggregated base station (also referred to as a standalone base station or a single-chip base station) or a decomposed base station.

[0072] A converged base station may be configured to utilize a radio protocol stack physically or logically integrated within a single RAN node. A decomposed base station may be configured to utilize a protocol stack physically or logically distributed between two or more units, such as one or more central or centralized units (CUs), one or more distributed units (DUs), or one or more radio units (RUs). In some aspects, a CU may be implemented within a RAN node, and one or more DUs may be co-located with the CU, or alternatively, may be geographically or virtually distributed in one or more other RAN nodes. A DU may be implemented to communicate with one or more RUs. Each of a CU, a DU, and a RU may also be implemented as a virtual unit, i.e., a virtual central unit (VCU), a virtual distributed unit (VDU), or a virtual radio unit (VRU).

[0073] Base station type operations or network designs may take into account the aggregated nature of base station functionality. For example, a disaggregated base station may be used in an integrated access backhaul (IAB) network, an open radio access network (O-RAN (network configurations such as those initiated by the O-RAN Alliance)), or a virtualized radio access network (vRAN, also known as a cloud radio access network (C-RAN)). Decomposition may include distributing functionality across two or more units at various physical locations, as well as virtually distributing functionality of at least one unit, which may enable flexibility in network design. Various units of a disaggregated base station or disaggregated RAN architecture may be configured for wired or wireless communication with at least one other unit.

[0074] Figure 2C An example disaggregated base station architecture 250 is illustrated in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The disaggregated base station architecture 250 may include one or more central units (CUs) 280 (e.g., gNB-CUs 226) that may communicate directly with a core network 267 (e.g., 5GC 210, 5GC 260) via a backhaul link, or indirectly with the core network 267 through one or more disaggregated base station units, such as a near real-time (near-RT) RAN intelligent controller (RIC) 259 via an E2 link, or a non-real-time (non-RT) RIC 257 associated with a service management and orchestration (SMO) framework 255, or both. The CU 280 may communicate with one or more distributed units (DUs) 285 (e.g., gNB-DUs 228) via respective midhaul links, such as an F1 interface. The DUs 285 may communicate with one or more radio units (RUs) 287 (e.g., gNB-RUs 229) via respective fronthaul links. The RU 287 can communicate with a corresponding UE 204 via one or more radio frequency (RF) access links. In some implementations, a UE 204 can be served by multiple RUs 287 simultaneously.

[0075] Each of the units (i.e., CU 280, DU 285, RU 287, and near-RT RIC 259, non-RT RIC 257, and SMO framework 255) may include or be coupled to one or more interfaces configured to receive or send signals, data, or information (collectively referred to as signals) via a wired or wireless transmission medium. Each of the units or an associated processor or controller that provides instructions to the communication interface of the unit may be configured to communicate with one or more of the other units via a transmission medium. For example, the units may include a wired interface configured to receive or send signals to one or more of the other units via a wired transmission medium. Additionally, the units may include a wireless interface that may include a receiver, a transmitter, or a transceiver (such as a radio frequency (RF) transceiver) configured to receive or send signals, or both, to one or more of the other units via a wireless transmission medium.

[0076] In some aspects, CU 280 may host one or more higher layer control functions. Such control functions may include radio resource control (RRC), packet data convergence protocol (PDCP), service data adaptation protocol (SDAP), etc. Each control function may be implemented using an interface that is configured to communicate signals with other control functions hosted by CU 280. CU 280 may be configured to handle user plane functionality (i.e., central unit-user plane (CU-UP)), control plane functionality (i.e., central unit-control plane (CU-CP)), or a combination thereof. In some specific implementations, CU 280 may be logically split into one or more CU-UP units and one or more CU-CP units. When implemented in an O-RAN configuration, the CU-UP unit may communicate bidirectionally with the CU-CP unit via an interface (such as an E1 interface). As needed, CU 280 may be implemented to communicate with DU 285 for network control and signaling.

[0077] DU 285 may correspond to a logical unit that includes one or more base station functions for controlling the operation of one or more RUs 287. In some aspects, DU 285 may host one or more of a radio link control (RLC) layer, a medium access control (MAC) layer, and one or more high physical (PHY) layers (such as modules for forward error correction (FEC) encoding and decoding, scrambling, modulation and demodulation, etc.) at least in part according to a functional split such as defined by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). In some aspects, DU 285 may also host one or more low PHY layers. Each layer (or module) may be implemented using an interface that is configured to communicate signals with other layers (and modules) hosted by DU 285 or with control functions hosted by CU 280.

[0078] The lower layer functionality may be implemented by one or more RUs 287. In some deployments, a RU 287 controlled by a DU 285 may correspond to a logical node that hosts RF processing functions or low PHY layer functions (such as performing Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), Inverse FFT (iFFT), digital beamforming, physical random access channel (PRACH) extraction and filtering, etc.), or both, based at least in part on a functional split (such as a lower layer functional split). In such an architecture, the RU 287 may be implemented to handle over-the-air (OTA) communications with one or more UEs 204. In some implementations, the real-time and non-real-time aspects of communicating with the control and user planes of the RU 287 may be controlled by the corresponding DU 285. In some scenarios, this configuration may enable the implementation of the DU 285 and the CU 280 in a cloud-based RAN architecture (such as a vRAN architecture).

[0079] The SMO framework 255 may be configured to support RAN deployment and provisioning of non-virtualized network elements and virtualized network elements. For non-virtualized network elements, the SMO framework 255 may be configured to support the deployment of dedicated physical resources for RAN coverage requirements, which may be managed via an operation and maintenance interface (such as an O1 interface). For virtualized network elements, the SMO framework 255 may be configured to interact with a cloud computing platform (such as an open cloud (O-Cloud) 269) to perform network element lifecycle management (such as instantiating virtualized network elements) via a cloud computing platform interface (such as an O2 interface). Such virtualized network elements may include, but are not limited to, CU 280, DU 285, RU 287, and near-RT RIC 259. In some specific implementations, the SMO framework 255 may communicate with hardware aspects of the 4G RAN (such as an open eNB (O-eNB) 261) via the O1 interface. Additionally, in some specific implementations, the SMO framework 255 may communicate directly with one or more RUs 287 via the O1 interface. The SMO framework 255 may also include a non-RT RIC 257 configured to support the functionality of the SMO framework 255 .

[0080] The non-RT RIC 257 may be configured to include logic functions that enable non-real-time control and optimization of RAN elements and resources, artificial intelligence / machine learning (AI / ML) workflows including model training and updating, or policy-based guidance of applications / features in the near-RT RIC 259. The non-RT RIC 257 may be coupled to or communicate with the near-RT RIC 259 (such as via an A1 interface). The near-RT RIC 259 may be configured to include logic functions that enable near-real-time control and optimization of RAN elements and resources via data collection and actions through an interface (such as via an E2 interface) that connects one or more CUs 280, one or more DUs 285, or both, and the O-eNB with the near-RT RIC 259.

[0081] In some implementations, in order to generate an AI / ML model to be deployed in the near-RT RIC 259, the non-RT RIC 257 may receive parameters or external enrichment information from an external server. Such information may be utilized by the near-RT RIC 259 and may be received from a non-network data source or from a network function at the SMO framework 255 or the non-RT RIC 257. In some examples, the non-RT RIC 257 or the near-RT RIC 259 may be configured to tune RAN behavior or performance. For example, the non-RT RIC 257 may monitor long-term trends and patterns of performance and employ AI / ML models to perform corrective actions through the SMO framework 255 (such as via reconfiguration of O1) or via the creation of RAN management policies (such as A1 policies).

[0082] Figure 3A , Figure 3B and Figure 3C Several example components (represented by corresponding blocks) are illustrated, which may be incorporated into a UE 302 (which may correspond to any of the UEs described herein), a base station 304 (which may correspond to any of the base stations described herein), and a network entity 306 (which may correspond to or embody any of the network functions described herein, including the location server 230 and the LMF 270, or alternatively may be independent of Figure 2A and Figure 2B The depicted NG-RAN 220 and / or 5GC 210 / 260 infrastructure, such as a dedicated network, is implemented in order to support operations as described herein. It should be understood that these components may be implemented differently in different types of devices (e.g., in an ASIC, in a system on a chip (SoC), etc.). The illustrated components may also be incorporated into other devices in the communication system. For example, other devices in the system may include components similar to those described 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.

