Line of sight LOS probabilistic map signaling

Abstract

Techniques for Line Of Sight (LOS) Probabilistic Graph signaling are disclosed. The technique may include receiving a positioning signal via a wireless link between the UE and a transmit / receive point (TRP) of a radio access network (RAN); identifying a LOS probability function associated with the radio link based on LOS probability graph information provided by a location management function (LMF) of a core network of the RAN; and generating a LOS probability estimate for the link using the LOS probability function.

Description

[0001] Related Applications

[0002] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 17 / 819,589, filed on August 12, 2022, entitled “LOS PROBABILITY MAP SIGNALING,” which is assigned to the assignee of this application and is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Background Art 1. Technical Field

[0003] The present disclosure relates generally to the field of wireless communications, and more particularly to determining the location of a user equipment (UE) using radio frequency (RF) signals.

[0004] 2. Related technologies

[0005] In a radio access network (RAN), various positioning techniques may be used to determine the location of a mobile device (referred to herein as a UE). Some of these positioning techniques may involve determining the location of the UE based on the time of flight (ToF) of a positioning signal received by the UE from one or more transmit / receive points (TRPs) of the RAN. Assuming that the ToF of a given positioning signal received from a given TRP represents the flight time of the signal propagating from the TRP to the UE via a line-of-sight (LOS) path, the distance between the UE and the TRP can be accurately inferred based on the ToF. Summary of the invention

[0006] An example method for wireless communication by a UE according to the present disclosure may include: receiving a positioning signal via a wireless link between the UE and a TRP of a RAN; identifying a LOS probability function associated with the wireless link based on LOS probability map information provided by an LMF of a core network of the RAN; and generating a LOS probability estimate for the wireless link using the LOS probability function.

[0007] An example UE according to the present disclosure may include: a transceiver; a memory; and one or more processors, the one or more processors being communicatively coupled to the transceiver and the memory, wherein the one or more processors are configured to: receive a positioning signal via a wireless link between the UE and a TRP of a RAN; identify a LOS probability function associated with the wireless link based on LOS probability map information provided by an LMF of a core network of the RAN; and generate a LOS probability estimate for the wireless link using the LOS probability function.

[0008] An example method for communicating through the LMF of a core network of a RAN according to the present disclosure may include: determining LOS probability map parameters for a LOS probability map area associated with a TRP of the RAN based on a LOS probability model; transmitting the LOS probability map parameters to a UE in the RAN; receiving feedback associated with the LOS probability map area from the UE; and training the LOS probability model based on the feedback.

[0009] According to the present disclosure, a device for LMF of a core network of a RAN includes: at least one processor; and at least one memory, the at least one memory is communicatively coupled to the at least one processor and stores processor-readable code, and the processor-readable code is configured to: determine LOS probability map parameters for a LOS probability map area associated with a TRP of the RAN according to a LOS probability model; transmit the LOS probability map parameters to a UE in the RAN; receive feedback associated with the LOS probability map area from the UE; and train the LOS probability model based on the feedback.

[0010] This Summary is neither intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter nor is it intended to be used alone to determine the scope of the claimed subject matter. This subject matter should be understood by reference to appropriate portions of the entire specification of the present disclosure, any or all of the drawings, and each claim. The foregoing and other features and examples will be described in more detail in the following specification, claims, and drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0011] Figure 1 is a diagram of a positioning system according to one embodiment.

[0012] Figure 2 is a diagram of a fifth generation (5G) new radio (NR) positioning system, which illustrates a positioning system (e.g., Figure 1 implementation scheme of a positioning system).

[0013] Figure 3 is a diagram showing an example of a frame structure for NR and associated terms.

[0014] Figure 4 is a diagram showing an example of a radio frame sequence with a positioning reference signal (PRS) positioning opportunity.

[0015] Figure 5 is a diagram illustrating an example combination (comb) structure of how an example RF signal may utilize different sets of resource elements according to some embodiments.

[0016] Figure 6is a diagram of the hierarchical structure of how different transmit receive points (TRPs) for a given positioning frequency layer (PFL) can use PRS resources and PRS resource sets as defined in 5G NR.

[0017] Figure 7 An example communication system is illustrated.

[0018] Figure 8 An example operating environment is illustrated.

[0019] Fig. 9 An example LOS probability map is illustrated.

[0020] Fig.10 is a flow chart of a first method according to one embodiment.

[0021] Fig.11 is a flow chart of a second method according to one embodiment.

[0022] Fig.12 is a flow chart of a third method according to one embodiment.

[0023] Fig.13 is a block diagram of an implementation of a UE that may be utilized in implementations as described herein.

[0024] Fig.14 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a computer system that may be utilized in the embodiments described herein.

[0025] According to certain example implementations, similar reference numerals in various figures indicate similar elements. In addition, multiple instances of an element may be indicated by adding a letter or hyphen and a second numeral after the first numeral of the element. For example, multiple instances of element 110 may be indicated as 110-1, 110-2, 110-3, etc. or 110a, 110b, 110c, etc. When only the first numeral is used to refer to such an element, any instance of the element should be understood (e.g., element 110 in the previous example will refer to elements 110-1, 110-2, and 110-3 or to elements 110a, 110b, and 110c). DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0026] The following description is directed to certain specific implementations for describing the innovative aspects of various embodiments. However, one of ordinary skill in the art will readily recognize that the teachings herein can be applied in a variety of different ways. The described specific implementations can be implemented in any device, system, or network capable of sending and receiving radio frequency (RF) signals according to any communication standard, such as any of the following: the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.15.4 standard for ultra-wideband (UWB), the IEEE 802.11 standard (including those identified as Technical standards), Standard, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), GSM / General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), Enhanced Data GSM Environment (EDGE), Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA), Wideband CDMA (W-CDMA), Evolution-Data Optimized (EV-DO), 1xEV-DO, EV-DO Revision A, EV-DO Revision B, High Rate Packet Data (HRPD), High Speed ​​Packet Access (HSPA), High Speed ​​Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), High Speed ​​Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA), Evolved High Speed ​​Packet Access (HSPA+), Long Term Evolution (LTE), Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS), or other known signals for communicating within a wireless, cellular or Internet of Things (IoT) network, such as a system utilizing 3G, 4G, 5G, 6G or further implementations thereof.

[0027] As used herein, an "RF signal" includes electromagnetic waves that transmit information through the space between a transmitter (or transmitting device) and a receiver (or receiving device). 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 multiple channels or paths, a receiver may receive multiple "RF signals" corresponding to each transmitted RF signal.

[0028] Additionally, unless otherwise indicated, references to "reference signals," "positioning reference signals," "reference signals used for positioning," etc. may be used to refer to signals used to locate user equipment (UE). As described in more detail herein, such signals may include any of a variety of signal types, but may not necessarily be limited to positioning reference signals (PRS) as defined in relevant wireless standards.

[0029] Figure 1is a simplified illustration of a positioning system 100 according to an embodiment, in which a UE 105, a location server 160, and / or other components of the positioning system 100 may use the techniques for LOS probability map signaling provided herein. The techniques described herein may be implemented by one or more components of the positioning system 100. The positioning system 100 may include: a UE 105; one or more satellites 110 (also referred to as space vehicles (SVs)) for a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) such as a global positioning system (GPS), GLONASS, Galileo, or BeiDou; a base station 120; an access point (AP) 130; a location server 160; a network 170; and an external client 180. In general, the positioning system 100 may estimate the location of the UE 105 based on RF signals received by and / or transmitted from the UE 105 and the known locations of other components (e.g., GNSS satellites 110, base stations 120, APs 130) that send and / or receive RF signals. Reference Figure 2 Additional details regarding specific location estimation techniques are discussed in more detail.

[0030] It should be pointed out that Figure 1 Only a generalized illustration of various components is provided, any or all of which may be utilized as appropriate, and each component may be repeated as needed. Specifically, although only one UE 105 is illustrated, it should be understood that many UEs (e.g., hundreds, thousands, millions, etc.) may utilize the positioning system 100. Similarly, the positioning system 100 may include more than one UE 105. Figure 1 A greater or lesser number of base stations 120 and / or APs 130 are illustrated. The illustrated connections connecting the various components in the positioning system 100 include data and signaling connections, which may include additional (intermediate) components, direct or indirect physical and / or wireless connections, and / or additional networks. In addition, components may be rearranged, combined, separated, replaced, and / or omitted depending on the desired functionality. In some embodiments, for example, the external client 180 may be directly connected to the location server 160. Those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize many modifications to the illustrated components.

[0031] Depending on the desired functionality, network 170 may include any one of a variety of wireless and / or wired networks. Network 170 may, for example, include any combination of public and / or private networks, local area networks and / or wide area networks, etc. In addition, network 170 may utilize one or more wired and / or wireless communication technologies. In some embodiments, network 170 may include, for example, cellular or other mobile networks, wireless local area networks (WLANs), wireless wide area networks (WWANs), and / or the Internet. Examples of network 170 include long-term evolution (LTE) wireless networks, fifth-generation (5G) wireless networks (also referred to as new radio (NR) wireless networks or 5G NR wireless networks), Wi-Fi WLANs, and the Internet. LTE, 5G, and NR are wireless technologies defined or being defined by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). Network 170 may also include more than one network and / or more than one type of network.

[0032] Base station 120 and access point (AP) 130 may be communicatively coupled to network 170. In some embodiments, base station 120 may be owned, maintained and / or operated by a cellular network provider and may employ any of a variety of wireless technologies, as described herein below. Depending on the technology of network 170, base station 120 may include a node B, an evolved node B (eNodeB or eNB), a transceiver base station (BTS), a radio base station (RBS), an NR node B (gNB), a next generation eNB (ng-eNB), etc. In the case where network 170 is a 5G network, base station 120 as a gNB or ng-eNB may be part of a next generation radio access network (NG-RAN) that may be connected to a 5G core network (5GC). In view of the open radio access network (O-RAN) and / or virtualized radio access network (V-RAN or vRAN) in 5G or higher networks, the functionality performed by the base station 120 in earlier generation networks (e.g., 3G and 4G) may be separated into different functional components (e.g., radio unit (RU), distributed unit (DU), and central unit (CU)) and layers (e.g., L1 / L2 / L3), which may be executed on different devices at different locations connected, for example, via fronthaul, midhaul, and backhaul connections. As described herein, a "base station" (or ng-eNB, gNB, etc.) may include any or all of these functional components. For example, AP 130 may include a Wi-Fi AP or AP or an AP with cellular capabilities (e.g., 4G LTE and / or 5G NR). Thus, UE 105 can transmit and receive information with network-connected devices such as location server 160 by accessing network 170 via base station 120 using first communication link 133. Additionally or alternatively, because AP 130 can also be communicatively coupled with network 170, UE 105 can communicate with network-connected and Internet-connected devices (including location server 160) using second communication link 135 or via one or more other mobile devices 145.

[0033] As used herein, the term "base station" may generally refer to a single physical transmission point or multiple co-located physical transmission points that may be located at a base station 120. A transmit receive point (TRP) (also referred to as a transmit / receive point) corresponds to this type of transmission point, and the term "TRP" may be used interchangeably with the terms "gNB," "ng-eNB," and "base station" herein. In some cases, a base station 120 may include multiple TRPs—e.g., where each TRP is associated with a different antenna or a different antenna array of the base station 120. The physical transmission point may include an antenna array of the base station 120 (e.g., as in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system and / or where the base station employs beamforming). The term "base station" may additionally refer to multiple non-co-located physical transmission points, which 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).

[0034] As used herein, the term "cell" may generally refer to a logical communication entity for communicating with base station 120, and may be associated with an identifier (e.g., a physical cell identifier (PCID), a virtual cell identifier (VCID)) for distinguishing adjacent cells operating via the same or different carriers. In some examples, a carrier may support multiple cells, and different cells may be configured according to different protocol types (e.g., machine type communication (MTC), narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), or other protocols) that may provide access to different types of devices. In some cases, the term "cell" may refer to a portion of a geographic coverage area (e.g., a sector) within which the logical entity operates.

[0035] The location server 160 may include a server and / or other computing device configured to determine an estimated location of the UE 105 and / or provide data (e.g., “assistance data”) to the UE 105 to facilitate location measurement and / or location determination by the UE 105. According to some embodiments, the location server 160 may include a Home Secure User Plane Location (SUPL) Location Platform (H-SLP), which may support the SUPL User Plane (UP) location solution defined by the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) and may support location services for the UE 105 based on subscription information of the UE 105 stored in the location server 160. In some embodiments, the location server 160 may include a Discovery SLP (D-SLP) or an Emergency SLP (E-SLP). The location server 160 may also include an enhanced serving mobile location center (E-SMLC) that supports positioning of the UE 105 using a control plane (CP) positioning solution for LTE radio access of the UE 105. The location server 160 may also include a location management function (LMF) that supports positioning of the UE 105 using a control plane (CP) positioning solution for NR or LTE radio access of the UE 105.

[0036] In the CP location solution, from the perspective of the network 170, signaling for controlling and managing the location of the UE 105 may use existing network interfaces and protocols and be exchanged as signaling between elements of the network 170 and with the UE 105. In the UP location solution, from the perspective of the network 170, signaling for controlling and managing the location of the UE 105 may be exchanged between the location server 160 and the UE 105 as data (e.g., data transmitted using the Internet Protocol (IP) and / or the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)).

[0037] As previously noted (and discussed in more detail below), the estimated position of UE 105 may be based on measurements of RF signals transmitted from and / or received by UE 105. In particular, these measurements may provide information about the relative distances and / or angles of UE 105 and one or more components in positioning system 100 (e.g., GNSS satellites 110, APs 130, base stations 120). The estimated position of UE 105 may be estimated geometrically (e.g., using multi-angle measurements and / or multilateration) based on the distance and / or angle measurements along with the known positions of the one or more components.

