Signaling of measurement row priority criteria in radio frequency fingerprinting positioning based on user equipment

Abstract

Techniques for UE-based wireless positioning are disclosed. In an aspect, a user equipment (UE) may obtain a first set of measurements of signals from a first set of transmitting / receiving entities (TREs). The UE may select a second set of TREs from the first set of TREs based on criteria for selecting and / or prioritizing TREs for radio frequency fingerprint (RFFP)-based positioning. The UE may obtain a second set of measurements from the second set of TREs, the second set of measurements including RFFP measurements. The UE may estimate a location of the UE based on the measured second set. In an aspect, the UE may input the second set of measurements into a trained machine learning (ML) model, which outputs an estimated location of the UE. In an aspect, the UE receives the selection / ranking priority criterion and / or the trained ML model from a network node.

Description

Background Art 1. Technical Field

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

[0002] 2. Description of related technologies

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

[0004] The fifth generation (5G) wireless standard, known as New Radio (NR), enables higher data transfer speeds, a greater number of connections, and better coverage, among other improvements. According to the Next Generation Mobile Networks Alliance, the 5G standard is designed to provide higher data rates, more accurate positioning (e.g., based on reference signals for positioning (RS-P), such as downlink, uplink, or sidelink positioning reference signals (PRS)), and other technical enhancements compared to previous standards. These enhancements, along with the use of higher frequency bands, advances in PRS processes and technologies, and high-density deployments of 5G enable high-precision positioning based on 5G. Summary of the invention

[0005] The following presents a simplified summary of the invention related to one or more aspects disclosed herein. Therefore, the following summary of the invention should neither be considered as an exhaustive overview related to all conceived aspects, nor should it be considered to identify key or decisive elements related to all conceived aspects or to delineate the scope associated with any particular aspect. Therefore, the sole purpose of the following summary of the invention is to present certain concepts related to one or more aspects of the mechanisms disclosed herein in a brief form before the detailed embodiments presented below.

[0006] In one aspect, a method for wireless positioning performed by a user equipment (UE) includes: obtaining a first set of measurements of signals from a first set of transmitting / receiving entities (TREs); selecting a second set of TREs from the first set of TREs based on criteria for selecting and / or prioritizing the TREs for radio frequency fingerprint (RFFP) based positioning; obtaining a second set of measurements from the second set of TREs, the second set of measurements including RFFP measurements; and estimating the positioning of the UE based on the second set of measurements.

[0007] In one aspect, a method for wireless positioning performed by a network entity includes: receiving multiple sets of positioning data, each set of positioning data including a geographic location and at least one RFFP measurement associated with the geographic location; training an ML model using the multiple sets of positioning data; and providing the ML model to a UE along with criteria for selecting and / or prioritizing a transmitting / receiving entity (TRE) for RFFP-based positioning.

[0008] In one aspect, a UE comprises: a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor, the at least one processor being communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: obtain a first set of measurements of signals from a first set of TREs via the at least one transceiver; select a second set of TREs from the first set of TREs based on criteria for selecting and / or prioritizing TREs for RFFP-based positioning; obtain a second set of measurements from the second set of TREs via the at least one transceiver, the second set of measurements including RFFP measurements; and estimate the positioning of the UE based on the second set of measurements.

[0009] In one aspect, a network entity includes: a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor, the at least one processor being communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: receive, via the at least one transceiver, multiple sets of positioning data, each set of positioning data including a geographic location and at least one RFFP measurement associated with the geographic location; train an ML model using the multiple sets of positioning data; and provide, via the at least one transceiver, to a UE the ML model and criteria for selecting and / or prioritizing TREs for RFFP-based positioning.

[0010] Other objects and advantages associated with the various aspects disclosed herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art based on the drawings and detailed description. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0011] The accompanying drawings are presented to aid in describing various aspects of the present disclosure and are provided solely for illustration and not limitation of the various aspects.

[0012] Figure 1 An example wireless communication system in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0013] Figure 2A and Figure 2B Example wireless network structures according to aspects of the present disclosure are illustrated.

[0014] Figure 3A , Figure 3B and Figure 3C is a simplified block diagram of several sample aspects of components that may be employed in a user equipment (UE), a base station, and a network entity, respectively, and configured to support communications as taught herein.

[0015] Figure 4A and Figure 4B Portions of a radio frequency fingerprinting (RFFP) according to aspects of the present disclosure are illustrated.

[0016] Figure 5A and Figure 5B Different implementations of RFFP positioning according to aspects of the present disclosure are illustrated.

[0017] Figure 6 is a signaling and event diagram illustrating procedures associated with signaling of measurement prioritization criteria in UE-based RFFP positioning according to aspects of the present disclosure.

[0018] Figure 7 is a flow chart of example processes performed by a UE associated with signaling of measurement prioritization criteria in UE-based RFFP positioning in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure.

[0019] Figure 8 is a flow chart of example processes performed by a network entity associated with signaling of measurement prioritization criteria in UE-based RFFP positioning in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0020] Technology for wireless positioning based on user equipment (UE) is disclosed. In one aspect, the UE may obtain a first set of measurements of signals from a first set of transmit / receive entities (TREs). As used herein, the term transmit / receive entity (TRE) refers to any entity that can transmit and receive RF signals via a downlink (DL), an uplink (UL), a sidelink (SL), or a combination thereof. Examples of TREs include, but are not limited to, transmit / receive points (TRPs) (including base stations) and UEs (including UEs that communicate via sidelink (SL) transmissions, referred to herein as "sidelink UEs" (SL UEs)). The UE may select a second set of TREs from the first set of TREs based on criteria for selecting and / or prioritizing TREs for positioning based on radio frequency fingerprints (RFFPs). The UE may obtain a second set of measurements from the second set of TREs, the second set of measurements including RFFP measurements. The UE may estimate the positioning of the UE based on the second set of measurements. In one aspect, the UE may input the second set of measurements into a trained machine learning (ML) model, which outputs an estimated positioning of the UE. In an aspect, the UE receives the selection / prioritization criteria and / or the trained ML model from a network node.

[0021] Various aspects of the present disclosure are provided in the following description and related drawings for various examples provided for illustrative purposes. Alternative aspects may be designed without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. In addition, well-known elements of the present disclosure will not be described in detail or will be omitted to avoid making the relevant details of the present disclosure difficult to understand.

[0022] The words "exemplary" and / or "example" are used herein to mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration." Any aspect described herein as "exemplary" and / or "example" is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects. Likewise, the term "aspects of the disclosure" does not require that all aspects of the disclosure include the discussed feature, advantage, or mode of operation.

[0023] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that any of a variety of different techniques and methods may be used to represent the information and signals described below. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be mentioned throughout the following description may be represented by voltage, current, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or magnetic particles, light fields or optical particles, or any combination thereof, which depends in part on the specific application, in part on the desired design, in part on the corresponding technology, and so on.

[0024] In addition, many aspects are described in terms of a sequence of actions to be performed by, for example, an element of a computing device. It will be appreciated that the various actions described herein may be performed by a specific circuit (e.g., an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC)), by program instructions executed by one or more processors, or by a combination of the two. In addition, the sequence of actions described herein may be considered to be fully embodied in any form of non-transient computer-readable storage medium, in which a corresponding computer instruction set is stored, which, when executed, will cause or command the associated processor of the device to perform the functionality described herein. Therefore, various aspects of the present disclosure may be embodied in a variety of different forms, all of which have been contemplated to be within the scope of the claimed subject matter. In addition, for each of the various aspects described herein, the corresponding form of any such aspect may be described herein as, for example, "logic configured to perform the described actions".

[0025] As used herein, unless otherwise specified, the terms "user equipment" (UE) and "base station" are not intended to be specific or otherwise limited to any specific radio access technology (RAT). In general, a UE may be any wireless communication device (e.g., a mobile phone, a router, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a consumer asset location device, a wearable device (e.g., a smart watch, glasses, an augmented reality (AR) / virtual reality (VR) head-mounted device, etc.), a vehicle (e.g., a car, a motorcycle, a bicycle, etc.), an Internet of Things (IoT) device, etc.) used by a user to communicate over a wireless communication network. A UE may be mobile or may be stationary (e.g., at certain times) and may communicate with a radio access network (RAN). As used herein, the term "UE" may be interchangeably referred to as an "access terminal" or "AT", "client device", "wireless device", "subscriber device", "subscriber terminal", "subscriber station", "user terminal" or "UT", "mobile device", "mobile terminal", "mobile station" or variations thereof. In general, a UE may communicate with a core network via a RAN, and through the core network, the UE may be connected to external networks such as the Internet and to other UEs. Of course, other mechanisms for the UE to connect to the core network and / or the Internet are also possible, such as through a wired access network, a wireless local area network (WLAN) network (e.g., based on the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 specification, etc.), etc.

[0026] A base station may operate according to one of several RATs to communicate with a UE, depending on the network in which the base station is deployed, and may alternatively be referred to as an access point (AP), a network node, a Node B, an evolved Node B (eNB), a next generation eNB (ng-eNB), a new radio (NR) Node B (also referred to as a gNB or gNodeB), etc. A base station may be primarily used to support wireless access for UEs, including supporting data, voice, and / or signaling connections for supported UEs. In some systems, a base station may provide only edge node signaling functions, while in other systems, a base station may provide additional control and / or network management functions. The communication link by which a UE may transmit a signal to a base station is referred to as an uplink (UL) channel (e.g., a reverse traffic channel, a reverse control channel, an access channel, etc.). The communication link by which a base station may transmit a signal to a UE is referred to as a downlink (DL) or forward link channel (e.g., a paging channel, a control channel, a broadcast channel, a forward traffic channel, etc.). As used herein, the term "traffic channel (TCH)" may refer to an uplink / reverse traffic channel or a downlink / forward traffic channel.

[0027] The term "base station" may refer to a single physical transmit-receive point (TRP) or to multiple physical TRPs that may or may not be co-located. For example, where the term "base station" refers to a single physical TRP, the physical TRP may be an antenna of the base station corresponding to a cell (or several cell sectors) of the base station. Where the term "base station" refers to multiple co-located physical TRPs, the physical TRP may be an antenna array of the base station (e.g., as in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system or where the base station employs beamforming). Where the term "base station" refers to multiple non-co-located physical TRPs, the physical TRP may be a distributed antenna system (DAS) (a network of spatially separated antennas connected to a common source via a transmission medium) or a remote radio head (RRH) (a remote base station connected to a serving base station). Alternatively, the non-co-located physical TRP may be a serving base station that receives measurement reports from a UE and an adjacent base station whose reference radio frequency (RF) signal the UE is measuring. Because, as used herein, a TRP is a point by which a base station transmits and receives wireless signals, references to transmitting from a base station or receiving at a base station should be understood to refer to a specific TRP of a base station.

[0028] In some specific implementations of supporting UE positioning, the base station may not support wireless access for the UE (e.g., may not support data, voice, and / or signaling connections for the UE), but may instead send a reference signal to be measured by the UE to the UE and / or may receive and measure a signal sent by the UE. Such a base station may be referred to as a positioning beacon (e.g., in the case of sending a signal to the UE) and / or as a position measurement unit (e.g., in the case of receiving and measuring a signal from the UE).

[0029] An "RF signal" includes an electromagnetic wave of a given frequency that transmits information through the space between a transmitter and a receiver. As used herein, a transmitter may transmit a single "RF signal" or multiple "RF signals" to a receiver. However, due to the propagation characteristics of RF signals through multipath channels, a receiver may receive multiple "RF signals" corresponding to each transmitted RF signal. The same transmitted RF signal on different paths between a transmitter and a receiver may be referred to as a "multipath" RF signal. As used herein, an RF signal may also be referred to as a "wireless signal" or simply a "signal" where it is clear from the context that the term "signal" refers to a wireless signal or an RF signal.

[0030] Figure 1 An example wireless communication system 100 according to various aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated. The wireless communication system 100 (which may also be referred to as a wireless wide area network (WWAN)) may include various base stations 102 (labeled as "BS") and various UEs 104. The base stations 102 may include macro cell base stations (high power cellular base stations) and / or small cell base stations (low power cellular base stations). In one aspect, the macro cell base stations may include eNBs and / or ng-eNBs (where the wireless communication system 100 corresponds to an LTE network), or gNBs (where the wireless communication system 100 corresponds to an NR network), or a combination of the two, and the small cell base stations may include femto cells, pico cells, micro cells, etc.