[0083] 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 may 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.

[0084] 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, Z- 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 Z- transceiver, NFC transceiver UWB transceiver or vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and / or vehicle-to-everything (V2X) transceiver.

[0085] 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 may be connected to one or more antennas 336 and 376, respectively, and may 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 may 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 may 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.

[0086] 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 may 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 may 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.

[0087] The transceiver may be configured to communicate over a wired or wireless link. A 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 may be an integrated device (e.g., implementing the transmitter circuit and the receiver circuit in a single device), in some implementations may include separate transmitter circuits and separate receiver circuits, or may be implemented in other ways in other implementations. The transmitter circuit and the receiver circuit of a wired transceiver (e.g., in some implementations, network transceivers 380 and 390) may 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., receivers 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.

[0088] 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.

[0089] 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.

[0090] 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.). Thus, memory 340, 386, and 396 may 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.

[0091] 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.

[0092] In addition, the UE 302 includes a user interface 346, which provides means for providing indications to the user (e.g., audible and / or visual indications) and / or for receiving user input (e.g., 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.

[0093] 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.

[0094] 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 the mapping to the signal constellation based on various modulation schemes (e.g., binary phase shift keying (BPSK), quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK), M-phase shift keying (M-PSK), M-quadrature amplitude modulation (M-QAM)). The coded and modulated symbols may then be split 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 the coding and modulation schemes and for spatial processing. Channel estimates may be derived from 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.

[0095] 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 signal constellation point that is most likely to be 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.

[0096] In the downlink, one or more processors 332 provide demultiplexing between transport and logical channels, packet reassembly, decryption, header decompression, and control signal processing to recover IP packets from the core network. One or more processors 332 are also responsible for error detection.

[0097] 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, resegmentation 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.

[0098] 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.

[0099] 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.

[0100] In the uplink, one or more processors 384 provide demultiplexing between transport and logical channels, packet reassembly, decryption, header decompression, control signal processing to recover IP packets from UE 302. IP packets from one or more processors 384 may be provided to the core network. One or more processors 384 are also responsible for error detection.

[0101] For convenience, UE 302, base station 304 and / or network entity 306 may Figure 3A , Figure 3B and Figure 3C, is shown as including various components that can be configured according to the various examples described herein. However, it should be understood that the 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.

[0102] 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 the 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 the different logical entities.

[0103] 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 of 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 a UE", "by a base station", "by a network entity", etc. However, it should be understood that 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.).

[0104] 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).

[0105] NR supports a variety of cellular network-based positioning technologies, including downlink-based positioning methods, uplink-based positioning methods, and downlink and uplink-based positioning methods. Downlink-based positioning methods include: Observed Time Difference of Arrival (OTDOA) in LTE, Downlink Time Difference of Arrival (DL-TDOA) in NR, and Downlink Angle of Departure (DL-AoD) in NR. Figure 4Examples of various positioning methods according to various aspects of the present disclosure are illustrated. In the OTDOA or DL-TDOA positioning procedure illustrated in scenario 410, the UE measures the difference between the arrival times (ToA) of reference signals (e.g., positioning reference signals (PRS)) received from paired base stations (referred to as reference signal time difference (RSTD) or arrival time difference (TDOA) measurements), and reports these differences to a positioning entity. More specifically, the UE receives identifiers (IDs) of a reference base station (e.g., a serving base station) and multiple non-reference base stations in auxiliary data. The UE then measures the RSTD between the reference base station and each of the non-reference base stations. Based on the known positions of the base stations involved and the RSTD measurement results, a positioning entity (e.g., a UE for UE-based positioning or a location server for UE-assisted positioning) can estimate the position of the UE.

[0106] For DL-AoD positioning illustrated in scenario 420, the positioning entity uses the measurement report of the received signal strength measurement results of multiple downlink transmission beams from the UE to determine the angle between the UE and the transmitting base station. The positioning entity can then estimate the position of the UE based on the determined angle and the known position of the transmitting base station.

[0107] Uplink-based positioning methods include uplink time difference of arrival (UL-TDOA) and uplink angle of arrival (UL-AoA). UL-TDOA is similar to DL-TDOA, but is based on uplink reference signals (e.g., sounding reference signals (SRS)) sent by the UE to multiple base stations. Specifically, the UE sends one or more uplink reference signals, which are measured by a reference base station and multiple non-reference base stations. Each base station then reports the reception time of the reference signal (referred to as relative time of arrival (RTOA)) to a positioning entity (e.g., a location server) that knows the location and relative timing of the base stations involved. Based on the receive-to-receive (Rx-Rx) time difference between the reported RTOA of the reference base station and the reported RTOA of each non-reference base station, the known location of the base stations, and their known timing offsets, the positioning entity can use TDOA to estimate the position of the UE.

[0108] For UL-AoA positioning, one or more base stations measure the received signal strength of one or more uplink reference signals (e.g., SRS) received from the UE on one or more uplink receive beams. The positioning entity uses the signal strength measurements and the angle of the receive beams to determine the angle between the UE and the base station. Based on the determined angle and the known location of the base station, the positioning entity can then estimate the location of the UE.

[0109] Downlink and uplink based positioning methods include: enhanced cell ID (E-CID) positioning and multiple round trip time (RTT) positioning (also referred to as "multi-cell RTT" and "multi-RTT"). In the RTT procedure, a first entity (e.g., a base station or UE) sends a first RTT-related signal (e.g., a PRS or SRS) to a second entity (e.g., a UE or a base station), and the second entity sends a second RTT-related signal (e.g., an SRS or PRS) back to the first entity. Each entity measures the time difference between the arrival time (ToA) of the received RTT-related signal and the transmission time of the transmitted RTT-related signal. The time difference is called the received to transmitted (Rx-Tx) time difference. The Rx-Tx time difference measurement can be made or adjusted to include only the time difference between the nearest time slot boundary of the received signal and the transmitted signal. The two entities may then transmit their Rx-Tx time difference measurements to a location server (e.g., LMF 270), which calculates the round trip propagation time (i.e., RTT) between the two entities based on the two Rx-Tx time difference measurements (e.g., calculated as the sum of the two Rx-Tx time difference measurements). Alternatively, one entity may transmit its Rx-Tx time difference measurements to the other entity, which then calculates the RTT. The distance between the two entities may be determined based on the RTT and a known signal speed (e.g., the speed of light). For multi-RTT positioning illustrated in scenario 430, a first entity (e.g., a UE or a base station) performs an RTT positioning procedure with a plurality of second entities (e.g., a plurality of base stations or UEs) to enable the position of the first entity to be determined (e.g., using multilateration) based on the distance to the second entities and the known positions of the second entities. RTT and multi-RTT methods may be combined with other positioning techniques (such as UL-AoA and DL-AoD) to improve position accuracy, as illustrated in scenario 440.

[0110] The E-CID positioning method is based on radio resource management (RRM) measurements. In E-CID, the UE reports the serving cell ID, timing advance (TA), and the identifiers of the detected neighboring base stations, the estimated timing, and the signal strength. The UE's position is then estimated based on this information and the known location of the base stations.

[0111] To assist in positioning operations, a location server (e.g., location server 230, LMF 270, SLP 272) may provide assistance data to the UE via, for example, one or more LTE Positioning Protocol (LPP) messages. For example, the assistance data may include: an identifier of the base station (or cell / TRP of the base station) from which the reference signal is measured, reference signal configuration parameters (e.g., the number of consecutive time slots including PRS, the periodicity of consecutive time slots including PRS, a silent sequence, a frequency hopping sequence, a reference signal identifier, a reference signal bandwidth, etc.), and / or other parameters applicable to a particular positioning method. Alternatively, the assistance data may originate directly from the base station itself (e.g., in a periodically broadcast overhead message, etc.). In some cases, the UE itself may be able to detect neighboring network nodes without using assistance data.