[0038] Although ground components such as AP 130 and base station 120 may be fixed, the embodiments are not limited thereto. Mobile components may be used. For example, in some embodiments, the location of UE 105 may be estimated based at least in part on measurements of RF signals 140 communicated between UE 105 and one or more other mobile devices 145 (the one or more other mobile devices may be mobile or fixed). As illustrated, the other mobile devices may include, for example, mobile phone 145-1, vehicle 145-2, static communication / positioning device 145-3, or other static and / or mobile devices capable of providing wireless signals for locating UE 105, or a combination thereof. Wireless signals from mobile device 145 for positioning of UE 105 may include using, for example, (including Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE)), IEEE 802.11x (e.g. ), ultra-wideband (UWB), IEEE 802.15x, or a combination thereof. The mobile device 145 may additionally or alternatively use non-RF wireless signals such as infrared signals or other optical techniques to locate the UE 105.

[0039] The mobile devices 145 may include other UEs that are communicatively coupled to a cellular network or other mobile network (e.g., network 170). When one or more other mobile devices 145 including a UE are used in the positioning determination of a particular UE 105, the UE 105 whose positioning is to be determined may be referred to as a "target UE", and each of the other mobile devices 145 used may be referred to as an "anchor UE". In order to perform positioning determination on the target UE, the corresponding positioning of the one or more anchor UEs may be known and / or determined jointly with the target UE. Direct communication between one or more other mobile devices 145 and the UE 105 may include side links and / or similar device-to-device (D2D) communication technologies. The side link defined by 3GPP is a form of D2D communication under the cellular-based LTE and NR standards.

[0040] According to some embodiments, such as when the UE 105 includes and / or is incorporated into a vehicle, a form of D2D communication used by the mobile device 105 may include vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication. V2X is a communication standard for vehicles to exchange information about the traffic environment with related entities. V2X may include vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication between vehicles with V2X capabilities, vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communication between vehicles and infrastructure-based equipment (commonly referred to as roadside units (RSUs)), vehicle-to-person (V2P) communication between vehicles and nearby people (pedestrians, cyclists and other road users), etc. In addition, V2X may use any of a variety of wireless RF communication technologies. For example, cellular V2X (CV2X) is a form of V2X that uses cellular-based communications in a direct communication mode defined by 3GPP, such as LTE (4G), NR (5G) and / or other cellular technologies. Figure 1 The illustrated UE 105 may correspond to a component or device located on a vehicle, RSU, or other V2X entity for communicating V2X messages. In an embodiment in which V2X is used, the static communication / positioning device 145-3 (which may correspond to an RSU) and / or the vehicle 145-2 may therefore communicate with the UE 105 and may be used to determine the location of the UE 105 using techniques similar to those used by the base station 120 and / or AP 130 (e.g., using multi-angle and / or multi-point positioning). It may be further noted that according to some embodiments, the mobile device 145 (which may include a V2X device), the base station 120, and / or the AP 130 may be used together (e.g., in a WWAN positioning solution) to determine the location of the UE 105.

[0041] The estimated position of UE 105 may be used in a variety of applications, such as to assist a user of UE 105 in direction finding or navigation or to assist another user (e.g., associated with external client 180) in locating UE 105. "Position" is also referred to herein as "position estimate," "estimated position," "position," "position estimate," "position fix," "estimated position," "position fix," or "fix." The process of determining a position may be referred to as "positioning," "position determination," "position determination," or the like. The position of UE 105 may include an absolute position of UE 105 (e.g., latitude and longitude, and possibly altitude) or a relative position of UE 105 (e.g., a position expressed as a distance north or south, east or west, and possibly above or below some other known fixed position (including, for example, the position of base station 120 or AP 130) or some other location (such as the position of UE 105 at some known previous time, or the position of mobile device 145 (e.g., another UE) at some known previous time). The location may be specified as a geodetic location including coordinates that may be absolute (e.g., latitude, longitude, and optionally altitude), relative (e.g., relative to some known absolute location), or local (e.g., X, Y, and optionally Z coordinates according to a coordinate system defined relative to a local area, such as a factory, warehouse, university campus, shopping mall, stadium, or convention center). The location may alternatively be a city location, and may then include one or more of a street address (e.g., including a country, state, county, city, road and / or street name or label, and / or road or street number) and / or a label or name of a place, a building, a portion of a building, a floor of a building, and / or a room within a building, etc. The location may also include uncertainty or error indications, such as horizontal distances and possibly vertical distances over which the location is expected to have error, or an indication of an area or volume (e.g., a circle or ellipse) within which the UE 105 is expected to be located with a certain confidence level (e.g., 95% confidence).

[0042] The external client 180 may be a web server or remote application that may have some association with the UE 105 (e.g., accessible by a user of the UE 105), or may be a server, application, or computer system that provides location services to one or more other users, which may include obtaining and providing the location of the UE 105 (e.g., to enable services such as friend or relative locating, or child or pet locating). Additionally or alternatively, the external client 180 may obtain the location of the UE 105 and provide it to emergency service providers, government agencies, etc.

[0043] As previously noted, the example positioning system 100 may be implemented using a wireless communication network such as an LTE-based or 5G NR-based network. Figure 2A diagram of a 5G NR positioning system 200 is shown, which illustrates an embodiment of a positioning system (e.g., positioning system 100) that implements 5G NR. The 5G NR positioning system 200 can be configured to determine the location of the UE 105 by using access nodes to implement one or more positioning methods. The access nodes can include NR Node Bs (gNBs) 210-1 and 210-2 (collectively referred to herein as gNBs 210), ng-eNBs 214, and / or WLANs 216. The gNBs 210 and / or ng-eNBs 214 can communicate with the UE 105 to determine the location of the UE 105. Figure 1 The base station 120 corresponds to the WLAN 216, and the WLAN 216 can be connected to the Figure 1 130. Optionally, the 5G NR positioning system 200 may additionally be configured to determine the location of the UE 105 by using the LMF 220 (which may correspond to the location server 160) to implement one or more positioning methods. Here, the 5G NR positioning system 200 includes the UE 105 and components of a 5G NR network, including a next generation (NG) radio access network (RAN) (NG-RAN) 235 and a 5G core network (5G CN) 240. A 5G network may also be referred to as an NR network; the NG-RAN 235 may be referred to as a 5G RAN or an NR RAN; and the 5G CN 240 may be referred to as an NG core network. The 5G NR positioning system 200 may further utilize information from GNSS satellites 110 of a GNSS system, such as the Global Positioning System (GPS) or a similar system (e.g., GLONASS, Galileo, BeiDou, Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS)). Additional components of the 5G NR positioning system 200 are described below. The 5G NR positioning system 200 may include additional or alternative components.

[0044] It should be pointed out that Figure 2 Only generalized illustrations of various components are provided, any or all of which may be utilized as appropriate, and each component may be repeated or omitted as desired. Specifically, although only one UE 105 is illustrated, it should be understood that many UEs (e.g., hundreds, thousands, millions, etc.) may utilize the 5G NR positioning system 200. Similarly, the 5G NR positioning system 200 may include a larger (or smaller) number of GNSS satellites 110, gNB 210, ng-eNB 214, wireless local area network (WLAN) 216, access and mobility management function (AMF) 215, external client 230, and / or other components. The illustrated connections connecting the various components in the 5G NR positioning system 200 include data and signaling connections, which may include additional (intermediate) components, direct or indirect physical and / or wireless connections, and / or additional networks. In addition, components may be rearranged, combined, separated, replaced, and / or omitted, depending on the desired functionality.

[0045] UE 105 may include and / or be referred to as a device, a mobile device, a wireless device, a mobile terminal, a terminal, a mobile station (MS), a terminal (SET) enabled with secure user plane location (SUPL), or some other name. In addition, UE 105 may correspond to a cellular phone, a smart phone, a laptop computer, a tablet device, a personal data assistant (PDA), a navigation device, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, or some other portable or mobile device. Typically, although not necessarily, UE 105 may support the use of one or more radio access technologies (RATs) such as GSM, CDMA, W-CDMA, LTE, High Rate Packet Data (HRPD), IEEE802.11 Bluetooth, Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX TM ), 5G NR (e.g., using NG-RAN 235 and 5G CN 240). UE 105 may also support wireless communications using WLAN 216, which is similar to one or more RATs and as previously described with respect to Figure 1 The use of one or more of these RATs may allow UE 105 (e.g., via Figure 2 105 or may communicate with external clients 230 via a Gateway Mobile Location Center (GMLC) 225) and / or allow external clients 230 to receive location information about UE 105 (e.g., via GMLC 225). When implemented in or communicatively coupled with a 5G NR network, Figure 2 The external client 230 may correspond to Figure 1 External client 180.

[0046] UE 105 may include a single entity or may include multiple entities, such as in a personal area network in which a user may employ audio, video, and / or data I / O devices, and / or body sensors and separate wired or wireless modems. The estimate of the location of UE 105 may be referred to as location, location estimate, location fix, fix, position, position estimate, or position fix, and may be geodetic, providing location coordinates (e.g., latitude and longitude) about UE 105, which may or may not include an altitude component (e.g., height above sea level; height above or depth below ground level, floor level, or basement level). Alternatively, the location of UE 105 may be represented as a municipal location (e.g., a postal address or a designation of a point or small area in a building, such as a specific room or floor). The location of UE 105 may also be represented as an area or volume (geodetically or municipally defined) within which UE 105 is expected to be located with a certain probability or confidence level (e.g., 67%, 95%, etc.). The position of the UE 105 may also be a relative position, including, for example, a distance and direction or relative X, Y (and Z) coordinates defined relative to some origin at a known location, which may be defined geodetically, in municipal form, or with reference to a point, area, or volume indicated on a map, floor plan, or building plan. In the description contained herein, the use of the term "position" may include any of these variations unless otherwise indicated. When calculating the position of the UE, local X, Y, and possibly Z coordinates are typically solved, and then the local coordinates are converted to absolute coordinates (e.g., with respect to latitude, longitude, and altitude above or below mean sea level) if necessary.

[0047] Figure 2 The base stations in the NG-RAN 235 shown may correspond to Figure 1 The base stations 120 in the NG-RAN 235 may include gNBs 210. Pairs of gNBs 210 in the NG-RAN 235 may be connected to each other (e.g., Figure 2 The communication interface between the base stations (gNB 210 and / or ng-eNB 214) may be referred to as an Xn interface 237. Access to the 5G network is provided to the UE 105 via wireless communication between the UE 105 and one or more gNBs 210, which may use 5G NR to provide wireless communication access to the 5G CN 240 on behalf of the UE 105. The wireless interface between the base station (gNB 210 and / or ng-eNB 214) and the UE 105 may be referred to as an Uu interface 239. 5G NR radio access may also be referred to as NR radio access or 5G radio access. Figure 2, it is assumed that the serving gNB for UE 105 is gNB 210-1, but other gNBs (e.g., gNB 210-2) may act as serving gNBs if UE 105 moves to another location, or may act as secondary gNBs to provide additional throughput and bandwidth to UE 105.

[0048] Figure 2 The base stations in the NG-RAN 235 shown in FIG. 1 may additionally or alternatively include a next generation evolved Node B (also referred to as ng-eNB) 214. The ng-eNB 214 may be connected to one or more gNBs 210 in the NG-RAN 235—e.g., directly or indirectly via other gNBs 210 and / or other ng-eNBs. The ng-eNB 214 may provide LTE radio access and / or evolved LTE (eLTE) radio access to the UE 105. Figure 2 Some of the gNBs 210 (e.g., gNB 210-2) and / or ng-eNBs 214 in the 5G CN 240 may be configured to function as positioning-only beacons that may transmit signals (e.g., positioning reference signals (PRS)) and / or may broadcast assistance data to assist in positioning the UE 105, but may not receive signals from the UE 105 or from other UEs. Some of the gNBs 210 (e.g., gNB 210-2 and / or another gNB not shown) and / or ng-eNBs 214 may be configured to function as detection-only nodes that may scan for signals containing, for example, PRS data, assistance data, or other location data. Such detection-only nodes may not transmit signals or data to the UE, but may transmit signals or data (relating to, for example, PRS, assistance data, or other location data) to other network entities (e.g., one or more components of the 5G CN 240, an external client 230, or a controller), which may receive and store the data or use the data to locate at least the UE 105. Note that although in Figure 2 Only one ng-eNB 214 is shown in the figure, but some embodiments may include multiple ng-eNBs 214. Base stations (e.g., gNB 210 and / or ng-eNB 214) may communicate directly with each other via an Xn communication interface. Additionally or alternatively, the base station may communicate directly or indirectly with other components of the 5G NR positioning system 200 (such as LMF 220 and AMF 215).

[0049] The 5G NR positioning system 200 may also include one or more WLANs 216, which may be connected to a non-3GPP interworking function (N3IWF) 250 in the 5G CN 240 (e.g., in the case of an untrusted WLAN 216). For example, the WLAN 216 may support IEEE 802.11 Wi-Fi access for the UE 105 and may include one or more Wi-Fi APs (e.g., Figure 1 Here, the N3IWF 250 may be connected to other elements in the 5G CN 240, such as the AMF 215. In some embodiments, the WLAN 216 may support another RAT, such as Bluetooth. The N3IWF 250 may provide support for secure access of the UE 105 to other elements in the 5G CN 240 and / or may support interworking of one or more protocols used by the WLAN 216 and the UE 105 with one or more protocols used by other elements of the 5G CN 240 (such as the AMF 215). For example, the N3IWF 250 may support: IPSec tunnel establishment with the UE 105, termination of the IKEv2 / IPSec protocol with the UE 105, termination of the N2 and N3 interfaces with the 5GCN 240 for the control plane and the user plane, respectively, and relay of uplink (UL) and downlink (DL) control plane non-access stratum (NAS) signaling across the N1 interface between the UE 105 and the AMF 215. In some other embodiments, the WLAN 216 may be directly connected to elements in the 5G CN 240 (e.g., Figure 2 215) and not via the N3IWF 250. For example, a direct connection of the WLAN 216 to the 5GCN 240 may occur when the WLAN 216 is a trusted WLAN for the 5GCN 240 and may use a trusted WLAN interworking function (TWIF) ( Figure 2 It should be noted that although Figure 2 Only one WLAN 216 is shown in FIG. 2 , but some embodiments may include multiple WLANs 216 .