[0031] The base stations 102 may collectively form a RAN and interface with a core network 170 (e.g., an evolved packet core (EPC) or a 5G core (5GC)) through a backhaul link 122, and interface with one or more location servers 172 (e.g., a location management function (LMF) or a secure user plane location (SUPL) location platform (SLP)) through the core network 170. The location server 172 may be part of the core network 170 or may be external to the core network 170. The location server 172 may be integrated with the base station 102. The UE 104 may communicate with the location server 172 directly or indirectly. For example, the UE 104 may communicate with the location server 172 via the base station 102 currently serving the UE 104. The UE 104 may also communicate with the location server 172 through another path, such as via an application server (not shown), via another network, such as via a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point (AP) (e.g., the AP 150 described below), and the like. For signaling purposes, communication between UE 104 and location server 172 may be represented as an indirect connection (e.g., through core network 170, etc.) or a direct connection (e.g., as shown via direct connection 128), with intermediate nodes (if any) omitted from the signaling diagram for clarity.

[0032] Among other functions, the base station 102 may also perform functions related to one or more of the following: delivering user data, radio channel encryption and decryption, integrity protection, header compression, mobility control functions (e.g., handover, dual connectivity), inter-cell interference coordination, connection establishment and release, load balancing, distribution of non-access stratum (NAS) messages, NAS node selection, synchronization, RAN sharing, multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS), subscriber and equipment tracking, RAN information management (RIM), paging, positioning, and delivery of warning messages. The base stations 102 may communicate with each other directly or indirectly (e.g., through EPC / 5GC) over a backhaul link 134, which may be wired or wireless.

[0033] Base station 102 may communicate wirelessly with UE 104. Each of base stations 102 may provide communication coverage for a corresponding geographic coverage area 110. In one aspect, one or more cells may be supported by base station 102 in each geographic coverage area 110. A "cell" is a logical communication entity used to communicate with a base station (e.g., via a frequency resource, which is referred to as a carrier frequency, component carrier, carrier, frequency band, etc.), and may be associated with an identifier (e.g., a physical cell identifier (PCI), an enhanced cell identifier (ECI), a virtual cell identifier (VCI), a cell global identifier (CGI), etc.) used to distinguish cells operating via the same or different carrier frequencies. In some cases, different cells may be configured according to different protocol types (e.g., machine type communication (MTC), narrowband IoT (NB-IoT), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), or other protocol types) that may provide access to different types of UEs. Because a cell is supported by a specific base station, the term "cell" may refer to either or both of the logical communication entity and the base station supporting it, depending on the context. In addition, since the TRP is generally the physical transmission point of the cell, the terms "cell" and "TRP" may be used interchangeably. In some cases, the term "cell" may also refer to a geographic coverage area (e.g., a sector) of a base station, as long as a carrier frequency can be detected and used for communications within a portion of the geographic coverage area 110.

[0034] Although the geographic coverage areas 110 of neighboring macrocell base stations 102 may partially overlap (e.g., in a handover region), some of the geographic coverage areas 110 may substantially overlap with the larger geographic coverage areas 110. For example, a small cell base station 102' (labeled "SC" for "small cell") may have a geographic coverage area 110' that substantially overlaps with the geographic coverage areas 110 of one or more macrocell base stations 102. A network that includes both small cell base stations and macrocell base stations may be referred to as a heterogeneous network. A heterogeneous network may also include a home eNB (HeNB), which may provide services to a restricted group called a closed subscriber group (CSG).

[0035] The communication link 120 between the base station 102 and the UE 104 may include uplink (also referred to as a reverse link) transmissions from the UE 104 to the base station 102 and / or downlink (DL) (also referred to as a forward link) transmissions from the base station 102 to the UE 104. The communication link 120 may use MIMO antenna technology, including spatial multiplexing, beamforming, and / or transmit diversity. The communication link 120 may be over one or more carrier frequencies. The allocation of carriers may be asymmetric for the downlink and uplink (e.g., more or fewer carriers may be allocated to the downlink than to the uplink).

[0036] The wireless communication system 100 may also include a WLAN access point (AP) 150 that communicates with a wireless local area network (WLAN) station (STA) 152 in an unlicensed spectrum (e.g., 5 GHz) via a communication link 154. When communicating in the unlicensed spectrum, the WLAN STA 152 and / or the WLAN AP 150 may perform a clear channel assessment (CCA) or a listen before talk (LBT) procedure prior to communication to determine whether a channel is available.

[0037] The small cell base station 102' can operate in licensed and / or unlicensed spectrum. When operating in the unlicensed spectrum, the small cell base station 102' can adopt LTE or NR technology and use the same 5GHz unlicensed spectrum used by the WLAN AP 150. The small cell base station 102' using LTE / 5G in the unlicensed spectrum can improve the coverage of the access network and / or increase the capacity of the access network. NR in the unlicensed spectrum can be referred to as NR-U. LTE in the unlicensed spectrum can be referred to as LTE-U, Licensed Assisted Access (LAA) or MulteFire.

[0038] The wireless communication system 100 may also include a millimeter wave (mmW) base station 180, which can operate at mmW frequencies and / or near mmW frequencies to communicate with UE 182. Extremely high frequency (EHF) is a part of RF in the electromagnetic spectrum. EHF has a range of 30GHz to 300GHz, with a wavelength between 1 mm and 10 mm. The radio waves in this band may be referred to as millimeter waves. Near mmW can be extended downward to a frequency of 3GHz, with a wavelength of 100 mm. The super high frequency (SHF) band extends between 3GHz and 30GHz, and it is also referred to as centimeter waves. Communications using mmW / near mmW radio frequency bands have high path loss and relatively short distances. The mmW base station 180 and the UE 182 can utilize beamforming (transmitting and / or receiving) on ​​the mmW communication link 184 to compensate for the extremely high path loss and short distance. In addition, it should be understood that in an alternative configuration, one or more base stations 102 may also use mmW or near mmW and beamforming for transmission. Therefore, it should be understood that the foregoing illustrations are merely examples and should not be construed as limiting the various aspects disclosed herein.

[0039] Transmit beamforming is a technique for focusing an RF signal in a specific direction. Traditionally, when a network node (e.g., a base station) broadcasts an RF signal, it broadcasts the signal in all directions (omnidirectionally). With transmit beamforming, the network node determines where a given target device (e.g., a UE) is located (relative to the transmitting network node) and projects a stronger downlink RF signal in that specific direction, thereby providing a faster (in terms of data rate) and stronger RF signal to the receiving device. In order to change the directionality of the RF signal when transmitting, the network node can control the phase and relative amplitude of the RF signal at each of the one or more transmitters that broadcast the RF signal. For example, a network node can use an array of antennas (called a "phased array" or "antenna array") that creates RF beams that can be "steered" to point in different directions without actually moving the antennas. Specifically, the RF current from the transmitter is fed to each antenna in the correct phase relationship so that the radio waves from the separate antennas are added together in the desired direction to increase radiation, while canceling out in the undesired direction to suppress radiation.

[0040] The transmit beams can be quasi-co-located, which means that they appear to the receiver (e.g., UE) to have the same parameters, regardless of whether the network node's own transmit antenna is physically co-located. In NR, there are four types of quasi-co-location (QCL) relationships. Specifically, a given type of QCL relationship means that certain parameters about the second reference RF signal on the second beam can be derived based on information about the source reference RF signal on the source beam. Therefore, if the source reference RF signal is QCL type A, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, and delay spread of the second reference RF signal sent on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL type B, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift and Doppler spread of the second reference RF signal sent on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL type C, the receiver can use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift and average delay of the second reference RF signal sent on the same channel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL type D, the receiver may use the source reference RF signal to estimate spatial reception parameters of a second reference RF signal transmitted on the same channel.

[0041] In receive beamforming, the receiver uses receive beams to amplify RF signals detected on a given channel. For example, the receiver may increase the gain setting of the antenna array in a particular direction and / or adjust the phase setting of the antenna array in a particular direction to amplify the RF signal received from that direction (e.g., increase its gain level). Therefore, when a receiver is said to perform beamforming in a certain direction, it means that the beam gain in that direction is high relative to the beam gain along other directions, or the beam gain in that direction is the highest compared to the beam gain in that direction of all other receive beams available to the receiver. This results in a stronger received signal strength (e.g., reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR), etc.) of the RF signal received from that direction.

[0042] The transmit beam and the receive beam may be spatially correlated. The spatial relationship means that parameters of a second beam (e.g., a transmit beam or a receive beam) for a second reference signal may be derived based on information about a first beam (e.g., a receive beam or a transmit beam) for a first reference signal. For example, a UE may use a specific receive beam to receive a reference downlink reference signal (e.g., a synchronization signal block (SSB)) from a base station. The UE may then form a transmit beam for transmitting an uplink reference signal (e.g., a sounding reference signal (SRS)) to the base station based on the parameters of the receive beam.

[0043] Note that, depending on the entity forming the "downlink" beam, the beam can be either a transmit beam or a receive beam. For example, if the base station is forming a downlink beam to send a reference signal to the UE, the downlink beam is a transmit beam. However, if the UE is forming a downlink beam, the downlink beam is a receive beam that receives a downlink reference signal. Similarly, depending on the entity forming the "uplink" beam, the beam can be either a transmit beam or a receive beam. For example, if the base station is forming an uplink beam, the uplink beam is an uplink receive beam, while if the UE is forming an uplink beam, the uplink beam is an uplink transmit beam.

[0044] The electromagnetic spectrum is typically subdivided into various categories, bands, channels, etc. based on frequency / wavelength. In 5G NR, two initial operating bands have been identified as frequency range designations FR1 (410 MHz–7.125 GHz) and FR2 (24.25 GHz–52.6 GHz). It should be understood that, although portions of FR1 are greater than 6 GHz, FR1 is often (interchangeably) referred to as the “sub-6 GHz” band in various documents and articles. A similar naming issue sometimes occurs with respect to FR2, which is often (interchangeably) referred to as the “millimeter wave” band in documents and articles, despite being different from the extremely high frequency (EHF) band (30 GHz–300 GHz) identified as the “millimeter wave” band by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

[0045] Frequencies between FR1 and FR2 are generally referred to as mid-band frequencies. Recent 5G NR research has identified the operating bands for these mid-band frequencies as frequency range designation FR3 (7.125GHz–24.25GHz). The bands falling within FR3 can inherit FR1 characteristics and / or FR2 characteristics, and thus the features of FR1 and / or FR2 can be effectively extended to mid-band frequencies. In addition, higher frequency bands are currently being explored to extend 5G NR operations to more than 52.6GHz. For example, three higher operating bands have been identified as frequency range designations FR4a or FR4-1 (52.6GHz–71GHz), FR4 (52.6GHz–114.25GHz), and FR5 (114.25GHz–300GHz). Each of these higher frequency bands falls within the EHF band.

[0046] In view of the above aspects, unless otherwise specifically stated, it should be understood that if the term "below 6 GHz" or the like is used in this document, it can be broadly referred to as a frequency that may be less than 6 GHz, may be within FR1, or may include mid-band frequencies. In addition, unless otherwise specifically stated, it should be understood that if the term "millimeter wave" or the like is used in this document, it can be broadly referred to as a frequency that may include mid-band frequencies, may be within FR2, FR4, FR4-a or FR4-1 and / or FR5, or may be within the EHF band.