[0112] In the case of OTDOA or DL-TDOA positioning procedures, the assistance data may also include an expected RSTD value and an associated uncertainty or search window around the expected RSTD. In some cases, the value range of the expected RSTD may be + / -500 microseconds (μs). In some cases, when any of the resources used for positioning measurements are in FR1, the value range of the uncertainty of the expected RSTD may be + / -32μs. In other cases, when all resources used for positioning measurements are in FR2, the value range of the uncertainty of the expected RSTD may be + / -8μs.

[0113] The position estimate may be referred to by other names, such as a position estimate, a position, a position fix, a position fix, a fix, etc. The position estimate may be geodetic and include coordinates (e.g., latitude, longitude, and possibly altitude), or may be municipal and include a street address, a postal address, or some other verbal description of the location. The position estimate may be further defined relative to some other known location or defined in absolute terms (e.g., using latitude, longitude, and possibly altitude). The position estimate may include an expected error or uncertainty (e.g., by including an area or volume within which the location is expected to be included with some specified or default confidence level).

[0114] LPP is used point-to-point between a location server (e.g., LMF 270) and a target device (e.g., UE) to locate the target device using positioning-related measurements obtained by one or more reference sources (physical entities or portions of physical entities that provide signals that can be measured by the target device in order to obtain the location of the target device). An LPP session is used between a location server and a target device to obtain location-related measurements or location estimates, or to transfer assistance data. Currently, a single LPP session is used to support a single location request, and multiple LPP sessions can be used between the same endpoints to support multiple different location requests. Each LPP session includes one or more LPP transactions (or procedures), where each LPP transaction performs a single operation (capability exchange, assistance data transfer, or location information transfer). Each LPP transaction involves the exchange of one or more LPP messages between a location server and a target device.

[0115] An LPP session generally includes at least a capability transfer or indication procedure, an assistance data transfer or delivery procedure, and a location information transfer or delivery procedure. Figure 5 An example LPP capability transfer procedure 510, LPP assistance data transfer procedure 530, and LPP location information transfer procedure 550 between a target device (labeled "target") and a location server (labeled "server") in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure are illustrated.

[0116] The purpose of the LPP capability transfer procedure 510 is to enable capabilities to be transferred from a target device (e.g., UE 204) to a location server (e.g., LMF 270). Capabilities in this context refer to positioning and protocol capabilities related to LPP and positioning methods supported by LPP. In the LPP capability transfer procedure 510, the location server (e.g., LMF 270) indicates the type of capabilities that need to be obtained from the target device (e.g., UE 204) in an LPP request capabilities message. The target device responds with an LPP offer capabilities message. The capabilities included in the LPP offer capabilities message should correspond to any capability type specified in the LPP request capabilities message. Specifically, for each positioning method for which a request for capabilities is included in the LPP request capabilities message, if the target device supports the positioning method, the target device includes the capabilities of the target device for the supported positioning method in the LPP offer capabilities response message. For the LPP capability indication procedure, the target device provides unrequested (i.e., the LPP request capabilities message was not received) capabilities to the location server in the LPP offer capabilities message.

[0117] The purpose of the LPP assistance data delivery procedure 530 is to enable the target device to request assistance data from the location server to assist in positioning, and to enable the location server to deliver the assistance data to the target device without request. In the LPP assistance data delivery procedure 530, the target device transmits an LPP request assistance data message to the location server. The location server responds to the target device with an LPP provide assistance data message containing the assistance data. The delivered assistance data should match or be a subset of the assistance data requested in the LPP request assistance data. The location server may also provide any unrequested information that it deems useful to the target device. The location server may also send one or more additional LPP provide assistance data messages containing additional assistance data to the target device. For the LPP assistance data delivery procedure, the location server provides the unrequested assistance data necessary for positioning. The assistance data may be provided periodically or aperiodically.

[0118] The purpose of the LPP location information delivery procedure 550 is to enable a location server to request location measurement data and / or location estimates from a target device, and to enable a target device to deliver location measurement data and / or location estimates to a location server without a request. In the LPP location information delivery procedure 550, the location server transmits an LPP request location information message to a target device to request location information, thereby indicating the type of location information required and potentially associated QoS. The target device responds to the location server with an LPP provide location information message to deliver location information. Unless the location server explicitly allows additional location information, the delivered location information should match or be a subset of the location information requested in the LPP request location information. More specifically, if the requested information is compatible with the capabilities and configuration of the target device, the target device includes the requested information in the LPP provide location information message. Otherwise, if the target device does not support one or more of the requested positioning methods, the target device continues to process the message as if the message only contains information of the supported positioning methods, and handles the signaling content of the unsupported positioning method through LPP error detection. If additional location information is requested by the LPP Request Location Information message, the target device transmits an Additional LPP Provide Location Information message to the location server to deliver the additional location information.The LPP Location Information Delivery procedure supports delivery of positioning estimates based on unrequested services.

[0119] Various frame structures may be used to support downlink and uplink transmissions between network nodes (eg, base stations and UEs). Figure 6 600 is a diagram illustrating an example frame structure in accordance with 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.

[0120] 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 partitioned 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.

[0121] LTE supports a single parameter set (subcarrier spacing (SCS), symbol length, etc.). In contrast, NR may 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.

[0122] exist Figure 6 In the example of , a parameter set of 15 kHz is used. Therefore, 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 6 , 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.

[0123] A resource grid may be used to represent a time slot, each of which includes one or more time-concurrent resource blocks (RBs) (also referred to as physical RBs (PRBs)) in the frequency domain. The resource grid is further divided into a plurality of resource elements (REs). An RE may correspond to one symbol length in the time domain and one subcarrier in the frequency domain. Figure 6In 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.

[0124] Some 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 6 Example locations of REs carrying reference signals (labeled "R") are illustrated.

[0125] 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.

[0126] 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 6 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.

[0127] Currently, DL-PRS resources may span 2, 4, 6, or 12 consecutive symbols within a slot using a full frequency domain staggered pattern. DL-PRS resources may be configured in any higher layer configured downlink or flexible (FL) symbol in a slot. There may be a constant energy per resource element (EPRE) for all REs for a given DL-PRS resource. The following are the symbol-by-symbol frequency offsets for comb sizes 2, 4, 6, and 12 over 2, 4, 6, and 12 symbols. 2-symbol Comb-2: {0,1}; 4-symbol Comb-2: {0,1,0,1}; 6-symbol Comb-2: {0,1,0,1,0,1}; 12-symbol Comb-2: {0,1,0,1,0,1,0,1,0,1,0,1}; 4-symbol Comb-4: {0,2,1,3} (as in Figure 6 ); 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}.

[0128] 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.

[0129] 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 may transmit one or more beams). That is, each PRS resource in a PRS resource set may 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.

[0130] 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".

[0131] 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.

[0132] The concept of frequency layer is somewhat similar to the concept of component carrier and bandwidth part (BWP), 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.

[0133] 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 further distinction is needed between the types 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."

[0134] Figure 7 700 is a diagram illustrating an example PRS configuration for two TRPs (labeled “TRP1” and “TRP2”) operating in the same positioning frequency layer (labeled “Positioning Frequency Layer 1”) in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. For a positioning session, assistance data indicating the illustrated PRS configuration may be provided to the UE. Figure 7 In the example of , a first TRP ("TRP1") is associated with (e.g., transmits) two PRS resource sets labeled "PRS resource set 1" and "PRS resource set 2", and a second TRP ("TRP2") is associated with one PRS resource set labeled "PRS resource set 3". Each PRS resource set includes at least two PRS resources. Specifically, the first PRS resource set ("PRS resource set 1") includes PRS resources labeled "PRS resource 1" and "PRS resource 2", the second PRS resource set ("PRS resource set 2") includes PRS resources labeled "PRS resource 3" and "PRS resource 4", and the third PRS resource set ("PRS resource set 3") includes PRS resources labeled "PRS resource 5" and "PRS resource 6".

[0135] Fig. 8A and Figure 8B Various comb patterns supported for DL-PRS within a resource block are illustrated. Fig. 8A and Figure 8B , time is represented horizontally and frequency is represented vertically. Fig. 8A and Figure 8B Each large block in represents a resource block and each small block represents a resource element. As discussed above, a resource element consists of one symbol in the time domain and one subcarrier in the frequency domain. Fig. 8A and Figure 8B In the example of , each resource block includes 14 symbols in the time domain and 12 subcarriers in the frequency domain. The shaded resource elements carry or are scheduled to carry DL-PRS. Therefore, the shaded resource elements in each resource block correspond to PRS resources, or parts of PRS resources within one resource block (because PRS resources can span multiple resource blocks in the frequency domain).