[0050] The access node may include any of a variety of network entities that enable communication between the UE 105 and the AMF 215. As mentioned, this may include a gNB 210, an ng-eNB 214, a WLAN 216, and / or other types of cellular base stations. However, the access node providing the functionality described herein may additionally or alternatively include a cellular network entity that enables communication with the UE 105. Figure 2 An entity that communicates with any of a variety of RATs not illustrated in the specification (which may include non-cellular technologies). Thus, as used in the embodiments described below, the term "access node" may include, but is not necessarily limited to, a gNB 210, an ng-eNB 214, or a WLAN 216.

[0051] In some embodiments, an access node (such as gNB 210, ng-eNB 214, and / or WLAN 216) (alone or in combination with other components of 5G NR positioning system 200) may be configured to: in response to receiving a request for location information from LMF 220, obtain a location measurement for an uplink (UL) signal received from UE 105) and / or obtain from UE 105 a DL location measurement obtained by UE 105 for a downlink (DL) signal received by UE 105 from one or more access nodes. As mentioned, although Figure 2 The access nodes (gNB 210, ng-eNB 214, and WLAN 216) are depicted as being configured to communicate in accordance with 5G NR, LTE, and Wi-Fi communication protocols, respectively, but access nodes configured to communicate in accordance with other communication protocols may be used, such as, for example, a Node B using a Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) protocol for a Universal Mobile Telecommunications Service (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN), an eNB using an LTE protocol for an Evolved UTRAN (E-UTRAN), or an eNB using a LTE protocol for a WLAN. For example, in a 4G Evolved Packet System (EPS) that provides LTE wireless access to UE 105, the RAN may include an E-UTRAN, which may include base stations including eNBs that support LTE wireless access. The core network for the EPS may include an Evolved Packet Core (EPC). The EPS may then include the E-UTRAN plus the EPC, where Figure 2 , E-UTRAN corresponds to NG-RAN 235 and EPC corresponds to 5GCN 240. The methods and techniques described herein for obtaining the municipal location of UE 105 may be applicable to such other networks.

[0052] The gNB 210 and ng-eNB 214 may communicate with the AMF 215, which communicates with the LMF 220 for positioning functionality. The AMF 215 may support the mobility of the UE 105, including cell change and handover of the UE 105 from an access node of a first RAT (e.g., gNB 210, ng-eNB 214, or WLAN 216) to an access node of a second RAT. The AMF 215 may also be involved in supporting signaling connections with the UE 105 and possibly supporting data and voice bearers for the UE 105. The LMF 220 may support positioning the UE 105 using a CP location solution when the UE 105 accesses the NG-RAN 235 or the WLAN 216, and may support positioning procedures and methods, including UE-assisted / UE-based and / or network-based procedures / methods, such as Assisted GNSS (A-GNSS), Observed Time Difference of Arrival (OTDOA) (which may be referred to as Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA) in NR), Frequency Difference of Arrival (FDOA), Real-Time Kinematics (RTK), Precise Point Positioning (PPP), Differential GNSS (DGNSS), Enhanced Cell ID (ECID), Angle of Arrival (AoA), Angle of Departure (AoD), WLAN Positioning, Round Trip Signal Propagation Delay (RTT), Multi-Cell RTT, and / or other positioning procedures and methods. The LMF 220 may also process a location service request for the UE 105 received, for example, from the AMF 215 or from the GMLC 225. The LMF 220 may be connected to the AMF 215 and / or the GMLC 225. In some embodiments, the network (such as 5GCN 240) may additionally or alternatively implement other types of location support modules, such as an evolved serving mobile location center (E-SMLC) or a SUPL location platform (SLP). Note that in some embodiments, at least a portion of the positioning functionality (including determining the location of UE 105) may be performed at UE 105 (e.g., by measuring downlink PRS (DL-PRS) signals sent by wireless nodes (such as gNB 210, ng-eNB 214 and / or WLAN 216) and / or using assistance data provided to UE 105, for example, by LMF 220).

[0053] The Gateway Mobile Location Center (GMLC) 225 may support location requests for the UE 105 received from the external client 230, and may forward such location requests to the AMF 215 for forwarding by the AMF 215 to the LMF 220. A location response (e.g., including a location estimate for the UE 105) from the LMF 220 may similarly be returned to the GMLC 225 directly or via the AMF 215, and the GMLC 225 may then return the location response (e.g., including the location estimate) to the external client 230.

[0054] A network exposure function (NEF) 245 may be included in the 5GCN 240. The NEF 245 may support secure exposure of capabilities and events regarding the 5GCN 240 and the UE 105 to the external client 230, which may therefore be referred to as an access function (AF) and may enable secure provisioning of information from the external client 230 to the 5GCN 240. The NEF 245 may connect to the AMF 215 and / or the GMLC 225 to obtain the location (e.g., municipal location) of the UE 105 and provide the location to the external client 230.

[0055] like Figure 2 As further illustrated, LMF 220 may communicate with gNB 210 and / or with ng-eNB 214 using NR Positioning Protocol Annex (NRPPa) as defined in 3GPP Technical Specification (TS) 38.455. NRPPa messages may be communicated between gNB 210 and LMF 220 and / or between ng-eNB 214 and LMF 220 via AMF 215. Figure 2 As further illustrated, the LMF 220 and the UE 105 may communicate using the LTE Positioning Protocol (LPP) as defined in 3GPP TS 37.355. Here, LPP messages may be passed between the UE 105 and the LMF 220 via the AMF 215 and the serving gNB 210-1 or the serving ng-eNB 214 of the UE 105. For example, the LPP messages may be passed between the LMF 220 and the AMF 215 using messages for service-based operations (e.g., based on the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP)), and may be passed between the AMF 215 and the UE 105 using the 5G NAS protocol. The LPP protocol may be used to support positioning of the UE 105 using UE-assisted and / or UE-based positioning methods such as A-GNSS, RTK, TDOA, multi-cell RTT, AoD, and / or ECID. The NRPPa protocol may be used to support positioning of UE 105 using network-based positioning methods such as ECID, AoA, uplink TDOA (UL-TDOA) and / or may be used by LMF 220 to obtain location-related information from gNB 210 and / or ng-eNB 214, such as parameters defining DL-PRS transmissions from gNB 210 and / or ng-eNB 214.

[0056] In the case where the UE 105 accesses the WLAN 216, the LMF 220 may use NRPPa and / or LPP to obtain the location of the UE 105 in a manner similar to that just described for the UE 105 accessing the gNB 210 or ng-eNB 214. Thus, NRPPa messages may be passed between the WLAN 216 and the LMF 220 via the AMF 215 and the N3IWF 250 to support network-based positioning of the UE 105 and / or to pass other location information from the WLAN 216 to the LMF 220. Alternatively, NRPPa messages may be passed between the N3IWF 250 and the LMF 220 via the AMF 215 to support network-based positioning of the UE 105 based on location-related information and / or location measurements that are known or accessible to the N3IWF 250 and passed from the N3IWF 250 to the LMF 220 using NRPPa. Similarly, LPP and / or LPP messages may be communicated between the UE 105 and the LMF 220 via the AMF 215, the N3IWF 250, and the serving WLAN 216 of the UE 105 to support UE-assisted or UE-based positioning of the UE 105 by the LMF 220.

[0057] In the 5G NR positioning system 200, positioning methods may be classified as "UE-assisted" or "UE-based". This may depend on where the request to determine the location of the UE 105 originates. For example, if the request originates from the UE (e.g., from an application or "app" executed by the UE), the positioning method may be classified as UE-based. On the other hand, if the request originates from an external client 230, LMF 220, or other device or service within the 5G network, the positioning method may be classified as UE-assisted (or "network-based").

[0058] With UE-assisted positioning methods, the UE 105 may obtain location measurements and transmit these measurements to a location server (e.g., LMF 220) for use in computing a location estimate for the UE 105. For RAT-dependent positioning methods, the location measurements may include one or more of the following for one or more access points of the gNB 210, ng-eNB 214, and / or WLAN 216: received signal strength indicator (RSSI), round trip signal propagation time (RTT), reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), reference signal time difference (RSTD), time of arrival (TOA), AoA, receive time-transmit time difference (Rx-Tx), differential AoA (DAoA), AoD, or timing advance (TA). Additionally or alternatively, similar measurements may be made on sidelink signals sent by other UEs, which may be used as anchor points for positioning the UE 105 if the locations of these other UEs are known. The position measurements may additionally or alternatively include measurements for a RAT-independent positioning method, such as GNSS (eg, GNSS pseudoranges with respect to GNSS satellites 110 , GNSS code phase, and / or GNSS carrier phase), WLAN, and the like.

[0059] Using the UE-based positioning method, the UE 105 can obtain a position measurement (e.g., which can be the same or similar to the position measurement of the UE-assisted positioning method), and the position of the UE 105 can be further calculated (e.g., with the aid of auxiliary data received from a location server such as LMF 220, SLP or broadcast by gNB 210, ng-eNB 214, or WLAN 216).

[0060] Using a network-based positioning method, one or more base stations (e.g., gNB 210 and / or ng-eNB 214), one or more APs (e.g., in WLAN 216), or N3IWF 250 may obtain location measurements (e.g., measurements of RSSI, RTT, RSRP, RSRQ, AoA, or TOA) of signals sent by UE 105, and / or may receive measurements obtained by UE 105 or, in the case of N3IWF 250, by APs in WLAN 216, and may transmit these measurements to a location server (e.g., LMF 220) for use in calculating a position estimate for UE 105.

[0061] The positioning of UE 105 may also be classified as UL-based, DL-based, or DL-UL-based, depending on the type of signal used for positioning. For example, if the positioning is based only on signals received at UE 105 (e.g., from a base station or other UE), the positioning may be classified as DL-based. On the other hand, if the positioning is based only on signals sent by UE 105 (which may be received by, for example, a base station or other UE), the positioning may be classified as UL-based. DL-UL-based positioning includes positioning based on signals sent and received by UE 105, such as RTT-based positioning. Sidelink (SL)-assisted positioning includes signals communicated between UE 105 and one or more other UEs. According to some embodiments, the UL, DL, or DL-UL positioning described herein may be able to use SL signaling as a supplement or replacement for SL, DL, or DL-UL signaling.

[0062] Depending on the type of positioning (e.g., UL-based, DL-based, or DL-UL-based), the type of reference signal used may be different. For example, for DL-based positioning, these signals may include PRS (e.g., DL-PRS sent by a base station or SL-PRS sent by other UEs), which may be used for TDOA measurements, AoD measurements, and RTT measurements. Other reference signals that may be used for positioning (UL, DL, or DL-UL) may include: Sounding Reference Signal (SRS), Channel State Information Reference Signal (CSI-RS), Synchronization Signal (e.g., Synchronization Signal Block (SSB) Synchronization Signal (SS)), Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH), Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH), Physical Sidelink Shared Channel (PSSCH), Demodulation Reference Signal (DMRS), etc. In addition, the reference signal may be sent in a Tx beam and / or received in an Rx beam (e.g., using beamforming techniques), which may affect angle measurements such as AoD and / or AoA.

[0063] Figure 3 is a diagram showing an example of a frame structure for NR and associated terminology, which may serve as the basis for physical layer communications between a UE 105 and a base station / TRP. The transmit timeline for each of the downlink and uplink may be divided into units of radio frames. Each radio frame may have a predetermined duration (e.g., 10 ms) and may be divided into 10 subframes of 1 ms each with indices 0 to 9. Depending on the subcarrier spacing, each subframe may include a variable number of slots. Depending on the subcarrier spacing, each slot may include a variable number of symbol periods (e.g., 7 or 14 symbols). The symbol periods in each slot may be assigned an index. A mini slot may include a subslot structure (e.g., 2, 3, or 4 symbols). In Figure 3Additionally shown in FIG. 1 is the full orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) of a subframe, showing how a subframe can be divided into multiple resource blocks (RBs) across both time and frequency. A single RB may include a grid of resource elements (REs) spanning 14 symbols and 12 subcarriers.

[0064] Each symbol in a slot may indicate a link direction (e.g., downlink (DL), uplink (UL), or flexible) or data transmission, and the link direction for each subframe may be switched dynamically. The link direction may be based on the slot format. Each slot may include DL / UL data and DL / UL control information. In NR, a synchronization signal (SS) block is transmitted. The SS block includes a primary SS (PSS), a secondary SS (SSS), and a two-symbol physical broadcast channel (PBCH). The SS block may be sent in a fixed slot position, such as Figure 3 Symbols 0-3 are shown. PSS and SSS can be used by UE for cell search and cell acquisition. PSS can provide half-frame timing, and SS can provide cyclic prefix (CP) length and frame timing. PSS and SSS can provide cell identity. PBCH carries some basic system information, such as downlink system bandwidth, timing information within radio frames, SS burst set periodicity, system frame number, etc.

[0065] Figure 4 is a diagram showing an example of a radio frame sequence 400 with a PRS positioning opportunity. A "PRS instance" or "PRS opportunity" is an instance of a periodically repeating time window (e.g., 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," or simply "opportunity" or "instance." The subframe sequence 400 may be applicable to broadcasting of a PRS signal (DL-PRS signal) from a base station 120 in a positioning system 100. The radio frame sequence 400 may be used in 5G NR (e.g., the 5G NR positioning system 200) and / or LTE. Similar to Figure 3 ,exist Figure 4 Time is represented horizontally (eg, on the X-axis) and time increases from left to right. Frequency is represented vertically (eg, on the Y-axis) and frequency increases (or decreases) from bottom to top.

[0066] Figure 4 shows how to use the system frame number (SFN), cell-specific subframe offset (Δ PRS )415, L PRS The length or span of the subframe and the PRS periodicity (T PRS) 420 to determine the PRS positioning opportunities 410-1, 410-2 and 410-3 (collectively and generally referred to herein as positioning opportunities 410). The cell-specific PRS subframe configuration may be determined by a “PRS configuration index” included in the assistance data (eg, TDOA assistance data). PRS The auxiliary data may be defined by the governing 3GPP standard. PRS )415 may be defined according to the number of subframes sent starting from system frame number (SFN) 0 to the first (subsequent) PRS positioning opportunity.