[0047] In a multi-carrier system (such as 5G), one of the carrier frequencies is referred to as the "primary carrier" or "anchor carrier" or "primary serving cell" or "PCell", and the remaining carrier frequencies are referred to as "secondary carriers" or "secondary serving cells" or "SCells". In carrier aggregation, the anchor carrier is a carrier operating on the primary frequency (e.g., FR1) used by the UE 104 / 182 and the cell in which the UE 104 / 182 performs an initial radio resource control (RRC) connection establishment procedure or initiates an RRC connection reestablishment procedure. The primary carrier carries all common and UE-specific control channels and can be a carrier in a licensed frequency (however, this is not always the case). A secondary carrier is a carrier operating on a second frequency (e.g., FR2) that can be configured and used to provide additional radio resources once an RRC connection is established between the UE 104 and the anchor carrier. In some cases, the secondary carrier can be a carrier in an unlicensed frequency. The secondary carrier may contain only necessary signaling information and signals, for example, since the primary uplink carrier and the primary downlink carrier are usually UE-specific, those UE-specific signaling information and signals may not be present in the secondary carrier. This means that different UEs 104 / 182 in a cell may have different downlink primary carriers. The same is true for the uplink primary carrier. The network can change the primary carrier of any UE 104 / 182 at any time. This is done, for example, to balance the load on different carriers. Since a "serving cell" (whether PCell or SCell) corresponds to a carrier frequency / component carrier through which a base station communicates, the terms "cell", "serving cell", "component carrier", "carrier frequency", etc. may be used interchangeably.

[0048] For example, still refer to Figure 1, one of the frequencies used by the macrocell base station 102 may be an anchor carrier (or "PCell"), and the other frequencies used by the macrocell base station 102 and / or the mmW base station 180 may be secondary carriers ("SCells"). Simultaneous transmission and / or reception of multiple carriers enables the UE 104 / 182 to significantly increase its data transmission and / or reception rate. For example, two 20 MHz aggregated carriers in a multi-carrier system would theoretically result in a doubling of the data rate (i.e., 40 MHz) compared to the data rate obtained with a single 20 MHz carrier.

[0049] The wireless communication system 100 may also include a UE 164, which may communicate with the macrocell base station 102 via a communication link 120 and / or communicate with the mmW base station 180 via a mmW communication link 184. For example, the macrocell base station 102 may support a PCell and one or more SCells for the UE 164, and the mmW base station 180 may support one or more SCells for the UE 164.

[0050] In some cases, UE 164 and UE 182 are capable of sidelink communication. A UE with sidelink capability (SL-UE) can communicate with base station 102 via communication link 120 using a Uu interface (i.e., an air interface between UE and base station). SL-UEs (e.g., UE 164, UE 182) can also communicate directly with each other via a wireless sidelink 160 using a PC5 interface (i.e., an air interface between UEs with sidelink capability). A wireless sidelink (or just "sidelink") is an adaptation of a core cellular network (e.g., LTE, NR) standard that allows direct communication between two or more UEs without communicating through a base station. Sidelink communications can be unicast or multicast and can be used for device-to-device (D2D) media sharing, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communications, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2X) communications (e.g., cellular V2X (cV2X) communications, enhanced V2X (eV2X) communications, etc.), emergency rescue applications, etc. One or more SL-UEs in a group of SL-UEs utilizing sidelink communications may be located within the geographic coverage area 110 of the base station 102. Other SL-UEs in such a group may be outside the geographic coverage area 110 of the base station 102, or may be unable to receive transmissions from the base station 102 for other reasons. In some cases, each group of SL-UEs communicating via sidelink communications may utilize a one-to-many (1:M) system, where each SL-UE transmits to each other SL-UE in the group. In some cases, the base station 102 facilitates the scheduling of resources for the sidelink communications. In other cases, the sidelink communications are performed between the SL-UEs without involving the base station 102.

[0051] In one aspect, the sidelink 160 may operate on a wireless communication medium of interest, which may be shared with other vehicles and / or infrastructure access points and other wireless communications between other RATs. A "medium" may include one or more time, frequency, and / or spatial communication resources associated with wireless communications between one or more transmitter / receiver pairs (e.g., covering one or more channels across one or more carriers). In one aspect, the medium of interest may correspond to at least a portion of an unlicensed band shared between various RATs. Although different licensed bands have been reserved for certain communication systems (e.g., by government entities such as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the United States), these systems (particularly those employing small cell access points) have recently expanded operations into unlicensed bands such as the unlicensed National Information Infrastructure (U-NII) band used by wireless local area network (WLAN) technology (most notably the IEEE 802.11x WLAN technology commonly referred to as "Wi-Fi"). Example systems of this type include different variants of CDMA systems, TDMA systems, FDMA systems, orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA) systems, single carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) systems, and the like.

[0052] Note that although Figure 1 Only two of these UEs are illustrated as SL-UEs (i.e., UEs 164 and 182), but any of the illustrated UEs may be SL-UEs. In addition, although only UE 182 is described as being capable of beamforming, any of the illustrated UEs (including UE 164) may be capable of beamforming. In the case where SL-UEs are capable of beamforming, they may beamform toward each other (i.e., toward other SL-UEs), toward other UEs (e.g., UE 104), toward base stations (e.g., base stations 102, 180, small cells 102', access point 150), etc. Therefore, in some cases, UE 164 and UE 182 may utilize beamforming via side link 160.

[0053] exist Figure 1 In the example of FIG. 1 , the UE illustrated (for simplicity, in Figure 1Any UE (shown as a single UE 104 in FIG. 1 ) can receive a signal 124 from one or more earth orbiting space vehicles (SVs) 112 (e.g., satellites). In one aspect, the SVs 112 can be part of a satellite positioning system that the UEs 104 can use as an independent source of location information. A satellite positioning system typically includes a system of transmitters (e.g., SVs 112) positioned to enable a receiver (e.g., UE 104) to determine its position on or above the earth based at least in part on positioning signals (e.g., signals 124) received from the transmitters. Such transmitters typically transmit a signal with a repeating pseudo-random noise (PN) code marked with a set number of chips. Although typically located in the SVs 112, the transmitters can sometimes be located on ground-based control stations, base stations 102, and / or other UEs 104. The UEs 104 can include one or more dedicated receivers that are specifically designed to receive the signal 124 in order to derive geographic location information from the SVs 112.

[0054] In a satellite positioning system, the use of signal 124 may be enhanced by various satellite-based augmentation systems (SBAS) that may be associated with or otherwise enabled for use with one or more global and / or regional navigation satellite systems. For example, SBAS may include augmentation systems that provide integrity information, differential corrections, and the like, such as Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS), European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS), Multifunction Satellite Augmentation System (MSAS), Global Positioning System (GPS) Assisted Geographic Augmented Navigation, or GPS and Geographic Augmented Navigation System (GAGAN), and the like. Thus, as used herein, a satellite positioning system may include any combination of one or more global and / or regional navigation satellites associated with such one or more satellite positioning systems.

[0055] In one aspect, SV 112 may additionally or alternatively be part of one or more non-terrestrial networks (NTNs). In an NTN, SV 112 is connected to an earth station (also referred to as a ground station, NTN gateway, or gateway), which in turn is connected to an element in a 5G network, such as a modified base station 102 (without a ground antenna) or a network node in a 5GC. This element in turn will provide access to other elements in the 5G network, and ultimately provide access to entities outside the 5G network (such as Internet web servers and other user devices). In this way, instead of or in addition to communication signals from ground base stations 102, UE 104 can receive communication signals (e.g., signal 124) from SV 112.

[0056] The wireless communication system 100 may also include one or more UEs, such as UE 190, which are indirectly connected to one or more communication networks via one or more device-to-device (D2D) peer-to-peer (P2P) links (referred to as “side links”). Figure 1 In the example of FIG. 1 , UE 190 has a D2D P2P link 192 with one of UEs 104 connected to one of base stations 102 (e.g., UE 190 can indirectly obtain cellular connectivity through the link), and has a D2D P2P link 194 with WLAN STA 152 connected to WLAN AP 150 (UE 190 can indirectly obtain WLAN-based Internet connectivity through the link). In one example, D2D P2P links 192 and 194 can be supported by any well-known D2D RAT, such as LTE Direct (LTE-D), WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), wait.

[0057] Figure 2A An example wireless network structure 200 is illustrated. For example, the 5GC 210 (also referred to as the Next Generation Core (NGC)) can be functionally viewed as a control plane (C-plane) function 214 (e.g., UE registration, authentication, network access, gateway selection, etc.) and a user plane (U-plane) function 212 (e.g., UE gateway function, access to data networks, IP routing, etc.), which operate in conjunction to form a core network. The user plane interface (NG-U) 213 and the control plane interface (NG-C) 215 connect the gNB 222 to the 5GC 210, and specifically to the user plane function 212 and the control plane function 214, respectively. In an additional configuration, the ng-eNB 224 can also be connected to the 5GC 210 via the NG-C 215 to the control plane function 214 and the NG-U 213 to the user plane function 212. In addition, the ng-eNB 224 can communicate directly with the gNB 222 via the backhaul connection 223. In some configurations, the next generation RAN (NG-RAN) 220 may have one or more gNBs 222, while other configurations include one or more of ng-eNBs 224 and gNBs 222. Either (or both) the gNBs 222 or ng-eNBs 224 may communicate with one or more UEs 204 (e.g., any of the UEs described herein).

[0058] Another optional aspect may include a location server 230 that can communicate with the 5GC 210 to provide location assistance for the UE 204. The location server 230 can be implemented as multiple separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules distributed across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternatively can each correspond to a single server. The location server 230 can be configured to support one or more location services for the UE 204 that can be connected to the location server 230 via the core network, the 5GC 210, and / or via the Internet (not illustrated). In addition, the location server 230 can be integrated into a component of the core network, or alternatively can be external to the core network (e.g., a third-party server, such as an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) server or a service server).

[0059] Figure 2B Another example wireless network structure 250 is illustrated. 5GC 260 (which may correspond to Figure 2AThe 5GC 210 in the figure can be functionally considered as a control plane function provided by an access and mobility management function (AMF) 264, and a user plane function provided by a user plane function (UPF) 262, which operate in conjunction to form a core network (i.e., 5GC 260). The functions of AMF 264 include: registration management, connection management, reachability management, mobility management, lawful interception, transmission of session management (SM) messages between one or more UEs 204 (e.g., any of the UEs described herein) and a session management function (SMF) 266, a transparent proxy service for routing SM messages, access authentication and access authorization, transmission of short message service (SMS) messages between UE 204 and a short message service function (SMSF) (not shown), and security anchor functionality (SEAF). AMF 264 also interacts with an authentication server function (AUSF) (not shown) and UE 204, and receives an intermediate key established as a result of the UE 204 authentication process. In the case of authentication based on the UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) Subscriber Identity Module (USIM), the AMF 264 retrieves security material from the AUSF. The functionality of the AMF 264 also includes security context management (SCM). The SCM receives keys from the SEAF, which are used by the SCM to derive access network specific keys. The functionality of the AMF 264 also includes location service management for regulatory services, for the transmission of location service messages between the UE 204 and the Location Management Function (LMF) 270 (which acts as a location server 230), for the transmission of location service messages between the NG-RAN 220 and the LMF 270, for the allocation of Evolved Packet System (EPS) bearer identifiers for interoperation with EPS, and UE 204 mobility event notifications. In addition, the AMF 264 also supports functionality for non-3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project) access networks.

[0060] The functions of UPF 262 include: acting as an anchor point for intra-RAT / inter-RAT mobility (when applicable), acting as an external protocol data unit (PDU) session point for interconnection to a data network (not shown), providing packet routing and forwarding, packet inspection, user plane policy rule enforcement (e.g., gating, redirection, traffic steering), lawful interception (user plane collection), traffic usage reporting, user plane quality of service (QoS) handling (e.g., uplink / downlink rate enforcement, reflective QoS marking in downlink), uplink traffic verification (service data flow (SDF) to QoS flow mapping), transport level packet marking in uplink and downlink, downlink packet buffering and downlink data notification triggering, and transmitting and forwarding one or more "end markers" to the source RAN node. UPF 262 can also support the delivery of location service messages between UE 204 and a location server (such as SLP 272) on the user plane.

[0061] The functions of SMF 266 include session management, UE Internet Protocol (IP) address allocation and management, selection and control of user plane functions, traffic steering configuration for routing traffic to the correct destination at UPF 262, partial control of policy implementation and QoS, and downlink data notification. The interface through which SMF 266 communicates with AMF 264 is called the N11 interface.

[0062] Another optional aspect may include an LMF 270 that can communicate with the 5GC 260 to provide location assistance for the UE 204. The LMF 270 can be implemented as multiple separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules distributed across multiple physical servers, etc.), or alternatively can each correspond to a single server. The LMF 270 can be configured to support one or more location services for the UE 204, which can be connected to the LMF 270 via the core network, the 5GC 260, and / or via the Internet (not illustrated). SLP 272 can support similar functionality as LMF 270, but LMF 270 can communicate with AMF 264, NG-RAN 220, and UE 204 on the control plane (e.g., using interfaces and protocols designed to carry signaling messages rather than voice or data), and SLP 272 can communicate with UE 204 and external clients (e.g., third-party servers 274) on the user plane (e.g., using protocols designed to carry voice and / or data, such as Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and / or IP).