[0136] The illustrated comb tooth patterns correspond to the various DL-PRS comb tooth patterns described above. Specifically, Fig. 8A A DL-PRS comb pattern 810 for comb-2 having two symbols, a DL-PRS comb pattern 820 for comb-4 having four symbols, a DL-PRS comb pattern 830 for comb-6 having six symbols, and a DL-PRS comb pattern 840 for comb-12 having 12 symbols are illustrated. Figure 8B A DL-PRS comb pattern 850 for comb-2 with 12 symbols, a DL-PRS comb pattern 860 for comb-4 with 12 symbols, a DL-PRS comb pattern 870 for comb-2 with six symbols, and a DL-PRS comb pattern 880 for comb-6 with 12 symbols are illustrated.

[0137] Please note that Fig. 8A In the example comb pattern of 820, the resource elements on which the DL-PRS is transmitted are interleaved in the frequency domain so that there is only one such resource element per subcarrier over the configured number of symbols. For example, for the DL-PRS comb pattern 820, there is only one resource element per subcarrier over four symbols. This is called "frequency domain interleaving".

[0138] In addition, there is some DL-PRS resource symbol offset (given by the parameter "DL-PRS-ResourceSymbolOffset") from the first symbol of the resource block to the first symbol of the DL-PRS resource. In the example of DL-PRS comb pattern 810, the offset is three symbols. In the example of DL-PRS comb pattern 820, the offset is eight symbols. In the examples of DL-PRS comb patterns 830 and 840, the offset is two symbols. In the examples of DL-PRS comb patterns 850 to 880, the offset is two symbols.

[0139] It should be understood that the UE will need to have a higher capability to measure the DL-PRS comb pattern 810 than to measure the DL-PRS comb pattern 820 because for the DL-PRS comb pattern 810, the UE will have to measure resource elements on twice as many subcarriers per symbol as the DL-PRS comb pattern 820. In addition, the UE will need to have a higher capability to measure the DL-PRS comb pattern 830 than to measure the DL-PRS comb pattern 840 because for the DL-PRS comb pattern 830, the UE will have to measure resource elements on twice as many subcarriers per symbol as the DL-PRS comb pattern 840. In addition, the UE will need to have a higher capability to measure the DL-PRS comb patterns 810 and 820 than to measure the DL-PRS comb patterns 830 and 840 because the resource elements of the DL-PRS comb patterns 810 and 820 are denser than the resource elements of the DL-PRS comb patterns 830 and 840.

[0140] On the one hand, Figure 6 The reference signal carried on the RE marked with "R" in the figure can be an SRS. The SRS sent by the UE can be used by the base station to obtain channel state information (CSI) for the transmitting UE. CSI describes how the RF signal propagates from the UE to the base station and represents the combined effect of scattering, attenuation, and power attenuation with distance. The system uses SRS for resource scheduling, link adaptation, massive MIMO, beam management, etc.

[0141] The set of REs used for transmission of SRS is called "SRS resource" and can be identified by the parameter "SRS-ResourceId". The set of resource elements can span multiple PRBs in the frequency domain and "N" (e.g., one or more) consecutive symbols within a time slot in the time domain. In a given OFDM symbol, an SRS resource occupies one or more consecutive PRBs. An "SRS resource set" is a set of SRS resources used for transmission of an SRS signal and is identified by an SRS resource set ID ("SRS-ResourceSetId").

[0142] The transmission of the SRS resource within a given PRB has a specific comb size (also referred to as "comb density"). The comb size "N" represents the subcarrier spacing (or frequency / tone spacing) within each symbol of the SRS resource configuration. Specifically, for comb size "N", the SRS is transmitted in every Nth subcarrier of one symbol of the PRB. For example, for comb-4, for each symbol of the SRS resource configuration, the REs corresponding to every fourth subcarrier (such as subcarriers 0, 4, 8) are used to transmit the SRS of the SRS resource. Figure 6 In the example of FIG. 1 , the illustrated SRS is comb-tooth-4 on four symbols. That is, the position of the shaded SRS RE indicates the SRS resource configuration of comb-tooth-4.

[0143] Currently, SRS resources with a comb size of Comb-2, Comb-4, or Comb-8 can span 1, 2, 4, 8, or 12 consecutive symbols within a slot. The following are the symbol-by-symbol frequency offsets for the currently supported SRS comb patterns. 1 symbol Comb-2: {0}; 2 symbol Comb-2: {0,1}; 2 symbol Comb-4: {0,2}; 4 symbol Comb-2: {0,1,0,1}; 4 symbol Comb-4: {0,2,1,3} (as in Figure 6 ); 8-symbol comb-4: {0,2,1,3,0,2,1,3}; 12-symbol comb-4: {0,2,1,3,0,2,1,3,0,2,1,3}; 4-symbol comb-8: {0,4,2,6}; 8-symbol comb-8: {0,4,2,6,1,5,3,7}; and 12-symbol comb-8: {0,4,2,6,1,5,3,7,0,4,2,6}.

[0144] Generally speaking, as described above, the UE sends the SRS so that the receiving base station (serving base station or neighboring base station) can measure the channel quality (i.e., CSI) between the UE and the base station. However, the SRS may also be specifically configured as an uplink positioning reference signal for uplink-based positioning procedures, such as uplink time difference of arrival (UL-TDOA), round trip time (RTT), uplink angle of arrival (UL-AoA), etc. As used herein, the term "SRS" may refer to an SRS configured for channel quality measurement or an SRS configured for positioning purposes. When it is necessary to distinguish between two types of SRS, the former may be referred to as "SRS for communication" and / or the latter may be referred to as "SRS for positioning" or "positioning SRS" in this article.

[0145] Several enhancements to the previous definition of SRS have been proposed for "SRS for positioning" (also known as "UL-PRS"), such as a new staggering pattern within the SRS resource (in addition to a single symbol / comb-2), a new comb type for SRS, a new sequence for SRS, a larger number of SRS resource sets per component carrier, and a larger number of SRS resources per component carrier. In addition, the parameters "SpatialRelationInfo" and "PathLossReference" are to be configured based on downlink reference signals or SSBs from neighboring TRPs. Furthermore, one SRS resource may be sent outside the active BWP, and one SRS resource may span multiple component carriers. Moreover, the SRS may be configured in the RRC connected state and sent only within the active BWP. In addition, there may be no frequency hopping, no repetition factor, a single antenna port, and new lengths for the SRS (e.g., 8 and 12 symbols). There may also be open-loop power control and no closed-loop power control, and comb-8 (i.e., SRS sent every eighth subcarrier in the same symbol) may be used. Finally, the UE may transmit from multiple SRS resources through the same transmit beam for UL-AoA. All of these are features outside the current SRS framework, which is configured through RRC higher layer signaling (and potentially triggered or activated through MAC Control Element (MAC-CE) or Downlink Control Information (DCI)).

[0146] Fig.9A and Fig. 9B Various comb patterns supported for SRS within a resource block are illustrated. Fig.9A and Fig. 9B , time is represented horizontally and frequency is represented vertically. Fig.9A and Fig. 9B Each large block in represents a resource block and each small block represents a resource element. Fig.9A and Fig. 9B In the example of , each resource block includes 14 symbols in the time domain and 12 subcarriers in the frequency domain. The shaded resource elements carry or are scheduled to carry SRS. Therefore, the shaded resource elements in each resource block correspond to one SRS resource, or part of an SRS resource within one resource block (because the SRS resource can span multiple resource blocks in the frequency domain).