[0067] The PRS may be sent by a wireless node (e.g., base station 120) after appropriate configuration (e.g., configuration by an operations and maintenance (O&M) server). The PRS may be sent in special positioning subframes or time slots grouped into positioning occasions 410. For example, PRS positioning occasion 410-1 may include N PRS consecutive positioning subframes, where the number is N PRS may be between 1 and 160 (e.g., may include values ​​1, 2, 4, and 6, among other values). The PRS opportunities 410 may be grouped into one or more PRS opportunity groups. As noted, the PRS positioning opportunities 410 may be periodically spaced at intervals (defined by T PRS milliseconds (or subframes) intervals) occur, where T PRS may be equal to 5, 10, 20, 40, 80, 160, 320, 640, or 1280 (or any other suitable value). In some embodiments, T PRS It may be measured in terms of the number of subframes between the start of consecutive positioning opportunities.

[0068] In some embodiments, when UE 105 receives a PRS configuration index I in assistance data for a particular cell (eg, base station), PRS , UE 105 may use the stored indexed data to determine the PRS periodicity T PRS 420 and the cell-specific subframe offset (Δ PRS ) 415. The UE 105 may then determine the radio frames, subframes, and time slots when the PRS is scheduled in the cell. The assistance data may be provided by, for example, a location server (e.g., Figure 1 The location server 160 and / or Figure 2 The LMF 220 in the wireless node is determined and includes auxiliary data for a reference cell and multiple neighbor cells supported by each wireless node.

[0069] Typically, the PRS opportunities from all cells in the network using the same frequency are aligned in time and may have a fixed known time offset (e.g., a cell-specific subframe offset (ΔPRS )415). In a SFN synchronous network, all wireless nodes (e.g., base stations 120) may be aligned on both frame boundaries and system frame numbers. Therefore, in a SFN synchronous network, all cells supported by each wireless node may use the same PRS configuration index for any particular frequency of PRS transmission. On the other hand, in a SFN asynchronous network, each wireless node may be aligned on frame boundaries, but not on system frame numbers. Therefore, in a SFN asynchronous network, the PRS configuration index for each cell may be individually configured by the network so that the PRS opportunities are aligned in time. If the UE 105 can obtain the cell timing (e.g., SFN or frame number) of at least one cell (e.g., a reference cell or a serving cell), the UE 105 may determine the timing of the PRS opportunities 410 of the reference cell and neighbor cells for TDOA positioning. The timing of other cells may then be derived by the UE 105, for example, based on an assumption that PRS opportunities from different cells overlap.

[0070] refer to Figure 3 In the frame structure of OFDM, the set of REs used to send PRS is called "PRS resource". This set of resource elements may span multiple RBs in the frequency domain and span one or more consecutive symbols within a time slot in the time domain, in which a pseudo-random quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK) sequence is sent from the antenna port of the TRP. In a given OFDM symbol in the time domain, the PRS resource occupies consecutive RBs in the frequency domain. The transmission of PRS resources within a given RB has a specific combination or "comb tooth" size. (The comb tooth size may also be referred to as "comb tooth density"). The comb tooth size "N" represents the subcarrier spacing (or frequency / frequency modulation spacing) within each symbol of the PRS resource configuration, where the configuration uses every Nth subcarrier of a specific symbol of the RB. For example, for comb tooth -4, for each of the four symbols of the PRS resource configuration, the RE corresponding to every fourth subcarrier (e.g., subcarriers 0, 4, 8) is used to send the PRS of the PRS resource. Comb tooth sizes such as comb tooth -2, comb tooth -4, comb tooth -6, and comb tooth -12 may be used in PRS. In Figure 5 Examples of different comb sizes using different numbers of symbols are provided in .

[0071] A "PRS resource set" includes a group of PRS resources used for the transmission of a PRS signal, where each PRS resource has a PRS resource ID. In addition, the PRS resources in a PRS resource set are associated with the same TRP. A PRS resource set is identified by a PRS resource set ID and is associated with a specific TRP (identified by a cell ID). "PRS resource repetition" is the repetition of a PRS resource during a PRS opportunity / instance. The number of repetitions of a PRS resource may be defined by a "repetition factor" for the PRS resource. In addition, the PRS resources in a PRS resource set may have the same periodicity, a common muting pattern configuration, and the same cross-slot repetition factor. The periodicity may have a length selected from: 2 m ×{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} time slots.

[0072] A PRS resource ID in a PRS resource set may be associated with a single beam (and / or beam ID) transmitted from a single TRP (wherein a TRP may transmit one or more beams). That is, each PRS resource in a PRS resource set may be transmitted on a different beam, and thus, 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.

[0073] exist Figure 2 In the illustrated 5G NR positioning system 200, the TRP (gNB 210, ng-eNB 214 and / or WLAN 216) may transmit frames or other physical layer signaling sequences supporting PRS signals (i.e., DL PRS) according to the frame configuration as previously described, which may be measured and used for positioning determination of UE 105. As noted, other types of radio network nodes (including other UEs) may also be configured to transmit PRS signals configured in a manner similar (or identical) to that described above. Because the transmission of PRS by a radio network node may be directed to all UEs within radio range, the radio network node may be considered to transmit (or broadcast) PRS.

[0074] Figure 6is a diagram illustrating how different TRPs for a given positioning frequency layer (PFL) as defined in 5G NR may use a hierarchy of PRS resources and PRS resource sets. With respect to the network (Uu) interface, the UE 105 may be configured with one or more DL-PRS resource sets from each of one or more TRPs. Each DL-PRS resource set includes K ≥ 1 DL-PRS resources, which may correspond to the Tx beam of the TRP as previously noted. A DL-PRS PFL is defined as a set of DL-PRS resource sets with the same subcarrier spacing (SCS) and cyclic prefix (CP) type, the same DL-PRS bandwidth value, the same center frequency, and the same comb size value. In the current iteration of the NR standard, a UE 105 may be configured with up to four DL-PRS PFLs.

[0075] NR has multiple frequency bands across different frequency ranges (e.g., frequency range 1 (FR1) and frequency range 2 (FR2)). The PFLs can be on the same frequency band or on different frequency bands. In some embodiments, these PFLs can even be in different frequency ranges. Additionally, as Figure 6 As illustrated, multiple TRPs (e.g., TRP1 and TR2) can be on the same PFL. Currently under NR, each TRP can have up to two PRS resource sets, each PRS resource set having one or more PRS resources, as previously described.

[0076] Different PRS resource sets may have different periodicities. For example, one PRS resource set may be used for tracking, while another PRS resource set may be used for acquisition. Additionally or alternatively, one PRS resource set may have more beams, and another PRS resource set may have fewer beams. Thus, different resource sets may be used by a wireless network for different purposes.

[0077] As discussed herein, in some embodiments, TDOA assistance data may be provided to UE 105 by a location server (e.g., location server 160) regarding a "reference cell" (which may also be referred to as a "reference resource") and one or more "neighbor cells" or "adjacent cells" (which may also be referred to as "target cells" or "target resources") relative to the reference cell. For example, the assistance data may provide the center channel frequency of each cell, various PRS configuration parameters (e.g., N PRS 、T PRS , muting sequence, frequency hopping sequence, PRS ID, PRS bandwidth), cell global ID, PRS signal characteristics associated with directional PRS, and / or other cell-related parameters applicable to TDOA or some other positioning method. By indicating a serving cell for UE 105 in the TDOA assistance data (e.g., where a reference cell is indicated as the serving cell), PRS-based positioning by UE 105 may be facilitated.

[0078] In some embodiments, the TDOA assistance data may also include an "expected reference signal time difference (RSTD)" parameter and the uncertainty of the expected RSTD parameter, which provides information to the UE 105 about the RSTD value that the UE 105 is expected to measure between the reference cell and each neighbor cell at its current location. The expected RSTD and the associated uncertainty may define a search window for the UE 105 within which the UE 105 is expected to measure RSTD values. The TDOA assistance information may also include PRS configuration information parameters that allow the UE 105 to determine when a PRS positioning opportunity occurs on a signal received from each neighbor cell relative to a PRS positioning opportunity for the reference cell, and to determine a PRS sequence sent from each cell in order to measure signal ToA or RSTD.

[0079] Using RSTD measurements, known absolute or relative transmit timing for each cell, and known locations of wireless node physical transmit antennas for reference and neighboring cells, UE positioning may be calculated (e.g., by UE 105 or by location server 160). More specifically, the RSTD of neighbor cell “k” relative to reference cell “Ref” may be given as (ToA k –ToA Ref ), where the ToA value may be measured modulo one subframe duration (1 ms) to remove the effect of measuring different subframes at different times. The ToA measurements of different cells may then be converted into RSTD measurements and transmitted by the UE 105 to the location server 160. Using (i) RSTD measurements, (ii) known absolute or relative transmit timing for each cell, (iii) known locations of physical transmit antennas for reference cells and neighboring cells, and / or (iv) directional PRS characteristics (such as transmit direction), the UE 105 location may be determined.

[0080] Figure 7 An example communication system 700 is illustrated. The communication system 700 includes a radio access network (RAN) 700A and a core network 700B. According to various implementations, the RAN 700A may be a 3GPP 5G RAN, such as an NG-RAN. According to various implementations, the core network 700B may be a 3GPP 5G core network (5GC). In some implementations, the RAN 700A and the core network 700B may correspond to Figure 2 The communication system 700 may provide wireless connectivity (e.g., wireless data connectivity and / or wireless voice connectivity) to a user equipment (UE) 702. According to some implementations, the UE 702 may correspond to Figure 1 and Figure 2 UE105.

[0081] The core network 700B may track the location of UEs in the RAN 700A to support location-related aspects of services provided to such UEs. A location management function (LMF) of the core network 700B may provide location services to make information about the location of the UEs available to other entities in the communication system 700. An entity requiring information about the location of a UE in the RAN 700A may obtain the information by submitting a request to the LMF of the core network 700B.

[0082] exist Figure 7 In the depicted example, LMF 704 in core network 700B may provide location information 706 about UE 702 to the requesting entity. Location information 706 may indicate, for example, in the form of geographic coordinates, the location of UE 702. LMF 704 may synthesize location information 706 based on location information indicating an estimated location of UE 702 provided by RAN 700A.

[0083] In the RAN 700A, various positioning methods may be used to determine an estimated position of a device such as a UE 702. These positioning methods may include a time of flight (ToF) based positioning method. According to some ToF based positioning methods, the positioning of the UEs in the RAN 700A may be estimated based on the ToF of transmissions from various transmission points (TPs) such as a transmit / receive point (TRP) 701 to these UEs. According to some other ToF based positioning methods, the positioning of the UEs in the RAN 700A may be estimated based on the ToF of transmissions from those UEs to various receive points (RPs) such as TRPs 701. For example, according to an example ToF based positioning method, the positioning of the UE 702 may be estimated by determining the corresponding ToF of line of sight (LOS) transmissions from several TRPs 701 to the UE 702, estimating the corresponding distances between the UE 702 and those TRPs 701 based on the ToF, and triangulating the positioning of the UE 702 based on the estimated distances.

[0084] Some transmissions between UE 702 and TRP 701 in RAN 700A may be subject to multipath propagation effects. Transmissions subject to multipath propagation effects may reach their destinations via different respective paths at multiple different times. For example, a signal may travel from its origin to its destination via both a direct path, also referred to as a line-of-sight (LOS) path, and one or more indirect (non-LOS) paths. Signal propagation along such non-LOS paths may involve, for example, reflection and / or diffraction of the signal (e.g., by structures, surfaces, objects, etc.).

[0085] According to one approach, if UE 702 receives multiple "copies" of the same positioning signal due to multipath propagation, it may be assumed that the copy received with the highest received power corresponds to the LOS path between UE 702 and the transmitter of the positioning signal (e.g., TRP 701). However, in some cases, UE 702 does not know that there may not be a LOS path between UE 702 and the transmitter, so that each received copy of the positioning signal corresponds to a non-LOS path. In fact, even in the absence of multipath propagation, UE 702 may not know whether the received positioning signal has been received via a LOS path or a non-LOS path. Therefore, the assumption that the strongest detected copy of the positioning signal corresponds to the LOS path (or the only detected copy corresponds to the LOS path) may be wrong in some cases. In such cases, the distance estimate based on the ToF of the strongest detected copy will also be wrong, which may negatively affect the result of the positioning estimate.

[0086] Disclosed herein are LOS probability map signaling techniques that can help identify LOS links used in conjunction with positioning operations. According to aspects of the present disclosure, the communication system 700 can implement a LOS probability mapping scheme, in conjunction with which a LOS probability map can be defined to facilitate the determination / estimation of whether a link between a UE and a TRP 701 (and / or TP / RP) in a RAN 700A is a LOS link. According to some specific implementations, the signaling of the LOS probability map can be LMF initiated, such that the LMF "pushes" the LOS probability map to the UE. According to some specific implementations, the signaling of the LOS probability map can be UE initiated, such that the UE receives the LOS probability map from the LMF upon request. Some specific implementations can feature a combination of LMF-initiated and UE-initiated LOS probability map signaling, such that the LMF pushes some LOS probability maps to the UE, and the UE can obtain additional LOS probability maps from the LMF upon request.

[0087] Figure 8 An example operating environment 800 is illustrated in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure, wherein LOS probability map signaling techniques may be implemented by Figure 7 The described communication system 700 utilizes. In the operating environment 800, the UE 702 and the LMF 704 can communicate with each other according to the LOS probability mapping scheme. According to the LOS probability mapping scheme, a LOS probability map can be defined to facilitate determining / estimating whether a link between the UE and a TRP (and / or other TP / RP) in the RAN 700A is a LOS link.

[0088] The LOS probability map for a given TRP may define multiple LOS probability map regions. Any particular LOS probability map region may be represented as a closed polygon and may be defined by a set of points representing the vertices of the closed polygon. Such a closed polygon may be - but not necessarily - a convex hull. The points in the defined set may correspond to geographic coordinates. In some implementations, a limit may be imposed on the number of vertices that may be included in any given map region. For example, according to an example of such a limit, any given map region may include up to six vertices.