[0063] Yet another optional aspect may include a third-party server 274 that can communicate with the LMF 270, SLP 272, 5GC 260 (e.g., via AMF 264 and / or UPF 262), NG-RAN 220, and / or UE 204 to obtain location information (e.g., location estimate) of UE 204. Thus, in some cases, the third-party server 274 may be referred to as a location service (LCS) client or an external client. The third-party server 274 may be implemented as a plurality of separate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on a single server, different software modules distributed across multiple physical servers, etc.), or may alternatively each correspond to a single server.

[0064] The user plane interface 263 and the control plane interface 265 connect the 5GC 260, and specifically the UPF 262 and the AMF 264, respectively, to one or more gNBs 222 and / or ng-eNBs 224 in the NG-RAN 220. The interface between the gNB 222 and / or ng-eNB 224 and the AMF 264 is referred to as the "N2" interface, and the interface between the gNB 222 and / or ng-eNB 224 and the UPF 262 is referred to as the "N3" interface. The gNBs 222 and / or ng-eNBs 224 of the NG-RAN 220 may communicate directly with each other via a backhaul connection 223 referred to as an "Xn-C" interface. One or more of the gNBs 222 and / or ng-eNBs 224 may communicate with one or more UEs 204 via a wireless interface referred to as a "Uu" interface.

[0065] The functionality of the gNB 222 is divided between a gNB Central Unit (gNB-CU) 226, one or more gNB Distributed Units (gNB-DU) 228, and one or more gNB Radio Units (gNB-RU) 229. The gNB-CU 226 is a logical node that includes base station functions other than those specifically assigned to the gNB-DU 228, including delivery of user data, mobility control, radio access network sharing, positioning, session management, etc. More specifically, the gNB-CU 226 typically hosts the Radio Resource Control (RRC), Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP), and Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) protocols of the gNB 222. The gNB-DU 228 is a logical node that typically hosts the Radio Link Control (RLC) and Medium Access Control (MAC) layers of the gNB 222. Its operation is controlled by the gNB-CU 226. One gNB-DU 228 can support one or more cells, and one cell is supported by only one gNB-DU 228. The interface 232 between the gNB-CU 226 and one or more gNB-DUs 228 is referred to as the "F1" interface. The physical (PHY) layer functionality of the gNB 222 is typically hosted by one or more independent gNB-RUs 229, which perform functions such as power amplification and signal transmission / reception. The interface between the gNB-DU 228 and the gNB-RU 229 is referred to as the "Fx" interface. Thus, the UE 204 communicates with the gNB-CU 226 via the RRC layer, the SDAP layer, and the PDCP layer, communicates with the gNB-DU 228 via the RLC layer and the MAC layer, and communicates with the gNB-RU 229 via the PHY layer.

[0066] Figure 3A , Figure 3B and Figure 3C The example may be incorporated into a UE 302 (which may correspond to any UE described herein), a base station 304 (which may correspond to any base station described herein), and a network entity 306 (which may correspond to or embody any network function described herein, including a location server 230 and a LMF 270, or alternatively may be independent of Figure 2A and Figure 2BSeveral example components (represented by corresponding boxes) in the NG-RAN 220 and / or 5GC 210 / 260 infrastructure depicted in the present invention (such as a dedicated network) are shown to support operations as described herein. It should be understood that these components can be implemented in different types of devices with different specific implementations (e.g., in an ASIC, in a system on a chip (SoC), etc.). The illustrated components can also be incorporated into other devices in the communication system. For example, other devices in the system may include components similar to those described as providing similar functionality. In addition, a given device may include one or more of these components. For example, a device may include multiple transceiver components that enable the device to operate on multiple carriers and / or communicate via different technologies.

[0067] UE 302 and base station 304 each include one or more wireless wide area network (WWAN) transceivers 310 and 350, respectively, which provide means (e.g., means for transmitting, means for receiving, means for measuring, means for tuning, means for preventing transmitting, etc.) for communicating via one or more wireless communication networks (not shown), such as NR networks, LTE networks, GSM networks, etc. WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 can each be connected to one or more antennas 316 and 356, respectively, for communicating with other network nodes (such as other UEs, access points, base stations (e.g., eNBs, gNBs), etc.) via at least one designated RAT (e.g., NR, LTE, GSM, etc.) over a wireless communication medium of interest (e.g., a certain set of time / frequency resources in a specific spectrum). The WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 may be configured in various ways according to the specified RAT to send and encode signals 318 and 358 (e.g., messages, indications, information, etc.), and vice versa, to receive and decode signals 318 and 358 (e.g., messages, indications, information, pilots, etc.). Specifically, the WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 include: one or more transmitters 314 and 354 for sending and encoding signals 318 and 358, respectively, and one or more receivers 312 and 352 for receiving and decoding signals 318 and 358, respectively.

[0068] At least in some cases, the UE 302 and the base station 304 each further include one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360, respectively. The short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 can be connected to one or more antennas 326 and 366, respectively, and provide for communicating over the wireless communication medium of interest via at least one designated RAT (e.g., WiFi, LTE-D, The short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 are components (e.g., components for sending, components for receiving, components for measuring, components for tuning, components for preventing sending, etc.) for communicating with other network nodes (such as other UEs, access points, base stations, etc.) using a PC5, dedicated short-range communication (DSRC), wireless access for vehicle environments (WAVE), near field communication (NFC), etc.). The short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 can be configured in various ways according to the specified RAT to send and encode signals 328 and 368 (e.g., messages, indications, information, etc.), respectively, and conversely, to receive and decode signals 328 and 368 (e.g., messages, indications, information, pilots, etc.), respectively. Specifically, the short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 respectively include: one or more transmitters 324 and 364 for sending and encoding signals 328 and 368, respectively, and one or more receivers 322 and 362 for receiving and decoding signals 328 and 368, respectively. As a specific example, the short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 may be WiFi transceivers, Transceiver, and / or transceiver, NFC transceiver or vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and / or vehicle-to-everything (V2X) transceiver.

[0069] At least in some cases, the UE 302 and the base station 304 also include satellite signal receivers 330 and 370. The satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 can be connected to one or more antennas 336 and 376, respectively, and can provide components for receiving and / or measuring satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378, respectively. In the case where the satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 are satellite positioning system receivers, the satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378 can be global positioning system (GPS) signals, global navigation satellite system (GLONASS) signals, Galileo signals, Beidou signals, Indian regional navigation satellite system (NAVIC), Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS), etc. In the case where the satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 are non-terrestrial network (NTN) receivers, the satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378 can be communication signals (e.g., carrying control and / or user data) originating from a 5G network. The satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 can include any suitable hardware and / or software for receiving and processing satellite positioning / communication signals 338 and 378, respectively. Satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 may request information and operations from other systems as appropriate and, at least in some cases, perform calculations using measurements obtained by any suitable satellite positioning system algorithm to determine the position of UE 302 and base station 304, respectively.

[0070] The base station 304 and the network entity 306 each include one or more network transceivers 380 and 390, respectively, which provide components (e.g., components for sending, components for receiving, etc.) for communicating with other network entities (e.g., other base stations 304, other network entities 306). For example, the base station 304 can use one or more network transceivers 380 to communicate with other base stations 304 or network entities 306 through one or more wired or wireless backhaul links. For another example, the network entity 306 can use one or more network transceivers 390 to communicate with one or more base stations 304 through one or more wired or wireless backhaul links, or communicate with other network entities 306 through one or more wired or wireless core network interfaces.

[0071] The transceiver can be configured to communicate over a wired or wireless link. The transceiver (whether a wired transceiver or a wireless transceiver) includes a transmitter circuit (e.g., transmitters 314, 324, 354, 364) and a receiver circuit (e.g., receivers 312, 322, 352, 362). In some implementations, the transceiver can be an integrated device (e.g., implementing the transmitter circuit and the receiver circuit in a single device), in some implementations can include separate transmitter circuits and separate receiver circuits, or can be implemented in other ways in other implementations. The transmitter circuit and the receiver circuit of the wired transceiver (e.g., in some implementations, the network transceivers 380 and 390) can be coupled to one or more wired network interface ports. The wireless transmitter circuitry (e.g., transmitters 314, 324, 354, 364) may include or be coupled to multiple antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such as antenna arrays, which allow the corresponding device (e.g., UE 302, base station 304) to perform transmit "beamforming", as described herein. Similarly, the wireless receiver circuitry (e.g., receiver 312, 322, 352, 362) may include or be coupled to multiple antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such as antenna arrays, which allow the corresponding device (e.g., UE 302, base station 304) to perform receive beamforming, as described herein. In one aspect, the transmitter circuitry and the receiver circuitry may share the same multiple antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366) so that the corresponding device can only receive or only transmit at a given time, rather than both receive and transmit at the same time. The wireless transceivers (eg, WWAN transceivers 310 and 350, short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360) may also include a network listening module (NLM) or the like for performing various measurements.

[0072] As used herein, various wireless transceivers (e.g., in some implementations, transceivers 310, 320, 350, and 360, and network transceivers 380 and 390) and wired transceivers (e.g., in some implementations, network transceivers 380 and 390) may be generally referred to as a "transceiver," "at least one transceiver," or "one or more transceivers." Thus, whether a particular transceiver is a wired or wireless transceiver may be inferred based on the type of communication being performed. For example, backhaul communications between network devices or servers typically involve signaling via a wired transceiver, while wireless communications between a UE (e.g., UE 302) and a base station (e.g., base station 304) will typically involve signaling via a wireless transceiver.

[0073] UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 also include other components that can be used in conjunction with the operations disclosed herein. UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 include one or more processors 332, 384, and 394, respectively, for providing functionality related to, for example, wireless communication, and for providing other processing functionality. Thus, processors 332, 384, and 394 can provide means for processing, such as means for determining, means for calculating, means for receiving, means for sending, means for indicating, etc. In one aspect, processors 332, 384, and 394 can include, for example, one or more general-purpose processors, multi-core processors, central processing units (CPUs), ASICs, digital signal processors (DSPs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), other programmable logic devices or processing circuits, or various combinations thereof.

[0074] The UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 include memory circuits implementing memories 340, 386, and 396 (e.g., each including a memory device) for maintaining information (e.g., information indicating reserved resources, thresholds, parameters, etc.). Thus, the memories 340, 386, and 396 may provide means for storing, means for retrieving, means for maintaining, etc. In some cases, the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 may include ML modules 342, 388, and 398, respectively. The ML modules 342, 388, and 398 may be hardware circuits that are part of or coupled to the processors 332, 384, and 394, respectively, which, when executed, cause the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 to perform the functions described herein. In other aspects, the ML modules 342, 388, and 398 may be external to the processors 332, 384, and 394 (e.g., part of a modem processing system, integrated with another processing system, etc.). Alternatively, the ML modules 342, 388, and 398 may be memory modules stored in the memories 340, 386, and 396, respectively, which when executed by the processors 332, 384, and 394 (or a modem processing system, another processing system, etc.), cause the UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 to perform the functions described herein. Figure 3A Possible locations for the ML module 342 are shown, which may be, for example, part of one or more WWAN transceivers 310, memory 340, one or more processors 332, or any combination thereof, or may be a standalone component. Figure 3B Possible locations for the ML module 388 are shown, which may be part of, for example, the one or more WWAN transceivers 350, the memory 386, the one or more processors 384, or any combination thereof, or may be a standalone component. Figure 3C Possible locations for the ML module 398 are shown, which may be, for example, part of one or more network transceivers 390, memory 396, one or more processors 394, or any combination thereof, or may be a stand-alone component.