[0147] The comb tooth patterns shown correspond to the various SRS comb tooth patterns described above. Specifically, Fig.9A An SRS comb pattern 910 for comb-2 with one symbol, an SRS comb pattern 920 for comb-2 with two symbols, an SRS comb pattern 930 for comb-2 with four symbols, and an SRS comb pattern 940 for comb-4 with two symbols are illustrated. Fig. 9B An SRS comb pattern 950 for comb-4 with four symbols, an SRS comb pattern 960 for comb-8 with four symbols, an SRS comb pattern 970 for comb-4 with eight symbols, and an SRS comb pattern 980 for comb-8 with eight symbols are illustrated.

[0148] Fig. 10A and Fig. 10B An example downlink- and uplink-based positioning procedure 1000 in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated. A downlink-based or uplink-based positioning procedure would be a subset of the downlink- and uplink-based positioning procedure 1000. The downlink- and uplink-based positioning procedure 1000 may be, for example, a multi-RTT positioning procedure.

[0149] At stage 1010, the LMF 270 performs DL-PRS configuration information exchange with the serving and neighboring gNBs 222 of the target UE 204 via NR Positioning Protocol Type A (NRPPA) signaling. At stage 1015, the LMF 270 performs an LPP capability transfer procedure (e.g., LPP capability transfer procedure 510) with the UE 204. At stage 1020, the LMF 270 transmits an NRPPa positioning information request to the serving gNB 222 (or TRP) of the target UE 204 to request UL-SRS configuration information for the UE 204. The LMF 270 may provide any assistance data required by the serving gNB 222 (e.g., path loss reference, spatial relationship, SSB configuration, etc.). At stage 1025a, the serving gNB 222 determines the resources available for UL-SRS, and at stage 1025b, provides the UL-SRS configuration information to the UE 204. At stage 1030, the serving gNB 222 transmits an NRPPa positioning information response message to the LMF 270. The NRPPa positioning information response message includes UL-SRS configuration information transmitted to the UE 204.

[0150] At stage 1035a, the LMF 270 transmits an NRPPa Positioning Activation Request message to the serving gNB 222, commanding it to configure the UE 204 to activate UL-SRS transmission on the configured / allocated resources. The UL-SRS may be an aperiodic (e.g., on-demand) UL-SRS, and therefore, at stage 1035b, the serving gNB 222 configures / commands the UE 204 to activate (i.e., start) UL-SRS transmission. At stage 1035c, the serving gNB 222 transmits an NRPPa Positioning Activation Response message to the LMF 270 to indicate that UL-SRS transmission has been activated.

[0151] At stage 1040, the LMF 270 transmits an NRPPa measurement request message to the gNB 222. The NRPPa measurement request message includes all information required to enable the gNB 222 to perform uplink measurements of UL-SRS transmissions from the target UE 204. The request also includes the type of measurement to be performed, such as UL-SRS-RSRP, UL-AoA, gNB Rx-Tx time difference, etc. At stage 1045, the LMF 270 transmits assistance data for the downlink and uplink based positioning procedure 1000 to the UE 204 in one or more LPP Provide Assistance Data messages (e.g., as in the LPP Assistance Data Transfer Procedure 530). The LPP Provide Assistance Data message includes all information required to enable the UE 204 to perform positioning measurements (e.g., Rx-Tx time difference measurements) of the DL-PRS transmissions from the gNB 222.

[0152] At stage 1050, the LMF 270 transmits an LPP request location information message to the target UE 204 (e.g., as in the LPP location information delivery procedure 550). At stage 1055a, the target UE 204 performs measurements of the DL-PRS sent by the gNB involved (e.g., UE Rx-Tx time difference measurement) based on the assistance data received at stage 1045. At stage 1055b, the gNB involved 222 performs measurements of the UL-SRS sent by the target UE 204 based on the assistance data received in the NRPPa measurement request message at stage 1040 (e.g., gNB Rx-Tx time difference measurement).

[0153] At stage 1060, the target UE 204 transmits an LPP Provide Location Information message (e.g., as in LPP Location Information Delivery Procedure 550). The LPP Provide Location Information message includes positioning measurements performed by the UE 204 at stage 1055a, such as UE Rx-Tx time difference measurements for each gNB 222, DL-PRS-RSRP measurements for each gNB 222, etc. At stage 1065, the gNB 222 involved transmits an NRPPa Measurement Response message to the LMF 270. The NRPPa Measurement Response message includes measurements of the UL-SRS measured at stage 1055b, such as gNB Rx-Tx time difference measurements, UL-SRS-RSRP measurements, UL-AoA measurements, etc.

[0154] Based on the measurements received at stage 1060 and stage 1065 (e.g., UE Rx-Tx and gNB Rx-Tx time difference measurements), LMF 270 determines the RTT between the UE and gNB 222. LMF 270 then determines the location of UE 204 based on the RTT, the speed of light, and the known location of the gNB 222 involved.

[0155] LPP request location information message (e.g., as in Fig. 10B At stage 1050 of the LPP location information delivery procedure 550) may include defining an LPP provide location information message (e.g., as in Fig. 10B The QoS information element for the response time (i.e., required latency) of the LPP request location information message at stage 1060 and in the LPP location information delivery procedure 550. The response time is the time allowed between the receipt of the LPP request location information message and the sending of the LPP provide location information message.

[0156] Fig.11 1 illustrates an example "QoS" IE 1100 and an example "ResponseTime" IE 1150 according to aspects of the present disclosure. The UE may receive the "QoS" IE 1100 in the LPP Request Location Information message. Fig.11 As shown, the "QoS" IE 1100 includes a "responseTime" field pointing to a "ResponseTime" IE 1150. In the "ResponseTime" IE 1150, the "time" field indicates the maximum response time measured between the reception of the LPP Request Location Information message and the sending of the LPP Provide Location Information message.

[0157] The "responseTimeEarlyFix" field indicates the maximum response time measured between the receipt of an LPP Request Location Information message and the sending of an LPP Provide Location Information message containing an early location measurement or early location estimate. When this IE is included, the target device SHOULD transmit an LPP Provide Location Information message containing early location information according to the "responseTimeEarlyFix" IE (or more than one LPP Provide Location Information messages if the location information will not fit in a single message), and a subsequent LPP Provide Location Information message containing final location information according to the "time" IE (or more than one LPP Provide Location Information messages if the location information will not fit in a single message). If early location information is not available when the time value in the "responseTimeEarlyFix" IE expires, the target device SHOULD omit transmitting the LPP Provide Location Information message. The location server SHOULD set the "responseTimeEarlyFix" IE to a value that is smaller than the value used for the "time" IE. If the value of the "responseTimeEarlyFix" IE is not less than the value of the "time" IE, the target device shall ignore the "responseTimeEarlyFix" IE.

[0158] The "unit" field indicates the unit of the "time" field and the "responseTimeEarlyFix" field. If the "unit" field is not present, the values ​​of the "time" and "responseTimeEarlyFix" fields are given as an integer number of seconds between 1 and 128. If the "unit" field is present, the maximum response time is given in units of 10 seconds between 10 seconds and 1280 seconds. The enumerated value "10 seconds" corresponds to a resolution of 10 seconds. If this field is not present, the unit / resolution is 1 second.

[0159] In the downlink and uplink based positioning procedure 1000, stage 1055a is performed only if both SRS and PRS configurations are available. If either DL-PRS or UL-SRS configuration is not available before receiving the LPP Request Location Information message from the LMF 270, the UE 204 will abort the positioning session and transmit an appropriate error cause.

[0160] For the multi-RTT positioning procedure, the location server or the target device uses the "NR-Multi-RTT-Error" information element (IE) to provide the multi-RTT error cause to the target device or the location server, respectively. The "NR-Multi-RTT-Error" IE includes a "locationServerErrorCauses" field pointing to the "NR-Multi-RTT-LocationServerErrorCauses" IE and a "targetDeviceErrorCauses" field pointing to the "NR-Multi-RTT-TargetDeviceErrorCauses" IE.

[0161] Fig.12 An example “NR-Multi-RTT-LocationServerErrorCauses” IE 1200 and an example “NR-Multi-RTT-TargetDeviceErrorCauses” IE 1250 are illustrated in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The location server uses the “NR-Multi-RTT-LocationServerErrorCauses” IE 1200 to provide multi-RTT error causes to a target device. The target device uses the “NR-Multi-RTT-TargetDeviceErrorCauses” IE 1250 to provide multi-RTT error causes to a location server.