[0089] For each LOS probability map region, the LOS probability map may specify a corresponding LOS probability function whose output represents the probability that a link between a TRP and a point (x, y) in the LOS probability map region is a LOS link. For any given LOS probability map region, the LOS probability function may be a deterministic function, a constant value, or a neural network (NN) based function that takes the coordinates (x, y) as input.

[0090] According to aspects of the present disclosure, some TRPs in the RAN 700A may include a multi-antenna system that transmits multiple beams. In some implementations, multiple LOS probability maps may be defined for such multi-beam TRPs, each of which may correspond to a respective beam. In some implementations, a composite LOS probability map may be defined that applies to all beams of the multi-beam TRP. In some implementations, a composite LOS probability map may be defined for some multi-beam TRPs of the RAN 700A, while a per-beam LOS probability map may be defined for other multi-beam TRPs of the RAN 700A.

[0091] Fig. 9 An example LOS probability map 900 is illustrated in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. The LOS probability map 900 may represent a LOS probability map 900 for a TRP in the RAN 700A, which may be a single-beam TRP or a multi-beam TRP. The LOS probability map 900 includes LOS probability map regions A, B, C, and D. Each such region is a closed polygon defined by a set of coordinates corresponding to its vertices. The coordinates of the vertices of the LOS probability map region A are (X 1 ,Y 1 )、(X 2 ,Y 2 )、(X 5 ,Y 5 ) and (X 4 ,Y 4 ). The coordinates of the vertices of region B of the LOS probability graph are (X 2 ,Y 2 )、(X 3 ,Y 3 )、(X 6 ,Y 6) and (X 5 ,Y 5 ). The coordinates of the vertices of region C in the LOS probability map are (X 4 ,Y 4 )、(X 5 ,Y 5 )、(X 8 ,Y 8 ) and (X 7 ,Y 7 ). The coordinates of the vertices of region D of the LOS probability map are (X 5 ,Y 5 )、(X 6 ,Y 6 )、(X 9 ,Y 9 ) and (X 8 ,Y 8 ).

[0092] Within LOS probability graph regions A, B, C, and D, the probability P of a link to a point in those regions being a LOS link LOS By the corresponding probability function F A (x,y),F B (x,y),F C (x,y) and F D Any given one of these functions can be, for example, a deterministic function of the coordinates (x, y) or a NN-based function of the coordinates (x, y), such that P LOS The value of P may vary from point to point within the LOS probability map. Any given one of these functions may alternatively specify P to be applied to all points within the LOS probability map. LOS A single value of .

[0093] exist Figure 8 In the operating environment 800 of RAN 700A, UEs in RAN 700A may use control signaling to inform LMF in core network 700B whether they can utilize LOS probability map. For example, UE 702 may transmit LOS probability map capability information 808 indicating that UE 702 can utilize LOS probability map (LOSPM) to LMF 704.

[0094] According to aspects of the present disclosure, the LMF in the core network 700B may provide LOS probability map parameters to the UE in the RAN 700A in the form of LOSPM parameter sets. In the operating environment 800, the LMF 704 may transmit one or more LOSPM parameter sets 810 to the UE 702. In some implementations, the LMF 704 may transmit the LOSPM parameter set 810 to the UE 702 after determining (e.g., based on the LOSPM capability information 808) that the UE 702 is capable of utilizing the LOS probability map. Each LOSPM parameter set (such as any of the LOSPM parameter sets 810) may indicate a corresponding probability function and vertex coordinates of a map area of ​​the LOS probability map. For example, the LOSPM parameter set 810 may include a parameter indicating Fig. 9 8 and 9. The LMF 704 may determine / refine the probability function it provides in the LOSPM parameter set 810 according to the LOS probability model, as discussed below.

[0095] According to aspects of the present disclosure, there may be a limit on the amount of LOS probability map parameters (e.g., the number of LOSPM parameter sets) that a UE in the RAN 700A can store and / or process simultaneously. In some specific implementations, the UE in the RAN 700A may use control signaling to inform the LMF in the core network 700B of its LOS probability map parameter storage / processing capabilities. For example, in the operating environment 800, the UE 702 may use control signaling to inform the LMF 704 of the maximum number of LOSPM parameter sets that the UE 702 can store / process simultaneously. According to aspects of the present disclosure, the UE 702 may inform the LMF 704 of the limit by including an indication thereof in the LOSPM capability information 808. This maximum number may represent a per-TRP limit (or, in the case of a multi-beam TRP for which per-beam mapping is implemented, a per-TRP, per-beam limit), or may represent an overall limit across all TRPs and beams.

[0096] According to aspects of the present disclosure, the LMF 704 may customize the LOSPM parameter sets 810 that it provides to the UE 702 based on the approximate location of the UE 702, such as the current cell association of the UE 702 or the last known location of the UE 702. In some implementations, the LMF 704 may identify one or more TRPs near the approximate location of the UE 702, and may provide the UE 702 with LOSPM parameter sets 810 for areas of the LOS probability map for these one or more TRPs. In some implementations, as the UE 702 subsequently moves within the RAN 700A, the LMF 704 may provide additional LOSPM parameter sets 810 to the UE 702. These may include LOSPM parameter sets 810 for additional areas of the LOS probability map for one or more previously identified TRPs and / or LOSPM parameter sets 810 for areas of the LOS probability map for other TRPs that the UE 702 enters into its vicinity as it moves. In some implementations, when the UE 702 receives a new set of LOSPM parameters 810 from the LMF 704, it may discard a previously stored set of LOSPM parameters 810 (eg, a set of LOSPM parameters 810 associated with a TRP that the UE 702 is no longer in proximity to).

[0097] In some implementations, upon determining that the UE 702 can utilize the LOS probability map, the LMF 704 can push the relevant LOSPM parameter set 810 to the UE 702. In some such implementations, the LMF 704 can subsequently push additional LOSPM parameter sets 810 to the UE 702 as the UE 702 moves within the RAN 700A. In some implementations, the UE 702 can pull the LOSPM parameter set 810 from the LMF 704. In some implementations, the LMF 704 can not provide the LOS probability map parameters to the UE 702 by default, but can initiate signaling of the LOS probability parameters to the UE 702 upon request. For example, in the operating environment 800, the UE 702 may transmit a LOSPM parameter request 809 to the LMF 704 to request LOS probability map parameters, and the LMF 704 may transmit a LOSPM parameter set 810 to the UE 702 in response to the LOSPM parameter request 809. According to aspects of the present disclosure, the LOSPM parameter request 809 may specify a set of TRPs for which LOSPM parameters are desired. In some implementations, the LOSPM parameter request 809 may specify the desired LOSPM parameters on a per-PRS resource set or per-PRS resource basis. In some implementations, when it moves within the RAN 700A, the UE 702 may transmit an additional LOSPM parameter request 809 to the LMF 704 to request additional LOSPM parameters (e.g., a LOSPM parameter set 810 associated with a TRP near which the UE 702 has moved).

[0098] The LMF 704 may use control signaling of any of various protocol layers to deliver the LOSPM parameter sets 810 to the UE 702. In some implementations, the LMF 704 may use non-access stratum (NAS) signaling to deliver the LOSPM parameter sets 810 to the UE 702. In some implementations, the LMF 704 may use radio resource control (RRC) signaling (such as in the form of an RRC message) to deliver the LOSPM parameter sets 810 to the UE 702 via an intermediate node (e.g., a gNB) in the RAN 700A. For example, the LMF 704 may deliver one or more LOSPM parameter sets 810 to the UE 702 by including them in a field (e.g., an 'Environment' field) of a CommonIEsRequestLocationInformation message. In some implementations, the LMF 704 may deliver the LOSPM parameter set 810 to the UE 702 via an intermediate node (e.g., a gNB) in the RAN 700A using medium access control (MAC) signaling, such as in the form of a medium access control element (CE). In some implementations, the LOSPM parameter set 810 may be delivered to the UE 702 in downlink control information (DCI).

[0099] In some implementations, the LMF 704 may provide multiple LOSPM parameter sets 810 simultaneously to the UE 702. For example, the LMF 704 may use one NAS or RRC message or MAC CE to provide the UE 702 with a LOSPM parameter set 810 for each of multiple areas of the LOS probability map for a given TRP (or multiple TRPs). In some implementations, the LMF 704 may provide the LOSPM parameter set 810 to the UE 702 on a per-PFR basis, according to which the LMF may use one NAS or RRC message or MAC CE to provide the UE 702 with LOSPM parameter sets 810 associated with multiple TRPs on the same PFR.

[0100] In some implementations, the LMF 704 may transmit a LOSPM parameter update 811 to the UE 702 to update and / or supplement a LOSPM parameter set 810 that it has previously transmitted to the UE 702. According to aspects of the present disclosure, the LOSPM parameter update 811 may include changes to parameters in the LOSPM parameter set 810 that the UE 702 has received (e.g., changes to the probability function of the map area described by the previously provided LOSPM parameter set 810). The LOSPM parameter update 811 may take the form of a NAS or RRC message, a MAC CE, a DCI, or some other form. In some implementations, the LOSPM parameter update 811 may take the same form as the LOSPM parameter set 810. In other implementations, the LOSPM parameter update 811 may take a different form than the LOSPM parameter set 810. For example, in one example, the LOSPM parameter set 810 may be delivered via a NAS message, and the LOSPM parameter update 811 may be delivered via a MAC CE. In some implementations, the LOSPM parameter update 811 may be marked with an expiration timer indicating how long the LOSPM parameter update 811 will be considered current. In some implementations, when such an expiration timer elapses, the LMF 704 may push a new LOSPM parameter update 811 to the UE 702, or the UE 702 may request a new LOSPM parameter update 811 from the LMF 704.

[0101] According to aspects of the present disclosure, the UE 702 may be configured to operate in both the LOSPM inference mode and the LOSPM training mode. In the LOSPM inference mode, the UE 702 may utilize the LOSPM parameter set 810 and the LOSPM parameter update 811 to inform its conclusion as to whether a link is LOS or non-LOS without assisting the LMF 704 in training the LOS probability model used to determine / refine the probability functions in the LOSPM parameter set 810 and the LOSPM parameter update 811. In the LOSPM training mode, the UE 702 may evaluate the predictions of the LOS probability model based on empirical observations, and may provide feedback to the LMF 704 to identify predictions that differ significantly from the UE 702's observations.

[0102] In some implementations, UE 702 may evaluate the predictions of the LOS probability model by comparing the location implied by the model with location indications from other sources, such as GPS or sensor information. For example, if the LOS probability model indicates (e.g., via the probability function in LOSPM parameter set 810) that a link from a given map area to a given TRP is almost certainly a LOS link, but UE 702's GPS device indicates that its location is significantly different than it should be if the link was a LOS link, then UE 702 may conclude that the LOS probability model is inaccurate with respect to that map area.

[0103] In some implementations, the UE 702 may provide feedback to the LMF 704 to report its inaccuracies encountered regarding the LOS probability predicted by the model. In some implementations, the UE 702 may accumulate information about such inaccuracies over a period of time and then provide the information to the LMF 704, rather than notifying the LMF 704 of inaccuracies on a per-positioning instance basis. In some implementations, the UE 702 may enter the LOSPM training mode in response to an instruction received from the LMF 704 or another entity in the core network 700B. In some implementations, the instruction may specify a set of PRS resources for which the UE 702 will provide feedback.

[0104] According to aspects of the present disclosure, centralized LOSPM model training may be performed in the core network 700B using collective feedback from multiple UEs in the RAN 700A (such as collective feedback that may be received by the LMF of the core network 700B). In some specific implementations, the UEs in the RAN 700A may additionally or alternatively perform distributed LOSPM model training. According to the distributed LOSPM model training scheme, a neural network model may be used to train probability functions for LOS probability map regions. The loss function used to train the neural network model may be provided to the UE by the core network 700B. Based on their own observations, the UEs in the RAN 700A may update the weights of the neural network model used to derive those probability functions. The UEs may provide modified neural network weights and / or gradients as feedback to the core network 700B (e.g., after a configured training period), and the core network 700B may use the modified neural network weights and / or gradients for LOSPM model refinement.

[0105] According to aspects of the present disclosure, in LOSPM inference mode, the UE in the RAN 700A may provide multipath information to the core network 700B (e.g., to a LMF or training server) based on measurements of PRS sent by the TRP in the RAN 700A. Additionally or alternatively, the TRP in the RAN 700A may provide multipath information to the core network 700B based on measurements of SRS sent by the UE in the RAN 700A. In some specific implementations, the UE in the RAN 700A may provide an independent ground-truth positioning estimate to the core network 700B when operating in the LOSPM inference mode.

[0106] According to various aspects of the present disclosure, in LOSPM training mode, UEs in RAN 700A may provide auxiliary data to core network 700B to facilitate LOSPM model training. Such auxiliary data may include, for example, any or all of port ID, panel ID, beamforming information, UE orientation information, Rx-Tx turnaround time, and group delay information. In some implementations, a learning period during which a given UE will report such auxiliary data may be defined. The core network 700B may indicate / configure such a learning period using an RRC message, a MAC CE, or a DCI, or in another manner. In some implementations, the core network 700B may use an RRC message, a MAC CE, or a DCI to indicate the start of a learning period and specify the duration of the learning period. In some implementations, a given UE may temporarily increase its positioning processing capability during the learning period by reallocating processing capabilities normally used for other purposes.

[0107] According to aspects of the present disclosure, the core network 700B may utilize information about various aspects (e.g., ToF and received power) of received multipath components at known ("ground truth") locations in conjunction with training a LOS probability model for predicting LOS probabilities at other locations. In some implementations, for example, information about the ToF and received power of the multipath components may be used as training data for an observability model that infers the observability of a TRP and a virtual TRP (vTRP) at a specified location. In some implementations, the observability model may be implemented as a neural network. In some implementations, for a given specified location, the output of the neural network may be a probability vector comprising elements, each element representing the probability of observability of the location to a corresponding one of a plurality of TRPs and / or vTRPs.