[0075] UE 302 may include one or more sensors 344 coupled to one or more processors 332 to provide a means for sensing or detecting movement and / or orientation information that is independent of motion data derived from signals received by one or more WWAN transceivers 310, one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320, and / or satellite signal receivers 330. By way of example, sensor 344 may include an accelerometer (e.g., a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) device), a gyroscope, a geomagnetic sensor (e.g., a compass), an altimeter (e.g., a barometric altimeter), and / or any other type of motion detection sensor. In addition, sensor 344 may include multiple different types of devices and combine their outputs to provide motion information. For example, sensor 344 may use a combination of a multi-axis accelerometer and an orientation sensor to provide the ability to calculate positioning in a two-dimensional (2D) and / or three-dimensional (3D) coordinate system.

[0076] In addition, the UE 302 includes a user interface 346, which provides components for providing indications to the user (e.g., audible and / or visual indications) and / or for receiving user input (e.g., when the user actuates a sensing device such as a keypad, touch screen, microphone, etc.). Although not shown, the base station 304 and the network entity 306 may also include a user interface.

[0077] Referring to the one or more processors 384 in more detail, in a downlink, IP packets from the network entity 306 may be provided to the processor 384. The one or more processors 384 may implement the functionality of the RRC layer, the Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer, the Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, and the Medium Access Control (MAC) layer. One or more processors 384 may provide: RRC layer functionality associated with broadcasting of system information (e.g., master information block (MIB), system information block (SIB)), RRC connection control (e.g., RRC connection paging, RRC connection establishment, RRC connection modification, and RRC connection release), inter-RAT mobility, and measurement configuration for UE measurement reporting; PDCP layer functionality associated with header compression / decompression, security (encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification), and handover support functions; RLC layer functionality associated with delivery of upper layer PDUs, error correction through automatic repeat request (ARQ), concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC service data units (SDUs), re-segmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functionality associated with mapping between logical channels and transport channels, scheduling information reporting, error correction, priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.

[0078] The transmitter 354 and the receiver 352 may implement layer 1 (L1) functionality associated with various signal processing functions. Layer 1, including the physical (PHY) layer, may include: error detection on the transport channel, forward error correction (FEC) coding / decoding of the transport channel, interleaving, rate matching, mapping to the physical channel, modulation / demodulation of the physical channel, and MIMO antenna processing. The transmitter 354 handles the mapping to the signal constellation based on various modulation schemes (e.g., binary phase shift keying (BPSK), quadrature phase shift keying (QPSK), M-phase shift keying (M-PSK), M-quadrature amplitude modulation (M-QAM)). The decoded and modulated symbols may then be separated into parallel streams. Each stream may then be mapped to an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) subcarrier, multiplexed with a reference signal (e.g., a pilot) in the time and / or frequency domain, and then combined together using an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) to produce a physical channel carrying a time domain OFDM symbol stream. The OFDM symbol stream is spatially pre-decoded to generate multiple spatial streams. The channel estimate from the channel estimator can be used to determine the coding and modulation scheme and for spatial processing. The channel estimate can be derived from a reference signal and / or channel state feedback sent by the UE 302. Each spatial stream can then be provided to one or more different antennas 356. The transmitter 354 can modulate the RF carrier with the corresponding spatial stream for transmission.

[0079] At the UE 302, the receiver 312 receives the signal through its corresponding antenna 316. The receiver 312 recovers the information modulated onto the RF carrier and provides the information to one or more processors 332. The transmitter 314 and the receiver 312 implement layer 1 functionality associated with various signal processing functions. The receiver 312 can perform spatial processing on the information to recover any spatial streams destined for the UE 302. If there are multiple spatial streams destined for the UE 302, they can be combined into a single OFDM symbol stream by the receiver 312. The receiver 312 then converts the OFDM symbol stream from the time domain to the frequency domain using a fast Fourier transform (FFT). The frequency domain signal includes a separate OFDM symbol stream for each subcarrier of the OFDM signal. The symbols on each subcarrier and the reference signal are recovered and demodulated by determining the most likely signal constellation point sent by the base station 304. These soft decisions can be based on channel estimates calculated by a channel estimator. The soft decisions are then decoded and deinterleaved to recover the data and control signals originally sent by the base station 304 on the physical channel. The data and control signals are then provided to one or more processors 332, which implement layer 3 (L3) and layer 2 (L2) functionality.

[0080] In the uplink, one or more processors 332 provide demultiplexing between transport and logical channels, packet reassembly, decryption, header decompression, and control signal processing to recover IP packets from the core network. One or more processors 332 are also responsible for error detection.

[0081] Similar to the functionality described in conjunction with downlink transmissions performed by the base station 304, the one or more processors 332 provide: RRC layer functionality associated with system information (e.g., MIB, SIB) acquisition, RRC connection, and measurement reporting; PDCP layer functionality associated with header compression / decompression and security (encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification); RLC layer functionality associated with delivery of upper layer PDUs, error correction through ARQ, concatenation, segmentation and reassembly of RLC SDUs, re-segmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; and MAC layer functionality associated with mapping between logical channels and transport channels, multiplexing of MAC SDUs onto transport blocks (TBs), demultiplexing of MAC SDUs from TBs, scheduling information reporting, error correction through hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ), priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.

[0082] Channel estimates derived by the channel estimator from a reference signal or feedback sent by the base station 304 may be used by the transmitter 314 to select appropriate coding and modulation schemes and to facilitate spatial processing. The spatial streams generated by the transmitter 314 may be provided to different antennas 316. The transmitter 314 may modulate an RF carrier with a corresponding spatial stream for transmission.

[0083] The uplink transmissions are processed at the base station 304 in a manner similar to that described in conjunction with the receiver functionality at the UE 302. The receiver 352 receives the signal through its respective antenna 356. The receiver 352 recovers the information modulated onto the RF carrier and provides the information to one or more processors 384.

[0084] In the uplink, one or more processors 384 provide demultiplexing between transport and logical channels, packet reassembly, decryption, header decompression, control signal processing to recover IP packets from UE 302. IP packets from one or more processors 384 may be provided to the core network. One or more processors 384 are also responsible for error detection.

[0085] For convenience, UE 302, base station 304 and / or network entity 306 may Figure 3A , Figure 3B and Figure 3C, are shown as including various components that can be configured according to the various examples described herein. However, it should be understood that the illustrated components may have different functionality in different designs. In particular, FIG. 3A to FIG. 3C The various components in are optional in alternative configurations, and various aspects include configurations that may vary due to design choice, cost, use of the device, or other considerations. For example, in Figure 3A In the case of , a specific implementation of UE 302 may omit WWAN transceiver 310 (e.g., a wearable device or tablet or PC or laptop may have Wi-Fi and / or Bluetooth capabilities but no cellular capabilities), or may omit short-range wireless transceiver 320 (e.g., only cellular, etc.), or may omit satellite signal receiver 330, or may omit sensor 344, etc. In another example, in Figure 3B In the case of a wireless network, a specific implementation of the base station 304 may omit the WWAN transceiver 350 (e.g., a Wi-Fi "hotspot" access point without cellular capabilities), or may omit the short-range wireless transceiver 360 (e.g., cellular only, etc.), or may omit the satellite receiver 370, etc. For the sake of brevity, illustrations of various alternative configurations are not provided herein, but will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art.

[0086] Various components of the UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306 may be communicatively coupled to one another via data buses 334, 382, ​​and 392, respectively. In an aspect, the data buses 334, 382, ​​and 392 may form or be part of a communication interface for the UE 302, base station 304, and network entity 306, respectively. For example, where different logical entities are embodied in the same device (e.g., gNB and location server functionality incorporated into the same base station 304), the data buses 334, 382, ​​and 392 may provide for communication between different logical entities.

[0087] Figure 3A , Figure 3B and Figure 3C The components can be implemented in various ways. In some specific implementations, Figure 3A , Figure 3B and Figure 3CThe components of may be implemented in one or more circuits, such as, for example, one or more processors and / or one or more ASICs (which may include one or more processors). Here, each circuit may use and / or be combined with at least one memory component for storing information or executable code used by the circuit to provide the functionality. For example, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 310 to 346 may be implemented by a processor and memory component of UE 302 (e.g., by executing appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of the processor component). Similarly, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 350 to 388 may be implemented by a processor and memory component of base station 304 (e.g., by executing appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of the processor component). Moreover, some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 390 to 398 may be implemented by a processor and memory component of network entity 306 (e.g., by executing appropriate code and / or by appropriate configuration of the processor component). For simplicity, various operations, actions and / or functions are described herein as being performed by "UE", "by base station", "by network entity", etc. However, as will be appreciated, such operations, actions and / or functions may actually be performed by a specific component or combination of components of the UE 302, base station 304, network entity 306, etc., such as processors 332, 384, 394, transceivers 310, 320, 350 and 360, memories 340, 386 and 396, ML modules 342, 388 and 398, etc.

[0088] In some designs, the network entity 306 may be implemented as a core network component. In other designs, the network entity 306 may be operated differently from a network operator or cellular network infrastructure (e.g., NG RAN 220 and / or 5GC 210 / 260). For example, the network entity 306 may be a component of a dedicated network that may be configured to communicate with the UE 302 via the base station 304 or independently of the base station 304 (e.g., via a non-cellular communication link such as WiFi).

[0089] RF fingerprint is a technique of making channel measurements at known locations within a geographic region of interest (ROI) and storing the channel measurements in a database. The entries in the database store the precise geographic location (also referred to as the "ground truth location") and the channels measured at the precise geographic location. Each location within the ROI will have a channel that varies with several factors, such as the relative distance of the location from one or more TREs, the local terrain at the location, environmental conditions (such as ambient noise and interference at the location), and other factors. Because each location will have a different set of conditions that affect the RF channel, each location is referred to as having its own unique RF "fingerprint". These RF fingerprints are stored in the RFFP database.

[0090] Figure 4A and Figure 4B 400 according to various aspects of the present disclosure. In the RFFP, a plurality of ground truth locations (which are in Figure 4A and Figure 4B The data from each of these measurements is received by the RFFP server 404 and stored in the RFFP database 406. Figure 4A In the example shown, the data includes a ground truth geographic location represented as an (x, y, z) tuple and a channel frequency response (CFR) of a signal transmitted from that geographic location.

[0091] The RFFP database 406 can then be used in a positioning method in which the channel frequency response (CFR) of the signal transmitted by the UE whose exact position is to be determined is used to determine the channel frequency response (CFR) of the signal transmitted by the UE. UE ) are compared with entries (“fingerprints”) in the RFFP database 406 to find the CFR UE The network may interpolate or extrapolate the UE's position based on the ground-truth position of one or more entries in the RFFP database 406 that have the channel measurement that is closest to the channel measurement provided by the UE. In other specific implementations, the CFR may be the best match. If an exact CFR match is found, the UE may be assumed to be at the ground-truth position associated with the database entry; if an exact CFR match is not found, the network may interpolate or extrapolate the UE's position based on the ground-truth position of one or more entries in the RFFP database 406 that have the channel measurement that is closest to the channel measurement provided by the UE. UE The RFFP database 406 may be used as a search parameter for entries within the database, where matching entries resulting from the database query are used as input to a weighted positioning algorithm or other type of algorithm. Examples of other algorithms include, but are not limited to, using an ML model (e.g., a neural network) to learn the database, i.e., the mapping between RFFP measurements (e.g., CFR or CIR) and their corresponding ground truth and / or interpolated / extrapolated positioning.

[0092] Figure 4B Another method of positioning is illustrated, in which the RFFP database 406 is used to train the ML module 408. In some aspects, the ML module 408 can be a neural network. In this method, the ML module 408 receives the CFR from the UE 410. UE as input and will produce a predicted position 412 as output.

[0093] RFFP positioning is expected to be more accurate than conventional positioning algorithms for a number of reasons, including but not limited to spatial filtering and interpolation methods that implicitly exploit multipath signals, and because RFFP can handle challenging conditions including a limited number of base stations and only NLOS signals available.

[0094] Figure 5A and Figure 5B Different implementations of RFFP positioning according to aspects of the present disclosure are illustrated. Figure 5A An example of network-based positioning is illustrated, where channel measurements associated with a UE 500 whose positioning is to be determined may include measurements of a downlink (DL) PRS or a sidelink (SL) PRS made by the UE and reported to a location management function (LMF) 502 or another network node. The channel measurements may also be measurements observed at each TRP 504 of an uplink (UL) sounding reference signal (SRS) or SL-PRS, such as a channel impulse response. Figure 5A An example of UE-based positioning may also be illustrated, where the ML module resides at the UE side and takes SL-PRS, DL-PRS (or both SL-PRS and DL-PRS) as input and produces an estimated positioning as output.