[0162] There are two error situations that may occur at the beginning of a downlink and uplink based positioning session (such as a multi-RTT positioning session). As a first situation, the UE 204 receives the LPP Request Location Information message (e.g., as in the example of FIG. 1 ) without receiving the DL-PRS configuration assistance data from the LMF 270. Fig. 10B 1050 and in the LPP location information delivery procedure 550). In this case, the UE 204 will abort the positioning session in response to receiving the LPP request location information message and transmit the error cause "dl-assistance-data-missing" in the "NR-Multi-RTT-TargetDeviceErrorCauses" IE 1250.

[0163] As a second case, without SRS resources being configured by the serving gNB 222, the UE 204 receives an LPP request location information message (e.g., as in Fig. 10BIn this case, the UE 204 will abort the positioning session in response to receiving the LPP Request Location Information message and transmit the error cause “ul-srs-configuration-missing” in the “NR-Multi-RTT-TargetDeviceErrorCauses” IE 1250.

[0164] In both cases, UE 204 assumes that it should be configured with both PRS and SRS resources before receiving the LPP Request Location Information message. Generally, since LMF 270 provides the PRS configuration (e.g., in the LPP Provide Assistance Data message at stage 1045), LMF 270 will not transmit the LPP Provide Location Information message until after the PRS configuration is transmitted to UE 204. However, since the serving gNB 222 provides the SRS configuration to UE 204, LMF 270 may not know whether the SRS configuration has been delivered before it transmits the LPP Request Location Information message.

[0165] 13 illustrates a conventional method 1300 for determining whether to start or terminate a positioning session such as a multi-RTT positioning session or other downlink and uplink based positioning sessions. The method 1300 may be performed by a target device (eg, any of the UEs described herein).

[0166] At 1310, the UE receives an LPP request location information message (e.g., as in Fig. 10B At 1320, the UE determines whether it has received the PRS configuration for the positioning session in assistance data (AD) for the positioning session from a location server (e.g., LMF 270). The PRS configuration may or may not be received in an LPP Provide Assistance Data message (e.g., as in Fig. 10B 1045 and in the LPP assistance data delivery procedure 530) PRS configuration. If the PRS configuration has not been received, then at 1330 the UE ends the positioning session and transmits the error cause "dl-assistance-data-missing" in the "NR-Multi-RTT-TargetDeviceErrorCauses" IE 1250 to the location server.

[0167] If the UE has received a PRS configuration, then at 1340, the UE determines whether an SRS configuration for the positioning session has been received from the UE's serving base station (e.g., gNB 222). Fig. 10AAt stage 1025b of the UE, the SRS configuration may or may not be received. If the SRS configuration has not been received, then at 1350, the UE ends the positioning session and transmits the error cause "ul-srs-configuration-missing" in the "NR-Multi-RTT-TargetDeviceErrorCauses" IE 1250 to the location server. However, if the SRS configuration is available, then at 1360, the UE starts the positioning session (e.g., as in Fig. 10B PRS measurement is performed at stage 1055a).

[0168] Currently, there is no support for the case where the SRS configuration is delayed for some time by gNB specific implementation or radio link conditions. Therefore, the present disclosure provides a technique to address the delayed SRS configuration scenario.

[0169] In one aspect, instead of declaring the positioning session failed immediately after receiving the LPP Request Location Information message when the UE has not been configured with SRS resources, the UE may wait for a threshold amount of time "T" to receive the SRS configuration from its serving base station. If the UE receives the SRS configuration within the time T, the UE may start the positioning session. However, if the UE does not receive the SRS configuration within the time T, the UE may abort the positioning session with the error cause "ul-srs-configuration-missing" in the "NR-Multi-RTT-TargetDeviceErrorCauses" IE 1250.

[0170] Note that the UE should not start performing PRS measurements upon receiving the LPP Request Location Information message, but should wait until it has received the SRS configuration. In addition, since on-demand or aperiodic PRS may be sent before the time T expires, the configured PRS should be sent periodically.

[0171] Fig.14 An example method 1400 for determining whether to start or terminate a positioning session such as a multi-RTT positioning session or other downlink and uplink based positioning session according to aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated. The method 1400 may be performed by a target device (eg, any of the UEs described herein).

[0172] At 1410, the UE receives an LPP request location information message (e.g., as in Fig. 10BAt 1420, the UE determines whether it has received the PRS configuration for the positioning session in assistance data (AD) for the positioning session from a location server (e.g., LMF 270). The PRS configuration may or may not be received in an LPP Provide Assistance Data message (e.g., as in Fig. 10B 1045 of the UE and in the LPP assistance data delivery procedure 530) PRS configuration. If the PRS configuration has not been received, then at 1430 the UE ends the positioning session and transmits the error cause "dl-assistance-data-missing" in the "NR-Multi-RTT-TargetDeviceErrorCauses" IE 1250 to the location server.

[0173] If the UE has received a PRS configuration, then at 1440, the UE determines whether an SRS configuration for the positioning session has been received from the UE's serving base station (e.g., gNB 222). Fig. 10A At stage 1025b, the SRS configuration may or may not be received. If the SRS configuration is available, then at 1450, the UE starts a positioning session (e.g., as in Fig. 10B PRS measurement is performed at stage 1055a).

[0174] However, if the SRS configuration has not been received, then at 1460, the UE waits for a threshold time period T. For example, at 1440, when it is determined that the SRS configuration has not been received, the UE may set a timer for time T. At 1470, upon expiration of time T, the UE determines whether the SRS configuration is received. In one aspect, the reception of the SRS configuration may interrupt the timer and cause the time T to expire, in which case the UE will make the determination at 1470 immediately after receiving the SRS configuration. Alternatively, the reception of the SRS configuration may not interrupt the timer, and the UE may always wait for the full amount of time T to make the determination at 1470, regardless of when the SRS configuration is received during the time period. Thus, time T may be a timer that can be interrupted or may be a fixed time period.

[0175] If the SRS configuration is received before the time T expires, then at 1450, the UE starts a positioning session (e.g., as in Fig. 10B However, if the SRS configuration is not received, then at 1480 the UE ends the positioning session and transmits the error cause “ul-srs-configuration-missing” in the “NR-Multi-RTT-TargetDeviceErrorCauses” IE 1250 to the location server.

[0176] In one aspect, the time T that the UE waits to receive the SRS configuration may be a function of the response time defined in the "QoS" IE 1100. For example, if the response time is large (e.g., above a certain threshold), the UE may wait longer to receive the SRS configuration. However, if the response time is short (e.g., below a certain threshold), the UE should wait less time to receive the SRS configuration. The UE may determine the value of T itself, or the value of T may be configured to the UE by a location server (e.g., in an LPP Provide Assistance Data message or an LPP Request Location Information message) or a serving base station (e.g., via RRC signaling, a MAC Control Element (MAC-CE), DCI, etc.). The value of T may be determined or provided as a certain number of symbols, time slots, subframes, frames, milliseconds, seconds, etc.

[0177] Using the above technique, the UE will not terminate the positioning session due to delayed SRS configuration.

[0178] Fig.15 An example method 1500 of wireless communication in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated. In an aspect, the method 1500 may be performed by a UE (eg, any of the UEs described herein).

[0179] At 1510, the UE receives a PRS configuration (e.g., in an LPP Provide Assistance Data message) from a location server (e.g., LMF 270) for a downlink and uplink based positioning session (e.g., a multi-RTT positioning session) between the UE and the location server. In an aspect, operation 1510 may be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 310, one or more processors 332, memory 340, and / or positioning component 342, any or all of which may be considered as means for performing the operation.

[0180] At 1520, the UE waits to receive an SRS configuration from the serving base station until a timer expires, based on a determination that an SRS configuration for a downlink and uplink-based positioning session has not been received from the UE's serving base station, such as Fig.14 1460. In one aspect, operation 1520 may be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 310, one or more processors 332, memory 340, and / or positioning component 342, any or all of which may be considered means for performing the operation.

[0181] At 1530, the UE determines whether an SRS configuration is received based on the expiration of the timer, such as Fig.141470. In one aspect, operation 1530 may be performed by one or more WWAN transceivers 310, one or more processors 332, memory 340, and / or positioning component 342, any or all of which may be considered means for performing the operation.