[0108] Fig.10 is a flow chart of a wireless communication method 1000 for a UE according to one embodiment. Fig.10 The functional components illustrated in one or more of the blocks shown may be implemented by a UE (such as by Figure 8Executed by hardware and / or software components of UE 702 in the operating environment 800. Fig.13 Example components of a UE are illustrated in FIG, and are described in more detail below.

[0109] At block 1010, functionality includes receiving a positioning signal via a wireless link between a UE and a TRP of a RAN. Figure 8 In the operating environment 800 of , UE 702 can receive positioning signals from the TRP via a wireless link between UE 702 and the TRP of RAN 700A. The components for performing the functionality at block 1010 may include a bus 1305, a processor 1310, a digital signal processor (DSP) 1320, a wireless communication interface 1330, a memory 1360, and / or a plurality of other components. Fig.13 Other components of the UE illustrated in .

[0110] At block 1020, the functionality includes identifying a LOS probability function associated with the radio link based on LOS probability map information provided by the LMF of the core network of the RAN. Figure 8 In an operating environment 800 of the present invention, a UE 702 may identify a LOS probability function associated with a radio link between a TRP of a UE 702 and a RAN 700A based on LOS probability map information provided by a LMF 704 of a core network 700B (which may include a LOSPM parameter set 810 and / or a LOSPM parameter update 811). According to aspects of the present disclosure, the LOS probability map information may be obtained from a received NAS message, an RRC message, or a MAC CE. In some implementations, the LOS probability function may correspond to a LOS probability map region associated with the radio link. In some implementations, the LOS probability map information may indicate vertex coordinates of the LOS probability map region to which the LOS probability function corresponds. In some implementations, the LOS probability map information may indicate corresponding LOS probability functions and vertex coordinates of multiple LOS probability map regions associated with the radio link. Means for performing the functionality at block 1020 may include bus 1305, processor 1310, DSP 1320, wireless communication interface 1330, memory 1360, and / or other components of the UE, such as Fig.13 exemplified.

[0111] According to aspects of the present disclosure, the LOS probability function identified at block 1020 may be identified from a plurality of LOS probability functions associated with the wireless link, and each such LOS probability function may correspond to a respective one of a plurality of LOS probability map regions associated with the wireless link. A position estimate of the UE may be determined, a LOS probability map region in which the UE is located may be identified based on the position estimate, and the LOS probability function identified at block 1020 may be a LOS probability function associated with the LOS probability map region. In some scenarios, based on the position estimate, it may not be clear in which LOS probability map region the UE is located. In some implementations, in such scenarios, LOS probability functions for a plurality of LOS probability map regions may be identified at block 1020 for subsequent use at block 1030. The plurality of LOS probability map regions may represent various map regions in which the UE may be located based on the position estimate (and taking into account the uncertainty of the position estimate).

[0112] At block 1030, the functionality includes generating a LOS probability estimate for the wireless link using a LOS probability function. Figure 8 In the operating environment 800 of , UE 702 may use the LOS probability function identified at block 1020 to generate an LOS probability estimate for the wireless link between UE 702 and the TRP of RAN 700A. The means for performing the functionality at block 1020 may include bus 1305, processor 1310, DSP 1320, wireless communication interface 1330, memory 1360 and / or other components of the UE, such as Fig.13 exemplified.

[0113] In some implementations, a LOS probability estimate may be generated based on multiple LOS probability functions at block 1030. For example, in a scenario where the LOS probability map region in which the UE is located is unclear and corresponding LOS probability functions are identified for multiple LOS probability map regions in which the UE may be located, the LOS probability functions for the multiple LOS probability map regions may be used in combination to generate a LOS probability estimate for the wireless link. In some implementations, multiple LOS probability functions may be used to generate multiple individual LOS probability estimates, and an overall LOS probability estimate may be generated at block 1030 as a weighted average of these individual LOS probability estimates. In some implementations, for the purpose of generating such an overall LOS probability estimate, the individual LOS probability estimates may be weighted according to the relative likelihood (e.g., based on the position estimate) that the UE is located in the corresponding LOS probability map region.

[0114] In some implementations, the positioning of the UE can be determined at the UE side based on the LOS probability estimate generated at block 1030. For example, based on the LOS probability estimate generated at block 1030 for the positioning signal received at block 1010, a determination can be made whether to use (or how to weight) the distance estimate implied by the ToF of the positioning signal as part of the basis for the UE-side determination of the positioning of the UE, and the UE-side positioning determination can then proceed accordingly.

[0115] In some implementations, the LOS probability estimate generated at block 1030 may be reported to the LMF to support core network-side determination of the UE's location. In some implementations, the UE may customize its reporting of measurements to the LMF based on the LOS probability estimate generated at block 1030 (e.g., based on whether the wireless link is sufficiently likely to be a LOS link according to the LOS probability estimate).

[0116] Fig.11 is a flow chart of a method 1100 for wireless communication performed by a UE according to one embodiment. Fig.11 The functional components illustrated in one or more of the blocks shown may be implemented by a UE (such as by Figure 8 Executed by hardware and / or software components of UE 702 in the operating environment 800. Fig.13 Example components of a UE are illustrated in FIG, and are described in more detail below.

[0117] At block 1110, functionality includes identifying, at a UE in the RAN, a learning period for training a LOSPM model. Figure 8 In the operating environment 800 of the communication system 700, the UE 702 may identify a learning period for training the LOSPM model implemented in the communication system 700. The means for performing the functionality at block 1110 may include a bus 1305, a processor 1310, a DSP 1320, a wireless communication interface 1330, a memory 1360 and / or other components of the UE, such as Fig.13 exemplified.

[0118] According to aspects of the present disclosure, a learning period may be identified at block 1110 based on a received RRC message or MAC CE or based on a received DCI. In some implementations, the received RRC message, MAC CE, or DCI may indicate a start time of the learning period and may specify a duration of the learning period. In some implementations, the UE may temporarily increase its positioning processing capability during the learning period (e.g., by reallocating processing capability normally used for other purposes).

[0119] At block 1120, the functionality includes determining assistance data to be provided to a core network associated with the RAN to facilitate training of the LOSPM model. Figure 8 In the operating environment 800 of FIG. 800 , the UE 702 may determine the auxiliary data to be provided to the core network 700B to facilitate training of the LOSPM model implemented in the communication system 700. According to various aspects of the present disclosure, the auxiliary data to be provided to the core network may include any or all of the port ID, panel ID, beamforming information, UE orientation information, Rx-Tx turnaround time, and group delay information. The means for performing the functionality at block 1120 may include the bus 1305, the processor 1310, the DSP 1320, the wireless communication interface 1330, the memory 1360, and / or other components of the UE, such as Fig.13 exemplified.

[0120] At block 1130, functionality includes providing assistance data to the core network during a learning period. Figure 8 In the operating environment 800 of FIG. 1 , the UE 702 may provide the core network 700B with the assistance data determined at block 1120 during the learning period identified at block 1110. The means for performing the functionality at block 1130 may include the bus 1305, the processor 1310, the DSP 1320, the wireless communication interface 1330, the memory 1360 and / or other components of the UE, such as Fig.13 exemplified.

[0121] At block 1140, functionality includes discontinuing provision of assistance data to the core network at the end of the learning period. Figure 8 In the operating environment 800 of , UE 702 may interrupt the provision of assistance data to core network 700B at the end of the learning period identified at block 1110. The components for performing the functionality at block 1140 may include bus 1305, processor 1310, DSP 1320, wireless communication interface 1330, memory 1360 and / or other components of the UE, such as Fig.13 exemplified.

[0122] Fig.12 is a flow chart of a method 1200 for communicating by a LMF of a core network of a RAN according to an embodiment. Fig.12 Functional components illustrated in one or more of the illustrated blocks may be implemented by a computer system (such as a Figure 8 The hardware and / or software components of the LMF 704 in the operating environment 800 are executed. Fig.14 Example components of an example computer system are illustrated in FIG. 4 and described in more detail below.

[0123] At block 1210, functionality includes determining LOS probability map parameters for a LOS probability map region associated with a TRP in the RAN based on a LOS probability model. Figure 8 In the operating environment 800 of FIG. 1 , the LMF 704 may determine a LOS parameter set 810 associated with a TRP in the RAN 700A based on a LOS probability model. The means for performing the functionality at block 1210 may include a bus 1405, a processor 1410, a storage device 1425, a communication subsystem 1430, a memory 1435, and / or other components of a computing system, such as Fig.14 exemplified.

[0124] In some implementations, the LOS probability map parameters may include vertex coordinates of a LOS probability map region. In some implementations, the LOS probability map parameters may include a probability function for a LOS probability map region. In some implementations, a coarse position estimate for the UE may be determined, and a LOS probability map region may be identified based on the coarse position estimate for the UE.

[0125] At block 1220, the functionality includes transmitting LOS probability map parameters to a UE in the RAN. Figure 8 In the operating environment 800 of FIG. 800 , the LMF 704 may transmit the LOS parameter set 810 to the UE 702. The means for performing the functionality at block 1220 may include the bus 1405, the processor 1410, the storage device 1425, the communication subsystem 1430, the memory 1435, and / or other components of the computing system, such as Fig.14 In some implementations, a LOS probability map region can be identified based on a coarse position estimate for the UE, and LOS probability map parameters for the LOS probability map region can be transmitted to the UE in response to identifying the LOS probability map region.

[0126] At block 1230, the functionality includes receiving feedback associated with a LOS probability map region from a UE. Figure 8 In the operating environment 800 of FIG. 800 , LMF 704 may receive feedback (not shown) from UE 702. The components for performing the functionality at block 1230 may include bus 1405, processor 1410, storage device 1425, communication subsystem 1430, memory 1435, and / or other components of the computing system, such as Fig.14 In some implementations, the feedback may indicate a location within the LOS probability map area and a LOS probability estimate for the location. In some implementations, the feedback may include multipath information associated with a positioning reference signal (PRS) sent by the TRP.

[0127] At block 1240, the functionality includes training a LOS probability model based on the feedback. Figure 8 In the operating environment 800 of FIG. 12 , the LMF 704 may train a LOS probability model based on feedback received from the UE 702, based on which the LMF determines the LOSPM parameter set 810 that it transmits to the UE 702 at block 1220. The means for performing the functionality at block 1240 may include the bus 1405, the processor 1410, the storage device 1425, the communication subsystem 1430, the memory 1435, and / or other components of the computing system, such as Fig.14 In some implementations, the probability function can be updated based on the feedback.

[0128] According to aspects of the present disclosure, assistance data may be received from a UE, and a LOS probability model may be trained based on the assistance data and feedback. In some implementations, a learning period for the LOS probability model may be initiated, and assistance data may be received from the UE during the learning period. In some implementations, the assistance data may include at least one of a port ID, a panel ID, beamforming information, UE orientation information, Rx-Tx turnaround time, and group delay information.

[0129] Fig.13 is as described above (for example, in conjunction with Figure 1 to Figure 2 , Figures 7 and 8 and / or Figure 10 to Figure 11 ) is a block diagram of an embodiment of the UE 1300 used as described above. For example, the UE 1300 may represent Figure 1 and Figure 2 UE 105 and / or Figure 7 and Figure 8 UE 702 in, and / or executable Fig.10 and Fig.11 One or more of the functions of the method shown in FIG. Fig.13 It is intended only to provide a generalized illustration of various components, any or all of which may be utilized as appropriate. It may be noted that in some instances, Fig.13 The illustrated components may be localized as a single physical device and / or distributed among various networked devices that may be located at different physical locations. In addition, as previously noted, the functionality of the UE discussed in the previously described embodiments may be provided by Fig.13 The invention may be executed by one or more of the illustrated hardware and / or software components.

[0130] UE 1300 is shown as including hardware elements that may be electrically coupled via bus 1305 (or may communicate in other ways as appropriate). The hardware elements may include a processor 1310, which may include, but is not limited to, one or more general-purpose processors (e.g., application processors), one or more special-purpose processors (such as digital signal processor (DSP) chips, graphics acceleration processors, application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), etc.), and / or other processing structures or components. Processor 1310 may include one or more processing units, which may be housed in a single integrated circuit (IC) or multiple ICs. Fig.13 As shown, some embodiments may have a separate DSP 1320, depending on the desired functionality. Position determination and / or other determinations based on wireless communication may be provided in the processor 1310 and / or the wireless communication interface 1330 (discussed below). The UE 1300 may also include: one or more input devices 1370, which may include but are not limited to one or more keyboards, touch screens, touch pads, microphones, buttons, dials, switches, etc.; and one or more output devices 1315, which may include but are not limited to one or more displays (e.g., touch screens), light emitting diodes (LEDs), speakers, etc.

[0131] UE 1300 may also include a wireless communication interface 1330, which may include but is not limited to a modem, a network card, an infrared communication device, a wireless communication device and / or a chipset (such as Device, IEEE 802.11 device, IEEE 802.15.4 device, Wi-Fi device, WiMAX device, WAN device and / or various cellular devices, etc.), etc., which can enable UE 1300 to communicate with other devices as described in the above embodiments. The wireless communication interface 1330 can allow the use of the TRP of the network, for example, via eNB, gNB, ng-eNB, access point, various base stations and / or other access node types, and / or other network components, computer systems, and / or any other electronic device communicatively coupled to the TRP to communicate (e.g., send and receive) data and signaling, as described herein. Communication can be performed via one or more wireless communication antennas 1332 that transmit and / or receive wireless signals 1334. According to some embodiments, the wireless communication antenna 1332 may include multiple discrete antennas, antenna arrays, or any combination thereof. The antenna 1332 may be able to use beams (e.g., Tx beams and Rx beams) to send and receive wireless signals. Beamforming may be performed using digital and / or analog beamforming techniques with corresponding digital and / or analog circuitry. The wireless communication interface 1330 may include such circuitry.