[0095] Figure 5B An example of UE-based positioning is illustrated, where channel measurements associated with a UE 500 whose position is to be determined may include measurements of SL-PRS signals by neighboring UEs 500. However, while the number of RFFP measurements available for UE-based positioning may be quite large, good positioning may be achieved using only a subset of all possible RFFP measurements.

[0096] One disadvantage of UE-based positioning is that it may be highly sensitive to the available link quality and coverage status, for example using measurements based on DL signals only, SL signals only, or a combination of DL and SL signals. The UE is likely to be configured with a pre-trained model that accepts RFFP captured from both DL and SL channels, but the UE may naively consider RFFP measurements from both high-quality and low-quality signals to be equally valuable.

[0097] Therefore, to help the UE avoid selecting lower quality RFFP measurements instead of higher quality RFFP measurements for UE-based positioning, techniques are presented herein for the network to provide guidance to the UE on which RFFP measurements to select for UE-based positioning. In some aspects, the network signals to the UE criteria and procedures for selecting measurement features to be used for RFFP positioning, including criteria and procedures for prioritizing measurements to be used in UE-based RFFP positioning.

[0098] In some aspects, a network entity (such as a location server or positioning configuration instance participating in RRC) provides a configuration to guide the UE on how to prioritize and select entities for RFFP measurements. The UE collects an initial set of measurements, performs prioritization as configured by the network, and collects applicable RFFP measurements and uses them for UE-based RFFP positioning. Figure 6 An example of this is shown in more detail.

[0099] Figure 6 is a signaling and event diagram illustrating procedures associated with signaling of measurement prioritization criteria in UE-based RFFP positioning according to aspects of the present disclosure. Figure 6 An example interaction between a network entity 600 (e.g., a location server), a base station 602 (e.g., a gNB), a UE 604 that is using RFFP to perform UE-based positioning, and other UEs 606 is illustrated. Figure 6 In the illustrated example, the network entity 600 provides the trained neural network (NN) model to the UE 604 and some RFFP prioritization criteria for the UE 604 to use when selecting which RFFP measurements to use for positioning operations (event 608). In some aspects, this can be signaled via radio resource control (RRC) signaling. In an alternative aspect, the UE 604 can be pre-configured with the trained NN. In an alternative aspect, the UE 604 can use another type of ML model. In an alternative aspect, the UE 604 can be pre-configured with the RFFP prioritization criteria.

[0100] At block 610, the UE 604 requests an initial set of measurements. In some aspects, these requests may be broadcast, multicast, or unicast requests to one or more target entities. In some aspects, these requests may be requests for the target entities to send signals for the UE 604 to perform measurements. In some aspects, these requests may be requests for the target entities to transmit reports of the measurements to the UE 604.

[0101] At block 612, the UE 604 performs measurements, receives reports of measurements, or both. In some aspects, the initial set of measurements may include signal strength or signal quality measurements, such as layer 1 (L1) reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), received signal strength indicator (RSSI), or signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR). In some aspects, the initial set of measurements may include delay spread, angle spread, such as angle of arrival (AoA) and / or angle of departure (AoD) for azimuth and / or elevation. In some aspects, the initial set of measurements may include Doppler spread, clock mismatch or drift between entities, and other types of information.

[0102] At block 614, UE 604 ranks and selects base stations and UEs for RFFP positioning based on initial measurements according to criteria provided by network entity 600. In some aspects, the selection or prioritization criteria may include criteria based on signal quality. Examples of criteria include, but are not limited to, the following:

[0103] Select the entity with the N highest measurements (e.g., signal strength);

[0104] Select the entity with the N lowest measurements (e.g., Doppler);

[0105] Selecting the entity whose measurement satisfies a threshold (e.g., minimum SNR);

[0106] · select some entities that satisfy one of the above conditions and some entities that satisfy another of the above conditions; and

[0107] A combination of the above.

[0108] In some aspects, the selection or prioritization criteria may include criteria based on anchor type or coverage status. Examples of such criteria include, but are not limited to, the following:

[0109] Select a base station belonging to a home cell (i.e., home cell TRP→DL);

[0110] Select a base station that belongs to a neighboring cell (i.e., inter-cell TRP→DL);

[0111] Selecting a UE (i.e., SL anchor UE) belonging to the same home cell (i.e., SL);

[0112] Selecting a UE (i.e., SL-anchoring UE) that belongs to a given neighbor cell list (i.e., SL);

[0113] Selecting a UE with local coverage (i.e., SL) of a home cell (i.e., SL-anchoring UE);

[0114] Selecting a UE with local coverage (i.e., SL) of a neighbor cell (i.e., SL-anchoring UE);

[0115] Selecting a UE (i.e., SL anchor UE) that is out of coverage (i.e., SL);

[0116] · Selecting a SL anchor UE; and

[0117] A combination of the above.

[0118] In some aspects, the criteria may be applied in the order shown above, e.g., prioritizing measurements from home cells over measurements from neighbor cells, prioritizing measurements from base stations over measurements from UEs, and so on.

[0119] In some aspects, the criteria may include some combination of criteria based on signal quality and criteria based on anchor type and coverage status.Other criteria not explicitly listed herein may also be used.

[0120] At block 616, the UE 604 requests the RFFP measurements from the selected entities. In some aspects, these requests may be broadcast, multicast, or unicast requests to one or more selected target entities. In some aspects, these requests may be requests for the selected target entities to send signals for the UE 604 to perform measurements. In some aspects, these requests may be requests for the selected target entities to transmit reports of the RFFP measurements to the UE 604.

[0121] At block 618, UE 604 performs RFFP measurements, receives a report of RFFP measurements, or both. Examples of RFFP measurements include, but are not limited to, channel impulse response, channel frequency response, and histograms of received signal strength.

[0122] At block 620, UE 604 estimates its own position based on the RFFP measurements involving the selected entity. Figure 6 In the example shown, the UE 604 may input RFFP measurements involving the selected entity into a machine learning (ML) module (e.g., a trained NN model provided to the UE 604 by the network entity 600), and the ML module outputs an estimated location of the UE 604. At 622, the UE 604 reports the location of the UE to the network entity 600.

[0123] In some aspects, at block 624, the network entity 600 may fine-tune or retrain the NN model using the RFFP measurements from the selected entity and the reported location of the UE 604. In some aspects, at block 626, the network entity 600 may provide the updated NN model to the UE 604.

[0124] Figure 7 700 is a flow chart of an example process associated with signaling of measurement prioritization criteria in UE-based RFFP positioning according to aspects of the present disclosure. In some implementations, Figure 7 One or more process blocks of may be performed by a user equipment (UE) (e.g., UE 104). In some implementations, Figure 7 One or more process blocks of may be performed by another device or a group of devices separate from or including the UE. Additionally or alternatively, Figure 7One or more process blocks of process 700 may be performed by one or more components of UE 302, such as processor 332, memory 340, WWAN transceiver 310, short-range wireless transceiver 320, satellite signal receiver 330, sensor 344, user interface 346, and ML module 342, any or all of which may be means for performing the operations of process 700.

[0125] like Figure 7 As shown, process 700 may optionally include receiving a trained ML model and / or criteria for selecting and / or prioritizing TREs for positioning based on radio frequency fingerprint (RFFP) from a network node at optional block 702. Means for performing the operations of block 702 may include processor 332, memory 340, or WWAN transceiver 310 of UE 302. For example, UE 302 may receive the trained ML model and / or criteria using receiver 312. For example, if the UE is pre-configured with the ML model and / or criteria, or if the UE has previously received the ML model and / or criteria, optional block 702 need not be performed.

[0126] like Figure 7 As further shown, process 700 may include acquiring a first set of measurements of signals from a first set of TREs at block 704. Means for performing the operations of block 704 may include processor 332, memory 340, or WWAN transceiver 310 of UE 302. For example, UE 302 may use receiver 312 to acquire the first set of measurements of signals.

[0127] like Figure 7 As further shown, process 700 may include selecting a second set of TREs from the first set of TREs based on criteria for selecting and / or prioritizing TREs for radio frequency fingerprint (RFFP) based positioning at block 706. Means for performing the operations of block 706 may include processor 332, memory 340, or WWAN transceiver 310 of UE 302. For example, UE 302 may select the second set of TREs using processor 332 based on criteria stored in memory 340.

[0128] like Figure 7 As further shown, process 700 may include acquiring a second set of measurements from a second set of TREs at block 708, the second set of measurements including RFFP measurements. Means for performing the operations of block 708 may include processor 332, memory 340, or WWAN transceiver 310 of UE 302. For example, UE 302 may use receiver 312 to acquire the second set of measurements.

[0129] like Figure 7As further shown, process 700 may also include estimating the position of the UE based on the second set of measurements at block 710. Means for performing the operations of block 710 may include processor 332, memory 340, or WWAN transceiver 310 of UE 302. For example, UE 302 may estimate the position of the UE based on the second set of measurements using processor 332 and ML module 342.

[0130] like Figure 7 As shown, process 700 may optionally include receiving a retrained ML model from a network node at optional block 712. Means for performing the operations of block 712 may include processor 332, memory 340, or WWAN transceiver 310 of UE 302. For example, UE 302 may use receiver 312 to receive the retrained ML model.

[0131] In some aspects, obtaining a first set of measurements of a signal includes obtaining measurements of at least one of: reference signal received power (RSRP); reference signal received quality (RSRQ); received signal strength indicator (RSSI); signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR); delay spread; angular spread; azimuth or elevation angle of arrival (AoA); azimuth or elevation angle of departure (AoD); Doppler spread; or clock mismatch or drift between network entities.

[0132] In some aspects, acquiring the first set of measurements of the signals comprises at least one of: measuring at least one of the signals; or receiving a report of the measurements of at least one of the signals.

[0133] In some aspects, selecting the second set of TREs from the first set of TRPs based on criteria for selecting and / or prioritizing the TREs includes selecting the second set of TREs based on criteria received from a network entity.

[0134] In some aspects, selecting a second set of TREs from a first set of TRPs based on criteria for selecting and / or prioritizing TREs includes at least one of: selecting an entity with the N highest measurement values; selecting an entity with the N lowest measurement values; selecting an entity with measurements that satisfy a threshold; selecting a base station belonging to a home cell of the UE; selecting a base station belonging to a neighbor cell of the UE; selecting a UE belonging to a home cell of the UE; selecting a UE belonging to a neighbor cell of the UE; selecting a UE with local coverage of the UE's home cell; selecting a UE with local coverage of the UE's neighbor cell; selecting a UE that is out of coverage; or a combination thereof.

[0135] In some aspects, acquiring the second set of measurements of the signal includes acquiring at least one of: a channel impulse response of the RFFP signal; a channel frequency response of the RFFP signal; or a histogram of received signal strengths of the RFFP signal.

[0136] In some aspects, acquiring the second set of measurements of the signals comprises at least one of: measuring at least one of the signals; or receiving a report of the measurements of at least one of the signals.

[0137] In some aspects, estimating the position of the UE based on the second set of measurements includes: providing the second set of measurements to the machine learning model; and receiving the estimated position of the UE from the machine learning model.

[0138] In some aspects, providing the second set of measurements to the machine learning model includes providing the second set of measurements to the trained neural network.

[0139] In some aspects, process 700 includes receiving a machine learning model or a retrained machine learning model from a network entity.

[0140] Process 700 may include additional implementations, such as any single implementation or any combination of implementations described below and / or in conjunction with one or more other processes described elsewhere herein. Figure 7 An example block diagram of process 700 is shown, but in some implementations, process 700 may include Figure 7 The blocks depicted may be additional blocks, fewer blocks, different blocks, or blocks arranged in a different manner than those depicted. Additionally or alternatively, two or more of the blocks of process 700 may be performed in parallel.

[0141] Figure 8 8 is a flow chart of an example process 800 associated with signaling of measurement prioritization criteria in UE-based RFFP positioning according to aspects of the present disclosure. In some implementations, Figure 8 One or more process blocks of may be performed by a network entity (eg, location server 172, LMF 270, etc.). In some implementations, Figure 8 One or more process blocks of may be performed by another device or a group of devices separate from or including the network entity. Additionally or alternatively, Figure 8 One or more process blocks of process 800 may be performed by one or more components of network entity 306, such as processor 394, memory 396, network transceiver 390, and ML module 398, any or all of which may be means for performing the operations of process 800.