[0182] It should be understood that the technical advantage of method 1500 is that the UE will not prematurely terminate the downlink and uplink based positioning session due to delayed reception of the SRS configuration. This improves power efficiency because the network (e.g., LMF 270) will need to restart the positioning procedure after the UE prematurely terminates the positioning procedure.

[0183] 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, wherein each clause itself can be used as a separate example. Although each subordinate clause may refer to a specific combination of one clause with other clauses in a clause, the aspects of the subordinate clause are not limited to a specific combination. 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 (e.g., 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 may be included in any other independent clause, even if the clause is not directly subordinate to the independent clause.

[0184] Specific implementation examples are described in the following numbered clauses:

[0185] Clause 1. A method of wireless communication performed by a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: receiving a positioning reference signal (PRS) configuration for a downlink and uplink-based positioning session between the UE and the location server from a location server; based on determining that a sounding reference signal (SRS) configuration for the downlink and uplink-based positioning session has not been received from a serving base station of the UE, waiting to receive the SRS configuration from the serving base station until a timer expires; and determining whether the SRS configuration is received based on the expiration of the timer.

[0186] Clause 2. The method of clause 1, further comprising: aborting the downlink and uplink based positioning session based on the SRS configuration not having been received upon the expiration of the timer.

[0187] Clause 3. The method of clause 2, wherein terminating the downlink and uplink-based positioning session comprises sending an error cause indicating that the SRS configuration was not received to the location server.

[0188] Clause 4. The method of any one of clauses 1 to 3, further comprising initiating the downlink and uplink based positioning session based on the SRS configuration having been received prior to the expiration of the timer.

[0189] Clause 5. The method of clause 4, wherein initiating the downlink and uplink-based positioning session comprises measuring one or more PRS resources transmitted by one or more base stations based on the PRS configuration.

[0190] Clause 6. The method of clause 5, wherein the one or more PRS resources are periodic PRS resources.

[0191] Clause 7. A method as described in any of clauses 1 to 6, wherein the length of the timer is based on a response time for the downlink and uplink based positioning session.

[0192] Clause 8. The method of clause 7, wherein: the length of the timer is longer based on the response time being above a threshold, and is shorter based on the response time being below the threshold.

[0193] Clause 9. The method of any one of clauses 7 to 8, further comprising determining the length of the timer based on the response time for the downlink and uplink based positioning session.

[0194] Clause 10. A method according to any one of clauses 7 to 9, wherein the length of the timer is received from the location server in a Long Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP) Provide Assistance Data message or an LPP Request Location Information message.

[0195] Clause 11. The method of any one of clauses 7 to 10, wherein the length of the timer is received from the location server together with the response time.

[0196] Clause 12. A method according to any one of clauses 7 to 11, wherein the length of the timer is received from the serving base station via radio resource control (RRC) signaling, medium access control control element (MAC-CE) or downlink control information (DCI).

[0197] Clause 13. A method according to any one of clauses 7 to 12, wherein the length of the timer is given in symbols, slots, sub-frames, frames, milliseconds or seconds.

[0198] Clause 14. 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: receive a positioning reference signal (PRS) configuration for a downlink and uplink-based positioning session between the UE and the location server from a location server via the at least one transceiver; based on determining that a sounding reference signal (SRS) configuration for the downlink and uplink-based positioning session has not been received from a serving base station of the UE, wait to receive the SRS configuration from the serving base station until a timer expires; and determine whether the SRS configuration is received based on the expiration of the timer.

[0199] Clause 15. The UE of clause 14, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: abort the downlink and uplink based positioning session based on the SRS configuration not having been received upon the expiration of the timer.

[0200] Clause 16. A UE according to clause 15, wherein the at least one processor is configured to terminate the downlink and uplink based positioning session includes the at least one processor being configured to: send an error reason indicating that the SRS configuration was not received to the location server via the at least one transceiver.

[0201] Clause 17. A UE according to any of clauses 14 to 16, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: initiate the downlink and uplink based positioning session based on the SRS configuration that has been received before the expiration of the timer.

[0202] Clause 18. The UE of clause 17, wherein the at least one processor configured to initiate the downlink and uplink-based positioning session comprises the at least one processor configured to measure one or more PRS resources transmitted by one or more base stations based on the PRS configuration.

[0203] Clause 19. The UE of clause 18, wherein the one or more PRS resources are periodic PRS resources.

[0204] Clause 20. A UE as set forth in any of clauses 14 to 19, wherein the length of the timer is based on a response time for the downlink and uplink based positioning session.

[0205] Clause 21. A UE according to clause 20, wherein: the length of the timer is longer based on the response time being above a threshold, and is shorter based on the response time being below the threshold.

[0206] Clause 22. A UE according to any of clauses 20 to 21, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: determine the length of the timer based on the response time for the downlink and uplink based positioning session.

[0207] Clause 23. A UE as described in any of clauses 20 to 22, wherein the length of the timer is received from the location server in a Long Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP) Provide Assistance Data message or an LPP Request Location Information message.

[0208] Clause 24. A UE as described in any of clauses 20 to 23, wherein the length of the timer is received together with the response time from the location server.

[0209] Clause 25. A UE according to any of clauses 20 to 24, wherein the length of the timer is received from the serving base station via radio resource control (RRC) signaling, medium access control control element (MAC-CE) or downlink control information (DCI).

[0210] Clause 26. A UE as set forth in any of clauses 20 to 25, wherein the length of the timer is given in symbols, slots, subframes, frames, milliseconds or seconds.

[0211] Clause 27. A user equipment (UE), comprising: a component for receiving a positioning reference signal (PRS) configuration for a downlink and uplink-based positioning session between the UE and the location server from a location server; a component for waiting to receive a sounding reference signal (SRS) configuration for the downlink and uplink-based positioning session from a serving base station of the UE until a timer expires, based on determining that the SRS configuration has not been received from the serving base station of the UE, until the SRS configuration expires; and a component for determining whether the SRS configuration is received based on the expiration of the timer.

[0212] Clause 28. The UE of clause 27, further comprising means for aborting the downlink and uplink based positioning session based on the SRS configuration not having been received upon the expiration of the timer.

[0213] Clause 29. The UE of clause 28, wherein the means for aborting the downlink and uplink based positioning session comprises means for sending an error cause indicating that the SRS configuration was not received to the location server.

[0214] Clause 30. A UE as set forth in any of clauses 27 to 29, the UE further comprising means for initiating the downlink and uplink based positioning session based on the SRS configuration having been received prior to the expiry of the timer.

[0215] Clause 31. The UE of clause 30, wherein the means for initiating the downlink and uplink-based positioning session comprises means for measuring one or more PRS resources transmitted by one or more base stations based on the PRS configuration.

[0216] Clause 32. The UE of clause 31, wherein the one or more PRS resources are periodic PRS resources.

[0217] Clause 33. A UE as set forth in any of clauses 27 to 32, wherein the length of the timer is based on a response time for the downlink and uplink based positioning session.

[0218] Clause 34. A UE according to clause 33, wherein: the length of the timer is longer based on the response time being above a threshold, and is shorter based on the response time being below the threshold.

[0219] Clause 35. A UE as described in any of clauses 33 to 34, the UE further comprising: means for determining the length of the timer based on the response time for the downlink and uplink based positioning session.

[0220] Clause 36. A UE as described in any of clauses 33 to 35, wherein the length of the timer is received from the location server in a Long Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP) Provide Assistance Data message or an LPP Request Location Information message.

[0221] Clause 37. A UE as set forth in any of clauses 33 to 36, wherein the length of the timer is received together with the response time from the location server.

[0222] Clause 38. A UE according to any of clauses 33 to 37, wherein the length of the timer is received from the serving base station via radio resource control (RRC) signaling, medium access control control element (MAC-CE) or downlink control information (DCI).

[0223] Clause 39. A UE as set forth in any of clauses 33 to 38, wherein the length of the timer is given in symbols, slots, subframes, frames, milliseconds or seconds.