[0132] Depending on the desired functionality, the wireless communication interface 1330 may include separate receivers and transmitters, or any combination of transceivers, transmitters, and / or receivers to communicate with base stations (e.g., ng-eNBs and gNBs) and other terrestrial transceivers (such as wireless devices and access points). UE 1300 may communicate with different data networks, which may include various network types. For example, the WWAN may be a CDMA network, a time division multiple access (TDMA) network, a frequency division multiple access (FDMA) network, an orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) network, a single carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) network, a WiMAX (IEEE 802.16) network, etc. A CDMA network may implement one or more RATs, such as WCDMA, etc. Includes IS-95, IS-2000, and / or IS-856 standards. A TDMA network may implement GSM, Digital Advanced Mobile Phone System (D-AMPS), or some other RAT. An OFDMA network may employ LTE, Advanced LTE, 5G NR, and so on. 5G NR, LTE, Advanced LTE, GSM, and WCDMA are described in documents from 3GPP. Described in documents from an organization named "3rd Generation Partnership Project 2" (3GPP2). 3GPP and 3GPP2 documents are publicly available. A wireless local area network (WLAN) may also be an IEEE 802.11x network, and a wireless personal area network (WPAN) may be a Bluetooth network, IEEE 802.15x, or some other type of network. The techniques described herein may also be used for any combination of WWAN, WLAN, and / or WPAN.

[0133] UE 1300 may also include sensors 1340. Sensors 1340 may include, but are not limited to, one or more inertial sensors and / or other sensors (e.g., accelerometers, gyroscopes, cameras, magnetometers, altimeters, microphones, proximity sensors, light sensors, barometers, etc.), some of which may be used to obtain positioning-related measurements and / or other information.

[0134] Embodiments of UE 1300 may also include a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receiver 1380 that is capable of receiving signals 1384 from one or more GNSS satellites using antenna 1382 (which may be the same as antenna 1332). Positioning based on GNSS signal measurements may be used to supplement and / or incorporate the techniques described herein. GNSS receiver 1380 may extract the location of UE 1300 using conventional techniques from GNSS satellites of GNSS systems such as Global Positioning System (GPS), Galileo, GLONASS, Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS) covering Japan, IRNSS covering India, BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) covering China, etc. In addition, the GNSS receiver 1380 may be used for various augmentation systems (e.g., 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, such as the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS), the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS), the Multifunction Satellite Augmentation System (MSAS), and the Geographic Augmentation Navigation System (GAGAN), among others.

[0135] It may be pointed out that although Fig.13 1380 is illustrated as a different component, but the embodiments are not limited to this. As used herein, the term "GNSS receiver" may include hardware and / or software components configured to obtain GNSS measurements (measurements from GNSS satellites). Therefore, in some embodiments, the GNSS receiver may include (as software) a measurement engine executed by one or more processors (such as processor 1310, DSP 1320 and / or a processor within wireless communication interface 1330 (for example, in a modem)). The GNSS receiver may also optionally include a positioning engine that can use the GNSS measurements from the measurement engine to determine the position of the GNSS receiver using an extended Kalman filter (EKF), a weighted least squares method (WLS), a hatch filter, a particle filter, etc. The positioning engine may also be executed by one or more processors such as processor 1310 or DSP 1320.

[0136] UE 1300 may also include and / or communicate with memory 1360. Memory 1360 may include, but is not limited to, local and / or network accessible storage, disk drives, drive arrays, optical storage devices, solid-state storage devices such as random access memory (RAM) and / or read-only memory (ROM), which may be programmable, flash-updatable, etc. Such storage devices may be configured to implement any suitable data storage, including, but not limited to, various file systems, database structures, etc.

[0137] The memory 1360 of the UE 1300 may also include software elements ( Fig.13 1300), including an operating system, device drivers, executable libraries, and / or other code such as one or more applications, which software elements may include computer programs provided by various embodiments and / or may be designed to implement methods provided by other embodiments and / or configure systems provided by other embodiments, as described herein. By way of example only, one or more procedures described with respect to the methods discussed above may be implemented as code and / or instructions in memory 1360 that can be executed by UE 1300 (and / or processor 1310 or DSP 1320 within UE 1300). Then, in some embodiments, such code and / or instructions may be used to configure and / or adapt a general purpose computer (or other device) to perform one or more operations according to the described methods.

[0138] Fig.14 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a computer system 1400 that may be used, in whole or in part, to provide one or more network components (e.g., Figure 1 According to various aspects of the present disclosure, the computer system 1400 may be used to implement Figure 7 and Figure 8 LMF 704, and / or executable Fig.12 One or more of the functions of the method shown in FIG. Fig.14 It is intended only to provide a generalized illustration of the various components, any or all of which may be utilized as appropriate. Fig.14 The broad illustrations show how various system elements can be implemented in a relatively separate or relatively more integrated manner. Fig.14 The illustrated components may be localized to a single device and / or distributed among various networked devices that may be located at different geographical locations.

[0139] The computer system 1400 is shown as including hardware elements that can be electrically coupled via a bus 1405 (or can communicate in other ways as appropriate). The hardware elements may include a processor 1410, which may include but is not limited to one or more general-purpose processors, one or more special-purpose processors (such as digital signal processing chips, graphics acceleration processors, etc.) and / or other processing structures, which can be configured to perform one or more of the methods described herein. The computer system 1400 may also include one or more input devices 1415, which may include but are not limited to a mouse, a keyboard, a camera, a microphone, etc.; and one or more output devices 1420, which may include but are not limited to a display device, a printer, etc.

[0140] The computer system 1400 may also include (and / or communicate with) one or more non-transitory storage devices 1425, which may include, but are not limited to, local and / or network accessible storage, and / or may include, but are not limited to, disk drives, drive arrays, optical storage devices, solid-state storage devices such as RAM and / or ROM, which may be programmable, flash-updatable, and the like. Such storage devices may be configured to implement any suitable data storage, including, but not limited to, various file systems, database structures, and the like. Such data storage may include databases and / or other data structures for storing and managing messages and / or other information to be transmitted to one or more devices via the hub, as described herein.

[0141] The computer system 1400 may also include a communication subsystem 1430, which may include wireless communication technologies managed and controlled by a wireless communication interface 1433, as well as wired technologies (such as Ethernet, coaxial communication, universal serial bus (USB), etc.). The wireless communication interface 1433 may include one or more wireless transceivers, which may transmit and receive wireless signals 1455 (e.g., signals according to 5G NR or LTE) via a wireless antenna 1450. Therefore, the communication subsystem 1430 may include a modem, a network card (wireless or wired), an infrared communication device, a wireless communication device, and / or a chipset, etc., which may enable the computer system 1400 to communicate with any device on the corresponding network (including user equipment (UE), base station and / or other TRP, and / or any other electronic device described herein) on any or all of the communication networks described herein. Therefore, the communication subsystem 1430 can be used to receive and transmit data, as described in the embodiments of this article.

[0142] In many embodiments, the computer system 1400 will also include a working memory 1435, which may include a RAM or ROM device, as described above. The software elements shown as being located within the working memory 1435 may include an operating system 1440, device drivers, executable libraries, and / or other code such as one or more applications 1445, which may include computer programs provided by various embodiments, and / or may be designed to implement methods provided by other embodiments and / or configure systems provided by other embodiments, as described herein. By way of example only, one or more of the procedures described with respect to the methods discussed above may be implemented as code and / or instructions that can be executed by a computer (and / or a processor within a computer); then, in one aspect, such code and / or instructions may be used to configure and / or adapt a general purpose computer (or other device) to perform one or more operations according to the described methods.

[0143] The set of these instructions and / or codes may be stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium (such as the storage device 1425 described above). In some cases, the storage medium may be incorporated into a computer system such as computer system 1400. In other embodiments, the storage medium may be separate from the computer system (e.g., removable media such as an optical disk), and / or may be provided in the form of an installation package so that the storage medium can be used to program, configure, and / or adapt a general-purpose computer using the instructions / code stored thereon. These instructions may take the form of executable code that can be executed by computer system 1400, and / or may take the form of source code and / or installable code that, when compiled and / or installed on computer system 1400 (e.g., using any of a variety of commonly available compilers, installers, compression / decompression utilities, etc.), takes the form of executable code.

[0144] It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that substantial modifications may be made according to specific requirements. For example, customized hardware may also be used, and / or specific elements may be implemented in hardware, software (including portable software, such as applets, etc.), or both. In addition, connections to other computing devices such as network input / output devices may be employed.

[0145] With reference to the accompanying drawings, components that may include memory may include non-transient machine-readable media. As used herein, the terms "machine-readable medium" and "computer-readable medium" refer to any storage medium that participates in providing data that enables a machine to operate in a particular manner. In the embodiments provided above, various machine-readable media may be involved when providing instructions / codes to a processor and / or other devices for execution. Additionally or alternatively, machine-readable media may be used to store and / or carry such instructions / codes. In many specific implementations, computer-readable media are physical and / or tangible storage media. Such media may take many forms, including but not limited to non-volatile media and volatile media. Common forms of computer-readable media include, for example: magnetic and / or optical media, any other physical media with hole patterns, RAM, programmable ROM (PROM), erasable PROM (EPROM), FLASH-EPROM, any other memory chip or memory box, or any other medium from which a computer can read instructions and / or codes.

[0146] The methods, systems and devices discussed herein are examples. Various embodiments may omit, replace or add various procedures or components as appropriate. For example, the features described in certain embodiments may be combined in various other embodiments. Different aspects and elements of the embodiments may be combined in a similar manner. The various components of the drawings provided herein may be embodied in hardware and / or software. In addition, technology may evolve, and therefore many elements are examples, which do not limit the scope of the present disclosure to those specific examples.

[0147] It turns out that it is convenient at times to refer to such signals as bits, information, values, elements, symbols, characters, variables, terms, numbers, digital symbols, and the like, primarily for reasons of common usage. However, it should be understood that all of these or similar terms should be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and are merely convenient labels. Unless otherwise specifically stated, as is apparent from the above discussion, it should be understood that throughout this specification, discussions utilizing terms such as "processing," "computing," "calculating," "determining," "ascertaining," "identifying," "correlating," "measuring," "performing," and the like refer to the actions or processes of a particular device such as a special-purpose computer or similar special-purpose electronic computing device. Thus, in the context of this specification, a special-purpose computer or similar special-purpose electronic computing device is capable of manipulating or transforming signals, typically represented as physical, electronic, electrical, or magnetic quantities in a memory, register, or other information storage device, a transmitting device, or a display device of the special-purpose computer or similar special-purpose electronic computing device.

[0148] As used herein, the terms "and" and "or" may include multiple meanings that are also intended to depend at least in part on the context in which such terms are used. Generally, "or", if used in association with a list, such as A, B, or C, is intended to mean A, B, and C (inclusive meanings are used here) as well as A, B, or C (exclusive meanings are used here). In addition, as used herein, the term "one or more" may be used to describe any feature, structure, or characteristic in the singular form, or may be used to describe a certain combination of features, structures, or characteristics. However, it should be noted that this is merely an illustrative example, and the subject matter claimed is not limited to this example. In addition, the term "at least one of...", if used in association with a list, such as A, B, or C, may be interpreted to mean any combination of A, B, and / or C, such as A, AB, AA, AAB, AABBCCC, etc.

[0149] Several embodiments have been described, and various modifications, alternative configurations, and equivalents may be used without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. For example, the above elements may be components of a larger system, wherein other rules may take precedence over the application of the various embodiments or otherwise modify the application of the various embodiments. In addition, multiple steps may be performed before, during, or after considering the above elements. Accordingly, the above description does not limit the scope of the present disclosure.

[0150] In view of this description, various embodiments may include different combinations of features. Specific implementation examples are described in the following numbered clauses:

[0151] Clause 1. A method for wireless communication by a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: receiving a positioning signal via a wireless link between the UE and a transmit / receive point (TRP) of a radio access network (RAN); identifying a line-of-sight (LOS) probability function associated with the wireless link based on LOS probability map information provided by a location management function (LMF) of a core network of the RAN; and using the LOS probability function to generate a LOS probability estimate for the wireless link.

[0152] Clause 2. The method of clause 1, wherein the LOS probability function corresponds to a LOS probability map region associated with the wireless link, wherein the LOS probability map information indicates vertex coordinates of the LOS probability map region.

[0153] Clause 3. A method according to any one of clauses 1 to 2, comprising: obtaining the LOS probability map information from a received non-access stratum (NAS) message.

[0154] Clause 4. A method as described in any of clauses 1 to 2, comprising: obtaining the LOS probability map information from a received radio resource control (RRC) message.

[0155] Clause 5. A method as described in any of clauses 1 to 2, comprising: obtaining the LOS probability map information from a received medium access control (MAC) control element (CE).

[0156] Clause 6. The method according to any one of clauses 1 to 5, comprising: identifying the LOS probability function from a plurality of LOS probability functions associated with the wireless link, wherein each of the plurality of LOS probability functions corresponds to a corresponding one of a plurality of LOS probability map regions associated with the wireless link.

[0157] Clause 7. The method according to Clause 6 comprises: determining a position estimate for the UE; identifying a LOS probability map area from the multiple LOS probability map areas based on the position estimate; and identifying one LOS probability function among the multiple LOS probability functions corresponding to the identified LOS probability map area as the LOS probability function.

[0158] Clause 8. The method according to Clause 6 comprises: determining a position estimate for the UE; identifying two or more LOS probability map areas from the multiple LOS probability map areas based on the position estimate; identifying two or more LOS probability functions including a corresponding LOS probability function for each LOS probability map area in the two or more LOS probability map areas; and using the two or more LOS probability functions to generate the LOS probability estimate.

[0159] Clause 9. A method as described in any of clauses 1 to 8, comprising: determining the location of the UE based on the LOS probability estimate.

[0160] Clause 10. The method of any one of clauses 1 to 9, comprising: reporting the LOS probability estimate to the LMF.

[0161] Clause 11. A user equipment (UE), comprising: a transceiver; a memory; and one or more processors, the one or more processors being communicatively coupled to the transceiver and the memory, wherein the one or more processors are configured to: receive a positioning signal via a wireless link between the UE and a transmit / receive point (TRP) of a radio access network (RAN); identify a line of sight (LOS) probability function associated with the wireless link based on LOS probability map information provided by a location management function (LMF) of a core network of the RAN; and generate a LOS probability estimate for the wireless link using the LOS probability function.