[0142] like Figure 8As shown, process 800 may include receiving a plurality of sets of positioning data at block 802, each set of positioning data including a geographic location and at least one radio frequency fingerprint (RFFP) measurement associated with the geographic location. Means for performing the operations of block 802 may include a processor 394, a memory 396, or a network transceiver 390 of the network entity 306. For example, the network entity 306 may receive the plurality of sets of positioning data via the network transceiver 390 and store them in the memory 396.

[0143] like Figure 8 As further shown, process 800 may include training an ML model using multiple sets of positioning data at block 804. Means for performing the operations of block 804 may include processor 394, memory 396, or network transceiver 390 of network entity 306. For example, processor 394 of network entity 306 may train an ML module within ML module 398 using sets of positioning data stored in memory 396.

[0144] like Figure 8 As further shown, the process 800 may include providing the ML model and criteria for selecting and / or prioritizing TREs for RFFP-based positioning to the UE at block 806 (block 806). Means for performing the operations of block 806 may include the processor 394, the memory 396, or the network transceiver 390 of the network entity 306. For example, the network entity 306 may use the network transceiver 390 to provide the ML model and the criteria to the UE.

[0145] like Figure 8 As further shown, process 800 may optionally include receiving, from the UE, RFFP measurements associated with a TRE selected according to criteria for selecting and / or prioritizing TREs for RFFP-based positioning and an estimated position of the UE at optional block 808. Means for performing the operations of block 808 may include the processor 394, the memory 396, or the network transceiver 390 of the network entity 306. For example, the network entity 306 may use the network transceiver 390 to receive the RFFP measurements and the estimated position of the UE and store them in the memory 396.

[0146] like Figure 8 As further shown, process 800 may optionally include retraining the ML model using the RFFP measurements and the estimated position of the UE at optional block 810. Means for performing the operations of block 810 may include the processor 394, the memory 396, or the network transceiver 390 of the network entity 306. For example, the processor 394 of the network entity 306 may retrain the ML model within the ML module 398 using the RFFP measurements stored in the memory 396 and the estimated position of the UE.

[0147] like Figure 8 As further shown, process 800 may optionally include transmitting the retrained ML model to the UE at optional block 812. Means for performing the operations of block 812 may include the processor 394, the memory 396, or the network transceiver 390 of the network entity 306. For example, the network entity 306 may use the network transceiver 390 to transmit the retrained ML model to the UE.

[0148] In some aspects, receiving the RFFP measurement includes receiving at least one of: a channel impulse response of the RFFP signal; a channel frequency response of the RFFP signal; or a histogram of received signal strengths of the RFFP signal.

[0149] Process 800 may include additional implementations, such as any single implementation or any combination of implementations described below and / or in conjunction with one or more other process descriptions described elsewhere herein. Figure 8 An example block diagram of process 800 is shown, but in some implementations, process 800 may include Figure 8 The blocks depicted may be additional blocks, fewer blocks, different blocks, or blocks arranged in a different manner than those depicted. Additionally or alternatively, two or more of the blocks of process 800 may be performed in parallel.

[0150] It should be appreciated that a technical advantage of the techniques described herein is that they provide the UE with information that the UE can use to select high-quality RFFP measurements for estimating the UE's own location. In addition, these high-quality measurements can be provided back to a location server or other network node for use in fine-tuning the ML model provided to the UE.

[0151] In the above specific embodiments, it can be seen that different features are grouped together in each example. This disclosure should not be understood as an intention that the example clauses have more features than the features explicitly mentioned in each clause. On the contrary, various aspects of the present disclosure may include less than all the features of the disclosed individual example clauses. Therefore, the following clauses should be considered to be incorporated into the description accordingly, wherein each clause itself can be used as a separate example. Although each subordinate clause may refer to a specific combination of one clause with other clauses in a clause, the aspects of the subordinate clause are not limited to a specific combination. It should be understood that other example clauses may also include a combination of the subject matter of the subordinate clause aspect with any other subordinate clause or independent clause or any feature with other subordinate clauses and independent clauses. Various aspects disclosed herein explicitly include these combinations, unless it is clearly expressed or can be easily inferred that a specific combination is not intended to be used (e.g., contradictory aspects, such as defining an element as both an electrical insulator and an electrical conductor). In addition, it is also expected that various aspects of the clause may be included in any other independent clause, even if the clause is not directly dependent on the independent clause.

[0152] Specific implementation examples are described in the following numbered clauses:

[0153] Clause 1. A method for wireless positioning performed by a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: obtaining a first set of measurements of signals from a first set of transmitting / receiving entities (TREs), wherein the TREs include base stations, UEs, or a combination thereof; selecting a second set of TREs from the first set of TREs based on criteria for selecting and / or prioritizing the TREs for radio frequency fingerprint (RFFP)-based positioning; obtaining a second set of measurements from the second set of TREs, the second set of measurements including RFFP measurements; and estimating the positioning of the UE based on the second set of measurements.

[0154] Clause 2. A method according to clause 1, wherein obtaining the first set of measurements of a signal includes obtaining measurements of at least one of: reference signal received power (RSRP); reference signal received quality (RSRQ); received signal strength indicator (RSSI); signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR); delay spread; angular spread; azimuth or elevation angle of arrival (AoA); azimuth or elevation angle of departure (AoD); Doppler spread; or clock mismatch or drift between network entities.

[0155] Clause 3. A method according to any of clauses 1 to 2, wherein acquiring the first set of measurements of signals comprises at least one of: measuring at least one of the signals; or receiving a report of measurements of at least one of the signals.

[0156] Clause 4. A method according to any one of clauses 1 to 3, wherein selecting the second set of TREs from the first set of TRPs based on criteria for selecting and / or prioritizing TREs includes selecting the second set of TREs based on criteria received from a network entity.

[0157] Clause 5. A method according to any one of clauses 1 to 4, wherein selecting the second set of TREs from the first set of TRPs based on criteria for selecting and / or prioritizing TREs includes at least one of the following: selecting an entity with the N highest measurement values; selecting an entity with the N lowest measurement values; selecting an entity with measurements that meet a threshold; selecting a base station belonging to the home cell of the UE; selecting a base station belonging to a neighbor cell of the UE; selecting a UE belonging to the home cell of the UE; selecting a UE belonging to a neighbor cell of the UE; selecting a UE with local coverage of the home cell of the UE; selecting a UE with local coverage of the neighbor cell of the UE; selecting a UE that is out of coverage; selecting an SL anchor UE; or a combination thereof.

[0158] Clause 6. A method according to any one of clauses 1 to 5, wherein obtaining the second set of measurements of the signal comprises obtaining at least one of: a channel impulse response of the RFFP signal; a channel frequency response of the RFFP signal; or a histogram of received signal strength of the RFFP signal.

[0159] Clause 7. The method of any one of clauses 1 to 6, wherein acquiring the second set of measurements of signals comprises at least one of: measuring at least one of the signals; or receiving a report of measurements of at least one of the signals.

[0160] Clause 8. A method according to any one of clauses 1 to 7, wherein estimating the positioning of the UE based on the second set of measurements comprises: providing the second set of measurements to a machine learning model; and receiving the estimated positioning of the UE from the machine learning model.

[0161] Clause 9. The method of clause 8, wherein providing the second set of measurements to the machine learning model comprises providing the second set of measurements to a trained neural network.

[0162] Clause 10. The method according to any one of clauses 8 to 9, further comprising: receiving the machine learning model or the retrained machine learning model from a network entity.

[0163] Clause 11. A method for wireless positioning performed by a network entity, the method comprising: receiving multiple sets of positioning data, each set of positioning data comprising a geographic location and at least one radio frequency fingerprint (RFFP) measurement associated with the geographic location; using the multiple sets of positioning data to train a machine learning (ML) model; and providing the ML model to a UE along with criteria for selecting and / or prioritizing a transmitting / receiving entity (TRE) for RFFP-based positioning, wherein the TRE comprises a base station, a UE, or a combination thereof.

[0164] Clause 12. The method according to clause 11 further comprises: receiving from the UE RFFP measurements associated with a TRE selected according to the criteria for selecting and / or prioritizing TREs for RFFP-based positioning and an estimated positioning of the UE; retraining the ML model using the RFFP measurements and the estimated positioning of the UE; and sending the retrained ML model to the UE.

[0165] Clause 13. The method of clause 12, wherein receiving the RFFP measurement comprises receiving at least one of: a channel impulse response of the RFFP signal; a channel frequency response of the RFFP signal; or a histogram of received signal strengths of the RFFP signal.

[0166] Clause 14. A user equipment (UE), the user equipment (UE) comprising: a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor, the at least one processor being communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: obtain a first set of measurements of signals from a first set of transmit / receive entities (TREs) via the at least one transceiver, wherein the TREs include base stations, UEs, or a combination thereof; select a second set of TREs from the first set of TREs based on criteria for selecting and / or prioritizing the TREs for radio frequency fingerprint (RFFP)-based positioning; obtain a second set of measurements from the second set of TREs via the at least one transceiver, the second set of measurements including RFFP measurements; and estimate the positioning of the UE based on the second set of measurements.

[0167] Clause 15. A UE according to clause 14, wherein, in order to obtain the first set of measurements of a signal, the at least one processor is configured to obtain measurements of at least one of: reference signal received power (RSRP); reference signal received quality (RSRQ); received signal strength indicator (RSSI); signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR); delay spread; angular spread; azimuth or elevation angle of arrival (AoA); azimuth or elevation angle of departure (AoD); Doppler spread; or clock mismatch or drift between network entities.

[0168] Clause 16. A UE according to any one of clauses 14 to 15, wherein, in order to obtain the first set of measurements of signals, the at least one processor is configured to perform at least one of the following: measure at least one of the signals via the at least one transceiver; or receive a report of measurements of at least one of the signals via the at least one transceiver.

[0169] Clause 17. A UE according to any one of clauses 14 to 16, wherein, in order to select the second set of TREs from the first set of TRPs based on criteria for selecting and / or prioritizing TREs, the at least one processor is configured to select the second set of TREs based on criteria received from a network entity.

[0170] Clause 18. A UE according to any one of clauses 14 to 17, wherein, in order to select the second set of TREs from the first set of TRPs based on criteria for selecting and / or prioritizing TREs, the at least one processor is configured to perform at least one of the following: selecting an entity with the N highest measurement values; selecting an entity with the N lowest measurement values; selecting an entity with measurements that meet a threshold; selecting a base station belonging to a home cell of the UE; selecting a base station belonging to a neighbor cell of the UE; selecting a UE belonging to a home cell of the UE; selecting a UE belonging to a neighbor cell of the UE; selecting a UE with local coverage of the UE's home cell; selecting a UE with local coverage of a neighbor cell of the UE; selecting a UE that is out of coverage; or a combination thereof.

[0171] Clause 19. A UE according to any one of clauses 14 to 18, wherein, in order to obtain the second set of measurements of the signal, the at least one processor is configured to obtain at least one of: a channel impulse response of the RFFP signal; a channel frequency response of the RFFP signal; or a histogram of received signal strength of the RFFP signal.

[0172] Clause 20. A UE according to any one of clauses 14 to 19, wherein, in order to obtain the second set of measurements of signals, the at least one processor is configured to perform at least one of the following: measure at least one of the signals via the at least one transceiver; or receive a report of measurements of at least one of the signals via the at least one transceiver.

[0173] Clause 21. A UE according to any one of clauses 14 to 20, wherein, in order to estimate the positioning of the UE based on the second set of measurements, the at least one processor is configured to: provide the second set of measurements to a machine learning model; and receive the estimated positioning of the UE from the machine learning model via the at least one transceiver.

[0174] Clause 22. A UE according to clause 21, wherein, in order to provide the second set of measurements to the machine learning model, the at least one processor is configured to provide the second set of measurements to a trained neural network.

[0175] Clause 23. A UE according to any one of clauses 21 to 22, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: receive the machine learning model or the retrained machine learning model from a network entity via the at least one transceiver.