[0224] Clause 40. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions which, when executed by a user equipment (UE), cause the UE to: receive a positioning reference signal (PRS) configuration for a downlink and uplink-based positioning session between the UE and the location server from a location server; based on determining that a sounding reference signal (SRS) configuration for the downlink and uplink-based positioning session has not been received from a serving base station of the UE, wait to receive the SRS configuration from the serving base station until a timer expires; and determine whether the SRS configuration is received based on the expiration of the timer.

[0225] Clause 41. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to clause 40, wherein the non-transitory computer-readable medium further comprises computer-executable instructions which, when executed by the UE, cause the UE to terminate the downlink and uplink-based positioning session based on the SRS configuration that has not been received when the timer expires.

[0226] Clause 42. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to clause 41, wherein the computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the UE, cause the UE to terminate the downlink and uplink-based positioning session include computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the UE, cause the UE to perform the following operations: sending an error reason indicating that the SRS configuration was not received to the location server.

[0227] Clause 43. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of clauses 40 to 42, wherein the non-transitory computer-readable medium also includes computer-executable instructions, which, when executed by the UE, cause the UE to: initiate the downlink and uplink-based positioning session based on the SRS configuration that has been received before the expiration of the timer.

[0228] Clause 44. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to clause 43, wherein the computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the UE, cause the UE to initiate a downlink and uplink-based positioning session include computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the UE, cause the UE to perform the following operations: measure one or more PRS resources sent by one or more base stations based on the PRS configuration.

[0229] Clause 45. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of Clause 44, wherein the one or more PRS resources are periodic PRS resources.

[0230] Clause 46. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any of clauses 40 to 45, wherein a length of the timer is based on a response time for the downlink and uplink-based positioning session.

[0231] Clause 47. A non-transitory computer-readable medium as described in Clause 46, wherein: the length of the timer is longer based on the response time being above a threshold, and is shorter based on the response time being below the threshold.

[0232] Clause 48. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of clauses 46 to 47, wherein the non-transitory computer-readable medium also includes computer-executable instructions, which, when executed by the UE, cause the UE to: determine the length of the timer based on the response time for the downlink and uplink-based positioning session.

[0233] Clause 49. A non-transitory computer-readable medium as described in any of clauses 46 to 48, wherein the length of the timer is received from the location server in a Long Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP) Provide Assistance Data message or an LPP Request Location Information message.

[0234] Clause 50. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any one of Clauses 46 to 49, wherein the length of the timer is received from the location server together with the response time.

[0235] Clause 51. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to any one of clauses 46 to 50, wherein the length of the timer is received from the serving base station via radio resource control (RRC) signaling, a medium access control control element (MAC-CE), or downlink control information (DCI).

[0236] Clause 52. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of any one of clauses 46 to 51, wherein the length of the timer is given in symbols, slots, sub-frames, frames, milliseconds, or seconds.

[0237] Those skilled in the art will appreciate 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.

[0238] 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 functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends on the specific application 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 a departure from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0239] 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.

[0240] 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 the 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.

[0241] In one or more example aspects, the described functions may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the functions may 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 may 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, a server, or other remote source using a coaxial cable, a fiber optic cable, a twisted pair, a digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwaves, then coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio, and microwaves are included in the definition of the medium. 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.

[0242] 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 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: receiving, from a location server, a positioning reference signal (PRS) configuration for a downlink and uplink based positioning session between the UE and the location server; Based on determining that a sounding reference signal (SRS) configuration for the downlink and uplink based positioning session has not been received from a serving base station of the UE, waiting to receive the SRS configuration from the serving base station until a timer expires; as well as A determination is made based on the expiration of the timer whether the SRS configuration is received.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: The downlink and uplink based positioning session is aborted based on the SRS configuration not having been received upon the expiration of the timer.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein terminating the downlink and uplink based positioning session comprises: An error reason indicating that the SRS configuration was not received is sent to the location server.

4. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: The downlink and uplink based positioning session is initiated based on the SRS configuration that has been received before the expiration of the timer.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein initiating the downlink and uplink based positioning session comprises: One or more PRS resources transmitted by one or more base stations are measured based on the PRS configuration. The method of claim 5 , wherein the one or more PRS resources are periodic PRS resources.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein a length of the timer is based on a response time for the downlink and uplink based positioning session.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein: The length of the timer is longer based on the response time being above a threshold and shorter based on the response time being below the threshold.

9. The method according to claim 7, further comprising: The length of the timer is determined based on the response time for the downlink and uplink based positioning session.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein the length of the timer is received from the location server in a Long Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP) Provide Assistance Data message or an LPP Request Location Information message.

11. The method of claim 7, wherein the length of the timer is received from the location server together with the response time.

12. The method of claim 7, wherein the length of the timer is received from the serving base station via radio resource control (RRC) signaling, medium access control control element (MAC-CE), or downlink control information (DCI).

13. The method of claim 7, wherein the length of the timer is given in symbols, slots, subframes, frames, milliseconds, or seconds.

14. 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: receiving, from a location server via the at least one transceiver, a positioning reference signal (PRS) configuration for a downlink and uplink based positioning session between the UE and the location server; Based on determining that a sounding reference signal (SRS) configuration for the downlink and uplink based positioning session has not been received from a serving base station of the UE, Waiting to receive the SRS configuration from the serving base station until a timer expires; as well as A determination is made based on the expiration of the timer whether the SRS configuration is received.

15. The UE of claim 14, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: The downlink and uplink based positioning session is aborted based on the SRS configuration not having been received upon the expiration of the timer.

16. The UE of claim 15, wherein the at least one processor is configured to terminate the downlink and uplink based positioning session comprises the at least one processor being configured to: An error cause indicating that the SRS configuration was not received is sent to the location server via the at least one transceiver.

17. The UE of claim 14, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: The downlink and uplink based positioning session is initiated based on the SRS configuration that has been received before the expiration of the timer.

18. The UE of claim 17, wherein the at least one processor is configured to initiate the downlink and uplink based positioning session comprises the at least one processor being configured to: One or more PRS resources transmitted by one or more base stations are measured based on the PRS configuration. The UE of claim 18 , wherein the one or more PRS resources are periodic PRS resources.

20. The UE of claim 14, wherein a length of the timer is based on a response time for the downlink and uplink based positioning session.

21. The UE according to claim 20, wherein: The length of the timer is longer based on the response time being above a threshold and shorter based on the response time being below the threshold.

22. The UE of claim 20, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: The length of the timer is determined based on the response time for the downlink and uplink based positioning session.

23. The UE of claim 20, wherein the length of the timer is received from the location server in a Long Term Evolution (LTE) Positioning Protocol (LPP) Provide Assistance Data message or an LPP Request Location Information message.

24. The UE of claim 20, wherein the length of the timer is received together with the response time from the location server.

25. The UE of claim 20, wherein the length of the timer is received from the serving base station via radio resource control (RRC) signaling, medium access control control element (MAC-CE), or downlink control information (DCI).

26. The UE of claim 20, wherein the length of the timer is given in symbols, slots, subframes, frames, milliseconds, or seconds.

27. A user equipment (UE), the user equipment (UE) comprising: means for receiving, from a location server, a positioning reference signal (PRS) configuration for a downlink and uplink based positioning session between the UE and the location server; means for waiting to receive a sounding reference signal (SRS) configuration for the downlink and uplink based positioning session from a serving base station of the UE until a timer expires based on determining that the SRS configuration has not been received from the serving base station of the UE; and means for determining whether the SRS configuration is received based on the expiration of the timer.

28. The UE according to claim 27, further comprising: Means for aborting said downlink and uplink based positioning session based on said SRS configuration not having been received upon said expiration of said timer.

29. The UE according to claim 27, further comprising: Means for initiating said downlink and uplink based positioning session based on said SRS configuration having been received prior to said expiration of said timer.

30. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a user equipment (UE), cause the UE to: receiving, from a location server, a positioning reference signal (PRS) configuration for a downlink and uplink based positioning session between the UE and the location server; Based on determining that a sounding reference signal (SRS) configuration for the downlink and uplink based positioning session has not been received from a serving base station of the UE, waiting to receive the SRS configuration from the serving base station until a timer expires; as well as A determination is made based on the expiration of the timer whether the SRS configuration is received.

Images