[0162] Clause 12. The UE of clause 11, wherein the LOS probability function corresponds to a LOS probability map region associated with the wireless link, wherein the LOS probability map information indicates vertex coordinates of the LOS probability map region.

[0163] Clause 13. A UE as described in any of clauses 11 to 12, wherein the one or more processors are configured to obtain the LOS probability map information from a received non-access stratum (NAS) message.

[0164] Clause 14. A UE as described in any of clauses 11 to 12, wherein the one or more processors are configured to obtain the LOS probability map information from a received radio resource control (RRC) message.

[0165] Clause 15. A UE as described in any of clauses 11 to 12, wherein the one or more processors are configured to: obtain the LOS probability map information from a received medium access control (MAC) control element (CE).

[0166] Clause 16. A UE according to any one of clauses 11 to 15, wherein the one or more processors are configured to: identify the LOS probability function from a plurality of LOS probability functions associated with the wireless link, wherein each of the plurality of LOS probability functions corresponds to a corresponding one of a plurality of LOS probability map areas associated with the wireless link.

[0167] Clause 17. A UE according to clause 16, wherein the one or more processors are configured to: determine a position estimate for the UE; identify a LOS probability map area from the multiple LOS probability map areas based on the position estimate; and identify one of the multiple LOS probability functions corresponding to the identified LOS probability map area as the LOS probability function.

[0168] Clause 18. A UE according to Clause 16, wherein the one or more processors are configured to: determine a position estimate for the UE; identify two or more LOS probability map areas from the multiple LOS probability map areas based on the position estimate; identify two or more LOS probability functions including a corresponding LOS probability function for each LOS probability map area in the two or more LOS probability map areas; and use the two or more LOS probability functions to generate the LOS probability estimate.

[0169] Clause 19. A UE as described in any of clauses 11 to 18, wherein the one or more processors are configured to: determine the location of the UE based on the LOS probability estimate.

[0170] Clause 20. A UE as described in any of clauses 11 to 19, wherein the one or more processors are configured to: report the LOS probability estimate to the LMF.

[0171] Clause 21. A method for communicating through a location management function (LMF) of a core network of a radio access network (RAN), the method comprising: determining, based on a line of sight (LOS) probability model, LOS probability map parameters for a LOS probability map area associated with a transmit / receive point (TRP) of the RAN; transmitting the LOS probability map parameters to a user equipment (UE) in the RAN; receiving feedback associated with the LOS probability map area from the UE; and training the LOS probability model based on the feedback.

[0172] Clause 22. The method of clause 21, wherein the LOS probability map parameters include vertex coordinates of the LOS probability map region.

[0173] Clause 23. The method of any one of clauses 21 to 22, wherein the LOS probability map parameters comprise a probability function for a region of the LOS probability map.

[0174] Clause 24. The method of clause 23, comprising: updating the probability function based on the feedback.

[0175] Clause 25. The method of clause 24, wherein the feedback indicates a location within the LOS probability map area and a LOS probability estimate for the location.

[0176] Clause 26. A method according to any one of clauses 21 to 25, wherein the feedback includes multipath information associated with a positioning reference signal (PRS) sent by the TRP.

[0177] Clause 27. A method according to any one of clauses 21 to 26, comprising: determining a coarse position estimate for the UE; identifying the LOS probability map area based on the coarse position estimate for the UE; and transmitting the LOS probability map parameters for the LOS probability map area to the UE in response to identifying the LOS probability map area.

[0178] Clause 28. A method as described in any of clauses 21 to 27, comprising: receiving assistance data from the UE; and training the LOS probability model based on the assistance data and the feedback.

[0179] Clause 29. The method of clause 28, comprising: initiating a learning period for a LOS probability model; and receiving the assistance data from the UE during the learning period.

[0180] Clause 30. A method according to any one of clauses 28 to 29, wherein the auxiliary data includes at least one of a port identifier (ID), a panel ID, beamforming information, UE orientation information, receive-transmit (Rx-Tx) turnaround time and group delay information.

[0181] Clause 31. An apparatus for a location management function (LMF) of a core network of a radio access network (RAN), the apparatus comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory, the at least one memory being communicatively coupled to the at least one processor and storing processor-readable code, the processor-readable code being configured, when executed by the at least one processor, to: determine, based on a line-of-sight (LOS) probability model, LOS probability map parameters for a LOS probability map area associated with a transmit / receive point (TRP) of the RAN; transmit the LOS probability map parameters to a user equipment (UE) in the RAN; receive feedback associated with the LOS probability map area from the UE; and train the LOS probability model based on the feedback.

[0182] Clause 32. The apparatus of clause 31, wherein the LOS probability map parameters comprise vertex coordinates of the LOS probability map region.

[0183] Clause 33. The apparatus of any of clauses 31 to 32, wherein the LOS probability map parameters comprise a probability function for a region of the LOS probability map.

[0184] Clause 34. An apparatus as described in clause 33, wherein the at least one memory stores processor readable code, which when executed by the at least one processor is configured to update the probability function based on the feedback.

[0185] Clause 35. The apparatus of clause 34, wherein the feedback indicates a location within the LOS probability map area and a LOS probability estimate for the location.

[0186] Clause 36. An apparatus according to any one of clauses 31 to 35, wherein the feedback includes multipath information associated with a positioning reference signal (PRS) sent by the TRP.

[0187] Clause 37. An apparatus according to any one of clauses 31 to 36, wherein the at least one memory stores processor-readable code, which, when executed by the at least one processor, is configured to: determine a coarse position estimate for the UE; identify the LOS probability map area based on the coarse position estimate for the UE; and transmit the LOS probability map parameters for the LOS probability map area to the UE in response to identifying the LOS probability map area.

[0188] Clause 38. An apparatus according to any one of clauses 31 to 37, wherein the at least one memory stores processor-readable code, which, when executed by the at least one processor, is configured to: receive assistance data from the UE; and train the LOS probability model based on the assistance data and the feedback.

[0189] Clause 39. An apparatus according to clause requirement 38, wherein the at least one memory stores processor-readable code, which, when executed by the at least one processor, is configured to: initiate a learning period for a LOS probability model; and receive the assistance data from the UE during the learning period.

[0190] Clause 40. An apparatus according to any one of clauses 38 to 39, wherein the auxiliary data includes at least one of a port identifier (ID), a panel ID, beamforming information, UE orientation information, receive-transmit (Rx-Tx) turnaround time, and group delay information.

Claims

1. A method for wireless communication by a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: receiving a positioning signal via a wireless link between the UE and a transmission / reception point (TRP) of a radio access network (RAN); identifying a line of sight (LOS) probability function associated with the radio link based on LOS probability map information provided by a location management function (LMF) of a core network of the RAN; as well as A LOS probability estimate for the wireless link is generated using the LOS probability function. 2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the LOS probability function corresponds to a LOS probability map region associated with the wireless link, wherein the LOS probability map information indicates vertex coordinates of the LOS probability map region.

3. The method according to claim 1, comprising: The LOS probability map information is obtained from a received non-access stratum (NAS) message.

4. The method according to claim 1, comprising: The LOS probability map information is obtained from a received radio resource control (RRC) message.

5. The method according to claim 1, comprising: The LOS probability map information is obtained from a received Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE).

6. The method according to claim 1, comprising: The LOS probability function is identified from a plurality of LOS probability functions associated with the wireless link, wherein each of the plurality of LOS probability functions corresponds to a respective one of a plurality of LOS probability map regions associated with the wireless link.

7. The method according to claim 6, comprising: determining a position estimate for the UE; identifying a LOS probability map region from among the plurality of LOS probability map regions based on the position estimate; as well as One of the plurality of LOS probability functions that corresponds to the identified LOS probability map region is identified as the LOS probability function.

8. The method according to claim 6, comprising: determining a position estimate for the UE; identifying two or more LOS probability map regions from the plurality of LOS probability map regions based on the position estimate; identifying two or more LOS probability functions including a corresponding LOS probability function for each of the two or more LOS probability map regions; and The LOS probability estimate is generated using the two or more LOS probability functions.

9. The method according to claim 1, comprising: A location of the UE is determined based on the LOS probability estimate.

10. The method according to claim 1, comprising: The LOS probability estimate is reported to the LMF.

11. A user equipment (UE), the user equipment (UE) comprising: Transceiver; Memory; and one or more processors communicatively coupled to the transceiver and the memory, wherein the one or more processors are configured to: receiving a positioning signal via a wireless link between the UE and a transmission / reception point (TRP) of a radio access network (RAN); identifying a line of sight (LOS) probability function associated with the radio link based on LOS probability map information provided by a location management function (LMF) of a core network of the RAN; as well as A LOS probability estimate for the wireless link is generated using the LOS probability function. 12 . The UE of claim 11 , wherein the LOS probability function corresponds to a LOS probability map region associated with the wireless link, wherein the LOS probability map information indicates vertex coordinates of the LOS probability map region.

13. The UE of claim 11, wherein the one or more processors are configured to: The LOS probability map information is obtained from a received non-access stratum (NAS) message.

14. The UE of claim 11, wherein the one or more processors are configured to: The LOS probability map information is obtained from a received radio resource control (RRC) message.

15. The UE of claim 11, wherein the one or more processors are configured to obtain the LOS probability map information from a received medium access control (MAC) control element (CE).

16. The UE of claim 11, wherein the one or more processors are configured to: identify the LOS probability function from a plurality of LOS probability functions associated with the wireless link, wherein each of the plurality of LOS probability functions corresponds to a corresponding one of a plurality of LOS probability map regions associated with the wireless link.

17. The UE of claim 16, wherein the one or more processors are configured to: determining a position estimate for the UE; identifying a LOS probability map region from among the plurality of LOS probability map regions based on the position estimate; and One of the plurality of LOS probability functions that corresponds to the identified LOS probability map region is identified as the LOS probability function.

18. The UE of claim 16, wherein the one or more processors are configured to: determining a position estimate for the UE; identifying two or more LOS probability map regions from the plurality of LOS probability map regions based on the position estimate; identifying two or more LOS probability functions including a corresponding LOS probability function for each of the two or more LOS probability map regions; and The LOS probability estimate is generated using the two or more LOS probability functions.

19. The UE of claim 11, wherein the one or more processors are configured to: A location of the UE is determined based on the LOS probability estimate.

20. The UE of claim 11, wherein the one or more processors are configured to: The LOS probability estimate is reported to the LMF.

21. A method for communicating via a location management function (LMF) of a core network of a radio access network (RAN), the method comprising: determining, based on a line of sight (LOS) probability model, LOS probability map parameters for a LOS probability map region associated with a transmit / receive point (TRP) of the RAN; transmitting the LOS probability map parameters to a user equipment (UE) in the RAN; receiving feedback associated with the LOS probability map region from the UE; as well as The LOS probability model is trained based on the feedback.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the LOS probability map parameters include vertex coordinates of the LOS probability map region.

23. The method of claim 21, wherein the LOS probability map parameters include probability functions for regions of the LOS probability map.

24. The method according to claim 23, comprising: The probability function is updated based on the feedback.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the feedback indicates: A location within the LOS probability map; and A LOS probability estimate for the location.

26. The method of claim 21, wherein the feedback includes multipath information associated with a positioning reference signal (PRS) sent by the TRP.

27. The method of claim 21, comprising: determining a coarse position estimate for the UE; identifying the LOS probability map region based on the coarse position estimate for the UE; as well as The LOS probability map parameters for the LOS probability map region are transmitted to the UE in response to identifying the LOS probability map region.

28. The method of claim 21, comprising: receiving assistance data from the UE; as well as The LOS probability model is trained based on the auxiliary data and the feedback.

29. The method according to claim 28, comprising: initiating a learning period for the LOS probability model; as well as The assistance data is received from the UE during the learning period.

30. The method of claim 28, wherein the auxiliary data comprises at least one of: Port identifier (ID); Panel ID; beamforming information; UE orientation information; Receive-transmit (Rx-Tx) turnaround time; and Group delay information.

31. An apparatus for a location management function (LMF) of a core network of a radio access network (RAN), the apparatus comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory communicatively coupled to the at least one processor and storing processor-readable code that, when executed by the at least one processor, is configured to: determining, based on a line of sight (LOS) probability model, LOS probability map parameters for a LOS probability map region associated with a transmit / receive point (TRP) of the RAN; transmitting the LOS probability map parameters to a user equipment (UE) in the RAN; receiving feedback associated with the LOS probability map region from the UE; as well as The LOS probability model is trained based on the feedback.

32. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein the LOS probability map parameters include vertex coordinates of the LOS probability map region.

33. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein the LOS probability map parameters comprise a probability function for a region of the LOS probability map.

34. The apparatus of claim 33, wherein the at least one memory stores processor-readable code that, when executed by the at least one processor, is configured to update the probability function based on the feedback.

35. The apparatus of claim 34, wherein the feedback indicates: A location within the LOS probability map; and A LOS probability estimate for the location.

36. An apparatus according to claim 31, wherein the feedback includes multipath information associated with a positioning reference signal (PRS) sent by the TRP.

37. The apparatus of claim 31 , wherein the at least one memory stores processor readable code that, when executed by the at least one processor, is configured to: determining a coarse position estimate for the UE; identifying the LOS probability map region based on the coarse position estimate for the UE; as well as The LOS probability map parameters for the LOS probability map region are transmitted to the UE in response to identifying the LOS probability map region.

38. The apparatus of claim 31 , wherein the at least one memory stores processor readable code that, when executed by the at least one processor, is configured to: receiving assistance data from the UE; and The LOS probability model is trained based on the auxiliary data and the feedback.

39. The apparatus of claim 38, wherein the at least one memory stores processor readable code that, when executed by the at least one processor, is configured to: initiating a learning period for the LOS probability model; and The assistance data is received from the UE during the learning period.

40. The apparatus of claim 38, wherein the assistance data comprises at least one of: Port identifier (ID); Panel ID; beamforming information; UE orientation information; Receive-transmit (Rx-Tx) turnaround time; and Group delay information.

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