[0176] Clause 24. A network entity, comprising: a memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor, the at least one processor being communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: receive, via the at least one transceiver, a plurality of sets of positioning data, each set of positioning data comprising a geographic location and at least one radio frequency fingerprint (RFFP) measurement associated with the geographic location; train a machine learning (ML) model using the plurality of sets of positioning data; and provide, via the at least one transceiver, the ML model and criteria for selecting and / or prioritizing a transmit / receive entity (TRE) for RFFP-based positioning to a UE, wherein the TRE comprises a base station, a UE, or a combination thereof.

[0177] Clause 25. A network entity according to clause 24, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: receive, from the UE via the at least one transceiver, RFFP measurements associated with a TRE selected according to the criteria for selecting and / or prioritizing TREs for RFFP-based positioning and an estimated positioning of the UE; retrain the ML model using the RFFP measurements and the estimated positioning of the UE; and transmit the retrained ML model to the UE via the at least one transceiver.

[0178] Clause 26. A network entity according to clause 25, wherein, to receive the RFFP measurement, the at least one processor is configured to receive at least one of: a channel impulse response of the RFFP signal; a channel frequency response of the RFFP signal; or a histogram of received signal strength of the RFFP signal.

[0179] Clause 27. An apparatus, comprising: a memory; a transceiver; and a processor, the processor being communicatively coupled to the memory and the transceiver, the memory, the transceiver, and the processor being configured to perform the method of any one of clauses 1 to 13.

[0180] Clause 28. An apparatus comprising means for performing the method of any one of clauses 1 to 13.

[0181] Clause 29. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions, the computer-executable instructions comprising at least one instruction for causing a computer or a processor to perform the method according to any one of clauses 1 to 13.

[0182] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that information and signals may be represented using any of a variety of different techniques and methods. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be mentioned throughout the above description may be represented by voltage, current, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or magnetic particles, light fields or optical particles, or any combination thereof.

[0183] In addition, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the various exemplary logic blocks, modules, circuits and algorithmic steps described in conjunction with the various aspects disclosed herein can be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software or a combination of the two. In order to clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various exemplary components, frames, modules, circuits and steps have been generally described in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends on the specific application and the design constraints proposed to the entire system. Those skilled in the art can implement the described functionality in different ways for each specific application, but such specific implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0184] The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits described in conjunction with the various aspects disclosed herein may be implemented or performed with a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an ASIC, a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but in an alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. The processor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, such as a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, a combination of one or more microprocessors and a DSP core, or any other such configuration.

[0185] The methods, sequences and / or algorithms described in conjunction with the various aspects disclosed herein may be directly embodied in hardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two. The software module may reside in a random access memory (RAM), a flash memory, a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), a register, a hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known in the art. An example storage medium is coupled to a processor so that the processor can read information from the storage medium and write information to the storage medium. In an alternative, the storage medium may be integral with the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in an ASIC. The ASIC may reside in a user terminal (e.g., UE). In an alternative, the processor and the storage medium may reside in a user terminal as discrete components.

[0186] In one or more example aspects, the function can be implemented in hardware, software, firmware or any combination thereof. If implemented in software, the function can be stored on a computer-readable medium or sent by a computer-readable medium as one or more instructions or codes. Computer-readable media include both computer storage media and communication media, including any medium that facilitates the transmission of a computer program from one place to another. Storage media can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example and not limitation, such computer-readable media may include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage devices, disk storage devices or other magnetic storage devices or any other medium that can be used to carry or store the desired program code in the form of an instruction or data structure and can be accessed by a computer. Moreover, any connection is appropriately referred to as a computer-readable medium. For example, if the software is sent from a website, a server or other remote source using a coaxial cable, an optical fiber cable, a twisted pair, a digital subscriber line (DSL) or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio and microwaves, then coaxial cable, optical fiber cable, twisted pair, DSL or wireless technologies such as infrared, radio and microwaves are included in the definition of the medium. Disk and disc, as used herein, include compact disc (CD), laser disc, optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk and Blu-ray disc, where disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproduce data optically with lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0187] Although the foregoing disclosure illustrates the exemplary aspects of the present disclosure, it should be noted that various changes and modifications may be made herein without departing from the scope of the present disclosure as defined by the appended claims. In addition, the functions, steps and / or actions of the method claims according to the various aspects of the present disclosure described herein do not need to be performed in any particular order. In addition, although the elements of the present disclosure may be described or claimed in the singular, plural forms may also be considered unless explicitly stated to be limited to the singular.

Claims

1. A method for wireless positioning performed by a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: Obtaining a first set of measurements of signals from a first set of transmit / receive entities (TREs), wherein the TREs include base stations, UEs, or a combination thereof; selecting a second set of TREs from said first set of TREs based on criteria for selecting and / or prioritizing TREs for radio frequency fingerprint (RFFP) based positioning; acquiring a second set of measurements from said second set of TREs, said second set of measurements comprising RFFP measurements; and The position of the UE is estimated based on the second set of measurements.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein acquiring the first set of measurements of a signal comprises acquiring measurements of at least one of: Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP); Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ); Received signal strength indicator (RSSI); Signal to Interference and Noise Ratio (SINR); Delayed expansion; Angle expansion; Azimuth or elevation angle of arrival (AoA); Azimuth or elevation departure angle (AoD); Doppler spread; or Clock mismatch or drift between network entities.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein acquiring the first set of measurements of a signal comprises at least one of: measuring at least one of the signals; or A report of a measurement of at least one of the signals is received.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting the second set of TREs from the first set of TRPs based on criteria for selecting and / or prioritizing TREs comprises selecting the second set of TREs based on criteria received from a network entity.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein selecting the second set of TREs from the first set of TRPs based on criteria for selecting and / or prioritizing TREs comprises at least one of: Select the entities with the N highest measured values; Select the entities with the N lowest measured values; Selecting entities having measurements that satisfy a threshold; selecting a base station belonging to a home cell of the UE; Selecting a base station belonging to a neighboring cell of the UE; selecting a UE belonging to a home cell of the UE; Selecting a UE belonging to a neighboring cell of the UE; selecting a UE having partial coverage of a home cell of the UE; Selecting a UE having partial coverage of a neighbor cell of the UE; Selecting a UE that is out of coverage; Select a sidelink (SL) anchor UE; or A combination of them.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein acquiring the second set of measurements of a signal comprises acquiring at least one of: Channel impulse response of RFFP signal; the channel frequency response of the RFFP signal; or Histogram of received signal strength of RFFP signal.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein acquiring the second set of measurements of a signal comprises at least one of: measuring at least one of the signals; or A report of a measurement of at least one of the signals is received.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein estimating the position of the UE based on the second set of measurements comprises: providing the second set of measurements to a machine learning model; as well as An estimated position of the UE is received from the machine learning model.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein providing the second set of measurements to the machine learning model comprises providing the second set of measurements to a trained neural network.

10. The method according to claim 8, further comprising: The machine learning model or the retrained machine learning model is received from a network entity.

11. A wireless positioning method performed by a network entity, the method comprising: receiving a plurality of sets of positioning data, each set of positioning data comprising a geographic location and at least one radio frequency fingerprint (RFFP) measurement associated with the geographic location; training a machine learning (ML) model using the plurality of sets of positioning data; as well as The ML model is provided to the UE along with criteria for selecting and / or prioritizing a transmit / receive entity (TRE) for RFFP based positioning, wherein the TRE includes a base station, a UE, or a combination thereof.

12. The method according to claim 11, further comprising: receiving, from the UE, RFFP measurements associated with a TRE selected according to the criteria for selecting and / or prioritizing TREs for RFFP based positioning and an estimated position of the UE; retraining the ML model using the RFFP measurements and the estimated location of the UE; as well as Sending the retrained ML model to the UE.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein receiving the RFFP measurement comprises receiving at least one of: Channel impulse response of RFFP signal; the channel frequency response of the RFFP signal; or Histogram of received signal strength of RFFP signal.

14. A user equipment (UE), the user equipment (UE) comprising: Memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor, the at least one processor being communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: acquiring, via the at least one transceiver, a first set of measurements of signals from a first set of transmit / receive entities (TREs), wherein the TREs include base stations, UEs, or a combination thereof; selecting a second set of TREs from said first set of TREs based on criteria for selecting and / or prioritizing TREs for radio frequency fingerprint (RFFP) based positioning; acquiring, via the at least one transceiver, a second set of measurements from the second set of TREs, the second set of measurements comprising RFFP measurements; and The position of the UE is estimated based on the second set of measurements.

15. The UE according to claim 14, wherein: To obtain the first set of measurements of a signal, the at least one processor is configured to obtain measurements of at least one of: Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP); Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ); Received signal strength indicator (RSSI); Signal to Interference and Noise Ratio (SINR); Delayed expansion; Angle expansion; Azimuth or elevation angle of arrival (AoA); Azimuth or elevation departure angle (AoD); Doppler spread; or Clock mismatch or drift between network entities.

16. The UE according to claim 14, wherein: To acquire the first set of measurements of a signal, the at least one processor is configured to at least one of: measuring at least one of the signals via the at least one transceiver; or A report of a measurement of at least one of the signals is received via the at least one transceiver.

17. The UE according to claim 14, wherein: In order to select the second set of TREs from the first set of TRPs based on criteria for selecting and / or prioritizing TREs, the at least one processor is configured to select the second set of TREs based on criteria received from a network entity.

18. The UE according to claim 14, wherein: To select the second set of TREs from the first set of TRPs based on criteria for selecting and / or prioritizing TREs, the at least one processor is configured to at least one of: Select the entities with the N highest measured values; Select the entities with the N lowest measured values; Selecting entities having measurements that satisfy a threshold; selecting a base station belonging to a home cell of the UE; Selecting a base station belonging to a neighbor cell of the UE; selecting a UE belonging to a home cell of the UE; Selecting a UE belonging to a neighboring cell of the UE; selecting a UE having partial coverage of a home cell of the UE; Selecting a UE having partial coverage of a neighbor cell of the UE; Selecting a UE that is out of coverage; Select a sidelink (SL) anchor UE; or A combination of them.

19. The UE according to claim 14, wherein: To obtain the second set of measurements of the signal, the at least one processor is configured to obtain at least one of: Channel impulse response of RFFP signal; the channel frequency response of the RFFP signal; or Histogram of received signal strength of RFFP signal.

20. The UE according to claim 14, wherein: To acquire the second set of measurements of the signal, the at least one processor is configured to do at least one of: measuring at least one of the signals via the at least one transceiver; or A report of a measurement of at least one of the signals is received via the at least one transceiver.

21. The method according to claim 14, wherein: To estimate the positioning of the UE based on the second set of measurements, the at least one processor is configured to: providing the second set of measurements to a machine learning model; as well as An estimated position of the UE is received from the machine learning model via the at least one transceiver.

22. The UE according to claim 21, wherein: To provide the second set of measurements to the machine learning model, the at least one processor is configured to provide the second set of measurements to a trained neural network.

23. The UE of claim 21, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: The machine learning model or the retrained machine learning model is received from a network entity via the at least one transceiver.

24. A network entity, comprising: Memory; at least one transceiver; and at least one processor, the at least one processor being communicatively coupled to the memory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processor being configured to: receiving, via the at least one transceiver, a plurality of sets of positioning data, each set of positioning data comprising a geographic location and at least one radio frequency fingerprint (RFFP) measurement associated with the geographic location; training a machine learning (ML) model using the plurality of sets of positioning data; and The ML model and criteria for selecting and / or prioritizing a transmit / receive entity (TRE) for RFFP based positioning are provided to a UE via the at least one transceiver, wherein the TRE includes a base station, a UE, or a combination thereof.

25. The network entity of claim 24, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: receiving, from the UE via the at least one transceiver, RFFP measurements associated with a TRE selected according to the criteria for selecting and / or prioritizing TREs for RFFP based positioning and an estimated position of the UE; retraining the ML model using the RFFP measurements and the estimated location of the UE; as well as The retrained ML model is transmitted to the UE via the at least one transceiver.

26. The network entity according to claim 25, wherein: To receive the RFFP measurement, the at least one processor is configured to receive at least one of: Channel impulse response of RFFP signal; the channel frequency response of the RFFP signal; or Histogram of received signal strength of RFFP signal.

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